Sojourn in the Wilderness

CHAPTER 2

Yeshua and Yochanan journey in the wilderness for many months, away from the clutter of everyday life, to pray to God that they may come to know the fullness of their callings. Lazarus promises to care for their families while they are away. In the fifth month, they fast, drinking only water with honey for thirty days, and are filled with many visions as their connection to Elohim becomes strong and clear. It is after this that they come to fully know the great purposes they came into life to fulfill.

 1 And it came to pass that Yeshua and Yochanan felt a mighty pulling in their hearts to journey together into the solitude of the wilderness to commune with Elohim, the Father and the Mother.

 2 Following the promptings of their hearts, they bid their families farewell, for a time they knew not.

 3 Miriam was unhappy that she could not travel with Yeshua, for it was seldom that she had ever been apart from him, but he told her tenderly, “You will be with me in my heart every moment, and when I return, I will share all that I have discovered with you.

 4 But you must understand that for this time, this is a journey Yochanan and I must make alone, for it is we who must fulfill the will of the Father and Mother in the days to come and taste the bitter with the sweet.

 5 While I am gone, send word to my family in Nazareth that we have returned to the land of Palestine, but that I have gone into the wilderness and will see them again as my Father and Mother in Heaven will it to be so.”

 6 And it came to pass that Yeshua and Yochanan departed from Bethany and their families, and Lazarus promised that he would watch over and care for the treasures of their hearts while they were away. Though everyone knew they would return, there were still many tears among everyone as they departed.

 7 And it came to pass that Yeshua and Yochanan followed the Sun, south into the vastness of the Sinai, until they found places of solitude and emptiness where people neither dwelt nor traveled.

 8 For food, they ate the grasses, leaves, fruits, and roots of plants, with locusts and wild honey, which they also sought out.

 9 Each morning, they arose upon the sunrise and gazed with their open eyes upon the brightness of the Sun as it was fully crested above the horizon for the span of twelve deep breaths.

 10 With each breath, they drew closer in their heart, mind, and soul to Elohim until the Celestine Light of Elohim filled every fiber of their being so much so that they seemed to radiate light from their heads and the tips of their fingers.

 11 Imbued with the spirit of Elohim, they then moved in unison to the Contemplative Movements that Yeshua had practiced from his early manhood so that they might connect with a spiritual heartbeat to all life upon Earth.

 12 Thus connected to all that is, they remained facing the Sun with their closed eyes focused right upon it and prayed together throughout the early hours of the morning, one following the other and then repeating, giving thanks for their families and blessings and seeking to be enlightened and girded for the path before them.

 13 They would break the fast in early midday and meditate and pray in private following the meal, until mid-afternoon.

 14 On some days, in the early afternoon, they would instead query and teach each other after just a short individual meditation.

 15 During the later part of the afternoon, they would walk about the wilderness, gathering food, enjoying each other’s company, and being one in spirit with all life.

 16 They ate their evening meal before sunset, and as the Sun approached the horizon and twilight was imminent, they would once again gaze upon it with their eyes open for twelve deep breaths, to be filled with the Celestine Light of Elohim while they slept through the night.

 17 As darkness fell, they most often slept and only occasionally stayed up speaking to one another for some hours into the darkness of the night when it was near the time of the full moon.

 18 These things they did for four moons. Upon the fifth moon, they fasted until the next, drinking only honey water, and they were carried away in great visions. Their connection to their earthly bodies became faint even as their connection to Elohim became strong and clear.

 19 Thus it was that on the morning of the last day of the fifth moon, as they completed their morning gaze of the Sun, Yochanan looked to Yeshua and exclaimed, “Verily, I declare that you are an Elohim, even the Son of Elohim come upon the Earth in the flesh, and the Anointed of Israel that has been prophesized. This I have always known in my heart, but now I know it in my soul, for my body is alive with light from within when I think of that great truth.”

 20 Yeshua bowed his head in silent acknowledgment, then looked up into Yochanan’s eyes and affirmed to him, “And you are the prophet Elias come again as was foretold by the prophets, and so grateful am I to our heavenly parents that we can share this life together.”

 21 Yochanan nodded his head in understanding and agreement. He gazed again at the Sun, and then looked again at Yeshua. “In truth, I have had some problem comprehending how you could be part of the Elohim from an immortal realm and still here married to Miriam, with children, covered with dirt, walking in the desert with me, and even now, with blood still healing on your arm from where you were pricked in the thorns yesterday. It all seems so impossible, yet I cannot deny what I know from God to be true.”

 22 Yeshua answered frankly, “I had many years grappling with the same questions. I have known for some time who I am and why I am here. In the comings and goings of everyday life, it sometimes seemed but a dream, but I knew my time of fulfillment was drawing nigh.

 23 It is only here in the desolation and quiet of the wilderness that I have finally come to fully understand why I am in a mortal body and why everything must come to pass exactly as our Father and the Mother have revealed to me.”

 24 Yochanan nodded in understanding and replied, “I have seen a great vision of what shall come to pass and the voice of the Mother came to me, speaking of all that must be.”

 25 Yeshua acknowledged, “The same has happened to me.”

 26 You will die a most ignominious death,” Yochanan said with difficulty, caught in his emotions at the thought. “You have not many more years upon this Earth.”

 27 “No more ignominious than yours, my brother, and with more time I think,” answered Yeshua. “But more important is how we live in the years that remain to us. For in the good soil of the garden of truth and light that we create, in the days to come, will grow men and women of great power and faith, and through them that which we sow in obscurity shall manifest in grandness, blossoming and growing to fill all the Earth, for the Children of Light to discover who they are and the glory that they can become.”

 28 Yochanan smiled at Yeshua’s words, but he was still troubled and said, “I have seen all you say coming to pass. But I have also seen a quick perversion of our words and teachings insomuch that the flowers and plants that grow in our garden in the days to come are not the same ones we planted.

 29 It makes me wonder just a bit, if all we will give, and all our families will lose when we are no more upon the Earth is worth the price, or if there is some way we can insure that the purity we teach remains in the garden.”

 30 Yeshua answered him, saying, “Surely our heavenly parents would ask nothing of us, unless in fulfilling their desires we were furthering their purposes and enlightening men.

 31 Be assured, neither our work nor our deaths will be in vain.

 32 Certainly, there will quickly be a great falling away from the truth we bring.

 33 But that which arises in its place, the artifices of men given in my name, will still nourish many of the flowers of light which we plant, and the great seed of all truth will merely sleep in hidden slumber until I come to awaken it again.

 34 In truth, while we live, there will be but few who follow us, for the teachings of the true Celestine Light of Elohim are not in keeping with many of the laws of the world or the ways of the religions of men. They are not the ways of the Hebrews, or those of Judah, or the Romans or Egyptians, or any other peoples upon the Earth.

 35 Verily, the teachings of the Celestine Light of Elohim are not the Law of Moses for they are above it, even as I have not come to uphold the law, but destroy it and replace it with the purer Law of Celestine Light.

 36 For this cause will father turn against mother and children against parents, and there will be much turmoil because of the things which I teach.

 37 When we are gone, it will not be many years before those who walked with me and learned the Laws of Celestine Light as they were spoken from my lips will also have past beyond this physical world. Then it will be that well-meaning men of faith will fall away from the Laws of Light and return to the more-familiar laws they have known before to follow.

 38 Then it will be that men of little faith, but much ambition, will usurp the leadership of the remaining Children of Light and bring in all manner of false authority, customs, pomp, and ceremonies, which men so thrive in vanity upon, and the flowers of Celestine Light we planted in the garden shall know many days of darkness, and many shall wither and forget the nature of the true light that was their source.

 39 But among the purest of heart, through all the generations of time, the true Celestine Light of Elohim will always abide, and the Holy Spirit of the Mother shall continue to lead them to resonate thoughts and actions, even when they are strange and contrary to the teachings of the laws and religions and customs of the land.

 40 Many will be alone, isolated from their friends and family because of their beliefs and some will go to their deaths as blasphemers and heretics. But they will have a peace and light upon them that shines forth even in darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.

 41 I know that the true Celestine Light of Elohim that we bring to the world can never be extinguished. And in a generation far away, there will come hallowed days of promise to herald the renewal of the world.

 42 To bring the blessings of these days, our father and mother shall send forth upon the Earth some of the choicest spirits of Heaven.

 43 To them, the Gospel of Celestine Light shall be given again in fullness upon the Earth. And among those who overcome the world, it will burn in their hearts and blossom in splendor in their lives, and they shall do such wonders as men of the world cannot even imagine.

 44 For unto these will be given the secrets and the mysteries insomuch that the world can have no power over them, and the powers of Heaven will open for them.

 45 And they shall not fall away from the true Celestine Light of Elohim, for it shall be in them and about them, and they shall be emissaries of the most high and adepts of great power chosen for high and holy purposes to set the world afire with truth and usher in the epoch of renewal.

 46 But then as now, there will not be many who follow the way of Celestine Light, for it is and will ever be at odds with the laws of man and religions and cultures, and few will be those with courage and faith, mighty enough to seek it out and live their lives by such a greater light.”

 47 Yochanan nodded his head in agreement, saying, “That is good. I am happy for our brothers and sisters yet to be born. They will be a blessed generation to be born in that time. But I have seen the vision of all that must come to pass in our lives. Is it now that we must begin?”

 48 Yeshua looked at him eye to eye with a slight smile upon his lips and happiness in his voice, saying, “Yes, my brother, it is time for us to begin the great purposes we have come into this mortal life to do.

 49 Let us now return to our families. You must then take journey to Gimron and begin to gather disciples, teaching them only repentance and the simple foundations of the way of Celestine Light.

 50 As you gain a following, fulfill your promise of youth and take a journey to the outskirts of the greater cities of the land of Palestine and the people of Israel, coming as a whirlwind from the desert.

 51 Preach repentance from sins and baptism by immersion as a covenant to a higher path. Prepare the people for the greater light and knowledge that I shall bring.

 52 I will return with my family to Nazareth and, from there, begin to discover those who will become my disciples and begin to teach the greater Celestine Light to those few who have ears to hear and a heart open to the fullness of Elohim.

 53 You shall grow in fame and followers even as I continue to quietly go about my Father’s business unnoticed by most men.

 54 Once we part in Bethany, we shall not see each other again for some time. When you have reached the pinnacle of your calling, I shall come to you to be baptized, and you may take that as a sign that you have fulfilled your promise to Elohim and your time upon the Earth grows short.”

 55 “It cannot be,” protested Yochanan. “You have no need of baptism. It is a covenant to be born again, pure, with a new faith and a higher commitment. You are the Celestine Light. You do not need the bridge of baptism to travel from the darkness to the light.”

 56 Yeshua comforted him, saying, “It must be so to fulfill one of my purposes upon the Earth. For in my baptism, let there be no doubt among men that all who live upon the Earth and would pass to Heaven must pass through this door, in this manner.”

 57 Despite the words of Yeshua, Yochanan still shook his head and mumbled under his breath at the thought of Yeshua being baptized.

 58 Yeshua consoled him, saying, “That will be a fateful day. It will be the time that your ministry has been fulfilled and mine begins in fullness. Thereafter, send your most worthy followers to me when you are no longer allowed to preach, that they may hear my words, and I will give to them some of the mysteries of the kingdom.”

 59 Yochanan was still sore troubled and asked Yeshua, “What will become of our wives and families, as our ministries begin and the persecutors become inflamed even unto our deaths?”

 60 Yeshua answered, “The ways of our Father and Mother are wonderful indeed as they guide us to the blessings that uphold us. Consider that we are married to two sisters of a family of means, led by a humble and honest patriarch, a loving mother and a devoted and faithful son. Among these most worthy people, we will entrust our families while we minister.

 61 Concerning the days to come when we are no more upon the Earth, there is something you must know about Miriam. She has a calling decreed by Elohim before the foundations of the world, which is still unknown to her. When it is upon her, she will hold the full power and authority of the Celestine Light, and no force of man or nature will be able to stand against her. Our families, our children, and even a great number of the Children of Light will have a beacon and a fortress such as no people have ever had.”

 62 Yochanan raised his eyebrows high in curiosity and said, “What calling can this be? You speak of someone who would seem to be greater than me or even you.”

 63 “Not greater,” Yeshua explained. “I cannot speak more specifically of her calling even to you, my brother, for she must continue to grow into it in innocence with her pure desire for greater light and by her varied experiences. By this, when it comes upon her, she will be surprised and humbled as must needs be. But because of her personality and temperament, her calling will manifest more strongly than it would in others, perhaps even more than it would have in you or I, if her calling had fallen upon one of us instead.”

 64 Yochanan pursed his lips in some frustration but nodded his head in acceptance of Miriam’s secret. Then alone in the emptiness Yeshua and Yochanan stood, holding each other’s forearms, looking into one another’s eyes, and Yeshua spoke first, saying, “Let us now return to the people of the covenant and give unto them the promise of their fathers.”

 65 Yochanan gripped Yeshua’s forearms tightly and said with deep sincerity in his voice, “To walk with you is the greatest honor I could know. You have my solemn promise that I will be a light that cannot be hidden and will prepare your path well; that those who are humble and courageous will find the greater Celestine Light that you will bring.”

 63 Yeshua gave Yochanan an embrace and said quietly to him, “I know you will, Elias. I know you will.”