Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/5659

5659 Large period between the beginning and end of an epoch....

April 24, 1953: Book 62

The processes on earth which accompany the end of a developmental period and the beginning of a new one repeat themselves at long intervals, so that in the end no human being can prove the beginning of those periods of time and consequently no evidence can be produced for a destruction at such an end either. And this is God's will so that people do not have to believe if they do not want to believe. The end of a previous period is certainly known to people but only as traditional knowledge, which can also be doubted. At the beginning people still know about the process of the end, and this knowledge will also be preserved in the descendants for many generations, but the closer it gets to the end of such a period of development the more this knowledge will fade, it will certainly still be mentioned but no longer be regarded as an established fact and in the end only be regarded as a legend which is not historically proven. The believers certainly consider all indications of it to be truth but they are not believers because they see the end coming and are afraid of it, instead, faith also carries a higher power of realization to them and therefore the end of the earth is also understandable to them. And so even today people cannot be frightened by references to the flood because they hardly believe in it any more. This time is so far in the past that it has become completely meaningless for the people who will live on earth in the last days. But most people don't know and understand that this time has also ended a period of redemption and consider it quite impossible that the same process should repeat itself.... And it all has to be like this for the sake of people's freedom of will. Every coercion which is intended to bring about a change in a person's thinking and will would be wrong where it concerns the ascent development which is intended to take place in complete freedom of will; people can believe what is proclaimed to them but they can also turn away their ears and intellectually reject everything, they must not be forced by any evidence to think and act against their will. An infinitely long time lasts for a phase of development on the part of people, and this, too, is the will of the divine creator, so that their attitude in the last days will remain unaffected, so that they can believe in an end but also doubt it, so that they can therefore also make the final decision of faith, for or against God, completely without constraint. There is no lack of indications on God's part about the near end, and people are also given the reason for the end, yet their will always remains free and even the divine prophecies do not oblige them to do anything, because they are likewise given in such a way that they can be accepted but also rejected if the will is not present to live and act in accordance with divine will. This will alone gives clarity, and this will will also not refuse to accept the proclamations through seers and prophets.... And likewise, the person who carries such a will within himself will also believe in the previous periods and their end and be convinced that the end is imminent again, because everything will come as God had it proclaimed in word and scripture....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers