On the Consecration of the Church and on Moses the Prophet

On the Consecration of the Church and on Moses the Prophet Again Memra 3, on the Consecration of the Church and on Moses the Prophet Composed by Mar Jacob the Teacher. You who are rich, give to the needy who begs from you: as much as he takes is not diminished, for it turns and becomes more. Cast your gift upon the poor man, though he is not worthy; at your door the wretched one knocks, and no lord lets him in. However much you give me, I again ask, so that you may again increase for me; for I have not been sated with your gift, as you have bent down to me. In the stream of your discourse that flows after me richly, my thirst is great; let it be increased for me from its fullness. In these waves my tongue is weary from its history; the thirst of my thought is not quenched as it was spread out. Moses is deep, and the more one draws from him, the more he increases. Give me ground to receive the stream and to yield fruit. Give your exposition as an introduction to his glory from the hearers, so that praise may be for you, assistance for him, and consolation for me. To the field of Moses I have gone up; gather the handful of your mysteries. You, gather for me workers of praise upon your talent. The army of the ten tribes, set it in your homilies; give me to reach the blessed summit that comes in the hundred. Your body is great from the speakers and from the hearers; by testing the kernel, the beauty of your childhood has come.

In your swiftness you were not able to be delayed by her, and your form was seen in me through all the narratives. Moses, your death, behold, is depicted between my lips, and upon your call he was a prophet like me, his form in you entirely. For the deaf, then, the shadow of Simon your disciple, to my thoughts, which are weak in Moses, support them with your shadow. As much as you resemble him, from his story he does not cease, alas, and that I saw you in him, as if I were silent from his labor. It incites me to go out after him quickly, while it makes me hope that behold, it supports me toward the end. And when I finished the great narrative, behold, I did not hasten; toward its end again a beginning is shown to me. I will flee now, that I may enter the abode of silence, lest I be left in the middle of the open path of his mysteries. Be silent much and say little from his wonders, that from the first things a taste of the wondrous things was taken. By the hand of Moses the church was signed in mystery, and according to the pattern it was a type that was shown and hidden. Not truly in her was he, for he was not her lord; he signed her sign mysteriously and let go and passed on. For the church was chosen, behold, for eternity, and Moses witnessed that he saw her death on Mount Sinai. This turn, my thoughts did not quickly set it; truth hinted to me that thus the truth speaks in you.

In the beginning, Moses saw the Church on the mountain, and he descended and sketched her in the midst of the camp that was to be established by her. When he was commanded concerning the pattern of the Tabernacle of the Tent, he truly saw the likeness of the Church. Hear, O discerning ones, without hesitation: the truth is manifest, that this is the truth, though I am unable to speak fully about it. For when his Lord commanded Moses to show and to make the Tabernacle of the Tent, which serves the mystery in the rites of the Church, from the moment he thought, all his inward parts were arranged here, that in likeness to that which he saw on the mountain, I might show you. The Church that he desired, he ascended and saw within the cloud; Jerusalem was the upper chamber that he saw there. For the disciple of craftsmanship learns something: he sees the completed work and then approaches it. Not from words does the great teacher expound the teaching; he shows the completed work to the one who learns. For it is not possible to make anything without having seen it, because craftsmanship without demonstration is not learned. And what the great one spreads out to teach without tiring, he brings a perfect intention and sets it before his disciple. For thus the Creator did with Moses, his servant: he showed him the perfect Church there, so that he might sketch her likeness, so that the form might not be lost from him when he descended; he saw her in truth, so that what is sketched might not again be mistaken.

In the hearing of the knowledge of the pattern of something that is not to be thought: It is a vision that can depict and hold all forms. For Moses saw the Church that was to be built with his own eyes: He did not need all of it; her beauty was to be shown and made. For in the likeness in which she was revealed to him on Mount Sinai, he came down and kindled that pattern without a model. He saw the breadth of her that is adorned with flame, and the spaciousness of her that is extended in great height. He saw her structure that was suspended in the air, and her great monastery that was strong in the house of angels. He saw that the ends of the height are held and she is small, and her blessings are cast upon the regions and again extended. He saw her depth that is filled with the forces of height, and they dwell in it without being disturbed, though they are many. He saw the dwelling that resides within her in the holy of holies, and the orders of the mountain resound in her with voices of praise. He saw the choirs standing in her spiritually, and the extended rows that are spread in her in a mountainous manner. He saw the celestial orders that dwell there, and the watchers in glory that cry out voices of sanctity. He saw her when she is full, and as much as they enter, they fill her depth, and she covers the bodies so that they may be patient like the watchers.

Moses saw her, for her perfection was from the Treasury. And her great house, the whole mountain, was from every side. He saw the glorious altars that rejoice in her, as the holy mysteries are offered in her with their mouths. He saw the creation that had been made, a footstool for her feet, and she was like freedom, in a height that is above, being revealed. He saw her when she was above the limits of all heights, and above her, her Lord alone exists like a head. He saw the splendor of the sanctifiers, how they are arranged, and these voices of the blessers, how powerful they are. He saw in her a place that is glorious and magnificent and untranslatable, and within it, something hidden and wonderful and unattainable. He saw in her a light poured out, continuous, that cannot be measured, a radiance of the power of a flame that cannot be spoken. He saw the design of the open doors, the faces of the doors, where radiance was spread and a dwelling-place was established within from the light. He saw in the likeness a house within, as one who made it, and a court surrounding it outside, as one who built it. He saw the rows and also the columns that surround her, a work of light, and it was cut and engraved from the Treasury. He saw the branches of one that are bound in her, and in their place, curtains he had made for his own.

He saw it laid out in the midst of the mountain with all its designs. And he depicted the skins of the curtains that were stretched in those inner chambers. He saw the crescent moon in the form of that bow of clouds, and the hemisphere together with the zodiac he depicted like her. He saw her with cherubim as she was borne on the shoulder of the mountain, and he made the vaults of the Levites, his own adornment. As he saw her, so he delineated her with exactness. Had he not seen her, he would have been unable to depict all her features. Here the mystery was revealed like the sun in its clarity, and he, the beholder, spoke to me with precision. Moses was like our Lord in those things he accomplished, for his likeness, his shadow, and the form of his body. At that time when he saw in that mountain the Levite, it was to her, the Church, that he became in the form of that which is of the Messiah. And the Church was being built in mystery from that time onward. David is witness, who saw her there again, just as also Moses did. He recalled her Church, which was built from the beginning, now manifestly. David proclaimed concerning the design of the perfect one. Moses saw her perfection and descended and delineated her, and he brought the mystery of the Church and our Lord upon her design. These are not obscure things that I have said, nor things for hearers; for the matter requires understanding and is known. Now I have taken it upon myself to show you truly how Moses delineated the Church in all its designs.

In the Tabernacle he formed the seat of the Crown, and in the Holy of Holies the glorious altar, the Lord of mysteries. For the leaders of the people, the seventy, he formed through the apostles, and for the twelve, the heads of the tribes, these elders. From that spirit which was in Moses, he depicted in these, as the Messiah from the spirit of his mouth depicted in his apostles. These were teachers for the whole people through the hands of Moses, and he was honored like a god from the camp. The seventy took from his spirit and went out among the houses of the tribes, as the Messiah in the group of the seventy was being proclaimed. This mystery was bound to the summit of Jethro, and because of this he took the authority of being a god. This order which came into the world through the hands of the Lord, behold, from Moses it was being transmitted spiritually. For if Moses had not formed all of it in them, he would not in truth have called himself my likeness. Mysteries were sealed in him until he burned, and also his body, and the remainder of his form to the great radiance of divinity. He was consumed in the pattern of his fiery coals, until he shone like a jewel in the glory he put on. He ascended to the image and was kindled in it like a coal, and came out from it, being consumed like a flame. His form was a burning flame from the Messiah, and the people took him as a god with great fear.

He formed the mystery of the crown of the mountain within his person, and he was squared in it, and he was hastening those who saw him. His entire image was formed in that Savior, and because of his beauty, he cast down the hastening one in all his visions. He leaped within the wombs and was mingled with them from the Messiah. And behold, he was near to making the people think that he was God. He ascended to the height of mysteries and went up straightway, and behold, he completed the glorious name of divinity. The whole earth was astonished at the wombs of the hair, and it was near to believing that he was its Lord. The name of might was fixed for him among the peoples, and they saw that he was ruler over creatures. The camp saw when he commanded height and depth, and she took her eye to see him in the name of creation. He led the people astray even to God in that he was hidden, and Moses, who was near, was filling the place of his Lord. Up to here, Moses magnified himself in his wonders, and again I am not able to approach with him to expand for myself. For I have become weary from his history, from the son of Levi, for how much more I would say, the remainder and the end are not. If my mind had not been wearied from him from the beginning of the discourse, now I would be speaking with certainty.

If he had not been lost among the many, this would be the end, not the completion, of his discourse on Moses. Here he placed a word of silence like a sign, and if there is time again, I will proceed on the path of Moses. The mystery that serves continually and is not spoken of is wondrous; and I will be silent, lest the great type be diminished in me. For that descent from the top of the mountain to the people—how can one speak of it as it is? Up to this point, he was serving with glorious mysteries, and here he took the great image of the king and descended. He shone like the sun upon the Hebrews and cast light; rays went forth from his face upon the camp. His light flashed, and the people were amazed at his might; his beams descended, and the tribes trembled at the wonder of the sight. The sun of flesh cast rays and descended from the mountain, and with the veil he bore his majesty from the beholders. O veil, veiled of mysteries, I marvel at you, that through the humanity of the Son of God your interpretation was formed. By that veil which Moses placed upon his face, the incarnation of the Son of God was revealed. Because of these mysteries of truth which Moses put on, he called his Lord the Son, the prophet, like me. Within the veil, the hidden one was for Moses his honor, and through his humanity the Church received our Lord.

Woe and a fall upon the face of Moses before the camp. This is the pattern of the Church, which took on the Lord in His body. These mysteries are sung in the air with a fine melody. And in a polished and sharp tone, they were again enriched. And briefly, the story of Moses was spoken by me. Do not, my Lord, despise his small labor, the hidden one. Accept the weakness of the discourse lovingly. And a listening fell upon your distinguished table distinctly. That your limit has not yet come, my Lord, from sorrow. For who would confess that your story is told in a limited way? Accept the hour of the small voices that I have sent to you. And turn to me, the treasure of mercy, until I come again. Instead of the songs that I have sung here in an aged manner, extend your mercy, your mercy, and by it I will live in a foreign land. Son of God, upon whom Moses wrote of His servant, to you is praise, to your Church hope, and to me forgiveness.