The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Der Herr in der Stadt am Nebo
- Chapter 180 -
The degeneration of the Jewish teaching.
When all those present read this very meaningful inscription, they were very surprised and amazed, especially the 3 Romans and the few Pharisees.
2
For several Pharisees had followed Dismas and Barnabas, and these said: "Yes, yes, it is wonderful to see what is written there. The Old Covenant with Abraham is finished and is no more valid and is not effective anymore, for we all know that the effect of the Ark of the Covenant has practically stopped for almost 30 years. Only Simon and Zachariah have known its usual power. The staff of Aaron did not become green anymore and the 7 show breads were gnawed away to dust by the moths. Only the 2 stone tables are still left, but what was written upon it became every year more and more difficult to read, and therefore it was necessary to destroy the whole Ark of the Covenant already 20 years ago, except for the gold and the 2 big cherubs. And instead of that, a new one was made of the same wood by one of the first and best carpenters. And it was covered with gold, and the 2 cherubs were put on it again according to the form of the old one, and in the middle of the Ark a column of smoke rose up - or from time to time also a column of fire. The Ark had to be arranged in such a way that ignited coals could be put in it and incense and good smelling resin be placed upon it to form in this way a pillar of smoke, but this was filling the whole space of the Most Holy Place in all directions, so such so that it was hardly bearable there. And the pillar of fire had to be ignited with naphtha.
3
The high priest of that time thought however that the newly constructed Ark would have the same effect as the newly build temple after the Babylonian captivity, but he was greatly mistaken, for the new Ark had no more effect at all. That is why the later high priests did not care to let the Most Holy Place of the new Ark of Covenant be visited, after payment of an imposed offering, by the Romans and Greeks, just like any other place, for no harm was done to those who came near the new Ark of the Covenant.
4
For us Pharisees and scribes it was then also clear for a long time that the Old Covenant was completely finished. But we still have to keep the people in the old belief as long as possible, especially because we cannot replace it with a better belief for the people, and secondly to take care that the temple and its servants will continue to receive their income, without which neither the temple nor its servants could survive.
5
And this is also the most important reason why this Lord and Master, whom we know now as the only true establisher of an eternal, new Covenant, was so much hated by the temple servants, because the temple servants could see that His teaching is full of divine power, but they also knew all too well that they would be completely finished as soon as they themselves would follow that new teaching and let it be completely accepted by the people.
6
But this will be of little benefit to them in the future - which they well realize - because many from the people already know that the old Ark of the Covenant lost its power, and that the new one has no other power than what it receives from the clumsy art of men.
7
We, who are still connected to the temple ourselves, cannot do anything for or against it, but we want to wait with blissful hope what this only true Lord of Heaven and Earth will do, and in the future we will persevere in the full faith in Him and in all love for Him. We are all deeply convinced that He will take the best and most effective measures."
8
After these words, the supreme judicial city officer said: "I was also one of those who saw the new Ark of the Covenant in the temple, and by that I was convinced that the faith of the Jews in God is as useless as the faith of the gentiles in the idols. But the gentiles are more skilful in all kinds of magic and can successfully fool the blind people for a longer time, but that column of smoke and fire in the Most Holy Place in the temple in Jerusalem is badly done, and the priests in the temple take good care of themselves by making the blind people believe that the old Ark of the Covenant of Moses is still entirely effective. But once the people will come to know that this is no more the case for already a long time, then the priests in Jerusalem can better hurry to leave, otherwise they will not experience their best days with the people."
9
Then he turned to Me and said: "Lord and Master, You who gave us now more than sufficient very clear proofs of Your divinity, tell me if what I said is right or not?"
10
I said: "Completely right, for no deceit can hold on for a long time, neither the night once the sun has risen.
11
You can be very sure that the temple with its servants and the whole city of Jerusalem will in the youngest time be completely and for all time of times destroyed. Not one stone will remain upon the other. The Jews in Jerusalem can pray for only one thing, namely that their big flight will not come in the middle of the winter or on a Sabbath, because then it would be much more pitiful than in a better season or on a working day."
12
When I had said that, the scriptures above and under the sun disappeared, and the hazes in the Jordan valley were dissolving because the rays of the sun shone on the regions of the Promised Land.
13
The supreme judicial city officer made the remark: "It is a pity that the inhabitants of Jerusalem were not able to see the sun and the words above and under it, for this really should have made them wonder about such phenomenon."
14
But I said: "Just for the purpose that they would not see it I allowed that all the regions of the Jordan be covered with a thick haze, because those who rejoice about the darkness should also receive their reward from it."
15
On this occasion we saw a fleeing gazelle that was chased by a jackal. In a short time the jackal overtook the gazelle and provided itself with a morning meal, and at about 500 paces away from us, it did not take long before it completely finished the captured morning meal. Then it went very slowly further to the south to possibly capture also a midday meal.
16
But quickly, quite high in the sky, an Arabian giant eagle saw the crawling jackal. As fast as an arrow it immediately let itself fall down upon it from its height, and despite its resistance it carried it high into the sky. Then it let it drop on a place that was very stony everywhere. This clearly meant the death of the jackal. The eagle came down quickly, convinced itself that the jackal was dead, grabbed it with its claws again and flew with it southwards to a favorable spot where the jackal and the gazelle that was eaten by it served the giant eagle for breakfast.
17
After this short scene, the supreme judicial city officer said: "Lord and Master, this kind of scenes of eating one another among the animals, and the serious sicknesses that precede death of man were for me always an unwise and cruel sight while the arrangement by one or several gods should be considered wise. You surely will know why all this is and has to be so, but even with the best of will, people like us can hardly have a clear view about it."
18
I said: "This will become clear to you. After the morning meal there will be an opportunity to talk about it, but now we will see Moses for a while and also the angel who fought for his dead body."
19
When I had said that, Moses and the archangel Michael stood before Me, bowed down before Me and glorified and praised My name. Then they disappeared, and we stood up and went to the city where the morning meal was already waiting for us.