Homilies on Numbers 3.1–4.3

It is written of the manna that at that time, if anyone took it as God had commanded, he was nourished by it; but if anyone wished to take it against God's command and against the measure divinely set, he did not enjoy it as life-giving food, but worms bred from it. And so it happened that one and the same kind of manna produced worms and rottenness for some, and for others provided wholesome food necessary for life. So our manna too is the word of God, and among us, too, the word of God becomes salvation for some and turns to punishment for others. And for this reason I think the Lord and Saviour himself, who is the living Word of God, said: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” How much better it would be for some not to hear the word of God at all than to hear it with malice or with hypocrisy! But we say “better” by comparison with evils. What is truly better, truly more right and more perfect, is that whoever hears the word of God should hear it with a good and simple heart, hear it with an upright and prepared heart, so that, as in good soil, it may bear fruit and grow. We have said these things by way of preface because of some who come to hear not with a simple or faithful mind. I speak of certain catechumens, with whom perhaps some of those who have already received baptism are also to be numbered. For not all who are of Israel are Israelites; nor are all who have been washed with water at once washed also with the Holy Spirit; just as, conversely, not all who are counted among the catechumens are strangers to the Holy Spirit and without share in him. For I find in the divine Scriptures some catechumens held worthy of the Holy Spirit, and others, having received baptism, unworthy of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Cornelius was a catechumen, and before he came to the water he was found worthy to receive the Holy Spirit. Simon had received baptism, but because he approached the grace with hypocrisy he is rejected from the gift of the Holy Spirit. I would not have you doubt that even now among the people of the catechumens there are some Corneliuses, to whom it can be said, “Your alms and your prayers have gone up into heaven”; and again that among the people of the faithful there are some Simons, to whom one must boldly say: “O full of all deceit and fraud, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness.” I say these things for my own correction, not only for that of the hearers. For I too am one of those who hear the word of God.

But let us now hear what the divine word says to Moses. “And the Lord spoke to Moses,” it says, “saying: Behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel in place of every firstborn that opens the womb among the sons of Israel; they shall be their redemption, and the Levites shall be mine. For every firstborn is mine. From the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified to myself every firstborn of Israel; from man to beast it shall be mine: I am the Lord.” The Levites are taken in place of the firstborn, although they are certainly not firstborn. For Levi is born third from Leah: Reuben is the first, Simeon the second, Levi the third; and those who are not firstborn by nature are taken as firstborn. Are we to believe that these things were written idly in the law of God? Or does it not teach us that with God those are not held to be firstborn who come first by bodily birth, but those whom God himself, having looked into the purpose of their mind, judges fit to be taken into the rank of the firstborn? For thus with God Jacob, though later in birth, was judged firstborn, and received the blessings of the birthright through his father's blindness, divinely arranged. For it is from the purpose of the heart, which was open to God even before they were born in this world or did anything good or evil, that the Lord declares of them, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” So the sons of Levi are indeed not firstborn according to the flesh, but they are taken in place of the firstborn, so that it is something greater to be taken in place of a firstborn than to be born firstborn. “Behold,” it says, “I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel.” Say simply, “I have taken the Levites from the sons of Israel.” Why do you add “and from the midst of the sons of Israel”? From what midst? Levi is third among the sons of Israel, as we said above. I would like to know, then, from what midst the Levites are taken. I find in the Scriptures that blessed Shunammite woman, who once fed the prophet, answering him with confidence when he wished to obtain some favor for her from the king of Israel, and saying, “I dwell in the midst of my people.” But more fully and more magnificently I see it written in the Gospel about our Lord and Saviour, when John says, “One stands in the midst of you whom you do not know.” I think, then, that he who never turned aside to the right or to the left can be said to stand in the midst, he who committed no sin and in whose mouth no deceit was found. And therefore he, because he always stands, is said to stand in the midst. But anyone who is his imitator, like all the saints and that blessed woman we mentioned above, is not said to stand. For it is impossible that one should not at some time have leaned either to the right or to the left. “For no one is clean from filth, not even if his life be of one day.” Yet she is said to dwell in the midst of the people; and so the Levites too are taken from the midst of the sons of Israel. For the Levites are those who did not know their right hand and their left, but, following Moses, that is, the law of God, spared neither father nor mother. You too, then, if, when temptation comes, when the anger of sin comes, you do not lean to the right or to the left, nor transgress the law of God, but stand fixed and steady in the midst and do not lean, nor bend your knees to sin, nor follow the head of a beast, that is, the image of folly, you will be taken from the midst of the sons of Israel and placed in the number of the firstborn. So much on what is written, “And I will take the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel.”

But, if you please, let us go back once more to the order of the literal account itself which is related in Numbers, and from it consider the mystery of the firstborn, where and how it ought to be sought. Let us then review more attentively how the twelve tribes are distributed by threes into four parts and encamp at a fixed station toward each quarter of heaven; and we shall find Judah placed on the east with Issachar and Zebulun; Reuben on the west with Simeon and Gad; on the south Ephraim with Benjamin and Manasseh; and on the north Dan with Naphtali and Asher. With all these placed round about as at the four corners of the earth, in their midst, as nearest to God, the Levites are stationed around the very tabernacle of God. In the camp of Judah, which is on the east, are Moses and Aaron; in the camp of Reuben, Gershon; in the camp of Benjamin, Kohath; and where Dan pitched camp, Merari is written to have been placed; and so the sons of Levi appear to be in the midst of the sons of Israel on every side and round about, as if inserted among the rest and bound to them. These are the things the letter of the law sets out for us, so that, gathering from them the seeds of sacraments, we may climb as by steps from the lowly to the lofty and from the earthly to the heavenly. Ascend, then, now, O hearer, if you can, and lift yourself up from earthly senses by the gaze of the mind and the insight of the heart. Forget earthly things for a little while; walk with the step of the mind above the clouds and above heaven itself. There seek the tabernacle of God, where Jesus our forerunner has entered for us and now appears before the face of God interceding for us. There, I say, seek these fourfold orders and stations of the camp. There behold the Israelite ranks and the watches of the saints, and there search out those sacraments of the firstborn which we are now seeking here. But I do not dare to ascend there alone; I do not dare to plunge into these so secret recesses of the mysteries without the authority of some great teacher. I cannot ascend there unless Paul goes before me and himself shows me the way of this new and steep journey. He, then, the greatest of the apostles, knew that there are many churches not only on earth but also in heaven, of which John too enumerates seven; yet Paul, wishing to show that besides these there is also a certain church of the firstborn, says, writing to the Hebrews: “For you have not come to a burning and tangible fire, but you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to a multitude of angels praising together, and to the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven.” So Moses describes the people of God divided into four camps on earth; and the Apostle describes four orders of the saints in heaven, to each of which, he says, one or another of us comes. For not all come to all; some come to Mount Zion; those a little better than these come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; those still more eminent come to the multitude of angels praising together; and those who are above all these come to the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven. If, then, you have understood from this what the order of the firstborn is and what the sacrament of that name is, prepare yourself and strive as hard as you can, that you may perhaps advance in acts, life, conduct, faith, and practice, so as to be able to come to the church of the firstborn which is enrolled in heaven. But if you are not so strong, but a little lower, come to the multitude of angels praising together. And if you cannot ascend even to that order, at least strive to hasten to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And if you are not fit even for this, at least strive toward Mount Zion, so that you may be saved on the mountain. Only do not stay on the earth, do not remain in the valleys, do not persist in the sunken and low places. This is how I think we should understand that the sons of Levi are taken as firstborn, who minister to God, serve his altar and tabernacle, and celebrate the divine ministries in perpetual watches.

But the words “in place of every firstborn that opens the womb” do not seem to me easy to discuss and explain. For not everyone who opens the womb is at once to be held worthy of the sanctification of the firstborn, since we also read in the Psalms that “sinners are estranged from the womb, they went astray from the belly, they spoke lies.” This certainly cannot stand at all according to the letter. How could anyone stray from the way of God as soon as he came out of his mother's belly? Or how could a newborn child speak lies, or utter any word at all? Since, then, it is impossible for anyone to stray from the belly or to speak lies, it will be necessary to seek such a belly and such a womb as this saying can fit, that “sinners are estranged from the womb, they went astray from the belly, [they spoke] lies.” And that will be the womb which every firstborn opens who is sanctified to God. God once opened the womb of Leah, which was closed, and she bore patriarchs; likewise that of Rachel, so that she too might bear, whose sight was keen and appearance comely. And in many other places of Scripture you will find wombs opened. If you consider each of them in its place, you will find how sinners stray from the womb, and how those who open the womb are sanctified in the order of the firstborn. “And the Levites shall be mine,” it says, “for every firstborn is mine: from the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to myself every firstborn.” What the literal account contains about them is well known: how the firstborn of the Egyptians were struck when the people of Israel was led out of Egypt. This, then, is what is indicated in the passage: that the firstborn of Israel were not sanctified before the firstborn of the Egyptians were struck; and it sets the death and slaughter of the latter as, so to speak, the cause of the sanctification of the former. Hence here too we must understand that there are certain firstborn among the Egyptians also, that is, among the opposing powers, chosen as it were in wickedness and first among the demons; and unless these are struck down and destroyed, the firstborn of the Israelites cannot receive sanctification at all. Who, then, is he who struck the firstborn of the Egyptians, that is, the principalities and powers of the demons? Is it not my Lord Jesus Christ, who is the firstborn of all creation, who led away the hostile principalities and powers, triumphing over them on the cross? Had he not struck them and triumphed over them, the sanctification of the firstborn could by no means have come to us. And so that he might give us the blessings of the firstborn, he himself first became the firstborn from the dead, that he might hold first place in all things, and might take us who believe in his resurrection in place of the firstborn and set us in the order of the firstborn, provided that we hold the grace of the blessings firm to the end, helped by the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen.

The book that is read to us is Numbers, in which many different numberings are written down concerning the sons of Israel. But after the sons of Israel the Levites too are counted separately. For they had not been reviewed with the sons of Israel, and their number is set apart and distinguished above the rest; in it they are reported to have been found to be twenty-two thousand in all, so that neither more nor less than this number was found. After this the Lord commanded that the firstborn of the sons of Israel also be counted in the same way as the Levites had been counted, that is, from one month and upward, and the firstborn of the sons of Israel are found to be twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three. Do you think that through these things Moses wished to teach us only the literal account of a number, and enclosed no mystery in these differences of numbers, as is his custom? Will it seem that there is no reason why only two hundred and seventy-three are said to be in excess among the firstborn of Israel, while among the Levites, at twenty-two thousand, nothing is described as either exceeding or lacking? If anyone observes, he will often find that in the divine Scriptures the number twenty-two is assigned to certain fundamental matters. For they report that among the Hebrews the elements of letters are twenty-two, as first principles. Again, twenty-two fathers are recorded from the first-formed Adam to Jacob, from whose seed the twelve tribes take their beginning. They also report that the kinds of all God's creatures are gathered within the number twenty-two. And whoever pursues it more carefully will find many other things in the Scriptures consecrated under this number. For this reason, then, the Levites, that is, those who serve the Lord, and the firstborn of the sons of Israel are marked with this admirable and sacred number. But as for the two hundred and seventy-three added among the sons of Israel, it does not seem idle to me, yet I do not easily see a way to solve it, unless the Lord deigns to open and take away for us the veil laid by Moses on these letters. Now the generation of the human race in the flesh (as those skilled in such matters assert) is contained in the womb for nine months, but it is said not to be moved to birth until three days of the tenth month have also passed; and so it is found that this number, two hundred and seventy-three, indicates the days which are gathered from nine months and three days of the tenth month, and together they make these two hundred and seventy-three days through which entrance into this world is granted to the human race. And so in the number twenty-two the sum of all creatures together is gathered by mystical reasons; but in those found in excess among the firstborn of Israel the mystery of human generation is also expressed. After this, when the sons of Levi had been divided into three orders, and each order was reckoned under the names of three chiefs, certain differences among them too are recorded, not without mysteries. For the order of the sons of Kohath is described first, and rightly: for from him descended Moses and Aaron, to whom the highest priesthood is entrusted. From him Amram is born, and from Amram Moses and Aaron. Gershon, then, is second, who is first by birth but is held second in order. For thus Scripture says: “The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.” But from the sons of Kohath two orders are again marked out: those who descend from Aaron are devoted to the priesthood, while the rest are appointed to minister to the priests; and therefore the duties of the Levites are divided into four parts: that Aaron and his sons should exercise the priesthood; that those who remain of the people of Kohath should carry the holy of holies on their shoulders; that the sons of Gershon should take care of what pertains to the tabernacle of testimony or its courts, the skins or coverings, and whatever is less hard and light to bear; and that the sons of Merari should carry the pillars of the tabernacle, its bases and its bars. Therefore in reviewing them Scripture pointedly records that “the strength of Merari” is to be reviewed: for strength is needed to carry burdens of this kind.

But let us return at last to the apostle Paul, who, looking at all these things with the eye of the mind now free and unveiled, and casting off the veil of the Old Testament, says that the former people served in constructions of this kind a copy and shadow of heavenly things. Hearing this, consider whether perhaps these four orders of the camp are a copy and shadow of those four orders which Paul, writing to the Hebrews, enumerated in heaven. And again, to the four Israelite orders of the camp add the four orders of the Levites; it is enough for us not so much to explain and open these things as only to have touched on them, and to have pointed them out and lightly sketched them for purer minds (if there are any who have brought here minds pure and free from worldly thoughts). “Take,” it says, “the number of the sons of Kohath.” Behold, again another order of numbering is introduced. The sons of Levi have already been counted from one month and upward; now the sons of Levi are counted from the twenty-fifth year, not “and upward,” as for the others above, but up to the fiftieth year, and this becomes a special and chosen number. For it is added to them: “Everyone who goes forth to minister in the works of the tabernacle of testimony.” These are the ones counted with a better and special number. For just as among the sons of Israel it was said, “Everyone among the sons of Israel who goes forth to battle,” so here it is said, “Everyone who goes forth to ministry, to do the works in the tabernacle of testimony.” After this it is said what the works of the sons of Kohath are, in the midst of the sons of Levi, according to their clans, in the tabernacle of testimony. “Aaron and his sons,” it says, “shall go in when the camp is set to move, and shall take down the veil with which the holy things are covered, and shall cover the ark of the testimony with that veil.” And after this seven kinds of things are listed which they are commanded to cover. In the first place, that the ark of the covenant itself, more precious than all, be covered with the veil by which it was formerly veiled, and covered also with a hyacinth skin above; yet another covering of hyacinth is added above. In the second place the table is covered; third, the lampstand; fourth, the golden altar; fifth, the vessels of ministry; sixth, the covering of the altar is put on with certain coverings; in the seventh place the laver too is covered, and none of all these is left bare or uncovered. Finally a command of this kind is added: “Do not destroy the clan of Kohath from its tribe”: that is, so that they would know that they would be destroyed if they put their hands to moving these things before each of them had first been covered by the priests.

Now, then, let us return to this tabernacle of the church of the living God, and see how these things must each be observed in the church of God by the priests of Christ. If anyone is a priest to whom the sacred vessels, that is, the secrets of the wisdom of the mysteries, have been entrusted, let him learn from these things and observe how he must keep them guarded within the veil of conscience and not lightly bring them out in public. Or, if the matter requires him to bring them out and hand them on to inferiors, that is, to the less skilled, let him not bring them out bare, nor show them open and wholly exposed; otherwise he commits murder and destroys the people. For everyone is destroyed who touches the secret and ineffable sacraments before he has been advanced by merits and knowledge into the order and rank of the priesthood. For to the sons of Aaron alone, that is, to the priests, it is granted to see the ark of the covenant itself, the table, the lampstand, and whatever else of the things we listed above, bare and uncovered. Let the others see these things covered, or rather let them carry them veiled on their shoulders. And the sons of Kohath, because, though they are not priests, they are next to the priests, can carry these things on their shoulders; but the others place their burdens and ministries not on their shoulders but on wagons. For, to say something in anticipation of the reading about what the passage prompts, when wagons were offered by the several tribes, the sons of Merari received four of them and the sons of Gershon two. But those who are better than these receive no wagons. Consider now, then, what kind of division is made in the duties of the divine ministry, and how the things that are holy are not laid on dumb animals to carry, but men must be rational and carry on their shoulders the vessels with which the holy of holies is served. But the things that are heavier and harder are laid on dumb animals rather than on rational beings to carry. And among these too there is some difference. For those who perform the heavier and harder ministries have more animals: four wagons are given to the sons of Merari, but to the sons of Gershon, because they were near the sons of Kohath, two wagons suffice. From this it is shown that for the harder and, so to speak, coarser works there are more who serve like animals; but to the things handled by rational beings few come of those who appear to be instructed or learned in them. For to the things that are mystical, hidden in secret, and open to priests alone, not only does no natural man come, but not even those who seem to have some training and learning, if they have not yet ascended by merits and life to the priestly grace. They not only see these things through a mirror and in an enigma, but also receive them covered and veiled and carry them on their shoulders, so that they may know them by the action of works rather than by the revelation of knowledge. Since, then, the dispensation of the mysteries of God and of the ministry held in the holy place is of this kind, we must show ourselves such that we may be made worthy of the order of the priesthood, so that heavy burdens may not be laid on us as on irrational beings, but we may be assigned to priestly duties as rational and holy. For we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and a people for God's possession, provided that, carrying out by the merits of our life the grace we have received, we may be held worthy of the holy ministry: so that when we depart from this life we may deserve to be taken up, as we said above, among the priests of God and those who minister to the ark of the covenant, that is, in the hidden and secret mysteries, and with unveiled face behold the glory of the Lord, and enter the holy land, whose inheritance our Lord Jesus Christ will grant us, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen.