The Household of God
Volume 2
Rise and spiritual prime of the first world empire Hanoch
- Chapter 3 -
LAMECH AND GHEMELA ARE UNITED BY THE LORD
Following this speech the high Abedam summoned Lamech before Him and, after introducing him to Ghemela, asked her:
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"My beloved Ghemela, see this man; his name is Lamech and, like you, he is full of living, ardent love for Me. Behold, I shall give you this man; for I know that he will not touch you until I shall lead him to you.
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Therefore, you need not fear anything; for he is just as pure in his heart and full of chastity as you are. You do not long for him in your heart but solely for Me, and he is just like you. Look, just as you would like to run away from him he would like to run away from you.
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"Behold, he is in everything exactly like you; like you, he has wept the tears of the most ardent love at My bosom.
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"And behold, although he is still very young, he is full of the most sublime wisdom of which a free man is ever capable, and is now, owing to his immense love for Me, in possession of great power and strength.
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"If you want to convince yourself of his true love and wisdom out of Me, I permit you to ask him any question whatever which he will then answer out of his own heart.
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"And so do ask him, just as if you were asking Me."
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But Ghemela stood in great awe of Lamech and, not daring to look at him, said to Abedam:
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"O You my most beloved Jehovah, see I cannot utter a word, for I am in great fear of him.
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"If I am to obey You, my only, most beloved Jehovah, do free my heart of this great fear!
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"I, Ghemela, who loves You alone, entreat You; but only if it be Your will. "
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And Abedam touched her and said to her: "Ghemela, you pure one, so be it according to your love for Me. Amen."
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And Ghemela's heart promptly felt a gentle flutter; she was freed of her fear and, looking up courageously, immediately asked Lamech:
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"Lamech, could you, beside your love for Jehovah, perhaps also love me, a poor maidservant as compared to your splendid ancestry?
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"Could you possibly do this? For behold, I want to love nothing but my Jehovah - and only then, after Him, everything else, provided it is filled with His love and mercy and can serve me as a road-sign to Him. Would you now answer this question of my heart?"
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And Lamech sank to the bosom of Abedam and said, weeping: "O my most holy, above all beloved Abba Emmanuel Abedam!
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"Do forgive me; behold, my heart is so full of the most ardent love for You that it is no longer capable of any other love except for the sweetest, purest, holy love for You!
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"O my holy, good, most loving Father, You know all this. Did I commit a sin before You so that You want to punish me now?
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"See, whoever this Ghemela may be, I have never longed for her nor for any other being of her sex. My heart was always only turned towards You. Every one of my ancestors, beginning with Seth up to my physical father Methuselah, knows this.
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"O Abba Emmanuel! Have grace and mercy upon me if I should have unintentionally trespassed before Your all-seeing, most holy eyes and remit me this seemingly very great, indeed, immense punishment, - and permit me to be silent concerning the question which, though it is full of the purest desire, nevertheless came from a mouth the like of which I have never known. O Abba, Emmanuel, Abedam! Your holy will be done! Amen."
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But Abedam lifted Lamech from the ground by grasping his arm and, releasing him gently, said:
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"Listen, Lamech, you are a strange man, for your love for Me is greater than your trust. You love Me with all your strength, indeed, you love Me with the greatest possible ardor of your heart, but as far as your trust is concerned, this does not bear comparison with your so ardent love.
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"Considering My love for you and your love for Me, how can you imagine even remotely that I might, or could, mete out a punishment to you when I intended a pure reward from heaven for you?
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"Could you mete out such punishment to an unworldly man who loves you above all?
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"How can you think this of Me? This shows a weakness in your trust in Me, where it ought to be firm.
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"See, whatever can approach Me like this Ghemela, a purest daughter of Zuriel, is therefore surely worthy of My love; what I have carried on My own hands, how could this ever be intended as a punishment for you?
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"I told you this so that you might ponder over it and realize the value of a gift you receive from My hand.
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"See, she has never recognized a man in her heart except her father, wherefore she was seized by great fear at the mere mention of your name and even more so when she saw your person.
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"I told her to ask you a question and she trembled all over with shyness towards you. But in her great fear she remembered that she owed Me obedience, wherefore she asked Me to strengthen her.
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"Did you not notice this with her? How, then, can you consider My will, expressed by her to you, a punishment?
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"If I did not know you in your purity and great love for Me, you would now have lost this reward. But the pure ardor of your heart speaks for you; therefore, you are not guilty before Me, but nevertheless a little before the pure Ghemela.
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"Therefore, give her what she, driven by My will, asked you to do so that you may pay also this debt Amen."
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And Lamech recognized his error, asked the trembling Ghemela for forgiveness and then assured her of his pure love for her which was worthy of Me, whereupon they all were moved to tears of joy.
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Thus she became his sole beloved wife. Both lived together in chastity for many years until Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old and only then, at My bidding, begot Noah.
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Behold, this was a marriage truly contracted in heaven. Thus all marriages shall be contracted - now and in the future.