by Caryl McAdoo
“Yes, and the bones’ spreading.”
In unison with the tenth cock’s crow, a new scream echoed from the bedchamber. A strong, high-pitched cry that brought a relieved smile to Lamech’s lips. He jumped to his feet and extended his hand toward his father, then gently shook him awake. “He’s here, Father. Hurry, let’s go in.”
“Wait, Son. Your mother will bid us come when it’s time.”
He sat back down, then slipped to his knees and bowed toward God’s Mountain. “Thank You, Father, for giving me my son. Bless him all the days of his life.”
The bedroom door swung open. His mother smiled. “Come. Meet your son.”
Perspiration wet Laurel’s hair, and her eyes were so swollen, but she sat up in the bed holding a baby-sized bundle in her arms. She smiled bigger than he’d ever seen. He went to her side, bent and kissed her forehead. Holding the bundle out toward him, she took a deep breath and nodded. “Your son, husband.”
Lamech took his son and kissed his tiny mouth. He held him up toward the Lord. “My son, you are Noah, beloved of God and your father and mother and grands.” For a heartbeat, his breath caught, then a chill traipsed over his soul and raced through his body. “This same shall comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.”
“Well said, Son.”
He turned. His father stood in the doorway, beaming. A strange pronouncement he had spoken, but they had not been his words. He knew that. They came from the Lord.
Bless His Holy Name.
Chapter Four
Enoch moved the rock across the slab of etched marble then grinned at the cherub.
“Interesting move, but….” His hand froze over the game. “We have company.” The firstling stood and headed toward the back of his home. Enoch hadn’t heard anything, but followed anyway. The game could wait.
An extra-large angel glided toward the stone balcony, then with one last graceful flap of his magnificent wings, gently landed. At least a full cohort of his kind soared overhead.
“The Lord has need of you and of the man. Will you answer His call?”
“Certainly.” Namrel nodded. “I am ready to go.”
The visitor looked to Enoch. “Are you willing, Son of Jared?”
“Am I permitted to ask what we are to do?”
“We need for you to decide.”
Enoch wasn’t sure what that meant. He only asked to satisfy his curiosity. As for the cherub though, of course he would do the Lord’s will. “Yes, what do I do?”
Namrel extended his hand. “Come, we must fly. Evil lurks.”
The bigger angel put a hand under Enoch’s near arm, and the cherub placed his under the other. Once off the ground a handful of cubits, the cohort swooped down and grabbed hold of both Enoch and Namrel, and the escorts shot skyward. The bigger angel sang the opening notes. A tiny blue circle quickly expanded, then once the host flew through, closed as fast.
Though, by far, Enoch preferred the fiery chariot he rode to Heaven in, speeding through the Lord’s creation carried like a child by a cohort of angels proved exciting as well. He leaned in close to Namrel. “Where are we going?”
“The land of Nod.”
“Cain’s home?” What purpose could the Almighty possibly have for such a trip? Enoch had never considered such. And his Creator never mentioned it. “Why? Do you know?”
“You will hear and see, and then you must render a verdict.”
So, he was to judge. But what, and why him?
Before he could ask another question, an evil flock appeared ahead in the corridor. The cohort flapped to a stop, turned a quarter-round, and sang another portal open. Then another, then shortly, another still, the last a bigger one. He recognized being over Earth’s firmament from the chariot’s ride.
Faster than before—though he never thought it could be—the cohort shot through the clouds to a small clearing in the midst of a mixed-growth forest. Enoch filled his lungs with Earth’s breath. Nothing like the sweetness he remembered of Adam’s Valley. A strange smell tinged the breeze.
A small fire lit the darkness of night. His eyes adjusted, and three chained men came into his vision. They sat on the ground next to the flames. Three angels almost as big as his escort’s leader stood behind each man. All expressions, men’s and angels’, appeared rather grim. What could these sons of Cain have done to warrant God sending him?
Namrel pulled each man to his feet, wagging his head, making disgusted noises way worse than when the cherub lost a game of rocks. He faced Enoch. “These three are not men, as you would suspect. They are all of the Lord’s host.”
“But, where are their wings?”
Each guard angel stepped forward, twisted the chained ones around, and pulled down the tunics to revel the tops of their wings neatly folded flat and almost undetectable against their backs. The guards pulled them back around with great disdain.
“Angels of the Host.” Enoch said the words aloud, but more to himself. “What have they done?” How could it be his place to ask? It did not seem right, yet, the cherub had said he was to render the verdict.
Stepping between Enoch and the malefactors, Namrel opened his mouth as he pointed to the trio. “These three have lusted. They spied and studied and found the daughters of men to be beautiful, fair and desirable.” He looked back to Enoch. “Each then left his first estate and took for himself a wife, though angels are not created to be given or taken in marriage.”
Enoch leaned to the side, looked around the cherub, and studied the accused. None would meet his gaze. He returned his focus to his friend. “What have I to do in these matters?”
The biggest angel, who had never introduced himself, stepped forward. “Do you not know, Son of Jared, that you and your kind are destined to judge the angels?”
The words shocked him. Men were to judge the angels? How could it be?
Oh, Abba, give me wisdom.
Then, as though the answer existed in him all along, he knew what must be done. “Cast them into torment to await the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.”
“At your word, beloved of the Creator.” The cohort’s leader nodded to the three guard angels. Each grabbed one of the condemned then spread their wings. Hauling their charges high overhead with great flaps that swept Enoch’s hair away from his face, they flew half a league overhead then shot downward. Just before reaching the ground, a shofar’s double blast sounded, a portal opened into the bowels of the earth, and the three pairs of angels disappeared.
With a groan, the ground closed its wound.
Namrel watched as Centurion and his cohorts disappeared. He glanced across the Crystal Sea to the throne of the Almighty. Bless you, Lord. Your judgments are just and true. He waited, but no response came, so he turned. The man stood in the doorway, appearing somewhat befuddled at the evening events. “Care to finish our game?”
“I’d rather you make some of that wonderful tea.”
Namrel nodded. Of course his house guest wanted to sit and sip and ask questions.
Half a cup in, one of Enoch’s eyebrows raised slightly. “Am I permitted to ask about what just happened?”
“Yes.” He chuckled. “You may certainly ask. But I may not know the answers.”
“Good. That first big angel, what was his name?”
Namrel laughed heartily this time. “A rather long story, want to hear it first, or is there another question?”
“Second then, why are men to judge the angels?”
“Not all of mankind, only the elect.”
“Who’s that? What makes one elect? Who elected me?”
“Don’t know, other than you. Perhaps Abel and Adam and some of the others in Paradise. I suppose it is the Creator Who is the elector, but I am not certain.”
“Why would you name Abel before Padam?”
“I knew him first. I attended his birth. The Almighty sent me when the twins were born. The father of the babes was up on God’s Mo
untain making atonement, perhaps why the Lord bid me go to help Eve be delivered of Adam’s sons.”
“Meve would talk of that day some, how with the Lord’s help she’d gotten a man child and then his brother, but then she spoke of Cain’s jealousy, and him murdering his brother. It always disturbed me, even as a child. How could a brother…?”
“Regrettable indeed, but God has a plan of reconciliation.”
The man nodded, took a sip of his tea. “Seems with each answer, more questions arise, but I so enjoy talking with you.”
“I as well with you, my friend. I am honored to help you become acquainted with Heaven. Would you care to hear Centurion’s story?”
“Is that the big angel’s name?”
“Not really a name, more a title, what he is, but so far, he has not allowed himself to be named.”
“Now I see why each inquiry only brings another.” Enoch laughed. “It’s you. Do you always speak in riddles?”
Namrel retrieved the tea pot, poured the man’s cup full again then his own. “No, not always, but to know of my friend and his name—or rather the lack thereof—you must hear some of my story.”
“I would love nothing better.”
“Only God knows how long my brothers and I floated through His Sea of Bliss. We needed nothing, nor wanted nothing, save one thing. I realized it first. I could not feel myself. I had no body, as I was spirit, like the Great I Am is Spirit. For again—who knows but God how long?—I pondered my situation, then I asked to become flesh. The Lord gave me my desire. He spewed me into the Crystal Sea. I became flesh, but no longer in my place. I swam ashore on the beach below my balcony there.” He pointed with a wingtip.
“Was your home already here then?”
“Oh, no. My brothers and I built it and the other seventy-one homes along the river.”
“Your brothers?”
“Yes, there are seventy-two Cherubim all together. I am the first, and when I left the Mind of God, lamentably they, too, asked to come. Be with me.”
“Your story is amazing.”
“Tis His grace that is so amazing. For too many days, we talked of going to see God, but someone would invent a new game or mention an old favorite. One we hadn’t played in a while, and off we’d go, running and jumping along the beach, enjoying ourselves. But the desire to return to my place always nagged then became unbearable. I struck out on my own.
“To find God?”
He stood and paced, nodding. “The others soon followed, having an odd number messed up their game-playing, or so they said. The whole flock of them caught up with me at the edge of God’s manifest presence.”
The man held his teacup toward the back of the house. “That’s the golden glow, isn’t it? The one place I’m not permitted to go?”
“Yes, it is. One day you will be allowed, I have seen it, but no man may look upon the face of God and live.”
“So it was the Lord who walked with Padam in Eden of an even.”
Smiling, Namrel refilled the teacups then sat back down. “Perceptive, very wise. Anyway, we all were so terrified of crossing over, but again the desire to see God overwhelmed me so. I had to go.”
The old one closed his eyes and fell silent, as though reliving that first time being in God’s Presence. Shortly, he leaned back with the biggest smile then stretched his wings until he barely touched Enoch’s shoulders with his feathers’ tips.
The cherub extended his hands. “Interlock your fingers with mine.”
Enoch complied, and the peaceful setting with its glass sea and all its surrounding mansions disappeared, replaced by a beautiful glimmering radiance he’d never known. “But how?”
“Shssshush. The Ancient of Days is allowing me to show you my own first time in His Presence. Be still and observe.”
Namrel stepped into the golden glow. His wings extended and covered his face; he took a step, but his knees buckled, and he fell on his face. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.”
STAND SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND WALK BACKWARDS
Extending his wings, the cherub fluffed his feathers then with obvious effort, pushed himself upright. With his back toward the glory, he made his feet move. Enoch could sense the need to fall on his face, but Namrel’s desire to get closer to his Creator proved stronger. Each step, the glow brightened, and the unfathomable Love grew more intense.
Finally, his new friend could stand it no longer. He turned, gazed on the Great I Am for two full heartbeats, then fell on his face before the Throne.
Enoch never wanted to leave.
The angel let go and removed his wings tips.
Back in his seat beside the Crystal Sea, Enoch blinked. “Awesome, what an experience. How do you ever leave? And when can I return? Go and see Abba for myself? In person?”
Looking perfectly sated, Namrel laughed. “Not until the reconciliation.”
“When is that? I want to be reconciled now.”
“Patience, my friend. No one knows when that will come but the Almighty.”
Chapter Five
Patience.
Enoch sighed. He never liked waiting.
“I was four years old the first time I realized what the fathers did up on God’s Mountain. At six, I heard the Lord’s voice, with my ears, but I still had to wait until I turned thirty to go up there myself then another thirty before my father—Jared, sixth generation from God, son of Mahalaleel—allowed me to marry.”
“Was that challenging for you?”
He laughed then smiled at his host. “Wasn’t easy, that’s for certain. I’ve never harbored much patience. I will wait upon the Lord though, for as long as He bids me.”
“What is it like?”
Enoch studied the angel a few heartbeats then shrugged. “Are you inquiring about marital bliss?”
“Yes. Angels are not given in marriage, yet those few who rebelled…it is difficult to understand.”
“Marriage is wonderful. Frustrating…hard, yet fulfilling. Maddening, enjoyable, demanding and highly satisfying.” He grinned at the perplexed expression on his companion. “And that was just the first week.”
“We’ve wondered, my brothers and I, but you, my friend, are no help.” Namrel drained his cup. “What is your pleasure then? More of my story, or shall it be the rock game?”
“The story. I could listen to your tales all day and tomorrow, but a good opponent, you are not. You will lose the game in ten moves.”
The cherub recoiled. His wings unfurled a bit. Closing one eye, he looked afar off with the other, then nodded as though counting moves. He smiled. “We’ll see about that.”
“Yes, we will, if you like. But first, tell me about Centurion.” With no sense of the time as he’d known on Earth, Enoch enjoyed his visits with the ancient angel. Still, he missed walking with God, every moment spent in His Presence, and since his exhilarating trip to Heaven, not once had he been with Him, and his heart, his entire being, longed to be….
With Him.
The firstling nodded. “God Himself bade me leave His Presence. I could scarcely stand departing, but my brothers needed instruction. I am created to minister, you see.” He shrugged. “So, I turned backwards, shielded myself with my wings, and stumbled out. It seemed as though I had only just gotten there, but my brothers…they swore a double handful of days passed.”
“Yet to you, it seemed only a few heartbeats?”
“Correct. For Almighty God, time is not. Though our realm is spiritual, we are mired in time, except when in His Presence. A watch seems less than a day; there is no even or night in the light of His Glory. Afterward, we rest at the Temple Made Without Hands, while His Glory dissipates from us and returns to Him. Perhaps a week there? If that long, or so it seems.”
“So have you any idea how long in reality?”
“Who can know? One brother tried to count…he reached the equivalent of sixty of your Earth years. Possibly more.”
“How old are you, Namrel?”
“I kno
w not. Your years are not a part of our existence. What I do know, is that even though I had a beginning, I will have no end.”
The old one, wisest of all Enoch had known—save God—stretched his wings and fluffed them. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like, having wings. And though the cherub appeared so much as a man, with his wingspan twice his height, he appeared as powerful as he was wise.
“Back to Centurion.”
“Of course.” Namrel chuckled. “I find it so easy to be distracted when thinking about the Ancient of Days. Anyway, we divided ourselves into three groups of twenty-four to continually worship before He Who is Worthy. For several exchanges, the Lord Himself lifted us onto the seraphims’ backs at the Changing of the Watch.
“Then, one fine away, He created the first of the host; spewed one after another into the Crystal Sea. But unlike my brothers and me, they knew nothing, save one word.”
Though Enoch waited, no revelation came. The cherub sat on his balcony’s half wall and stared at the sea. He smiled. The old boy reminded him much of his own father. Jared, what was he doing now? How long had it been? He stood and stepped over to his friend, waved a hand in front of his face. Silly angel, did he intend to tell him or not?
“You know, my father often abruptly stopped a story. He desired to make sure a son really wanted to hear what he had to say. Is that your tactic, Namrel? Did they all have the same word?”
“Tactic?” He grinned. “I assure you I have no scheme, no ploy, my man. But not the same word. Each knew a name. The name of one of my brothers, who then became that angel’s mentor. The cherubim taught the host how to be an angel, serve the Almighty, and the duties of each at the Changing of the Watch.”
“Very interesting. So different, yet similar to Earth’s cycle of life.”
“How so?”
“Human or animal, a baby knows certain things, like how to breathe, and suckle. Cry when in need. But each must also be taught most everything by its parents. So, how many of the host have you mentored?”
“One.”