Adam Dies and Angels Carry His Soul to the Third Heaven

Life of Adam and Eve Apocalypse of Moses 35-43 View source
Curated by Maggid·Edited by Arthur Sabintsev·

The seven heavens opened. The sun and moon went dark. And every angel in creation wept for the first man who ever died.

Seth rose from his father's body and went to his mother. "What is your trouble?" he asked. "Why are you weeping?"

Eve pointed to the sky. "Look up with your own eyes. The seven heavens have opened. Your father's soul lies prostrate before God, and all the holy angels are praying for him, saying: 'Pardon him, Father of All, for he is Your image.'"

Eve saw two dark figures standing amid the prayers. "Who are those two shadowed ones at the prayers for your father?"

Seth told her: they were the sun and the moon. Even they had come to intercede for Adam. Eve asked why they appeared so dark, so dimmed. Seth answered: "Their light has not left them. But they cannot shine before the Light of the Universe, the Father of Light. In His presence, their radiance is hidden."

While Seth was still speaking, a trumpet blast split the air. Every angel in Heaven rose from where they had been lying face-down and cried out in a tremendous voice: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from the works of His making, for He has pitied Adam, the creature of His hands!"

Then one of the Seraphim -- a six-winged being of fire -- swooped down, snatched up Adam's soul, and carried it to the Acherusian lake, where it was washed three times in the presence of God.

After this, the archangel Michael asked God about the burial of Adam's remains. God commanded every angel to assemble before Him, each in proper rank. They came bearing censers and trumpets. Then the Lord of Hosts arrived, drawn by four winds, mounted on the Cherubim, with the angels of heaven escorting Him down to earth where Adam's body lay.

They came into Paradise. And at their arrival, every leaf in the garden stirred. A fragrance so overwhelming poured forth that every descendant of Adam fell into a deep sleep -- all except Seth, who had been born according to the appointment of God. Seth alone remained awake, grieving beside his father's body.

God spoke to Adam: "What have you done? If you had kept My commandment, there would be no rejoicing among those who brought you to this place. But I tell you this -- I will turn their joy to grief, and your grief I will turn to joy. I will restore you to your former glory and set you on the throne of the one who deceived you. He will be cast down, and he will see you sitting above him. Then he will be condemned -- he and all who followed him -- and his grief will be unbearable when he sees you enthroned in his place."

For three hours Adam lay there. Then the Father of All, seated on His holy throne, stretched out His hand, took Adam, and gave him to Michael. "Lift him into Paradise, to the Third Heaven," God said. "Leave him there until that fearful day of reckoning which I will bring upon the world." Michael obeyed.

Then God commanded Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael: "Go to the Third Heaven. Lay linen cloths over Adam's body. Bring the Oil of Fragrance and pour it over him." The three great archangels prepared Adam for burial.

God said: "Bring the body of Abel as well." They brought fresh linen and prepared Abel's body too. For Abel had lain unburied since the day Cain murdered him. Cain had tried desperately to hide the corpse, but the earth itself refused to receive it. The body kept rising from the ground, and a voice came from the earth: "I will not accept another body until the one who was fashioned from me returns to me." So the angels had placed Abel's body on a rock, where it waited until Adam could be buried beside him.

Both were buried in the very spot where God had first scooped up the dust to form Adam. God ordered the place dug for two. Seven angels brought fragrant spices from Paradise and placed them in the earth. Then the two bodies were laid in the grave that had been prepared for them.

And God called out: "Adam! Adam!"

The body answered from the earth: "Here I am, Lord."

"I told you -- dust you are, and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:19). But I promise you this: I will raise you in the Resurrection, you and every human being who descends from you."

God sealed the tomb so that nothing could disturb it for six days, until Eve would return to lie beside him.

Six days later, Eve died. While she had lived, she wept ceaselessly for Adam, not knowing where he had been laid. In her final hour, she prayed one last prayer: "Lord, Master, God of all creation -- do not separate me from Adam's body. From his body You made me. As we were together in Paradise, as we were together in our transgression, as we were never separated even in sin -- do not separate us now."

She lifted her eyes to heaven, beat her breast, and whispered: "God of All, receive my spirit." And she died.

Michael came and taught Seth the rites of burial. Three angels carried Eve's body to where Adam and Abel lay, and she was buried beside them. Michael spoke to Seth one final time: "This is how you shall prepare every person who dies, until the day of Resurrection. Mourn no more than six days. But on the seventh day, rest and rejoice -- for on that day God Himself rejoices, and we angels rejoice with Him, over every righteous soul that has departed from the earth."

The angel ascended into heaven. And Seth was left alone on the earth, the last witness to the burial of the first family, carrying a knowledge that no one else would ever possess.

Themes

Adam And EveDeathAngelsParadiseResurrectionSethCain And Abel

Biblical References

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Apocrypha & PseudepigraphaGod Promises Adam's Resurrection at the End of DaysSix days. That was how long the archangel Michael had said it would take. And on the sixth day, exactly as foretold, Adam died. When Adam felt the hour of deathApocrypha & PseudepigraphaAdam and Eve's Penance After Expulsion from EdenEve dreamed of blood. Her son's blood. Pouring into the mouth of his brother. After their expulsion from Paradise, Adam and Eve journeyed eastward toward the suApocrypha & PseudepigraphaSatan Deceives Eve a Second Time at the RiverA dying man asked his wife and son to walk to the edge of Paradise and beg for mercy. They came back with a prophecy -- and a death sentence. Adam lay groaning Apocrypha & PseudepigraphaEve Tells Her Children the Full Story of the FallA dying man's last request was simple: pray for me. What happened next was something no human eye had ever seen. "Guard yourselves from transgressing against thApocrypha & PseudepigraphaAdam Falls Sick and Seth Journeys to Eden for Healing OilGod pronounced three curses. One for the man. One for the woman. One for the serpent. And with those three curses, the world as it had been ended forever. To AdMidrash AggadahAngels Danced Around Adam and Eve Like a Wedding CanopyPirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text, paints a picture that's just breathtaking. Forget stuffy ceremonies; imagine this: the ministering an