The Household of God
Volume 1
The early history of mankind
- Chapter 14 -
ADAM RECOGNIZES HIS GUILT AND REPENTS
And behold, Abel, filled with immense joy at the great grace from above, bent down on his knees and said: "O You great, most holy, good and loving Father, behold here your humble servant before You in the dust, in his profound unworthiness looking up from the depths to You, the Almighty and All-Merciful, in His supreme height. Do listen to a child imploring You for mercy for his weak parents and all his brothers and sisters, and do not withdraw from me the power I received as a great gift from You; but graciously allow it to pour over them for the forgiveness of their sin and for the regaining of the life out of You in the needed might and strength!
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"And mercifully and graciously change this region at Your pleasure to become fertile so that the weak may find food to strengthen their bodies and are able to quench their thirst at a spring of fresh water and that also useful animals may come to serve them, obeying their will.
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"O You great, most holy, kind and dear Father, grant my weak supplication that Your holy name may be glorified in the hearts of the repentant!"
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And now behold and bear what happened when the pious Abel had finished his prayer, which was pleasing to Me. A cooling breeze began to blow over the barren desert and light clouds covered the expanse of heaven. It began to rain upon the entire desert and together with the rain seeds of all kinds fell into the little furrows that had formed thanks to the frequent heavy rains of Jehovah in the otherwise barren sand. And in an instant the wide desert had become green with grass, plants, shrubs and trees in a great variety in their thousands. In the spot where the pious Abel was kneeling and praying to Me in spirit and in truth, a tall tree grew up almost to the clouds with wide-spread branches and broad leaves full of breadfruits of a pleasant and sweet taste. It was named 'Bahahania' (or 'Strength and Refreshment for the Weak'), still today known to you as 'breadfruit tree'.
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[translation missing] Und aus den segentriefenden lichten Wolken sprach eine sanfte Stimme zum frommen Ahbel: "Ahbel, du Mein lieber, freigewordener Sohn, schwinge mit der linken Hand das Schwert ueber die Schlafenden, und erwecke sie zur Reue und zur Besserung ihres Wandels vor Mir in aller Zukunft, und sei ihnen ein wahres Vorbild Dessen, der einst kommen wird in der grossen Zeit der Zeiten, und sage ihnen, dass bis dorthin niemand mehr frei wird vom Gesetze, und dass die Gebote alle die werden gefangenhalten bis dahin und auch noch ferner, die sich nicht teilhaftig machen werden der Neugeburt durch den Sohn, welcher sein wird der Weg, das Licht, die Wahrheit und das ewige Leben als alleiniger ueberwinder des Todes.
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[translation missing] Du aber bist frei als ein Engel des Lichtes und wirst aufgenommen werden, nachdem das Bild des grossen Kommenden erst in kurzer Zeit ganz wird vollendet werden, dessen du dich aber erst durch deine steigende Demut, Liebe und grosse Froemmigkeit ganz faehig und tauglich machen musst trotz aller Verfolgungen und Misshandlungen, die dich noch treffen werden von deinen Bruedern und Schwestern um der Verherrlichung Meines Namens willen."
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[translation missing] Und siehe, da erhob sich Ahbel abermals maechtig und durch und durch kraeftig von der Erde und schwebte gleichsam zum Zeichen der wahren Freiheit ueber derselben in der Luft und tat, wie ihm befohlen ward.
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[translation missing] Und siehe, da stroemten neue Kraefte des Lebens in die Schlafenden, und sie erwachten in der Schnelle und richteten sich auf und sahen, tief ergriffen von zu grosser Verwunderung ob so grosser, wohltuender Veraenderung der Wueste, sich nach allen Seiten um und wollten jauchzen vor Freude; aber da erhob sich Adam, und an seiner Seite auch Eva, und sprach zu seinen Kindern:
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[translation missing] "Kinder, jauchzet nicht und frohlocket nicht allzufruehe, sondern weinet und bereuet mit mir und der Eva zuerst unsere grosse Schuld und bedenket, was wir verloren haben! Es liegt nichts an dem irdischen Paradiese und an allen seinen Guetern; denn wie ich und ihr es sehet mit mir, hat uns der Herr in Seiner uebergrossen, unbegrenzten Barmherzigkeit so vieles wiedergegeben, dass wir alle den Verlust der ueberschwenglichen Gueter des irdischen Paradieses sehr leicht vergessen koennten ueber diesem neuen, grossen, unuebersehbaren Reichtume Seiner zu grossen Liebe. Aber sehet da die heraneilenden Tiere der Luft sowohl als auch der festen Erde, sehet das Gras, die Pflanzen, die Gestraeuche und all die Baeumchen und grossen Baeume und die wehenden Luefte, und fraget dieses alles, und horchet, ob euch irgendwoher eine Antwort zukommen wird!
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[translation missing] Ich tat es gleich beim Erwachen und ueberzeugte mich, dass all die Dinge stumm geworden sind gegen mich und den Ton meiner Rede nimmer verstanden. Das Gezwitscher der Voegel, das Geheul der Tiere, das Gesaeusel dieses Quellenbaechleins und all das Geraeusche des Grases, der Pflanzen, der Gestraeuche und all der Baeumchen und Baeume drang zwar alsobald an mein Ohr; aber wie erschrak ich und bin noch erschrocken durch und durch, da ich von allem dem nichts mehr verstand und verstehe!
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"However, I was not shocked because this ability had been taken from me, but rather at the endlessly greater loss of grace of the holy Father who is above and among all creatures.
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"Everything I have lost you have also lost through Me since you have sinned through me and with me with the exception of one whom to call my son I am no longer worthy. He has remained within the fullness of grace and blessing in all might and power, pure and just before the all-seeing eyes of the most holy and good Father, His Love and His Spirit.
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"That is my beloved Abel whom the most just Lord has also taken from us since my eyes cannot see him anywhere. And this surely so that I, and all of you through me, are to experience what it means to have fallen from the grace of eternal Love into the severe justice of the Lord through the sin of careless disobedience to His so mild laws of love and the easy commandments of grace.
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"O children, take all this to heart what I have now told you and try to convince yourselves whether I have spoken the truth. Then come and judge for yourselves what time it now is. Should we weep and grieve in deep remorse or may we still find something that could give joy to our hearts?
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"Yes, my children, the eternal Love of the holy Father has left us but one single joy as a gift of Its great grace - and we can and shall be pleased about this -, and that is the great grace of repentance and grief.
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"Behold, this alone the Lord has still left us: The tears of repentance and the tears of grief. Let us thank Him for it from the depth of our hearts!
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"Oh, how very fortunate we still are that the Lord has bestowed this rich gift upon us! What would we be without this grace?
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"Therefore, let us, deeply conscious of our great depravity, fall down and weep and grieve until no more tears flow from our eyes and we have thus returned to the Lord what belongs to Him and of what we are totally unworthy. Then let Him do to us according to His most holy justice and what is - and has been from eternity - His holy and always good will."
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And behold, Adam with his own fell down and did what he had recognized as the fight action thanks to the small, still retained part of grace from the quiet and secret mercy of eternal Love in the Father and wept and lamented bitterly with all his people, except Cain. He also prostrated himself like the others, but his eyes remained dry. Annoyed that he could not weep like the others, he rose and walked away. As he was thus walking along, gazing at the green ground, he suddenly caught sight of a crawling serpent. He bent down, grabbed it, tore it to pieces and overcome by anger and resentment, consumed its flesh thus making it his own.