The Household of God
Volume 2
Rise and spiritual prime of the first world empire Hanoch
- Chapter 160 -
THE FOUR DOUBTERS FROM THE REGION OF THE MIDDAY. ENOCH PRETENDS TO BE REPUDIATING GOD. THE EFFECI' OF HIS SPEECH
After this speech Abba summoned Enoch, telling also all the others to pay attention to all He would now briefly tell Enoch.
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And Enoch hurriedly went to Abba and all the others pricked up their ears and mightily expanded their hearts.
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And Abba began the following speech to Enoch, saying: "Enoch, listen, you and all you others; but let none of you take any offence at it!
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"There will be presently four men arriving here from midday; these are in disagreement concerning Abedam. Two are inclined to take Him for Jehovah; but two maintain the opposite and consider Him to be the spirit of Abel.
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Therefore, they come to you for advice.
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"As for you, side with those denying Him and talk them out of Abedam and Jehovah, so that they will become completely godless. Then we can erect a new edifice within them; for on such sandy ground one cannot erect a hut for the dead, let alone a dwelling for Me.
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"Behold, they are already coming; so collect yourself and speak according to My instructions.
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"Be earnest, but not dry, and remember that they are poor brothers whom we want to help for that very reason.
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"For verily, I say to you all, I like the one who denies Me in his blindness a thousand times better than the one who in the lukewarm ness of his heart halfway professes his faith in Me yet hardly considers it worth the trouble to discuss Me with his brother!
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"But they are coming closer already; so prepare yourself and let none of you make Me known beforehand! Amen."
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And Enoch in the ardent love of his heart thanked the holy Abba and promptly went to meet the four with friendly earnest.
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When they had reached the summit, the disputants bowed to the patriarchs and Enoch presently asked them, saying:
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"Brothers, what prompted you to come here? Briefly state your obscure reason." - And one of them promptly began to speak as follows:
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"Our reason is Abedam; we cannot agree on whether He is Jehovah or merely the spirit of Abel.
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"For Abel during his lifetime is also said to have possessed great miraculous power destroying - as we know by hearsay - in the sight of Cain a mountain, so as to prevent him from carrying out his evil intent.
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"Look, this is our dispute. Give us a proper light in this matter; for we all consider it of the utmost importance."
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Thereupon Enoch opened his mouth in My name and said: "Brothers, why do you quarrel about a woolen lock of a lamb?
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"What is Abedam and what Jehovah unless we expressed Him in our heart and our feeling? How can you quarrel about that which has no existence, neither here nor there?
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"If you see a little heap on the road in the distance and you think it is a stone, but your brother maintains it is merely a molehill, look, it is something that can be quarreled over until the little heap itself is made arbitrator. Whom do you want to make arbitrator where it is only your empty feelings and thoughts whose basis is their own emptiness, one way or another?
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"You quarrel as to whether Abedam, Who delighted us with His knowledge for three days, is or is not Jehovah.
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"I tell you: Ask first whether there is some Jehovah at all!
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"What do you want to do if I tell you: There is nowhere a Jehovah, but only an endless space and an everlasting time?
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The whole of nature teaches us that in this space in the course of time the various as such mute forces had to seize each other thereby bringing forth shapeless clumps which then became for the blindly acting forces the necessary substratum and then gradually various other products by virtue of their mutual coercion; however, when has it ever expressed itself in Jehovah?
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"Is it therefore not obviously cleverer to examine and probe more deeply the ground which lies open before us all as one that has gradually developed through natural forces working within us, like for instance an idle, empty dream?
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"If there can exist at all some force which seizes itself in full self-awareness under the concept of God, it can only issue from us, since we are the first beings in the vast sphere of activity of the natural forces in whom these very forces begin for the first time to develop independence and more and more self-awareness.
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"Or have you ever seen a stone transform itself into a drop of water? This is surely the case vice versa, and already a small stone consists of an immense number of drops of water which, dissolved, might add up to half a sea.
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Thus also a God can only issue from us as a central force of the awareness of self, just as a stone goes forth from the many drops of water, and not vice versa!
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"So realize the horrible futility of your quarrel and think better of it But first become students of profound wisdom, and only then seek that about which you are now quarrelling. Do understand my words. Amen."
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Here the four began to tremble and became visibly pale and only one said to Enoch: "Brother, why did you kill us? What are we now and what can we expect? Nothing else but the final, eternal destruction.
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"Oh, if only you had left us in our error! How happy we were in it!
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"For then our hearts had some ground. But now you have put us on the abyss of eternal perdition. What shall we do now?
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"O Jehovah, O Abedam, if only You were still here! How much more we would prefer to be deceived by You - to being thus horribly enlightened by Enoch!
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"Enoch, - do deceive us again so that we may set our minds at rest while we are living. Amen."