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REVELATION OF GENESIS."THE LOST AGES."

FROM ETHIOPIAN MANUSCRIPTS OF AN ANONYxMOUS,

IN EIGHT VOLUxMES.

TRANSLATED FROMAMHA^ IC IN ENGLISH

BY

FR;- ROT HER.FIRST VOLUME.

CAMBRIDGE:THE HARVARD PRINTING CO.MPANY,

1890.


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^BSi235

Entered according to Act of Congress in the year1890, in the Office of the Librarian of

Congress at Washington,ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


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REVELATION OF GENESIS.

In the beginning God created the heavenand the earth. And the earth was wasteand void ; and darkness was upon theface of the deep ; and the spirit of Godmoved upon the waters.The spirit of God is the beginning of

all ; thus it is written in the book ofMoses ; the Lord is the God of all spirits,and besides the matter of Moses spokenwith God shall not be forgotten, as fol-lows : Moses said unto God : Behold,when I come unto the children of Israel,and shall say unto them, The God of yourfathers hath sent me unto you ; and theyshall say to me. What is his name ?^ whatshall I say unto them ? And God saidunto Moses, I AM THAT I AM ; andhe said, Thus shalt thou say unto the


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^ REVELATION OF GENESIS.children of Israel, T AM hath sent meunto you ; I AM was the beginning of all,and thus is the end of all.

After the beginning the waters were onthe face of all deep, and also on the face ofall high they moved. And the spirit ofGod moved upon the waters, and thuselements of fire came amidst the waters,but were scattering on all face of the deepand high. And there was light accordingto the word of God. And God saw thelight that it was good, and God dividedthe light from the darkness. And Godcalled the light Day and the darkness hecalled Night. And there was evening,and there was morning, one day.

In the beginning of creation there wasevening, but when the light was amidstthe waters thus there was morningand thereafter the light changed with thedarkness, and evenifig with morningaccording to the wisdom of God. Becauseof the spirit of God the waters were stir-ring and thus produced the elements offire. And the waters soared with the fires.


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THE LOST AGES. 3On the face of heaven there was no lengthand breadth, no height and depth beforeman's comprehension, and each of theelements of water and fire returned to itsplace according to God's word. And therewas evening and there was morning, oneday, and thus one day is one Eternity,

Because of the holiness of God the bookGenesis was written by Moses's hand, andthat did not omit nor add anything, but tothe image of God to man it is given fromchild to child, to science, to study, toexploration, to the greatest work thatever comes before man, to the spiritualwork.On the Pentateuch in each chapter

this word is written : God created in sixdays heaven and earth and the sea and allthat is in them, and rested on the seventhday.

Before the face of God man was like thechild whose intellect was hidden. AndGod being the true father put the manwho was called Adam into a beautifulgarden, and brought unto man the


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4 REVELATION OF GENESIS.beasts of the field and the fowls of theair that he should see them and learn togive names to them. And also he gave toman wife. But when man from time totime received intellect he made sins pur-suant to God's wisdom, for it was the willof God that man, the image of God, fromchild to child, shall augment intellect, andthat from time to time knowledge andscience shall multiply among men, andalso that man shall learn to distinguishbetween good and evil. And God said toman from time of old, thus it is : Choosethe good and abhor the evil, but God knewall this also, and in his heart said: Thethought of man's heart is evil from hisyouth.The darkness was in the beginning, butthereafter the light came, and thus theman was evil in his vouth, but becamegood by his age. God made the firmamentand divided the waters which were underthe firmament from the waters which wereabove the firmament : and it was so. AndGod called the firmament Heaven. And


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THE LOST AGES. 5there was evening, and there was morning,a second eternity. On the face of heavena great many firmaments were created thatare far mightier than the firmament of theearth, but God had not spoken on thatcreation that it was good ; and perhaps itmay be that several firmaments will beannihilated at the coming time pursuant toGod's thought.And God said, Let the waters under the

heaven be gathered together unto one place,and let the dry land appear ; and it was so.And God called the dry land Earth, andthe gathering together of the waters calledhe Seas : and God saw that it was good.And God said. Let the earth put forth

grass, herb yielding seed, and tree bearingfruit after its kind, wherein is the seedthereof, upon the earth : and it was so.And the earth brought forth grass, herbyielding seed after its kind, and tree bear-ing fruit, wherein the seed is thereof, afterits kind ; and God saw that it was good.And there was evening and there wasmorning, third eternity. And God said of


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6 REVELATION OF GENESIS.the earth, the dwelling of man, that it wasgood, even of the third eternity creation,bat that God saw how the second eteinitycreation was good it was not written in thebook of Moses. Because of his holiness itwas so on the ground that man was notable to explore the multitude of heavenfirmaments like the earth. This reasonseemed stronger than that reason that fromthe multitude of heaven firmaments severalwill break in at the coming time.And God said, Let there be lights in thefirmament of the heaven to divide the day

from the night ; and let them be for signs,and for seasons, and for days and yearsand let them be lights in the firmament of'heaven to give light upon the earth : and itwas so. And God made the two greatlights; the greater light to rule the day,and the smaller light to rule the night; hemade the stars also. And God set themin the firmament of the heaven to givelight upon the earth and to rule over theday and over the night, and to divide thelight from the darkness : and God saw that


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THE LOST AGES. 7it was good. And there was evening, andthere was morning, fourth eternity.And God created the great sea monsters

and every living creature that moved, whichthe waters brought forth abundantlyafter their kinds ; and every winged fowlafter its kind ; and God saw that it wasgood. And God blessed them, saying, Befruitful, and multiply, and fill the watersin the seas, and let fowl multiply on theearth. And there was evening, and therewas morning, fifth eternity.And God said. Let the earth bring forth

the living creature after its kind, cattle andcreeping thing, and beast of the earthafter its kind : and it was so. And Godmade the beast of the earth after its kind,and the cattle after their kind, and every-thing that creeps upon the ground after itskind; and God saw that it was good.And God said, Let us make man in ourimage after our likeness ; and let themhave dominion over the fish of the sea,and over the fowl of the air, and over thecattle, and over all the earth, and over


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8 REVELATION OF GENESIS.every creeping thing that creeps upon theearth.And God created man in his own image,

in the image of God created he him : maleand female created he them. And Godblessed them : and God said unto them,Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish theearth and subdue it, and have dominionover the fish of the sea, and over the fowlof the air, and over every living thingthat moves upon the earth. And God said,Behold, I have given you every herbyielding seed, which is upon the face of allthe earth, and every tree and everyfruit of the tree yielding seed ; to you itshall be for food ; and to every beast of theearth, and to every fowl of the air, and toeverything that creeps upon the earth,wherein there is living soul, I have givenevery green herb for food ; and it was so.And God saw everything that he hadmade, and, behold, it was very good. Andthere was evening, and there was morning,sixth eternity.And the heaven and the earth were fin-


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THE LOST AGES. ^ished; and all the host of them. And onthe seventh day God finished his workwhich he had made, and he rested on theseventh day from all his work which hehad made. And God blessed the seventhday and hallowed it, because in it he restedfrom all his work which God had createdand made.God created the heaven and the earth

and all their host in six eternities, andrested on the seventh eternity. Andwhen God created all them, there was agreat deal of pain and sorrow in thespirit of God which man from generationto generation shall never be able to com-prehend thereof. And after God hadcreated man in his image, after his like-ness, he rested on the seventh eternity, forhe saw how the creation of man was verygood.The heaven, and the earth, and all their

host were created from the first eternityuntil second eternity connectedly, andthus from second eternity until thirdeternity connectedly, and from third


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10 REVELATTON OF GENESIS.eternity until fourth eternity connectedly,and from fourth eternity until fifth eternityconnectedly, and from fifth eternity untilsixth eternity connectedly, and on theseventh eternity God rested from all workthat he had made. And God blessed theseventh eternity and hallowed it, for beforeGod it was there written that the heavenand the earth and all the host of themwere very good. The creation of man inGod's image, after his likeness, is a perfectwork of the Lord. And after God hadgiven to man dominion over all beasts thatare on the earth, and over all things thatmove in the seas, and over all things thatsoar in the air, then he rested unto theseventh eternity. Therefore God gavecommandment to man. Thus said he:Remember the Sabbath day to keep it

holy. And thus it becomes very much toman from generation to generation that helearn to remember the seventh day andto hallow it. And God said unto manThis Sabbath be a sign unto you of thecovenant that is established between me


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THE LOST AGES. 11and you. And in the book of Moses itwas written that the commandment inbehalf of the Sabbath shall be kept by thechildren of Israel, and by the strangersthat dwell among them.And God had driven out Adam from the

garden because of his disobedience, andthus it shall not become to the children ofIsrael that they transfer the Sabbath fromthe seventh day to another day of theweek. And God brought forth manna oftwo-fold unto the children of Israel on thesixth day for the following day, for theSabbath, but from the people some menwent out on the seventh day to gather andfound none. And the Lord said untoMoses : How long refuse ye to keep mycommandments and my laws ? See, forthat the Lord hath given you the Sabbath ;therefore he giveth you on the sixth daythe bread of two days ; abide ye everyman in his place, let no man go out of hisplace on the seventh day. Because of theholiness of God appeared the Lord beforethe children of Israel in cloud and fire, and


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12 REVELATION OF GENESIS.said : Remember the Sabbath day to keepit holy. Six days shalt thou labor anddo all thy work ; but the seventh day is aSabbath unto the Lord thy God ; in it thoushalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son,nor thy daughter, nor thy man servant,nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, northy stranger that is within thy gates ; forin six days the I^ord made heaven andearth, the sea, and all that in them is, andrested the seventh day ; wherefore theLord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowedit.

For these words God did not add morethings nor did he also omit anything. ButGod had spoken that man, the image ofGod, and his likeness shall be like thecreator, and by the time shall be perfectfrom generation to generation.And man by his heart shall ask himself :

What is the Sabbath of the Lord ? Whatshall I do to hallow the Sabbath ? Andevery man himself shall learn the reasonof the Sabbath, and when he understandsthat in meeting and school he shall praise


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THE LOST AGES. 13his father, the creator, by offerings ofrighteousness, by wise talk, by good works.And when man understands the reason ofthe Sabbath out from his whole soul, theday of the Sabbath shall be unto man likethe day of delight, like time of hallelujah.And Christ said to his brethren, theJews, the Sabbath is for man's sake, theman is not for Sabbath's sake, and thus theson of man is Lord of the Sabbath.And when man understands the reason

of the Sabbath fully he will hallow thatday with joy, and thus man is Lord of theSabbath. God, for his image's sake, forman's sake, had labored six eternities witha great deal of pain and sorrow, and afterhe created man perfectly he rested onthe seventh eternity. Therefore Godcommanded that following after the fourthcommandment to man, thus it is : Honorthy father and thy mother, that thy daysmay be long upon the land which theLord thy God giveth thee. And man wascreated in the image of God. And afterman had begotten his child with pain and


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14 REVELATION OF GENESIS.sorrow, this child himself shall know howmuch it becomes for him to honor hisfather and his mother, but when the childdoes evil before his father the latter shallbe stricken with pain and sorrow, and thusGod shall be stricken with pain and sor-row when man does evil before his creator.This history ought not to be forgotten, asfollows : And when men began to multiplyon the face of the earth, and daughterswere born unto them, the children of Godsaw the daughters of men that they werefair : and they took them wives of all thatthey choose. And the Lord said. Myspirit shall not strive with man forever,for that he also is flesh ; yet shall his daysbe a hundred and twenty years. Monstersof men were on the earth in those days,and also after that, when the sons of Godcame in unto the daughters of men, andthey bare children to them ; the same werethe mighty men which were of old, menof renown. And the Lord saw that thewickedness of man was great in the earth,and that every imagined thought of his


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THE LOST AGES. 15heart was only evil continually. And itrepented the Lord that he had made manon the earth, and it grieved him at hisheart. And the Lord said, I will destroyman whom 1 have created from the face ofthe ground ; both man, and beast, andcreeping thing, and fowl of the air ; for itrepents me that I have made them. ButNoah found grace before the Lord, forNoah was a righteous man, was perfectamidst his generation, and walked withGod. When God thought to annihilateman by the flood of waters it grieved himexceedingly at his heart, for man, thelikeness of God, was created after six eter-nities with a great deal of pain and sorrow,for God expected from his son, the man,that he walk with God and be perfectafter the spirit of his creator. And,behold, the earth was corrupt before God,and the earth was filled with violence.And God saw the earth, and, behold, itwas corrupt; for all flesh had corruptedhis way upon the earth. And God was inhis heart exceedingly aggrieved, for on that


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16 REVELATION OF GENESIS.cause he was hindered to rest his Sabbath,and for the men, the children of God hadperverted the way of their creator by-wickedness and violence, and had pollutedthe Sabbath of the Lord foully.

Before the flood of waters after Adamthere were several wise men that preachedbefore their people the word of the Lordand out from them was Enoch, called inthe book of Moses. Many books were lostby the flood of waters that were taught byGod to wise men, in order to teach othermen for good works.Adam was brought up in the beautiful

garden, for he was like a little childbefore the Lord. And when Adam pros-pered in body and spirit, his father, theLord, brought the beast of the field andthe fowl of the air unto him that heshould learn dominion over them. Andamong these animals was the serpent,called in the Pentateuch, thus it is: Andthe serpent was more subtle than anybeast of the field which the Lord God hadmade.


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PREFACE.

The Bible is a common property of man-kind, a sanctuary in every household.But many say, the old reverend book is

pretty well worn out because of breedingof modern intellect and thought amongmankind.And the other many mourn it, the decay

of the religious tower. But all this is notthe fault of the Lord, but of men, becausethey clothe the pillar of religion withrubbish of human convenience and withrust of narrow mind.The anonymous Author, it seems to the

translator, has stretched forth his hand topurify the old Bible from all the atmos-phere that ought not to envelope it, to theinjury of modern mankind at large; the'-'- New Bible," or New Pentateuch, as thereader may choose to call it, sets forth to


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II PREFACE.proclaim the majesty of the living God.It bears witness against all, and at thesame time divides favor unto all alike,regardless of birth and race.The Great Problems that are set up

ever before mankind are treated in the'' New Bible " as follows :How was the creation by God in the

six days of the Lord ?What means the sabbath of God in the

seventh day of the Lord ?Who were the races that reigned there

before Adam ?Why were Adam and Eve called theparents of present mankind ?How was woman created of man ?Was the sin of Adam a curse for man-

kind?Who was the serpent who was therewith Adam ?What was the Great Sign of God unto

Cain that nobody shall punish him for hisfratricide ?Who were the children of God on earthup to Noah's time, up to the flood ?


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PREFACE. IllWhat means the righteousness of Enoch ?Who was Noah, the builder of the

Great Ark ?What natural causes led to the great

flood of waters ?The first Ethiopian volume, as writtenby the anonymous Author, holds a short

review about the known stories from thecreation up to the building of Babel, andscatters here and there new passages andstories, but the other seven volumes dwellexclusively on the lost ages up to the timeof Noah.

The Translator.New York, 1890.

[All rights reserved,]


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IS MAN aODLIKE?Praise the Lord.Look upon thy fort,The great I AM liveth,Put his name in song and harp,Ring of all the good he giveth.Call out into pagan ears, dull and sharp,God's grace ascendeth over heavenUp, down, to dust, unto human leavenHear the voice of the Lord,The Creator openeth his mouth,From star to star goeth the decree forth,Man is Godlike in and out.In God's image is he created.Wonder ye, dust breatheth,See ye, stone is clothed with flesh,Be ye of the divine decree proud.For he maketh thee of cement fresh,Angels of truth cry out,


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VI IS MAN GODLIKE?Man is but an endless somethingOf the image of the great Laborer,Humanity is only any infinite anythingOf the likeness of the Creator.Voice of wonder here,Voice of awe there,Is dust like God:In God's image is man goodIn human skall God's spirit stayeth :Yea, the mouth of the Lord sayeth,Nay, He decreeth in the angel's chorus.Behold, He is become as one of us,Man knoweth good and bad.Even he, the crown of the Lord's Sabbath.

The Author.


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THE LOST AGES. 17And the earth was created under the

soaring fires of the third eternity, andbrought forth the grass and the treewherein is seed that grew from a littleseed. But for the earth's sake, forherself's sake, two great lights were fin-nished to give light upon the earth, andsigns for day, season, and years. And thestars were made after the spirit of God,but on the endless face of heaven a greatmany firmaments were created like theearth, and of them there is no end. Andthese firmaments were called stars like theearth. And unto the Lord from eternityto eternity there is no Sabbath because ofthe creation of new stars. But for thisearth, after God had created man on theface thereof, unto the Lord there wasSabbath in the time of the seventheternity. Therefore this reason will bevery well understood how God did not saythat the creation of heaven firmamentswhich he made in the second eternity wasgood, and how the book of Moses wassilent on this matter.


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18 REVELATION OF GENESIS.From the midst of the fourth eternity

until the beginning of the fifth eternitythe seed of fish moved in the water, hav-ing living soul, and from this little seedmany fishes grew and multiplied, and atthe last time great sea monsters becameliving inside of the water, and also fromthe water the seed of fowl came; andafterwards the fowl began to soar underthe heaven, and the creation of them wasby the warmth of the sun finished at theend of the fifth eternity. From the midstof the fifth eternity until the beginningof the sixth eternity, because of thewarmth of the sun, the seed of worm camefrom the water, and thereafter the creep-ing thing began to move upon the earth,and from this creeping thing out the beastof the field grew living after its kind, andunto their completion grew pursuant to thespirit of God.

In the midst of the sixth eternity, fromthe monkey out, the seed of man began togrow, and in a warm and good country(garden) prospered unto its completion


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THE LOST AGES. 19pursuant to the spirit of God. And beforeAdam the likenesses of man were destroyedfrom the face of the earth pursuant to thespirit of God. And when Adam becameliving in the garden at the end of thesixth eternity, God saw that man, thelikeness of God, of the image of his father,was good. And, blessing man, he gave tohim dominion over the beast of the field.And God again saw the creation of sixeternities, and, behold, all this was verygood, and in the seventh eternity, sittingon the throne of heaven, he rested.

Therefore God said by the hand of thewise and prophets to the children of Israelthat they shall remember to hallow theSabbath of the Lord. And concerning thecoming time of the earth God expectedthat through the hand of Israel man beperfect in his spirit pursuant to God'sspirit. And the perfection of the spiritthat is in man is a great, and hard, andquite painful work before the Lord, butmen shall struggle one with another bya great deal of wickedness and trouble for


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20 REVELATION OF GENESIS.several times, and among men intellect,and knowledge shall multiply, and hence-forth the longing of God for man's per-fection will be fulfilled at that time.From the remains of animals and creep-

ing things there were some living until thebirth of Adam, having language of man,and thus the serpent was playing beforeAdam and his wife in the garden likeother animals which God had brought tothem. Adam and his wife liked the ser-pent, for he was more subtle than otheranimals. The serpent and other animalsthat were in the garden were strickenwith fear before Adam and his wife pur-suant to God's spirit. Adam and his wifewere themselves naked, but they learneddominion over these animals. And theparents of Adam, and also the parents ofhis wife, with those together, perished at aformer time from the face of the earth,pursuant to the spirit of God, for theywere not able to understand the rights andcommandments of the Lord. And afterthe creeping thing had multiplied on the


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THE LOST AGES. 21earth under the sun, two sexes came in thefifth eternity time which were called maleand female, and because of the holiness ofGod thus a short word was written in thePentateuch concerning the creation ofAdam and his wife, that the generation ofAdam and Noah shall understand thisword by their child-like spirit and shalllearn the fear of their father, God.From the rib of the male creeping thing

went forth the female creeping thing atthe time of sleeping in its lustfulness. Andon this account the word of the Pentateuchwill be understood concerning the creationof Adam and his wife.And when the creeping thing began to

move under the heat of the sun these tookby little and little to feeling, and there-after smelling entered through its nostrils,and these became living souls pursuant ofGod's spirit. And the creeping thingswithout number were perishing at thetime of sunset, and thereof remained fewthat could grow pursuant to God's spirit.And these creeping things had a good


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22 REVELATION OF GENESIS.smelling, but these were blind, withouteyes, and when these raised their nostrilsunto the sun, these, by means of hardlonging took to seeing ; and at that timefear went forth over these creeping thingsbecause of the hard struggle that wasamong them, and thus by little and littletook to good hearing. And from thesecreeping things the fowl of the air, thebeast of the field, and cattle all went forthafter its kind from the fifth eternity untilthe sixth eternity.And Adam was the first man who re-

ceived the first right, and commandmentby God, his father. But the serpent andother beasts from the lost generation hav-ing man's language, and likeness of manwere playing near by of Adam and hiswife in the garden, but the likeness ofGod had not yet come upon them ; andtherefore they served to Adam and hiswife with fear. And God brought someof these remaining animals into the gar-den to tempt man.And Adam and his wife grew very


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THE LOST AGES. 23largely in their body, and also had veiymuch strength, and therefore all beastswhich were near by them feared Adamand his wife.But after Noah's time men began to

diminish in their bodies, and also theirlifetime became short pursuant to God'sspirit. And this case was so, for intellectand knowledge multiplied among men thatthey may have dominion over all animalsthat are on the earth and in the sea.The serpent ate from the fruit of thetree, but not from dast of the earth ; he

ate with his master Adam, and his wifetogether in the garden, but Eve liked theserpent much, and told to him the com-mandment of God. And the serpent hav-ing yet not the likeness of God had evil,ajid subtle thoughts, and also ate beforeEve from the fruit of the tree which Godhad commanded to man not to eat from.And the knowledge of Adam to distinguishbetween good and evil was still hidden, andpursuant to God's wisdom, was opened bythe mouth of the serpent. Adam and his


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24 REVELATION OF GENESIS.wife were from their race the first, who be-came aware of their nakedness ; theysewed fig-leaves together, and thus madethemselves aprons. The friendship thatwas then between Eve and the serpentchanged into bitter enmity pursuant toGod's spirit. The likeness of the serpentis sin, for it is of the likeness of man, butnot of God. And therefore it will beunderstood that the thought of God beperfectly high and sublime before thechildren of men. Thus said he :Thou sin, I will put enmity between theeand man, between thy seed, and his seed ; itshall bruise thy head, and thou shaltbruise his heel. And when God saw howAdam and his wife after the likenessof God knew good and evil and putaprons over their nakedness, thus saidhe : Behold, the man is become as one ofus, to know good and evil, and now, lest heput forth his hand, and take also of thetree of life and eat, and live forever,therefore God the Lord sent him forth fromthe garden of Eden to till the earth where-


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26 REVELATION OF GENESIS.man's heart is evil from his youth ; eventhis shall not be forgotten.And so was his first-born son who

was called Cain ; he slew his brother Abelfor jealousy, and also repented for his evildeed, and took from Adam's daughters oneas his wife, and parting from his father hewent forth into a far off countiy.

After Cain had parted from his fattier,Seth became before Adam his first-bornson. The great sorrow of God ought notto be forgotten forever, when he thoughtto destroy the people of Adam by theflood of waters, even the work of six etej*-nities, the crown of his creation : it grievedthe Lord in his heart exceedingly, for allthe men who were on the earth, contraryto God's spirit, filled the earth with eviland violence. And God was aggrieved inhis heart, for the Lord asked, to his holinessand his justice, the question whether thework of six eternities shall be destroyed ina moment, by forty days' flood of watersfrom the face of the earth. Henceforth theword of God spoken by hand of the


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THE LOST AGES. 27prophet, Isaiah ix, 12, will be so wellunderstood how he said : I will make manmore worth than fine gold, even the manmore praised than the gold of Ophir.And the Lord rejoiced when he saw

Noah being a wise man who walked afterthe spirit of God, but God counted for thelost men again one hundred and twenty-years that they shall hearken to the voiceof Noah; and in face of this people hebuilt his ark. And Noah bought from thispeople wives for his three sons, and alsotook servants in sufficient number that theyhelp him to finish his ark. And those menwere bought as slaves, and it may be per-haps that Noah could not buy maid ser-vants for them because of the jealousy ofthe chiefs and men of raak. And thence-forth these servants dwelt with Noah andhis sons together in the ark, when theflood of waters fell upon the earth. Andthe Pentateuch told a short word that atthe time of Noah many men were by theirnames known for their strength, for theircunning ; they thought themselves as the


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28 REVELATION OF GENESIS.children of God and mighty men, and be-cause of their great lustfulness theypolluted themselves with all beasts thatmay bring forth strange seed, and thatthey may multiply perception and knowl-edge concerning the creation of thestranger seed. And thereafter they did notknow the meaning of sin. And when Godbrought forth in the heart of Adam and hiswife the knowledge of good and evil it wasgood before the eyes of the Lord, but theirchildren destroyed the probation of heartentirely, even the spirit of God, and put-ting this to scorn and laughter, theyfilled the face of the whole country withtheir pollution and with their violence.

Henceforth the word of the Lord spokenby the hand of Isaiah v. will be fullyunderstood. So said he

Let me sing for my wellbeloved a songof my beloved touching his vineyard. Mywellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fathill, and he digged a trench about it, andgathered the stones out thereof, andplanted it with the choicest vines, and


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THE LOST AGES. 29built a tower in the midst of it, and alsohewed out a winepress therein : and helooked that it should bring forth grapes,and why brought it forth wild grapes ?And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem,and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, be-twixt me and my wellbeloved. Whatshould have been done more to my vine-yard that I have not done to it? Whereforewhen I looked that it should bring forthgrapes, brought it forth wild grapes? Andnow, I will show, tell you what I will doto my vineyard: I will take away thehedge thereof, and it shall be to pasturageI shall break down the fence thereof, andit shall be trodden down ; and I will lay itwaste ; it shall not be pruned nor hoed,but there shall come up briers and thorns;I will also command the clouds that theyrain no rain upon it. For the vineyard ofthe Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,and the men of Judah his plant of delight.And he looked for judgment, but behold,shedding of blood was there ; for righteous-ness, but behold, cry was there.


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30 REVELATION OF GENESIS.But Noah built before his people a great

ship pursuant to God's word, and tookfrom all animals, and from all living thingsthat were on the face of the earth the maleand female, and brought them into theship. And this strange work became inthe mouth of all his people the object oflaughter and mockery.The word of Christ on the flood of

waters shall not be forgotten. The floodof waters fell suddenly upon the people ofNoah; and all beasts remaining at the timeof Adam's birth, and having likeness ofman perished in the waters with all men,and all living souls that were on the faceof the earth together, and also great beaststerrible with their figures, and from whichNoah had not taken any one after God'scommand died.When the flood of waters ceased, the

sun arose, and behold, on the heaven therewas seen a very great bow, very beautiful incolors, and it shone upon the earth manydays as long as the sun rose each day tillthe waters passed away from the face of

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82 REVELATION OF GENESIS.meaiid you and every living creature of allflesh ; and the waters of the flood shall nomore be there again to destroy all that isclothed by flesh. And the bow shall bein the cloud, and I will look upon it that Imay remember the everlasting covenantbetween God and every creature that hasliving soul, and that is clothed with flesh onthe earth.And God said unto Noah : This is the

token of the covenant which I haveset up between me and all over llie earththat is clothed by flesh.The bow of God is in truth the hope of

the Lord, for he foresaw the good thatshall come from the seed of Noah, andeven for this the Lord expected that at thecoming time all men shall understand theways of God's spirit, and shall from theirheart choose and love, to walk in the wayof judgment, and righteousness.And henceforth the waters of the flood

shall not be there a second time, forever,but when God rises to judge over the earth,the fire of his wrath shall bu rn upon the earth.


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THE LOST AGES. 33The covenant of the heart's language is

established between the child, and hisfather, and his mother, between man andman ; and when the man and his wife be-gat the child, a strong covenant was therebetween them, and henceforth the covenantof the Lord which is established with allliving souls, with man and animals thatwere created from since six eternities, willbe well understood. And the man lovinghis wife knew her, and she conceived, andbare to him a child with pain and sorrow,and when the man saw how this child wasafter his image he loved it, and they bothguarded the child with pain and sorrow,and when the child knew his parents astrong covenant was there in their heartsbetween themselves. And when theanimals brought forth the young upon theearth, the mother loved her young from allher soul, but when the young grew, it wentforth from the side of the mother, andalso the mother sent it off at the time ofits growing.And thus God after six eternities full of


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34 REVELATION OF GENESIS.pain and sorrow created Adam, the likenessof the Lord, and gave to man right andcommand for life, that it may take root inhis heart, and stay in man's heart. Andit is the full longing of God to rest, todwell in man's heart. And it is not uponthe elevated height nor in the handsomehouse, be it from fine stone, be it fromcostly gold. And this is the Sabbath ofthe Lord, that his likeness, the children ofman, shall know the good work of Godtheir father, by their hearts, and guard it,and shall praise the wonderful creation ofGod by exploring it from all their soul.Therefore God on the seventh day hadgiven to man the Sabbath, that man shallfrom time to time learn the meaningof the Sabbath. And the Sabbath of Godshall be kept within the heart of manfrom child to his child, for after God hadfought and conquered the darkness andemptiness in six eternities with a greatdeal of pain and sorrow that shall never becomprehended by man, even in the seventheternity, there was Sabbath unto the Lord.


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THE LOST AGES. S5And this is the Sabbath of the Lord that

the everlasting life which he gave untoman, the likeness of God, had conqueredthe darkness, and emptiness. Henceforthit shall become very much to every man tokeep the Sabbath holy from week to weekafter the thought of his heart, after theadvice of wise men. And this is the bowof the Lord that is seen in the cloud, forever, that the living of man, the everlast-ing life, is established before the face ofthe Lord,

Prior to the time of Noah there wereseveral languages spoken among men ; butafter the flood of waters, Noah, three sonswith him, their wives and their servantsremained on the earth.

Therefore Noah was called the father ofall man's seed. And after Noah the wholeearth was of one language, and of onespeech. And the children of Noah knewthat their multiplication over the earthshall bring s(^attering surely and thus theythought to hinder tlieir scattering by thebuilding of a tower which shall go up unto


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36 REVELATION OF GENESIS.heaven. And the Lord came down to seethe city, and the tower, which the childrenof Adam built. And the Lord said, Be-hold they are one people and they have allone language, and this is what they beginto do ; and now shall it not be withholdenfrom them which they purpose to do. Goto, let us go down, and there confoundtheir language that they may not under-stand one his next's speech. And theLord raised among them fiery jealousy, andin that country was fiery strife, but Nim-rod who was called a mighty hunter beforethe Lord, conquered his enemy, and builtBabel thereon. Many families of Noah'sgeneration being conquered withdrew be-fore Nimrod far off that they might seekgood country, and dwell therein, but theirchildren after much time were changing,and forgetting the language of Noah. Andthus it will be understood, this is the willof God, that men shall fill the earth fordominion, and that their language shallvary among them, and that for this causeintellect and knowledge shall multiply


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THE LOST AGES. 37among them pursuant to the spirit of God.

God, before Adam and his wife destroyedtheir parents, the likenesses of man, from theearih, for the likeness of God had not yetcome upon them. And from the sons ofAdam he took Noah, and made him againthe father of man, by the token of hiscovenant, for God expected to see for manthe coming of good times. And the Lordbeing a true father and holy God showedbefore little man, before Noah and hischildren, the bow of heaven in the cloud,and by short words said unto them : Thisbow that is seen in the cloud shall be atoken of the covenant that is betweenGod and al! living souls that are on theearth ; but when man learns to understandthe meaning of the bow of the Lord, be.hold the sublime thought of God that washidden from man's reasoning is revealedbefore the wise men. The bow of theLord shall show the hope of the Lord forthe time that shall come from the cloudout over man. And henceforth fromamong the children of Noah he chose


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38 REVELATION OF GENESIS.Abram, and said unto him: Get thee outof thy country, and from thy kindred andfrom thy father's house, unto the land thatI will show thee, and I will make of thee agreat nation, and I will bless thee andmake thy name gi'eat, aud be thou a bless-ing, and I will bless them that bless you,and them that curse you will I curse, andin thee shall be blessed all the generationsof the earth.When the Lord created heaven andearth he said to his Godhood : I will give

to man the earth, and all that is in theearth, even unto my likeness ; and afterman had multiplied on the earth I willgive the earth to the man who is of mylikeness, and who walks with me. Andthe earth, after my work of six eternities,shall not be in vain, but at ihe comingtime shall the earth be filled with manwho is fully of my likeness, and who walkswith me. And, thereafter, the Sabbath ofdelight shall be unto me from eternityuntil eternity. Henceforth the word ofMoses spoken unto Joshua son of Nun will


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THE LOST AGES. 39be thus well understood ; thus it is : Artthou jealous for my sake"^ Would Godthat all the people were prophets, that theLord would put his spirit upon themGod is the truthful father, and the holy

God, and this the being of the Lord is seenin the Pentateuch, and in all holy books.And after God had finished the work ofsix f ternities, thus said he : Behold, I havegiven you every herb yielding seed, whichis upon the face of all the earth, and everytree yielding seed, and every fruit of thetree that bears fruit, to you it shall befor food, and to every beast of the earthand to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, whereinthere is living soul, I have given every greenherb for food. And it was so. And Godsaw every thing that he had made, andfbehold it was very good. And there wasevening and there was morning, sixtheternity. Eternity, And what is thisword? Behold, the answer is foundreadily. The prayer of Moses, the man ofthe Lord in Psalm 90 shall be thus readj:


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40 REVELATION OF GENESIS.A thousand years in thy sight are but asyesterday which passeth away, and as awatch in the night.Unto the Lord it is an easy thing that

he create all the world by short times. Inthe holy scriptures there were severalstories that the dead became living becauseof the will of God. But the Lord is sub-lime in His Godhood ; elevated in Hisspirit, and in all His council there is novain thing.

Behold, when man with his wife begetshis likeness, when they raise up the childby sorrow and guard it, this is the fruit oftheir labor, of their painful strain untothem, and hence it becomes being honored,being blessed unto them. And the goldof Ophir could not bring away the fruit ofman, the child, out from his heart. Andwhen man with his wife raise up thechild several years with all their love, andguard, it becomes a glorious work untothem ; and it is forbidden within his heartand within his thought, that the child, thefruit of his labor of much time, of hia


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THE LOST AGES. 41sorrow, shall be good for nothing. And,behold, the word of God ought never to beforgotten, and it is written in the Penta-teuch that man was created in the imageof God, in the likeness of God. Andwhen the child grows up strong, it becomesthus a Sabbath unto his parents. And,too, these parents shall bless their Sabbathwithin their heart. And, thereafter, theword of the Loi d will be very well under-stood, how it happened, that He after sixeternities of labor blessed his Sabbath, andhallowed it, at the time of Adam's birth.The holiness of God could not be unto

telling, unto writing within the Pentateuchthat God created all the world in sixeternities. At that former time the intel-lect of man was still hidden before the faceof the Lord. And in the spirit of Godthere is no haughty thing, but he had thusspoken unto man, unto Adam and hischildren that he had created heaven andearth, all the being of the earth in sixdays. And hj the Lord the sublimethought was there written, that man from


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THE LOST AGES. 43teach us, that we bring in our heart towardwisdom, number our days.

Therefore it becomes to every man thathe remember to hallow the Sabbath of theLord each week, for the lifetime of man isshort, the time of seventy years. And toevery man it is commanded that he till theground of the Sabbath of the Lord, that hesow the reason of the Sabbath of God in allthe spirit of man and that he eat the fruit ofthis labor to the glory of God their creator.And when man by one moment begets

the child, it shall come well nigh that agreat many children should be unto thisman ; this father would be capable to destroymany children as good for nothing, and hisheart should be filled with vain thoughtand cursing. And, if God created heavenand earth, and, to the very word, the earthalone in six days, this God could be untodestroying of the whole earth many timesagain ; and therefore the Sabbath of theLord should go in vain, and in man's heartsublime thoughts for praising his Godcould not take root there.


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44 REVELATION OF GENESIS.And when God saw that the wickedness

and violence of the children of Adam pre-vailed and increased exceedingly on theface of the earth, he was aggrieved in hisheart for he saw his Sabbath that wasafter his labor of six eternities now thusbeing defiled and destroyed. And againhe gave for the children of Adam one hun-dred and twenty years that the seed of thegoodly and righteous shall be found uponthe earth in sufficient number. And whenthe Lord found Noah being a righteousman he was exceedingly delighted withsuch delight, whose height man shall nevercomprehend. And he saved Noah and hischildren thus from the flood of waters, andestablished with them an everlastingcovenant, and thereafter, the Sabbath of theLord was returning there. And the beingof the earth, and the living of man wasagain good in the face of the Lord ; henceGod set up in the cloud the token of hishope, the great bow; and this bow thusestablished the Sabbath of the Lord, forGod forsaw that by the coming time of


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THE LOST AGES. 45judgment there shall stay on earth manymen being righteous.And when God brought in man upon

the earth he sent things of the tempter inthe face of man, for in the council of Godthere was written that man being in thegarden without labor and sorrow, shall notbe living forever. Was the playing of thetempter withholden from the face of manthe work and creation of the Lord shouldgo like nothing. Hence it is thought bythe Lord that a great many men shall fallin their struggle with the tempter andshall fill the house of hell until over itsroof, but that few men being like fine gold,like costly stone in the house of God shallfind there the everlasting life ; this is thatGod longed for.And the Lord by his own will let write

down throughout the Pentateuch, and theholy books a great many things of thetempter that man from generation togeneration shall go free whether he shallunderstand the word of God or throw itbehind. Hence the sayings of wise men,


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46 REVELATION OF GENESIS.the teaching of Jesus went into truth; so itis : Blessed are the poor in spirit, fortheirs is the kingdom of heaven.And in the Pentateuch there is written

about this very thing, so it is. And theLord God created man from the dust ofthe earth and breathed in his nostrils thebreatli of life, and man became living soul.And, behold, the poor in spirit believereadily that word of creation, but to themen who hold themselves as being wisemen snares are given readily by the LordAnd these men called themselves wise mentherefore they were fools before the Lordfor they talked the story of this creationto laughter.By the first man who was called Adamthere was a childish spirit as well as by

his children. Therefore God spake in histrue fatherhood unto Adam and his child-ren the Pentateuch of creation, thatthey shoul 1 keep and deliver the word ofGod unto their generation throughout alltimes. And unto the Lord it may not become to talk for the second time the story


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THE LOST AGES. 47of the creation unto the latter man, forGod had spoken the story of the creationunto Adam who lived for nine hundredand thirty years, once one time. See, aman begat the child, and raised it up, andthereafter told the story of Lis birth tohis child, and thus the Lord had spokenunto his son Adam the story of the creationone time.

This is the first commandment of Godthat he gave unto man who was calledAdam : Remember the day of Sabbaththat thou shalt hallow it. Six days shaltthou labor, and do all thy work. But theseventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thyGod, in it shalt thou not do all thy work,for the Lord had created heaven and earth,and seas and all that is in them in six daysand rested on the seventh day. Thereforethe Lord blessed the day of Sabbath andhallowed it.The birth of man, the day of Adam's be-getting was Sabbath unto the Lord. There-

fore the just commandment shall come un-to every man till forever that he remember


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ITHE LOST AGES. 49

Pentateuch, and hence he was saying : Inall the world there is no Lord nor fromthe Gods any one, and I shall go ahead todo sin, and I shall run to think evilthoughts, for there is no Lord or God whopunishes sin.This is the will of God that man shallstruggle with the tempter all times, andat the end shall be there a conqueroror a conquered. Therefore the Lord hadcalled every man by the name Israel, forhe had struggled with God and man, andprevailed against them.And in the Pentateuch, when it spoke

of the creation of heaven and earth, thereis much riddle by the Lord, that everyman shall strain his soul to lifting up, andto investigation of that riddle. And manbecame honored by his earthly work, buthe became more elevated for the labor ofhis spirit, and thereafter was cumbered asa child of the Lord.The mockery of the mocker shall take

to holding its peace before this narration.Thus it is :


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50 REVELATION OF GENESIS.The spirit of God is the beginning of

all. And, thereafter, the spirit of Godmoved upon the waters. On the face ofheaven there is no end. And there werethe elements of water scattered, but thereon all the face of heaven was darkness, inthe high and deep. And, the spirit ofGod was moving amidst the waters. Andthereafter, the waters were awakening up,and the flames of fire came out thereof.And on the face of heaven thefires moved with the waters to and fro, butuntil the flames of fire multiplied in theirscattering there was first eternity. Andbehold there was light in all face accordingto the word of God. And when the flameof fire came into a place there was light,and hence was called day, but when thisflame went behind the elements of waters,there was again darkness, and this wascalled night.

In the midst of the first eternity theseed of firmaments being made by the fireswei'e separated from the waters, and thusmany firmaments began their existence.


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THE LOST AGES. 51And all this was before the existence ofour earth. And hence God called themultitude of these firmaments Heaven, butit was not written in the Pentateuch howGod saw for the creation of heaven that itwas good, for he is making forever ofmany new firmaments after the existenceof our earth on the face of heaven. Andamong those firmaments there was theexistence of the sun, our sun. And alsothe seed of our earth began in its place itsgrowing. And all this was in the secondeternity.But our earth was finished in the midst

of the third eternity, and the earth beganto bring forth all the herb wherein is theseed, and the tree wherein is the seed, andwhich bears its fruit. And all thisbecame good at the end of the thirdeternity.And unto our earth the exact sign of

day and year had not yet come until thesun, and the moon, and the stars, withthem together, perfected their course intheir rising, and going down well, that


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54 REVELATION OF GENESIS.fish got wings that they fly above thewater. And from these the seed of thefowl went forth, but they were bound tothe water much time, until another kindwas there, that 'flew under heaven andreturned no more to the water. From thesmall seed of the creeping things in thewater went forth great sea monsters aftermuch time, and also from the small fowlcame forth the eagle after much time.From the creeping in whose nostrils thebreath was strengthened went forth allbeasts of the field after their kind, and theanimals of the earth after their kind.The creation of these animals began inthe midst of the fifth eternity, and wasfinished until the midst of the sixth eter-nity by their kinds, according to the spiritof God. And God saw it that it was good.And God said : Let us make man in our

image, after our likeness ; and let themhave dominion over the fish of the sea, andover the fowl of the air, and over thecattle, and over all the earth, and over everycreeping thing that creepeth upon the


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THE LOST AGES. 55And God created man in his own

image, in the image of God created hehim ; male and female created he them.

In the midst of the sixth eternity, fromthe monkey the seed of man went forth,but was perfected until the end of thesixth eternity, being male and female,according to the spirit of God. Andmany peoples having likeness of man per-ished out from the face of the earth, forthe likeness of God had not yet come uponthem. And when from these men Adamand his wife came up in the garden, Godblessed them, and God said unto them :Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenishthe earth, and subdue it, and have domin-ion over the fish of the sea, and over thefowl of the air, and over every living thingthat moveth upon the earth. And Godsaid : Behold, I have given you every herbyielding seed, which is upon the face of allthe earth, and every tree and the fruit ofthe tree bringing forth fruit, and yieldingseed, to you it shall be for food, and toevery beast of the earth and to every


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56 REVELATION OF GENESIS.fowl of the air, and to every creepingthing that creepeth upon the earth whereinis living soul, I have given every greenherb for food, and it was so.And God saw everything that he had

made, and, behold, it was very good. Andthere was evening, and there was morning,sixth eternity.And throughout the Pentateuch it was

there written, six times, there was eveningand there was morning, for pach day; andwherefore is it so ?The answer is it that before the face of

God, in the language of the Lord, oneeternity is like a day of man, for in thelanguage of man one eternity is there notknown.And when man, the likeness of God,was not yet there upon the earth, unto theLord there was no Sabbath. And whenGod saw man having not the likeness ofGod he destroyed man after his right, forGod had not yet found his Sabbath. Butwhen man having likeness of God wasfound on the earth there was Sabbath unto


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THE LOST AGES. 57:he Lord. Therefore God blessed this daytnd hallowed it. Within the thought ofnan eternity and the meaning of eternityras not known. Therefore God gave theverlasting commandment unto man thatevery man remember to hallow his Sab-bath on the seventh day. And the Lordis supreme in his holiness, and the heartof the Lord is full of holy and truthfulthought. And thus the Lord appearedunto Moses and said unto him, thus it is: Iwill make all my goodness pass beforethee, and will proclaim the name of theLord before thee ; and I will be graciousto whom I am gracious, and will showmercy on whom I have mercy. Thoucanst not see my face, for mai. shall notsee me and live. And the Lord said :Behold, there is a place by me, and thoushalt stand upon the rock, and when myglory passeth by I will put thee in a cleftof the rock, and will cover thee with myhand, until I have passed by, and I willtake away mine hand, and thou shalt seemy back, but my face shall not be seen.


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58 REVELATION OF GENESIS.And hence God spoke unto man: My

back shalt thou see, but my face shall notbe seen. And what are these words?And it is the answer that the spirit ofGod is the beginning of all, and fromsince eternity until eternity he laboredand created until man was created at thelatter time. Therefore God said untoman : My back shalt thou see, but myface shall not be seen.

The full longing of God is for that hemake his Sabbath in the heart of everyman. The Sabbath of the Lord was notabove in heaven, but, after he had createdman upon the earth, he wanted to rest inthe heart of every man. Thus the Sabbathof the Lord shall be in man's heart forever.And Moses said unto the children ofIsrael, thus it is : For this day when Ibide thee commandment is not hidden norfar off from thee. Nor is it in heaven,when thou sayest, who could go up for ustoward heaven and bring it down to usthat we may hear and do it ? And nor isit beyond the sea, and when thou sayest,


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THE LOST AGES. 59who could pass over the sea for us andbring up it to us that we may hear and doit? Only but the word is very near untothee, that thou put it in thy mouth and inthy heart. The word of the Lord cameunto Solomon, thus said he :

This is the house which thou art build-ing, if thou wilt walk in my statutes andexecute my judgments, and keep all mycommandments to walk in them, then willI establish my word with thee, which Ispake unto David, thy father. And I willdwell among the children of Israel, andwill not forsake my people, Israel. HenceH becomes to every man that he build hissanctuary within his heart, for the spiritof God is hating all wickedness. And thespirit of God is filled with holiness and truth,and is loving all goodness and all judgment.And the everlasting Sabbath of the

Lord is in the heart of the righteous man,and the delightful resting of God is in thethought of the goodly man. And this isthe holy secret of the Lord.

End of the First Volume.


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ATTENTION.

The name of the author will be givenout in due time, when all benefits of inter-national rights shall be assured for him.A brief sketch of the translator's life ishere given : A native of Hungary, he waseducated in the Vienna Deaf Mutes Insti-tution, and was also a former pupil of Mr.Greenberger, Principal of the ImprovedInstitution for the Deaf, Lexington Ave-nue, New York. Since 1875 he became aninhabitant and citizen of the United Statesunder the name '' Francis Rother," whilehis family name was Franz Rotter.Being eager from his youth to become oneof the pioneers of the coming Ethiopiancivilization, he studied the Abyssinianlanguages and received an invitation byKing John of Abyssinia to enter his


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62 ATTENTION.empire. But he was hindered fromwelcomed by his Ethiopian majesty by thewar condition that prevailed there (1887-1888.) He was called and known by themute society and their newspaper underthe by-word " Round World." As theother seven volumes, being written inEthiopian, require much labor and arelikely to be followed by others, and oughtto be spread in many languages, the aid ofan enterprising publisher is wanted.Apply to address of translator as found

in face cover of the book.


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Deac,d,ed using the Bookkeeper processNeu ralizmg agent: Magnesium OxfdTTreatment Date: June 2005

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revelation of genesis ethiopia manuscripts

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