The First Book of Adam and Eve
15 So that Adam and Eve should be left in sorrow, and he should cut off
their trust in God, and make them deny Him.
16 But by the mercy of God he could not burn the cave, for God sent His
angel around the cave to guard it from such a fire, until it went out.
17 And this fire lasted from noon-day until the break of day. That was
the forty-fifth day.
Chapter XLIV - The power of fire over man.
1 Yet Adam and Eve were standing and looking at the fire, and unable to
come near the cave from their dread of the fire.
2 And Satan kept on bringing trees and throwing them into the fire,
until the flames of the fire rose up on high, and covered the whole
cave, thinking, as he did in his own mind, to consume the cave with
much fire. But the angel of the Lord was guarding it.
3 And yet he could not curse Satan, nor injure him by word, because he
had no authority over him, neither did he take to doing so with words
from his mouth.
4 Therefore the angel tolerated him, without saying one bad word, until
the Word of God came who said to Satan, "Go away from here; once before
you deceived My servants, and this time you seek to destroy them.
5 Were it not for My mercy I would have destroyed you and your hosts
from off the earth. But I have had patience with you, until the end of
the world."
6 Then Satan fled from before the Lord. But the fire went on burning
around the cave like a coal-fire the whole day; which was the
forty-sixth day Adam and Eve had spent since they came out of the
garden.
7 And when Adam and Eve saw that the heat of the fire had somewhat
cooled down, they began to walk towards the cave to get into it as they
usually did; but they could not, by reason of the heat of the fire.
8 Then they both began crying because of the fire that separated them
from the cave, and that came towards them, burning. And they were
afraid.
9 Then Adam said to Eve, "See this fire of which we have a portion in
us: which formerly yielded to us, but no longer does so, now that we
have transgressed the limit of creation, and changed our condition, and
our nature is altered. But the fire is not changed in its nature, nor
altered from its creation. Therefore it now has power over us; and
when we come near it, it scorches our flesh."
Chapter XLV - Why Satan didn't fulfil his promises. Description of
hell.
1 Then Adam rose and prayed to God, saying, "See, this fire has
separated us from the cave in which You have commanded us to live; but
now, behold, we cannot go into it."
2 Then God heard Adam, and sent him His Word, that said:--
3 "O Adam, see this fire! How different the flame and heat thereof are
from the garden of delights and the good things in it!
4 When you were under My control, all creatures yielded to you; but
after you have transgressed My commandment, they all rise over you."
5 God said again to him, "See, O Adam, how Satan has exalted you! He
has deprived you of the Godhead, and of an exalted state like Me, and
has not kept his word to you; but has, after all, become your enemy.
He is the one who made this fire in which he meant to burn you and Eve.
6 Why, O Adam, has he not kept his agreement with you, not even one
day; but has deprived you of the glory that was on you--when you
yielded to his command?
7 Do you think, Adam, that he loved you when he made this agreement
with you? Or that he loved you and wished to raise you on high?
8 But no, Adam, he did not do all that out of love to you; but he
wished to make you come out of light into darkness; and from an exalted
state to degradation; from glory to abasement; from joy to sorrow; and
from rest to fasting and fainting."
9 God also said to Adam, "See this fire kindled by Satan around your
cave; see this wonder that surrounds you; and know that it will
encompass about both you and your descendants, when you obey his
command; that he will plague you with fire; and that you will go down
into hell after you are dead.
10 Then you will see the burning of his fire, that will be burning
around you and likewise your descendants. You will not be delivered
from it until My coming; just like you cannot go into your cave right
now because of the great fire around it; not until My Word comes and
makes a way for you on the day My covenant is fulfilled.
11 There is no way for you at present to come from this life to rest,
not until My Word comes, who is My Word. Then He will make a way for
you, and you shall have rest." Then God called with His Word to the
fire that burned around the cave, that it split itself in half, until
Adam had gone through it. Then the fire parted itself by God's order,
and a way was made for Adam*.
12 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.
* Reference: Exodus 14:21,22 and Joshua 3:15-17
Chapter XLVI - "How many times have I delivered you out of his hand . .
."
1 Then Adam and Eve began again to come into the cave. And when they
came to the way between the fire, Satan blew into the fire like a
whirlwind, and caused the burning coal-fire to cover Adam and Eve; so
that their bodies were singed; and the coal-fire scorched them*.
2 And from the burning of the fire Adam and Eve screamed, and said, "O
Lord, save us! Leave us not to be consumed and plagued by this burning
fire; neither require us for having transgressed Your commandment."
3 Then God looked at their bodies, on which Satan had caused fire to
burn, and God sent His angel that stayed the burning fire. But the
wounds remained on their bodies.
4 And God said to Adam, "See Satan's love for you, who pretended to
give you the Godhead and greatness; and, behold, he burns you with
fire, and seeks to destroy you from off the earth.
5 Then look at Me, O Adam; I created you, and how many times have I
delivered you out of his hand? If not, wouldn't he have destroyed
you?"
6 God said again to Eve, "What is that he promised you in the garden,
saying, 'As soon as you eat from the tree, your eyes will be opened,
and you shall become like gods, knowing good and evil.' But look! He
has burnt your bodies with fire, and has made you taste the taste of
fire, for the taste of the garden; and has made you see the burning of
fire, and the evil of it, and the power it has over you.
7 Your eyes have seen the good he has taken from you, and in truth he
has opened your eyes; and you have seen the garden in which you were
with Me, and you have also seen the evil that has come over you from
Satan. But as to the Godhead he cannot give it to you, neither fulfil
his speech to you. No, he was bitter against you and your descendants,
that will come after you."
8 And God withdrew His Word form them.
* At this time, the garments that the Lord had given them in Genesis
3:21 were burned off so that Adam and Eve were again naked. Reference
chapter L whereby Adam and Eve seek garments with which to cover their
nakedness..
Chapter XLVII - The Devil's own Scheming.
1 Then Adam and Eve came into the cave, yet trembling at the fire that
had scorched their bodies. So Adam said to Eve:--
2 "Look, the fire has burnt our flesh in this world; but how will it be
when we are dead, and Satan shall punish our souls? Is not our
deliverance long and far off, unless God come, and in mercy to us
fulfil His promise?"
3 Then Adam and Eve passed into the cave, blessing themselves for
coming into it once more. For it was in their thoughts, that they
never should enter it, when they saw the fire around it.
4 But as the sun was setting the fire was still burning and nearing
Adam and Eve in the cave, so that they could not sleep in it. After
the sun had set, they went out of it. This was the forty-seventh day
after they came out of the garden.
5 Adam and Eve then came under the top of hill by the garden to sleep,
as they were accustomed.
6 And they stood and prayed God to forgive them their sins, and then
fell asleep under the summit of the mountain.
7 But Satan, the hater of all good, thought within himself: "Whereas
God has promised salvation to Adam by covenant, and that He would
deliver him out of all the hardships that have befallen him--but has
not promised me by covenant, and will not deliver me out of my
hardships; no, since He has promised him that He should make him and
his descendants live in the kingdom in which I once was--I will kill
Adam.
8 The earth shall be rid of him; and shall be left to me alone; so that
when he is dead he may not have any descendants left to inherit the
kingdom that shall remain my own realm; God will then be wanting me,
and He will restore it to me and my hosts."
Chapter XLVIII - Fifth apparition of Satan to Adam and Eve.
1 After this Satan called to his hosts, all of which came to him, and
said to him:--
2 "O, our lord, what will you do?"
3 He then said to them, "You know that this Adam, whom God created out
of the dust, is the one who has taken our kingdom, come, let us gather
together and kill him; or hurl a rock at him and at Eve, and crush them
under it."
4 When Satan's hosts heard these words, they came to the part of the
mountain where Adam and Eve were asleep.
5 Then Satan and his host took a huge rock, broad and even, and without
blemish, thinking within himself, "If there should be a hole in the
rock, when it fell on them, the hole in the rock might come over them,
and so they would escape and not die."
6 He then said to his hosts, "Take up this stone, and throw it flat on
them, so that it doesn't roll off them to somewhere else. And when you
have hurled it, get away from there quickly."
7 And they did as he told them. But as the rock fell down from the
mountain toward Adam and Eve, God commanded the rock to become a dome
over them*, that did them no harm. And so it was by God's order.
8 But when the rock fell, the whole earth quaked with it**, and was
shaken from the size of the rock.
9 And as it quaked and shook, Adam and Eve awoke from sleep, and found
themselves under a dome of rock. But they didn't know what had
happened; because when the fell asleep they were under the sky, and not
under a dome; and when they saw it, they were afraid.
10 Then Adam said to Eve, "Wherefore has the mountain bent itself, and
the earth quaked and shaken on our account? And why has this rock
spread itself over us like a tent?
11 Does God intend to plague us and to shut us up in this prison? Or
will He close the earth over us?
12 He is angry with us for our having come out of the cave, without His
order; and for our having done so of our own accord, without consulting
Him, when we left the cave and came to this place."
13 Then Eve said, "If, indeed, the earth quaked for our sake, and this
rock forms a tent over us because of our transgression, then we will be
sorry, O Adam, because our punishment will be long.
14 But get up and pray to God to let us know concerning this, and what
this rock is that is spread over us like a tent."
15 Then Adam stood up and prayed before the Lord, to let him know what
had brought about this difficult time. And Adam stood praying like
that until the morning.
* The word "dome" is used here but the text does not specifically
suggest that the covering was round--only that it covered them on all
sides, however a dome is the most likely shape that would have be able
to withstand the impact with the ground. From verse 9 that says "when
they saw it" and verse 11 that says "shut us up in this prison", we can
conclude that the dome had holes in its sides that were big enough to
let in light and air but were too small to allow Adam and Eve to
escape. Another conclusion would be that the holes were large but too
high up for Adam and Eve to reach, however the former is more likely.