Exodus 15 18

8/12/2019 Exodus 15 18

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Exodus 15-18: The Journey Through the Desert

August 22, 2008

Contents

1 Exodus 15:22+ – The Journey Through the Desert 21.1 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 – The Lessons of Israel’s History . . . . . 2

2 Exodus 16 – The manna and the quails 3

2.1 Numbers 11 – The Halts in the Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.2 Deuteronomy 8:3,16-17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.3 Psalms 78:18+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.4 Psalms 105:40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.5 Psalms 106:13-15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.6 Wisdom 16:20-29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.7 John 6: 26-58 – The Discourse on the Bread of Life (Continuation) . . 72.8 Exodus 14:11+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 Exodus 17 – The water from the rock 93.1 Exodus 17:3-7 – The Water from the Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103.2 Exodus 17:8-13 – A battle against the Amalekites . . . . . . . . . . . 103.3 Numbers 20:1-13 – Moses Brings Water from the Rock . . . . . . . . 113.4 Exodus 14:11+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123.5 John 7:38r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.6 1 Samuel 15:3+ – Holy war against the Amalekites . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4 Exodus 18 – The meeting of Jethro and Moses / The appointmentof judges 14

4.1 Hebrews 11:32-40 – The Faith of Moses, of the Judges and of theProphets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.2 Isaiah 11:1-10 – The New Descendant of David / The Return of theExiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.3 Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7 – The Prince of Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

A List of used References 19

B Catechism of the Catholic Church 19

B.1 Exodus 15:26 (CCC 1502) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

B.2 Exodus 16:19-21 (CCC 2837) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

B.3 Exodus 16:19 (CCC 2836) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

B.4 Exodus 17:1-6 (CCC 694) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

B.5 Exodus 17:2-7 (CCC 2119) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

B.6 Exodus 17:8-13 (CCC 2577) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

B.7 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 (CCC 129) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

B.8 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 (CCC 1094) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

B.9 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 (CCC 697) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

B.10 1 Corinthians 10:2 (CCC 117) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22



B.13 1 Corinthians 10:9 (CCC 2119) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

B.14 1 Corinthians 10:11 (CCC 117, CCC 128, CCC 670, CCC 2175) . . . . 24

B.15 John 6:28-58 (CCC 2835) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

B.16 Numbers 11:24-25 (CCC 1541) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

B.17 Hebrews 11:39-40 (CCC 147) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

B.18 Isaiah 11:1-9 (CCC 672) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25B.19 Isaiah 11:1,2 (CCC 712, CCC 1831, CCC 436, CCC 536, CCC 1286) . 26

B.20 Providence and secondary causes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

C Other noted links in the Navarre Bible from Google Groups 26

C.1 Luke 1:53 – The Magnificat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

C.2 Mark 6:34-44 – First Miracle of the Loaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

C.3 Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10 – The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet/ The Woman Fleeing from the Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

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1 Exodus 15:22+ – The Journey Through the Desert

Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously magnified, the horse and his rider he haththrown into the sea.

Marah1 Moses led Israel away from the Sea of Reeds, and they entered the desert of Shur. They then travelled through the desert for three days without finding water. 2

When they reached Marah, they could not drink the Marah water because it was

bitter; this is why the place was named Marah. 3 4 The people complained to Mosessaying, ’What are we to drink?’5 Moses appealed to Yahweh for help, and Yahwehshowed him a piece of wood. When Moses threw it into the water, the water becamesweet.6 7 8 9

There he laid down a statute and law for them and there he put them to the test. 10

Then he said, ’If you listen carefully to the voice of Yahweh your God and do whathe regards as right, if you pay attention to his commandments and keep all his laws,I shall never inflict on you any of the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians, for Iam Yahweh your Healer.’1 1 1 2

So they came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; andthere they pitched camp beside the water.

11 Corinthians 10:3-5 – And did all eat the same spiritual food, And all drank the same spiritualdrink; (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.) But withmost of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the desert.

2Genesis 16:7 – And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in thewilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert

3Numbers 33:8 – And departing from Phihahiroth, they passed through the midst of the sea intothe wilderness: and having marched three days through the desert of Etham, they camped in Mara.

4Ruth 1:20 – But she said to them: Call me not Noemi, (that is, beautiful,) but call me Mara,(that is, bitter,) for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness.

5Exodus 14:11+ (duplicate reference)62 Kings 2:21 – He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into it, and said: Thus

saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there shall be no more in them death or barrenness.7

Sirach 38:5 – Was not bitter water made sweet with wood?8Ezekiel 47:8 – And he said to me: These waters that issue forth toward the hillocks of sand tothe east, and go down to the plains of the desert, shall go into the sea, and shall go out, and thewaters shall be healed.

91 Corinthians 1:18 – For the word of the cross, to them indeed that perish, is foolishness; but tothem that are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God.

10Joshua 24:25 – Josue therefore on that day made a covenant, and set before the people com-mandments and judgments in Sichem.

11Deuteronomy 7:15 – Yahweh will deflect all illness from you; he will not afflict you with thoseevil plagues of Egypt which you have known, but will inflict them on all who hate you.

12Psalms 103:3 – He forgives all your offences, cures all your diseases

1.1 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 – The Lessons of Israel’s History

[1] I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and allpassed through the sea, [2] and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in thesea, [3] and all ate the same supernatural food [4] and all drank the same supernaturaldrink. For they drank them from the supernatural Rock which followed them, andthe Rock was Christ. [5] Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased; forthey were overthrown in the wilderness.

[6] Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did; [10] nor

grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. [11] Now thesethings happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction,upon whom the end of the ages has come. [12] Therefore let any one who thinks thathe stands take heed lest he fall.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 1-33.St Paul now points to the lessons which the self-assured and proud Corinthians mightdraw from certain events in the history of Israel (vv. 1-13). He focuses mainly on theExodus from Egypt to the Promised Land: during this journey God worked manywonders (vv. 1-4), but because of their frequent infidelity most of the Israelites died

before the journey was over (vv. 5-10); this, the Apostle concludes, should serve as alesson to us: if we rely too much on ourselves we run the risk of being unfaithful toGod and deserving rejection, like those Israelites (vv. 11- 13). St John Chrysostomsays that ”God’s gifts to the Hebrews were figures of the gifts of Baptism and theEucharist which we were to be given. And the punishments meted out to them arefigures of the punishment which our ingratitude will deserve; hence his reminder tobe watchful” (cf. ”Horn, on 1 Cor”, 23).

In the second part of the chapter (vv. 14-33), St Paul gives the final part of hisreply to the question about food offered to idols, with advice as to how to act incertain situations.

1-4. The Exodus of the Israelites was marked by many prodigies. St Paul recalls

some of these–God leading the way by day in the form of a pillar of cloud (cf. Ex13:21-22), the crossing of the Red Sea (cf. Ex 14:15-31); the feeding with manna (cf.Ex 16:13-15) and the drinking water which Moses caused to flow out of a rock (cf.Ex 17:1-7; Num 20:2-13).

St Paul sees the land and the sea as symbolizing two basic elements in Chris-tian Baptism–the Holy Spirit and the water (cf. ”St Pius V Catechism”, II, 2, 9).By following Moses in the cloud and through the sea, the Israelites were some- howlinked to him, into anticipating the way the Christian is fully incorporated into Jesusthrough Baptism (cf. Rom 6:3-11).

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St Paul calls the manna and the water from the rock ”supernatural” food anddrink because these are symbols of the Eucharist (cf. Jn 6:48-51). The Fathers,in commenting on these verses, stress the superiority of the Eucharist over whatprefigures it: ”Consider now which of the two foods is the more sublime [...]. Themanna came down from heaven, it [the Eucharist] is to be found higher than heaven;the manna belonged to heaven, (the Eucharist) to the Lord of heaven; the mannarotted away if it was kept for another day, (the Eucharist) knows no corruptionbecause whoever tastes it with the right dispositions will never experience corruption.

For them [the Israelites] the water sprang up from the rock; for you blood flowsfrom Christ. The water quenched the (Israelites’) thirst for a short while; the bloodcleanses you forever. The Jews drank and were thirsty; you, once you have drunk,can no longer feel thirst. In their case everything that happened was symbolic; inyours it is real. If you are amazed by it and yet it was no more than a shadow,how much more awesome must that reality be whose mere shadow amazes you” (StAmbrose, ”Treatise on the Mysteries”, I, 8, 48).

”The rock was Christ”: in the Old Testament Yahweh was at times describedas the rock (cf. Deut 32:4, 15, 18: 2 Sam 22:32; 23:3; Is 17:10; etc.); as he doeselsewhere (cf., e.g.;Rom 9:33; 10:11-13; Eph 4:8). St Paul here applies to JesusChrist the prerogatives of Yahweh, thereby showing his divinity. Elsewhere in the

New Testament our Lord is spoken of as the cornerstone (cf. Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11;Eph 2:20). By referring to the rock as ”following them” St Paul may be citing–without accepting it–a rabbinical legend which claimed that the rod from which thewater gushed continued to stay with the Israelites in the desert.

5-10. In spite of all the marvels God kept doing for the Israelites during the Exodus,only a few of those who left Egypt managed to enter the Promised Land (cf. Num26:65). St Paul lists some of the repeated infidelities of the people of Israel whichbrought God’s punishment upon them–idolatry (cf. Ex 32), sexual immorality (cf.Num 25), grumbling against God and Moses (cf., for example, Ex 15:23- 25; 16:2-3;17:2-7; Num 21:4-9; 17:6-15). 11-13. The events in the history of Israel mentioned inthe Old Testament foretell things which will happen when Christ comes (cf. note on1 Cor 10:1-4); they are also instructive for us. Here St Paul emphasizes that howevermany benefits God showers on us, no one should think that his eternal salvation isassured. ”The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will findfavor in the sight of the Lord” (Sir 3:20); one must continually implore God’s helpand not rely on one’s own strength.

At the same time St Paul recalls God’s faithfulness (cf. also Phil 1:6; 1 Thess 5:24;2 Thess 3:3): God never allows us to be tempted beyond our strength, he always givesus the graces we need to win out. ”If anyone plead human weakness to excuse himself

for not loving God, it should be explained that he who demands our love pours intoour hearts by the Holy Spirit the fervor of his love (cf. Rom 5:5); and this goodspirit our heavenly Father gives to those that ask him (cf. Lk 9:13). With reason,therefore, did St Augustine pray: ”Give what thou commandest, and command whatthou pleasest” (”Confessions”, X, 29,31 and 37). As, then, God is ever ready to helpus, especially since the death of Christ the Lord, by which the prince of this worldwas cast out, there is no reason why anyone should be disheartened by the difficultyof the undertaking. To him who loves, nothing is difficult” (”St Pius V Catechism”,

III, 1, 7).

CCC 1094 - 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 1094 It is on this harmony of the two Testa-ments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built,13 and then, that of the Apostlesand the Fathers of the Church. This catechesis unveils what lay hidden under theletter of the Old Testament: the mystery of Christ. It is called ”typological” becauseit reveals the newness of Christ on the basis of the ”figures” (types) which announcehim in the deeds, words, and symbols of the first covenant. By this re-reading in theSpirit of Truth, starting from Christ, the figures are unveiled. 14 Thus the flood andNoah’s ark prefigured salvation by Baptism,15 as did the cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea. Water from the rock was the figure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and

manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist, ”the true bread from heaven.”16

2 Exodus 16 – The manna and the quails

Setting out from Elim, the whole community of Israelites entered the desert of Sin,lying between Elim and Sinai-on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had

13Cf. DV 14-16; Lk 24:13-49.142 Corinthians 3:14-16 – But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old

covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to thisday whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord the veil

is removed.151 Peter 3:21 – Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt fromthe body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

16John 6:32 – Jesus then said to them, ”Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave youthe bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”

1 Corinthians 10:1-6 – I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud,and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and allate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from thesupernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless with most of themGod was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things are warnings forus, not to desire evil as they did.

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left Egypt. And the whole community of Israelites began complaining about Mosesand Aaron in the desert and said to them, ’Why did we not die at Yahweh’s hand inEgypt, where we used to sit round the flesh pots and could eat to our heart’s content!As it is, you have led us into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death!’

Yahweh then said to Moses, ’Look, I shall rain down bread for you from the heavens.Each day the people must go out and collect their ration for the day; I propose totest them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not. 17 On the sixthday, however, when they prepare what they have brought in, this must be twice as

much as they collect on ordinary days.’Moses and Aaron then said to the whole community of Israelites, ’This evening

you will know that it was Yahweh who brought you out of Egypt18, and tomorrowmorning you will see the glory of Yahweh, for Yahweh has heard your complaintsabout him. What are we, that your complaint should be against us?’ Moses thensaid, ’This evening Yahweh will give you meat to eat, and tomorrow morning breadto your heart’s content, for Yahweh has heard your complaints about him. What dowe count for? Your complaints are not against us, but against Yahweh. ’19

Moses then said to Aaron, ’Say to the whole community of Israelites, ”ApproachYahweh’s presence, for he has heard your complaints.”’ As Aaron was speaking to thewhole community of Israelites, they turned towards the desert, and there the glory of

Yahweh appeared in the cloud. Yahweh then spoke to Moses and said, ’I have heardthe Israelites’ complaints. Speak to them as follows, ”At twilight you will eat meat,and in the morning you will have bread to your heart’s content, and then you willknow that I am Yahweh your God.”’

That evening, quails flew in and covered the camp 20, and next morning there was alayer of dew all round the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was something fine and granular, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground 21. As

17Deuteronomy 8:2 – Remember the long road by which Yahweh your God led you for forty yearsin the desert, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart–whether you would keep hiscommandments or not.

18

Psalms 81:10 – I, Yahweh, am your God, who brought you here from Egypt, you have only toopen your mouth for me to fill it.19Luke 10:16 – He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he

that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.20Numbers 11:31 – A wind, sent by Yahweh, started blowing from the sea bringing quails which it

deposited on the camp. They lay for a distance of a day’s march either side of the camp, two cubitsthick on the ground.

21Numbers 11:7-9 – The manna was like coriander seed and had the appearance of bdellium. Thepeople went round gathering it, and ground it in a mill or crushed it with a pestle; it was then cookedin a pot and made into pancakes. It tasted like cake made with oil. When the dew fell on the campat night-time, the manna fell with it.

soon as the Israelites saw this, they said to one another, ’What is that, not knowingwhat it was. ’That’, Moses told them, ’is the food which Yahweh has given you toeat22. These are Yahweh’s orders: Each of you must collect as much as he needs toeat-a homer per head for each person in his tent.’

The Israelites did this. They collected it, some more, some less. When theymeasured out what they had collected by the homer, no one who had collected morehad too much, no one who had collected less had too little. Each had collected asmuch as he needed to eat23.

Moses then said, ’No one may keep any of it for tomorrow.’ But some of them tookno notice of Moses and kept part of it for the following day, and it bred maggots andsmelt foul; and Moses was angry with them24. Morning by morning they collected it,each man as much as he needed to eat, and once the sun grew hot, it melted away.

Now, on the sixth day they collected twice the amount of food: two homer perperson, and all the leaders of the community came and told Moses this. Mosesreplied, ’This is what Yahweh said, ”Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a Sabbathsacred to Yahweh. Bake what you want to bake, boil what you want to boil; putaside what is left over, to be kept for tomorrow.” So, as Moses ordered, they put itaside for the following day, and its smell was not foul nor were there maggots in it.’Eat it today,’ Moses said, ’for today is a Sabbath for Yahweh; you will find none in

the fields today. For six days you will collect it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath,there will be none.’ On the seventh day some of the people went out to collect it, butthey found none. Yahweh then said to Moses, ’How much longer will you refuse toobey my commandments and laws? Look, Yahweh has given you the Sabbath; this iswhy he gives you two days’ food on the sixth day; each of you must stay in his place;on the seventh day no one may leave his home.’ So on the seventh day the peoplerested.

The House of Israel named it ’manna’. It was like coriander seed; it was white25

and its taste was like that of wafers made with honey.

Moses then said, ’These are Yahweh’s orders: Fill a homer with it and preserve itfor your descendants, so that they can see the bread on which I fed you in the desert

when I brought you out of Egypt.’ Moses then said to Aaron, ’Take a jar and init put a full homer of manna and store it in Yahweh’s presence, to be kept for yourdescendants.’ Accordingly, Aaron stored it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved,

221 Corinthians 10:3 – And did all eat the same spiritual food232 Corinthians 8:15 – As it is written: He that had much, had nothing over; and he that had

little, had no want.24John 6:27 – Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life,

which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.25Numbers 11:7 – The manna was like coriander seed and had the appearance of bdellium.

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as Yahweh had ordered Moses.

The Israelites ate manna for forty years26, up to the time they reached inhabitedcountry: they ate manna up to the time they reached the frontiers of Canaan27. Ahomer is one-tenth of an ephah.

2.1 Numbers 11 – The Halts in the Desert

Taberah Now the people began to complain, which was offensive to Yahweh’s ears.

When Yahweh heard, his anger was aroused and the fire of Yahweh broke out amongthem; it devoured one end of the camp. The people appealed to Moses who intercededwith Yahweh and the fire died down. So the place was called Taberah, because thefire of Yahweh had broken out among them.

Kibroth-ha-Taavah. The people complain The rabble who had joined thepeople were feeling the pangs of hunger, and the Israelites began to weep again.’Who will give us meat to eat?’ they said. ’Think of the fish we used to eat free inEgypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic! But now we are witheringaway; there is nothing wherever we look except this manna!’

The manna was like coriander seed and had the appearance of bdellium. The

people went round gathering it, and ground it in a mill or crushed it with a pestle;it was then cooked in a pot and made into pancakes. It tasted like cake made withoil. When the dew fell on the camp at night*time, the manna fell with it.

The prayer of Moses Moses heard the people weeping, each family at the doorof its tent. Yahweh’s anger was greatly aroused; Moses too found it disgraceful, andhe said to Yahweh: ’Why do you treat your servant so badly? In what respect haveI failed to win your favour, for you to lay the burden of all these people on me? Wasit I who conceived all these people, was I their father, for you to say to me, “Carrythem in your arms, like a foster-father carrying an unweaned child, to the countrywhich I swore to give their fathers”?

Where am I to find meat to give all these people, pestering me with their tears andsaying, “Give us meat to eat”? I cannot carry all these people on my own; the weight

26Numbers 21:5 – They spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egyptto die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water here; we are sick of this meagre diet.”

27Joshua 5:10-12 – (Celebration of the Passover) The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal andkept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plain of Jericho. Onthe very next day after the Passover, they ate what the land produced, unleavened bread and roastedears of corn. The manna stopped the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. The Israelitesfrom that year onwards ate the produce of Canaan and had no more manna.

is too much for me. If this is how you mean to treat me, please kill me outright! If only I could win your favour and be spared the sight of my misery!

Yahweh replies Yahweh said to Moses, *Collect me seventy of the elders of Israel,men you know to be the people’s elders and scribes. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting, and let them stand beside you there.

17 I shall come down and talk to you there and shall take some of the spirit whichis on you and put it on them. Then they will bear the burden of the people with you,

and you will no longer have to bear it on your own.18 *And say to the people, *Purify yourselves for tomorrow and you will have meat

to eat, since you have wept in Yahweh’s hearing, saying: Who will give us meat toeat? How happy we were in Egypt! Very well, Yahweh will give you meat to eat.

19 You will eat it not for one day, or two, or five, or ten or twenty,

20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and sickens you, sinceyou have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him saying: Whydid we ever leave Egypt?* *

21 Moses said, *The people round me number six hundred thousand foot soldiers,and you say, *I shall give them meat to eat for a whole month*!

22 If all the flocks and herds were slaughtered, would that be enough for them? If

all the fish in the seas were collected, would that be enough for them?*23 Yahweh said to Moses, *Is the arm of Yahweh so short? You shall see whether

the promise I have made to you comes true or not.

The spirit given to the elders Moses went out and told the people what Yahwehhad said. Then he collected seventy of the people’s elders and stationed them roundthe Tent.

25 Yahweh descended in the cloud. He spoke to him and took some of the spiritthat was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the spirit came on themthey prophesied*but only once.

26 Two men had stayed back in the camp; one was called Eldad and the otherMedad. The spirit came down on them; though they had not gone to the Tent, theirnames were enrolled among the rest. These began to prophesy in the camp.

27 A young man ran to tell Moses this. *Look,* he said, *Eldad and Medad areprophesying in the camp.*

28 Joshua son of Nun, who had served Moses since he was a boy, spoke up andsaid, *My lord Moses, stop them!*

29 Moses replied, *Are you jealous on my account? If only all Yahweh’s peoplewere prophets, and Yahweh had given them his spirit!*

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30 Moses then went back to the camp with the elders of Israel.

The quails A wind, sent by Yahweh, started blowing from the sea bringing quailswhich it deposited on the camp. They lay for a distance of a day’s march either sideof the camp, two cubits thick on the ground.

32 The people were up all that day and night and all the next day collecting quails:the least gathered by anyone was ten homer; then they spread them out round thecamp.

33 The meat was still between their teeth, not even chewed, when Yahweh’s angerwas aroused by the people. Yahweh struck them with a very great plague.

34 The name given to this place was Kibroth*ha*Taavah, because it was there thatthey buried the people who had indulged their greed.

35 From Kibroth*ha*Taavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and at Hazeroth theypitched camp.

2.2 Deuteronomy 8:3,16-17

He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither younor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that human beings live

not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yahweh. whoin this waterless place brought you water out of the flinty rock; who in this desertfed you with manna unknown to your ancestors, to humble you and test you and somake your future the happier.

‘Beware of thinking to yourself, “My own strength and the might of my own handhave given me the power to act like this.”

2.3 Psalms 78:18+

And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking meat for their desires. And theyspoke ill of God: they said: Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Because

he struck the rock, and the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can healso give bread, or provide a table for his people? Therefore the Lord heard, andwas angry: and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel.Because they believed not in God: and trusted not in his salvation. And he hadcommanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of heaven. And hadrained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the bread of heaven. Manate the bread of angels: he sent them provisions in abundance. He removed the southwind from heaven: and by his power brought in the southwest wind. And he rainedupon them flesh as dust: and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. And they

fell in the midst of their camp, round about their pavilions. So they did eat, andwere filled exceedingly, and he gave them their desire: they were not defrauded of that which they craved. As yet their meat was in their mouth: and the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones amongst them, and brought downthe chosen men of Israel. In all these things they sinned still: and they believed notfor his wondrous works. And their days were consumed in vanity, and their years inhaste. When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned, and came tohim early in the morning. And they remembered that God was their helper: and

the most high God their redeemer. And they loved him with their mouth: and withtheir tongue they lied unto him: But their heart was not right with him: nor werethey counted faithful in his covenant. But he is merciful, and will forgive their sins:and will not destroy them. And many a time did he turn away his anger: and didnot kindle all his wrath. And he remembered that they are flesh: a wind that goethand returneth not. How often did they provoke him in the desert: and move himto wrath in the place without water? And they turned back and tempted God: andgrieved the holy one of Israel. They remembered not his hand, in the day that heredeemed them from the hand of him that afflicted them: How he wrought his signsin Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Tanis. And he turned their rivers into blood,and their showers that they might, not drink. He sent amongst them divers sores of

flies, which devoured them: and frogs which destroyed them. And he gave up theirfruits to the blast, and their labours to the locust. And he destroyed their vineyardswith hail, and their mulberry trees with hoarfrost. And he gave up their cattle to thehail, and their stock to the fire. And he sent upon them the wrath of his indignation:indignation and wrath and trouble, which he sent by evil angels. He made a way fora path to his anger: he spared not their souls from death, and their cattle he shutup in death. And he killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt: the firstfruits of all their labour in the tabernacles of Cham. And he took away his own people assheep: and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he brought them out inhope, and they feared not: band the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he broughtthem into the mountain of his sanctuary: the mountain which his right hand had

purchased. And he cast out the Gentiles before them: and by lot divided to themtheir land by a line of distribution. And he made the tribes of Israel to dwell intheir tabernacles. Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God: and theykept not his testimonies. And they turned away, and kept not the covenant: evenlike their fathers they were turned aside as a crooked bow. They provoked him toanger on their hills: and moved him to jealousy with their graven things. God heard,and despised them, and he reduced Israel exceedingly as it were to nothing. And heput away the tabernacle of Silo, his tabernacle where he dwelt among men. And he

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delivered their strength into captivity: and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.And he shut up his people under the sword: and he despised his inheritance. Fireconsumed their young men: and their maidens were not lamented. Their priests fellby the sword: and their widows did not mourn. And the Lord was awaked as oneout of sleep, and like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine. And hesmote his enemies on the hinder parts: he put them to an everlasting reproach. Andhe rejected the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: But hechose the tribe of Juda, mount Sion which he loved. And he built his sanctuary as

of unicorns, in the land which he founded for ever. And he chose his servant David,and took him from the hocks of sheep: he brought him from following the ewes greatwith young, To feed Jacob his servant, and Israel his inheritance. And he fed themin the innocence of his heart: and conducted them by the skilfulness of his hands.

2.4 Psalms 105:40

They asked, and the quail came: and he filled them with the bread of heaven.

2.5 Psalms 106:13-15

They had quickly done, they forgot his works: and they waited not for his counsels.And they coveted their desire in the desert: and they tempted God in the placewithout water. And he gave them their request: and sent fulness into their souls.

2.6 Wisdom 16:20-29

Instead of this, you nourished your people with food of angels and furnished thembread from heaven, ready to hand, untoiled-for, endowed with all delights and con-forming to every taste. For this substance of yours revealed your sweetness towardyour children, and serving the desire of him who received it, was blended to whateverflavor each one wished. Yet snow and ice withstood fire and were not melted, that

they might know that their enemies’ fruits Were consumed by a fire that blazed inthe hail and flashed lightning in the rain. But this fire, again, that the just might benourished, forgot even its proper strength; For your creation, serving you, its maker,grows tense for punishment against the wicked, but is relaxed in benefit for those whotrust in you. Therefore at that very time, transformed in all sorts of ways, it wasserving your all-nourishing bounty according to what they needed and desired; Thatyour sons whom you loved might learn, O LORD, that it is not the various kinds of fruits that nourish man, but it is your word that preserves those who believe you!For what was not destroyed by fire, when merely warmed by a momentary sunbeam,

melted; So that men might know that one must give you thanks before the sunrise,and turn to you at daybreak. For the hope of the ingrate melts like a wintry frostand runs off like useless water.

2.7 John 6: 26-58 – The Discourse on the Bread of Life (Continua-tion)

Jesus answered:

In all truth I tell you,you are looking for menot because you have seen the signsbut because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.Do not work for food that goes bad,but work for food that endures for eternal life,which the Son of man will give you,for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.

Then they said to him, ’What must we do if we are to carry out God’s work?’ Jesusgave them this answer, ’This is carrying out God’s work: you must believe in the

one he has sent.’ So they said, ’What sign will you yourself do, the sight of whichwill make us believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate manna in thedesert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Jesus answered them:

In all truth I tell you,it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven,it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven,the true bread;for the bread of Godis the bread which comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world.

’Sir,’ they said, ’give us that bread always.’ Jesus answered them:

I am the bread of life.No one who comes to me will ever hunger;no one who believes in me will ever thirst.But, as I have told you,you can see me and still you do not believe.

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Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me;I will certainly not reject anyone who comes to me,because I have come from heaven,not to do my own will,but to do the will of him who sent me.Now the will of him who sent meis that I should lose nothingof all that he has given to me,

but that I should raise it up on the last day.It is my Father’s willthat whoever sees the Son and believes in himshould have eternal life,and that I should raise that person up on the last day.

Meanwhile the Jews were complaining to each other about him, because he had said,’I am the bread that has come down from heaven.’ They were saying, ’Surely thisis Jesus son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. How can he now say, ”Ihave come down from heaven?”’ Jesus said in reply to them, ’Stop complaining toeach other.

’No one can come to meunless drawn by the Father who sent me,and I will raise that person up on the last day.It is written in the prophets:They will all be taught by God ;everyone who has listened to the Father,and learnt from him,comes to me.Not that anybody has seen the Father,except him who has his being from God:

he has seen the Father.In all truth I tell you,everyone who believes has eternal life.I am the bread of life.Your fathers ate manna in the desertand they are dead;but this is the bread which comes down from heaven,so that a person may eat it and not die.I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;and the bread that I shall giveis my flesh, for the life of the world.’

Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, ’How can this man give us his fleshto eat?’ Jesus replied to them:

In all truth I tell you,if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of manand drink his blood,you have no life in you.Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my bloodhas eternal life,and I shall raise that person up on the last day.For my flesh is real foodand my blood is real drink.Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my bloodlives in meand I live in that person.As the living Father sent meand I draw life from the Father,so whoever eats me will also draw life from me.This is the bread which has come down from heaven;it is not like the bread our ancestors ate:they are dead,but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: John 6:28-35 28-34. This dialoguebetween Jesus and His hearers is reminiscent of the episode of the Samaritan woman(cf. John 4:11-15). On that occasion Jesus was speaking about water springing up to

eternal life; here, He speaks of bread coming down from Heaven to give to the world.There, the woman was asking Jesus if He was greater than Jacob; here the peoplewant to know if He can compare with Moses (cf. Exodus 16:13). ”The Lord spoke of Himself in a way that made Him seem superior to Moses, for Moses never dared tosay that he would give food which would never perish but would endure to eternallife. Jesus promises much more than Moses. Moses promised a kingdom, and a landflowing with milk and honey, good health and other temporal blessings [...], plentyfor the belly, but food which perishes; whereas Christ promised food which neverperishes but which endures forever” (St. Augustine, ”In Ioann. Evang.”, 25:12).

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These people know that the manna–food which the Jews collected every day dur-ing the journey through the wilderness (cf. Exodus 16:13ff)– symbolized messianicblessings; which was why they asked our Lord for a dramatic sign like the manna.But there was no way they could suspect that the manna was a figure of a greatsupernatural messianic gift which Christ was bringing to mankind–the Blessed Eu-charist. In this dialogue and in the first part of the discourse (verses 35-47), the mainthing Jesus is trying to do is bring them to make an act of faith in Him, so thatHe can then openly reveal to them the mystery of the Blessed Eucharist–that He is

the bread ”which comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world” (verse 33).Also, St. Paul explains that the manna and the other marvels which happened in thewilderness were a clear prefiguring of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:3-4).

The disbelieving attitude of these Jews prevented them from accepting what Jesusrevealed. To accept the mystery of the Eucharist, faith is required, as [Pope] PaulVI stressed: ”In the first place we want to remind you that the Eucharist is a verygreat mystery; strictly speaking, to use the words of sacred liturgy, it is ‘the mysteryof faith’. This is something well known to you but it is essential to the purpose of rejecting any poisonous rationalism. Many martyrs have witnessed to it with theirblood. Distinguished Fathers and Doctors of the Church in unbroken succession havetaught and professed it. [...] We must, therefore, approach this mystery, above all,

with humble reverence, not following human arguments, which ought to be hushed,but in steadfast adherence to divine revelation” (”Mysterium Fidei”).

35. Going to Jesus means believing in Him, for it is through faith that we approachour Lord. Jesus uses the metaphor of food and drink to show that He is the one whoreally meets all man’s noblest aspirations: ”How beautiful is our Catholic faith! Itprovides a solution for all our anxieties, calms our minds and fills our hearts withhope” ([Blessed] J. Escriva, ”The Way”, 582).

2.8 Exodus 14:11+

And they said to Moses: Perhaps there were no graves in Egypt, therefore thou hast

brought us to die in the wilderness: why wouldst thou do this, to lead us out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying: Depart from usthat we may serve the Egyptians? for it was much better to serve them, than to diein the wilderness. And Moses said to the people: Fear not: stand and see the greatwonders of the Lord, which he will do this day: for the Egyptians, whom you see now,you shall see no more for ever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold yourpeace. And the Lord said to Moses: Why criest thou to me? Speak to the childrenof Israel to go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand over thesea, and divide it: that the children of Israel may go through the midst of the sea on

dry ground. And I will harden the heart of the Egyptians to pursue you: and I will beglorified in Pharao, and in all his host, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen. Andthe Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be glorified in Pharao, andin his chariots and in his horsemen. And the angel of God, who went before the campof Israel, removing, went behind them: and together with him the pillar of the cloud,leaving the forepart, Stood behind, between the Egyptians’ camp and the camp of Israel: and it was a dark cloud, and enlightening the night, so that they could notcome at one another all the night. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over

the sea, the Lord took it away by a strong and burning wind blowing all the night,and turned it into dry ground: and the water was divided. And the children of Israelwent in through the midst of the sea dried up: for the water was as a wall on theirright hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursuing went in after them, and allPharao’s horses, his chariots and horsemen through the midst of the sea, And nowthe morning watch was come, and behold the Lord looking upon the Egyptian armythrough the pillar of fire and of the cloud, slew their host. And overthrew the wheelsof the chariots, and they were carried into the deep. And the Egyptians said: Letus flee from Israel: for the Lord fighteth for them against us. And the Lord said toMoses: Stretch forth they hand over the sea, that the waters may come again uponthe Egyptians, upon their chariots and horsemen. And when Moses had stretched

forth his hand towards the sea, it returned at the first break of day to the formerplace: and as the Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came upon them, and theLord shut them up in the middle of the waves. And the waters returned, and coveredthe chariots and the horsemen of all the army of Pharao, who had come into the seaafter them, neither did there so much as one of them remain. But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon dry land, and the waters were tothem as a wall on the right hand and on the left: And the Lord delivered Israel onthat day out of the hands of the Egyptians. And they saw the Egyptians dead uponthe sea shore, and the mighty hand that the Lord had used against them: and thepeople feared the Lord, and they believed the Lord, and Moses his servant.

3 Exodus 17 – The water from the rock

The whole community of Israelites left the desert of Sin, travelling by stages asYahweh ordered. They pitched camp at Rephidim where there was no water for thepeople to drink28. The people took issue with Moses for this and said, ’Give us water

28Numbers 33:12-14 – They left the desert of Sin and encamped at Dophkah. They left Dophkahand encamped at Alush. They left Alush and encamped at Rephidim; the people found no drinkingwater there.

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to drink.’29 Moses replied, ’Why take issue with me? Why do you put Yahweh tothe test?’30

3.1 Exodus 17:3-7 – The Water from the Rock

[3] But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses,and said, ”Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children andour cattle with thirst?” [4] So Moses cried to the LORD, ”What shall I do with thispeople? They are almost ready to stone me.”31 [5] And the LORD said to Moses,”Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel; and take inyour hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. [6] Behold, I will standbefore you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shallcome out of it, that the people may drink.”32 And Moses did so, in the sight of theelders of Israel. [7] And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah33,because of the faultfinding of the children of Israel3 4 3 5 3 6, and because they put theLord to the proof by saying, ”Is the LORD among us or not?”3 7 3 8 3 9

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Exodus 17:3-7 17:1-7. The severityof desert life (notably hunger and thirst) leads God to help the Israelites in various

ways, all of them full of theological implications. The miracle of the manna, whichwas preceded by that of the water which Moses made drinkable (15:22-25), is followed

29Exodus 15:24 – And the people murmured against Moses, saying: What shall we drink?30Deuteronomy 6:16 – Do not put Yahweh your God to the test as you tested him at Massah.31Numbers 14:10 – The whole community was talking of stoning them, when the glory of Yahweh

appeared to all the Israelites, inside the Tent of Meeting,321 Corinthians 10:4c – And all drank the same spiritual drink; (and they drank of the spiritual

rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.)Note c: According to rabbinic tradition, the rock of Nb 20:8 followed Israel in the desert. For Paul

this rock symbolises the pre-existent Christ already active in Israel’s history.33Numbers 20:24 – “Aaron is to be gathered to his people; he will not enter the country which I

have given to the Israelites, since you both disobeyed my order at the Waters of Meribah.34

Deuteronomy 9:22 – At Taberah too and at Massah and Kibroth-ha Taavah, you provokedYahweh.35Deuteronomy 32:51 – Because, with the other Israelites, you broke faith with me at the Waters

of Meribah*Kadesh in the desert of Zin, because you did not make my holiness clear to the Israelites;36Deuteronomy 33:8 – To Levi also he said: Thy perfection, and thy doctrine be to thy holy man,

whom thou hast proved in the temptation, and judged at the waters of contradiction :37Deuteronomy 6:16 – Do not put Yahweh your God to the test as you tested him at Massah.38Psalms 95:8 – If only you would listen to him today! Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,

as at the time of Massah in the desert,39Psalms 106:32 At the waters of Meribah they so angered Yahweh, that Moses suffered on their

account,

by a new work of wonder to do with water: Moses causes water to flow from a rock.This happened at Rephidim, probably what is now Wadi Refayid, some 13 km (8miles) from Djebel Mfisa.

The sons of Israel’s faith in God and in Moses has been strengthening little bylittle; but they often doubt whether God is there at all (v. 7). They begin to mur-mur and to seek proofs of his presence: have they been brought out of Egypt to die,or to attain salvation? The water which Moses causes to come out of the rock is afurther sign to bolster their faith. This episode names two places- Meribah, which in

popular etymology means ”contention”, ”dispute”, ”lawsuit”, and Massah, which is”proof’, ”test”, ”temptation”. Many biblical passages recall this sin ( cf. Deut 6: 16;9:22-24; 33:8; Ps 95:8-9), even adding that Moses himself lacked faith and struck therock twice (cf. Num 20:1-13; Deut: 32:51; Ps 106:32). Lack of trust in the goodnessand power of God means tempting God and it is a grave sin against faith–even moreso in the case of Moses, who had experienced God’s special love and who ought tohave given good example. When man meets some contradiction or some difficulty hecannot immediately solve, his faith may waver but he should never doubt, because”if deliberately cultivated, doubt can lead to spiritual blindness” (”Catechism of theCatholic Church”, 200840).

There is a rabbinical tradition which says that the rock stayed with the Israelites

throughout their sojourn in the desert; St Paul refers to this legend when he says ”theRock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4). On the basis of biblical references to the wondrousnature of waters (cf. Ps 78:15-16; 105:4; Wis 11:4-14) the Fathers saidt his episodeprefigures the wonderful effects of Baptism: ”See the mystery: ’Moses’ is the Prophet;the rod is the word of God; the priest touches the rock with the word of God, andwater flows, and the people of God drink” (St Ambrose, ”De Sacra- mentis”, 8, 5, 1,3).

3.2 Exodus 17:8-13 – A battle against the Amalekites

[8] Then came Amalek and fought with Israel at Rephidim. [9] And Moses said to

Joshua41

, “Choose for us men, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand40CCC 2008 The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has

freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace . The fatherly action of God is first on hisown initiative, and then follows man’s free acting through his collaboration, so that the merit of goodworks is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man’s merit,moreover, itself is due to God, for his good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions andassistance given by the Holy Spirit.

41First mention of Joshua in the Pentateuch.Joshua 1:1-2 When Moses, servant of Yahweh, was dead, Yahweh spoke to Joshua son of Nun,

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on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” [10] So Joshua did as Mosestold him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.42 [11] Whenever Moses held up his hand43, Israel prevailed; and wheneverhe lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.44 [12] But Moses’ hands grew weary; so theytook a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur heldup his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands weresteady until the going down of the sun. [13] And Joshua mowed down Amalek andhis people with the edge of the sword.

Yahweh then said to Moses, ’Write this down in a book to commemorate it

45

, andrepeat it over to Joshua, for I shall blot out all memory of Amalek under heaven.’ 46

Moses then built an altar and named it Yahweh-Nissi meaning, ’Lay hold of Yahweh’sbanner! Yahweh will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.’

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Exodus 17:8-13 In addition to theshortages of food and water the Israelites also had to cope with attacks from othergroups in the desert over rights to wells and pas- tures. Their confrontation with theAmalekites shows that the same God as alleviated their more pressing needs (hungerand thirst) will protect them from enemy attack.

The Amalekites were an ancient people (cf. Num 24:20; Gen 14:7; 36:12, 16; Judg

1:16) who were spread all over the north of the Sinai peninsula, the Negeb, Seirand the south of Canaan; they controlled the caravan routes between Arabia and

Moses’ adjutant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead; go now and cross this Jordan, you and thiswhole people, into the country which I am giving to them (the Israelites).“

42Exodus 24:14 – He said to the elders, ’Wait here for us until we come back to you. You haveAaron and Hur with you; if anyone has any matter to settle, let him go to them.’

43Psalms 44:4-7 – You are my king, my God, who decreed Jacob’s victories; through you weconquered our opponents, in your name we trampled down those who rose up against us. For mytrust was not in my bow, my victory was not won by my sword; it was you who saved us from ouropponents, you who put to shame those who hate us.

44Joshua 8:18-19 – Yahweh then said to Joshua, ’Point the sabre in your hand at Ai; for I amabout to put the town at your mercy.’ Joshua pointed the sabre in his hand towards the town. No

sooner had he stretched out his hand than the men in ambush burst from their position, ran forward,entered the town, captured it and quickly set it on fire.(Note f: Not a mere signal but a gesture effective in itself like that of Moses in Ex. 17:9,11)45Numbers 24:20 – Balaam then looked at Amalek and declaimed his poem, as follows: Amalek,

the earliest of nations! But his posterity will perish forever.46Deuteronomy 25:17-19 – ’Remember how Amalek treated you when you were on your way out

of Egypt. He met you on your way and, after you had gone by, he fell on you from the rear and cutoff the stragglers; when you were faint and weary, he had no fear of God. When Yahweh your Godhas granted you peace from all the enemies surrounding you, in the country given you by Yahwehyour God to own as your heritage, you must blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. Do notforget.’

Egypt. In the Bible they appear as a perennial enemy of Israel (cf. Deut 25:17-18; 1Sam 15:3; 27:8, 30) until in the time of Hezekiah (1 Chron 4:41-43) the oracle aboutblotting out their memory finds fulfillment (v. 14). The mention of Joshua leadingthe battle and of Aaron and Hur helping Moses to pray point to the fact that afterMoses political-military and religious authority will be split, with the priests takingover the latter.

With the rod in his hand, Moses directs the battle from a distance, but his maininvolvement is by interceding for his people, asking God to give them victory. The

Fathers read this episode as a figure of the action of Christ who, on the cross (sym-bolized by the rod), won victory over the devil and death (cf. Tertullian, AdversusMarcionem, 3, 18; St. Cyprian, Testimonia, 2, 21).

3.3 Numbers 20:1-13 – Moses Brings Water from the Rock

[1] And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zinin the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and wasburied there.

[2] Now there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselvestogether against Moses and against Aaron. [3] And the people contended with Moses,and said, ”Would that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! [4] Whyhave you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should diehere, both we and our cattle? [5] And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, tobring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates;and there is no water to drink.” [6] Then Moses and Aaron went from the presenceof the assembly to the door of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. And theglory of the LORD appeared to them, [7] and the LORD said to Moses, ’”Take therod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rockbefore their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them;so you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” [9] And Moses took the

rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.[10] And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and hesaid to them, ”Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of thisrock?” [11] And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; andwater came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. [12] Andthe LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ”Because you did not believe in me, to sanctifyme in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly intothe land which I have given them.” [13] These are the waters of Meribah,’ where thepeople of Israel contended with the LORD, and he showed himself holy among them.

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Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Numbers 20:1-13 20:1-19. When thespies sent to explore the land of Canaan returned to base, people of Israel were inthe desert of Paran, in Kadesh (13:26). The desert of Zin, which is referred to here,and which is different from that of a very similar name (Sin) mentioned in Exodus16:1 and 17:1, was the north-west part of the wilderness of Paran, to which the cloudhad led the Israelites from Sinai (cf. 10:12). Kadesh was not really a town but anarea containing leafy oases. It was a key point of reference for the people of Israel’sroute towards Canaan. From Kadesh they will leave for the plains of Moab (cf. 22:1).

Kadesh marks the end of the desert trek (cf. chaps. 33-38); from now on the land isinhabited and the Israelites will have contact with those who live there.

As they make their way, the people encounter both external and internal difficulties,but that does not stop their advance to the promised Land, because God is their guideand he is helping them. In this sense the people of Israel prefigures the Church, for”as Israel according to the flesh which wandered in the desert was already called theChurch of God (cf. Num 20:4; etc.), so too, the new Israel which advances in thispresent era in search of a future and permanent city (cf. Heb 13:14), is called alsothe Church of Christ (cf. Mt 16:1847). It is Christ indeed who had purchased it withhis own blood (cf. Acts 20:28); he has filled it with his Spirit; he has provided meansadapted to its visible and social union” (Vatican II, ”Lumen Gentium”, 9).

20:2-13. Unlike Exodus 17:1-17, here it is Aaron who accompanies Moses, so thatboth of them share in the sin of mistrusting God (cf. v. 12). The text does not saywhat their sin was exactly: presumably it was because they struck the rock twice dueto lack of faith, instead of once (cf. vv. 11-12) or in the fact that they struck the rockwhereas God had told them to speak to the rock (cf. v. 8)–although in Exodus 17:6Moses was in fact told to hit it. In v. 24 we are told it was a sin of rebellion, and inPsalm 106:32-33 it says that Moses ”spoke words that were rash”. In Deuteronomy1:37 and elsewhere, the punishment inflicted on Moses is, however, attributed to thepeople’s disobedience. At any event, the event is recounted here, just before thenarrating of the death of Aaron (as it will also be mentioned in Deuteronomy 32:51before the account of Moses’ death). Here the episode is connected with two place-

names–Kadesh, which means in fact ”holiness” and which would remind people of the holiness of God (cf. v. 13), and Meribah, which means ”rebellion” and wouldevoke Moses’ sin. The two names appear linked (Meri-bath-kadesh) in Deuteronomy32:51 and Exodus 47:19.

This rock prefigured Christ, according to 1 Corinthians 10:4-5. The Fathers gave

47[OrthJBC] Matthew 16:18 – And I also say to you that you are Shimon Kefa [rock] and uponthis rock I will build my Kehillah (the Community of Moshiach) and the sha’arei She’ol (gates of She’ol) shall not overpower it.

an allegorical interpretation: the rock is Jesus, and the water the grace which flowsfrom the open side of our Lord; the double strike stands for the two beams of thecross. Moses stands for the Jews, because just as Moses doubted and struck the rock,the Jewish people crucified Christ, not believing that he was the Son of God (cf. StAugustine, ”Contra Faustum”, 16, 15; ”Questiones In Heptateuchurn”, 35).

3.4 Exodus 14:11+

Duplicate, already referenced above

3.5 John 7:38r

Let anyone who believes in me come and drink!

As scripture says, “From his heart shall flow streams of living water.”’

Note: The liturgy of the feast of Shelters (“Tabernacles”), which formed the back-ground of these words, included prayers for rain, the procession of Siloam and thegathering of ’living water’, which was then carried back to the Temple for the lustra-tions. These rites commemorated the Mosaic water-miracle, Ex 17:1-7; cf. 1 Co 10:4,

and included readings from biblical passages foretelling lifegiving water for Zion, Ezk47:1seq.; Zc 14:8; see Jn 4:1a.

3.6 1 Samuel 15:3+ – Holy war against the Amalekites

Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath: spare himnot, nor covet any thing that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and suckling,ox and sheep, camel and ass. So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them aslambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda. Andwhen Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent. And Saulsaid to the Cinite: Go, depart and get ye down from Amalec: lest I destroy thee with

him. For thou hast shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came upout of Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the midst of Amalec. And Saul smoteAmalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt. And hetook Agag the king of Amalec alive: but all the common people he slew with theedge of the sword. And Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the flocks of sheep and of the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that was beautiful,and would not destroy them: but every thing that was vile and good for nothing,that they destroyed. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying: It repentethme that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my

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commandments. And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night. Andwhen Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, that Saulwas come to Carmel, and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and returninghad passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul wasoffering a holocaust to the Lord out of the choicest of the spoils which he had broughtfrom Amalec. And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thouof the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord. And Samuel said: What meaneththen this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the

herds, which I hear? And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for thepeople spared the best of the sheep and of the herds that they might be sacrificed tothe Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain. And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me,and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said to him:Speak. And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thounot made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee to be kingover Israel. And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and kill the sinnersof Amalec, and thou shalt fight against them until thou hast utterly destroyed them.Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord: but hast turned to theprey, and hast done evil in the eyes of the Lord. And Saul said to Samuel: Yea I havehearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have walked in the way by which the Lord

sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalec, and Amalec I have slain. Butthe people took of the spoils sheep and oxen, as the firstfruits of those things thatwere slain, to offer sacrifice to the Lord their God in Galgal. And Samuel said: Doththe Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lordshould be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to hearken ratherthan to offer the fat of rams. Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and likethe crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey. Forasmuch therefore as thou hast rejected theword of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from being king. And Saul saidto Samuel: I have sinned because I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord,and thy words, fearing the people, and obeying their voice. But now bear, I beseechthee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord. And Samuel said to

Saul: I will not return with thee, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord,and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. And Samuel turnedabout to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. AndSamuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, andhath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee. But the triumpher in Israelwill riot spare, and will not be moved to repentance: for he is not a mail that heshould repent. Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before the ancientsof my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord thy

God. So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord. And Samuelsaid: Bring hitherto me Agag the king of Amalec. And Agag was presented to himvery fat, and trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter death separate in this manner?And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother bechildless among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal.And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa. AndSamuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned forSaul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king over Israel.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: 1 Samuel 15:1-35 15:1-35. The battleagainst the Amalekites is the occasion for Saul to be rejected by God forever. Theepisodes dealt with up to this have built up evidence of Saul’s sins, particularly hislack of trust in God. However, here his disobedience is clear to see.

This account contains echoes of earlier divine condenmnations. The Lord “repents”(an anthropomorphic expression) having made Saul king (v. 11), as he earlier “wassorry” for having created man (Gen 6:6); Saul’s rejection of God’s plans (vv. 11, 23,26) led to his rejection by God. Saul’s access to the throne is blocked,just as thegates of Paradise were closed on Adam (Gen 3:23-24). As in the case of Adam, God’spunishment of Saul is severe and there will be no going back on it, for Saul’s is a very

grave sin, that is, a sin of rebellion and of rejection of God and his word (v. 26).

From this point on, even though he knows that the Lord does not acknowledge hiskingship, Saul will continue to be king in name, because the sentence given againsthim was told him by Samuel in secret (vv. 30-31), just as his first anointing was donein secret (cf. 10:1-16).

15:22-23. Samuel’s oracular pronouncement, given in verse form here, is one of theoldest of its kind in the Bible. From the literary point of view it is very beautiful; andit also provides a clear definition of ob edience, which it identifies with acknowledgmentof God: obedience is the most perfect form of divine worship– more perfect than theoffering of sacrifice; disobedience is a form of idolatry. The sentence against Saul is

harsh and unambiguous; it applies the ancient law of vengeance (an eye for an eye...),“rejection” being referred to in the fault and in its sentence.

This short canticle in praise of obedience finds an echo in the Northern prophets(Amos 5:21+ and Hos 6:6 – For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; And the knowledgeof God more than burnt offerings.) and it will be updated by Jesus (Mt 9:13 – ’Goand learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. Andindeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners.’) who gives the fullest definitionof the meaning of obedience to God and those who represent him. “Obedience, andholy obedience alone, gives us a clear view of the will of God. Superiors may make

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mistakes, but we can never err in obeying” (St Maximilian Kolbe, ”Letters”, in ”TheDivine Office”, Office of Readings, 14 August).

4 Exodus 18 – The meeting of Jethro and Moses / Theappointment of judges

Jethro, priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, had heard all about what God had

done for Moses and for Israel his people: how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, then took back Zipporah, Moses’ wife, whomMoses had sent home, 3 with her two sons; one of them was called Gershom because,he had said, ’I am an alien in a foreign land,’ 4 and the other called Eliezer because’My father’s God is my help and has delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.’

5 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, with Moses’ sons and wife, came to Moses inthe desert where he was encamped, at the mountain of God. 6 ’Here is your father-in-law Jethro approaching’, Moses was told, ’with your wife and her two sons.’ 7 SoMoses went out to greet his father-in-law, bowed low to him and kissed him; andwhen each had asked how the other was they went into the tent. 8 Moses then toldhis father-in-law all about what Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians

for Israel’s sake, and about all the hardships that they had encountered on the way,and how Yahweh had rescued them. 9 And Jethro was delighted at all Yahweh’sgoodness to Israel in having rescued them from the clutches of the Egyptians. 10’Blessed be Yahweh’, Jethro exclaimed, ’for having rescued you from the clutches of the Egyptians and the clutches of Pharaoh, for having rescued the people from thegrasp of the Egyptians! 11 Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all other gods.. .’

12 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, then offered a burnt offering and other sacrifices toGod; and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came and ate with Moses’ father-in-lawin the presence of God.48

48Note: Deuteronomy 12:7c – The Deuteronomic Code frequently emphasises the joy of the ritualmeal and of the liturgical feasts, see vv. 12, 18; Dt 16:11,14

Dt 12:12 – That is where you will rejoice in the presence of Yahweh your God, you and your sonsand daughters, your serving men and women, and the Levite living in your community since he hasno share or heritage of his own among you.

Dt 12:18 – You must eat these in the presence of Yahweh your God in the place Yahweh your Godchooses and there alone, you, your son and your daughter, your serving man and serving woman,and the Levite living in your community, expressing your joy in all your labours in the presence of Yahweh your God. As long as you live on your soil, be careful not to neglect the Levite.

Dt 16:11,12 – You must rejoice in the presence of Yahweh your God, in the place where Yahwehyour God chooses to give his name a home, you, your son and your daughter, your serving men and

The appointment of judges49 13 On the following day, Moses took his seatto administer justice for the people, and the people were standing round him frommorning till evening. 14 Seeing all he did for the people, Moses’ father-in-law said tohim, ’Why do you do this for the people, why sit here alone with the people standinground you from morning till evening?’ 15 Moses replied to his father-in-law, ’Becausethe people come to me to consult God.50 16 When they have a problem they cometo me, and I give a ruling between the one and the other and make God’s statutesand laws known to them.’ 17 Moses’ father-in-law then said to him, ’What you are

doing is not right. 18 You will only tire yourself out, and the people with you too, forthe work is too heavy for you. You cannot do it all yourself .51 19 Now listen to theadvice I am going to give you, and God be with you! Your task is to represent thepeople to God, to lay their cases before God, 20 and to teach them the statutes and

women, the Levite living in your community, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living amongyou. Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt, and carefully observe these laws.

Dt 16:14 – You must rejoice at your feast, you, your son and your daughter, your serving men andwomen, the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living in your community.

49|| Deuteronomy 1:9-18 (The final instructions at Horeb) – And I said to you at that time: I aloneam not able to bear you: for the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and you are this day as thestars of heaven, for multitude. (The Lord God of your fathers add to this number many thousands,and bless you as he hath spoken.) I alone am not able to bear your business, and the charge of

you and your differences. Let me have from among you wise and understanding men, and suchwhose conversation is approved among your tribes, that I may appoint them your rulers. Then youanswered me: The thing is good which thou meanest to do. And I took out of your tribes men wiseand honourable, and appointed them rulers, tribunes, and centurions, and officers over fifties, andover tens, who might teach you all things. And I commanded them, saying: Hear them, and judgethat which is just: whether he be one of your country, or a stranger. There shall be no differenceof persons, you shall hear the little as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man’s person,because it is the judgment of God. And if any thing seem hard to you, refer it to me, and I will hearit. And I commanded you all things that you were to do.

50Exodus 33:7e (see “The Tent” below) – i.e. to ask for divine response through the agency of Moses who conversed with God in the Tent, see above 18:15. In later times, Yahweh was ’consulted’through a man of God or through a prophet, 1 K 14:5, 22:5, 8; 2 K 3:11; 8:8; etc. or by using thesacred lots, see 1 S 2:28l; 14:41r.

Exodos 33:7-11 (The Tent) – Moses used to take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, far awayfrom the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult Yahweh would goout to the Tent of Meeting, outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, the peoplewould all stand up and every man would stand at the door of his tent and watch Moses until he wentinto the Tent. And whenever Moses went into the Tent, the pillar of cloud would come down andstation itself at the entrance to the Tent, while Yahweh spoke with Moses. The people could all seethe pillar of cloud stationed at the entrance to the Tent and the people would all stand up and bowlow, each at the door of his tent. Yahweh would talk to Moses face to face, as a man talks to hisfriend, and afterwards he would come back to the camp, but the young man who was his servant,Joshua son of Nun, never left the inside of the Tent.

51Numbers 11:14 – I cannot carry all these people on my own; the weight is too much for me.

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laws, and show them the way they ought to follow and how they ought to behave.21 At the same time, from the people at large choose capable and God-fearing men,men who are trustworthy and incorruptible, and put them in charge of them as headsof thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, 22 and make them the people’s permanent

judges.5 2 5 3 They will refer all important matters to you, but all minor matters theywill decide themselves, so making things easier for you by sharing the burden withyou. 23 If you do this-and may God so command you-you will be able to stand thestrain, and all these people will go home satisfied.’ 24 Moses took his father-in-law’s

advice and did just as he said. 25 Moses chose capable men from all Israel and putthem in charge of the people as heads of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26These acted as the people’s permanent judges. They referred hard cases to Mosesbut decided minor matters themselves.

27 Moses then set his father-in-law on his way, and he travelled back to his owncountry.54

4.1 Hebrews 11:32-40 – The Faith of Moses, of the Judges and of the Prophets

[32] And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak,Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets–[33] who through faithconquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions,[34] quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness,became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. [35] Women received their deadby resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might riseagain to a better life. [36] Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains andimprisonment. [37] They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed withthe sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated–[38] of whom the world was not worthy–wandering over deserts and mountains, and

52Numbers 11:16-17 – Yahweh said to Moses, “Collect me seventy of the elders of Israel, men youknow to be the people’s elders and scribes. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting, and let them standbeside you there. I shall come down and talk to you there and shall take some of the spirit which ison you and put it on them. Then they will bear the burden of the people with you, and you will nolonger have to bear it on your own.

53Isaiah 11:1-10 – There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall growout of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him...

54Numbers 10:29-32 (Moses’ proposal to Hobab) – Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite,his father-in-law, ’We are setting out for the country of which Yahweh has said: I shall give it to you.Come with us, and we will treat you well, for Yahweh has promised good things for Israel.’ ’I willnot come with you,’ he replied, ’but shall go to my own country and kin.’ ’Do not leave us,’ Mosessaid, ’for you know where we can camp in the desert, and so you will be our eyes. If you come withus, we shall share with you whatever blessings Yahweh gives us.’

in dens and caves of the earth. [39] And all these, though well attested by their faith,did not receive what was promised [40] since God had foreseen something better forus, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Hebrews 11:32-40 32-38. Up to thispoint, the passage has been recalling outstanding examples of faith from the time of the Patriarchs down to that of Joshua (18th to 13th century B.C.). The epistle nowgoes on to their exploits and sufferings, wherein their faith brought them victory; the

sacred writer then mentions the testimony of faith of heroes, judges, kings, prophetsand martyrs from the time of the conquest of Palestine to that of the Maccabees(13th to 2nd centuries B.C.). Not in any strict chronological order, he mentions onlythe most important Judges (Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah), the greatest of the kings (David) and the most famous of the early prophets (Samuel). Finally herefers to exploits and other deeds inspired by faith and fidelity, without giving names.

We know from Sacred Scripture that many of these people had shortcomings and,in some cases, committed grave sins. However, those weaknesses did not preventtheir filling key roles in God’s plans: they let themselves be used by God to applyhis policy and are therefore worthy of being proposed as examples of faith.

33-35a. ”Through faith (they) conquered kingdoms”: a reference to the men who

conquer the promised land: Barak, who overcame the Canaanites (cf. Judg 11),Gideon, who conquered the Midianites (cf. Judg 7), Jephthah, who conquered theAmonnites (cf. Judg 11), Samson, who defeated the Philistines (cf. Judg 14), andDavid, who succeeded in subduing all the enemies of Israel (cf. 2 Sam 5:17-25; 8:1f;10).

”Enforced justice”: a reference to the authority exercised by the Judges on a tribalbasis, and by Samuel and the kings over the whole of Israel (cf. 1 Sam 12:3; 2 Sam8:15); it can also be understood as meaning those who practised righteousness inGod’s name and made it effective, the prophets being the outstanding examples.

”Received promises”: the righteous of the Old Testament received an earnest of the

messianic promises in the form of the fulfillment of certain prophecies made by God.Barak defeated Sisera as God had promised (cf. Judg 4:14f); Gideon overcame theMidianites (cf. Judg 6:14; 7:7); David brought peace to the whole land, as Nathanhad predicted (cf. 2 Sam 7:11); etc.

”Stopped the mouths of lions”: a reference to feats performed by Samson (cf. Jud14:6), David (cf. 1 Sam 17:34-35), and Benaiah (cf. 2 Sam 23:20), it especially recallsthe episode of Daniel in the lion’s den: when thrown there by the king on account of his faith, he told him, ”My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and theyhave not hurt me” (Dan 6:22).

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Sacred history also includes people who ”quenched raging fire” (like the three youngmen in the fiery furnace in Babylon: cf. Dan 3:21-94); or who ”escaped the edge of the sword” (as Moses did, in his flight from Pharaoh’s wrath: cf. Ex 18:4); or likeDavid, who ”won strength out of weakness” in his victories over Goliath and Saul(cf. 1 Sam 17:34ff; 18:11; 19:11). Thanks to his faith Elijah found protection fromJezebel’s persecution (cf. 1 Kings 19:1f); and the Jewish people were able to escapeextermination during King Ahasuerus’ reign thanks to the prayer and intercession of Esther and Mordecai (cf. Esther 3:6ff).

Through faith King Hezekiah was miraculously cured of mortal illness (cf. Is 38)and Samson received his strength after becoming weak and blind (cf. Judg 15:19;16:28-30). Faith enabled the Hebrews, under the Judges, to take on and defeat thepagan peoples of Palestine; it led Judith to behead Holofernes and bring about thedestruction of his army; and it enabled the Maccabees to repel the foreign armies of Antiochus (cf. 1 Mac 1:38).

Then there is the example of the widow of Zarephath, who sheltered Elijah andhad her son restored when the prophet cured him (cf. 1 Kings 17:17f). And Elishabrought back to life the son of the Shunammite widow (cf. 2 Kings 4:33f).

All these examples show the effectiveness of faith, when it involves a person’s wholelife and lifestyle, influencing both everyday events and great exploits.

35b-36. Faith not only enables people to perform exploits and miracles: it alsoenables them to persevere in doing good and to bear all kinds of moral and physicalpain, even torture and the most cruel forms of death. And so the text refers tovarious sorts of suffering inflicted on the prophets and many other just members of the people of Israel.

The writer may have in mind, for example, the death of Eleazar (cf. 2 Mac 6:19ff)and of the seven brothers (cf. 2 Mac 7), who underwent most cruel torture duringthe persecution mounted by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The king had promised themtheir lives if they gave up their faith and laws by eating forbidden meat; but theystayed true to God and were mercilessly martyred.

However, they had unshakeable faith in the rightness of God’s judgment and infuture resurrection (2 Mac 7:19, 14, 23, 29). They desired to ”rise again to a betterlife”: they put their faith in an incomparably more valuable, more real, life thanthat of a few more years on earth, which would have been the reward of apostasy.”They did not escape death,” St Thomas writes, ”not because God was not lookingafter them but so that they might obtain eternal life, which is a more excellent thingthan being set free from any present affliction or being raised up again to this life”(”Commentary on Heb.”, 11, 5).

The example of these men and women whom faith strengthened to endure suffering,

should encourage Christians to face persecution courageously and defend their faithat all costs. ”Let us pray to God that we do not suffer persecution, but if that doeshappen, let us bear it bravely. It befits a prudent man not to fling himself lightlyinto danger, but it befits a brave man to rise to the occasion when danger falls onhim” (”Hom. on Heb.”, 5).

37-38. Some righteous men were stoned for their faith–Zechariah, for example,who was killed by order of King Joash (cf. 2 Chron 24:2021); Naboth, condemnedto death through the lies spread by Jezebel (cf. 1 Kings 21:13); and the prophet

Jeremiah also, according to an ancient tradition. Others were sawn in two–Isaiah,for example, whom another Jewish tradition says was martyred by King Manasseh.

Elijah, in flight from persecution, went around dressed in skins (cf. 1 Kings 19:3ff);similarly Mattathias and his sons during the war against the Seleucid kings, wereforced to hide in the mountains and had only goatskins to wear (cf. 1 Mac 2:28).

In our own time there are also people who profess their faith in God by undergoingcomparable persecution; but usually hatred of Christ and his followers takes moresubtle forms.

40. This verse is the conclusion following from all the examples provided. Therighteous of the Old Law were outstanding for their faith and endurance, but for allthat they did not have the strength that the grace of Christ bestows; Jesus remarked,when John the Baptist was praised to him, ”Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has ansen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least inthe kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Mt 11:11); and he reminded his disciplesof their privileged position: ”Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! For I tellyou that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it,and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Lk 10:23-24; cf. Mt 13:16-17).

God did not deny their reward to the righteous of the Old Testament, but hepostponed it until heaven’s gates were opened by the death and resurrection of ourLord. They too now enjoy eternal life and they will attain their final perfectingwhen their bodies rise in glory on the last day. God is like a goo d father, St John

Chrysostom comments, who says to his beloved children when they finish their work,that he will not give them their supper until their other brothers come back also.”And you, are you annoyed because you have not received your reward? What shouldAbel do, then. He was the first to gain the victory, but remained uncrowned. AndNoah? And all those of those times who are waiting for you and for those who willcome after you? Do you not see how much better off we are? That is why he says:God in his providence had arranged something better for us. And, in order that itshould not be thought that those people were superior to us because they receivedtheir crown earlier, God disposed that all should be crowned at the very same time;

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and he who won his many years earlier will be crowned along with you [...]. For if weare all the one body, this body will the more rejoice if all are crowned at the sametime and not one by one” (”Hom. on Heb.”, 28)

4.2 Isaiah 11:1-10 – The New Descendant of David / The Return of the Exiles

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide by what his ears hear;

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist,

and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

and the calf and the lion and the failing together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall feed;

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adders den.

They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

The Return of the Exiles

In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; himshall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Isaiah 11:1-10 11:1-9. This passage,which is regarded as the third Immanuel oracle, has two parts to it. The first (vv.1-5)announces that the shoot will spring from the stump of Jesse (David’s father) at somefuture date.The second (vv. 6-9) describes the good things associated with his reign,using imagery to do with messianic peace: creation will be restored to its state of

original justice.The first part is a formal announcement of the accession of a new king in the line

of David–humble, because he comes from a tree that has been pruned yet has all thevitality of a tender shoot. It refers to a future king (”there shall come ...”) and notthe reigning monarch. The new king will be endowed with exceptional qualities thatequip him to rule, thanks to the Holy Spirit who will descend upon him. The divineSpirit is an inner strength, a gift that God gives to key figures in salvation historyto enable them to accomplish a difficult and dangerous mission–Moses (cf. Num11:17), the judges (cf. 3:10; 6:34) and David (1 Sam 16:13). The new descendent of David will rule over the people not in a heavy-handed way like the kings of the time,but with a charismatic dynamism that comes from God. Six gifts of the Spirit arementioned, in pairs – wisdom and understanding, referring to the skill and prudencethat ensure that he will judge rightly; counsel and fortitude, the characteristics of anastute strategist like David; knowledge and the fear of the Lord, which have to dowith the religious sphere, for the king must not forget that he is God’s representative.

The second part describes very beautifully the messianic peace that will flower withthis new ”shoot”. It paints a panorama of the harmony that reigned at the dawn of creation, only to be broken by sin. Even among wild beasts violence will disappear.No longer will man in his pride desire to be ”like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen3:5); instead he will be filled with the divine gift of the ”knowledge of the Lord”(v. 9). The ”child”, mentioned twice (vv. 6, 8) is not directly connected with thechild-king of the oracle found in 9:6 or with the Immanuel (7:14); however, in themind of the prophet they must have had many points of contact, given the referenceto the child having a leadership role (v. 6).

The image of the ”shoot” from the royal line who will bring peace has been in-terpreted in Christian tradition as finding fulfillment in Jesus Christ. St ThomasAquinas read this passage as referring to Christ, who brought about the restorationof mankind; he points out: ”First, the birth of Christ the ’restorer’, is spoken of (v.1); then, his holiness (vv. 2-9) and his dignity (v. 10) are described” (”ExpositioSuper lsaiam”, 11). And John Paul II comments: ”Alluding to the coming of a myste-

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rious personage, which the New Testament revelation will identify with Jesus, Isaiahconnects his person and mission with a particular action of the Spirit of God–theSpirit of the Lord.

These are the words of the prophet: ’There shall come forth a shoot from thestump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And ”the Spirit of the Lordshall rest upon him”, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counseland might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall bethe fear of the Lord’ (Is 11:1-3). This text is important for the whole pneumatologyof the Old Testament, because it constitutes a kind of bridge between the ancientbiblical concept of ’spirit’, understood primarily as a ’charismatic breath of wind’,and the ’Spirit’ as a person and as a gift, a gift for the person. The Messiah of thelineage of David (’from the stump of Jesse’) is precisely that person upon whom theSpirit of the Lord ’shall rest.’ It is obvious that in this case one cannot yet speak of a revelation of the Paraclete. However, with this veiled reference to the figure of thefuture Messiah there begins, so to speak, the path towards the full revelation of theHoly Spirit in the unity of the Trinitarian mystery, a mystery which will finally bemanifested in the New Covenant” (”Dominum Et Vivificantem”, 15).

A Christian reading of these words finds in them a reference to the action of theHoly Spirit in souls; the ”spirits” that repose in the Messiah; are stable ”gifts” through

which the Holy Spirit acts. There are six of these gifts, according to the Hebrew text(which the New Vulgate and the RSV follow). The Greek translation of the Septuagintand the Vulgate divide the gift of fear into two–piety and fear of the Lord. That iswhy catechesis and theology speak of there being seven gifts: ”The seven ’gifts’ of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety andfear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David (cf. Is 11:1-2).They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make thefaithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations” (”Catechism of the CatholicChurch”, 183155).

4.3 Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7 – The Prince of Peace

[2] The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a

551831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge,piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They completeand perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeyingdivine inspirations.

Let your good spirit lead me on a level path. For all who are led by the Spirit of God aresons of God . . . If children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. [3] Thou has multiplied the nation,thou hast increased its joy; they rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as menrejoice when they divide the spoil. [4] For the yoke of his burden, and the staff forhis shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken as on the day of Midian. [6]For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon hisshoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counsellor, Might God, EverlastingFather, Prince of Peace.” [7] Of the increase of his government and of peace there willbe no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and touphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore.The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7 9:1-7. At this point,though not yet very clearly, we begin to see the figure of King Hezekiah, who, unlikehis father Ahaz, was a pious man who put all his trust in the Lord. After Galilee waslaid waste by Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria, and its population subsequently deported(cf. 8:21-22), Hezekiah of Judah would recon- quer that region, which would recoverits splendour for a period. All this gave grounds for hope again.

This oracle may have a connexion with the Immanuel prophecy (7:1-17), and thechild with messianic prerogatives that has been born (cf. 9:6-7) could be the childthat Isaiah prophesied about (cf. 7:14). For this reason, 9:1-7 is seen as the secondoracle of the Immanuel cycle. This “child” that is born, the son given to us, is agift from God (9:6), because it is a sign that God is present among his people. TheHebrew text attributes four qualities to the child which seem to em- brace all thetypical features of Israel’s illustrious forebears – the wisdom of Solo- mon (cf. 1 Kings3: “Wonderful Counsellor”), the prowess of David (cf. 1 Sam 7: “Mighty God”), theadministrative skills of Moses (cf. Ex 18:13-26) as liberator, guide and fatherof the people (cf. Deut 34:10-12), (“Everlasting Father”), and the virtues of the earlypatriarchs, who made peace pacts (cf. Gen 21:22-34; 26:15- 35; 23:6), (“Prince of peace”). In the old Latin Vulgate, the translation gave six features (“Admirabilis,

Consiliarius, Deus, Fortis, Pater future saeculi, Princeps pacis”); these have foundtheir way into the liturgy. The New Vulgate has reverted to the Hebrew text. Eitherway, what we have here are titles that Semite nations applied to the reigning monarch;but, taken together, they go far beyond what befitted Hezekiah or any other kingof Judah. Therefore, Christian tradition has interpreted them as being appropriateonly for Jesus. St Bernard, for example, explains the justification for these names asfollows: “He is Wonderful in his birth, Counsellor in his preaching, God in his works,Mighty in the Passion, Ever- lasting Father in the resurrection, and Prince of Peacein eternal happiness” (Sermones de diversis, 53, 1).

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Because these names are applied to Jesus, the short-term conquest of Galilee byHezekiah is seen as being only an announcement of the definitive salvation broughtabout by Christ. In the Gospels we find echoes of this oracle in a number of passagesthat refer to Jesus. When Luke narrates the Annunciation by the angel to Mary (Lk1:31-33) we hear that the son that she will conceive and give birth to will receive“the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Lk 1:32b-33; cf. Is 9:7). And in theaccount about the shepherds of Bethlehem, they are told that “to you is born thisday in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord . . . ” (Lk 2:11-12; cf. Is9:6). St Matthew sees the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee (Mt 4:12-17) as thefulfillment of this Isaian oracle (cf. Is 9:1): the lands that in the prophet’s time werelaid waste and saw ethnic cleansing and transplantation were the first to receive thelight of salvation from the Messiah.

A List of used References

• The New Jerusalem Bible (Nihil Obstat/Imprimatur)

– ISBN: 0232516502

– URL: http://www.catholic.org/bible/

• Catechism of the Catholic Church (Nihil Obstat/Imprimatur)

– ISBN: 0860123278

– URL: http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/index.cfm(with footnotes and citations)

– URL: http://www.scborromeo.org/search.htm

• The Navarre Bible Series (Nihil Obstat/Imprimatur)

– Available in print for the entire Bible, initiated by St. Josemarıa Escriva

– URL: http://groups.google.com.au/ Keyword: navarre “Exodus 16”

• Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner Revision

– Sword module version 1.1 - http://www.e-sword.net/

– THE HOLY BIBLE TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN VULGATE DILI-GENTLY COMPARED WITH THE HEBREW, GREEK, AND OTHEREDITIONS IN DIVERS LANGUAGES THE OLD TESTAMENT FIRSTPUBLISHED BY THE ENGLISH COLLEGE AT DOUAY, A.D. 1609 ANDTHE NEW TESTAMENT FIRST PUBLISHED BY THE ENGLISH COL-LEGE AT RHEIMS, A.D. 1582 WITH ANNOTATIONS, REFERENCES,AND AN HISTORICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX

– THE WHOLE REVISED AND DILIGENTLY COMPARED WITH THE

LATIN VULGATE BY BISHOP RICHARD CHALLONER, A.D. 1749-1752 PUBLISHED WITH THE APPROBATION OF HIS EMINENCEJAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE

– URL: http://www.drbo.org/

B Catechism of the Catholic Church

B.1 Exodus 15:26 (CCC 1502)

CCC 1502 The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God.It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life and death,that he implores healing.56 Illness becomes a way to conversion; God’s forgivenessinitiates the healing.57 It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linkedto sin and evil, and that faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: ”ForI am the Lord, your healer.”58 The prophet intuits that suffering can also have aredemptive meaning for the sins of others.59 Finally Isaiah announces that God willusher in a time for Zion when he will pardon every offense and heal every illness .60

B.2 Exodus 16:19-21 (CCC 2837)

2837 ”Daily” (epiousios) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Taken in atemporal sense, this word is a pedagogical repetition of ”this day,” to confirm usin trust ”without reservation.” Taken in the qualitative sense, it signifies what is

56Cf. Ps 6:3; 38; Isa 38.57Cf. Ps 32:5; 38:5; 39:9, 12; 107:20; cf. Mk 2:5-12.58Ex 15:2659Isaiah 53:11 – he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge

shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear theiriniquities.

60Isaiah 33:24 – And no inhabitant will say, ”I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiventheir iniquity.

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http://www.catholic.org/bible/

http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/index.cfm

http://www.scborromeo.org/search.htm

http://groups.google.com.au/

http://www.e-sword.net/

http://www.drbo.org/

http://www.drbo.org/

http://www.e-sword.net/

http://groups.google.com.au/

http://www.scborromeo.org/search.htm

http://www.kofc.org/publications/cis/catechism/index.cfm

http://www.catholic.org/bible/

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necessary for life, and more broadly every good thing sufficient for subsistence. Takenliterally (epi-ousios: ”super-essential”), it refers directly to the Bread of Life, theBody of Christ, the ”medicine of immortality,” without which we have no life withinus. Finally in this connection, its heavenly meaning is evident: ”this day” is the Dayof the Lord, the day of the feast of the kingdom, anticipated in the Eucharist thatis already the foretaste of the kingdom to come. For this reason it is fitting for theEucharistic liturgy to be celebrated each day.

The Eucharist is our daily bread. The power belonging to this divinefood makes it a bond of union. Its effect is then understood as unity, so that,gathered into his Body and made members of him, we may become what wereceive. . . . This also is our daily bread: the readings you hear each dayin church and the hymns you hear and sing. All these are necessities for ourpilgrimage.

The Father in heaven urges us, as children of heaven, to ask for the breadof heaven. [Christ] himself is the bread who, sown in the Virgin, raised up inthe flesh, kneaded in the Passion, baked in the oven of the tomb, reserved inchurches, brought to altars, furnishes the faithful each day with food fromheaven.

B.3 Exodus 16:19 (CCC 2836)

2836 ”This day” is also an expression of trust taught us by the Lord, which we wouldnever have presumed to invent. Since it refers above all to his Word and to the Bodyof his Son, this ”today” is not only that of our mortal time, but also the ”today” of God.

If you receive the bread each day, each day is today for you. If Christ isyours today, he rises for you every day. How can this be? ”You are my Son,today I have begotten you.” Therefore, ”today” is when Christ rises.

B.4 Exodus 17:1-6 (CCC 694)

694 Water. The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit’s action in Baptism,since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramentalsign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so thewater of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in theHoly Spirit. As ”by one Spirit we were all baptized,” so we are also ”made to drink

of one Spirit.”61 Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up fromChrist crucified62 as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.63

B.5 Exodus 17:2-7 (CCC 2119)

2119 Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the testby word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down fromthe Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act.64 Jesus opposed Satan with the

611 Corinthians 12:13 – For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks,slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

62John 19:34 – But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came outblood and water.

1 John 5:8 – There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.63John 4:10-14 – Jesus answered her, ”If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying

to you, ’Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”The woman said to him, ”Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do youget that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank fromit himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, ”Every one who drinks of this water willthirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that Ishall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 7:38 – He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ’Out of his heart shall flow rivers of

living water.’Exodus 17:1-6 – All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin

by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim; but there was nowater for the people to drink. Therefore the people found fault with Moses, and said, ”Give us waterto drink.” And Moses said to them, ”Why do you find fault with me? Why do you put the Lord tothe proof?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, andsaid, ”Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”So Moses cried to the Lord, ”What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”And the Lord said to Moses, ”Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel;and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand beforeyou there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, thatthe people may drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Isaiah 55:1 – Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buyand eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Zechariah 14:8 – On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to theeastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.

1 Corinthians 10:4 – and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the super-natural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

Revelation 21:6 – And he said to me, ”It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginningand the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.”

Revelation 22:17 – The Spirit and the Bride say, ”Come.” And let him who hears say, ”Come.”And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.

64Luke 4:9 – And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saidto him, ”If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.”

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word of God: ”You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.” 65 The challengecontained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creatorand Lord. It always harbors doubt about his love, his providence, and his power.66

B.6 Exodus 17:8-13 (CCC 2577)

2577 From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding insteadfast love, Moses drew strength and determination for his intercession. He doesnot pray for himself but for the people whom God made his own. Moses alreadyintercedes for them during the battle with the Amalekites and prays to obtain healingfor Miriam. But it is chiefly after their apostasy that Moses ”stands in the breach”before God in order to save the people. The arguments of his prayer - for intercessionis also a mysterious battle - will inspire the boldness of the great intercessors amongthe Jewish people and in the Church: God is love; he is therefore righteous andfaithful; he cannot contradict himself; he must remember his marvelous deeds, sincehis glory is at stake, and he cannot forsake this people that bears his name.

B.7 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 (CCC 129)

CCC 129 Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucifiedand risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the OldTestament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its ownintrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord himself .67 Besides, the New

65Deuteronomy 6:16 – Do not put Yahweh your God to the test as you tested him at Massah.661 Corinthians 10:9 – We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were

destroyed by serpents.Exodus 17:2-7 – Therefore the people found fault with Moses, and said, ”Give us water to drink.”

And Moses said to them, ”Why do you find fault with me? Why do you put the Lord to the proof?”But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, ”Whydid you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” So Mosescried to the Lord, ”What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And theLord said to Moses, ”Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel; andtake in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before youthere on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that thepeople may drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the nameof the place Massah and Meribah, because of the faultfinding of the children of Israel, and becausethey put the Lord to the proof by saying, ”Is the Lord among us or not?”

Psalm 95:9 – when your fathers tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen mywork.

67Mark 12:29-31 – Jesus answered, ”The first is, ’Hear, O Israel: The Lord, our God, the Lord isone; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with allyour mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis madeconstant use of the Old Testament.68 As an old saying put it, the New Testamentlies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. 69


1094 It is on this harmony of the two Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of theLord is built,70 and then, that of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church. Thiscatechesis unveils what lay hidden under the letter of the Old Testament: the mysteryof Christ. It is called ”typological” because it reveals the newness of Christ on thebasis of the ”figures” (types) which announce him in the deeds, words, and symbolsof the first covenant. By this re-reading in the Spirit of Truth, starting from Christ,the figures are unveiled.71 Thus the flood and Noah’s ark prefigured salvation by

There is no other commandment greater than these.”681 Corinthians 5:6-8 – Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the

whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not withthe old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but wit h the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 10:1-11 – I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud,and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all

ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from thesupernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless with most of themGod was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, ”The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to dance.” We mustnot indulge in immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. Wemust not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents; nor grumble,as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as awarning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.

69Dei verbum 16God, the inspirer and author of both Testaments, wisely arranged that the New Testament be

hidden in the Old and the Old be made manifest in the New. (2) For, though Christ established thenew covenant in His blood (see Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25), still the books of the Old Testament withall their parts, caught up into the proclamation of the Gospel, (3) acquire and show forth their fullmeaning in the New Testament (see Matt. 5:17; Luke 24:27; Rom. 16:25-26; 2 Cor. 14:16) and inturn shed light on it and explain it.

ENDNOTES:2. St. Augustine, ”Quest. in Hept.” 2,73: PL 34,623. 3. St. Irenaeus, ”Against Heretics” III,

21,3: PG 7,950; (Same as 25,1: Harvey 2, p. 115). St. Cyril of Jerusalem, ”Catech.” 4,35; PG33,497. Theodore of Mopsuestia, ”In Soph.” 1,4-6: PG 66, 452D-453A.

70Cf. DV 14-16; Lk 24:13-49.712 Corinthians 3:14-16 But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old

covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to thisday whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord the veil

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Baptism,72 as did the cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea. Water from the rockwas the figure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and manna in the desert prefigured theEucharist, ”the true bread from heaven.”73


697 Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of theHoly Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament, the cloud, now obscure, nowluminous, reveals the living and saving God, while veiling the transcendence of hisglory - with Moses on Mount Sinai74, at the tent of meeting75, and during the wan-dering in the desert76, and with Solomon at the dedication of the Temple .77 In theHoly Spirit, Christ fulfills these figures. The Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and”overshadows” her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus. 78 On themountain of Transfiguration, the Spirit in the ”cloud came and overshadowed” Jesus,

is removed.721 Peter 3:21 – Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from

the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.73John 6:32 – Jesus then said to them, ”Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you

the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”1 Corinthians 10:1-6 – I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud,

and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and allate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from thesupernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless with most of themGod was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things are warnings forus, not to desire evil as they did.

74Cf. Ex 24:15-18.75Exodus 33:9-10 – When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at

the door of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillarof cloud standing at the door of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, every man at histent door.

76Exodus 40:36-38 – Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from overthe tabernacle, the people of Israel would go onward; but if the cloud was not taken up, then theydid not go onward till the day that it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 – I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud,and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

771 Kings 8:10-12 – And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of theLord filled the house of the Lord. Then Solomon said, ”The Lord has set the sun in the heavens, buthas said that he would dwell in thick darkness.”

78Luke 1:35 – And the angel said to her, ”The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John, and ”a voice came out of the cloud, saying,’This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’” 79 Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the disciples on the day of his ascension and will reveal him as Son of man in glory on the day of his final coming.80

B.10 1 Corinthians 10:2 (CCC 117)

117 The spiritual sense . Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

(1) The allegorical sense . We can acquire a more profound understanding of eventsby recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a signor type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism. 81

(2) The moral sense . The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written ”for our instruction”.82

79Luke 9:34-35 – As he said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid asthey entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, ”This is my Son, my Chosen; listen tohim!”

80Acts 1:9 – And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloudtook him out of their sight.

Luke 21:27 – And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.81

1 Corinthians 10:2 – and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea821 Corinthians 10:11 – Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were writtendown for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.

Hebrews 3-4:11 – Therefore, holy brethren, who share in a heavenly call, consider Jesus, the apostleand high priest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also wasfaithful in God’s house. Yet Jesus has been counted worthy of as much more glory than Moses asthe builder of a house has more honor than the house. (For every house is built by someone, but thebuilder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify tothe things that were to be spoken later, but Christ was faithful over God’s house as a son. And weare his house if we hold fast our confidence and pride in our hope.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ”Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your heartsas in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the testand saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ’Theyalways go astray in their hearts; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ’They shallnever enter my rest.’” Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart,leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called”today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end, while it is said, ”Today, when you hear his voice, donot harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” Who were they that heard and yet were rebellious? Wasit not all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses? And with whom was he provoked forforty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whomdid he swear that they should never enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we seethat were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest remains, let us fear lest any of you be judged

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(3) The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, ”leading”). We can view realities andevents in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland:thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem .83

to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them; but the message which theyheard did not benefit them, because it did not meet with faith in the hearers. For we who havebelieved enter that rest, as he has said, ”As I swore in my wrath, ’They shall never enter my rest,’”although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spokenof the seventh day in this way, ”And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And againin this place he said, ”They shall never enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enterit, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again hesets a certain day, ”Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,”Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest,God would not speak later of another day. So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God; for whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his. Let us thereforestrive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience.

83Revelation 21:1-22:5 – Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and thefirst earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard agreat voice from the throne saying, ”Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell withthem, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; and he will wipe away everytear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor painany more, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who sat upon the throne said, ”Behold, I make all things new.” Also he said, ”Write this,for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, ”It is done! I am the Alpha and theOmega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water without price from the fountainof the water of life. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall bemy son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers,idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is thesecond death.”

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, andspoke to me, saying, ”Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And in the Spirit hecarried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming downout of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper,clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and onthe gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; on the east three gates,on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of thecity had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And he who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its breadth; and he measured the city with his rod,twelve thousand stadia; its length and breadth and height are equal. He also measured its wall, ahundred and forty-four cubits by a man’s measure, that is, an angel’s. The wall was built of jasper,while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adornedwith every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, thefifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenthchrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twefth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls,each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as


694 Water. The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit’s action in Baptism,since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramentalsign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so thewater of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in theHoly Spirit. As ”by one Spirit we were all baptized,” so we are also ”made to drinkof one Spirit.”84 Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up fromChrist crucified85 as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.86

glass.And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. And the

city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is theLamb. By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it,and its gates shall never be shut by day–and there shall be no night there; they shall bring into itthe glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor anyone who practicesabomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of Godand of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the treeof life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were forhealing of the nations. There shall be no more anything accursed, but the throne of God and of theLamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall

be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the LordGod will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.

841 Corinthians 12:13 – For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks,slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

85John 19:34 – But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came outblood and water.

1 John 5:8 – There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.86John 4:10-14 – Jesus answered her, ”If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying

to you, ’Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”The woman said to him, ”Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do youget that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank fromit himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, ”Every one who drinks of this water willthirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that Ishall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 7:38 – He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ’Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’

Exodus 17:1-6 – All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sinby stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim; but there was nowater for the people to drink. Therefore the people found fault with Moses, and said, ”Give us waterto drink.” And Moses said to them, ”Why do you find fault with me? Why do you put the Lord tothe proof?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, andsaid, ”Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”So Moses cried to the Lord, ”What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”And the Lord said to Moses, ”Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel;

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128 The Church, as early as apostolic times,87 and then constantly in her Tradition,has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typol-ogy, which discerns in God’s works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what heaccomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son.


2119 Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the testby word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down fromthe Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act.88 Jesus opposed Satan with theword of God: ”You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.” 89 The challengecontained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creatorand Lord. It always harbors doubt about his love, his providence, and his power.90

and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand beforeyou there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, thatthe people may drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Isaiah 55:1 – Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buyand eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Zechariah 14:8 – On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to theeastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.

1 Corinthians 10:4 – and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the super-natural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

Revelation 21:6 – And he said to me, ”It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginningand the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.”

Revelation 22:17 – The Spirit and the Bride say, ”Come.” And let him who hears say, ”Come.”And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.

871 Corinthians 10:6 – Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did.Hebrews 10:1 – For since the shadow of the law has but a shadow of the good things to come

instead of the true form of these realities, itcan never, by the same sacrifices which are continuallyoffered year after year, make perfect those who draw near.

1 Peter 3:21 – Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt fromthe body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

88Luke 4:9 – And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saidto him, ”If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.”

89Deuteronomy 6:16 – Do not put Yahweh your God to the test as you tested him at Massah.901 Corinthians 10:9 – We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were

destroyed by serpents.Exodus 17:2-7 – Therefore the people found fault with Moses, and said, ”Give us water to drink.”

And Moses said to them, ”Why do you find fault with me? Why do you put the Lord to the proof?”But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, ”Whydid you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” So Mosescried to the Lord, ”What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the

B.14 1 Corinthians 10:11 (CCC 117, CCC 128, CCC 670, CCC2175)

CCC 117 (See above)

CCC 128 (See above)

670 Since the Ascension God’s plan has entered into its fulfilment. We are alreadyat ”the last hour”.91 ”Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, forthe Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect.” 92

Christ’s kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs thatattend its proclamation by the Church.93

B.15 John 6:28-58 (CCC 2835)

2835 This petition, with the responsibility it involves, also applies to another hungerfrom which men are perishing: ”Man does not live by bread alone, but . . . by every

Lord said to Moses, ”Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel; andtake in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before youthere on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the

people may drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the nameof the place Massah and Meribah, because of the faultfinding of the children of Israel, and becausethey put the Lord to the proof by saying, ”Is the Lord among us or not?”

Psalm 95:9 – when your fathers tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen mywork.

911 John 2:18 – Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, sonow many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.

1 Peter 4:7 – The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers.92Lumen gentium 48 para 3: Already the final age of the world has come upon us (242) and

the renovation of the world is irrevocably decreed and is already anticipated in some kind of a realway; for the Church already on this earth is signed with a sanctity which is real although imperfect.However, until there shall be new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells,(243) the pilgrimChurch in her sacraments and institutions, which pertain to this present time, has the appearanceof this world which is passing and she herself dwells among creatures who groan and travail in painuntil now and await the revelation of the sons of God.(244)

NOTES242 Cf 1 Cor. 10. 11. 243 Cf. 2. Pet. 3, 13. 244 Cf. Rom. 8, 19-22.1 Corinthians 10:11 – Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written

down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.93Mark 16:17-18 – And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast

out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadlything, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Mark 16:20 – And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with themand confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.

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word that proceeds from the mouth of God,”94 that is, by the Word he speaks andthe Spirit he breathes forth. Christians must make every effort ”to proclaim the goodnews to the poor.” There is a famine on earth, ”not a famine of bread, nor a thirstfor water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” 95 For this reason the specificallyChristian sense of this fourth petition concerns the Bread of Life: The Word of Godaccepted in faith, the Body of Christ received in the Eucharist.96

B.16 Numbers 11:24-25 (CCC 1541)

1541 The liturgy of the Church, however, sees in the priesthood of Aaron and theservice of the Levites, as in the institution of the seventy elders,97 a prefiguring of theordained ministry of the New Covenant. Thus in the Latin Rite the Church prays inthe consecratory preface of the ordination of bishops:

God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, . . . by your gracious wordyou have established the plan of your Church.

From the beginning, you chose the descendants of Abraham to be yourholy nation. You established rulers and priests and did not leave your sanc-tuary without ministers to serve you....98

B.17 Hebrews 11:39-40 (CCC 147)

147 The Old Testament is rich in witnesses to this faith. The Letter to the Hebrews

proclaims its eulogy of the exemplary faith of the ancestors who ”received divineapproval”. 99 Yet ”God had foreseen something better for us”: the grace of believing

94Deuteronomy 8:3 – And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which youdid not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live bybread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

Matthew 4:4 – But he replied, ’Scripture says: Human beings live not on bread alone but on everyword that comes from the mouth of God.’

95Amos 8:11 – ”Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, ”when I will send a famine onthe land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

96Cf. Jn 6:26-58.97Numbers 11:24-25 – So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he

gathered seventy men of the elders of the p eople, and placed them round about the tent. Then theLord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him andput it upon the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they didso no more.

98Roman Pontifical, Ordination of Bishops 26, Prayer of Consecration.99Hebrews 11:2 – For by it the men of old received divine approval.Hebrews 11:39 – And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was

promised

in his Son Jesus, ”the pioneer and perfecter of our faith”.100

B.18 Isaiah 11:1-9 (CCC 672)

672 Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for theglorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israe l101 which, accordingto the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love and peace.102

According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, butalso a time still marked by ”distress” and the trial of evil which does not spare theChurch103 and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting andwatching.104

100Hebrews 11:40 – since God had forseen something better for us, that apart from us they shouldnot be made perfect.

Hebrews 12:2 – looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that wasset before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throneof God.101Acts 1:6-7 – So when they had come together, they asked him, ”Lord, will you at this time

restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, ”It is not for you to know times or seasons whichthe Father has fixed by his own authority. . . .”102Isaiah 11:1-9 – There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse...103Acts 1:8 – But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall

be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.1 Corinthians 7:26 – I think that in view of the present distress it is well for a person to remain as

he is.Ephesians 5:16 – making the most of the time, because the days are evil.1 Peter 4:17 – For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it

begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?104Matthew 25:1 – Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their

lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.Matthew 25:13 – Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.Mark 13:33-37 – Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a

man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work,and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Watch therefore–for you do not know when themaster of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning–lesthe come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.

1 John 2:18 – Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so nowmany antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.

John 4:3 – and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already.

1 Timothy 4:1 – Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faithby giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.

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B.19 Isaiah 11:1,2 (CCC 712, CCC 1831, CCC 436, CCC 536, CCC1286)

B.20 Providence and secondary causes

CCC 306 God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makesuse of his creatures’ co-operation. This use is not a sign of weakness, but rather atoken of almighty God’s greatness and goodness. For God grants his creatures notonly their existence, but also the dignity of acting on their own, of being causes and

principles for each other, and thus of co-operating in the accomplishment of his plan.CCC 307 To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his

providence by entrusting them with the responsibility of ”subduing” the earth andhaving dominion over it.105 God thus enables men to be intelligent and free causes inorder to complete the work of creation, to perfect its harmony for their own good andthat of their neighbours. Though often unconscious collaborators with God’s will,they can also enter deliberately into the divine plan by their actions, their prayers andtheir sufferings.106 They then fully become ”God’s fellow workers” and co-workersfor his kingdom.107

CCC 308 The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is

inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in andthrough secondary causes: ”For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for hisgood pleasure.”108 Far from diminishing the creature’s dignity, this truth enhancesit. Drawn from nothingness by God’s power, wisdom and goodness, it can do nothing

105Genesis 1:26-28 – Then God said, ”Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; andlet them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God createdman in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. AndGod blessed them, ”Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominionover the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon theearth.”106Colossians 1:24 – Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what

is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church1071 Corinthians 3:9 – For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

1 Thessalonians 3:2 – and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the gospel of Christ,to establish you in your faith and to exhort you

Colossians 4:11 – These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for thekingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.108Philippians 2:13 – For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according

to his good will.1 Corinthians 12:6 – and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them

all in every one.

if it is cut off from its origin, for ”without a Creator the creature vanishes.” 109 Stillless can a creature attain its ultimate end without the help of God’s grace.110

C Other noted links in the Navarre Bible from GoogleGroups

C.1 Luke 1:53 – The Magnificat

[46] And Mary said, ”My soul magnifies the Lord, [47] and my spirit rejoices in Godmy Savior, [48] for He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden. For behold,henceforth all generations will call me blessed; [49] for He who is mighty has donegreat things for me, and holy is His name. [50] And His mercy is on those who fearHim from generation to generation. [51] He has shown strength with His arm, Hehas scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, [52] He has put down themighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; [53] He has filled thehungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away. [54] He has helpedHis servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, [55] as He spoke to our fathers, toAbraham and to his posterity for ever.”

[56] And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Luke 1:53 This form of Divine Provi-dence has been experienced countless times over the course of history. For example,God nourished the people of Israel with manna during their forty years in the wilder-ness (Exodus 16:4-35); similarly, His angel brought food to Elijah (1 Kings 19:5-8),and to Daniel in the lions’ den (Daniel 14:31-40); and the widow of Sarepta was givena supply of oil which miraculously never ran out (1 Kings 17:8ff). So, too, the BlessedVirgin’s yearning for holiness was fulfilled by the Incarnation of the Word.

109Gaudium et spes 36 para 3: But if the expression, the independence of temporal affairs, is takento mean that created things do not depend on God, and that man can use them without any referenceto their Creator, anyone who acknowledges God will see how false such a meaning is. For withoutthe Creator the creature would disappear. For their part, however, all believers of whatever religionalways hear His revealing voice in the discourse of creatures. When God is forgotten, however, thecreature itself grows unintelligible.110Matthew 19:26 – But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ”With men this is impossible, but

with God all things are possible.”John 15:5 – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that

bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.John 14:13 – Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the

Son

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God nourished the chosen people with His Law and the preaching of His prophets,but the rest of mankind was left hungry for His word, a hunger now satisfied bythe Incarnation. This gift of God will be accepted by the humble; the self-sufficient,having no desire for the good things of God, will not partake of them (cf. St. Basil,”In Psalmos Homiliae”, on Psalm 33).

C.2 Mark 6:34-44 – First Miracle of the Loaves

[34] As he (Jesus) landed he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them,

because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them manythings. [35] And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ”This is alonely place, and the hour is now late; [36] send them away, to go into the countryand villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.” [37] But he answeredthem, ”You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, ”Shall we go andbuy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” [38] And hesaid to them, ”How many loaves have you? Go and see.” And when they had foundout, they said, ”Five, and two fish.” [39] Then he commanded them all to sit down bycompanies upon the green grass. [40] So they sat down in groups, by hundreds andby fifties. [41] And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven,and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the

people; and he divided the two fish among them all. [42] And they all ate and weresatisfied. [43] And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.[44] And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Mark 6:34-44 34. Our Lord hadplanned a period of rest, for himself and his disciples, from the pressures of theapostolate (Mk 6:31-32). And he has to change his plans because so many peoplecome, eager to hear him speak. Not only is he not annoyed with them: he feelscompassion on seeing their spiritual need. ”My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos 4:6). They need instruction and our Lord wants to meet this needby preaching to them. ”Jesus is moved by hunger and sorrow, but what moves himmost is ignorance” (J. Escriva, ”Christ Is Passing By”, 109).

37. A denarius was what an artisan earned for a normal day’s work. The disciplesmust, therefore, have thought it little less than impossible to fulfill the Master’scommand, because they would not have had this much money.

41. This miracle is a figure of the Holy Eucharist: Christ performed it shortly beforepromising that sacrament (cf. Jn 6:1ff ), and the Fathers have always so interpretedit. In this miracle Jesus shows his supernatural power and his love for men–the samepower and love as make it possible for Christ’s one and only body to be present in

the eucharistic species to nourish the faithful down the centuries. In the words of thesequence composed by St Thomas Aquinas for the Mass of Corpus Christi: ”Sumitunus, sumunt mille, quantum isti, tantum ille, nec sumptus consumitur” (Be one orbe a thousand fed, they eat alike that living bread which, still received, ne’er wastesaway).

This gesture of our Lord–looking up to heaven–is recalled in the Roman canon of the Mass: ”Et elevatis o culis in caelum, ad Te Deum Patrem suum omnipotentem”(and looking up to heaven, to you, his almighty Father). At this point in the Masswe are preparing to be present at a miracle greater than that of the multiplication of the loaves–the changing of bread into his own body, offered as food for all men.

42. Christ wanted the left-overs to be collected (cf. Jn 6:12) to teach us not towaste things God gives us, and also to have them as a tangible proof of the miracle.

The collecting of the leftovers is a way of showing us the value of little thingsdone out of love for God–orderliness, cleanliness, finishing things completely. It alsoreminds the sensitive believer of the extreme care that must be taken of the eucharisticspecies. Also, the generous scale of the miracle is an expression of the largesse of themessianic times. The Fathers recall that Moses distributed the manna for each to eatas much as he needed but some left part of it for the next day and it bred worms (Ex16:16-20). Elijah gave the widow just enough to meet her needs (1 Kings 17:13-16).Jesus, on the other hand, gives generously and abundantly.

C.3 Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10 – The Sounding of the SeventhTrumpet / The Woman Fleeing from the Dragon

[19] Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seenwithin his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder,an earthquake, and heavy hail.

[1] And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, withthe moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; [2] she was withchild and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery [3] And anotherportent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and tenhorns, and seven diadems upon his heads. [4] His tail swept down a third of the starsof heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman whowas about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth;[5] she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, [6] and the woman fledinto the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourishedfor one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

[10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ”Now the salvation and the power

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and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuserof our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before ourGod.

Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10 19.The seer introduces the heavenly temple (the location par excellence of God’s pres-ence), paralleling the earlier mention of the temple of Jerusalem (cf. 11:1-2). Theopening of the temple and the sight of the Ark of the Covenant show that the mes-

sianic era has come to an end and God’s work of salvation has been completed. Theark was the symbol of Israel’s election and salvation and of God’s presence in themidst of his people. According to a Jewish tradition, reported in 2 Maccabees 2:4-8,Jeremiah placed the ark in a secret hiding place prior to the destruction of Jerusalem,and it would be seen again when the Messiah carne. The author of the Apocalypseuses this to assure us that God has not forgotten his covenant: he has sealed itdefinitively in heaven, where the ark is located.

Many early commentators interpreted the ark as a reference to Christ’s sacredhumanity, and St Bede explains that just as the manna was kept in the original ark,so Christ’s divinity lies hidden in his sacred body (cf. ”Explanatio Apocalypsis”, 11,19).

The heavenly covenant is the new and eternal one made by Jesus Christ (cf. Mt26:26-29 and par.) which will be revealed to all at his second coming when the Churchwill triumph, as the Apocalypse goes on to describe. The presence of the ark in theheavenly temple symbolizes the sublimity of the messianic kingdom, which exceedsanything man could create. ”The vigilant and active expectation of the coming of the Kingdom is also the expectation of a finally perfect justice for the living and thedead, for people of all times and places, a justice which Jesus Christ, installed assupreme Judge, will establish (cf. Mt 24:29-44, 46; Acts 10:42; 2 Cor 5: 10). Thispromise, which surpasses all human possibilities, directly concerns our life in thisworld. For true justice must include everyone; it must explain the immense load of suffering borne by all generations. In fact, without the resurrection of the dead and

the Lord’s judgment, there is no justice in the full sense of the term. The promiseof the resurrection is freely made to meet the desire for true justice dwelling in thehuman heart” (SCDF, ”Libertatis Conscientia”, 60).

The thunder and lightning which accompany the appearance of the ark are rem-iniscent of the way God made his presence felt on Sinai; they reveal God’s mightyintervention (cf. Rev 4:5; 8:5) which is now accompanied by the chastisement of thewicked, symbolized by the earthquake and hailstones (cf. Ex 9: 13-35).

1-17. We are now introduced to the contenders in the eschatological battles which

mark the final confrontation between God and his adversary, the devil. The authoruses three portents to describe the leading figures involved, and the war itself. Thefirst is the woman and her offspring, including the Messiah (12:1-2); the second is thedragon, who will later transfer his power to the beasts (12:3); the third, the sevenangels with the seven bowls (15:1).

Three successive confrontations with the dragon are described–1) that of the Mes-siah to whom the woman gives birth (12:1-6); 2) that of St Michael and his angels(12:7-12); and 3) that of the woman and the rest of her offspring (12:13-17) Theseconfrontations should not be seen as being in chronological order. They are more likethree distinct pictures placed side by side because they are closely connected: in eachthe same enemy, the devil, does battle with God’s plans and with those whom Goduses to carry them out.

1-2. The mysterious figure of the woman has been interpreted ever since the timeof the Fathers of the Church as referring to the ancient people of Israel, or the Churchof Jesus Christ, or the Blessed Virgin. The text supports all of these interpretationsbut in none do all the details fit. The woman can stand for the people of Israel, for itis from that people that the Messiah comes, and Isaiah compares Israel to ”a womanwith child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near her time” (Is26:17).

She can also stand for the Church, whose children strive to overcome evil and tobear witness to Jesus Christ (cf. v. 17). Following this interpretation St Gregorywrote: ”The sun stands for the light of

truth, and the moon for the transitoriness of temporal things; the holy Churchis clothed like the sun because she is protected by the splendor of supernaturaltruth, and she has the moon under her feet because she is above all earthly things”(”Moralia”, 34, 12).

The passage can also refer to the Virgin Mary because it was she who truly andhistorically gave birth to the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord (cf. v. 5). St Bernardcomments: ”The sun contains permanent color and splendor; whereas the moon’sbrightness is unpredictable and changeable, for it never stays the same. It is quite

right, then, for Mary to be depicted as clothed with the sun, for she entered theprofundity of divine wisdom much further than one can possibly conceive” (”De B.Virgine”, 2).

In his account of the Annunciation, St Luke sees Mary as representing the faithfulremnant of Israel; the angel greets her with the greeting given in Zephaniah 3:15to the daughter of Zion (cf. notes on Lk 1:26- 31). St Paul in Galatians 4:4 sees awoman as the symbol of the Church, our mother; and non-canonical Jewish literaturecontemporary with the Book of Revelation quite often personifies the community as

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a woman. So, the inspired text of the Apocalypse is open to interpreting this womanas a direct reference to the Blessed Virgin who, as mother, shares in the pain of Calvary (cf. Lk 2:35) and who was earlier prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 as a ”sign” (cf.Mt 1:22-23). At the same time the woman can be interpreted as standing for thepeople of God, the Church, whom the figure of Mary represents.

The Second Vatican Council has solemnly taught that Mary is a ”type” or symbolof the Church, for ”in the mystery of the Church, which is itself rightly called motherand virgin, the Blessed Virgin stands out in eminent and singular fashion as exemplar

both of virgin and mother. Through her faith and obedience she gave birth onearth to the very Son of the Father, not through the knowledge of man but by theovershadowing of the Holy Spirit, in the manner of a new Eve who placed her faith,not in the serpent of old but in God’s messenger, without wavering in doubt. TheSon whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among manybrethren (cf. Rom 8:29), that is, the faithful, in whose generation and formation shecooperates with a mother’s love” (Vatican II, ”Lumen Gentium”, 63).

The description of the woman indicates her heavenly glory, and the twelve starsof her victorious crown symbolize the people of God–the twelve patriarchs (cf. Gen37:9) and the twelve apostles. And so, independently of the chronological aspects of the text, the Church sees in this heavenly woman the Blessed Virgin, ”taken up body

and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lordas Queen over all things, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, theLord of lords (cf. Rev 19:16) and conqueror of sin and death” (”Lumen Gentium”,59). The Blessed Virgin is indeed the great sign, for, as St Bonaventure says, ”Godcould have made none greater. He could have made a greater world and a greaterheaven; but not a woman greater than his own mother” (”Speculum”, 8).

3-4. In his description of the devil (cf. v. 9), St John uses symbols taken fromthe Old Testament. The dragon or serpent comes from Genesis 3:1-24, a passagewhich underlies all the latter half of this book. Its red color and seven heads withseven diadems show that it is bringing its full force to bear to wage this war. Theten horns in Daniel 7:7 stand for the kings who are Israel’s enemies; in Daniel a hornis also mentioned to refer to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, of whom Daniel also says (toemphasize the greatness of Antiochus’ victories) that it cast stars down from heavenonto the earth (cf. Dan 8:10). Satan drags other angels along with him, as thetext later recounts (Rev 12:9). All these symbols, then, are designed to convey theenormous power of Satan. ”The devil is described as a serpent”, St Cyprian writes,”because he moves silently and seems peaceable and comes by easy ways and is soastute and so deceptive [...] that he tries to have night taken for day, poison taken formedicine. So, by deceptions of this kind, he tries to destroy truth by cunning. That

is why he passes himself off as an angel of light” (”De Unitate Ecclesiae”, I-III).

After the fall of our first parents war broke out between the serpent and his seedand the woman and hers: ”I will put enmity between you and the woman, betweenyour seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen3:15). Jesus Christ is the woman’s descendant who will obtain victory over the devil(cf. Mk 1:23-26; Lk 4:31-37; etc.). That is why the power of evil concentrates all hisenergy on destroying Christ (cf. Mt 2:13-18) or to deflecting him from his mission(cf. Mt 4:1-11 and par.). By relating this enmity to the beginnings of the human

race St. John paints a very vivid picture.5. The birth of Jesus Christ brings into operation the divine plan announced bythe prophets (cf. Is 66:7) and by the Psalms (cf. Ps 2:9), and marks the first stepin ultimate victory over the devil. Jesus’ life on earth, culminating in his passion,resurrection and ascension into heaven, was the key factor in achieving this victory.St John emphasizes the triumph of Christ as victor, who, as the Church confesses,”sits at the right hand of the Father” (”Nicene- Constantinopolitan Creed”).

6. The figure of the woman reminds us of the Church, the people of God. Israeltook refuge in the wilderness to escape from Pharaoh, and the Church does the sameafter the victory of Christ. The wilderness stands for solitude and intimate unionwith God. In the wilderness God took personal care of his people, setting them free

from their enemies (cf. Ex 17:8-16) and nourishing them with quail and manna (cf.Ex 16:1-36). The Church is given similar protection against the powers of hell (cf.Mt 16:18) and Christ nourishes it with his body and his word all the while it makesits pilgrimage through the ages; it has a hard time (like Israel in the wilderness) butthere will be an end to it: it will take one thousand two hundred and sixty days (cf.notes on 11:3).

Although the woman, in this verse, seems to refer directly to the Church, she alsoin some way stands for the particular woman who gave birth to the Messiah, theBlessed Virgin. As no other creature has done, Mary has enjoyed a very uniquetype of union with God and very special protection from the powers of evil, deathincluded. Thus, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, ”in the meantime [while the

Church makes its pilgrim way on earth], the Mother of Jesus in the glory which shepossesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and beginning of the Church as itis to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth, until theday of the Lord shall come (cf. 2 Pet 3:10), a sign of certain hope and comfort to thepilgrim people of God” (”Lumen Gentium”, 68).

10-12. With the ascension of Christ into heaven the Kingdom of God is establishedand so all those who dwell in heaven break out into a song of joy. The devil has beendeprived of his power over man in the sense that the redemptive action of Christ

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and man’s faith enable man to escape from the world of sin. The text expresses this joyful truth by saying that there is now no place for the accuser, Satan whose namemeans and whom the Old Testament teaches to be the accuser of men before God:cf. Job 1:6-12; 2:1-10). Given what God meant creation to be, Satan could claim ashis victory anyone who, through sinning, disfigured the image and likeness of Godthat was in him. However, once the Redemption has taken place, Satan no longer haspower to do this, for, as St John writes, ”if any one does sin, we have an advocate withthe Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and notfor ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (Jn 2:1-2). Also, on ascendinginto heaven, Christ sent us the Holy Spirit as ”Intercessor and Advocate, especiallywhen man, that is, mankind, find themselves before the judgment of condemnationby that ’accuser’ about whom the Book of Revelation says that ’he accuses them dayand night before our God”’ (John Paul II, ”Dominum Et Vivificantem”, 67).

Although Satan has lost this power to act in the world, he still has time left,between the resurrection of our Lord and the end of history, to put obstacles inman’s way and frustrate Christ’s action. And so he works ever more frenetically, ashe sees time run out, in his effort to distance everyone and society itself from theplans and commandments of God.

The author of the Book of Revelation uses this celestial chant to warn the Churchof the onset of danger as the End approaches.

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