Chapter XVI
Moses in heaven payeth the judgment of Jehovih!
1. Hamonastas, one of the chief marshals of God, and for the heavenly city of Paradise, came before the throne, duly saluting, and saying:
2. O God, Son of Jehovih, I would speak before thee! God said: Speak thou, my son.
3. Hamonastas said: There standeth without the city of Paradise, beyond the pillars of fire, and in company with thy high-raised captains, one, Nu-ghan, delivered from one of the hells of Hassa, over Egupt, and he crieth out continually: O God, Son of Jehovih! Deliver me! Deliver thou me! O Moses! Moses! Moses!
4. He is distracted, continually using the same words over and over, without ceasing. Now behold, the nurses and physicians have tried all remedies they can invent, but failed utterly to break the spell upon him.
5. For seventy days have they labored, and, as a last resort, they have brought him hither, that they might learn from thee.
6. God said: Nu-ghan! Is this not one of the Pharaohs, who took up arms against the Faithists of Egupt? Return thou, Hamonastas, to the keepers of this man, and cause him to be blindfolded, that he may endure the light of the throne; after which thou and his keepers shall bring him before me.
7. Hamonastas saluted and departed, and after a certain time, returned with the keepers and with Nu-ghan, who was crying out unceasingly, even as had been said.
8. And now, when he was quite before the throne of God, God said to him: Behold me, I am God, Son of Jehovih: what wouldst thou?
9. But the man heard not what God said, but kept crying out as before. Whereupon God said unto the keepers: Remove ye the blinds a little, that the light may come upon him.
10. And they removed the blinds a little; but, lo and behold, the light made him more distracted than before. And when God saw his deplorable suffering, he inquired of his keepers, how long the man had been in hell, and they said: Seventy and six years, and in a knot, three years!
11. God said: I know that this is Pharaoh, who persecuted the Jews. Take him again without the walls, and there retain him. I will send one of my swift messengers to Lika, in etherea, who knoweth the abiding place of Moses. Perhaps Moses put a curse upon him! If so, only Moses can deliver him.
12. And the keepers took the spirit, Nu-ghan, without the city, as commanded by God. And God sent Haeroponitis, sister of Raban, a swift messenger, in an arrow-ship of fire, to the etherean worlds, to Gussawanitcha, to Lika's sojourning place at that time, commanding her to lay the matter before the Nirvanian chief, Lika.
13. Hereupon the report continueth in the words of Haeroponitis, that is, these are her words, to wit: In not many days' time I came before Jehovih's throne, whereon sat Lika, through whose etherean provinces the solar phalanx was now traveling, and I told him the story of Nu-ghan.
14. Whereupon Lika, Son of Jehovih, said: Let my reporters of destinations go find Moses: and it if be that Moses put a judgment on Nu-ghan, then must Moses return to the lower heavens, and deliver him. The justice of Jehovih reacheth to all time and place.
15. Haeroponitis continued: Whereupon I saluted before the throne of Jehovih, and in company with the reporters of destinations, started forth again in the etherean realms, and after passing through seven worlds, and upward of three hundred Nirvanian kingdoms, we entered the plains of Sapeas, where are situated the colleges and schools of Embassies, belonging to the Ghiturpsan board of Ritivius. And here we found Moses!
16. Who no sooner looked upon us, having been told that he was inquired after, than he prophesied the cause.
17. Moses said: Alas me! Because thou hast come for me, thou hast awakened in me that which slept all these hundreds of years. Yea, it is true, I put a curse upon Pharaoh; for I said unto him: Thou shalt yet call upon me to deliver thee out of torments. And I added thereto, afterward, saying of the blood of the sacrifice of the lamb: This shall be the testimony of innocent blood against thyself and thy people for what the Hebrews have suffered.
18. Instead of this, I should have forgiven him. O Jehovih! Jehovih! I have sinned before Thee! And Thou hast searched me out after all these years, and brought the matter home to me.
19. Thou art just, O Thou Almighty! In Thy name and by Thy wisdom and power will I return to the lower heavens, and take in charge the man and people I adjudged!
20. And Moses wept; and he gave command to the builders to provide him at once with a suitable boat of great fleetness. And then Moses procured thirty thousand volunteers to go with him.
21. And when all things were in readiness, Moses took leave of his companions, and he and his hosts entered his fire-boat, and presently our two vessels were underway, as if in a race, for the red star, the earth. And, after some days, we arrived in the heavens of the earth, even at the city of Paradise, the abiding place of God.
22. Such is the brief heavenly report of Haeroponitis, for, on her arrival in Paradise, her mission was completed for the present.
23. When it was known in Paradise, that Moses was coming, great joy was manifested, for God and the Holy Eleven and the Holy Council, all desired to see Moses. And God commanded the full board of marshals and also the musicians to go without the capital, and meet Moses, and escort him before the throne. And they accomplished these things; and Moses came before the throne of God, saluting in the sign, Judgment of Time! And God answered him under the sign, Thy Labor is our Joy and Glory!
24. And God said: In Jehovih's name, O Moses, come thou, and honor my throne.
25. And Moses went up, and sat on the throne, on the right hand of God. And Moses said unto the Holy Council and to the Holy Eleven:
26. Your God shall be my God. In his love and dominion am I cast by Jehovih's will, to deliver those that have suffered from me and my words.
27. God said: Shall we not have a day of recreation first?
28. Moses said: Nay; till I have delivered Nu-ghan, that was Pharaoh, there can be no peace. Suffer, therefore, thy marshals to go to the keepers of this man, and bring him before this throne.
29. And now again, after awhile, Nu-ghan was brought in, all muffled up, to keep the light from hurting him. And he was still crying out: O God, Son of Jehovih! O Moses! Moses! Moses!
30. And when Moses beheld this, he was nigh overcome by the pitiful scene. And Moses brushed away his tears, and rose up, raising his hands to Jehovih, saying: Light of Thy Light, O Jehovih. Power of Thy Power, O Jehovih! Deliver Thou him, whom I accursed! Put his griefs and sorrows upon me, that hath sinned against him!
31. A mantle of yellow light, cloud-like, descended upon Moses, as he stood transfixed before Jehovih. All the place was still as death!
32. The blinds and muffles on Nu-ghan fell off, and he stood silent and motionless, gazing with fixed awe upon the holy scene, and upon Moses on the throne of God!
33. The spirit of Jehovih moved upon the holy place, and the musicians felt the power. It was the light of one who was mighty, from the etherean worlds!
34. Gently, then, the music of ten thousand voices fell upon the holy audience. First mild, as if far off, then louder and louder, as if coming near, till soon the words of the anthem proclaimed Jehovih's praise.
35. Nu'ghan turned not his eyes from the glory of Moses and the etherean mantle, for he knew Moses, even as it were but yesterday they parted in Egupt, on the earth.
36. Slowly, now, Moses lowered his upstretched arms, and his hands were brilliant, like yellow fire. And Moses said, solemnly: All praise to Thee, Jehovih! (Eloih!) Thou art just, Thou Almighty Creator!
37. Nu-ghan added: For through Him is all deliverance, worlds without end. In Thy praise will I sing forever, O Jehovih. Thou, Most High God of Moses, my Deliverer. Make me strong, O Jehovih, that I can look upon him, whom I persecuted and abused.
38. Then Moses looked upon Pharaoh (Nu-ghan) and said: These things had to be. Thou wert the last of the pyramidal age of man, and I the first founder of the migration of the righteous. All things are done by Jehovih, in His own way and time.
39. As, by my curse upon thee and thy people, have I been bound to come back to deliver thee and them; so, by thy curse against Israel, shalt thou now return down to the earth, and labor to lift up Israel.
40. For Israel hath fallen from communities, and hath taken to kings, after the manner of the heathen and idolater. Her people are divided and broken up, and many of them have become worshipers of the false Gods, Baal and Ashtaroth.
41. Yea, they are forgetful of my commandment of peace and love, and have taken to war and to earthly aggrandizement.
42. And thou shalt take with thee ten thousand angels of exalted grades, and go down to the earth, to the habitations of the Israelites; and, by inspiration, thou and thy hosts shall select and inspire such of the Israelites as are within reach of inspiration, and thou shalt take them away from all other of their people, and from the heathen and idolatrous tribes, that are around about them.
43. And thou and thy hosts shall abide with these mortals hundreds of years; re-establishing them in peace and non-resistance, after the manner of the doctrines in the es'sean worlds. And thou shalt call them, Es'seans, that they may be distinguished from all other peoples.
44. Nu-ghan said: Thy decree is most just, O Moses, and I know of a truth thy words are Jehovih's. I pray thee, how long shall this labor be for me and my hosts?
45. Moses said: Some hundreds of years! Until thou hast raised a light sufficient unto Jehovih, that peace and love and the doctrine of good for evil be again re-established from the blood of the Israelites, even as by the blood of the lamb, I delivered Jehovih's people out of Egupt.
46. And when thou hast perfected the generations of the Es'seans, thou shalt have sent to thee from the throne of God certain loo'is, and they will labor with thee until an Israelite is born into the mortal world capable of the Father's Voice.
47. Nu-ghan said: Hear me now in my plea, O Moses, thou, Son of the Most High: When I died, as to the earth, and entered heaven, as to these worlds, I found my kingdom, as to what was before me, in heaven waiting for me.
48. And they were miserable, being beggars and slaves and idiots, because of the slavery I had put upon them in the earth-life. And I could not escape them, or put them aside. If I went away objectively, then subjectively I remembered them, and was drawn back to them.
49. Yea, I was like a young colt that first being haltered, pulleth away, but faileth; then pulleth again, and faileth, and so on, until he findeth he can not escape, then tamely submitteth; even so was I bound to my kingdom, and obliged in the end to yield and become a slave unto them, to provide for them. For I had so dispoiled them of their talents, they were as helpless as infants; and many of them wicked in the extreme.
50. Nevertheless, I accepted that which I could not escape; I toiled with them hundreds of years, restoring them as well as I could. And in time a ray of happiness came to me, in the hope that in hundreds of years to come I should find my way out.
51. But, alas me! darkness (a'ji) came upon my already dark heaven. My evil ones, such as I had had slaughtered on earth, came upon me for vengeance sake. Anarchy overflooded me and my people. They became very demons of madness, and they seized me, and bound me, and bruised me and suffocated me with their horrid smells. Millions of them! And their curses pierced me like poisoned arrows. Long I fought them; and I cried out unto thee and to Jehovih! But, alas! I was in hell. None could hear my prayers. For days and months and years I held out, but only to experience new and more terrible horrors!
52. How long this woe was upon me, I know not. I only remember, that my soul sickened within me; and I felt a sinking and a fainting, like an endless death, that could not extinguish me. To me it seemed ten thousand ages!
53. Suddenly I find myself here! Distracted before thee, thou holy Son of the Great Spirit! Whence came I? What hath occurred? Or is this but a spell of delirious dream? And will I relapse again into yonder terrible nightmare of horrors? How can I go hence, that mine old kingdom come not upon me?
54. Do they not wait hereabout somewhere? To seize me again, for renewed torments? O teach me, thou, Moses! How can I fulfill thy righteous judgment? And not be entrapped again, and, perhaps, forever!
55. Moses said: I will give thee a new name, and I will clothe thee in garments of mine own making, so they will rather flee from thee, than come to thee.
56. And Moses gathered up of the yellow, cloud-like mantle, and made a mantle, and clothed Nu-ghan; and he named him, Illaes, signifying, Servant of Light. And after that, he was provided with ten thousand co-laborers, assisted by Gafonaya, and sent back to the earth, on his mission.
57. And God appointed one hundred messengers unto Pharaoh, that word might be transmitted every month to Paradise.
Chapter XVII
1. God proclaimed a day of recreation in Paradise, that the inhabitants might meet Moses and his hosts, and rejoice therewith. And great was that day in Paradise.
2. On the following day, Moses departed for the Eguptian people, that had been in hell with Nu-ghan, going to the place of deliverance. And there were of these spirits, eleven millions four hundred thousands. And Moses conferred with the inspectors as to places, and having decided on a convenient region, Elaban, he ordered their removal thither.
3. And Moses went with them to Elaban, an isolated region on the Aratesaian plateau, and remained with them one hundred and twelve days, establishing them with nurseries, hospitals and factories; and he appointed officers for them, to every group and series, going amongst them in person and ministering to tens of thousands of them, and providing them places of worship.
4. After that, Moses appointed Salesmon as captain over them. Thereafter, Moses departed, and returned to Paradise, where he remained two days more, and then took leave, and departed for his own heavenly place in Nirvania. But ere he departed, he said: When the a'ji'an forest is past and gone, and it be Jehovih's will, I shall return again to look after my hosts.
5. And now was God's attention directed to the Hebrews, the Faithists of western Arabin'ya, where the God Baal had gained access and power; having affiliated with one, Dagon, a false God, located in those regions, who maintained six earthly oracle-houses and a small heavenly kingdom of his own.
6. And it came to pass, that the Hebrews were a divided people. A small minority of them still worshipped Jehovih, having colleges of prophecy and places of learning. But the great majority of them were worshipers of the Lord and God, believing the Great Spirit was only a large man in heaven, after the manner of Baal, or Dagon, or Ashtaroth, or any other God.
7. God said of them: Though they pretend to be of many kinds, I see but two: Those who worship the Ever Present, Jehovih; and those who are drifting into heathenism.
8. Mine eyes behold the true Faithists with colleges and with books of learning; but, as for the others, they are becoming consulters of the oracles (spirits), the same as the heathens.
9. How can they remain a united people? The Gods of one city and temple teach one doctrine, and the Gods of another place teach another doctrine.
10. God had previously sent to Ebeneezer one, Jerub, with ten thousand assistant angel strategists, to be with the king of the Faithists. Jerub now asked for other ten thousand, and God sent them to him. And God said unto Jerub:
11. A war will presently result between Baal and Ashtaroth and Dagon and Haughak; and these Gods will not only war in heaven, but they will carry their battles down to mortals.
12. And the Israelites will not only forsake their ancient doctrine of peace, but will become great warriors, both against other nations and peoples, and against one another.
13. Take thou heed, O Jerub, of the words of thy God; and whilst Baal and Ashtaroth are in conflict and neglectful of the temples and oracles, possess thou them.
14. Better is it, that these false Gods win unto themselves as dutiful subjects, five angels, than one mortal.
15. Guard thou well all the colleges of prophecy against the emissaries of these false Gods. And see to it, that the worshipers of Jehovih have born unto themselves a goodly number of prophets.
Continued
Index to Oahspe