The women began to argue about what the holy children who would descend from Heaven, the angels, might be. Were they boys or girls? The scroll’s owner considered that some paired with boys, others girls, depending on their own gender. An aging, stringy women said with a wheeze that devils were all male and angels all female, as could be seen on Earth. Some young women protested that they had come across a brood of women possessed by devils of both genders. A portly, loud woman reminded them that when a sorcerer had healed an unhinged Judith and successfully exorcised her demon, he said that she had a male devil in her.
“What sort of cure was that? She went and died!”
“Yes, but only six months later, and it’s not certain the healing helped at all.”
“Most certainly it is! Everyone dies from being cured. It’s best not to cure anyone but to pray for them.”
Here was something they could all agree on: praying always helped, while medical treatment only seldom did, and even then it was not certain that the treatment was what had done it.
The supervisor came up and the women started to wriggle the sieves assiduously, whereas Uri carried on. The supervisor lay down on one side, supporting his head on his arm. He popped a grain of barley into his mouth and began to chew it.
And there I saw One who had a head of days, and his head was white like wool, and with him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels. I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was. And he answered and said unto me, “This is the Son of Man with whom dwelleth righteousness, and who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden. Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, and whose lot hath the preeminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever. And this Son of Man whom thou hast seen shall raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, and he shall loosen the reins of the strong and break the teeth of the sinners. And he shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms because they do not extol and praise Him, nor humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them. And he shall put down the countenance of the strong, and shall fill them with shame, and darkness shall be their dwelling, and worms shall be their bed…”
Silence reigned, except for a heaving of sighs.
And in that place I saw the fountain of righteousness, which was inexhaustible. And around it were many fountains of wisdom, and all the thirsty drank of them and were filled with wisdom. And their dwellings were with the righteous and holy and elect. And at that hour that Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name before the Head of Days… He shall be a staff to the righteous whereon to stay themselves and not fall, and he shall be the light of the Gentiles and the hope of those who are troubled of heart… For this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before Him, before the creation of the world and for evermore…
At this point the supervisor asked what the Son of Man was called.
Uri said that the text did not give any name.
“It should, though,” some said.
Uri replied that he only read and translated, and he did not know. He added that even he did not understand every word.
He was not clear how the Son of Man was formed before the creation of the world, and by whom. Did that mean there was another Creator and another Creation, that our Lord’s Creation had been torn down and rebuilt, and all that remained of the old was the Son of Man? And he had been in danger of being stricken down by God for a long time, and our Everlasting had only now forgiven him for existing? And had the Lord, who formed everything, also given a part in that formation to Mithras, who spans the stars every thousand years and is thus a second Creator beside the Creator? And could that second Creator perchance have been named the Son of Man in the text?
No one answered the questions, nor did they understand them. They had not heard about Mithras, and they did not wish to, simply because they had not previously heard about him. Another name would have been too much, as would another Creator. They were quite content with the One who punishes and to whom they had to make sacrifices to appease.
Uri set aside those thoughts for the night and carried on with the story his audience could not get enough of.
In these days, downcast in countenance shall the kings of the earth have become, and the strong who possess the land because of the works of their hands, for on the day of their anguish and affliction they shall not be able to save themselves… Because the Elect One standeth before the Lord of Spirits, and his glory is for ever and ever, and his might unto all generations… On the day of affliction on which evil shall have been treasured up against the sinners. And the righteous shall be victorious in the name of the Lord of Spirits… And in those days shall the earth also give back that which has been entrusted to it, and Sheol also shall give back that which it has received. And Hell shall give back that which it owes. For in those days the Elect One shall arise, and he shall choose the righteous and holy from among them, for the day has drawn nigh that they should be saved… And in those days shall the mountains leap like rams, and the hills also shall skip like lambs satisfied with milk…
It was a treat for him to say, and a treat for them to hear, that Enoch knew for sure there would be a resurrection.
Not for everyone, however!
There mine eyes saw a deep valley with open mouths, and all who dwell on the earth and sea and islands shall bring to him gifts and presents and tokens of homage, but that deep valley shall not become full. And their hands commit lawless deeds, and the sinners devour all whom they lawlessly oppress, yet the sinners shall be destroyed before the face of the Lord of Spirits, and they shall be banished from the face of His earth, and they shall perish for ever and ever. For I saw all the angels of punishment abiding there and preparing all the instruments of Satan. And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, “For whom are they preparing these instruments?” And he said unto me, “They prepare these for the kings and the mighty of this earth, that they may thereby be destroyed.” And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and saw there a deep valley with burning fire.
And they brought the kings and the mighty, and began to cast them into this deep valley. And there mine eyes saw how they made these their instruments, iron chains of immeasurable weight. And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, “For whom are these chains being prepared?” And he said unto me, “These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may take them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded… And in those days he will open all the chambers of waters above the heavens and of the fountains which are beneath the earth. And all the waters shall be joined with the waters. That which is above the heavens is the masculine, and the water which is beneath the earth is the feminine. And in those days the angels shall return and hurl themselves to the east upon the Parthians and Medes. They shall stir up the kings, so that a spirit of unrest shall come upon them, and they shall rouse them from their thrones, that they may break forth as lions from their lairs, and as hungry wolves among their flocks. And they shall go up and tread under foot the land of His elect ones. And the land of His elect ones shall be before them a threshing-floor and a highway. But the city of my righteous shall be a hindrance to their horses. They shall begin to fight among themselves, and their right hand shall be strong against themselves. A man shall not know his brother, nor a son his father or his mother, till there be no number of the corpses through their slaughter. And their punishment be not in vain. In those days Sheol shall open its jaws, and they shall be swallowed up therein. And their destruction shall be at an end; Sheol shall devour the sinners in the presence of the elect.”