Letters from Adina - #10

Letter X. Into the Wilderness

The Christ in the Desert served by Angels

My Dear Father,

I beseech you, my honored and beloved father, to consider and weigh the things of which I have written, the preaching of John, and his baptism of Jesus, whom, before ten thousand people, he declared to be Messias, to whom he bore witness, and the voice of God, as audible in the ears of all as that which shook Horeb and Sinai, proclaiming from heaven that he was ‘‘His beloved Son!”

Think all of this, and ask yourself seriously, “Is not this the Christ?”

This question need not pass far on its way ere it finds a response from my lips and heart: “Yes, it is the Christ, and I will believe in Him!”

I shall wait for your next parcel of letters with the deepest solicitude, that I may know your decision in reference to these wondrous things which are coming to pass.

You will not hear them only from my letters, dear father, for the report of these marvels is noised abroad over the land, and the men who witnessed the baptism of Jesus, will, doubtless report in Egypt what took place, especially speaking of the voice of God rolling like words of thunder along the cloudless sky, and the descent of the fiery dove upon the head of the new prophet.

The voice I plainly heard, and understood every word it said! It seemed to me to come from the far blue depths of Heaven, at an immeasurable distance, but spoke with the clearness of a trumpet, and the sonorous majesty of thunder.

But the light which descended was the most dazzling that human eyes ever encountered; and though when descending with the swiftness of lightning, it seemed like a lance of fire, yet, upon reaching the sacred head of Jesus, as He came forth out of the water, it changed, as I before stated, to the shape of a dove; and, resting upon Him, overshadowed Him with its wings of light, and cast over Him a glittering splendor, like the radiance of the sun.

This lasted for a full minute, so that all eyes beheld it, and then followed the voice from the skies! The brilliancy of the light from the dove was so resplendent that I could not gaze upon it; and when I looked again it had disappeared; but a cloud of softened lustre shone still around the head of Jesus, and His face, like that of Moses, burned with rays of glory.

While thousands either stood amazed, or fell upon their faces in adoration and fear, He withdrew himself from the multitude, none knew how, save two persons, whose eyes never wander from Him. These were John, the cousin of Mary, and Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha.

The prophet John of Jordan appeared to me to be more amazed at these things than any of his hearers. He looked constantly around for Jesus, and, then, with his hands clasped together and uplifted, gazed heavenward, as if satisfied, with the thousands around him, that he whom he had baptised had been received up into Heaven.

Rabbi Amos remained standing with our party near the water; for he did not wish us to be lost in the retiring throngs, and he also desired to speak with John, who stood alone in the midst of the water, at the spot where he had baptized Jesus. Not one of his disciples remained with him. Rabbi Amos drew near, and said to him:

“Holy prophet, knowest thou this man, if man he may be called, who has even now been baptized by Thee ?”

The prophet, whose eyes had been steadfastly raised all the time, bent his looks with tearful tenderness upon Rabbi Amos, and said, mournfully -

“This is He of whom I spake – After me cometh a man which is preferred before me; for He was before me. And I knew Him not; but He that sent me, to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He that baptiseth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw the Spirit descending like a dove, and I saw and bear record this is the Son of God!”

“And whither, O holy prophet of Jordan,” asked Rabbi Amos, with deep and sacred interest, ‘‘whither has He departed?’’

“That I know not! He must increase and I must decrease, whether He remaineth on earth, or be taken up into Heaven! My mission is well-nigh accomplished, for He to whom I have borne witness is come.”’

“And is He come to depart so soon forever?’” I asked, with deep interest; “shall we behold Him no more?”’

“The hidden things belong to God. I know not whence He came, nor whither He has gone: for I knew Him not in all His glory, but only as a prophet and son of man, until the Spirit descended and abode upon Him. Ye have heard my testimony that this is the very Messias, the Christ, the Son of God!”

Thus he spake, and turned and walked out of the water, on the side towards Bethabara, and disappeared among the trees that fringed the bank.

I now looked in the face of Rabbi Amos, upon whose arm Mary was tearfully leaning, still under the influence of the terror which the scenes she had witnessed had produced in her soul.

The rabbi seemed grave and thoughtful. I said, ‘‘Uncle, dost thou believe all that thou hast seen and heard?”

‘‘I know not what to say,’’ he answered, ‘‘save the things which I have beheld this day are evidences that God hath not forgotten his people Israel.”

He spoke no more. We left the banks of the Jordan in silence and awe, and mounting our mules, which the two Gibeonite slaves in waiting held for us, under a palm tree not far off, we returned towards my uncle’s house at Gilgal.

I stated that my cousin John, and Lazarus, the Secretary of the Scribes, had kept their eyes upon Him from the first, and that they had seen Him pass down the river, where some projecting and overhanging trees hid Him at once from view. .

Though they often lost sight of Him, they yet followed Him by the print of His sandals in the wet sand of the shore; and at length came in view of Him, as He was leaving the river bank, and going towards the desert, between two hills, which hid Him from their eyes.

But one of the young men said to the other, while both were burned with wonder and love:

“Let us not fail to overtake Him, and follow Him, whithersoever He may go. With Him must be the well of life, as He is indeed highly favored of God.’’

So they went on; but though they moved forward rapidly, they next saw Him ‘far distant, crossing the plain that stretches southward towards Jericho and the desert.

They ran very swiftly, and at length coming near Him, called ‘‘Master, good master, tarry for us, for we would follow and learn of thee!”’

He stopped, and turned upon them a visage so pale, and stricken with sadness and with anguish, that they both stood still and gazed on Him with amazement at such a change.

The glory of His beauty had passed away, and the beaming splendor which had shone from His countenance was gone. The look of unutterable sorrow that remained, pierced them to the heart. Lazarus, who had been so long his bosom friend, wept aloud.

‘‘Weep not, thou shalt see me another day, my friends,’’ he said.

“I go now to the wilderness, obedient to the Spirit which guideth me thither. Ye shall, after a time, behold me again. It is expedient that I go whither I go.”

‘‘Nay, but we will go with thee,’’ said Lazarus, earnestly. ‘‘If Thou art to endure evil, we will be with Thee.’’

‘‘There must be none to help. There must be none to uphold,’’ He said firmly, but sadly.  

“I must tread the wine-press of temptation alone.”

He then left them, waving His hand that they might go back. They obeyed sorrowfully, wondering what his words meant, and wherefore it was needful for Him to go into the desert, where certain mysterious trials seemed to await Him; and they wondered most of all at the change in His countenance, which from being lustrous with celestial light, was now, said Lazarus, ‘‘marred more than the sons of men.’’

From time to time the two young men looked backward to watch the receding figure of the Christ, till they no longer beheld Him in the distance of the desert, towards the stony solitudes whereto He steadfastly kept His face.

The two friends came to the house of Rabbi Amos, at Gilgal, the same night, and there Lazarus made known to us what I had just written.  It moved us all deeply.

Oh, my dear father, how wonderful is all this! That a great prophet is amongst us cannot be denied. The star of John the Baptist’s fame dwindles into a spark before the glory of this Son of God. That He will draw all men unto Him; even into the wilderness, cannot be questioned; if He takes up His abode there.

Your devoted and Ioving

Adina

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LADY DONNA PROGRAM

The new Lady Donna Immersion in Spirituality, Academics and Citizenship @ the "I AM" School will study abridged excerpts of the Letters from Adina taken from Reverend Ingraham's original edited version of 'The Prince of the House of David', published by Cassell & Co. Ltd (1903), that reveal remarkable insights into the Living Etheric Record left by Beloved Jesus's Ministry in the Holy Land.