by Dawn Morris
The devastation remained, but everything was bathed in the glorious light. My mouth dropped open as I noticed the people around me. All of them wore white, shimmering clothing. Am I dreaming? They were gloriously beautiful.
Some of them carried injured people on stretchers, taking them away from the ravages of the destruction. Still others were working together to descend into the crevice in the earth where the house once stood. I rushed over to see what they were doing. I was startled when an arm wrapped around my shoulders and squeezed me.
“We’re here to help you.”
The voice seemed familiar. I turned and looked into the face of a radiant young woman. She was beyond beautiful, glowing with the same light the others had about them. There was something about the way her eyes crinkled as she smiled.
“I know you, don’t I?”
Her smile grew warmer and her eyes glittered. She laughed and my heart filled with joy at the sound. “I should hope so! I spent many days and nights taking care of you back at the Compound.”
“Daphne?” I asked in amazement. She nodded, and I embraced her. I cried as she held me. I cried for all of my sisters and brothers, for my cold parents, and for all of the terror and loss I’d been through.
Daphne pulled back. She could tell my distress was more than just the awe of what was going on around me. “Yet, you are troubled still,” she said earnestly. “Tell me.”
“I explained to her what had happened. “Can you help me?” I begged her.
“Some of the others are already down there looking for anyone they can help,” Daphne said, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close to her as she nodded toward the deep hole.
I turned to look below. Others, dressed like Daphne in various kinds of white clothing, were scrambling over the devastated mansion. I trembled with grief. Surely no one could have survived in the heap of rubble.
I gasped when I saw Gabriella’s body pulled out of a hole. Two men gently placed her body on a stretcher. I couldn’t help but silently rejoice that she was dead. She can’t hurt me anymore.
“Look, over there! Is that Jannik?” Daphne asked, pointing down below to our right.
I saw him, his limp body slung over another man’s shoulder. I watched, holding my breath, as the rescuers clipped him into a long basket and others at the top pulled him up.
I ran over as they pulled him over the top and saw that his face was grey. He was dead.
“No, no, no!” I screamed, falling to the ground, weeping. Daphne knelt by me and wrapped me in her arms. It took quite a few minutes for her quiet words to penetrate my grief.
“Stop, Dani. Stop. Watch and see the power of God manifested in His people.” Her voice was filled with joy.
I took a ragged breath and opened my eyes. Two of the men dressed in white and shimmering with the same light as Daphne were touching Jannik and speaking. Daphne stood and pulled me up with her. As I watched in astonished wonder as healthy color flushed Jannik’s cheeks, and I saw his eyelashes flutter open.
“Dani,” he whispered, smiling up at me, his brown eyes filled with wonder and love. Before I could bend down to embrace him, he clambered out of the basket like nothing had happened to him. He grabbed me in his arms and kissed me. The crowd around us exclaimed joyously.
“Dani, my sweet love!” Jannik’s lips traveled over my face, as he planted light kisses everywhere before enveloping me in his arms.
“Thank you, God,” I said over and over, my heart overflowing with gratitude and love.
“Jannik, look at that, look!” I pointed upward. The fiery rainbow clouds still glowed across the sky.
“What’s that light over on the mountain?” he asked.
“That is the glory of the Son,” Daphne said. We both turned to her.
“Daphne, this is Jannik.”
She greeted him warmly with a hug.
I asked Daphne to explain what was happening. “I know more now than the day I left the Compound, the day you were murdered. I know from Tamas, back in Petra, that the rule of Emmanuel Bellomo and Angelo Cain is limited. He said that God would send His Son back to the world to destroy them.”
“Yes, God did send Him. We came from heaven, following the Son on white horses.” She smiled at my incredulous look. “I know, it sounds impossible. But we did! Those rainbow clouds were the path we rode on. First, we went to Petra, where the evil one’s armies were coming to attack the Jews there. The Lord killed the army with a simple word.”
“Did everyone there come back?” Jannik asked her.
“The angels are bringing them back,” Daphne said. “You’ll see your friends soon.”
“So what happened next?” I asked. “What about Bellomo and Cain?”
“They were leading a huge army in the Valley of Meggido. The Antichrist and false prophet were the first to die. The Lord simply breathed, and they both were gone, straight to the pit, just the way the Apostle John described in his writings in the Bible.” Daphne’s voice was solemn. “I can’t tell you how incredible it was to me to live out the last bit of the Good Book. When I lived on the Compound all those years, it was my great comfort and hope, but I never really thought about being a part of what I read.”
“I took your Bible with me when I left,” I told her. “I didn’t really understand any of it until I met Jannik.”
He put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead again. “I didn’t understand until we met Tamas, but I’ll be honest. I’d given up hope of making it to the end when the house collapsed. I don’t remember anything after that, until I was . . .”
I leaned into him. “Raised from the dead!”
I laughed, looking at him. Jannik was completely restored. All of the bruises and scars on his face and arms were gone.
“You’re here with me, and all of the terror and suffering is over, Jannik. Do you realize that? It’s all over. We’ll never be separated again!” My voice cracked, and I stopped talking, turning my face toward his.
“I’m so grateful, too,” he whispered. “There were so many times I asked God to keep you safe, to help me find you. And He did, Dani. He did.”
My heart nearly beating out of my chest with elation, I chimed in, “I was so terrified when the ground gave way and you disappeared. It was the worst moment of my life . . . I felt so helpless and hopeless. But now this!”
Tenderly, he kissed my forehead. I continued, “Then, there was this voice in my head telling me to ask, so I asked God over and over again to bring you back to me and send Jesus back.”
“Help was sent as soon as you called,” a voice interrupted.
Looking up, I saw Him, and knew Him right away. My eyes filled again, and delighted tears ran down my face as I beamed up at Him. Both Jannik and I sank to our knees in worship, as did the others around us.
Glimpses of my life at the Compound, my life on the run, my time with Jannik—and away from him—flickered in my thoughts, tumbling one after the other. Every tangled, frayed, fearful, terrible moment flashed across the screen of my mind, along with the moments of joy, love, and friendship. As I watched, I saw the chaos of my life from His perspective. In each moment shown to me, a common theme appeared. In awe, I realized that even the evil meant for me had been turned for my good. What seemed jumbled and random and hard to me had purpose because all of it was sifted through the hands of the One who now stood before me.
Peace flooded my whole being as I realized that He loved me, the unwanted child of a murderous man and a selfish woman. Me, the terrified girl, desperate for sanctuary. Me, the young woman who was nearly forced to bear other people’s babies, only to have them snatched away. Every horrific moment, every lonely, desperate thing I’d been through melted away in His love.
Kneeling beside the one I loved, I looked up and realized that love in all of its forms could be traced to its true source in the One who stood before me, tenderly calling me Home.
FLOOD
Chapter 48
If a man dies, will he live again
? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes.
Job 14:14
When Sarai left for our walk, it was early in the day, but the sun was already beating down. Our encampment was busy. The women were tending children or cooking. Most of the men were away tending to the flocks or buying food in the city.
“See, we are safe,” said Sarai as we strolled past an ancient sycamore tree. “Abram has soldiers guarding the camp, and we won’t go far.” One of the soldiers was sitting under the tree’s shade on a pale grey horse. He bowed his head to us as we walked by but not before I saw the nervous look on his face.
“I think he’s worried that you are out of the tent,” I whispered to Sarai.
“I don’t care. He won’t dare say a word to me.” She sounded confident, but she quickened her pace.
“It is so good to be outside, even if it’s as hot as an oven. I know Abram is worried, but I cannot stay cooped up in the tent day in and day out.”
I let Sarai talk but remained silent. When we got to the edge of our encampment, I stopped walking.
“I don’t think we should go any further,” I said, laying a hand on her shoulder.
Sarai looked annoyed but agreed, and we turned back to make our way to her tent. As we meandered around the other tents, Sarai stopped to talk to a group of children. They gathered around her, pulling on her robe, vying for attention. I smiled as she picked up a chubby toddler. Please give her the child soon, I prayed. Every month when her time came, she would cry for hours.
Just then, I heard the sound of horses and turned toward the road where the guard sat. He rode out to a group of riders coming from the city. I could see him shake his head at them and hear him shouting.
“Sarai, I think there’s trouble! Get back to the tent quickly!” I yelled, racing over and taking the child off her lap. We were still far from their tent.
The riders entered the encampment; there was no way we could out-run them. Other women quickly gathered around us, forming a human shield around Sarai. I wished I had a sword or some way to defend her.
The riders pulled up their horses. Each had shaved his head but wore a single lock of hair on the side, braided and clasped with gold. They were bare-chested but wore rich, gold necklaces around their necks. They looked like men of importance.
“We are the pharaoh’s brothers,” one of them announced in our language with a thick, clipped accent. “We came to invite Abram to have dinner with the pharaoh tonight.”
“Abram isn’t here,” one of the women said, staring up at him in awe. I glared at her.
That was when he noticed Sarai. His eyes locked on her, and his mouth slid into a licentious grin.
“I must admit my brothers and I were curious about your women. This one is the most desirable woman I have ever seen. Who is she?”
Before I could say a word, Sarai spoke, “I am Abram’s sister.”
The man who spoke our language whispered to his brothers then turned back to Sarai, “Tell your brother the king invites him to dinner tonight.” Then they turned their horses and rode back toward the city.
That night, while Abram dined with the pharaoh, a small army of guards led by one of the pharaoh’s brothers came into our encampment and took Sarai.
“Please!” I cried. “At least let me go with her!” I had my arms clamped around her.
“Let her come,” shouted the pharaoh’s brother. “Let’s get out of here.” Abram’s men had put up a gallant fight, but they were no match for the pharaoh’s guards.
They bundled us onto horses, and we rode back to the city. Sarai looked grim. I was terrified. Even in the dark, I could tell the city was magnificent. Gleaming pillared buildings were everywhere, all dwarfed by a giant black obelisk taller than any I’d ever seen. It seemed to be the center point of the city of On.
The air was pungent with the smell of garbage and urine, mingled with velvety plumes from incense burning in front of the many idols we passed. Although it was night, people still filled the streets. Most men, like the king’s brothers, were bare-chested. The women dressed in sheer white garments that left little to the imagination.
Finally, we stopped. Strange statues of half men, half animals stood guard at what looked like a temple. “What is this place?” I demanded.
“This is the great house of Ra, our god.” The pharaoh’s brother dragged Sarai behind him up the stairs. Quickly, I ran up the stairs after them.
The temple walls ahead of us were white, reflecting the torchlight. I passed huge black stone statues with the bodies of men, and the heads of birds. Crouching black stone lions perched on either side of the walkway, their heads like men. I felt their eyes follow us into the temple.
Inside the cool darkness of the temple, the pharaoh’s brother called for the priests. Just as I reached Sarai’s side, other men, dressed in long white robes, all bald and clean-shaven, came into the room and bowed on their knees to the pharaoh’s brother. He laughed, “Since my brother is a god, they think I am, too.” He turned to Sarai and stared at her longingly. “I have never been jealous of my brother until now. Most women he’s willing to share, but I know he will want you for himself. You will be treated well. What is your name, Abram’s sister?”
“Sarai.”
“And who is the old woman?” he jeered at me.
“She is Mother Ariana, and you will treat her with the respect she deserves,” Sarai spat at him.
He only laughed and looked at me with some interest, bowing his head sardonically. “So you’re one of the eight who lived through the great Flood. I’m surprised any of you still live. We are descendants of Ham.”
“Of course you are,” I snapped. “What’s your name?”
“I am Seti, Pharaoh’s second brother. These men will take you to your chambers. Please do not worry about your brother, Sarai. By now, my brother has told him of his intention to marry you and given him a generous bride price.”
His eyes lingered on her face and swept down slowly over her body before he sighed and left us in the temple with the priests.
We were kept in the temple for two weeks. Finally, Seti came to take Sarai and me to the palace.
“The wedding ceremony will take place tomorrow,” he informed us as we entered a large room. “You will stay here tonight. After tomorrow, you will both live in the harem with the other women.”
Sarai looked frantic. “Where is my brother? Where is Abram? I want to see him now.”
Seti moved over to a table and poured a glass of wine and sipped it, staring at Sarai. “Your brother is very protective of you. He’s been here every day demanding that the pharaoh let him see you. He will be at the ceremony tomorrow. You will see him then and be able to say your good-byes before you move to the harem. Now, I must leave you both here. There are guards at the door,” he warned. “Let them know if you need anything.”
He left us alone.
“Ariana, what are we going to do?”
I hugged her. “The same thing I’ve told you every time you ask me that question. We’re going to pray.”
Early the next morning, we were shaken awake and rushed to the throne room. Something was wrong. I saw guards in front of golden doors ahead of us. We heard shouting as we got closer.
“You said she is your sister!” a man screamed. As the doors opened, we could see Abram, Lot, and some of Abram’s fighting men standing in front of the screaming man, wearing a strange crown on his head.
“Why did you do this to me? Why didn’t you tell me she is your wife?”
Sarai ran to Abram sobbing and threw her arms around him. I stared at the pharaoh and his brothers who stood next to him. They were all covered in leprous sores.
“Everyone in the palace was struck with this plague in the night!” the pharaoh screamed at Abram. “My high priest made an offering to Ra this morning, and the oracle told him about your great deception. Leave now and take everyone with you. Go! Out of my sight.”
Abram wrapped an arm around
Sarai, and we all rushed out of the room. Horses stood outside the palace. Lot helped me mount one of the horses. Sarai sat in front of Abram.
Dust rose behind us like a trailing cloud as we galloped back to our encampment.
“Sarai,” I heard Abram say. “I tried everything I could to get you back. I am so ashamed that I lied and didn’t tell Pharaoh that you are my wife. I was afraid. I am so sorry.”
We arrived at the encampment, and Abram called his people to assemble.
“We leave today for the Negev,” he ordered, still sitting on the horse with Sarai. The people quickly began to pack up their goods and tents and gather their flocks.
“We’re going ahead,” Abram told his people.
We galloped north along the road for a while before Abram slowed the pace. The horses walked along the dusty road. We were going back to the land the Creator had promised Abram.
As we made our way back to Bethel, I became very ill. Fever and chills racked my body with pain. I could barely keep water down, let alone food. Sarai tended to me as faithfully as any of my own daughters, but nothing helped. I do not remember much of the journey at all, only tortured moments of consciousness when the cart I lay in rattled my weary body awake.
I saw Japheth in my fevered dreams. He would appear just out of my reach, and I would rush toward him, desperately trying to reach him. Sometimes, I was with our children, tending the gardens or the flocks, and he would join us for a few joyful moments.
I woke up in a small room. A cloth covered my face, but I no longer felt ill. I removed the cloth, sitting up and looking about me in wonder. The room was filled with glorious light that shimmered in the way rainbows do after the rain. Standing there in radiance was Methuselah, but he appeared as a young man.
“How are you here?” I asked, somehow already knowing the answer. Strangely, I felt like a young woman again; strength and vitality coursed through my body like fire and I stood up.
Miraculously, the walls of the room dissipated like morning mist, and we stood together in a lush green valley surrounded by great mountains. The air was fresh and cool and somehow charged with shimmering colors unlike anything on earth.