On the third day, Ezra sat under an oak tree. A voice came from a bush opposite him. "Ezra, Ezra."
He rose to his feet. "Here I am, Lord."
The voice from the bush was deliberate. Unmistakable. Because God was drawing a direct line between Ezra and Moses. "I revealed myself in a bush and spoke to Moses when my people were in bondage in Egypt. I sent him and led my people out. I led him up on Mount Sinai, where I kept him with me many days, and I told him many wondrous things, and showed him the secrets of the times, and declared to him the end of the times. Then I commanded him: 'These words you shall publish openly, and these you shall keep secret.'"
Now it was Ezra's turn.
God told him to lay up the signs, the dreams, the interpretations in his heart. He would be taken up from among men and live with God's chosen one and those like him until the times ended. The age had lost its youth. The times were growing old. Twelve parts the age was divided into, and nine had already passed, along with half of the tenth. Only two and a half parts remained.
"Set your house in order," God said. "Reprove your people. Comfort the lowly. Instruct the wise. Renounce the life that is corruptible. Cast away mortal thoughts. Hasten to escape from these times. For evils worse than what you have seen shall be done hereafter. The weaker the world becomes through old age, the more shall evils multiply."
Ezra had one concern. He would reprove those now living — but who would warn those born hereafter? "Your law has been burned," he said. "No one knows the things which have been done or will be done by you. Send the Holy Spirit into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning — the things which were written in your law — so that those who wish to live in the last days may find the path."
God agreed. He told Ezra to gather five scribes — Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ethanus, and Asiel — men trained to write rapidly. "I will light in your heart the lamp of understanding, which shall not be put out until what you are about to write is finished."
Ezra gathered the people one last time. He reminded them of their history: bondage in Egypt, deliverance, the law of life received and broken, the land of Zion given and forfeited through iniquity. "If you will rule over your minds and discipline your hearts, you shall be kept alive, and after death you shall obtain mercy. For after death the judgment will come, when we shall live again."
Then he said: "Let no one seek me for forty days."
He took the five scribes to the field. The next day, a voice called out: "Ezra, open your mouth and drink what I give you to drink."
He opened his mouth. A full cup was offered to him. It looked like water but its color was like fire.
He drank it.
And when he had drunk, his heart poured forth understanding. Wisdom increased in his breast. His spirit retained its memory. His mouth was opened and was no longer closed. The five scribes wrote in characters they did not know, taking down what Ezra dictated without pause. He spoke in the daytime and was not silent at night.
Forty days. Ninety-four books.
When it was finished, God spoke one final time: "Make public the twenty-four books that you wrote first, and let the worthy and the unworthy read them." These were the books of the Hebrew Bible — the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings — open to all.
"But keep the seventy that were written last, in order to give them to the wise among your people. For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge."
Seventy secret books. Containing wisdom too dangerous for the masses but too precious to lose. And Ezra — the man who drank liquid fire and spoke without ceasing for forty days — was the vessel through which all of it was preserved.
[1] On the third day, while I was sitting under an oak, behold,
a voice came out of a bush opposite me and said, "Ezra, Ezra."
[2] And I said, "Here I am, Lord," and I rose to my feet.
[3] Then he said to me, "I revealed myself in a bush and spoke
to Moses, when my people were in bondage in Egypt;
[4] and I sent him and led my people out of Egypt; and I led
him up on Mount Sinai, where I kept him with me many days;
[5] and I told him many wondrous things, and showed him the
secrets of the times and declared to him the end of the times. Then I commanded
him, saying,
[6] `These words you shall publish openly, and these you shall
keep secret.'
[7] And now I say to you;
[8] Lay up in your heart the signs that I have shown you, the
dreams that you have seen, and the interpretations that you have heard;
[9] for you shall be taken up from among men, and henceforth
you shall live with my Son and with those who are like you, until the times
are ended.
[10] For the age has lost its youth, and the times begin to
grow old.
[11] For the age is divided into twelve parts, and nine of its
parts have already passed,
[12] as well as half of the tenth part; so two of its parts
remain, besides half of the tenth part.
[13] Now therefore, set your house in order, and reprove your
people; comfort the lowly among them, and instruct those that are wise.
And now renounce the life that is corruptible,
[14] and put away from you mortal thoughts; cast away from you
the burdens of man, and divest yourself now of your weak nature,
[15] and lay to one side the thoughts that are most grievous
to you, and hasten to escape from these times.
[16] For evils worse than those which you have now seen happen
shall be done hereafter.
[17] For the weaker the world becomes through old age, the more
shall evils be multiplied among its inhabitants.
[18] For truth shall go farther away, and falsehood shall come
near. For the eagle which you saw in the vision is already hastening to
come."
[19] Then I answered and said, "Let me speak in thy presence,
Lord.
[20] For behold, I will go, as thou hast commanded me, and I
will reprove the people who are now living; but who will warn those who
will be born hereafter? For the world lies in darkness, and its inhabitants
are without light.
[21] For thy law has been burned, and so no one knows the things
which have been done or will be done by thee.
[22] If then I have found favor before thee, send the Holy Spirit
into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from
the beginning, the things which were written in thy law, that men may be
able to find the path, and that those who wish to live in the last days
may live."
[23] He answered me and said, "Go and gather the people, and
tell them not to seek you for forty days.
[24] But prepare for yourself many writing tablets, and take
with you Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ethanus, and Asiel -- these five, because
they are trained to write rapidly;
[25] and you shall come here, and I will light in your heart
the lamp of understanding, which shall not be put out until what you are
about to write is finished.
[26] And when you have finished, some things you shall make
public, and some you shall deliver in secret to the wise; tomorrow at this
hour you shall begin to write."
[27] Then I went as he commanded me, and I gathered all the
people together, and said,
[28] "Hear these words, O Israel
[29] At first our fathers dwelt as aliens in Egypt, and they
were delivered from there,
[30] and received the law of life, which they did not keep,
which you also have transgressed after them.
[31] Then land was given to you for a possession in the land
of Zion; but you and your fathers committed iniquity and did not keep the
ways which the Most High commanded you.
[32] And because he is a righteous judge, in due time he took
from you what he had given.
[33] And now you are here, and your brethren are farther in
the interior.
[34] If you, then, will rule over your minds and discipline
your hearts, you shall be kept alive, and after death you shall obtain
mercy.
[35] For after death the judgment will come, when we shall live
again; and then the names of the righteous will become manifest, and the
deeds of the ungodly will be disclosed.
[36] But let no one come to me now, and let no one seek me for
forty days."
[37] So I took the five men, as he commanded me, and we proceeded
to the field, and remained there.
[38] And on the next day, behold, a voice called me, saying,
"Ezra, open your mouth and drink what I give you to drink."
[39] Then I opened my mouth, and behold, a full cup was offered
to me; it was full of something like water, but its color was like fire.
[40] And I took it and drank; and when I had drunk it, my heart
poured forth understanding, and wisdom increased in my breast, for my spirit
retained its memory;
[41] and my mouth was opened, and was no longer closed.
[42] And the Most High gave understanding to the five men, and
by turns they wrote what was dictated, in characters which they did not
know. They sat forty days, and wrote during the daytime, and ate their
bread at night.
[43] As for me, I spoke in the daytime and was not silent at
night.
[44] So during the forty days ninety-four books were written.
[45] And when the forty days were ended, the Most High spoke
to me, saying, "Make public the twenty-four books that you wrote first
and let the worthy and the unworthy read them;
[46] but keep the seventy that were written last, in order to
give them to the wise among your people.
[47] For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain
of wisdom, and the river of knowledge."
[48] And I did so.
