Then The Deluge Comes (The Generations Book 2)

by Caryl McAdoo

  Hattimas could almost see realization dawn in her daughter’s eyes.

  “Did you know?” Jemri’s voice sounded barely above a whisper. “Had you seen the waters falling from the sky?”

  Varsi stepped up beside Japheth and wrapped her arm around his waist.

  “I heard rain would descend, but never dreamed –”

  “No.” The patriarch raised both hands toward the roof. “Praise the Name of the Lord. I had not seen the force with which it would fall.”

  “If not for the wind, it wouldn’t have been so awful.” Hattimas shivered then stepped next to her husband. “Let’s go change. You are wetter than I am. And muddy, too.”

  “You and the girls, go on, I’ll be up in a bit.”

  On her way upstairs, she double-checked stall latches. She never dreamed there would be so many different kinds of animals. She’d thought her husband lost his mind when he told her, or at the very least, heard wrong.

  How in the world had Father Adam ever imagined a different name for each one? The story never carried such meaning as when seeing all the species with her own eyes, and all together.

  With her daughters chattering non-stop behind her, she reached the third floor and thanked God that it housed only the fowl, and those on the far side. How many times had she and Noah debated on exactly where their rooms should be located?

  She didn’t like the idea of climbing so many steps, but he’d been right. Being above the menagerie was wise, best by far.

  Watching until each girl disappeared into her suite, she thanked God again for bringing the precious wives for her sons. She couldn’t love them more. The smell of all the animals filled the ark’s interior, but she’d get used to it.

  Her family lived. Hers alone.

  The Almighty made a way.

  She would be glad when the forty days and nights were over.

  Bless God for telling her husband just how long it would last.

  Less than two full cycles of the lesser light. It wouldn’t be easy, but she could stand anything for forty days.

  Her dress weighed on her shoulders heavy as a wagonload of rock. She gathered its hem and lifted it above her head then draped all the wet garments over the drying rack she’d insisted on having.

  A shiver danced up her spine and helped her decide on a wool frock.

  Bless God, the ark also protected them from the wind.

  Just then, one side of the double window’s shutter banged against the wall. She hurried over to latch it, but the sight of her home froze her still. How long before she’d be back in her comfortable and familiar suite?

  Watching to get the last glance, she slowly pushed the shutter halfway back toward its place.

  But then what she saw…could not believe. She gasped. Her free hand went to her heart. No. God.

  It couldn’t be.

  Water burst forth from the earth with such a force, the stream went into the air as high as the ark. Another broke through the roof of the house. A third in the orchard. It flowed from the doors and windows of her home.

  Rocks and bricks tore loose.

  Then, as she watched in horror, the whole house exploded.

  A huge wall of water swept it away in hundreds of thousands of pieces. The waters covered Eve’s garden and pulled the orchard trees out of the ground as though carrots.

  Then all of it…was…no more.

  Adam had planted and built the beginnings of her home, where she’d been born, where she’d lived her whole life, birthed her sons, and reared them. Over sixteen hundred years ago, he’d started building….

  “Oh, Lord, what’s happening?”

  I HAVE OPENED THE FOUNTAINS OF THE DEEP

  Her breath caught again.

  Flood waters swept through what was left of the gopher forest, snapping trees. It rushed toward her, the ark. The wall of water slammed into it. The giant boat groaned. Timbers creaked.

  The girls screamed, but no sound of wood snapping. Praise God. The vessel rocked over, hovered a heartbeat, then rolled the other direction. Her daughters ran into her room screaming and crying.

  “Mother! We’re all going to perish!”

  Slowly, the ark rose and leveled out on the water.

  “No, my loves. Abba has saved us all.” She slammed the window shut, latched it, then sank to her knees in a huddle surrounded by her daughters.

  “But Mother –”

  “Bless God, girls. Everything has changed. Nothing will ever be the same.”

  The End

  Search the Scriptures

  Scriptures quoted are from King James Version. A few of the Biblical clues that guided this work of fiction are below. Portions may be repeated information offered in A Little Lower Than the Angels, for those who have not read that first volume of The Generations.

  I trust you will seek the Truth for yourself in God’s Holy, Living Word. That you will embrace it. Jesus said I Am The Word. He, the Word, is a light unto our feet and a lamp on our paths. He will carry us through all life’s storms.

  What do you believe regarding Enoch’s departure?

  Have you found it curious that there’s no mention in scripture that the seventh firstborn of The Generations never died? Genesis 5:21 through verse 24 tells us of him: And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 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.

  So where did I come up with the scene written? The only other man in the Word who didn’t die, who was taken up by God, made his way to Heaven in a fiery chariot. And it came to pass, as they [Elijah and Elisha] still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into Heaven. 2 Kings 2:11

  Why change the pattern? Especially since these two men of God have yet to die. And die they will, for it is written in Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (Side note: are these the two witnesses in Revelation?)

  Names are so important; here’s what a few of these Bible names meant:

  Enoch means to train and to dedicate; the man was obviously dedicated and God has had him in training for what? How many years? From then until now. He is still awaiting his return to earth to die—I believe as one of two witnesses.

  Methuselah means ‘his death brings it’, or ‘when he dies, God sends it’, and we know what came in the very year of his death, though it isn’t mentioned. The math is easy enough. The flood came when he died. When he dies, then the deluge comes.

  And how sweet of our longsuffering God to lengthen Methuselah’s life so that he was the longest living man. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

  Lamech means ‘to bring low’, as ‘depressed’. He died five years before the ark’completion, preceding his own father. He had to be aware of the evil in earth and know what his father’s name meant as well.

  Noah, Lamech’s son, had already heard God’s mandate. And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. Genesis 5:29 Noah brought rest and comfort for his ancestors who went into Paradise, as some surely did—good people—who dwelled in Nod.

  Were you surprised that Enoch was called to render verdict on the angels?

  They had sinned against God by lusting after the daughters of men and acting on that lust. Genesis 6:1 and 2 says And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

  A later verse in Genesis (6:4) speaks of the giants in the land and how t
he children from these unholy unions were mighty men.

  Then I Corinthians 6:3 tells us, Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

  Did you catch what Adam thought in Paradise? Did it cause you pause?

  “One fine day, when the reconciliation finally took place, he again would walk with the Lord. He and all those who had chosen life instead of good or evil.” There were two trees in the garden. Good and evil grew on the same one. Fruit of the second offered Life.

  As we saw in Volume One, A Little Lower Than the Angels, the angels in this volume are also called for the Changing of the Watch, my imagined event for the angels’ procession before the Throne.

  Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. So the ‘Again’ at the start of that verse tells us this ‘presentation’ happens more than once. In movies and on the television, we’ve all watched all the pomp and circumstance of earthly kings with their divisions marching in precision and in costume (uniforms).

  I can only imagine how glorious such a presentation must be passing Heaven’s Throne! I have three divisions because God does so many things in threes—thus the seventy-two cherubim I spoke of earlier. I don’t mention the time length since God isn’t in time, but when our Messiah reigns on earth for the next age, we will all go once a year to present ourselves.

  Do you remember Gabriel’s calling card spoken about in A Little Lower Than the Angels (Volume One of The Generations series)? He said I stand in the presence when he visited Zacharias with the message regarding the priest’s prayers concerning his wife Elisabeth’s barrenness.

  Zacharias doubted what Gabriel has said because he and his wife are old, and he questioned the archangel. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee and to shew thee these glad tidings. Luke 1:19 He stood in the Creator’s presence.

  How great a calling card! I can’t imagine me doing anything but falling to my face before Him—much like the cherubim in my story.

  So then I remembered Revelation 4:10-11 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

  That’s where I got another clue as to this presentation the angels did more than once. Before, I always thought of the ‘elders’ mentioned as being men—like the church elders—but what if they were angels, the cherubim.

  Regarding how the angels war:

  2 Chronicles 20:21-22 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

  Because angels are eternal beings, and according to what Gabriel told Daniel that they do war against each other, what can be at stake? How can there be victors and losers in the Second Heaven when battle has no casualties? When no one dies?

  The seraphim’s six wings, and the Ark of the Covenant with two golden cherubim on either end with their wings spread over it…the wings seem important. I thought, what if two armies of angels, when they meet for battle, come together and fly circles, each going in opposite directions?

  And I imagined two or four—whatever the number—flying into the center of the circles and singing against each other. The rules are simple. A new song trumps an old one, and God Himself is the righteous Judge. The loser’s feathers start falling off, and that loss impairs his flight. It helps decide the victor.

  If eventually decimated, the loser is forced to leave the battle. He must go to the Temple Made without Hands (where Moses went) to re-grow his feathers before the next watch. If he cannot participate in the watch by then, he must remain until the next watch changes, weakening his legion.

  Other than the clues mentioned, my understanding of how angels war is from my imaginations and observations. But isn’t that how Satan seduces so many? With his unholy music and rhythms that beat out of sync against the rhythm of our heartbeats? And is music not an instrument of war?

  What about Noah’s father and grandfather, even his great-grandfather knowing about the ark?

  It seemed absolutely natural to me that God would have spoken to them and told them about it way ahead of time. Otherwise, think of how many forests Noah and his three sons would have had to scour to cut down that much gopher wood! And wood is heavy. How far away would they have had to go—farther and farther, I’m sure.

  So as David stored up what his son Solomon would need to build the temple, it appeared logical to me that Enoch would have known—after all, he walked with God!—as well as his son Methuselah and his son Lamech.

  They had hundreds of years prior so they could make a dent in all the things Noah would need to get the job done. This scripture backs my thinking. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets Amos 3:7

  Did it strike you as an odd thing to call Noah’s sons triplets?

  This scripture tells us And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 5:32 So all in that same year, Noah fathered his three sons, Japheth, Ham, and Shem.

  Oh, it would be possible that he had twins and eleven months later had his third son, and they would have all been born in his five hundredth year, and actually, to my way of thinking, he did have twins and a third—the triplet—Shem—but all at the same time.

  Why, you ask, do I think that?

  Because I believe Japheth was the firstborn, a twin with Ham, because twins are often mirrored. Japheth was a good man of honor and integrity, and Ham, as we know, ends up getting cursed by his own father, so we can assume he wasn’t so honorable.

  And that leaves Shem, third born. But we know he ends up with the birthright, don’t we? He is the one in the lineage of Christ. And…his name is mentioned first, too, in the King James, so why do I think he was third born?

  A thing is confirmed to be established, true, or factual, out of the mouths of two or three witnesses, so says the Word (Deuteronomy17:6 and 19:15 .) And there are two verses that confirm Japheth was the eldest. Genesis 10:1-2 lists Japheth’s sons first insinuating he is the elder: Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras

  Then, a little further down, it spells it out: Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. Genesis 10:21

  Then how can we suppose that Shem went from third, or last, to be the first listed of Noah’s sons and holder of the coveted birthright?

  When thinking on this, I remembered another time this happened between brothers—you do, too, don’t you?—Jacob and Esau. The elder traded his birthright for a bowl of his brother’s soup or stew. And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Genesis 25:33

  So what could I come up with that might make Japheth willing to trade his birthright to Shem, without the question that it would be the youngest and not Ham? You know, since you’ve already read the story, that I used the love of a woman.

  In the end of things, God always has His Way. The last shall be first and the first last. While men get to choose their paths and what they will do or not do, the Lord—in my humble opinion—leads and guides those of us who seek to do His will, no matter what—by our own choices.

  Whether God zapped Japheth with the love for Jemri, or he chose to
love her above the others, his loving that woman and being willing to trade away his birthright for her, placed his younger brother Shem in the place of being an ancestor of Yeshua, Jesus, God’s Own Son, born a man of a virgin.

  What do you believe regarding Noah and his wife (my proofreader, Lenda Selph, came up with her name to be Hattimas) having other sons and daughters as most of the early fathers did?

  In his five hundredth year, Noah begat three sons. They took their wives with them on the ark. When the flood was done, the waters subsided, and the vessel of salvation once again on dry land, we find proof that Noah did not have other children in Genesis chapter nine, verses eighteen and nineteen: And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. Of them—the three sons of Noah—the whole world was repopulated.

  So, let’s discuss Paradise and Torment again. I addressed this in Volume One, A Little Lower Than the Angels, but it is possible not everyone reading Then the Deluge Comes has read that. Here are just a couple of the Scriptures that led me to believe both are in the middle of earth.

  You know the story in Luke 16: 19-26. There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom [also called Paradise]: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.[So from Torments, or hell, the rich man could view the beggar and Abraham.]