He
comforted her, and after their morning hymn, in which they glorified their
Creator, they set about their pleasant work of pruning the too luxuriant
vines of their Paradise. In the mean time, the Father above, knowing the
design of Satan, and determined that man should not fall without warning,
sent Raphael down to Adam to tell him that he was threatened by an enemy,
and that, as a free agent, if he fell, his sin would be upon his own head.
Six-winged Raphael swept down through the spheres and stood in Paradise,
welcomed by Adam. Eve hastened to set before their guest every delicacy
that Eden knew, and while she was preparing these Adam listened to the
Angel's warning.
To emphasize the sin of disobedience, Raphael related to the pair the
story of Satan's conspiracy with the other powers because the Father had
proclaimed the power of his Son. The Father, knowing Satan's confidence in
himself, had allowed him for two days to fight an equal number of his
legions of angels, among whom was Abdiel who had fled, indignant, from
Satan's ranks, and on the third day, when the legions of evil lay crushed
beneath the mountains which the shining angels had heaped upon them, the
Son of God drove forth in his chariot, and single-handed, forced them
before him, terror-stricken, until, Heaven's wall having opened, they fell
downward for nine days, in horror and confusion into the depths of Hell.
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