2 Esdras 4:1-25

The angel Uriel, who had been sent to me, replied, “You can't even understand what happens in this world. Do you think you can understand the ways of God Most High?” “Yes, sir, I do!” I answered. The angel continued, “I have been sent to ask you to solve three riddles about what happens in this world. If you can explain even one of them to me, I will answer your questions about God's ways and teach you why the human race has an evil impulse.” “I agree, sir,” I said. Then he said to me, “Good! How do you weigh out a kilogramme of fire? How do you measure a cubic metre of wind? How do you bring back a day that has passed?” I answered, “Why do you ask me such questions? No human being could answer them.” Then he said, “What if I had asked you how many dwelling places there are at the bottom of the sea? How many rivers flow into the waters beneath the earth? How many rivers are there above the dome of the sky? Where are the exits from the world of the dead? Where are the entrances to Paradise? If I had asked you these questions, you might have answered, ‘I have never gone down into the waters beneath the earth, and I have never entered the world of the dead. I have never gone up to heaven.’ But all I have asked you about is fire, wind, and the day that has just passed — things that you have experienced. Yet you have given me no answer. You can't even understand things that you have been familiar with since you were a child. How then can your little mind understand the ways of God Most High? Can one already worn down by this corrupt world understand the ways of the incorruptible God?” When I heard this, I fell face downwards on the ground and said to him, “It would have been better if we had never been born than to have to live in a world of sin and suffering without understanding why things happen as they do.” The angel Uriel answered, “I once went into the woods and heard the trees plotting together. They were saying, ‘Let's go to war against the sea and push it back, so that we may have more room.’ But the waves of the sea also plotted together and said, ‘Let's conquer the woods and extend our territory.’ But all the plotting of the trees was useless because fire came and destroyed them. And the plotting of the sea was just as useless because the sand stood firm and blocked its advance. Now, if you were the judge and had to decide between them, which would you pronounce right?” I replied, “They were both wrong, because trees belong to the land, and waves belong in the sea.” “You have given the right answer,” he said. “So why can't you see the answer to your own problems? For just as trees have their place on land, and waves have their place in the sea, so the people of this world can understand only what goes on in this world, and only heavenly beings can understand what goes on in heaven.” “Please tell me, sir,” I asked, “why then was I given the ability to understand anything? I am not interested in asking questions about what goes on in the heavens; I am only concerned about things that go on about us. Why has God allowed Israel to be disgraced by foreign nations? Why has he let the nation he loves be handed over to the power of godless nations? Why do the Law and the covenant that were given to our ancestors mean nothing any more? Why do we die as quickly as insects? Why is our life shorter than a breath? Why does God think us unworthy of his mercy? Why doesn't God do something to help his own people? These are the questions that I want to ask.”