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Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

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HEAVEN DESCRIBED. 247<br />

"God upon which He sitteth. [p. 141] Beneath<br />

"this throne is the river, which is the Water ofThe water<br />

"Life, and angels with four faces' bear up the<br />

"throne. Now one of them hath the face of an<br />

"ox, another the face of a lion, another the face<br />

"of an eagle, and another the face of a man; and<br />

"they pay homage to God Almighty, the glorious<br />

"God, Who sitteth above them. Angels,^ and<br />

"Archangels, and Dominions, and Thrones, and<br />

"Cherubim,^ who have many eyes and wings, sur-<br />

"round Him and fall prostrate in praise before The hosts of<br />

"Him, and they sing hymns of praise to His Name<br />

"and to His Majesty, and they are obedient mes-<br />

"sengers of His will by day and by night; these<br />

"are the hosts of angels, shining beings, who sing<br />

"praises to God in a speech which none but they<br />

"know. And besides these hosts there are the<br />

"angels who have fallen into the darkness, that is<br />

"to say the hosts ofSatnael, the wicked one and<br />

''liar, who deceived thy father Adam, and caused<br />

"him to be driven out from Paradise. Beyond seventy<br />

..... ... dark lands.<br />

"this darkness there are seventy countries wherein<br />

' Read gi: s -J^ : ? This statement is based upon the<br />

passage, "As for the likeness of their faces, they had the<br />

face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the<br />

right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left<br />

side; they four had also the face of an eagle" Ezekiel i. 10.<br />

^ On the nine classes of angels, which are divided into three<br />

orders, upper, middle, and lower, see <strong>Budge</strong>, Booi of the Bee, p. 9.<br />

i Compare Ezekiel i. 11; x. 12; Isaiah vi. 2; Revelation<br />

iv. 6, 8.

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