The Ark of the covenant

by E.A. Wallis Budge, [1932]

The Angels who rebelled

And there were certain angels with whom God was wroth—now He, the Knower of the heart knew them—and they reviled ADAM, saying, “Since God hath shown love to him He hath set us to minister unto him, and the beasts and creeping things, and the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and all fruits, and the trees of the field, and the heavens and the earth also; and He hath appointed the heavens to give him rain, and the earth to give him fruits. And the sun and the moon also hath He given him, the sun to give him lightly by day and the moon to give him light in the night season. He hath fashioned him with His fingers, and He hath created him in His own image, and He hath kissed him and breathed upon him the spirit of life; and He saith unto him, ‘My son, My firstborn, My beloved.’ And He hath set him in a garden to eat and enjoy himself without sickness or suffering, and without toil or labour, but He hath commanded him not to eat from one tree. And being given all these things by God, Adam hath transgressed and eaten of that tree, and he hath become hated and rejected, and God hath driven him out of the Garden, and from that time ADAM hath abandoned his hope, for he hath transgressed the commandment of his Creator.”

And God answered the angels who reviled ADAM in this wise, and He said unto them, “Why do ye revile ADAM in this wise? For he is flesh and blood, and ashes and dust.” And the angels answered and said unto Him, “May we declare before Thee the sin of ADAM?” And God said unto them, “Declare ye [his sin], and I will hearken unto you, and I Myself will answer you in respect of ADAM My servant.” For God had worked on behalf of ADAM. And God said, “I created him out of the dust, and I will not cast away that which I have fashioned. I brought him forth out of non-existence, and I will not make My handiwork a laughingstock for his enemies.” And those angels said, “Praise be unto Thee, O Lord. For Thou, the Knower of hearts, knowest that we have reviled ADAM because he hath transgressed Thy commandment that he was not to eat of one tree after Thou hadst made him lord over everything which Thou hast created, and hast set him over every work of Thy hands. And if Thou hadst not told him, and if Thou hadst not commanded him not to eat of one tree there would have been no offense [on his part], and if he had eaten because of a lack of food there would have been no offense [on his part]. But Thy word made him know, and Thou didst say, ‘As surely as thou eatest of this tree thou shalt die.’ And he, after hearing this, made bold and ate. Thou didst not let him lack sweet fruits to eat from the Garden, and Thou didst did not let him lack one to comfort him and a companion like unto himself. And these things we say and make known unto Thee, and we have revealed unto Thee how he hath transgressed Thy commandment.”

The Merciful One and the Lover of mercy answered them on behalf of ADAM, and said unto them, “You have I created out of the fire and air with the one intent [that ye should] praise [Me]. He has I created of twice as many elements as you—of dust and water, and of wind and fire, and he became [a being] of flesh and blood. And in him are ten thoughts (or, 186 intentions), five good, and five bad. And if his heart inciteth him to good, he walketh with good intent; and if the Devil seduceth him, he walketh with him on an evil path. As for you, ye have no other object in your minds but praise of Me, with the exception of that arrogant one who produced evil, and became an evil being, and was driven forth from your assembly. And now, why do ye magnify yourselves over ADAM? If ye were as he is, and I had created you of water and dust, ye would have been flesh and blood, and ye would have transgressed My commandment more than he hath done, and denied My word.” And the angels said unto Him, “Praise be unto Thee, O Lord! Far be it from us! We will not transgress Thy commandment, and we will not oppose Thy word; for we are spiritual beings for life, and he is a creature of dust [doomed] to folly. And now try us well, and put us to the test so that Thou mayest know whether we are able to keep Thy word.”

And when they had vaunted themselves in this manner God, the Lover of men, said unto them, “If now ye go astray so far as this in transgressing My word, the wrong will be upon your own heads, [for] JAHANNAM (or, hell), and fire, and sulfur, and fervent heat, and whirlwind shall be your habitation until the Great Day: ye shall be kept in chains which can neither be loosened nor broken forever. But if ye keep truly My word, and ye do My commandment, ye shall sit upon My right hand and upon My left. For every one who hath conquered is mighty, and he who is conquered shall be overpowered. Now SATAN hath no power whatsoever, for he hath only what he maketh to germinate in the mind; and he cannot grasp firmly, and he cannot perform anything, and he cannot beat, and he cannot drag, and he cannot seize, and he cannot fight; he can only make thoughts to germinate silently in the mind. And him who is caught by the evil mind he prepareth for destructions; and if [a man] hath conquered the evil mind he findeth grace and hath a reward which is everlasting. And to you, according to what ye wish, there shall be upon you the mind of a man and the body of a man. But take good heed to yourselves that ye transgress not My word and break not My commandment, and defile not ye yourselves with eating, or drinking, or fornication, or with any other thing whatsoever; and transgress ye, not My word.”

Straightway there were given unto them with His word flesh, and blood, and a heart of the children of men. And they were content to leave the height of heaven, and they came down to earth, to the folly of the dancing of the children of CAIN with all their work of the artisan, which they had made in the folly of their fornication, and to their singing, which they accompanied with the tambourine, and the flutes, and the pipes, and much shouting, and loud cries of joy and noisy songs. And their daughters were there, and they enjoyed the orgies without shame, for they scented themselves for the men who pleased them, and they lost the balance in their minds. And the men did not restrain themselves for a moment, but they took to wife from among the women those whom they had chosen and committed sin with them. For God hath no resting-place in the hearts of the arrogant and those who revile, but He abideth in the hearts of the humble and those who are sincere. And He spake in the Gospel, saying, “Woe be unto those who make themselves righteous, and despise their neighbors.” And again He saith, “God loveth the humble, and He holdeth lightly those who magnify themselves.”

Straightway God was wroth with them, and He bound them in the terror of SHEÔL until the day of redemption, as the Apostle saith, “He treated His angels with severity. He spared them not but made them dwell in a state of judgment, and they were fettered until the Great Day.” The word of God conquered, Who had fashioned Adam in His likeness (or, form), and those who had reviled and made a laughingstock of ADAM were conquered. And the daughters of CAIN with whom the angels had companied conceived, but they were unable to bring forth their children, and they died. And of the children who were in their wombs, some died, and some came forth; having split open the bellies of their mothers they came forth by their navels.

When they were grown up and reached man’s estate they became giants, whose height reached unto the clouds; and for their sakes and the sakes of sinners the wrath of God became quiet, and He said, “My spirit shall only rest on them for one hundred and twenty years, and I will destroy them with the waters of the Flood,” them and all sinners who have not believed the word of God. And to those who believed the word of their fathers, and did His Will, no injury came from the waters of the Flood, but He delivered them, saying, “If thou believest My word thou canst save thyself from the Flood.” And NOAH said, “O Lord, I believe Thy word, make me know by what means I can be saved.” And God said unto him, “Thou canst be saved from the water by wood.” And NOAH said, “How, O Lord?” And God said unto him, “Make thyself a four-sided ark, and build it with the work of the carpenter, and make for it three stories inside, and go into it with all thy house.” And NOAH believed the word of God, and made [the ark], and was saved.

Now hearken ye unto me, and I will explain to you concerning this thing. When God gave the command He could have given unto NOAH a wing like the eagle and transported him to the country of the living, with all his house, until His anger with the sinners who had not believed the word of God and the word of their fathers, had abated, or He could have lifted him up into the air, or He could have commanded the water of the Flood—[which was] like a wall—not to approach the one mountain where He would make NOAH dwell with his sons and not to submerge the beasts and cattle which he wanted. But know ye this—God was well pleased that by means of wood which had been sanctified the salvation of His creation should take place, that is to say, the ark and the wood of the Cross. God said unto Noah, “Make that whereby thou shalt be saved,” that is to say, the Tabernacle of the Church; and when He said unto him, “Make it four-sided,” He showed that the Sign of the Cross was fourfold.

The four corners of the ark are the horns of the altar, and He commanded Moses to make the ark out of indestructible wood. He said, “I will sanctify thee by that heavenly and spiritual work of My hand. And do thou sanctify thyself from filth, and impurity, and fornication, and vindictiveness, and falsehood, together with thy brother and thy house. And sacrifice unto Me a clean sacrifice with cleanness, and I will accept thee after thou hast sanctified thyself and thy house; command all the people to sanctify themselves, for My holy things [must be offered] by holy ones. And this thou shalt seek, the Tabernacle of My Covenant which I have created for My praise. And if ye come with purity of heart, with love, and with peace, without mockery and reviling, and if ye will make right your hearts in respect of Me and your neighbors, I will hear your prayers, and I will listen to your petitions about everything which ye submit to Me, and I will come and be with you, and I will walk among you, and I will dwell in your hearts, and ye shall be unto Me, My people, and I will be your God in truth.”

Him that existeth in Everything and Everywhere

And again God said unto Moses: “Make for Me an open space before the courtyard of the Tabernacle; no man who is impure sexually and unclean shall come there, and no one who is not pure. For I am there, and not only there, but in every place like thereunto where My Name is invoked in purity. I was with Daniel in the den [of lions], and I was with JONAH in the belly of the great fish, and I was with JOSEPH in the pit, and I was with JEREMIAH in the well [fed from] the lake. I stand under the deepest deep so that the mountains may not sink down under the waters, and I am under the waters so that they may not sink down upon the fire, and sulfur; I stand under the fire and sulphur so that they may not sink down upon the winds and the rust. I am under the winds and the rusty fog so that they may not sink down under the darkness. And I stand under the deepest darkness and under the abysses, and every created thing supporteth itself on Me, and everything which I have created cometh to Me as a place of refuge.

“I am above the earth, and I am at the ends of the world, and I am Master of everything. I am in the air, My place of abode, and I am above the chariot of the Cherubim, and I am praised everlastingly by all the angels and by holy men. And I am above the heights of heaven, and I fill everything. I am above the Seven Heavens. I see everything, and I test everything, and there is nothing that is hidden from Me. I am in every place, and there is no other god besides Me, neither in the heaven above nor in the earth beneath; there is none like unto Me, saith God; My hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath made strong the heavens; I and My Son and the Holy Spirit.”

The Beginning

As David prophesied by the mouth of the Holy Spirit, saying, “With Thee was the headship on the day of might.” Now, what do these words, “day of might” mean? Is it not the day whereon CHRIST, the Word of the Father, created heaven and earth? For Moses saith at the beginning of the Book, “In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth.”Understand then “In the beginning” meaneth “in CHRIST“; the interpretation of “beginning” is CHRIST. JOHN the Apostle, the son of ZEBEDEE, saith concerning Christ, “This is the first (or, beginning) Whom we have heard and seen, Whom we have known, and Whom our hands have felt.” And we will relate unto you how we have a portion with Him, and ye who believe our words shall have a portion with us. And LUKE the disciple saith in the Acts of the Apostles, “In the beginning we make the speech concerning everything,” and this that he saith [sheweth] that CHRIST was the redemption of all, and we believe in Him.

MARK the Evangelist at the beginning of his Book wrote, saying, “The beginning of the Gospel is JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God”; and these words mean that CHRIST was the glad tidings for the Prophets and the Apostles and that we all have participated in His grace. And again John the Evangelist wrote, saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and that Word was with God”; and in another place his word showeth [this] plainly, and he saith, “And likewise, in the beginning, was God the Word.” And now observe that that Word of the Father is Christ, whereby He made the heavens and the earth and every created thing. It is He Who created and without Him nothing that came into being, nothing whatsoever: “He spake, and they came into being; He commanded, and they were created.” And the third glorious thing, hearken [to it]: “Through the breath of His mouth He created all their host.” This maketh manifest the Holy Spirit, Who is clearly referred to.

And what shall we say? Let us weep for them. Woe is unto the JEWS and unto the pagans (’ARAMÎ) who have wandered from the truth and have refused to submit to the love of God, with which in His goodness He hath loved man. For after ADAM was rejected through his sin He saved him by the greatness of His mercy, being crucified on the wood of the Cross, His hands were pierced with nails. With His palm stretched out in humility, and His head bowed on one side, for our sakes He, to Whom suffering was unfitting, suffered in the everlasting majesty of His Godhead. He died that He might destroy death; He suffered exhaustion that He might give strength to the wearied being of dust; athirst He drank vinegar, He was crowned with a crown of thorns; He feared not and was not ashamed of the contumely and hatred and spitting of the polluted JEWS.

He suffered beatings, He was buffeted with fists, He was pierced, He was transfixed with nails, He was reviled and mocked, being God and the King of Death, and the Bestower of glory, and because of this, He endured patiently all disgrace. Wearied and miserable, they made Him sad when they rejected Him and hated Him; but strong and glorious, what could sadden Him when they brought false charges against Him? For He, Himself knew His Godhead, and He knew His glory, and He knew Himself. And there was none who knew Him, for He was the Creator of everything. And if they had known Him they would not have crucified the Lord of praise (or, glory). And He said in His mercy, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.” They likened their Creator to something that had been created, and they slew a sojourner who did not belong to mortal creatures, and He was not a thing that had been made with the hand. But He Himself was the Maker, and He Himself was the Creator, Light of Light, God of God, Son of the Father, JESUS CHRIST.

He was the Refuge, He was the Feeder, He was the Director; He, Whose domain was above what is on high, and above everything, abased Himself. Even as Isaiah, the man of keen words among the Prophets, saith, “He was a humble man, and His appearance was rejected, like a root He hid Himself in parched ground, He came in the flesh, a being of the earth, [though He was] the Sustainer of the universe and the Saviour of the universe.” And DAVID ascribes beauty to Him, saying, “On Thy beauty and in Thy goodliness of form.” And again he saith, “His form is more goodly than that of the children of men.” And again he saith, “Graciousness is poured forth from Thy lips.” And again he saith, “Direct aright with prosperity, and reign through righteousness, and justice, and sincerity.”

Again he saith concerning the JEWS, the enemies of the truth, “Thine arrows are sharp and strong in the hearts of the haters of the King”; “it is right that they should transfix their hearts,” He saith “unto those who did not wish Me to be King, and they shall be brought before Me and pierced” [with spears]. And again Isaiah saith concerning the JEWS, “I have sought for them and found them not; I have called unto them and they have not answered Me; I have loved them and they have hated Me.” And again David saith, “They returned unto me evil for good, and they hated me in return for my love for them. And again Isaiah saith, “With their lips, they profess love for Me, but in their hearts, they keep afar from Me, and their worshipping of Me is an empty thing.” And as Moses saith, “They have moved Me to wrath with their gods, and I will move them to jealousy with that which is not a nation, for they are a people whose counsel is destroyed.”

Those who said, “We have no Law,” unto them hath the Law been given, for God is the Giver of the Law unto every one. And God rewarded the JEWS according to their wickedness, and He treated the GENTILES according to their simplicity. For He is merciful and compassionate to those who call upon Him and who take refuge in Him, and who purify themselves from all uncleanness in the Church and in the Tabernacle of the Law of God; and He loveth those who weep and repent even as STEPHEN, [one] of the Seventy Disciples saith.³ Now among the Seventy Disciples, there were seven who were chosen for service with the Twelve Apostles, to perform service with SÎLÂS, and BARNABAS, and MARK and LUKE and PAUL. And this STEPHEN spake unto the JEWS whilst he was standing up to martyrdom and the JEWS were killing him and said unto them as he showed them their folly in not having kept the commandment of God, “Ye have not kept the TÔRÂH according to the ordinance of the angels, as ye received it.”

It saith in the Acts [of the Apostles], “When they heard this they went mad with anger and gnashed their teeth.” Now hearken ye unto me. In his saying “Ye have not kept the TÔRÂH according to the order of the angels,” [we have] a form and a [fore] shadowing of what is in the heavens, that is to say, the heavenly and free JERUSALEM, the habitation of the Highest, whereof the situation and construction are incomprehensible to mortal heart. And in it is the throne of the Highest, which is surrounded by fire, and four beasts bear it in their place, which is the sixth heaven. And a throne goeth up to the seventh heaven, the habitation of the Father, and there dwelleth He Who is with His Father and the Holy Spirit, Who vivifies everything. And the Tabernacle of the Church is a similitude of the JERUSALEM which is in the heavens, and the Church of the GENTILES is a similitude of the JERUSALEM which is in the heavens.

The Horns of the Altar

The Tabernacle symbolizeth the horns of the altar, where the holy priests offer up sacrifice, whereon they place the ṭarapîzâ, (i.e., table), the similitude of the grave wherein He (i.e., CHRIST) was buried in GOLGOTHA. And what is on the table, that is, the offering, is a symbol of the firstling, that is to say, the Body of EMMANUEL, [or] “’AKRÂṬÔS“, the “pure”, the “unmixed”, which our Saviour took from MARY, of the which He said unto His holy Apostles, “Eat ye My Body; whosoever eateth not of My Body hath no portion with Me, and no everlasting life. But he who hath eaten My Body, even though he be dead, shall live forever, [for] he is associated with My Body and My Blood, and he hath become My heir, and he shall say to My Father, ‘Our Father which art in heaven,'” and the Father shall answer him, saying “Thou art My Son,” and the crown (i.e., the covering), which is above the offering, is a similitude of the stone with which the Jews sealed the grave.

When the priest saith, “Send the Holy Spirit,” the Holy Spirit shall be sent, and the Body of our Lord shall be perfect (or, complete). And when we have received we shall be participators in the Body and Blood of our Lord and Redeemer JESUS CHRIST, the Son of the Living God, and the Holy Spirit, henceforth and forever. Speak ye then to one another so that the JEWS, who are blind in heart, and who are our enemies and the enemies of our Lord God, may not boast themselves over us. And they say, “Your gods are many, and ye worship wood” (i.e., the Cross), and they say, preaching openly the word of Isaiah the Prophet, “Ye worship the half of it, and with the other half ye cook the body and eat [it].” Now ISAIAH speaketh thus in respect of those who worship graven images and idols. And they say [that we say], “These are our gods, and they have created us”; and that we talk to them and worship them as the Lord our God. And these also are they whom the devils lead into error in their wickedness, and DAVID saith, concerning them, “The gods of the heathen are devils, but God hath created the heavens; truth and goodness are before Him.”

The Ark and the Talk of the Wicked

As concerning the Ark: God saved Noah in the Ark. And God held converse with ABRAHAM in the wood of MANBAR, that is to say the wood that cannot be destroyed, and saved ISAAC by means of the ram which was caught in the thicket; and He made JACOB rich by means of three rods of woods which he laid in running water; and through the top of his staff JACOB was blessed. And He said unto Moses, “Make a tabernacle of wood which cannot be destroyed, in the similitude of ZION, the Tabernacle of the Covenant.” And when David took it from the city of SAMARIA, he placed the Tabernacle of the Law in a new Tabernacle and rejoiced before it. For from the beginning God had made the Tabernacle the means of salvation, and very many signs and wonders were performed through it by its form and similitude. Hearken ye now unto me, and I will show you plainly how God had ordained salvation through the wood of His Cross, in the Tabernacle of His Law, from the beginning to the end.

Salvation came unto ADAM through the wood. For ADAM’S first transgression came through the wood, and from the beginning God ordained salvation for him through the wood. For God Himself is the Creator and Giver of life and death, and everything is performed by His Word, and He created everything, and He maketh righteous him that serveth Him in purity in His pure Tabernacle of the Law. For it is called “mercy-seat”, and it is also called “place of refuge”, and it is also called “altar”, and it is also called “place of forgiveness of sins”, and it is called “salvation”, and it is called “gate of life”, and it is called “glorification”, and it is called “city of refuge”, and it is called “ship”, and it is called “haven of salvation”, and it is called “house of prayer”, and it is called “place of forgiveness of sins for him that prayeth in purity in it”, so that [men] may pray therein in purity and not defile their bodies.

God loveth the pure, for He is the habitation for the pure. Those who come into His habitation, and are accepted in the holy Tabernacle, and who pray unto Him with all their hearts, He will hear and will save in the day of their tribulation, and He will fulfil their desire. For He hath made the holy Tabernacle to be a similitude of His throne. But there are some among those whom ye have brought unto us who are like unto us Christians, but who have not abandoned the sin which their father the Devil hath made to spring up in them. And he said, “Thus it is right that we should pray in ZION, the Tabernacle of the Law of God; she was at the first and is even now. The similitude thereof and the fruit thereof are the Mother of the Redeemer, MARY; it is right that we should worship her, for in her name is blessed the Tabernacle of the Law of God. And it is right that we should worship MICHAEL and GABRIEL.”

And the Archbishop CYRIL answered and said unto them: And if he hath said this unto them, we also will say unto them: What did our Lord JESUS CHRIST say when He was teaching those who believed in Him? One came from outside and said unto Him, “Behold them, Thy father and Thy mother outside seeking Thee.” And CHRIST the Lover of men answered and, stretching out His hand towards those whom He was teaching, said, without making any distinction or difference between man and woman, “Behold them, My father, and My mother and My brother. Whosoever hath heard My word and hath done the Will of My Father, that same is My father, and My mother, and My sister.” O thou blind-hearted JEW, canst thou did not see His mercy and His love for men when He spake thus? He neither separated nor made a distinction, but He said unto them, “My brother.” For He loveth those who love Him and keep His commandment, especially the martyrs, who for His sake delivered themselves over to death, though they knew the bitterness of death; and the solitary monks who keep the commandment of God and love Him with all their hearts, and He loveth them.

Their graves which are built, that is to say, the martyriums, and the churches which are built in their names, and the tabernacles which the Bishops consecrate in their names; every one is holy in the house of the Sanctuary of God. And the man who prayeth in their names God heareth. And those who pray in purity, without uncleanness and blemish, and in humility and sincerity in a tabernacle which hath been consecrated—whether it be in the name of a martyr, or in the name of an angel, or in the name[s] of the righteous, or in the name of a virgin, or in the name of holy women—if it be consecrated, the Holy Spirit cometh down upon them and changeth the wood so that it becometh a spiritual being. In this wise God transformed the rod of MOSES by His word, and it became a thing of life and made MOSES fear his Lord. And in like manner JOSEPH worshipped the top of the rod of JACOB when he was before him; none forced him, but through the belief of his father he worshipped the top of his rod. And this which MOSES wrote is a prophecy for the last days, so that we may know that tabernacles in the name[s] of martyrs and righteous men are holy, namely, when he saw him he worshipped the top of his rod.

I will also declare unto you what is written concerning the pride of PHARAOH. MOSES did as God commanded him, and turned his rod into a serpent; and PHARAOHcommanded the magicians, the sorcerers, to do the same with their rods. And they made their rods into three serpents which, by means of magic, wriggled before MOSES and AARON, and before PHARAOH and the nobles of Egypt. And the rod of Moses swallowed up the rods of the magicians, for these deceivers had worked magic for the sight of the eyes of men. Now that which happeneth through the word of God overcometh every [kind of] magic that can be wrought. And no one can find him to be evil, for it is the Holy Spirit Who guideth and directeth him that believeth with an upright heart without negligence. Even as Paul saith, “By believing the fathers of olden time were saved.” He wished to make known each by his name from ADAM, and NOAH, and ABRAHAM, to RAHAB the harlot who received the spies. And thou, O blind JEW, canst thou did not understand from what thou readest in the Law, that is to say, the TÔRÂH wherein thou believest, that inasmuch as thou canst not perform its commandments thou art cursed thereby? For when He saith, “All those who walk therein, if they do not keep what is written therein, accursed shall they be,” He saith it to thee. But us, who believe in Christ, the Son of God, the grace of God hath chosen, saying, “He who believe and is baptized shall be saved.”