The End of the Age

“Please tell me, sir,” I asked, “why then was I given the ability to understand anything? I am not interested in asking questions about what goes on in the heavens; I am only concerned about things that go on around us. Why has God allowed Israel to be disgraced by foreign nations? Why has he let the nation he loves be handed over to the power of godless nations? Why is our life shorter than a breath? Why does God think us unworthy of his mercy? Why doesn’t God do something to help his own people? These are the questions that I want to ask.”

Uriel answered, “If you live long enough, you will be surprised at what you will see, because this age is rapidly passing away. This age is so full of misery and imperfection that it cannot hold all the blessings that God has promised the righteous in the time to come. The evil about which you have asked me has already been planted, but the time for its harvesting has not yet arrived. This evil must be harvested, and this world where it was planted must be removed, before the new age where the good is to be planted can appear. At the beginning of time one grain of evil seed was sown in the heart of Adam. See how much wickedness it has already produced! Think of how much more it will produce before it is cut down and threshed out at Judgment Day. You can see for yourself what a big crop this one evil seed has produced. How terrible will be the harvest on Judgment Day when these countless heads of grain are threshed out!”

Then I asked, “How long do we have to wait before this happens? Why are our lives so short and so full of misery?”

Uriel answered, “Don’t be in a greater hurry than God Most High! You are thinking only of yourself, but God has to be concerned about everybody. Your questions are the same ones asked by the righteous dead in the places where God is keeping them waiting: ‘How long must we wait here? When will the day of Judgment come, when we will get our reward?’ The archangel Jeremiel answers them, ‘It will happen as soon as the complete number of those who have suffered as you have are here. For God has weighed this age, measured the years, and numbered the days. Nothing will be changed until time has run its predetermined course.’”

“But, sir,” I replied, “all of us here on earth are such wicked sinners. Is it possible that because of our sin the righteous dead are having to wait for their reward?”

His answer was, “Can a pregnant woman keep her child from being born after her nine months are up?”

“No, sir, she cannot,” I answered.

And he continued, “In the world of the dead, the place where God has stored the souls is like a womb. It is as eager to return the souls entrusted to it from the beginning of the world as a woman is to end her labor pains. When that happens, you will have the answer to all your questions.”

“Please, sir,” I asked, “if you think I am able to understand it, can you tell me one more thing? Is the time that is still to come longer than the past that has already gone by? I know how long the past has been, but I don’t know the future.”

“Come here and stand at my right,” he commanded, “and I will show you a vision and explain its meaning.” So I stood by him and looked, and I saw a blazing fire pass by in front of me, and when it was gone, I saw that smoke was still there. Then a rain cloud passed by in front of me, bringing a heavy downpour of rain; and when the downpour was over, there was still a light rain. “Think about this,” said Uriel. “Just as the downpour was greater than the light rain that followed it and the fire was greater than the smoke left behind, in the same way the time that has passed is much longer than the time to come. The time that is left is like the light rain and the smoke.”

The Signs of the End

“Please tell me,” I asked, “do you think I will live until that time? If not, who will be alive when it happens?”

He answered, “I can tell you some of the signs of the end, if that is what you are asking about; but I am not here to tell you how long you will live, and in any case, I don’t know.

“But these are the signs: the time will come when all people on earth will be in the grip of great confusion. The way of truth will be hidden, and no faith will be left in the land. Wickedness will increase until it has become worse than you have ever known it to be. The country that you now see ruling the world will lie in ruins, with no inhabitant or traveler there. After that, if God Most High lets you live long enough, you will see that country in confusion. The sun will suddenly start shining at night, and the moon in the daytime. Blood will drip from trees; stones will speak; nations will be in confusion; the movement of the stars will be changed. A king unwanted by anyone will begin to rule, and the birds will fly away. Fish will be washed up on the shores of the Dead Sea. The voice of one whom many do not know will be heard at night; everyone will hear it. The earth will break open in many places and begin spouting out flames. Wild animals will leave the fields and forests. At their monthly periods women will bear monsters. Fresh water will be come salty. Friends everywhere will attack one another. Then understanding will disappear, and reason will go into hiding, and they will not be found even though many may look for them. Everywhere on earth wickedness and violence will increase. One country will ask a neighboring country if justice or anyone who does right has come that way, but the answer will always be ‘No.’ At that time people will hope for much, but will get nothing; they will work hard, but will never succeed at anything. These are the signs of the end that I am permitted to show you. But if you begin to pray again and continue to weep and fast for seven more days, you will hear even greater things.”

Then I woke up, and I was trembling violently. I was so disturbed that I was about to faint, but the angel that had come to talk with me took hold of me, strengthened me, and set me on my feet.

The next night, phaltiel, who was a leader of the people, came to me and asked, “Where have you been? And why do you look so sad? Don’t you know that the people of Israel in the land of their exile have been put in your care? So get up and eat. Do not abandon us like a shepherd leaving his flock to the attacks of savage wolves.”

“Leave me alone,” I answered, “do not come near me for the next seven days. Then come back.” So he left.

THE SECOND VISION

Ezra’s Prayer and Uriel’s Answer

Then, crying and mourning, I fasted seven days, as the angel Uriel had commanded me to do. At the end of the seven days, I was again deeply troubled, but I recovered my ability to think, and again I began to speak with God Most High. “Lord and Master,” I said, “from all the forests and plants on earth you have chosen this one vine. From all the countries of the world, you have chosen this one small land. From all the flowers in the world, you have chosen this one lily. From all the water in the deep oceans, you have filled up this one river. From all the cities that have ever been built, you have set apart this one city, Jerusalem, as your own. From all the birds that were created, you chose this one dove. From all the animals that were made, you chose this one lamb. From all the nations of the world, you chose this one nation to be your own, and you gave its people your Law, which is honored by people everywhere.

“And now, Lord, since all that is true, why have you dishonored this one people more than all others by handing them over to many nations? Why have you scattered your own people, who believed in your covenants? Why have you let them be trampled by people who rejected your promises? If you are so angry with your own people, you yourself ought to punish them.”

When I had finished speaking the angel who had come to me on a previous night was sent to me again. He said, “Listen carefully to me, and I will teach you more.”

“Please go on, sir,” I said.

So he continued, “Are you worried about the people of Israel? Do you think you love them more than God who made them?”

“No, sir,” I replied. “I spoke as I did because I was so confused and upset. I am always troubled when ever I try to think about the ways of God Most High or to understand even a small part of what he does.”

“You cannot understand!” he answered.

And I asked, “Why not, sir? In that case, why was I born? Why didn’t I die before I was born? Then I wouldn’t have seen the sufferings and troubles of the people of Israel.”

The angel said to me, “I will answer you if you can do the following things: Tell me how many people are yet to be born; collect scattered raindrops for me; make dead flowers bloom again; open the room where the winds are locked up and make them blow for me; show me the picture of a sound. If you can do these things, I will answer your questions about the sufferings of the people of Israel.”

I answered, “Lord and master, no one can do these things, except God, who is not confined to this world. How can I give you any kind of answer? What do I know?”

He continued, “You could not do even one of the things that I asked you to do. How can you expect to understand God’s judgments or why God has promised his love to his people?”