On the Miracles of Moses

On the Election of Moses: and on the Bush that was Seen A Memra of Twenty-Four On the Election of Moses: and on the Bush that was Seen in the Fire: and on the Deliverance of the Israelites And it is Recited on the Fifth Day of Passover A Homily Blessed is the one who killed death: and healed the living On the day of his salvation: the living A new vision the son of Amram saw upon the summit of the mountain A bush in the fire and fire in the bush and it was not consumed A tender substance he saw when it stood in the mouth of the flame And its heat did not injure its moisture Like a lioness its mouth was opened, the tongue of flame And the bush before it like food and it did not approach it A devouring Sheol of the living that eats and is again vomited forth It was a fast in the mountain of Horeb, contrary to custom On the night of the order which she appointed all to the greatness of her belly An order of nature before the revelation of God Divinely it was shown to the eyes of Moses And when it was burning it was not burning for the kindling In the form of a bush it was shown to the son of the Hebrews And when it was a bush and was not a bush in the nature of bushes A likeness of a bush he saw when it dwelt among the branches of the fire And it greatly astonished him who cast upon it the command of silence With an unsubdued wildness its simplicity Like a hero its strength was exhausted under the command

A hidden sign assumed a visible form, and cast the bodies of the flame into the mouth of its chariot. On the summit of the mountain stood the herald of its swiftness, and the shadow of the mountain beneath its force trembled like horses. The sound of the mountain Moses heard in the mouth of the bush, and he desired to learn the cause of the vision that was shown to him. “Draw near and see the great vision,” said the voice, “why does the bush burn while it is not consumed?” That command which shaped the vision called him secretly, that he might approach and ask what the cause is and for what reason. He urged him to draw near to the face of the seer gently, and turned back his fear without approaching, since he was not holy. “Moses, Moses,” it called him and said to him as he knew, “Remove your sandals and then draw near to where I am. I am holy, and the mountain was sanctified by my presence; do not defile it with the sandals of your feet in the place that is pure.” He considered the sandals of his feet a blemish, not that it was a blemish, but that he might enter into the greatness of the vision before its revelation. He taught him to draw near to the revelation in a holy manner, that he might know how to sanctify the elders of his people. In this way he showed him the sight of the flame, that he might add the mountain of the name of the Creator in the forest of his error. In the fire he examined the great power of the power that can do all, and through the bush he revealed the wealth of his goodness.

The harshness of its mystery and its sweetness were bound in the vision, and the sign of the fire was fixed in the form of an image before its son. He sent it against the Egyptians and the Israelites, to shake and to save, like a test of his true power. As a swift hero, he was prompt at its command to strike Egypt, and to show in a moment that he does not delay in the destruction of a people. From within the mountain he spoke with him, a silent speaker, saying to him, "I am the Lord who rules over all and in all. I am He who created creation at the beginning from nothing, and by my power the world stands, a work made by my hands. I am the God who chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as servants, and honored you with the great name of my glorious name. I am the God who promised the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham, and I came to fulfill my promises through you in deeds. The cry of the suffering of the house of the Egyptians was the cause of your sending, and I descended to rescue their infancy from oppressors. I know the pain of their heart, how bitter it was over that which the vision of the staff concealed from you. I forgive the wickedness of their persecutors, how they exalted themselves over that which the sword of the spirit destroyed for you. To you I give the weapon of my word, which is not to be restrained; go, humble with it the sons of Ham, the servant who enslaves the free.

Go, tell him to do the cursed deeds of his father, when he enslaved the sons of the innocent by the blessing of his father. Go, proclaim to him the freedom of the soul for the son of Shem, the firstborn, and cast off from him the servitude of Ham, the contemptible. The covenants of the true promises of the side of the Spirit of the Church, that the lying seed of the accursed one might not enter its heart through its pride. A father, a father who blessed, and a father, a father who cursed according to the thoughts, and a father, a father who reigned over the servants among the sons of Shem for the accursed one. Wisely you blessed and cursed both sides, and if the cursed one turns my blessings into curses, a father turns him. Indeed, reveal the power of my blessings to the Israelites, and reveal and show the sign of my curses to the Egyptians. Go, bring them the good news to the sons of the merciful, and remind them of the covenants they confessed to him. The name of the God of their fathers, plant in their hands, and behold, they are stirred by the sound of the trumpet of their freedom. Hear, the Hebrew, the freedoms of his people, and humble himself, and turn back, lest it be the hearing of one without actions. Behold, a father goes, his voice lowly to the voice that called him, and a father proclaims to the Israelites the good news of your name. Behold, a father proclaims the name of God in the hands of the people, and behold, the name follows him, the true one, and what he said.

The name of God which is without limit is in creation. And if I bring the name of God, they will say, "Where is he?" The name is sought first by my hands and by deeds. And as I called you before the seekers who seek your name. See the Creator who seeks much the seeking of his name. And reveal and show him the name of being which is without beginning. The name of his being taught him to reveal before the Hebrews that he is without beginning and without end. Not by the name is man concealed from the wise, but by the power and deeds of the worker of action. I am being, and the name of my being is that which is not perceived. And no man has set a name for me, a secondary name for the son, apart from that which is being. If you wish to learn the name that proclaims my lordship, God alone is concealed, both man and again worker. This then is the sign of the name of my being. And it was established upon him for the voice of the two testaments. Hear, son of Amram, the name of being which is and is hidden. And see how the people believe in something that is hidden. Go again and say, "Come," and say to the messenger that God is the man of your fathers, of Abraham and Isaac. These were inheritances for Pharaoh, who heard and did not wish to go, lest he go and not believe. Behold, the people do not believe the words of the mouth of Pharaoh. And again Pharaoh does not hear the voice of the name of being.

He sees the Creator of causes seeking to compose, and he seizes the door before the causes of his simplicity. He sees his faith shaken in one of the disputes, and he places the medicine of the power of the signs upon his thought. Why is this, that he asks from your hands as if he does not know, and says, "It is a staff," when he does not know what he asks? He asks of the one who confesses that something exists, the staff that is in his hand, that when it changed, he did not think that it was nothing. He threw it on the ground, saying, "The knots of the Lord of the staff," and cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and began to crawl. He sees the passerby change his staff, and he trembled and was confounded, and feared lest it strike him and cut off his life. His heart calls out a voice to speak with him who sees that he has fallen, that he might take the serpent as if it were a staff, and not be terrified. His heart trembles, and he seizes it in his hands as he was commanded, and he turns the serpent, and it becomes a staff as it was before. He turns and says to him, "Put in your hand and place it in your bosom, and put in and take out, and see that it becomes like snow." He commands him to turn and put in his hand a second time, and he puts in and takes out, and it turned and became as before. By his staff and his hand he teaches him the power of what is done by his hands, that he may rule and save and lift up the unjust and silence him.

with his staff he shows the hard knots upon the Egyptians, and in his hand the leprosy of the evil of the wicked among his people. They were afflicted when they entered from the leprosy of the two, and when they mingled with the Egyptians they were afflicted with sin. By the exodus from within Egypt they were purified, in that pattern of the leprosy of his hand and the turning of purity. In the likeness of the staff they were silent, also the Egyptians, and after a time they were like enchanters in sorcery. For their sakes the staff changes and becomes a serpent, and by its cunning it draws out the ear from evils. With two signs he marked a path for the one to be sent forth, when the manifest difficulties were before his mind. In the house of disputes his thoughts stood concerning her going, and he sought and mounted another cause for the confusion of his speech. He silenced the voice of the stammerer which the mouth makes into a sign, and the mouth gave speech to the eloquence that follows words. Behold, the staff that became serpents does not teach you that it is easy for me that by your confusion you proclaim my greatness. Why do you arrange causes and words against my will, for whether I will or not, I will go? Go, do not delay, lest these things that you have heard become not, from within your thoughts direct to the end and see the afflicted.

with his staff he shows the hard knots upon the Egyptians, and in his hand the leprosy of the evil of the wicked among his people. They were afflicted when they entered from the leprosy of the two, and when they mingled. The word is a beginning in the confusion of your mouth, and it interprets upon the Egyptians and upon the Hebrews. See the son of Amram, how he fills his words and goes on his way, and he takes with him his wife and his sons, and he goes and remains. In this we see a sign from Midian to the house of the Egyptians, that he might be saved, and not remain in the midst of his relatives. His heart is examined when he was stirred to hide, and it is revealed and his secret is examined, the hidden thing that is within his heart. In the form of wrath he met him on the way in the division, and he raised his sword and cut off the whole of the devourer. The sword flashed before his life as for a killing, and his wife saw and took upon her face the circumcision of her son. The circumcision was sealed in the form of a sign before the command, and the sword was finished from her participation, that it might not approach him. The sinner of blood said, "I have for the sake of her thought," and the life-giving one of the faith of the house of Abraham. The seal of Abram was sealed in her hand, the daughter of the priests, that she might see the blood of the lord of Abram and be stirred. Also, all know that she was baptized in the house of Abraham, and she took upon her face and bore his sword and was saved from killing. It was not that he might kill that he raised his hand, but that he might reveal the whole that Moses rode in his heart.

Like a commander he set the command over his camp, and he removed from it his rod and sent it forth openly. The staff alone gave to the shepherd to hold in his hand, that he might show through it the power of the signs of the people and the nations. The sword of the spirit he grasped in his hand for the battle, that he might go and do battle with the evil magicians of their error. Like a revealer he went up to Egypt that he had left, and he raised his staff and the word of his mouth, and it trembled from him. He went up and recounted to the nobles of his people the vision that he saw, and they saw when they did not see, because of the lack of faith they did not believe truly. Pharaoh also heard the name of God and trembled when he did not tremble, for he supposed that there was no God who would be concerned for him. He gathered the tribes and taught them to go the voice of the kingdom, and he went up against the king to show him the name of God. The Lord above all sent me against you by the hand of a rod, that I might save his people from the servitude of the worshippers of his name. The Israelites sought the divinity of him, and they are guilty of the debt of love of the Father and the Lord. He said to me, "Go and say to Pharaoh the king, 'Send me my firstborn son, whom you bore in the palm of my hands.'" "My firstborn son," said Moses, "the firstborn of the spirit of revelations," and the confession of his words was not accepted in the ears of Pharaoh. The Lord was patient, and his people were patient; the father did not know, and Israel was not able to save a man from servitude.

Go, Moses, do not err among the sons of your people, lest you add a heavy yoke upon their necks. Go, you staff, suffice for the rolling before the sophist, do not again add to speaking lest you be harmed. Moses was not moved from the command of the Egyptian, nor was he frightened from the laws of the Creator’s power. He turned and said to him, the son of Abraham to the son of Ham the servant, “This is the sign that I sent secretly to the house of the Egyptians.” The name of the sorcerer gave to me that he might bring it to the sons of his people; he called and observed and saw that what I said was true. Moses opened the proclamation of the name of the essence, and began to recite the first law of the transformation of the rod. The Israelite cast down the rod before the Egyptian, and it became a serpent, not in appearance but in truth. Pharaoh was not moved by the transformation of the rod that became a serpent, for he was accustomed to the spectacle of sorcery. For he supposed that, like sorcerers, he would err in their illusions, and that a false vision would show a fire of deception. He called the sorcerers of Jannes and Jambres in their appearances, and they cast down rods, but the lot of their thoughts did not succeed. They also did in the likeness of Moses, but not in truth, and truth arose and swallowed up their appearances. The serpent of truth swallowed up the lie and vanished, and Uphni, and the liars were not distinguished from the true one.

The magicians erred with their sorceries, Moses in that he had grown up among them from his youth. Hardened were their hearts, the hard-hearted, and they did not heed his words. And he brought another rod, another serpent. He raised his hand in the name of the Creator and struck the river, and the waters of the river became blood, bitter blood. The hardness of the serpent was turned into water for blood, so that Pharaoh might learn that because of him the silent ones were drowned. O Creator who is just, his hand is for the servant, why do you go to the poor one? The fools erred instead of the guilty. Pharaoh, guilty one, serpent hardened, who does not heed your words, and the silent ones who are not pacified by you, nor anything from you. Raise your staff and strike the fool for his folly, that he may not again be foolish and mock you insolently. O mind, do not be troubled insolently by that knowledge which, like a stone, in its testing is against its strength. Fairly does the poor one go, a voice instead of speakers, that they may know the greatness of his love for humanity. This he said, that the heart of Pharaoh was hard, not that it was hard, but that his error was in the course of his spirit. He could have pursued him and ended his life in one hour, but this was not fitting for his gentleness. Gently he led his error to the precipice without noise, until he himself sank into the abyss of iniquity.

The rod came out, the serpent that he had offered for sacrifice, and Moses cast it down and showed the cord that was destined to swallow. Before it swallowed, he revealed upon its cords the treasure of cords, that it might teach the magicians to be swallowed by it. He raised his hand and struck the ground, and the earth opened, and frogs came forth without number and covered its face. The arrogant one saw and was amazed and called upon God as judge, and the frogs acted deceitfully, as if they were not there. Those of Moses, in truth, were real in the form of a body, while those of the magicians were like a shadow that is nothing. The land of the Egyptians was sated with the frogs of Moses, and the rebel felt pain and sought and found no remedy. Ask the sacrificer, his humble servant, the meek one, of the arrogant one, and he said, "Tomorrow I will pray, and the wood will be consumed, and the frogs will perish." The rebel turned and his heart withdrew from the order, and Moses turned and showed him the cord that was full of vermin. He revealed to him beforehand that he was a man and would consume his hair, so that he might know that it was not deception but truth. With a hard rod, the earth swallowed from the speaker, and vermin burst forth in the likenesses of men and animals. In bodies, the vermin that the Israelite made multiplied, until even the Egyptians wailed from its evil. The hard cord swallowed the Egyptian from the Hebrew, and the magicians saw and raised a finger before God.

The finger of God it was that stayed Pharaoh, and he did not heed; the heart of the king was heavy with his sorceries. The Creator turned and sent against him five plagues, that he might send my people away, and he would not accept another cord. Behold, I send against you a swarm that destroys all kinds, mixed, confused, and corrupting all without restraint. And the truth of my word runs before its coming; behold, I separate between my people and your people, that it may not approach them. Behold, I set a great order against his confusion, and when it does not separate, it separates more than you. The swarm darkened and covered the face of the whole earth, and destroyed together the seeds and fruits of all trees. The rebellious one felt, filled the cup with poison while it was being struck, and called to Moses that he might hold back his hand from striking. "Stop your cords, son of the Hebrews; I have endured much from you. I will give the people that you asked to go with you." Moses raised the rod of the cord from the king, and turned and deceived, and did not give the people as he had promised. And the Lord said to Moses, "Open the door of the ark, and bring out the cords upon the kings who erred in their thoughts." A great death went out with the word of the son of the Hebrews, and it destroyed in a moment all the firstborn of the land of Egypt. The animals died, but his iniquity did not die, the iniquity; and the Lord saw and raised his hand through the son of his house.

In his evil sorcery he commanded that they strike the neck of the calf with the hand of its body, and he humbled himself from his high station. He cast ashes upon the faces of the earthly heights, and he troubled the air, and the sorceries went forth through the fingers. By the sorcery of the plagues, the evil ones caused the magicians to fall from their staff, and they were not willing to release the evil sorcery of their thoughts. With hard cords they bound themselves and were scattered, their limbs, and until the end, the blow of the plagues left its mark, another one. According to their illness, the hard ulcers consumed the food, so that it might cut off from them the pain of iniquity that would ease them. He signed to the air, not by the hands of Moses, that it might rain hail, and with the word, there were signs without delay. The earthly one hung his right hand upon the faces of the heights, and the hail of the mixed one descended upon them, the fire of wrath. Hail and fire mingled together, two opposites, and they descended and approached the wicked ones on behalf of the Creator. Hard battles the silent ones waged against the wicked ones, and they exacted from them tribute and the cry of the name of God. Where is the order that was disturbing from the orders, that the enemies loved equality because of it? Never have two opposite elements been seen that, when they are mixed, loved equality unnaturally. Who has ruled over creation like a son of man, who has bent natures and made them serve by the word of his mouth?

Here, that which he said would be God was fulfilled, and like God he commanded the sorcerers, and they obeyed his command. The sorcerers heard him and did not hesitate to perform his words, and the interpreters of the word rebelled against the rock of sorcery. For their rebellion, he changed the courses of all the elements and arranged them one after another slowly. After hail, he brought a locust that was strong and harsh, and it covered the earth like a garment, and it was not seen. It was strong, very good in its kind, and would not be again, and without sparing it destroyed and ruined fruits and seeds. The land of Egypt withered and dried up from all good things, and the heart of its inhabitants stood in anxiety. Also, Merkel raised his hand against their height, and after the locust, he sent darkness in a garment of shadow. For three days there was darkness in their dwelling place, and the hours of night were not distinguished from those of day. In the great darkness of ignorance, the dark ones sat, and they were hidden from the light and from consolation. At the end of the courses, Moses raised his hand as a sign and sent death upon the firstborn of the bitter one who mourned him. By night, an angel of death passed by, filled with iniquity, and killed together the firstborn of the Egyptians and of the beasts. The sword of the vigilant spirit flashed before their eyes, and it troubled the soul and cast it out and made it flee from the members.

He swiftly glides over bodies in the form of lightning, and like a champion he fought the limbs and saved the soul. Death slew all the firstborn of the free and the slaves and the Egyptians, and not a house remained that was not delivered by the death of the firstborn. He bound bitter wailings in all of Egypt, and they lamented and wept mournfully over their firstborn. They mounted mournful voices and cried out over the firstborn, and they grieved and were troubled mournfully over their children. He made the night of mourning dark over their firstborn, and he made the Israelites rejoice in the mystery of salvation. With the blood of a lamb he signed the salvation of their firstborn, so that the angel of death would not prevail over their firstborn. When the silent one silenced the speakers at their doors, the watcher saw him and drew back and passed by their houses. O sorcerer, by what power did you conquer the spirit? And you subdued and terrified the mountain and the spirit before you. All Egypt trembled, changing its customs because of his harshness, and you, silent one, by what power did you overcome the hero? This is not yours, what you have done, O feeble one; it is that mystery of the one who is to come, which the watcher saw and hid from before him. When the speaking one who is destined to free all the peoples comes, he will seal in you the mystery of his coming in the deliverance of the people. He established the mystery of truth for the sons of Jacob, and taught them to await it until he comes.

was without a corpse. On the fourteenth of the month Nisan he marked his memorial, that he might not forget this deliverance of his people. From the beginning he knew the mystery of this day, and he knew it before creation was established in Genesis. On it he redeemed the children of Abraham from servitude, and wrote his name before their eyes to be remembered in it. By the power of their deliverance the Israelites trembled, the Egyptians raised a finger and gave victory to the name of the Creator. Pharaoh called to Moses and said, "Arise, go out from here, and take your people and go worship before your God." "Go out from among my people," said the son of Ham to the son of Abraham, and when he did not wish to, he sought and struggled over his departure. From the time he was rebellious from the beginning against the truth, so he hastened at the end the cords of the people's departure. Quickly he hastened the exodus, and it was not his own doing, but a sign that was commanding him. A hidden sign was hastening him to send out the people, so that the day of the mystery that was being commemorated might not be delayed. In haste the Hebrews went out from within Egypt, and there was no time to hear the cry of their provisions. They went out rejoicing that they had despoiled the wealth of their pursuers, and Pharaoh turned back, greatly impoverished, remaining a beggar. A foolish error led the fool to a state of no return, and he exhausted his force and his chariots and went out after the people.

The whole people of the son of the rebel went out with him, and with him they received the powers of the pursuit of the sea. The city of the wicked, the wicked ones who were guilty of destruction, perished, and he set a hidden sign for a single destruction. By the sword of the waters they killed the wicked ones violently, and he did not make the pursuit good, as they had done. With horses and arms they went out to hunt the Israelites, and swiftly they pursued after them as far as the sea. The Hebrews saw their pursuers and died of terror, and they despaired of hope, that they could no longer be saved. They saw when the sea of power stood before their eyes, and Pharaoh like a tyrant behind them. They turned toward Moses, whose reconciliation with them was not out of love, but out of wrath and the divisions of their minds. Why did you bring them out of Egypt, that here it would be better for them to serve a good master than death? Moses prayed when he saw the wrath of the foolish people, and the Lord answered him, the one who answers him before he prays. He made darkness like a wall behind them, and before them a great light like a pillar. The pursuers wearied, making the darkness a thick darkness, and he turned their search into light in the hours of darkness. All night the darkness cried out from behind them, and all night the pillar shone before them.

The night of darkness and of the sorcerers was that night; for the people it was light, and for the Egyptians thick darkness. By lot the two sides were drawn up before the wonder, and the people and Pharaoh were striving for victory. Moses, with the hope of the power of the signs, was emboldened, and toward the Creator he directed the gaze of his exaltation. The Creator also, for his part, was being humbled toward him alone, and as to a child he was teaching him by hidden means. He saw that sign which he saw, how much he was pleased, and he spoke with him as with a friend whose love is true. "What have you prayed?" said the Lord to his servant. "Raise your hand and divide the sea, and let the people pass through." With the staff with which you struck the stiff-hearted Egyptians, with it smite them in the tumultuous sea, and learn the order. Through you I teach order to the deaf and to the mute, that they may know the power of the worker who will establish the sign. He struck the sea with it, and the tumultuous rush of its waves ceased, and the multitude of the Israelites and the Egyptians saw. He cried out to the mute one, "Behold, it hears you like a speaker; interpret for me, and behold, the powers of my essence are revealed." He murmured with the silent one as he was commanded, and the mute one heard and completed his word through the deeds. A broad way he made in its midst, through which the people passed. And like a wall the waters stood on both sides.

The great wonder that Moses wrought was not Moses, but the sign of the creative power that spoke through him. The seers saw a new vision through the seer, the silent nature that maintains order and does not release it. The commands of silence were cast upon the sorcerer, and he did not strike with the feet of his rods as before. That command that struck the water at the beginning, that same divided and cast down the order of the sorcerers. That daughter of the voice that struck the ears of the silent ones, they gave place that the people might pass between their rods. With the revealed staff they saw the hidden power and feared it, and they stood like servants from the right and from the left. Even the speakers who saw the sorceries that obeyed the command, they gave praise to the working power that can do all things. The weak people saw that a way was prepared in the water, and they began to walk in trust among the perils. As on dry land they walked in the deeps on the waters of Abraham, and as they walked they did not cease to journey. The travelers saw a new journey, not customary, and it was real and not real to their minds. As in a dream they saw in that crossing, and it was and was not, they doubted concerning its reality.

The Egyptians too stood in divisions at the wonder of the divided sea, or else they were not considered. A hidden sign that wrought this sought to make the people cross and the Egyptians to be drowned. Not the Hebrews crossed by their trust in faith, nor the Egyptians perished when they entered between the waves. As if for the blind, a sign in the sun was stretched out for them, and they did not discern to understand the power of the wonder. Ignorance spread over Pharaoh and his camp, and they stood foolish in the midst of the waters and were not enlightened. Like a hunter, the sign drew the hearts of the young, and it prolonged the snares of the waters from every side. Over the pursuer and all his host they stood in the abyss, and the covering of his limbs did not see his sins in harsh bonds. In its order the division of the sea stood firm until morning, and at morning it signalled to Moses to raise his hand. A harsh vision the Egyptians saw at that time, and they tightened the wheels of their chariots as if to flee. Not when they entered into the midst of the sea did they stand, nor this that they were humbled and feared the division. A hidden command entered the sign unwillingly, and again it cast the bridle of power over their minds. The son of the Hebrews turned his face and looked at the abyss, and the waters roared and covered the chariots and their riders.

The heavy ones sank like lead in their sins, and not one of them remained, a survivor who was not destroyed. All of them perished on the shore, for they were of one mind to drown the children of Israel in the waters of the river. By the abyss of waters the wicked died without being buried, in that same manner the infants died without lamentation. As they had done, so was done to them in turn, and the destructions they cast upon their companions followed in their hands. The Hebrews saw their corpses on the seashore, and they remembered the corpses of the wicked that floated on the river. They rejoiced and were glad, the sons of Abraham, in the Lord of Abram, that he had completed and fulfilled the promises of his words to Abram. They praised and magnified the power of the Creator who had freed them, and they believed in his name, and they loved and honored Moses, his servant.