CHAP. XLI.
The first Human thirst.
THEN Adam took the fig, and laid it on the golden rods. Eve also took her fig, and put it upon the incense.2 And the weight of each fig was that of a water-melon; for the fruit of the garden was much larger than the fruit of this land.
3 But Adam and Eve remained standing and fasting the whole of that night, until the morning dawned.
4 When the sun rose they were at their prayers, and Adam said to Eve, after they had done praying:--
5 "O Eve, come, let us go to the border of the garden looking south; to the place whence the river flows, and is parted into four heads. There we will pray to God, and ask Him to give us to drink of the Water of Life.
6 "For God has not fed us with the Tree of Life, in order that we may not live. We will, therefore, ask him to give us of the Water of Life, and to quench our thirst with it, rather than with a drink of water of this land."
7 When Eve heard these words from Adam, she agreed; and they both arose and came to the southern border of the garden, upon the brink of the river of water at some little distance from the garden.
8 And they stood and prayed before the Lord, and asked Him to look upon them this once, to forgive them, and to grant them their request.
9 After this prayer from both of them, Adam began to pray with his voice before God, and said:--
10 "O Lord, when I was in the garden and saw the water that flowed from under the Tree of Life, my heart did not desire, neither did my body require to drink of it; neither did I know thirst, for I was living; and above that which I am now.
11 "So that in order to live I did not require any Food of Life, neither did I drink of the Water of Life.
12 "But now, O God, I am dead; my flesh is parched with thirst. Give me of the Water of Life that I may drink of it and live.
13 "Of Thy mercy, O God, save me from these plagues and trials, and bring me into another land different from this, if Thou wilt not let me dwell in Thy garden."
CHAP. XLII.
A promise of the Water of Life. The third prophecy of the coming of Christ.
THEN came the Word of God to Adam, and said unto him:--2 "O Adam, as to what thou sayest, 'Bring me into a land where there is rest,' it is not another land than this, but it is the kingdom of heaven where alone there is rest.
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3 "But thou canst not make thy entrance into it at present; but only after thy judgment is past and fulfilled.
4 "Then will I make thee go up into the kingdom of heaven, thee and thy righteous seed; and I will give thee and them the rest thou askest for at present.
5 "And if thou saidst, 'Give me of the Water of Life that I may drink and live'--it cannot be this day, but on the day that I shall descend into hell, and break the gates of brass, and bruise in pieces the kingdoms of iron.
6 "Then will I in mercy save thy soul and the souls of the righteous, to give them rest in My garden. And that shall be when the end of the world is come.
7 "And, again, as regards the Water of Life thou seekest, it will not be granted thee this day; but on the day that I shall shed My blood upon thy head in the land of Golgotha.
8 "For My blood shall be the Water of Life unto thee, at that time, and not to thee alone, but unto all those of thy seed who shall believe in Me; that it be unto them for rest for ever."
9 The Lord said again unto Adam, "O Adam, when thou wast in the garden, these trials did not come to thee
10 "But since thou didst transgress My commandment, all these sufferings have come upon thee.
11. "Now, also, does thy flesh require food and drink; drink then of that water that flows by thee on the face of the earth."
12 Then God withdrew His Word from Adam.
13 And Adam and Eve worshipped the Lord, and returned from the river of water to the cave. It was noon-day; and when they drew near to the cave, they saw a large fire by it.
CHAP. XLIII.
The Devil attempts arson.
THEN Adam and Eve were afraid, and stood still. And Adam said to Eve,
"What is that fire by our cave? We do nothing in it to bring about this
fire.2 "We neither have bread to bake therein, nor broth to cook there. As to this fire, we know not the like, neither do we know what to call it.
3 "But ever since God sent the cherub with a sword of fire that flashed and lightened in his hand, from fear of which we fell down and were like corpses, have we not seen the like.
4 "But now O Eve, behold, this is the same fire that was in the cherub's hand, which God has sent to keep the cave in which we dwell.
5 "O Eve, it is because God is angry with us, and will drive us from it.
6 "O Eve, we have again transgressed His commandment in that cave, so that He had sent this fire to burn around it, and to prevent us from going into it.
7 "If this be really so, O Eve, where shall we dwell? And whither shall we flee from before the face of the Lord? Since, as regards the garden, He will not let us abide in it, and He has deprived us of the good things thereof; but He has placed us in this cave, in which we have borne darkness, trials and hardships, until at last we found comfort therein.
8 "But now that He has brought us out into another land, who knows what may happen in it? And who knows but that the darkness of that land may be far greater than the darkness of this land?
9 "Who knows what may happen in that land by day or by night? And who knows whether
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it will be far or near, O Eve? Where it will please God to put us, may be far from the garden, O Eve! or where God will prevent us from beholding Him, because we have transgressed His commandment, and because we have made requests unto Him at all times?
10 "O Eve, if God will bring us into a strange land other than this, in which we find consolation, it must be to put our souls to death, and blot out our name from the face of the earth.
11 "O Eve, if we are farther estranged from the garden and from God, where shall we find Him again, and ask Him to give us gold, incense, myrrh, and some fruit of the fig-tree?
12 "Where shall we find Him, to comfort us a second time? Where shall we find Him, that He may think of us, as regards the covenant He has made on our behalf T'
13 Then Adam said no more. And they kept looking, he and Eve, towards the cave, and at the fire that flared up around it.
14 But that fire was from Satan. For he had gathered trees and dry grasses, and had carried and brought them to the cave, and had set fire to them, in order to consume the cave and--what was in it.
15 So that Adam and Eve should be left in sorrow, and he should cut off their trust in God, and make them deny Him.
16 But by the mercy of God he could not burn the cave, for God sent His angel round the cave to guard it from such a fire, until it went out.
17 And this fire lasted from noon-day until the break of day. That was the forty-fifth day.
CHAP. XLIV.
The power of fire over man.
YET Adam and Eve were standing and looking at the fire, and unable to come near the cave from their dread of the fire.2 And Satan kept on bringing trees and throwing them into the fire, until the flame thereof rose up on high, and covered the whole cave, thinking, as he did in his own mind, to consume the cave with much fire. But the angel of the Lord was guarding it.
3 And yet he could not curse Satan, nor injure him by word, because he had no authority over him, neither did he take to doing so with words from his mouth.
4 Therefore did the angel bear with him, without saying one bad word until the Word of God came who said to Satan, "Go hence; once before didst thou deceive My servants, and this time thou seekest to destroy them.
5 "Were it not for My mercy I would have destroyed thee and thy hosts from off the earth. But I have had patience with thee, unto the end of the world."
6 Then Satan fled from before the Lord. But the fire went on burning around the cave like a coal-fire the whole day; which was the forty-sixth day Adam and Eve had spent since they came out of the garden.
7 And when Adam and Eve saw that the heat of the fire had somewhat cooled down, they began to walk towards the cave to get into it as they were wont; but they could not, by reason of the heat of the fire.
8 Then they both took to weeping because of the fire that made separation between them and the cave, and that drew towards them, burning. And they were afraid.
9 Then Adam said to Eve, "See this fire of which we have a portion in us: which formerly yielded to us, but no longer does so, now that we have transgressed the limit of creation, and changed our condition, and
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our nature is altered. But the fire is not changed in its nature, nor altered from its creation. Therefore has it now power over us; and when we come near it, it scorches our flesh."
CHAP. XLV.
Why Satan didn't fulfil his promises.
THEN Adam rose and prayed unto God, saying, "See, this fire has made
separation between us and the cave in which Thou hast commanded us to
dwell; but now, behold, we cannot go into it."2 Then God heard Adam, and sent him His Word, that said:--
3 "O Adam, see this fire! how different the flame and heat thereof are from the garden of delights and the good things in it!
4 "When thou wast under My control, all creatures yielded to thee; but after thou hast transgressed My commandment, they all rise over thee."
5 Again said God unto him, "See, O Adam, how Satan has exalted thee! He has deprived thee of the Godhead, and of an exalted state like unto Me, and has not kept his word to thee; but, after all, is become thy foe. It is he who made this fire in which he meant to burn thee and Eve.
6 "Why, O Adam, has he not kept his agreement with thee, not even one day; but has deprived thee of the glory that was on thee--when thou didst yield to his command?
7 "Thinkest thou, Adam, that he loved thee when he made this agreement with thee? Or, that he loved thee and wished to raise thee on high?
8 "But no, Adam, he did not do all that out of love to thee; but he wished to make thee come out of light into darkness, and from an exalted state to degradation; from glory to abasement; from joy to sorrow; and from rest to fasting and fainting."
9 God said also to Adam, "See this fire kindled by Satan around thy cave; see this wonder that surrounds thee; and know that it will encompass about both thee and thy seed, when ye hearken to his behest; that he will plague you with fire; and that ye shall go down into hell after ye are dead.
10 "Then shall ye see the burning of his fire, that will thus be burning around you and your seed. There shall be no deliverance from it for you, but at My coming; in like manner as thou canst not now go into thy cave, by reason of the great fire around it; not until My Word shall come that will make a way for thee on the day My covenant is fulfilled.
11 "There is no way for thee at present to come from hence to rest, not until My Word comes, who is My Word. Then will He make a way for thee, and thou shalt have rest." Then God called with His Word to that fire that burned around the cave, that it part itself asunder, until Adam had gone through it. Then the fire parted itself by God's order, and a way was made for Adam.
12 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.
CHAP. XLVI.
"How many times have I delivered thee out of his hand . . ."
THEN Adam and Eve began again to come into the cave. And when they
came to the way between the fire, Satan blew into the fire like a
whirlwind, and made on Adam and Eve a burning coal-fire; so that their
bodies were singed; and the coal-fire scorched them.p. 31
2 And from the burning of the fire Adam and Eve cried aloud, and said, "O Lord, save us! Leave us not to be consumed and plagued by this burning fire; neither require us for having transgressed Thy commandment."
3 Then God looked upon their bodies, on which Satan had caused fire to bum, and God sent His angel that stayed the burning fire. But the wounds remained on their bodies.
4 And God said unto Adam, "See Satan's love for thee, who pretended to give thee the Godhead and greatness; and, behold, he burns thee with fire, and seeks to destroy thee from off the earth.
5 "Then look at Me, O Adam; I created thee, and how many times have I delivered thee out of his hand? If not, would he not have destroyed thee?"
6 God said again to Eve, "What is that he promised thee in the garden, saying, 'At the time ye shall eat of the tree, your eyes will be opened, and you shall become like gods, knowing good and evil.' But lo! he has burnt your bodies with fire, and has made you taste the taste of fire, for the taste of the garden; and has made you see the burning of fire, and the evil thereof, and the power it has over you.
7 "Your eyes have seen the good he has taken from you, and in truth he has opened your eyes; and you have seen the garden in which ye were with Me, and ye have also seen the evil that has come upon you from Satan. But as to the Godhead he cannot give it you, neither fulfil his speech to you. Nay, he was bitter against you and your seed, that will come after you."
8 And God withdrew His Word from them.
CHAP. XLVII.
The Devil's own Scheming.
THEN Adam and Eve came into the cave, yet trembling at the fire that had scorched their bodies. So Adam said to Eve:--2 "Lo, the fire has burnt our flesh in this world; but how will it be when we are dead, and Satan shall punish our souls? Is not our deliverance long and far off, unless God come, and in mercy to us fulfil His promise?"
3 Then Adam and Eve passed into the cave, blessing themselves for coming into it once more. For it was in their thoughts, that they never should enter it, when they saw the fire around it.
4 But as the sun was setting the fire was still burning and nearing Adam and Eve in the cave, so that they could not sleep in it. After the sun had set, they went out of it. This was the forty-seventh day after they came out of the garden.
5 Adam and Eve then came under the top of hill by the garden to sleep, as they were wont.
6 And they stood and prayed God to forgive them their sins, and then fell asleep under the summit of the mountain.
7 But Satan, the hater of all good, thought within himself: Whereas God has promised salvation to Adam by covenant, and that He would deliver him out of all the hardships that have befallen him-but has not promised me by covenant, and will not deliver me out of my hardships; nay, since He has promised him that He should make him and his seed dwell in the kingdom in which I once was--I will kill Adam.
8 The earth shall be rid of him; and shall be left to me alone; so that when he is dead
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he may not have any seed left to inherit the kingdom that shall remain my own realm; God will then be in want of me, and He will restore me to it with my hosts.
CHAP XLVIII.
Fifth apparition of Satan to Adam and Eve.
AFTER this Satan called to his hosts, all of which came to him, and said unto him:--2 "O, our Lord, what wilt thou do?"
3 He then said unto them, "Ye know that this Adam, whom God created out of the dust, is he who has taken our kingdom. Come, let us gather together and kill him; or hurl a rock at him and at Eve, and crush them under it."
4 When Satan's hosts heard these words, they came to the part of the mountain where Adam and Eve were asleep.
5 Then Satan and his hosts took a huge rock, broad and even, and without blemish, thinking within himself, "If there should be a hole in the rock, when it fell on them, the hole in the rock might come upon them, and so they would escape and not die."
6 He then said to his hosts, "Take up this stone, and throw it flat upon them, so that it roll not from them to somewhere else. And when ye have hurled it, flee and tarry not."
7 And they did as he bid them. But as the rock fell down from the mountain upon Adam and Eve, God commanded it to become a kind of shed over them, that did them no harm. And so it was by God's order.
8 But when the rock fell, the whole earth quaked with it, and. was shaken from the size of the rock.
9 And as it quaked and shook, Adam and Eve awoke from sleep, and found themselves under a rock like a shed. But they knew not how it was; for when they fell asleep they were under the sky, and not under a shed; and when they saw it, they were afraid.
10 Then Adam said to Eve, "Wherefore has the mountain bent itself, and the earth quaked and shaken on our account? And why has this rock spread itself over us like a tent?
11 "Does God intend to plague us and to shut us up in this prison? Or will He close the earth upon us?
12 "He is angry with us for our having come out of the cave without His order; and for our having done so of our own accord, without consulting Him, when we left the cave and came to this place."
13 Then Eve said, "If, indeed, the earth quaked for our sake, and this rock forms a tent over us because of our transgression, then woe be to us, O Adam, for our punishment will be long.
14 "But arise and pray Ito God to let us know concerning this, and what this rock is, that is spread over us like a tent."
15 Then Adam stood up and prayed before the Lord, to let him know about this strait. And Adam thus stood praying until the morning.
CHAP. XLIX.
The first prophecy of the Resurrection.
THEN the Word of God came and said:--2 "O Adam, who counselled thee, when thou earnest out of the cave, to come to this place?"
3 And Adam said unto God, "O Lord, we came to this place because of the heat of the fire, that came upon us inside the cave."
4 Then the Lord God said
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unto Adam, "O Adam, thou dreadest the heat of fire for one night, but how will it be when thou dwellest in hell?
5 "Yet, O Adam, fear not, neither say in thy heart that I have spread this rock as an awning over thee, to plague thee therewith.
6 "It came from Satan, who had promised thee the Godhead and majesty. It is he who threw down this rock to kill thee under it, and Eve with thee, and thus to prevent you from living upon the earth.
7 "But, in mercy for you, just as that rock was falling down upon you, I commanded it to form an awning over you; and the rock under you, to lower itself.
8 "And this sign, O Adam, will happen to Me at My coming upon earth: Satan will raise the people of the Jews Jo put Me to death; and they will lay Me in a rock, and seal a large stone upon Me, and I shall remain within that rock three days and three nights.
9 "But on the third day I shall rise again, and it shall be salvation to thee, O Adam, and to thy seed, to believe in Me. But, O Adam, I will not bring thee from under this rock until three days and three nights are passed."
10 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.
11 But Adam and Eve abode under the rock three days and three nights, as God had told them.
12 And God did so to them because they had left their cave and had come to this same place without God's order.
13 But, after three days and three nights, God opened the rock and brought them out from under it. Their flesh was dried up, and their eyes and their hearts were troubled from weeping and sorrow.
CHAP. L.
Adam and Eve seek to cover their nakedness.
THEN Adam and Eve went forth and came into the Cave of Treasures, and
they stood praying in it the whole of that day, until the evening.2 And this took place at the end of fifty days after they had left the garden.
3 But Adam and Eve rose again and prayed to God in the cave the whole of that night, and begged for mercy from Him.
4 And when the day dawned, Adam said unto Eve, "Come! let us go and do some work for our bodies."
5 So they went out of the cave, and came to the northern border of the garden, and they sought something to cover their bodies withal. But they found nothing, and knew not how to do the work. Yet their bodies were stained, and they were speechless from cold and heat.
6 Then Adam stood and asked God to show him something wherewith to cover their bodies.
7 Then came the Word of God and said unto him, "O Adam, take Eve and come to the seashore, where ye fasted before. There ye shall find skins of sheep, whose flesh was devoured by lions, and whose skins were left. Take them and make raiment for yourselves, and clothe yourselves withal."
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