The Household of God
Volume 1
The early history of mankind
- Chapter 149 -
THE QUESTION OF THE STRANGER ABEDAM
And the known Abedam said to Enoch: "Most beloved brother in Abba Emmanuel! That I am not one of the awakened I feel only too clearly within me, and to be quite honest this clarity seems to be, and actually is, the most obvious thing in my life.
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"How it is with the others, brother Enoch, one with my understanding of life, which is my own fault, will not so easily perceive
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"But - between us - it seems to my great foolishness that he has already caught our beloved father Adam.
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And Enoch answered: "Listen, your words sound somewhat silly, but be assured that if you notice the night within you, you are already awake. For if you slept you would notice little of the night within you, but would dream yourself the blindest day. The dreamer is not aware that he sleeps and is dreaming.
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"Look, this is my opinion: Prior to the appearance of the holy, most loving Father in Emmanuel Abba all of us were sleeping and dreaming; but when He came He awakened us all. And behold, we became awake, but not in the daytime, only in the night of our hearts; and if Emmanuel had not done this for us we would still be asleep in the dead day of our dream
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"However, it is an old rule with us to awaken the children at least a good hour before sunrise so that their weak eyes may accustom themselves to the gradually developing day and then easily and unharmed bear the day's strong light. Do you think that we act more wisely in this than Emmanuel?
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"O look, He taught us this, too, because of the nature of the flesh. Is not the eye of the spirit worth more than that of the flesh?
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"If we do this for the benefit of the eyes of the flesh, do you think the Lord will be less merciful to the eyes of the spirit?
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"O my beloved brother Abedam, behold, what the Lord does is always done well and wisely!
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"We are awakened, and it would be most ungrateful towards the so exceedingly holy and good Father not to recognize what He has done for us. However, all of us were awakened at midnight, and this was due to the supreme love of Abba; but we must never fall asleep again. The day of the spirit is brighter than that of the flesh. That is why it is necessary for the sake of the spiritual eye to be awakened at midnight. For those who will be sleeping right into the day the strong light of the day will surely kill. - Do you understand me, dear brother?"
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After these words of Enoch to Abedam, the stranger Abedam turned back to the two and addressed the following most noteworthy words to them:
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"My most beloved friends! Truly, My ear has not missed a single word of your conversation. And you, Abedam, are awake because you noticed the night within you, and still do. You, Enoch, are alive and awake because you were aware of the time in which the Father awakened you, and why. And you feel with great certainty the coming of the great day.
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"You have spoken well to your brother and everyone of your words has already been recorded with the flaming script of the stars in the book of eternal life. But now I ask you a question which I would like you to answer Me. For without the answer to this question everyone - though he may have been powerfully aroused - remains more or less drowsy, and this state of the awakened is worse than actual sleep.
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"And this is the important question: What is the visible difference between late evening, midnight and early morning?
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"Behold, this lies in the eternal order of God. The sleeper does not recognize any difference in the night while he is asleep. He does open his eyes when the great Awakener comes, a rushing wind at midnight, but then turns over and goes to sleep once more to dream until the sun rises. When he then gets up, he avoids the light and seeks to hide in a dense shade.
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"Another one actually rises, rubs his eyes and stretches his limbs, but he remains drowsy till sunrise, staggers around, is irritated and does not know what time it is. He keeps thinking of sweet sleep, but does not think of the coming day. When admonished to dress himself, he still remains inactive and not dressed till sunrise and he would much prefer a return of the late evening to the coming morning of life.
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"Truly, to him the day will not bring anything pleasant.
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The fully awakened, however, enjoys being awake from the first moment of waking up, and he praises at midnight his great holy Awakener. He soon realizes what time it is and recognizes the difference between late evening, midnight and early morning.
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"He awaits the coming day with every breath, and the first dawn fills his spirit with a joy greater than all the visible heavens.
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"Thus see, My beloved friends, how important the answer to the given question is. That is why I added this explanation to make it easier for you to find a suitable answer to this so extremely important question. And so give Me your answers, one after the other, - however, if you are willing. Amen."
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The known Abedam said promptly to Enoch: "Brother, your earlier words, directed to my stupidity, have opened my eyes so that I now see quite clearly at what time of the night I have been awakened from my sleep - eternal thanks to the great, holy Awakener! - and I am now aware that I am truly awake and why. But brother, what a question! O my most beloved namesake, your question has not grown on our poor earth. I for my part feel already very clearly that it will not be I who answers it.
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"I am awake to be sure - and for this all praise, all thanks, honor and love to the Lord, - but to what extent there exists a drowsiness in my waking state, look, that I cannot behold. Therefore it will be up to you, dear brother Enoch, to undertake the answering of this principal question, if you are willing. Amen. "
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And Enoch said to Abedam the known: "Listen, dear brother, it appears to me that our most beloved friend has already included an answer in the question, and so it is up to us, not so much to answer the question as to recognize the answer within it and then absorb it into our life.
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"For behold, this is what I think: From the heart of the one out of whose mouth came such a question streams together with the question an inexpressible goodwill. And be assured, that enquirer has no need either to test us or in order to please his own unfathomable wisdom to explore our glimmering mote, but it is his pleasure secretly to bestow unheard-of great gifts. - Do you understand this, Abedam?"
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Then Abedam the stranger seized both of them under the arms, lifted them slightly from the ground, then put them gently down again and began with the following explanation:
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"My most beloved, there is a great faith in your hearts. In you, Enoch, light out of love - and in you, Abedam, love out of light. Both is good and catches the meaning of divine order and the fountain of life streams incessantly and joyously upward to the great eternal day.
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"But late evening, midnight and early morning do not flow across into the day but are left behind and pass away one after the other.
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"Yet they, as part of the same order, are necessary for life, just as the soil is to the grain of seed. And so late evening is the time of sowing and resting in the soil, midnight the time of breaking through the soil and sprouting and early morning the time for shedding the matter and growing by absorbing the morning-dew.
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"Often the dew falls already very early before sunrise, and this is now the case here with us.
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"Behold, the day of the Lord is not like a day on earth, but when it comes it comes alone and is not ever followed by a night. That is why the preceding night is proper in the divine order since it is a necessary harbinger of the great day.
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"But which one alive will wish to remain in the night? If he does not have himself awakened, will he not pass away with the night when day comes?
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"Behold, these are the great differences. That is why I lifted both of you up so that you may comprehend this, and move towards life. Do understand this and stay with Me as I do with you. However, keep this to yourselves till tomorrow. Amen."