Much more impressive is the second episode associated with the staff of Moses. This episode refers to events after the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Staff of Moses: history, origins, miracles, location and photo Staff of Moses supernatural

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea with a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters parted. And the sons of Israel went in the midst of the sea on dry land: and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued, and all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen entered after them into the midst of the sea. And in the morning watch the Lord looked upon the camp of the Egyptians from a pillar of fire and cloud, and brought the camp of the Egyptians into confusion; and took away the wheels from their chariots, so that they dragged them with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord will fight for them against the Egyptians.

And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, and let the waters turn upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and by morning the water returned to its place; and the Egyptians ran towards [the water]. Thus the Lord drowned the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all Pharaoh's army that went into the sea after them; none of them are left.

And the sons of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea: the waters [were] a wall to them on their right hand and [a wall] on their left. And the Lord on that day delivered the Israelites out of the hands of the Egyptians, and [the sons of] Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore” (Ex., ch. 14).

There is nothing in the Old Testament about where the staff of Moses actually came from. But information about this has been preserved in other sources. Moreover, the version that is available on this subject in the Muslim tradition coincides with what can be found in the Torah. And we heard the same version from the Great Cohen, that is, the High Priest, of the Samaritans during his expedition to Israel in 2010.

According to all these sources, Moses did not make himself a staff from a branch of some tree or shrub, but received it in ready-made form from his father-in-law (that is, his wife's father) named Yitro. Yitro, as it turns out, was not a simple man.

Here is what one of the Jewish sources says about this.

Once Yitro served as an adviser to the Egyptian pharaoh and, unlike other advisers, suggested that the pharaoh be tolerant of the Jews. Convinced that his advice was not accepted, he left his position at the royal court, left Egypt and settled in Median. He soon became the chief priest there.

However, at some point (for unclear reasons) Yitro was imbued with the central idea of monotheism - the idea of one God - and announced to the people that he could no longer be a priest.

Yitro's words stunned the people. Everyone turned their backs on him and his family. Even the shepherds who tended his flocks left Itro, and there was no one to lead the cattle to pasture, except for his daughters. When the daughters of Yitro brought the cattle to the spring, the shepherds drove them away - and they had to wait until everyone else watered their flocks.

One day Yitro's daughters met a stranger at the spring. He could well have been mistaken for an Egyptian. And although the Egyptians were reputed to be not very noble and polite people, this "Egyptian" helped them water the cattle - and that day they returned home early. They told the astonished father that the "Egyptian" helped them and protected them from the shepherds, and that the water itself rose towards this man. And then Yitro realized that this "Egyptian" comes from the family of Jacob. He sent his daughters for the stranger, and soon they returned with him. It was Moshe (that is, Moses). He said to Yitro: “Your daughters are partly right when they say that an Egyptian saved them from the shepherds. The thing is, I killed an Egyptian overseer who was cruel to a Jew. I had to flee from Egypt, and in the end, I got to these places. So if it wasn't for the Egyptian I ran away from, I wouldn't be here - and I wouldn't be able to help your daughters." Yitro and Moshe liked each other, and Moshe was glad to find shelter in Yitro's house.

The mention of the “kind of Jacob” (aka Jacob in the Christian tradition) in this story is not accidental. The fact is that it is with Yaakov that passage in the Torah is connected, in which again we see a staff that works “miracles”.

“In the weekly chapter “Vaishlach”, our forefather Yaakov says: “I crossed this Jordan with my staff.” Rashi explains: "He lowered his staff into the Jordan, and the waters of the river parted." That is, Yaakov also performed a miracle with the help of a staff” (Bention Laskin, Weekly chapter “Shemot”).

Thus, the impact of a staff on a large body of water took place long before the birth of Moses. And this is not accidental, because, according to legend, the staff had a divine origin and a long history. We heard this story briefly from the Samaritans.

And here is what Benzion Laskin writes about this:

“In fact, it all started even earlier. The Mishnah says (Pirkey Avot) that the staff was created at the end of the sixth day of Creation - at dusk, just before the beginning of the first Sabbath in the history of mankind. The Midrash adds that when the first man was expelled from paradise, he took a staff with him. Then this staff was passed down from generation to generation until it got to Noah, who gave it to his son Shem. From that staff passed to Avraham, Isaac and Yaakov. Jacob brought it to Egypt and gave it to Yosef. After Yosef's death, the staff somehow ended up with Yitro (possibly, after the death of Yosef, the pharaoh distributed his property, and Yitro, as the most spiritual person of all the pharaoh's advisers, received the staff). When Yitro, having left Egypt, settled in Midian, he stuck a staff in the ground in his garden, but then could not get it out of the ground. Yitro had a daughter named Tzipora, who was very pretty: as Rashi says, "everyone recognized her beauty." So many heroes in Midian wanted to take her as their wife. Everyone who came to ask for the hand of his daughter, Yitro put to the test, saying: "If you can pull out this staff, then you will have my daughter." However, all attempts of the suitors were unsuccessful. And then Moses came and took the staff out of the ground (and married Tzipporah)."

A slightly different version (which is not fundamentally different from the one above) is given by the Jewish Haggadah:

“This staff, prepared in the twilight of the sixth day of creation, was given by the Lord to Adam in paradise, passed from Adam to Hanoch, from Hanoch to Shem, then passed by inheritance to Abraham, to Yitzhak, to Yaakov and, finally, to Yosef. After Yosef's death, the staff was taken by Pharaoh to himself. Yitro, who was one of the Magi of Egypt, vaguely feeling the miraculous power of this staff, begged it from Pharaoh and planted it among the trees in his garden. However, an invisible hand prevented him from getting close to the staff. When Moses appeared, saw the staff and read the writings inscribed on it, he stretched out his hand and freely took it for himself. Seeing this, Yitro understood that Moses was destined to free the people of Israel, and gave him his daughter Zipporah as a wife.

In all these options, there are two important points. Firstly, the staff is of divine origin, that is, it was created by God. And secondly, Yitro was an Egyptian priest. And this directly leads us to those images of the Egyptian gods, where the gods hold a "scepter" in their hands.

Aaron's staff appears in only two meaningful biblical episodes, the first of which dates back to the period of the Jews' stay in Egypt. More precisely - to the moment before the Exodus.

When God called Moses to prophetic ministry, Moses at first pleaded that "talks heavily and is tongue-tied"(Ex., ch. 4). God told him to take his older brother Aaron as his assistant and go to Pharaoh.

When Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and asked (or demanded) to let the Jews out of Egypt, they said that they were the messengers of God himself, but Pharaoh did not believe them and demanded proof. Then, in proof of his words, Aaron did the following:

“And Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and the staff became a serpent. And Pharaoh called wise men [Egyptian] and sorcerers; And these magicians of Egypt did the same with their charms: each of them threw down his rod, and they became snakes, but the rod of Aaron swallowed up their rods. » [ Ex 7:8-13 ] I recommend paying special attention to this case, but not yet to the Egyptian wands, which the author is talking about.

In the Kabbalistic tradition, however, the staves did not turn into snakes, but into crocodiles, but the essence of this does not change ...

However, this only angered the pharaoh, and he refused to let the Jews out of Egypt. And then the time came for the famous ten "plagues of Egypt", in the first three of which Aaron's staff was again involved:
“... [Aaron] raised his rod [his] and struck the water of the river before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all the water in the river turned into blood, and the fish in the river died out, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from rivers; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt” (Ex., ch. 7).

“And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron [your brother]: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams, and over the lakes, and bring out the frogs on the land of Egypt. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt [and brought out frogs]; and the frogs came out and covered the land of Egypt” (Ex., ch. 8).

“Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and midges appeared on people and on cattle. All the dust of the earth became midges throughout all the land of Egypt” (Ex., ch. 8).

If in the first case the events during the visit to the pharaoh could, say, be attributed to a well-induced mass hallucination, then in the first three "executions of the Egyptians" Aaron's staff already acts as a kind of "magic wand". Although here the option can be much simpler. Indeed, in all cases, the real action, in which the “execution” consists, is performed not by Aaron at all, but by God himself.

Aaron’s swing with his staff could only serve as a “signal signal” for God, who, in order to get the right decision from the pharaoh, needed not only to carry out the “execution” itself, but also to raise the authority of his messengers - Moses and Aaron.

“And take to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may be a priest to Me, Aaron and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aron” (Ex., ch. 28).

However, many "eminent people" opposed this appointment and demanded equal participation in religious ceremonies for all clans. The rebellion, in the tradition of God's actions in such cases, was crushed in the bud -

The Bible says that as a result “Fourteen thousand seven hundred people died from the defeat, except for those who died in the case of Koreev”[ Numbers 16:41-50 ]
; how many died "in the case of Koreev" is not indicated.

And yet, after such an exemplary “flogging”, for some reason, a “game of democracy” is arranged.

Applicants from twelve generations are invited to leave their staffs in the Tabernacle for the night in front of the Ark of the Covenant, so that God chooses from them the staff, the owner of which will become the high priest.
"... and behold, the rod of Aaron, from the house of Levi, blossomed, budded, gave color and brought almonds"(Num., ch. 17).

The choice became clear to everyone (as if it had not been clear from the previous massacre), and Aaron was appointed high priest, as since then only descendants from his family should have been high priests.

Blooming Staff of Aaron

It is hardly possible to unequivocally say how exactly it happened that Aaron's staff was able to "distinguish itself" in just one night. You could, of course, plant it in a pot with moist soil and place it in some kind of “time accelerator”. It would be possible to speed up plant processes with some kind of radiation from the Ark unknown to us. Or you could just change it. Moses could also do this - after all, he was an interested person, since Aaron was his brother. Be that as it may, history (and even more so the Old Testament) is silent about this.

Then “...the Lord said to Moses: lay again the rod of Aaron before the ark of revelation for preservation, as a sign for the disobedient, so that their grumbling against Me would stop, and they would not die” (Numbers, ch. 17).

Quite a strange order, I must say. After all, only the same high priests had the right to see the Ark of the Covenant (aka the "ark of revelation"). Then who could be stopped from grumbling and rebellion by a “sign” located in an inaccessible place? ..

This is where the references to Aaron's staff end...

If the staff of Aaron was at least in the role of a “signal stick” during the execution of the “executions of Egypt”, then it would be interesting to study it when the Ark of the Covenant was discovered - suddenly there is not just a “conductor’s wand”, but a source of some kind of signal. And even more so, it would be interesting to study it if its role in these actions was much wider. For example, Aaron's staff did indeed perform some kind of action related to the use of biological weapons.

However, even if in the Ark of the Covenant there is some flourishing staff of Aaron, it does not follow at all that it is the same staff that was involved in the “executions of Egypt”. The Bible doesn't say that at all. And Aaron could have had more than one staff...

The most mysterious item that is on the announced list of applicants for being inside the Ark of the Covenant is the staff of Moses, although the manifestations of its "strange" properties are also limited to just a few biblical episodes.

The first episode is not particularly impressive. Moreover, the action is already familiar to us - the staff turns into a snake and back. This comes at a time when God appoints Moses as the chosen prophet to lead the people of Israel.

“And Moses answered and said, What if they do not believe me and listen to my voice and say, The Lord has not appeared to you? [what to tell them?]
And the Lord said to him, What is this in your hand? He answered: rod.
The Lord said: throw him to the ground. He threw it on the ground, and the rod turned into a snake, and Moses ran away from it.
And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand and take him by the tail. He stretched out his hand and took it [by the tail]; and he became a rod in his hand” (Ex., ch. 4).

Moses soon demonstrated this property of the rod to turn into a snake and back to the Jews as a sign confirming his claims to the title of a prophet ...
Much more impressive is the second episode associated with the staff of Moses. This episode refers to events after the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt.

Pharaoh sent a huge army after the departed Jews, which overtook the fugitives near the coast of the "Red Sea" (most researchers believe that this is the Red Sea, but there are those who doubt this version). Caught in a hopeless situation, Moses called out to God.

“And the Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying to me? Tell the children of Israel to go, and you lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, and the children of Israel will pass through the midst of the sea on dry land; But I will harden the hearts of [Pharaoh and all] the Egyptians, and they will follow them; and I will show My glory on Pharaoh and on all his army, on his chariots and on his horsemen; And [all] the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I show My glory on Pharaoh, on his chariots, and on his horsemen.

And the angel of God, who went before the camp of the [children] of Israel, moved, and went behind them; the pillar of cloud also moved away from their face and stood behind them; And he entered into the middle between the camp of Egypt and between the camp of [the sons] of Israel, and was a cloud and darkness for some, and lighted up the night for others, and one did not come close to another all the night.

And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, and let the waters turn upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

The waters of the sea part before Moses

The third episode using the unusual properties of the staff of Moses occurred after the Jews got acquainted with the "manna from heaven."

“And the whole congregation of the children of Israel set off from the wilderness of Sin on their way, according to the command of the Lord, and encamped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.

And the people reproached Moses, and said: give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you reproach me? why are you tempting the Lord?

And the people there were thirsty for water, and the people murmured against Moses, saying: Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our flocks with thirst? Moses cried out to the Lord and said, What am I to do with this people? a little more, and they will stone me.

And the Lord said to Moses, Go before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel, and take your rod with which you struck the water in your hand, and go; Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people will drink. And Moses did so in the eyes of the elders of Israel.

And he called the name of that place: Massa and Meribah, because of the reproach of the children of Israel and because they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord among us, or not? (Ex., ch. 17).

For some reason, this text says that Moses previously “struck” the water with his staff. Meanwhile, there is not a word about any blow of the staff on the water when crossing the Red Sea - Moses there only stretches his hand with the staff over the water, and this is still a slightly different action than a blow. But it is possible that there are only inaccuracies in the translation ...

Literally immediately after the description of the event with the extraction of water from the rock, in the Old Testament there is a text about another use of the staff by Moses.

“And the Amalekites came and fought with the Israelites at Rephidim.

Moses said to Joshua: Choose for us men [strong] and go fight the Amalekites; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, and the rod of God will be in my hand.

And Joshua did as Moses told him, and [went] to fight the Amalekites; and Moses and Aaron and Hor went up to the top of the hill. And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed; and when he lowered his hands, Amalek prevailed; but the hands of Moses were heavy, and then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hor supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other. And his hands were raised until the sun went down.

And Joshua brought down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword” (Ex., ch. 17).

Aaron and Hor support the hands of Moses

Nothing more is said about the staff of Moses in the Old Testament ...

There is nothing in the Old Testament about where the staffs of Aaron and Moses actually came from.

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The staff of Moses, known from the Old Testament tradition, was an image of the Tree of Life with the Serpent on its branches, as it is described in the Book of Genesis.
Shaking this very staff, or "serpent's cross", Moses appeared before the people.
The question is, what role did this staff play in Moses' communication with the people?

We know that Moses gave the people a constitution in the form of the Ten Commandments on which their legislation was based. This is how we describe the formation of the people of Israel in modern language. Accordingly, we see Moses as a legislator. We, who are accustomed to the law and understand the need for it, do not doubt the historical significance of Moses and the veneration of him as a benefactor, since in the ideology of the New Age the legislator is the benefactor and savior of the people from the destructive turmoil of lawlessness.

However, the ancient Jews who came out of Egypt are not like us. The device of their life is completely different - ritual, cult, concentrating around tribal and domestic gods. They do not understand the law and life under the law. Why should they obey the commandments? Tradition speaks of this quite clearly when it talks about Moses' attempt to call his fellow tribesmen to lawful behavior. They strongly opposed his trial and threatened to report Moses' murder of an Egyptian.
So Moses had to use force to assert his authority. The Exodus books speak of thousands of Israelites slaughtered by Moses. And yet, strength alone is not enough. You need a conviction based on ideology. The staff, or the Cross of Moses, was precisely the sign of such an ideology, like a banner, banner, legion badge, etc.

This was the ideology of the return of the Jews to Paradise, from which they were expelled in the person of their ancestor Adam for the sin of worshiping the Serpent that lived on the forbidden tree. Midrashim say that this Cross was given to Adam by the Lord himself before his exile, in eternal remembrance to him and his descendants about their sin before the Lord. And this staff was passed down through the generations: from Adam to Enoch, from Enoch to Shem, and so on.

In this tradition, the function of the Staff in the hands of Moses is clearly displayed. The very name of this banner "staff" speaks of the shepherd of Moses, the salvation of his people by him. In those days, the staff was a symbol of political power. Shaking it before the Jews, Moses reminded them of the expulsion from Paradise and the meaning of the law that he gave them as a guarantee of return to Paradise. That is, the Staff was a symbol of political ideology based on historical myth.

According to the times and customs, the commandments and laws did not appear in themselves, as such, but as the conditions for returning to Paradise, which the Master set before them as a result of personal negotiations between Moses and Him on Mount Sinai. So the primitive religious Jews perceived following the commandments as a form of ransom, as penance. By this they redeemed their sin, sought the Lord's forgiveness and return to Paradise. Moses in their eyes is not a legislator, but a priest who managed to negotiate a ransom with God. Therefore, the code of Moses is called the Covenant, or Agreement.

Hence, it is completely wrong to understand the campaign of the Jews, led by the prophet Moses, as a campaign to conquer Canaan. No, they went to Paradise, which was not in heaven, as we now understand, but on earth: it had geographical coordinates. The epithet "land flowing with milk and honey" does not refer to Canaan at all, but to the Biblical Paradise. The Jews were looking for Paradise, their historical homeland - this is what caused their forty-year wandering in the desert, accompanied by constant cleansing sacrifices that were supposed to open the gates of paradise. Let us remember: the fire of the altar went ahead and led them along. This means one thing - the direction where to go was found by divination on the victim. The miracles of Moses: the cutting of water from the rock, manna from heaven were nothing but a sign of the proximity of Paradise. It was this apparent closeness that inspired the people, and not at all the power of Moses as a magician.

And only after the death of the Prophet, disappointed in the fruitless search for Paradise, the Jews, led by Joshua, began to win their place on the sinful earth, within Canaan.

The Old Testament tells about the life and deeds of many righteous prophets. Moses occupies a special place among them - it was he who predicted the birth of Jesus Christ and delivered the Jews from Egyptian oppression. In the creation of a number of miracles, he was helped by a special attribute known as the rod or staff of Moses. This artifact is shrouded in many secrets: where did it come from, where did it disappear after the death of the prophet, what did it look like and can it be found today? This article will talk about the staff and try to answer the most interesting questions.

Origin of Moses

Moses was born at a time when the Jewish people were under the rule of the Egyptians. According to legend, the Egyptian pharaohs forced them to do slave labor and constantly controlled them through their overseers, who often did not consider Jewish slaves to be human.

Years passed, and the pharaoh realized that there were too many Israelite slaves. So much so that the increased number of slaves began to threaten political stability and could turn into an uprising and a coup. To maintain power, Ramses ordered all newborn Israeli boys to be drowned in the waters of the Nile. But not all mothers were able to find the strength to obey the cruel order. Moses' mother, Jochebed, was struck by the extraordinary beauty of her newborn son.

Not wanting to part with him, she hid him for three months, and then, when it was no longer possible to hide the child, she put him in a basket and carried him to the banks of the Nile, trusting in the will of the gods. Moses' sister hid in the bush to see what would happen to her brother. By a happy coincidence, at that moment the daughter of the pharaoh, who could not have children, went down to the river to swim.

Seeing a basket with a wonderful baby, from which light emanated, she immediately decided to take him to the palace and raise him as her child. The sister of Moses, who witnessed the rescue, came out of hiding and offered the princess his mother as a nurse for the baby. This is how the salvation of Moses happened, his reunion with his mother, and life began at the palace.

Moses grew up in the pharaoh's palace, guarded and loved as his own heir. Pharaoh Ramses himself often took him to his place to babysit an unusually beautiful and intelligent baby. One day this led to an accident that nearly killed Moses. Pharaoh, playing with the baby, who at that time was several years old, put him on his lap. The child, playing out, knocked nemes off Ramses' head - a special headdress symbolizing power. The priests immediately suspected evil, deciding that the baby was claiming the crown, and arranged for the child to be tested with coal and diamonds, hoping that the child would want to play with precious stones, thereby demonstrating a craving for wealth and power and compromising himself.

Moses chose coals, burned himself and received an injury (burn of the sky), which for the rest of his life deprived him of the ability to speak clearly.

Flight from Egypt

The boy grew up and noticed more and more injustice around. Once he even killed an Egyptian overseer. The Egyptian liked the wife of a Jewish slave and, having raped the woman, he decided to kill her husband in order to avoid publicity. There was a fight, during which they were caught by the adopted son of the pharaoh's daughter. Wanting to intercede for an innocent slave, he intervened in the battle and, as legend has it, uttered the name of the Lord, which killed the criminal. Pharaoh, having learned about this case, decided to get rid of his heir as soon as possible.

Of course, he did not make such a decision because of the death of the overseer. It was also the fact that Moses was becoming an adult and began to pose a threat to the power of the pharaoh. More and more often, Ramses noticed in his named grandson a threat to himself and did not approve of his attitude towards the Jews.

The pharaoh sent mercenaries, but as soon as one of them raised his sword over the head of the future prophet, the blade crumbled into many pieces. The failed murderer and other mercenaries who witnessed this were immediately punished by God, losing their hearing or sight.

Realizing that the pharaoh would stop at nothing to destroy his once beloved grandson, and now a political opponent, Moses fled from Egypt. On the run, being in the neighboring land of Mediam with Egypt, he met a shepherd. A little later, he married his daughter. For forty years, Moses lived the life of an ordinary shepherd, helping his father-in-law take care of the flock. During this time, the affairs of the Jews in Egypt only got worse, but Moses did not know how to help his people.

The first miracle created by the staff

One day Moses, as usual, was tending sheep at the foot of Mount Horeb. Suddenly he heard a voice calling him. Looking around, Moses realized that the voice was coming from a burning thorn bush. It was also a miracle that the bush burned, but did not burn. The man guessed that this was how God addressed him, and answered the call. The Lord said that Moses was chosen to save the Jews from sorrow and take them to new lands. To do this, he must go to the pharaoh and ask him to free the Jews and release them into the desert. Moses was amazed: how can he speak with Pharaoh and lead people if he cannot speak well because of the sky deified in childhood?

The Lord assured Moses of the success of the work: his brother Aaron would speak on behalf of the prophet, and in order for the Jews to believe in a divine omen, God gave Moses the ability to work miracles: the staff of Moses, with which he went out to graze cattle, could turn into a snake. Another sign designed to convince the people of the prophetic destiny of Moses was the spots of disease on his hands, which could disappear.

This is how the rod of Moses appeared, with the help of which he will perform many miracles and free the Egyptian people.

The Exodus of the Jews and the Second Miracle

As expected, Pharaoh did not want to let the Jewish people go. The miracles performed by Moses - the staff-snake and the disappearance of leprosy - did not convince the ruler of the shepherd's chosen by God. He stated that he had already seen such miracles from his priests. Then Moses spoke about the prophecy: 10 punishments in the form of diseases and pests will befall Egypt if the Jews are not released. Pharaoh did not believe the prophet and ordered Moses and his brother to get out of the palace.

But as soon as they left, the Nile filled with blood, people began to get sick and live in poverty, and the crop was destroyed by locusts. The tenth punishment was the death of all the firstborn in Egyptian families. Seeing the tears of his people, losing children and loved ones, dying from disease and hunger, the pharaoh called Moses and ordered him to gather all the Jews and go out into the desert in order to pray for the forgiveness of the Egyptian people. So the Jews received from the pharaoh the right to leave Egypt for a while. But Moses, now in charge of 600 Jewish men and their families, did not even think about returning.

Thus began the Exodus from Egypt. People walked non-stop for several days and nights, and the Lord himself showed them the way. Pharaoh soon guessed that the Jewish slaves would not want to go back, and sent his best army in pursuit of them. Egyptian pursuers overtook the Jewish people when they approached the shore of the Red Sea. Caught in a dead end, people prepared to accept death, but God showed Moses the way to salvation. The prophet, at the command of the Lord, struck the shore with his staff - and the sea waters parted before the Jewish people. They were able to cross the sea, while before the Egyptians the water closed again.

Third miracle

After overcoming the depths of the sea, the Jews had a long and difficult journey through the desert. On the way, exhausted and tired people more than once showed cowardice, accusing Moses of lying and losing hope of salvation. The prophet turned to God for help every time. The Lord sent down food for the starving Jews, giving people manna from heaven. At the foot of Mount Horeb, the Jews began to ask for water. Then Moses struck the rock with his staff, and water flowed out of the cleft. When they got to Mount Sinai, God sent the Jews tablets of commandments that the Jews must follow.

Fourth miracle

The Jews wandered in the desert for forty years. During this time, many of those who left Egypt died. The people again murmured against the prophet because of thirst and hunger. And then the prophet again struck the rock with a rod to extract water.

After several decades of wandering, which was necessary for the people to believe in God and learn to follow the commandments, the Jews came to the Promised Land.

Fifth Use of the Wand

Some sources indicate that the staff of Moses was used five times. The last time the people suffered from thirst, the prophet struck the rock twice, doubting his words and God and wanting to get water as soon as possible. For such cowardice, the Lord sent him punishment: Moses himself did not reach Palestine, having died earlier. The prophet only managed to see the Promised Land from afar.

The impact of the staff on people

There is a legend according to which the commander Joshua turned to Moses for help before a difficult battle. The Prophet delivered a speech and also showed his staff to the soldiers. Through the power of the word coming from him, the troops felt a special inspiration and won the battle.

The origin of the staff

It is known from the Old Testament where the power that could work miracles came from in the staff - probably God himself endowed the staff with it when he appeared to Moses in the form of a flaming bush for the first time. But what was this artifact and where did Moses get it from? Now in Istanbul, the staff of Moses is exhibited in the Topkapi Palace. It is an ordinary shepherd's stick made of wood. But according to the sources, Moses did not make his staff himself. In the Torah and in the Islamic tradition, a legend has been preserved that Moses received his staff as a gift from his father-in-law Yitro.

The Secret of Yitro and the Staff

It would seem that everything is simple: the father-in-law gave Moses a staff. But was Yitro a simple shepherd? It turns out not. Yitro was a priest and adviser to the pharaoh, but, unlike other Egyptian nobility, he always took the side of the Jews, sympathizing with them.

One day the priest Yitro realized that Egyptian polytheism was a wrong religion and began to preach faith in Jehovah (God the Father of Jesus Christ). He immediately announced to the people that he could no longer be a priest and told about his fabrications. The people were so stunned that they turned their backs on Yitro and his family, and he was forced to leave Egypt and lead the life of an ordinary shepherd. He took with him his priestly scepters, symbols of divine power, one of which he later gave to Moses as a gift.

Divine creation of the staff of Moses

There is also a legend according to which the rod was created by God at the twilight of the sixth day of the creation of the world and then transferred to Adam. After the expulsion of Adam and Eve, the staff passed to the sons of Adam, and then somehow ended up with the Egyptian pharaohs, where the priest Yitro noticed and asked for it. Thus, we can talk about the divine origin of the artifact and the special idea of the Lord, according to which the staff returned to the sons of Jacob.

Appearance

We can only speculate what this relic looked like. If we talk about the staff of Moses kept in the Topkapi Palace, then it is an ordinary shepherd's wooden staff with traces of knots. Many believers are skeptical that this particular item worked miracles. Only tour guides in Istanbul have no doubts: the staff of Moses (pictured below), according to them, is the original, and this does not need proof.

One can imagine what the staff looked like, according to the legend preserved by the Jews and Muslims. Relying on the fact that Moses received this item from an Egyptian priest, we can conclude that the staff was probably a wooden or metal stick decorated with God's names and epithets - such wands were used in the rituals of Egyptian priests and depicted in paintings with Egyptian deities.

As an amulet, Jews depict the staff of Moses in the form of a rod with drawings on the knobs and inscriptions of a religious nature.

The mystery of the disappearance

Moses died before reaching Palestine - God punished him this way because the prophet was cowardly and doubted the correctness of his path. His grave was hidden by God so that the pagans could not make a cult from the grave of the prophet. Therefore, the place where Moses was buried remains unknown to this day.

Along with this, the place where the staff of Moses is located today has also become a mystery. This gives rise to numerous theories and speculations.

Possible Staff Locations

Moses is one of the most important prophets of Christians, Jews and Muslims. Therefore, the rod with which he performed miracles is a revered shrine. But where is the staff of Moses now? According to one version, as already mentioned, it is kept in Turkey, in the Topkapi Palace Museum. It is not possible to find out whether the staff of Moses in Istanbul is genuine. Among believers there is also no consensus on this matter.

You can also look at one of the variations of the sacred relic in Jordan. On Mount Nebo there is a sculpture symbolizing the first miracle - the transformation of a wand into a snake.

Thus, two objects can be seen: a sculptural image and an allegedly genuine staff in the treasury of the Topkapı Palace. You can also look at the many paintings depicting the life and miracles performed by Moses. On them, the staff is most often braided with a snake, only occasionally it looks like an Egyptian priestly rod.

Reflection in culture

The staff of Moses is often present in the paintings with the prophet, where, as a rule, it is either a simple shepherd's stick, or resembles a sculpture from Mount Nebo.

The American cartoon "Prince of Egypt" tells about the life of the prophet. The wand is also depicted there in the form of a simple stick used by shepherds.

In the popular TV series Supernatural, the staff of Moses is the instrument of execution, an incredibly powerful weapon of heaven. With his help, the owner of the relic can send the so-called Egyptian executions on his enemies. Outwardly, this staff looks like a wooden cane with a handle.

The Hebrew language of the Old Testament tells of amazing beasts - symbols of great power. But there are mistakes in the translations that create a distorted picture. Returning to the original, we will open ourselves to animals that have been forgotten for many centuries. And one of the most "beastly mysteries of the Bible" has to do with the serpent that God gave to Moses.

It is written that God called to Moses from a burning bush. He commanded Moses to free the Jews from Pharaoh's slavery and lead them out of Egypt to the "Promised Land". He promised Moses that he would help perform miracles to convince the Egyptians of his power. He told Moses to throw the staff on the ground. And according to the ancient text, the staff turned into nahash. - nakhash in Hebrew means snake.

"Take him by the tail," God said. Moses took. And the serpent again turned into a staff. Moses returned to Egypt and convinced his brother Aaron, "The time has come to take up the staff and challenge the Pharaoh"

For the ancient Israelites, the staff was more than just a walking aid. It was a symbol of superiority and authority. In Hebrew, it sounds like "mate". Mate means staff, but it also has another meaning. It's also a tribe. That is, it is not only a staff in the hands of the leader, but the entire tribe over which he has power.

From the Book of Exodus, we learn that the people of Moses were in trouble. They were in the slaves of the pharaoh, and now Moses and Aaron go to the capital of Egypt to challenge the pharaoh and shout out the famous words: "Let my people go." But this time the Bible says that God put power into Aaron's staff. The Bible clearly states that it was Aaron, the brother of Moses, who threw the staff in front of Pharaoh. Convinced that the God of the Jews is weak, Pharaoh demands a miracle. And Aaron throws down his staff. According to the Book of Exodus, the staff turned into nahash. But it's not. Before the pharaoh appeared not at all nahash. According to the Hebrew text, when Aaron threw down his staff, it turned into a tannin, a beast that the Egyptians considered so strong that they even built several temples in his honor. They built to last, and today, 3,000 years later, we can see their ruins. What is this animal? Why was he worshiped? And how it changes our understanding of the Bible. The word tannin, we meet in the book of the prophet Ezekiel. Where the pharaoh is compared to the Great Nile Taninon. And who is the most terrible in the Nile. Of course it's a crocodile. According to Ezekiel, God compares Pharaoh to the Great Tannin lying in the middle of his rivers, and then God predicts to the crocodile: "I will put a hook in your jaws and pull you out of your rivers." Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is symbolically depicted as a Nile crocodile. That is, for centuries the word tannin was translated incorrectly. Perhaps following the first translation of the Bible from Hebrew into Greek. But Ezekiel also clearly makes it clear that tannin is not a snake.

The pharaoh calls his priests and orders them to throw their wands…. And the battle begins. Why is it so important that when Aaron challenged the pharaoh, his staff turned into a crocodile? The mystery of this biblical beast begins in the temple of Kom Ombo. Inscriptions on giant walls and columns testify that one of the most ancient and most revered Egyptian gods was Sebek the crocodile. Sebek was depicted as either a man with a crocodile head or a crocodile. He was, if not the most important god, then one of the ten most important gods. And over time, its popularity has grown. Because he was the god of fertility and the sun. The ancient Egyptians ranked the crocodile among the gods because they endowed it with magical abilities. The female crocodile, as if they knew in advance how much the Nile would overflow its banks. They lay between 18 and 80 eggs before flooding. Their nests are always above the water level. When spilled, they never flood.

So Aaron's staff turns into a crocodile. Aaron's power over the mighty Nile crocodile was to shake the pharaoh's faith. His god Sebek was vulnerable. Aronov the crocodile won this battle. But is it possible to see in this a challenge to the power of the pharaoh? Perhaps the answer lies in the recently found mummies of two thousand years old crocodiles? Believe it or not, there is a real secret in the belly of this biblical beast.

At the beginning of the 20th century, in the sands near the ancient Egyptian city of Teptyunis, archaeologists found one and a half thousand crocodiles. 31 mummy was stuffed with papyri. The internal cavities were stuffed with vinaigrette from ancient texts not only from different centuries, but also cultures. There were also Greek verses and comedies. Apparently the crocodile was revered not only in Egypt. A hundred years have passed, but excavations in this city continue. What can you learn about Aaron's crocodile from fragments of ancient texts? What can we learn about our biblical beast?

The omniscient god was a wise adviser, because he could predict the future. The Egyptians saw him laying eggs. Therefore, the ego was considered clairvoyant. The priests of the crocodile temple, apparently consulting with Sebek, gave answers in writing. And notes with questions were buried in the sand outside the walls of the temple. Nobody knew anything about these scraps of papyrus for more than two thousand years. But today we can judge the power of the crocodile god. And it turns out that in the era of the Middle Kingdom, Sebek, the crocodile god was almost the most popular god.

The God of Moses and Aaron was opposed by a very strong cult, and then, reading the biblical story in the correct translation, where Aaron's staff turned into a crocodile, not a snake, its symbolism becomes crystal clear. For the first time in a thousand years, the meaning of the biblical story about this beast became clear. The bet in the fight with the crocodile of Aaron's crocodile with Sebek was the entire power system of ancient Egypt.

According to the Bible, Aron the crocodile filled the court of the pharaoh with blood. And he devoured all the pharaoh's crocodiles to the last. And with them, the pharaoh lost his power. The Bible says Pharaoh didn't learn his lesson. His heart hardened, he ignored the warning - the death of crocodiles, and refused to let the people of Moses and Aaron go. This mistake brought trouble to Egypt. According to the Old Testament, God punished the pharaoh and sent a lot of animals, land and water, to him. Of the ten plagues in Egypt, six involved animals. The most disturbing thing is that all of these animals exist to this day.