Section 98
Aharon And Mosheh spoke these words to them, and they brought a rod into each of the houses of their fathers which they had chosen for purity, and there were twelve rods. And Mosheh wrote upon their rods the names of their fathers: on the rod of Aharon was written the name of Levi, and on the rod of Karmin was written the name of Yehudah, and on the rod of Adonyas was written the name of Re'uven, and on the rod of every man of all the houses of Yisra'el w T as written in like manner the name of his father. And Elohim said to Mosheh, “ Carry [the rods] to Tsiyon, to the Tent of Witness, and shut them up within it until the morning, and [then] take them out before the men and give to each of them his rod, according to the houses of their fathers whose names are written on the rods, and the man on whose rod a mark shall be found is he whom I have chosen to be Kohen to Me.” And Mosheh told the people these words, and they did according as Elohim had commanded them. And then, when the morning had come, Mosheh took the rods, and ail the elders of Yisra'el and Aharon came. And Mosheh came before them, and he lifted up the rods and brought them before all the people, and the rod of Aharon was found with the fruit and flower of an almond which emitted a fragrant perfume. And Mosheh said to them, “ Look you now. This is the rod which the Yahuah your Elohim has chosen, fear you Him and worship Him ”; and all the people bowed down before Elohim. Now this rod is Miryam. And the rod which without water burst into bloom indicateth Miryam, from whom was born, without the seed of man, the Word of Elohim. And that He saitli “ I have chosen, I will make manifest a miracle, and he shall be Kohen to Me,” meaneth that Elohim chose Miryam out of all the congregation of Yisra'el, even as Daviyd her father prophesied, saying, £< The Yahuah loveth the gates of Tsiyon more than all the habitations of Ya'aqov,” 1 and he further said, “ Marvellous is His speech concerning you, O city of Elohim.” And when he says, “ more than all the habitations of Yisra'el ” and “ her gates ” [he referreth to] the silence of her mouth, and the purity of her lips, and the praise which goes forth from her mouth, like honey which floweth from her lips, and the purity of her virginity which was without spot or blemish or impurity before she brought forth; and after she had brought forth she was pure and qodesh, and so shall it be, even as it was, to all eternity. And in the heavens she goes about with the Malakim a pure thing; and she is the rod of Aharon. She lives in Tsiyon with the pot which is filled with manna, and with the two tables that were written with the Finger of Elohim. And the heavenly, spiritual Tsiyon is above them, the Tsiyon, the making and constitution of which are wonderful, of which Elohim Himself is her Maker and Fashioner for the habitation of His glory. And Elohim spoke to Mosheh [saying], “ Make a Tabot of wood which is indestructible [by worms and rot], and cover it over with plates of fine gold, every part of it.” And the gold is the fineness of the Godhead that came down from heaven, for the Godhead comprehendeth all heaven and earth; and in like manner is plated with gold the Tabot, the abode of the heavenly Tsiyon. And the Tabot is to be interpreted as Miryam, and the wood which is indestructible is to be interpreted as Mashiach our Redeemer. And the Gomorf which is the pot of gold inside the Tabot, is to be interpreted as Miryam, and the manna which is in the pot is to be interpreted as the Body of Mashiach which came down from heaven, and the Word of Elohim which is written upon the two tables is to be interpreted as Mashiach, the Son of Elohim. And the spiritual Tsiyon is to be interpreted as the light of the Godhead. The spiritual Pearl which is contained in the Tabot is like a brilliant gem of great price, and he who has acquired it holdeth it tightly in his hand, grasping it and hiding it in his hand, and whilst the gem is in his hand its owner goes into the Tabot, and he is an inmate within it. And he who possesseth the Pearl is interpreted as the Word of Elohim, Mashiach. And the spiritual Pearl which is grasped is to be interpreted as Miryam, the Mother of the Light, through whom “ ’Akratos, 55 the “ Unmixed,’ 5 assumed a body. In her He made a Temple for Himself of her pure body, and from her was born the Light of Light, Elohim of Elohim, Who was born of His own freewill, and was not made by the hand of another, but He made a Temple for Himself through an incomprehensible wisdom which transcendeth the mind of man. And on another occasion, when Elohim brought Yisra'el out of Mitsrayim, they thirsted for water in Kades, and they murmured and wept before Mosheh; and Mosheh went to Elohim and made Him to know this. And Elohim said to him, “ Take your rod and smite this rock; and Mosheh smote the rock lengthwise and breadthwise in the form of the Cross, and water flowed forth, twelve streams. And they drank their fill of the water, their people and their beasts, and when they had drunk that rock followed after them. And the rock is to be interpreted as Mashiach, and the streams of water as the Shelichim, and that which they drank as the teaching of the Shelichim, and the rod is the wood of the Cross. And the rock is stable, as it says in the Besorah, “ He who buildeth upon a rock shall not be moved by the demons. 55 And again He says, “ I am the gate, 55 and Exodus xvii,. Matthew vii,,. again He says, “ I am the door.” And observe you that when speaking He distinguished between his disciples even as He did between those who [came] after them, the Bishops and the of the Mashiach Community. “ you are the rock,” He said to Kepha, “ and upon you I will build the of the Mashiach people.” And again He said, “ I am the Shepherd of the sheep,” 3 and Pie said to him thrice, “ Feed my sheep.” And again Pie said, “ I am the stem of the vine,” and to them He said, “ you are its branches and its clusters of fruit.” And the rod of Mosheh by means of which he performed the miracle is to be interpreted as the wood of the Cross, by which He delivered Adam and his children from the punishment of devils. And as Mosheh smote the water of the river with it, and turned it into blood, and slew their fish, in like manner Mashiach slew Death with His Cross, and brought them out of Sheol. And as Mosheh smote in the air with his rod, and the whole land of Mitsrayim became dark for three days and three nights 6 with a darkness which could be felt so that [the Egyptians] could not rise from their couches, so also Mashiach, being crucified upon the Cross, lightened the darkness of the hearts of men, and rose up from the dead on the third day and third night. And as the rod of Mosheh changed itself and transformed itself 7 by the Word of Elohim, being dry yet possessing life, and possessing life yet became a dry thing, even so Mashiach with the wood of His Cross made life for the of the Mashiach people who believed on Him, and with the Sign of the Cross made them to drive away devils. For the demons and the followers of the Mashiach became changed; the spiritual beings became reprobates, and through transgressing the Mitswah of their Yahuah they became exiled ones by the might of His Cross. And we have become spiritual beings through receiving His Body and Blood in the place of those spiritual beings who were exiled, and we have become beings worthy of praise who have believed in His Cross and in His qodesh Resurrection. And as Mosheh smote the mountains by stretching out his hands with his rod, and brought forth punishments by the command of Elohim, even so Mashiach, by stretching out His hands upon the w T ood of the Cross, drove out the demons from men by the might of His Cross. When Elohim said to Mosheh, “ Smite with your rod,” He meant, “ Make the Sign of the Cross of Mashiach,” and when Elohim said to Mosheh, “ Stretch out your hand,” He meant that by the spreading out of His hand Mashiach has redeemed us from the servitude of the enemy, and has given us life by the stretching out of His hand upon the wood of the Cross. And when Amalek fought with Yisra'el, Mosheh went up into the mountain, and Aharon was with him; they went up to pray because Amalek was prevailing. And Elohim commanded Mosheh and said to him, “ Stretch out your hand until Yisra'el obtaineth the power [over Amalek].” And it says in the Torah that the hands of Mosheh were held out' until the sunset; but the hands of Mosheh became heavy, and being aweary he dropped his hands that had been stretched out, and then Yisra'el ceased to prevail and their enemies overcame them. And when Mosheh kept his hand up and stretched out straight, Amalek was overcome, and Yisra'el put to flight and vanquished their enemy Amalek. And when Aharon and Hor (Hur) saw this, they piled up stones on the right and on the left of Mosheh, and they made the hands of Mosheh to rest on the stones which they had built up, and Aharon on his right and Hor on his left held Mosheh up with their shoulders, so that his hands might not drop from their stretched out position. And now I will explain this to you. The war of Amalek against Yisra'el is the war of believers against the demons, and before Mashiach was crucified the demons conquered the believers. But w T hen He stretched out His hand on the wood of the Cross because of the sin of Adam and his children, and when He stretched out His hand and His palm was pierced [with the nails], those who were sealed with the Sign of the Cross of Mashiach conquered them (i.e, the demons). The stretching out of the hand of Mosheh indicateth the Cross of Mashiach; and that Aharon and Hor builded up stones indicateth the wood of the Cross and the nails. And Aharon indicateth the thief on the right, and Hor the thief on the left; and Amalek indicateth the demons, and the king of Amalek indicateth Satan. And as concerning that they (the Amalekites) were conquered, this indicateth that we have conquered the demons and Satan by the Resurrection of Mashiach and by His Cross. And again when Yisra'el went out of Mitsrayim they came to bitter water, and they lacked drink because the water was bitter; and first of all they murmured because of the bitterness of the water. And Elohim said to Mosheh, “ Lift up your rod, and cast it into the water, 1 and sign it with the Sign of the Cross right and left.” Now mark what followeth. Had Elohim said to him, “ Let it become sweet,” then would the water not have become sweet? But He made manifest that by the Sign of the Cross everything becometh good, and bitter water becometh sweet, and that by the might of the Cross of Yahushua the Mashiach every polluted thing becometh good and pleasant. And here I will declare to you yet other matters from the rest of the Nevi'im concerning His Crucifixion. Daviyd says, “ They have pierced for me my hands and my feet ”; now this referreth clearly to the nails of His hands and His feet. And again he says, “ They made me drink vinegar for my thirst,” 1 and this-showeth clearly that He drank vinegar because of the sin of Adam. The Breath of Life that had breathed upon Adam drank vinegar, and the Hand that had founded the earth was pierced with a nail. He Who for the sake of Adam abased Himself was born, and took the form of a servant.