The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #2 Once, Twice, Three Times a Sinner3/10/2016 Courts can be rather intimidating places. They should be - after all the dispensation of Justice is extremely important. The judges are usually imposing figures, the courtrooms are hushed and respectful, the clerks and officials note and record everything and dispense justice quickly and efficiently. There is no room for disagreement with the final decision or sentence and bad behaviour in the courtroom is not tolerated. Even the furniture of the court emphasises the solemn importance of what is going on there, with the judge usually seated 'up on high' and the accused 'spotlighted', sat or stood separately, in a place reserved for them, alone and isolated from family and friends. But all of this is nothing compared to the scene of post-mortem judgement described in the Jewish/Christian writing known as the Testament of Abraham. At one point in this ancient Jewish story, in which Abraham tries (with great comic effect) to evade Death, we read how Abraham follows the archangel Michael through the gates of heaven and find himself at the tribunal where the dead are judged. There he finds an awesome, even terrifying vision of divine justice in action, a scene that includes a magnificent judge, gigantic books, glowing tables, scary angels and of course thousands of souls being weighed, burned and whipped! And this, he is told, is just the first stage! This wonderful comic novel originally written by a Jewish writer and then used and preserved (and perhaps adapted) by Christians, dating from perhaps the first or second centuries A.D., provides a wonderful insight into how ideas about heaven and hell and the judgement that sends us there, were developing in the first centuries after the birth of Jesus. In this post I try to describe the elements of divine justice as shown to Abraham and what they mean and why they are there. In the previous post I wrote about the ancient Jewish text known as the Testament of Abraham which tells the irreverent story of how the aged Abraham refuses to accept the inevitability of his death. In this wonderful story God sends Michael, his 'right-hand' angel, down to earth to tell Abraham that his 'time is up'. He does this because he loves Abraham who, like Job, is 'practically perfect in every way' (as Mary Poppins might have put it) and he wants to give Abraham time to come to terms with the news, say his good-byes and put all his affairs in order. At first Abraham simply refuses to go, but eventually, recognising that God's will always wins out in the end, he plays for time. He asks God for one last favour, a tour of the earth to see 'all of God's wonders' (in this story, flattery will get you everywhere). Since the earth is a pretty large place (even in the first century A.D.) this would put he inevitable off for a while. However the plan backfires both for God and Abraham. Wherever he goes on the tour Abraham sees people doing wicked things and calls down destruction from heaven upon them. In alarm God stops the tour. The world is a pretty wicked place and God can see that if the tour continues there will soon be no-one left alive. Abraham is righteous and God loves him deeply, but he clearly needs a lesson in divine mercy, so God determines to show him what happens to those who die, those whom Abraham has brought to a premature death through his prayers. Michael is told to take Abraham to 'heavens gate' in the East, the faraway land of infinite possibilities, the place where the dome of heaven and the earth meet and the place where, according to the narrative in the book of Genesis, the land of Eden lay (Genesis 2.8-15). There Abraham sees two roads leading to two gates through which all the dead must pass. Each soul takes one of the two entrances. Adam, the forefather of humanity, sits between the gates weeping for those who pass through the wide gate and rejoicing over those who pass through the narrow gate. When Abraham asks Michael why Adam does this, he is told that those passing through the wide gate are on their way to judgement and punishment while those who pass through the narrow gate are the righteous who pass through to blessedness in paradise. Scary AngelsAs he contemplates the fact that the vast majority of people seem to pass through the wide gate that lead to destruction, and that very few make it to paradise through the narrow gate, he suddenly sees two fearsome angels who drive the great mass of sinners onwards through the broad gates. They are 'scary' angels, 'fiery in aspect and pitless in mind', not the safe and comforting sort often encountered in stories of angelic visitation today. While he was still saying these things, behold two angels, fiery in aspect and pitiless in mind and severe in look. They drove on thousands of souls, pitilessly lashing them with fiery whips. The angels laid hold of one soul and they drove all the souls in at the broad gate to destruction. So we also went along with the angels and we came within the broad gate. We read that they mercilessly whip the souls with 'fiery whips' driving them onwards through the broad gate. In contrast, those who enter the next life through the narrow gate (leading to paradise) are 'carried'. It is striking that the souls are treated in this way before the judgement takes place. We wonder how today's guardians of justice would fare if they treated their prisoners like this before trial! It is not at all clear why they need to do this. After all we have just been told that the souls are making their own way along the paths and through the gates. The reader feels that these two angels are gratuitous, included here simply to emphasise the point that the souls heading through the wide gate are in for a tough time. It is important to realise that in biblical and post-biblical texts angels are servants of God, and execute his purposes, some of which have severely 'negative impacts' on people. In the post on the vision of the seven heavens in 2 Enoch I discussed the fact that the place of punishment in the third heaven was staffed with angels specially designed to inflict torture on the deserving wicked. There is no hint there or here, that these angels are somehow representing the 'forces of evil' or working on behalf of Satan. In fact it is worth remembering that the figure of Satan began life as one of the members of the divine council whose job was to identify sin. No, in these visions of judgement and hell the warders are God's own angels. Take note: Angels are not safe! 'Through the big window'So Abraham and Michael follow the two angels and the thousands of poor souls they are shepherding with their whips through the broad gate. Now Abraham will see how God's justice operates for those not deemed worthy of entering paradise directly. When he enters through the gate he sees a courtroom, with all the equipment necessary for divine justice laid out and ready for use; He sees a magnificent judge, a crystal/golden table, a really huge book, some 'recording angels' ready to write, an archangels holding a pair of balances with which to weigh souls and another, pitiless, fiery angel, ready to blow his trumpet of fire in which the souls will be tested and tried! Between the two gates stood a throne terrible of aspect, of terrible crystal gleaming like fire. Upon it sat a wondrous man bright as the sun, like to a son of God. Before him stood a table like crystal all of gold and fine linen. Upon the table there was lying a book, the thickness of it six cubits and the breadth of it ten cubits. On the right and left of it stood two angels holding paper and ink and pen. Before the table sat an angel of light holding in its hand a balance. On his left sat an angel all fiery pitiless and severe holding in his hand a trumpet having within it all-consuming fire with which to try the sinners. Table talkOne of the most striking features of the furniture of this court is the magnificent table which we are told is made either of crystal or of gold (depending on text and translation) and covered with the finest silk cloths. This is a really beautiful 'heavenly table'. There are no other references in Jewish or early Christian literature to tables as important elements of Judgement. Of course there has to be a table on which to place the gigantic book of human deeds that I will discuss below. But there is probably more to it than that. The spectacular beauty of the table suggests that it has a more important place in the architecture of the heavenly court. One suggestion is that this image captures an elements of Egyptian judgement scenes, where the god Osiris, who in Egyptian mythology judges the dead, is pictured doing so before a heavenly table or altar. If this is so it would help to confirm the suggestion by some scholars that the Testament of Abraham was composed (or edited) by Jews living in Egypt, probably in Alexandria. These scenes would probably have been familiar to them. The Big Book of LifeOn the beautiful table sits a great book. The book is massive - it is six cubits thick and ten cubits high. A cubit was approximately half a meter in length so the book is just under 5 meters high and just under 3 meters thick! That might seem pretty massive but it's really nothing compared to some other books of judgement in biblical and post biblical writings. When we read 'book' we should probably think of scroll since that's how books were written in the ancient world. The scroll sitting on the table is 3 meters thick and 5 meters high (or long). In apocalyptic literature like this all the books are really big. The prophet Zechariah has a vision of a flying book (scroll) that is even bigger! Again I looked up and saw a flying scroll. And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to the writing on the other side. I have sent it out, says the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name; and it shall abide in that house and consume it, both timber and stones.” Zecharaiah 5.1-4 NRSV But this book (or scroll) has a different function from the book recording righteous and wicked deeds in the Testament. This is more of a flying curse than a ledger of human actions. This is the Law or treaty by which people are legally bound to God and it flies to where the offence against the treaty or Law has taken place, to the sinners themselves. And so it condemns them. The enormous size may well reflect it's origin in the Temple (God's earthly home). Twenty cubits by ten is the exact size of the Temple porch (1 Kings 6.3). Did the curse then originate with God and then fly to its intended destination? The book here in the Testament of Abraham is not a flying curse - it contains the details of the righteous and wicked deeds of mankind. The mention of a book would have reminded the first readers of the books opened in the dream vision of heaven in the book of Daniel. A stream of fire issued The books of course contain the lists of righteous and unrighteous deeds, the record of goodness and wickedness on the earth. God now sits in judgement over the kingdoms of the earth (which have just been pictured as various kinds of terrifying beasts) and the judge must have the record of what they have been doing in order to judge rightly and pronounce the correct sentence. The thrones are set up the judge makes his appearance and the 'books are opened'. This image of books in which the actions of individuals and kingdoms are recorded is a familiar one in the Hebrew Bible. (Malachi 3.16; Psalm 56.8; 139.16) and it is further developed beyond the bible in the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. The book and the throne often go together (as in Daniel). So, in the book known to scholars today as the Animal Apocalypse (part of the Enoch cycle of stories which forms part of 1 Enoch) we read about the judgement of God like this: And I looked until a throne was set up in the pleasant land and the Lord of the sheep sat on it; and they took all the sealed books and opened those books before the Lord of the sheep. 1 Enoch 90.20 Tr. Michael Knibb The details of who the sheep are and why and how they are represented by the judgment of God is not relevant for this post (thankfully) but the point is that the visionary sees the Lord taking his throne and at once he is given 'the books'. The books contain the official record of who has done what - of who the righteous and wicked are. The king needs to know this in order to execute justice properly! But the book of the record of good and bad is not the only heavenly book found in the Hebrew Bible (and beyond). There is also the Book of Life which seems to be a book (or rather, scroll) in which are recorded the names of those destined for eternal life. This book first makes its appearance (at least in the canonical order in our bibles) in Exodus 32.32-34 where the Lord tells Moses that those who are wicked will be 'blotted out of my book'. Moses prays that his name will remain in the book! Both books, the books containing the record of deeds and the Book of Life are found in the New Testament in the Book of Revelation. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20.12-15 NRSV So, at the final judgement the books which record human deeds will be opened and the dead will be judged on the basis of this record. But (and it is not at all clear how the two books are related to one another) at that time the destiny of the dead will also depend on whether their names are written in the Book of Life, which implies that they have already been judged. Here comes the judge!But who will read the books and make the judgement? Michael explains that the judge in this first judgement is the glorious figure 'like a son of God' who is not, as a Christian reader might expect, Jesus, but the son of Adam, Abel, who was murdered by his brother Cain. As the righteous son of the very first man (Adam) he is considered qualified to judge all mankind. The commander-in-chief said "do you see, most holy Abraham, the terrible man sitting upon the throne? This is the son of the first born Adam, who is called Abel, whom the wicked Cain killed. He sits thus to judge all creation and he examines righteous people and sinners. or God has said 'I shall not judge you, but every man will be judged by man'. Therefore he has given to him judgment to judge the world until his great and glorious arrival . . . . . for every person has come from the first created and therefore they are first judged here by his son. In the biblical account in Genesis (Genesis 4.1-8) nothing is said about the character of the two brothers or their sacrifices. The text simply explains that one sacrifice (Abel's) was accepted by God and the other (Cain's) wasn't. It then goes on to explain that, resentful of the divine decision, Cain killed his brother, committing the first human murder. But in later Jewish tradition Abel came to be considered a 'righteous' man (thus explaining why his offering was accepted by God) and by the time the Testament was written Abel had become a biblical hero. So for example, the Jewish philosopher and biblical commentator Philo, writing about Cain and Abel says Even though the righteous man [Abel] was younger in time than the wicked one. . . - Philo, Questions in Genesis 1:59 Linked with the idea of the inherent righteousness of Abel was the notion that his sacrifice was more pleasing to God than Cain's. Some early Christian writers postulated that the sacrifice of a lamb was more pleasing because it prefigured the sacrifice of Jesus (the Lamb of God) while others, such as the writer of the biblical Letter to the Hebrews, suggested that Abel brought his sacrifice in faith whereas Cain didn't. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. Hebrews 11.4 NRSV Here in the Testament of Abraham he is described in terms (bright as the sun; like a son of God) that remind the reader of the way the archangel Michael himself is described. In other words, Abel himself looks like an angel. Other heroes from Jewish literature are also 'angelised' in this way. We have already seen that Enoch becomes an angelic figure (or even greater than an angel) in the Book of Watchers and in 2 Enoch but this privilege is not restricted to Enoch. One of the most interesting of these links between the righteous heroes of faith and angels is found in the Epistle of Enoch (another writing in the collection of books that we now call 1 Enoch). In one part of the Epistle of Enoch the writer describes the birth of Noah like this: And after some days my son Methuselah took for his son Lamech a wife and she became pregnant by him and bore a son. And his body was white like snow and red like the flower of a rose and the hair of his head was white like wool and his eyes were beautiful; and when he opened them he made the whole house bright like the sun so that the whole house was exceptionally bright. And when he was taken from the hand of the midwife he opened his mouth and spoke to the Lord of Righteousness. And his father Lamech was afraid of him and fled and went to his father Methuselah. And he said to him 'I have begotten a strange son; he is not like a man but is like the children of the angels of heaven of a different type and not like us. And his eyes are like the rays of the sun and his face glorious. And it seems to me that he is not sprung from me but from the angels and I am afraid lest something extraordinary should be done on the earth in his days'. 1 Enoch 106:1-6 Tr. Michael Knibb So Enoch, Noah and Abel (and others) are all turned into angels. There is something 'superhuman' about these characters and the only other super-human beings the writers knew about for certain, were the angels. These heroes of faith glow, they shine, they grow bigger and they amaze the people who see them (and therefore the readers who read about them). So, Abel is the judge because he was considered supremely righteous and, after all, we want our judges to be 'beyond reproach'. But he is probably also the character chosen to be the supreme judge because he is the first victim and therefore he, above all other people, has the right to judge. The blood of Abel, we read in Genesis, 'cries out from the ground'. No wonder then that now the very person of Abel meets us when we die to demand justice from us. He personifies the search for justice. Abel is still crying out for justice but this time not from the ground where his blood and body lie, but from the glorious throne in the heavenly tribunal on the other side of the gate of heaven in 'the East'. But there is probably more to the use of Abel as the judge than that. I mentioned above that there may well be an Egyptian connection in the book and its imagery. According to a story recorded by the Roman writer Plutarch, Osiris was murdered by his brother Set and more than 70 accomplices. They murdered him by locking him in a lead box which they threw into the river. So, Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld and judge of the dead was murdered by his brother! How fitting then that Abel (murdered by his brother) should stand as judge in this tribunal! Perfect JusticeBut Michael goes on to explain that Abel's judgement is only the first of three judgements. The second will by the twelve tribes of Israel and then the third, ultimate decision on the fate of souls will be by the Almighty Himself. At the second arrival they shall be judged by the twelve tribes of Israel, every breath and every creature. Yet a third time they shall be judged; by the Lord God of all then indeed the end of that judgement will be soon and the sentence is terrible and there is none to deliver This may seem an overly rigorous system, involving a lot of 'trying and testing' (and presumably a lot of fire!) but at least in this way it is guaranteed that the outcome will be just and fair. There are a number of references in ancient Jewish literature to the importance of three judges or three witnesses as proving beyond doubt someone's guilt or innocence. Michael explains, Thus the judging of the world and the recompense will be carried out by three tribunals . For this reason a matter is ot finally confirmed by one or two witnesses but by three witnesses shall everything be established. The mention of a second judgement by the twelve tribes of Israel is interesting. This seems to have been a fairly standard belief about the Judgement in the Second Temple period and we can see a re-interpretation of that motif in the gospels, when Jesus promises his disciples that they will sit with him in judgement over the twelve tribes (Matthew 19.28; Luke 22.28-30). This clearly assumes a belief in the judicial power of the 12 tribes over the 'nations', the non-Jewish peoples of the world. Jesus re-interprets this idea. He and his 12 disciples are the New Israel (or perhaps better the True Israel) who will judge the earth and its peoples (and see Paul's 'take' on this idea in 1 Corinthians 6.2). The final two parts of the process will take place at the 'Arrival' (Greek 'parousia'), the day when God Himself will come to bring an end to human history and recreate the cosmos, when there will be final judgment on the earth and its inhabitants. Following the judgement by the 'Twelve Tribes', God Himself will judge mankind. This will be the final decision by the 'Supreme Court'! After His decision there will no further appeal and His decision will decide the fate of each human soul for the whole of eternity. That is when, righteous Abraham, there will be the perfect judgement and recompense, eternal and unchangeable, which no one can alter. Setting the sceneThe courtroom scene is dramatic and imposing. No one reading this would be in any doubt that what goes on here is serious stuff. Much of the activity of the court is confusing. Some of the elements of justice are incompatible with one another - consistency was clearly not the main priority of the writer. But the overall impression is a strong one. Here, absolute, perfect justice will be found. There is no doubt, no room for mistakes and no errors. There are three judgements and this, the first, has everything necessary to ensure that the wicked are condemned and the just are rewarded. There is a perfect judge and a very big book containing every detail of what each soul has done while alive, a glowing throne and a magnificent shining table, and, as we shall see in the next post, two mechanisms for finding out the nature and quality of the lives the dead have lived; the weighing scales and the trumpet of fire. This place and this process are awesome. And so we, with Abraham, begin to realise the terrible nature of dying. To die is to pass into this realm of absolute, relentless, pitiless judgement. Here there is no leniency, no reports from social workers, no mitigating circumstances. Here there is no mercy. The description 'pitiless' is used three times. The business of this place is pure, cold justice and we, the readers, seeing this place through Abraham's eyes, begin to wonder how we would fare in such a place. And that is the point. We shall soon discover the meaning of God's mercy but we can only understand that if we have first grasped the alternative - the terrifying prospect of pure justice that this book so vividly conveys. You might also be interested in . . . . .
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2016
GalleryThis blog is as much about images as it is about text. Below is a slideshow of the pictures and images used in this blog. Click on any of the pictures to go to the post where that image is featured.
PostsLocating Paradise #1 In a Garden, Far, Far Away
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #5 'Stuck in the Middle With You'
The Resurrection According to Rahner
Today You Will Be With Me in Paradise
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #4 'And Who by Fire'
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #3: Held in the Balance
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #2: Once, Twice, Three Times a Sinner
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #1: The Broad and Narrow Gates
Daily Dante 7: Many Rivers to Cross
Daily Dante 6: 'You Gotta Serve Somebody'
In Hell Everyone Can Hear You Scream. The Vision of Tundale #3
Teeth, Spikes and Cleavers: At the Sharp end of Hell. The Vision of Tundale #2
'No Pain No Gain': The Vision of Tundale #1
'Hellzapoppin':
Illustrations from Le Livre de la Vigne nostre Seigneur, #2 'It's The End of the World as We Know It (and we feel fine)'. Illustrations from Le Livre de la Vigne nostre Seigneur, #1
Visions of Heaven. Botticini's Assumption of the Virgin #2 Blinded by the Light
Visions of Heaven. Botticini's Assumption of the Virgin #1: Glorious and Immortal
Daily Dante 5: What the gates said.
Daily Dante 4: When I find myself in times of trouble
Daily Dante 3: I'll take you there
Daily Dante 2: Fierce creatures
Daily Dante 1: If you go down to the woods today
In Seventh Heaven or 'What Enoch Did Next'
A World of Fire and Ice: Heaven according to Enoch
The Power and the Glory: Visions of God as king in the Hebrew bible
The Beautiful Bestiary of Catherine Cleves: Monsters and Demons in detail.
Heaven is for Real: Heaven as a physical space up above the sky
Resurrecting the Dead or Reviving the Flowers? The loss of resurrection faith in Judaism.
The Defeat of Death #1: The promise of resurrection in the Isaiah Apocalypse.
The Defeat of Death #2: Death as a hostile power and promise of God's victory in Isaiah
Scary Monsters and Super Creeps: The 'Last Judgement' according to Stefan Lochner
Hell in the Hospital: The 'Last Judgement' of Rogier van der Weyden in the Beaune altarpiece.
'Hell' in the New Testament #2: The gates of Hades shall not prevail
The Hours of Catherine Cleves: Imagining hell and purgatory in Catherine's prayer book
'On Earth as in Heaven': The kingdom of God as a revelation of heaven
'Hell' in the New Testament #1: Gehenna
Lost in Translation #1: How the King James version got it so wrong about hell
Heaven is not our home
Domes, Depths and Demons: The cosmology of the Hebrew world
A Bigger God
"See you in Sheol" - Sheol, the common destination of all
Heaven, Hell and Christian Hope
BooksBelow are some of the books which have helped me the most in the research and writing for this blog. Click on any image to find out more about that book at its page on Amazon uk.
Categories
All
|