Kebra Nagast

Concerning the Rods of Moses and Aaron which came down from heaven, and the Word of God which is written upon the two tables is to be interpreted And the spiritual Zion is to as Christ, the Son of God. be interpreted as the light of the Godhead. The spiritual Pearl which is contained in the Tabernacle is like a brilliant gem of great price, and he who hath 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 goeth into the Tabernacle, and he is an inmate therein. And he who possesseth the Pearl is interpreted as the Word of God, Christ. And the spiritual Pearl which is grasped is to be interpreted as Mary, the Mother of the Light, through whom " 'Akratos," the " Unmixed," assumed a body. In her He made a Temple for Himself of her pure body, and from her was born the Light of Light, God of God, 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 God brought Israel out of Egypt, they thirsted for water in Kades, and and Moses they murmured and wept before Moses went to God and made Him to know this. And God " said unto him, Take thy rod and smite this rock J>1 and Moses 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 Christ, and the streams of water as the Apostles, and that which they drank as the teaching of the Apostles, and the rod is the wood of the Cross. And the rock is stable, as it saith in the Gospel, " He who buildeth upon a rock shall not be moved by the demons." 2 And again He saith, " I am the gate," and 1 M 2 Exodus xvii, 6. * Matthew vii, 24, 25. I 79