Letters from Adina - #3

Letter III. Joseph of Arimathea

John The Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness

You will remember, dear father, that I alluded to an excitement that is increasing every day, in reference to a new prophet, who is preaching in the wilderness of Jericho, and whose life is as austere as was that of Elijah!

For three weeks past, several parties of citizens have been to the valley of Jordan to see and hear him, and have so far been carried away by him as to have been baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

Among them is John, the cousin and betrothed of Mary, ,who, having heard much said of the power with which this man spoke,by those who had returned, also went to satisfy his curiosity, and, as he says, with a secret hope that God had again remembered Israel,and sent to us a prophet of reconciliation.

Upon his return we saw that his countenance was animated beyond its wont, for he is usually of a sad and gentle aspect, and that his fine eyes beamed with an ardent hope, that seemed new-born in his soul.

He thus recounted to us his visit to the prophet of Jordan:

"After leaving the gate of the city I soon reached the pretty town of Bethpage, where, at the inn, I beheld several horsemen just mounting, to go in the direction of Jericho.

On joining the cavalcade, I learned they were for the most part drawn out of Jerusalem on the same errand with myself.

One of them, a wealthy young noble of Arimathea, was actuated by the same holy desire that burned in my bosom, a desire that we might, in the prophet who was called John, discover a man sent from God.

The others were bent on commerce, on pleasure, or mere idle curiosity, to

see one of whom every one talked in all the land of Judea.

As Joseph of Arimathea and I rode together, we conversed about the man we expected to see. My companion seemed to believe that he was a true prophet, for being very well read in the Scriptures, he said that the seventy weeks of Daniel were now about completed, when the Messiah was to come!

I then asked him if he believed that the Messiah, who was to be a 'Prince and king and have dominion from the sea to the ends of the earth,' would come in the wilderness, clad in the skin of wild beasts?

To this he replied that he could not regard this prophet as the Messiah, for when the Christ should come, he was 'suddenly to come to the Temple,' and that we should doubtless first see him there; but that he was greatly in hopes that the prophet we were going to see would prove to be the forerunner, foretold by Malachi.

“Those who have heard him, “said Joseph,as we rode into the village of Bethany, “say that he publicly proclaims himself the forerunner of the Messiah. The opinion of the more ignorant who have listened to him is, that it is Elijah himself, risen to life! While others, assert that it is Enoch, come down from heaven; and not a few believe him to be Isaiah.”

At this point of the narrative dear father, I will close this letter. In my next I will resume his narrative, for when I have given it to you wholly, I have many things to ask you to which it gives rise in my mind.

May the blessing of the God of Israel be upon thee, my dearest father!

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.