The Ogdoad اننا من الله واليه راجعين

Don’t knock the Ogdoad concept before examining its implications. First, remember that in traditional Christian theology the Resurrection is thought to have happened at the very INSTANT of the end of the Sabbath, NOT on the eighth or first day, not even on the first instant of the day. The reason for waiting a bit later than sunset till it is completely dark before reading out the passages referring to the Resurrection is to be absolutely certain the Sabbath has finished. There is a deeper meaning that you can work out for yourself from the Rabbinic Jewish concept that the type and form of repentance dependent on the Day of Atonement is still efficacious up till the end of the last glow. (There is a choice of passages, only one of which is from the New Testament. There has to be a minimum of four readings, from a list of choices, but Exodus XIV and XV MUST NEVER BE LEFT OUT. The other passages relate to the nature of the Heavenly Torah or the Divine Wisdom. In Melbourne the time is (as I recall) about half past eight Daylight Saving Time on Saturday night which is half past seven Eastern Standard Time which is 9: 30 a.m. G.M.T. However, the first part of the service does start exactly at sunset. The Greeks are a bit off track in ending the second day at midnight, but the reason is not that they have made a mistake in the division of the days, but in too close a connection with the First Passover, the Passover of Egypt. The reason the Gospels speak of the tomb being empty just after dawn is only that it would not have been practical to go and have a look during the night. It is clear from the Gospels that Jesus died before sunset. This statement could not be a falsification, because if he had died on the Sabbath the body would not have been carried off immediately. Also, if he had died even a few seconds after the start of the Sabbath, he would not have been dead for ONE WHOLE SABBATH. His ministry in Hell would not have been complete. [Relax. By “Hell” I mean She’ol, the Underworld, pre- Christian and Wagnerian German Hölle, not the un-Christian un-Biblical concept we keep hearing about. Remember that I always quote the Nicene Creed according to a 17th c. translation, and usually do the same with quotes from the Bible. This is for the eminently practical reason that I have never had time to memorise any other translation. It took me long enough memorising very big amounts of Hebrew].

Remember that the process of creation extended right up to the very last instant of the seventh day, but stopped before the very first instant of the eighth or first day. This is why the MT and LXX say God stopped וישבת on the seventh day but the Samaritan text says “on the sixth day”. This means PERFECTION STARTED WITH THE EIGHTH OR FIRST DAY. This was the day Adam Rishon, before and after the division into two sexes, was in the Garden. The expected state of perfection, the Jewish, Christian and Moslem expectation of being in a blessed but not final state before the Universal Resurrection is therefore on the eighth or first day. (Explicitly referred to as being “in the Garden” by Jews. Moslems, and I think Syrian Christians). Forget about the MODERN simple-minded Jewish theology that says the Sabbath itself is the day of perfection. No, on the Sabbath the process of maintenance is still going on. There is perfection , but only on a lower level. Think about what Jesus said when attacked for healing on the Sabbath. First he established that the Pharisaic halachah allowed this, and that those that attacked him were only trying to cause trouble by quibbling about the dangerousness of the illness. Then he said “I work (on the Sabbath) and my Father works”, meaning the process of completion of creation was still a long way from being finished, and we live in a perpetual seventh day, waiting for the first or eighth. Even the eighth day is not the end. The disciples only saw the Resurrected Jesus after part of the eighth day had passed, and Thomas only saw him after part of the second eighth day had passed, and Adam and Eve only went through their test after part of the eighth day had passed. Even if they had passed the test, the first completely satisfactory day would have had to be the Ninth Day. As it was, the first completely unsatisfactory day was the ninth day. The day of the Universal Resurrection, Doomsday, the End of Days, the end of time in our sense, the start of the completely satisfactory existence of everything, must then be the Ninth Day. I personally think this means the Day of Angelic Existence, the day after the transformation of all Creation into its intended form and state, outside time altogether, is the Tenth Day, of which the Day of Atonement is a shadow. The Ten Days from the Day of Recollection to the Day of Atonement mark these ten stages. [Important note. The Torah never uses the tem “Rosh ha-Shanah”. The first day of the seventh month is termed by the Torah the Day of Recollection, Yom ha-Zikkaron and this is what the Samaritans call it. The Samaritans set the start of the year on the first day of the Passover month, in agreement with the Sadducees and Karaites, and against Rabbinic Judaism and the followers of Sakta. Haven’t you ever wondered why modern Rabbinic Judaism has nothing satisfactory to say to explain the significance of what it calls Rosh ha-Shanah, or why there seems to be no distinguishing mark of observance for it?

Don’t worry about the difficulty that some will be found wanting on Doomsday. The fact is that Doomsday and Purgatory and a Resurrection go on all the time for every individual in one tiny aspect or another. This is what is often called these days “instant Karma”. Or as John the Baptist (whoever he was) said “Every branch that beareth not good fruit is cast into the Fire”. Or as the Torah says “The Lord thy God is a consuming Fire”. Or as the Torah says elsewhere “For I the Lord thy God am a jealous / zealous / relentless God”. [This is the implication of the epithet Al-Qâhir, the Overwhelming or Irresistible, one of the Koranic ninety-nine Names of God. Or the Kabbalistic interpretation of the verse from Psalms “There is no rest for the wicked”. The wicked means anyone and everyone in some little or big matter at some time. God gives them no rest but stirs them and afflicts them in trivial or major APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE WAYS till whatever it is has been worked through. Note that we have Simon’s little sermon on the first three of these verses still preserved. The concept of Realised Eschatology is in part just the logical consequence of understanding that although linear time is appropriate for thinking about some aspects of all this [getting born, getting the body buried without delay, having a time for the funeral, recognising instances of instant Karma] it is definitely not appropriate for understanding the whole process.

Slow down for a minute. None of this contradicts what you have written about the seventh and the sixth. If the eighth day is the full day of perfection, then the seventh day is the day of the process of completing or perfecting, and the sixth is the day of completion of all the paraphernalia needed for the process of perfection. Have another look at the first chapter of Genesis. Moslems don’t regard the sixth day as sacred, but it has a special importance for the reasons explained. I think the place of the seventh day is taken by the earthly Koran and Ramadan; the place of the eighth by the Hajj, the Pilgrimage to Mecca, and by death; the pace of the ninth as above, with the manifestation of the Heavenly Koran and the appearance of Jesus; and the place of the tenth as above. This is part of the reason for the repetition over the course of the day after the instant of death of the words of the Koran اننا من الله واليه راجعين meaning “From God we come and to him / it do we go back”.