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.They went down into Sheôl alive, and the earth shut herself up over them.And as for the people who had been associated with them and had heardtheir revilings [of Moses] God sent upon them a plague, and they diedforthwith.And Moses and Aaron came with incense and censers, and theywept before God, and entreated Him for forgiveness for the people, saying, Remember, O Lord, Abraham Thy friend, and Isaac Thy servant, andIsrael Thy holy one, for we are their seed, and the children of Thy people.Cool Thy wrath in respect of us, and make haste to hear us, destroy us not,and remove Thy punishment from upon Thy people. And God theMerciful saw the sincerity of Moses, and had compassion upon them.AndGod spake unto Moses and said unto him, Speak thou to this people andsay unto them, Sanctify ye yourselves, and bring ye for each of the housesof your fathers a rod, and write ye [the name] upon it so that ye may knowtheir rods, thou and thy brother Aaron.Now of your houses let Aaronwrite upon his rod, but upon thine own rod make no mark, for it shall be aperfect miracle for the children of thy people, a vindication for the wicked,and a sign of life for all those who believe.If thou didst write [thy name]97Compare Exodus xvii, 4; Numbers xvi, 4i.150 Kebra Nagastnow with them, they would say unto thee, This hath been a worker ofmiracles from of old by the word of God ; let them say this when I haveshown them a miracle by it (i.e.the rod).But for the house of thy fatherwrite upon the rod of Aaron. 9898.Concerning the Rod of Moses and the Rod of AaronAnd Moses spake these words unto them, and they brought a rod intoeach of the houses of their fathers which they had chosen for purity, andthere were twelve rods.And Moses wrote upon their rods the names oftheir fathers: on the rod of Aaron was written the name of Levi, and on therod of Karmîn was written the name of Judah, and on the rod of Adônyâswas written the name of Reuben, and on the rod of every man of all thehouses of Israel was written in like manner the name of his father.AndGod said unto Moses, Carry [the rods] to Zion, to the Tent of Witness, andshut them up therein until the morning, and [then] take them out beforethe men and give unto each of them his rod, according to the houses oftheir fathers whose names are written on the rods, and the man on whoserod a mark shall be found is he whom I have chosen to be priest to Me. And Moses told the people these words, and they did according as Godhad commanded them.And then, when the morning had come, Mosestook the rods, and all the elders of Israel and Aaron came.And Moses camebefore them, and he lifted up the rods and brought them before all thepeople, and the rod of Aaron was found with the fruit and flower of analmond which emitted a fragrant perfume.And Moses said unto them, Look ye now.This is the rod which the Lord your God hath chosen, fearye Him and worship Him and all the people bowed down before God.Now this rod is Mary.And the rod which without water burst intobloom indicateth Mary, from whom was born, without the seed of man, theWord of God.And that He saith I have chosen, I will make manifest amiracle, and he shall be priest to Me, meaneth that God chose Mary out ofall the congregation of Israel, even as David her father prophesied, saying,98Numbers xvii, 8.151 Kebra Nagast The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the habitations ofJacob, 99 and he further said, Marvellous is His speech concerning thee,O city of God. 100 And when he saith, more than all the habitations ofIsrael and her gates [he referreth to] the silence of her mouth, and thepurity of her lips, and the praise which goeth forth from her mouth, likehoney which floweth from her lips, and the purity of her virginity whichwas without spot or blemish or impurity before she brought forth; andafter she had brought forth she was pure and holy, and so shall it be, evenas it was, unto all eternity.And in the heavens she goeth about with theangels a pure thing; and she is the rod of Aaron.She liveth in Zion with thepot which is filled with manna, and with the two tables that were writtenwith the Finger of God.And the heavenly, spiritual Zion is above them, theZion, the making and constitution of which are wonderful, of which GodHimself is her Maker and Fashioner for the habitation of His glory.And God spake unto Moses [saying], Make a Tabernacle of woodwhich is indestructible [by worms and rot], and cover it over with plates offine gold, every part thereof. 101 And the gold is the fineness of theGodhead that came down from heaven, for the Godhead comprehendethall heaven and earth; and in like manner is plated with gold the Tabernacle,the abode of the heavenly Zion.And the Tabernacle is to be interpreted asMary, and the wood which is indestructible is to be interpreted as Christour Redeemer.And the Gômôr,102 which is the pot of gold inside theTabernacle, is to be interpreted as Mary, and the manna which is in the potis to be interpreted as the Body of Christ which came down from heaven,and the Word of God which is written upon the two tables is to beinterpreted as Christ, the Son of God.And the spiritual Zion is to beinterpreted as the light of the Godhead.The spiritual Pearl which iscontained in the Tabernacle is like a brilliant gem of great price, and he99Psalm lxxxvii, 2.100Psalm lxxxvii, 3.101Exodus xxv, 10, an ark of shittim wood. 102Exodus xvi, 33, take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein
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