On Wednesday the Fourth Week of Lent our Church invites us to first read and reflect on a passage from the book of Numbers (11:4-6, 10-30) entitled "The spirit poured out over Joshua and the elders". Our treasure, which follows, is from a letter by Saint Maximus the Confessor, abbot.
Maximus was a Christian monk and scholar. In his early life he was a civil servant and an aid to the Byzantine Emperor Horus. He gave up his life in the political sphere to enter monastic life. Because of his theological positions Maximus was on the outs with the authorities. He was tried at a council and found to be a heretic, even though he was defending orthodoxy. To keep him from writing and speaking his so-called heretical views they damaged his right hand and his tongue. So, he is known as Maximus the Confessor.
His theological positions made him extremely popular within one generation after his death. His theological positions were upheld by the Third Council of Constantinople, and he was declared the saint soon after his death.
The Book of Numbers derives its name from the account of the two censuses taken of the Hebrew people, one near the beginning and the other toward the end of the journey in the wilderness. It continues the story of that journey begun in Exodus and describes briefly the experiences of the Israelites for a period of thirty-eight years, from the end of their encampment at Sinai to their arrival at the border of the promised land. Numerous legal ordinances are interspersed in the account, making the book a combination of law and history.
The book divides neatly into two parts. Each part begins with a census of the people and inaugurates a period of preparation prior to entering the promised land. In the first case these preparations come to a tragic end when scouts are sent forth to survey the promised land. Upon their return, the people are so disheartened by the description of the native inhabitants and the seemingly impossible task that lies in front of them that they refuse to enter the land. This results in a decision to doom that entire generation to death and to allow another generation the chance to enter. After the death of the first generation, then, a second census is taken and again preparations are made to enter the land. In this case, however, the birth of a new generation suggests these preparations will not be in vain. The book ends with the Israelites across the Jordan outside the land of Canaan, underscoring a chief theme of the Pentateuch as a whole: the people anticipating the fulfillment of God's promise of the land.
