What happens to the body after death? Not the soul — the body. Will the dead come back as they were? Will they be transformed into something else entirely? Baruch asked God the question that everyone who has ever stood at a grave wants answered.
But first, he prayed — and his prayer was a masterwork of humility and controlled fury. He praised the One who summons the ages and they stand at attention, who arranges the seasons and they obey, who commands flames and they change into spirits, who quickens what does not yet exist with a single word.
Then the prayer turned raw:
<i>"For in a little time are we born, and in a little time do we return. But with You, hours are as ages and days as generations. Be not wroth with man — for he is nothing. We did not say to our parents, 'Beget us.' Nor did we send word to Sheol saying, 'Receive us.' What is our strength that we should bear Your wrath? What are we that we should endure Your judgment?"</i>
He pleaded for God's chosen people: "Destroy not the hope of our people. Cut not short the times of our aid. For this is the nation You have chosen — the people to whom You find no equal. We have received one law from One. And the law which is among us will aid us, and the surpassing wisdom within us will help us."
God heard the prayer. But His answer was unflinching. "You have prayed simply, O Baruch, and all your words have been heard. But My judgment exacts its own, and My law exacts its rights."
What followed was a prophecy of the age before the end. A time when the wise would be few and the intelligent silent. When rumors and phantasms would multiply. When honor would become shame, strength would become contempt, and beauty would become ugliness. Envy would seize the peaceful. Armies would rise to shed blood — and in the end, perish together with their victims.
Baruch cried out: "O Adam, what have you done to all those born from you? What will be said to Eve, who listened to the serpent? All this multitude is going to corruption!"
Then came the question — the one the entire text had been building toward. <i>"In what shape will those who live in Your day exist? Will they resume the form of the present body — these limbs involved in evil, in which evils are consummated? Or will You change what has been in the world, as You will change the world itself?"</i>
God's answer was precise. The earth would restore the dead exactly as it received them. No change in form. The living needed to recognize the returned dead — to see with their own eyes that those who had departed were truly back. Recognition first. Then transformation.
After the appointed day of judgment, everything would change. The aspect of the condemned would become worse than it already was — their very appearance would twist and degrade as torment took hold. But the glory of the righteous? Their splendor would be glorified beyond recognition. The form of their faces would turn into pure light.
<i>"They shall be made like unto the angels. Made equal to the stars. They shall be changed into every form they desire — from beauty into loveliness, from light into the splendor of glory."</i>
The extents of Paradise would unfold before them. They would see the majesty of the living creatures beneath God's throne and the armies of angels held fast by His word, waiting for their appointed hour. Time would no longer age them. The heights of that world would be their dwelling place. And the righteous would surpass even the angels in splendor.
The wicked, seeing all this, would waste away — knowing they had rejected the law, stopped their ears against wisdom, and chosen a time whose issues were full of lamentations. They had denied the world that does not age. They had rejected the time of glory. And now it was too late.
Baruch's grief transformed into resolve: <i>"Rejoice in the suffering you now endure. Make ready your soul for what is reserved for you. Prepare for the reward that is laid up for you."</i>
And it came to pass after the seventh day, that I prayed before the Mighty One and said: 'O my Lord, you summon the advent of the times,
And they stand before you;
You cause the power of the ages to pass away,
And they do not resist you;
You arrange the method of the seasons,
And they obey you. You alone know the duration of the generations,
And you reveal not Your mysteries to many. You make known the multitude of the fire,
And you weigh the lightness of the wind. You explore the limit of the heights,
And you scrutinize the depths of the darkness. You care for the number which pass away that they may be preserved, And you prepare an
abode for those that are to be. You remember the beginning which you have made,
And the destruction that is to be You forget not. With nods of fear and indignation You command the flames,
And they change into spirits,
And with a word you quicken that which was not,
And with mighty power you hold that which has not yet come. You instruct created things in the understanding of you,
And you make wise the spheres so as to minister in their orders. Armies innumerable stand before you
And minister in their orders quietly at Your nod. Hear Your servant
And give ear to my petition. For in a little time are we born,
And in a little time do we return. But with you hours are as a time,
And days as generations. Be not therefore wroth with man; for he is nothing And take not account of our works; For what are we?
For lo! by Your gift do we come into the world,
And we depart not of our own will. For we said not to our parents, "Beget us,
Nor did we send to Sheol and say, "Receive us." What therefore is our strength that we should bear Your wrath,
Or what are we that we should endure Your judgment? Protect us in Your compassions,
And in Your mercy help us. Behold the little ones that are subject unto you,
And save all that draw near unto you:
And destroy not the hope of our people,
And cut not short the times of our aid. For this is the nation which you have chosen,
And these are the people, to whom you find no equal. But I will speak now before you,
And I will say as my heart thinks. In you do we trust, for lo! Your law is with us,
And we know that we shall not fall so long as we keep Your statutes. [To all time are we blessed at all events in this that we have not mingled with the
Gentiles.] For we are all one celebrated people,
Who have received one law from One:
And the law which is amongst us will aid us,
And the surpassing wisdom which is in us will help us.' And when I had prayed and said these things, I was greatly weakened. And He answered and said unto me:
'You have prayed simply, O Baruch,
And all your words have been heard. But My judgment exacts its own
And My law exacts its rights. For from your words I will answer you,
And from your prayer I will speak to you. For this is as follows: he that is corrupted is not at all; he has both wrought iniquity
so far as lie could do anything, and has not remembered My goodness, nor accepted My
long-suffering. Therefore you shall surely be taken up, as I before told you. For that time shall arise which brings affliction; for it shall come and pass by with
quick vehemence, and it shall be turbulent coming in the heat of indignation. And it shall come to pass in those days that all the inhabitants of the earth shall be
moved one against another, because they know not that My judgment has drawn nigh. For there shall not be found many wise at that time,
And the intelligent shall be but a few:
Moreover, even those who know shall most of all be silent. And there shall be many rumors and tidings not a few,
And the doing of phantasms shall be manifest,
And promises not a few be recounted,
Some of them (shall prove) idle,
And some of them shall be confirmed. And honor shall be turned into shame,
And strength humiliated into contempt,
And probity destroyed,
And beauty shall become ugliness. And many shall say to many at that time:
Where hath the multitude of intelligence hidden itself,
And whither hath the multitude of wisdom removed itself?" And whilst they are meditating these things,
Then envy shall arise in those who had not thought aught of themselves (?)
And passion shall seize him that is peaceful,
And many shall be stirred up in anger to injure many,
And they shall rouse up armies in order to shed blood,
And in the end they shall perish together with them. And it shall come to pass at the self-same time,
That a change of times shall manifestly appeal to every man,
Because in all those times they polluted themselves
And they practiced oppression,
And walked every man in his own works,
And remembered not the law of the Mighty One. Therefore a fire shall consume their thoughts,
And in flame shall the meditations of their reins be tried;
For the Judge shall come and will not tarry. Because each of the inhabitants of the earth knew when he was transgressing.
But My Law they knew not by reason of their pride. But many shall then assuredly weep,
Yea, over the living more than over the dead.' And I answered and said:
'O Adam, what have you done to all those who are born from you?
And what will be said to the first Eve who hearkened to the serpent? For all this multitude are going to corruption,
Nor is there any numbering of those whom the fire devours. But again I will speak in Your presence. You, O LORD, my Lord, know what is in Your creature. For you did of old command the dust to produce Adam, and you know the number of those who
are born from him, and how far they have sinned before you, who have existed and not
confessed you as their Creator. And as regards all these their end shall convict them, and Your law which they have
transgressed shall requite them on Your day.'
48:48-50. Fragment of an Address of Baruch to the People ['But now let us dismiss the wicked and inquire about the righteous. And I will recount their blessedness
And not be silent in celebrating their glory, which is reserved for them. For assuredly as in a little time in this transitory world in which you live, you have
endured much labor,
So in that world to which there is no end, you shall receive great light.']
49-52. The Nature of the Resurrection Body: the final Destinies of the Righteous
Chapter 49
'Nevertheless, I Will again ask from you, O Mighty One, yea, I will ask made all things. "In what shape will those live who live in Your day?
Or how will the splendor of those who (are) after that time continue? Will they then resume this form of the present,
And put on these entrammelling members,
Which are now involved in evils,
And in which evils are consummated,
Or will you perchance change these things which have been in the world
As also the world?"
Chapter 50
And He answered and said unto me:
'Hear, Baruch, this word,
And write in the remembrance of your heart all that you shall learn. For the earth shall then assuredly restore the dead,
[Which it now receives, in order to preserve them].
It shall make no change in their form,
But as it has received, so shall it restore them,
And as I delivered them unto it, so also shall it raise them. For then it will be necessary to show the living that the dead have come to life again,
and that those who had departed have returned (again). And it shall come to pass, when they have severally recognized those whom they now know,
then judgment shall grow strong, and those things which before were spoken of shall come.
Chapter 51
And it shall come to pass, when that appointed day has gone by, that then shall the aspect
of those who are condemned be afterwards changed, and the glory of those who are justified. For the aspect of those who now act wickedly shall become worse than it is, as they shall
suffer torment. Also (as for) the glory of those who have now been justified in My law, who have had
understanding in their life, and who have planted in their heart the root of wisdom, then
their splendor shall be glorified in changes, and the form of their face shall be turned
into the light of their beauty, that they may be able to acquire and receive the world
which does not die, which is then promised to them. For over this above all shall those who come then lament, that they rejected My law, and
stopped their ears that they might not hear wisdom or receive understanding. When therefore they see those, over whom they are now exalted, (but) who shall then be
exalted and glorified more than they, they shall respectively be transformed, the latter
into the splendor of angels, and the former shall yet more waste away in wonder at the
visions and in the beholding of the forms. For they shall first behold and afterwards depart to be tormented. But those who have been saved by their works,
And to whom the law has been now a hope,
And understanding an expectation,
And wisdom a confidence,
Shall wonders appear in their time. For they shall behold the world which is now invisible to them,
And they shall behold the time which is now hidden from them: And time shall no longer age them. For in the heights of that world shall they dwell,
And they shall be made like unto the angels,
And be made equal to the stars,
And they shall be changed into every form they desire,
From beauty into loveliness,
And from light into the splendor of glory. For there shall be spread before them the extents of Paradise, and there shall be shown to
them the beauty of the majesty of the living creatures which are beneath the throne, and
all the armies of the angels, who are now held fast by My word, lest they should appear,
and are held fast by a command, that they may stand in their places till their advent
comes. Moreover, there shall then be excellency in the righteous surpassing that in the angels. For the first shall receive the last, those whom they were expecting, and the last those
of whom they used to hear that they had passed away. For they have been delivered from this world of tribulation,
And laid down the burthen of anguish. For what then have men lost their life,
And for what have those who were on the earth exchanged their soul? For then they chose (not) for themselves this time,
Which, beyond the reach of anguish, could not pass away:
But they chose for themselves that time,
Whose issues are full of lamentations and evils,
And they denied the world which ages not those who come to it,
And they rejected the time of glory,
So that they shall not come to the honor of which I told you before.'
Chapter 52
And I answered and said:
'How can we forget those for whom woe is then reserved? And why therefore do we again mourn for those who die?
Or why do we weep for those who depart to Sheol? Let lamentations be reserved for the beginning of that coming torment,
And let tears be laid up for the advent of the destruction of that time. [But even in the face of these things will I speak. And as for the righteous, what will they do now? Rejoice you in the suffering which you now suffer:
For why do you look for the decline of your enemies? Make ready your soul for that which is reserved for you,
And prepare your souls for the reward which is laid up for you.']
53-54. THE MESSIAH APOCALYPSE
53. The Vision of the Cloud with black and white Waters
Chapter 53
