Christi loquela ad sponsam sicut ad Moysen de rubo, qualiter per Pharaonem diabolus et per populum Israel moderni milites et per rubum corpus Virginis designantur et qualiter milites et moderni episcopi modernis temporibus parant mansiones diabolo.
The Burning Bush and the Oppressed People
Christ compares the modern oppression of his faithful to the Israelites' bondage in Egypt under Pharaoh.
The Law of Moses records that when Moses was tending his flock in the desert and saw the bush that was burning but not consumed, he was afraid and covered his face. The voice from the bush said to him, "The suffering of my people has reached my ears, and I have mercy on them, because they are oppressed by the harshest of service." I am the voice calling from the bush, who is speaking to you now. The misery of my people has reached my ears. Who were my people, if not Israel? By this, I now mean those soldiers in the world who have professed my service—who ought to be mine, but are being severely afflicted by the devil. But what did Pharaoh do to my people, Israel, in Egypt? Certainly three evils: At first, the workers building the walls weren't given the straw they needed to make bricks; instead, they had to go out and gather it themselves wherever they could find it across the region. Second, the builders got no thanks for their work, even though they had finished the required number of bricks. Third, they were severely oppressed by their overseers if they failed to meet their usual quota. These people of mine have built two cities for Pharaoh in the middle of great affliction. Who is this Pharaoh but the devil, who afflicts my people—that is, the soldiers who are bound to be my people? I tell you the truth: if the soldiers had remained in the order and constitution first established by my friend, they would have been among those dearest to me.1 Just as Abraham became my dearest friend by first accepting the command of circumcision and obeying me—and just as everyone who followed Abraham’s faith and works shared in his love and glory—so too have soldiers, among all other orders, pleased me especially, because they vowed to pour out what they held most dear: their own blood for my sake. Through this vow they pleased me greatly, just as Abraham did through circumcision, and they were purified daily by keeping their profession and embracing holy charity. But now, these soldiers are so oppressed by the devil's miserable slavery that he wounds them with a lethal blow, and furthermore, he drags them down into torment and sorrow.
The Two Cities of the Heart
The Lord describes how worldly anxiety and restlessness serve as cities built for the devil, mirroring the labor of the Israelites.
Bishops of the Church also build two cities for him, just as the children of Israel did. The first city is the labor of the body and the needless anxiety of acquiring worldly things. The second is restlessness and mental turmoil, because they're never allowed to find peace due to their appetite for the world. There is labor on the outside, and restlessness and anxiety within, which makes spiritual things feel like a burden. But just as Pharaoh did not provide my people with the necessities for making bricks, nor give them threshing floors full of grain, wine, or other useful things—but instead the people had to acquire them for themselves personally, with pain and distress of spirit—so the devil does to them now. Even though they labor and reach out for the world with the very depths of their hearts, they still can't accomplish what they desire, nor can they satisfy the thirst of their own greed. That’s why they’re burned by pain within, and by labor without. Because of this, I feel compassion for their affliction: that my soldiers and my people are building dwellings for the devil, working at it without ceasing, unable to finish what they crave, and suffering in their vanity—and for all that suffering, they don't bring back the fruit of blessing, but only the reward of confusion.2 That is why, when Moses was being sent to the people, God gave him a sign for three reasons: First, because everyone in Egypt worshipped their own individual god, and there were countless beings called gods. And so it was fitting that a sign be given, so that by showing a miraculous sign and the power of God, it might be believed through these signs that there is one God and one Creator of all, and that all idols might be proven to be vanity.
Signs of the Incarnate Word
The signs given to Moses are interpreted as foreshadowings of the Virgin Birth and the truth of the Incarnation.
Second, a sign was given to Moses as a figure and representation of my future body.✦ What did the burning bush that wasn't consumed signify, if not the Virgin, made fruitful by the Holy Spirit and giving birth without corruption?✦ I truly came forth from that burning bush; I took on my humanity from the virginal flesh of Mary. In the same way, the serpent given to Moses as a sign also signified my body. Moses was given a third sign to confirm the truth of what was to be done and to provide a foreshadowing of the signs that were yet to be fulfilled, so that God's truth might be proven even more certain and sure as the things those signs signified were more clearly fulfilled in their own time. But now I am sending my words to the children of Israel and to the soldiers, for whom there is no need for a sign to be given, for three reasons: First, because the one God and Creator of all is already worshipped and known through Holy Scripture and many signs. Second, because they don't hope for my birth, since they truly know I have already been born and was incarnate without corruption, because all Scripture is fulfilled. You shouldn't hold or believe any faith to be better or more certain than the one that has now been preached by me and by my holy preachers.
The Voice Within the Soul
Christ confirms the credibility of his current revelation and invites the soul to hear his voice directly, without the veil of the old law.
Still, I have done three things with you that make me credible: first, my words are true and don't conflict with the true faith; second, at my word a demon came out of a possessed man; and third, I have given one person the task of reforming hearts that were divided, so they might reach mutual love. So don't have any doubts about those who are going to believe in me. For those who believe in me also believe in my words. For those to whom I am sweet, my words are sweet as well.3 That’s why it’s written that Moses veiled his face after speaking with God. But you must not veil your face. I am the one who opened your spiritual eyes so you could see spiritual things, and I opened your ears so you could hear what is of the Spirit. Finally, I will show you the image of my body: what it was like during the passion and before it, and what it was like after the resurrection, which Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the others saw. You'll also hear my voice, the same one that spoke to Moses in the burning bush. This same voice is speaking now within your soul.
Read the original Latin
"Scribitur in lege Moysi, quod Moyses, custodiens pecora in deserto, cum videret rubum, qui inflammabatur et non ardebat, timuit et velabat faciem suam.
Cui dixit vox de rubo: 'Affliccio populi mei ascendit in aures meas et misereor eis, quia durissimo seruicio opprimuntur.'
Ego sum illa vox de rubo sonans, qui nunc loquor tecum. Miseria populi mei ascendit in aures meas.
Quis erat populus meus nisi Israel? Per hunc nunc intelligo milites in mundo, qui professi sunt miliciam meam, qui deberent esse mei sed nimis a diabolo affliguntur.
Quid autem fecit Pharao populo meo Israel in Egypto? Certe tria mala:
Primo, quod in structura murorum suorum non ministrabantur laboratoribus palee, quibus conficerent lapides, sed personaliter congregabant sibi per regionem, ubi possent.
Secundo, quod edificatores pro labore suo non reportabant grates, quamuis impositum numerum lapidum impleuissent.
Tercio, quod affligebantur vehementer a prepositis, si in consueto numero defecissent.
Iste populus meus duas urbes in maxima affliccione edificauerunt Pharaoni.
Quis est iste Pharao nisi diabolus, qui affligit populum meum, idest milites, qui tenentur esse populus meus?
In veritate dico, quod, si milites stetissent in disposicione et constitucione ab amico meo primo incepta, inter cariores fuissent michi.
Sicut enim Abraam, accipiens primo mandatum circumcisionis et obediens michi, factus est meus amicus carissimus necnon et, quotquot sequebantur fidem Abrae et operacionem eius, facti sunt participes dileccionis et glorie eius, sic milites inter alios ordines michi precipue placuerunt, quia vouerunt, quod habebant carius, scilicet sanguinem suum pro me fundere.
Per quod votum michi summe placuerunt, sicut Abraam in circumcisione, et purgabantur cotidie in obseruacione professionis et assumpcione sancte caritatis.
Nunc autem milites isti miserabili seruitute diaboli opprimuntur ita, quod vulnerat eos diabolus letali vulnere, insuper et detrudit illos in supplicium et dolorem.
Episcopi eciam Ecclesie edificant ei, sicut filii Israel, duas urbes.
Prima urbs est labor corporis et superuacua sollicitudo acquirendi mundialia.
Secunda est inquietudo et turbacio mentis, quia ab appetitu mundi numquam sinuntur quiescere.
Exterius est labor et intus est inquietudo et anxietas, spiritualia faciens onerosa.
Sed sicut Pharao non ministrabat populo meo necessaria ad conficiendos lateres nec areas dabat plenas frumento, non vinum et alia utilia, sed cum dolore et tribulacione spiritus populus sibi personaliter acquirebat, sic nunc facit eis diabolus.
Quamuis ipsi laborant et totis medullis cordis inhiant mundo, non tamen possunt perficere, quod cupiunt, nec possunt saciare sitim cupiditatis sue.
Ideo uruntur dolore interius et exterius labore.
Ob quod compacior affliccioni eorum, quod milites mei et populus meus diabolo edificant mansiones et laborant indesinenter et quod non possunt complere, quod cupiunt, et quod angustiantur in superuacuis et pro ipsa angustia non reportant fructum benediccionis sed retribucionem confusionis.
Propterea, cum Moyses mitteretur ad populum, dedit ei Deus signum triplici de causa:
Primo, quia unusquisque in Egypto colebat singulariter deum suum, et innumerabiles erant, qui dicebantur dii.
Et ideo dignum erat fieri signum, ut, ostenso mirabili signo et potencia Dei, unus deus et unus omnium creator esse per signa crederetur et idola omnia vana esse probarentur.
Secundo dabatur Moysi signum in figura et representacione corporis mei futuri.
Quid enim rubus ardens et non combustus designabat nisi Virginem de Spiritu sancto fecundatam et absque corrupcione parientem?
Ego certe de rubo illo processi, ego de virginea carne Marie assumpsi humanitatem. Similiter eciam serpens, Moysi in signum datus, significabat corpus meum.
Tercio dabatur signum Moysi propter veritatem astruendam faciendorum et per figuram signorum implendorum, ut veritas Dei tanto verior et cercior esse probaretur, quo ea, que signa significabant, tempore suo euidencius fuissent adimpleta.
Nunc autem mitto verba mea ad filios Israel et ad milites, quibus non est necesse fieri signum triplici de causa:
Primo, quia iam colitur et scitur unus deus et omnium creator ex Scriptura sancta et multiplicibus signis.
Secundo, quia non sperant me nasciturum, quia veraciter me sciunt natum et sine /in/corrupcione incarnatum, quia Scriptura omnis completa est.
Nec melior fides et cercior haberi et credi debet quam, que nunc a me et sanctis predicatoribus meis predicata est.
Verumptamen tria tecum feci, quibus credi potest: Primo, quod verba mea vera sunt et non discrepant a vera fide, secundo, quod ad verbum meum exiuit de homine possesso demonium, tercio, quia uni dedi diffidencia corda ad caritatem mutuam reformare.
Ideo non dubites de hiis, qui credituri sunt michi. Qui enim credunt michi, credunt et verbis meis.
Quibus ego sapio, eis et sapiunt verba mea.
Propterea scribitur, quod Moyses ex collocucione Dei velabat faciem suam. Tu autem non debes velare faciem tuam.
Ego quippe aperui tibi oculos spirituales, ut videas spiritualia, aperui aures, ut audias, que spiritus sunt.
Ego denique ostendam tibi corporis mei effigiem, quale fuit in passione et ante passionem, quale fuit post resurreccionem, quod Magdalena et Petrus et alii viderunt.
Audies eciam vocem meam, que loquebatur in rubo Moysi. Hec eadem nunc loquitur in anima tua."
Scripture echoes
- ↩Exod.3.2 — And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
- ↩Exod.3.2 — And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
Notes
- 1 ↩The 'friend' likely refers to a foundational figure or saint whose rule for the order was initially followed.
- 2 ↩The term 'milites' (soldiers) here refers to those in positions of spiritual leadership or service, contrasted with the broader 'populus' (people).
- 3 ↩The Latin verb 'sapere' here carries the double sense of 'to taste' (or 'to be sweet/pleasant to the taste') and 'to have wisdom/understanding'. The translation 'sweet' captures the experiential, interior resonance intended in this context.
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