a material body until you have at least entered some thirty times … ” (2982-2) The first soul to accomplish this task, correctly identified as the second Adam, was Jesus of Nazareth. His soul had spent multiple incarnations in both spirit form and in the flesh working to perfect itself until it was ready to serve as the flawless transparency through which divinity might be reflected in the earth.
Knowledge is gained or lost every time a soul agrees to incarnate, and advancing on the path toward complete realization of and unconditional surrender to the will of the divine was as challenging for the Adam soul as it was for every other soul deeply entrenched in the material realm. Edgar Cayce discloses a host of previously unknown details about the history and evolution of this soul, which eventually became the Messiah. It starts with its incarnation as the entity Amilius present on earth in spirit form prior to its appearance as the flesh and blood Adam and then adds several subsequent lifetimes to the list. “First, in the beginning, of course; and then as Enoch, Melchizedek, in the perfection. Then in the earth of Joseph, Joshua, Jeshua, Jesus,” (5749-14) explain the readings.
Moreover, the Cayce material indicates that since the beginning of time the first begotten Son or soul has served as the primary entity responsible for carrying the light of God to humanity: “ … Christ in all ages, Jesus in one, Joshua in another, Melchizedek in another; these be that led Judaism! These be they that came as that Child of Promise, as to the Children of Promise … ” (991-1) The New Testament gospels, which relate the story of a young Jewish rabbi who wandered the Judean countryside teaching more than 2,100 years ago, are merely the concluding chapters in a prolonged epic spanning hundreds of thousands of years. The Amilius/Adam/Jesus soul had been at work for a very long time.
Melchizedek
According to Edgar Cayce after the first begotten soul departs its flesh-and-blood body and Adam passes away, it makes a second appearance in the earth plane by incarnating as the mysterious entity named Melchizedek. The Bible mentions this shadowy figure only a handful of times. We learn about Melchizedek from a few brief paragraphs in Genesis, a single line in Psalm 110, and several references in a couple of the Epistles. Similar to this same soul’s much later appearance as Jesus whom the gospels reveal was immaculately conceived, Melchizedek is said to have entered the earth without any link to a material impulse or cause. “ … Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God,” states the holy text. (Heb. 7:3) One epistle refers to Melchizedek as “made not after the law of carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life.” (Heb. 7: 16) In this case the first begotten soul, descending from the higher vibrational realms to interact with the human race, passes into the material plane unencumbered by a corporeal body. Amazingly, the readings also assert that Melchizedek was the entity who wrote the book of Job. “…Who recorded same? The Son of man! Melchizedek wrote Job!” (262-55) states Cayce.
The biblical narrative describes Melchizedek as the king of Salem and a being without days or years. Called holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, this strange, otherworldly teacher emerges as the first representation of the Christ or spirit of God visible to mortal sight. Centuries later we will see the same soul once again serve as a teacher committed to demonstrating the pattern for living to his fellow souls. After experiencing a corporeal birth through the body of Mary and living in the flesh for thirty-three years, the Adam/Melchizedek/Jesus soul will lift itself out of its encasement in matter and prove for all time that material law and a physical form cannot confine the infinity of Spirit. The divine in man is bound to rise again to become one with the universal Creative Forces.
Despite the scant amount of information on Melchizedek recorded in the scriptures, the Bible credits him with having established the order of the priesthood, which became a symbol of the sacred community of individuals willing to help close the circuit between God and man. During the relatively brief span of time this enigmatic figure is present to human awareness, he is also the one chosen to place the stamp of approval on Abram’s (Abraham’s) evolving consciousness. The holy messenger Melchizedek who had arrived on earth full-blown from the celestial spheres will bestow a divine blessing on the forerunner of the Jewish people, the man celebrated throughout history as the first human being capable of grasping the concept of God as one. “And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth.” (Gen. 14:19)
It is Abram’s willingness to listen to the inner voice of divine wisdom and worship a single God—a construct still foreign to the rest of the human race—which conveys upon him the power of heaven and earth. Further, in the not-too-distant future the invisible deity the man Abram venerates will establish an enduring covenant with his servant and in the process give him a new name. “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham … ” (Gen. 17:5) relates the biblical account. The heavenly promise is that Abraham will become the father of many nations and his descendants as numberless as the stars.
Arguably the capstone of Melchizedek’s fleeting appearance in the material plane is the unusual act he performs immediately prior to bestowing his blessing on Abram. As stated in a single cryptic verse recorded in the Book of Genesis this enigmatic being, the first “priest,” is said to have placed a unique oblation on the altar before his God—not the blood of a slain animal but an offering of bread and wine. The sacred chronicle reports that “ … Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” (Gen. 14:18) Thus does the Amilius/Adam/Melchizedek soul foreshadow its own future incarnation as the Master Jesus who will use these same two ancient symbols during the Last Supper to represent the soul fed by ingesting Christ-truth.
Enoch
The Cayce readings describe Noah’s great-grandfather, Enoch, as another one of the significant incarnations of the Amilius/Adam/Jesus soul. Although he was a man, Enoch is said to have fulfilled the office of God’s messenger to the angels. There is lingering controversy over the origin and authorship of the actual Book of Enoch, but the volume includes several clear parallels to passages found in the New Testament. Moreover, the historian Tertullian claims Enoch’s great-grandson, Noah, may have preserved his ancestor’s book in the ark or miraculously reproduced it through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Enoch forms a literary bridge between the kind of prehistory found in the Bible and information from the Edgar Cayce readings, which discuss the presence on earth of Amilius in a non-corporeal form. In addition, Enoch’s writings relate a story very similar to the Genesis account of the fallen angels who interact with human beings and produce Nephilim or giants as offspring.
What is evident from the material attributed to Enoch are the clues left behind about a coming Messiah as well as certain portions of the text which closely resemble the philosophy and sayings of the Master. Among other highlights, the Book of Enoch weaves together threads of several of the same ideas and uses language similar to that recorded in the four gospels and the Book of Revelation. Interestingly the Genesis narrative describes Enoch as not only faithful to his God but also as someone who never actually dies. “And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Gen. 5:23-24) While much of what is known or believed about the character of Enoch remains cloaked in mystery, this extraordinary soul nonetheless left a lasting imprint on the skein of time and spiritual evolution of humanity. His teachings and legacy lay one more brick in the foundation for the history-bending lifetime of Jesus the Christ, which will follow many generations later.
Joseph
… The greater meaning of the word Israel—those called of God for a service before the fellow man.
587-6
Evidence of a spiritual “bloodline” tying the Adam soul to Jesus grows stronger with its incarnation as one of
