Ezra is back and he still wants to talk to the manager! This time, not only is he much more insistent, but he also gets some proper VIP treatment, which includes a meeting with God + a tour of Heaven and Hell, with a special appearance by the Antichrist. I’m of course referring to the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra (the Jewish version was reviewed here). According to the edition I’m using, it dates from before 200 AD, and it’s a combination of several texts. By the way, this translation is also from the Scriptural Research Institute, so if there are any issues, you know whom to blame.
THE GREEK APOCALYPSE OF EZRA
Cry, all you saints and you righteous, for me, who have pleaded much, and who is delivered up to death. Cry for me, all you saints and you righteous, because I have gone to the pit of Hades.
The book begins with Ezra suddenly asking God to see his ‘mysteries’. That seems a little too forward of him. No preliminary praise, no groveling, just Hey, God, show me stuff! Luckily for him, God must’ve been in a good mood, so he’s sent not 1 but 2 angels, who instruct him to fast because an audience with God isn’t that different than testing your cholesterol levels. And these aren’t just any angels - they’re Michael and Raphael, who even gives him a ‘styrax wand’ (I don’t know what that’s for, but everyone loves a freebie). This prelude to the meeting with God doesn’t take up much page-time, with the text quickly having the prophet whisked away to Heaven. Ezra is worried about the suffering of his fellow Christians and wants to plead with God on their behalf, repeatedly asking for mercy for the sinners among them. His pleading is surprisingly aggressive, though it could be considered self-serving, as he’s trying to delay all the destruction that comes with the End. However, he comes across as a little clueless when he starts talking about God’s ‘ancient compassion’ and ‘patience’. Hmm, did he miss the whole drowning everyone bit or all the other destruction inflicted on Humanity? He’s also not afraid to point out how, since he created everyone and everything, God should be considered responsible for how the world and its inhabitants turned out. Like, for instance, Adam biting that infamous apple:
Was he not protected by an angel? Was not his life guarded by the cherubs for endless ages? How was he deceived? Who was guarded by angels? You commanded all to be present and to do what was commanded by you. Yet, if you had not given him Eve, the serpent would not have deceived her.
God would beg to differ, and casually mentions Sodom and Gomorrah shortly after, which feels a little threatening. Throughout the book, he will also point out all the ways in which the humans have wronged him, and not so subtly remind Ezra of his divine superiority. However, Ezra unleashes his inner Karen and simply refuses to shut up until he gets his answers. In the midst of his annoyance, God also finds time to compliment his prophet, calling him ‘beloved’ and praising his celibacy in a way that sounds really, really creepy, and I don’t think it’s a translation issue.
I wish to have you like Paul and John, as you have given me a pure treasure that cannot be stolen, the treasure of virginity, the bastion of men.
And later on, to add to the creepy, random sex stuff, God explains to Ezra how babies are made. Why? No, seriously, why? There is an interesting detail in that bit of dialogue that sees God enumerate all the stages of fetal development - the unborn only becomes alive in the 6th month. Apparently God’s priorities are as follows: hair > nails > soul. The whole thing is still creepy AF, though, and Ezra really should get the hell out of there.
I already mentioned that he goes to both Heaven and Hell, but unlike John of Patmos and Enoch, he doesn’t bother with flowery descriptions of singing angels or shiny crystals. While he briefly mentions paradise, he spends more time describing his trip to Hell.
They took me down another five hundred steps, and there I saw the worm that doesn’t sleep, and fire burning up the sinners.
This gives readers some gruesome examples of sinner punishment, and even if it’s not as elaborate as Dante’s vision of Hell, it’s still effective. Sadly, he never explains what are the 12 plagues of the abyss. By the way, if you’re thinking of moving any landmarks, don’t, or you’ll end up hanging by your skull in eternal judgment.
This is he who said, I am the son of God, that made stones into bread, and water into wine.
It’s in the Tartarus that Ezra sees a chained Antichrist and asks the angels for a full description so he can warn his fellow humans not to believe him. I don’t get why he’d need to ask since he’s right in front of him, but Michael decides to humour God’s chosen prophet anyway. Since not only does the Antichrist look like something out of a horror movie, but he’s also considerate enough to have ‘Antichrist’ written on his face, I don’t think Ezra needs to worry. Then again, human stupidity is a bottomless pit that can always get bigger, so all the red flags in the world might not be enough. By the way, the translation notes add a fun detail about this Antichrist. It seems that, around the time this text was assembled, there was a bit of a controversy about the Gospel of John due to how different his Jesus is from the one in the other Gospels. Hence the mention of turning water into wine, which only happens in the Gospel of John, in relation to the Antichrist, because apparently the real Jesus would never have done that.
Now, as we all know, apocalypse means revelation. However, it’s usually a revelation of chaos and mass destruction, and the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra is no exception. God is pretty cagey about when exactly it will take place, though he doesn’t mind telling Ezra how awful it’s going to be. The description is split in 2, though it’s surprisingly condensed, lacking the usual plethora of strange natural phenomena of other apocalyptic descriptions. This is the first batch, given before Ezra travels to Hell:
- earthquake
- everyone (siblings, children and parents, spouses, friends, slaves and masters) will turn against each other
- nations go to war with each other
- Satan (‘the adversary of men’) will come out of Hell and ‘show men many things’
The first 3 are pretty standard stuff, except the slave/master bit. Guess God was no fan of Spartacus… I’m also not sure about number 4. That sounds more like a simple nuisance than proper Mephistophelian machinations. Then again, maybe this ‘adversary’ is the Antichrist and not Satan? And here’s the second batch:
- the Antichrist will not be believed
- 1 trumpet
- the dead will rise
- the ‘adversary’ will hide
- the earth, the oceans, and the sky will be destroyed
- God will burn a hole in the sky for reasons
- God will melt the earth to get to the cowering ‘adversary’
Ezra is horrified at all this destruction. Yeah, I find it hard to believe that God has to wreck the whole earth to get to one of his own creations. It really sounds like he’s just looking for an excuse to destroy EVERYTHING. Also, after all the worrying about the Antichrist people aren’t going to believe him? Was that a typo? And only 1 trumpet? The apocalyptic music budget keeps getting smaller, though at least there are some zombies.
God said: “Give up that which was entrusted to you, the crown has been prepared for you. Come and die, so you may gain it.”
After all the revelations and heavenly + hellish tours, God asks his ‘beloved Ezra’ for his soul. Unsurprisingly, Ezra isn’t too keen on that and comes up with a series of excuses for why a particular spot isn’t the right one from whence it can be taken, first by the angels, and then by God’s son himself. So, mouth, nostrils, eyes, top of his head, points of his (toe)nails are a no-go. God, however, won’t give up, and Ezra manages to use this as leverage to get him to promise to forgive the sins of all who read his book and believe in it. Aw, that’s nice, and also a great marketing ploy. As for those who don’t, they ‘will be burnt up like Sodom and Gomorrah’. Well, I guess God had to do some sinner smiting. After death, Ezra’s body becomes one of those miracle-dispensing relics that no doubt was great for tourism.
APOCALYPSE VS APOCALYPSE
This is a lot better than the original Jewish version and feels more unique when compared with other Apocalypses. ‘Greek’ Ezra is more aggressive, but this God is also much colder. It also lacks the usual hopeful ending in which the old, sinful world is replaced by a new, better one that was the whole point of Apocalyptic Literature. In the Jewish version, the Book of Enoch (reviewed here), and the Book of Revelation (reviewed here), it’s all about the good and just being collectively rewarded after all the hardships they were put through by the wicked; here, it’s all about delaying the end of the world, which is dependent on God’s patience with his creation and is presented as purely destructive rather than transforming. There’s a little something in the beginning, when Enoch mentions the sinners will suffer ‘in the world to come’, but all God ever says about it is that he ‘will give peace in paradise to the righteous’ because he has ‘become merciful’. That sounds very different than building a new kingdom for them on earth and definitely not the radical change the Apocalyptists wanted. The revenge fantasy element, which sees the wicked witness everything they built destroyed, while the righteous get a new home, is also absent. (Though, to be fair, I haven't read many Apocalypses, so maybe they're not always about sinner smiting)
This God doesn’t really seem to care about his flock as a whole, and remembers quite well all the ways in which he was wronged when he walked among them. Guess Jesus changed his mind when he rejoined the divine whole after asking God to forgive his killers while on earth… Either Jewish or Christian, Ezra comes across as the most human of the apocalyptic prophets I’ve read so far. He may be the perfect chosen one - faithful, just, self-sacrificing, and a virgin - but he’s more proactive and demanding than Enoch and John of Patmos. He's also more compassionate. While Enoch wants to crack some sinners' skulls, Ezra begs God to show them some mercy.
I was eager to get to the Antichrist cameo, but it was pretty underwhelming. Despite the hype, he’s no match for the Beasts in Revelation.
LITERARY CRITIQUE
As I wrote in the beginning, the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra is a combination of several texts. That’s obvious in the way the POV switches between first and third person throughout, and some narrative hiccups like Ezra being taken to Hell twice, or the way some of his exchanges with God are interrupted. A lot of this back-and-forth between deity and prophet is pretty repetitive, too. However, it all kinda comes together in the end, and the text feels more cohesive than the Jewish version, the Book of Enoch, or even the Book of Revelation. The words may come from different sources, but the vibe is the same, and regardless of how many sources were needed to assemble this book, it’s a pretty contained narrative. The fact that there are no great, thinly veiled, political metaphors makes it a more intimate affair, even if the future of the whole world hangs in the balance. And though it feels a little too condensed at times, like the abruptness of the beginning, it doesn’t have the contradictions and obvious incomplete fragments of the Jewish version; so, if there are parts missing (and there probably are), it’s hard to tell which and where. I also think the lack of elaborate descriptions ends up working in its favour, as it makes the interruptions less disruptive. So, yes, Ezra is probably bouncing from place to place, but it’s not very noticeable, which helps hiding those narrative hiccups I mentioned earlier. The repetitive dialogue actually gives it an eerie, unsettling atmosphere, and the descriptions of Hell push this into the horror genre. Seeing a mere human like Ezra face such a powerful, unknowable, and inhuman entity like God adds a cosmic flavour to it. Really, this is one Apocalypse that I believe could work as just an ordinary story - a bit of cosmic, creepy weirdness that wouldn’t feel out of place in Weird Tales.
By Danforth