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| Chapter LXXXVI.—There are various figures in the Old Testament of the wood of the cross by which Christ reigned.
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Chapter LXXXVI.—There are various
figures in the Old Testament of the wood of the cross by which Christ reigned.
And when I had quoted this, I
added, “Hear, then, how this Man, of whom the Scriptures declare
that He will come again in glory after His crucifixion, was symbolized
both by the tree of life, which was said to have been planted in
paradise, and by those events which should happen to all the just. Moses
was sent with a rod to effect the redemption of the people; and with this
in his hands at the head of the people, he divided the sea. By this he
saw the water gushing out of the rock; and when he cast a tree into the
waters of Marah, which were bitter, he made them sweet. Jacob, by putting
rods into the water-troughs, caused the sheep of his uncle to conceive,
so that he should obtain their young. With his rod the same Jacob boasts
that he had crossed the river. He said he had seen a ladder, and the
Scripture has declared that God stood above it. But that this was not the
Father, we have proved from the Scriptures. And Jacob, having poured oil
on a stone in the same place, is testified to by the very God who
appeared to him, that he had anointed a pillar to the God who appeared to
him. And that the stone symbolically proclaimed Christ, we have also
proved by many Scriptures; and that the unguent, whether it was of oil,
or of stacte,2286
or of any other
compounded sweet balsams, had reference to Him, we have also proved,2287
| 2287 In chap. lxiii. probably,
where the same Psalm is quoted. | inasmuch as the word says:
‘Therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of
gladness above Thy fellows.’2288
For indeed
all kings and anointed persons obtained from Him their share in the names
of kings and anointed: just as He Himself received from the Father the
titles of King, and Christ, and Priest, and Angel, and such like other
titles which He bears or did bear. Aaron’s rod, which blossomed,
declared him to be the high priest. Isaiah prophesied that a rod would
come forth from the root of Jesse, [and this was] Christ. And David says
that the righteous man is ‘like the tree that is planted by the
channels of waters, which should yield its fruit in its season, and whose
leaf should not fade.’2289
Again, the
righteous is said to flourish like the palm-tree. God appeared from a
tree to Abraham, as it is written, near the oak in Mamre. The people
found seventy willows and twelve springs after crossing the Jordan.2290
David affirms that God
comforted him with a rod and staff. Elisha, by casting a stick2291
| 2291 Literally, “a
tree.” | into the river Jordan, recovered the iron part
of the axe with which the sons of the prophets had gone to cut down trees
to build the house in which they wished to read and study the law and
commandments of God; even as our Christ, by being crucified on the tree,
and by purifying [us] with water, has redeemed us, though plunged in the
direst offences which we have committed, and has made [us] a house of
prayer and adoration. Moreover, it was a rod that pointed out Judah to be
the father of Tamar’s sons by a great mystery.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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