On the other hand, the reward to be accorded to those who are faithful to the Law is often spoken of; this may be illustrated from another book, 2 (4) Esdras, of later date, but in this as in some other points of doctrine the Apocalyptists believed and taught alike whether belonging to an early or a late date; in ix. 7-12 of this book the promise of salvation to those who keep the Law is followed by a prophecy of woe to those who have ignored it: “And every one that shall then be saved, and shall be able to escape on account of his works or his faith by which he hath believed—such shall survive from the perils aforesaid, and shall see My salvation in My land, and within My borders which I have sanctified for Myself eternally. Then shall they be amazed that now have abused My ways; they shall abide in the torments which they have spurned and despised. For all who failed to recognize Me in their lifetime, although I dealt bountifully with them, and all who have defied My Law, while they yet had liberty, and, while place of repentance was still open to them, gave no heed, but scorned it—these must be brought to know after death by torment” (cp. vii. 83, viii. 29). The Law is also spoken of as “the light in which nothing can err” (Syriac Apoc. of Baruch xix. 3), and in the same book (lix. 2) reference is made to “the lamp of the eternal Law.” All such passages, and they could be enormously increased, show that the Apocalyptists had a high veneration for the Law, although they did not accept the Pharisaic interpretation of it. In one respect, however, it may be gathered, the Apocalyptists were at one with the Pharisees in their method of legal observance, and that was in the matter of _ascetic practices_; for these are frequently extolled, and are clearly regarded as highly meritorious. In one book it is stated, for example, that among those who are written and inscribed above in heaven are “the spirits of the humble, and of those who have afflicted their bodies” (1 Enoch cviii. 7). Elsewhere it is said: “Let us fast for the space of three days, and on the fourth let us go into a cave which is in the field, and let us die rather than transgress the commands of the Lord of lords, the God of our fathers” (Assumption of Moses ix. 6). In 2 (4) Esdras ascetic practices are often spoken of, see, e.g., vi. 32, vii. 125, ix. 24, and often elsewhere.[133] Lastly, one other point may be mentioned here, namely the, generally speaking, _universalistic attitude_ of the Apocalyptists; they are not consistent in this, but normally they embrace the Gentiles equally with their own nation in the divine scheme of salvation; the wicked who are excluded are not restricted to the Gentiles, but the Jews equally with them shall suffer torment hereafter according to their deserts. (See on this subject the next section.)