The Sounds of War (The Genesis Series Book 2)

by Sue Watkins

  “I, your most humble servant, entreat your help. While I am in your eyes the Melek of Earth, these spirits have led astray my sons, and as well, their sons, and they no longer listen to my pleas nor give to me the consideration due a king.

  “You, O Adonai, alone have dominion over the spirits. I implore you not to allow these dead souls to have power over the righteous living ones. These spirits, created by their fathers to destroy, are destroying my sons. I therefore petition you to bind these demons and to commit them to the place where their fathers are imprisoned.”

  Listening surreptitiously to Noah’s prayer, the demon known as Mastema sped hurriedly to the throne of darkness. There he informed Helel, the King of Darkness, of Noah’s petition. Helel, afraid the righteous Noah’s petitions would receive favor, ascended into the throne room of the Most High God.

  The Eternal God, presiding over the affairs of humanity was in court session, receiving the petitions of Earth from the Malakhim. When God began addressing Noah’s petition, Helel interrupted. Abandoning protocol, Satan boldly inquired, “Sire, may I speak?”

  “Where have you come from?” El Elyon asked astringently, as if he was not all knowing. “And what concerns do you bring to me?”

  The Adversary bowing from the waist allowed a flicker of disparagement to flash across his distorted features as he answered. “Sire, as you well know I come from roaming Earth. As you were just informed, the Melek of Earth, Noah, is petitioning for the removal of the disembodied spirits of the dead Nephilim. Indeed, he is asking for judgment against the offspring and of all of the generations of offspring of the Watchers. As you know the day of judgment is not yet here.”

  El Elyon nodded, “Yes, and how does this concern you?”

  “Father of all, you know I wage war with Earth born terrestrials.” Pacing across the base of the emerald throne of righteousness, Helel measured each word, for he knew he must phrase his petition correctly. “I am Melek of my own kingdom, and the Watchers who left your kingdom bound themselves to mine. And then they sowed their seed to me, not to the Melek of Earth. You must not violate the laws of sowing and reaping…”

  “Ah, so you are saying the Nephilim were seed sown to you?” El Elyon asked.

  The Adversary quickly replied, “Yes, and you must in the name of all that is fair, understand I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men, unless you leave these disembodied spirits for my use.”

  “You are claiming right of possession from the rules regarding the offerings to a Melek?”

  “Yes, Sire.”

  El Elyon nodded as he waved to a scribe standing near to his throne, “Pull the records and read to me the law regarding a Melek’s right to take possession, specifically who has right to the harvest if the land in which the seed is sown belongs to a Melek.”

  Silence hung in the atmosphere for the moments it took the scribe to find and unfurl the correct scroll. Satan paced. El Elyon smiled and leaned back into his throne.

  At last clearing his throat, the angel opened the scroll and began to read, “Adonai, it is written the rights of a Melek are as follows, ‘a Melek of any territory shall demand in full whatever is sown into his territory. Nonetheless, for intrinsic worth of the one who labored, he must bless and return ninety percent. For the use of his kingdom land, he may retain but only a tenth.’ My Lord that is all that is recorded.” The scribe bowed and stepped back as Helel pressed forward.

  “See here, Sire, they are mine, the Nephilim belonged to their fathers, not to their mothers, they are not terrestrial and should not fall into the dominion of Noah and according to your own laws, they are mine…” Helel froze as he suddenly realized what he said.

  “Here is what I shall allow,” El Elyon waved to a scribe, “write this into the records. The offspring of the Watchers, sown into the earth by Celestials, were Earth born but nevertheless, Celestial seed. These Earth born-Celestial seeds, sown in darkness for the purpose of the Kingdom of Darkness, cannot remain in the dominion of Earth legally. And yet on the other hand, the King of Darkness, who lays claim to the offspring of the deplorable Watchers, desires to retain one hundred percent, if allowed this too would be illegal. Therefore, I deem the disembodied spirits as seed, and allow the King of Darkness to retain only a tenth. As for the ninety, they shall return to their fathers and thus be imprisoned with their fathers. But the tenth that remain with the King of Darkness are admonished not to enter the territory of the Melek of Earth. They must remain in darkness until the Day of Judgment.”

  Helel, trapped by his logic, returned to his Kingdom, and the demons, the disembodied souls, became roving rebellious children of the dark. But only one-tenth, the ninety percent were imprisoned with their fathers.

  Helel assigned Asmodai, an angel from the order of Powers, to keep the children in tow, but Asmodai, unable to find dwellings for the children began allowing the children of the dark to wonder about Earth. And whether it was animal or human, the disembodied spirits began possessing the bodies of the living, and once again, they began treating the physical universe as their own playground.

  As these demonic spirits entered a human, they would often re-write the DNA of that individual, thus effecting disorder upon the succeeding generations as well.

  The Adversary broke down the territories of the second heaven over Earth into principalities and he assigned twelve of his most powerful angels to the twelve areas. Eleven lords of the darkness placed in the upper atmospheric regions, governed the Kingdom of Darkness’ influences of Earth, but to the twelfth, Helel gave the underworld.

  The hosts of wickedness, the myriad of fallen angels, would do Satan’s bidding but the children would sway men as familiar spirits. Often returning to the same locales they had inhabited before the flood, the demons sought to gain access into people’s hearts and minds through the acts of greed, envy, hate, jealousy, and any other such unrighteousness. The demons preyed and terrorized wherever they went, toying with their targeted victim.

  At a place called Pergamum, Satan assembled his ruling hierarchy and decreed, “Every territory will be brought into submission. You have permission to use any geophysical manifestations of power, economic disasters, or even to create plagues to control the population. Whether you use money, politics, government, religion, or any other system, do what you must to divide and conquer. We will implement a one world government and religious system, and when we do, we will control Earth.” Satan would still be repeating the same mantra thousands of years later.

  13

  Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore, it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Genesis 10:8-10

  His name was Enmerkar. His father affectionately nicknamed him, Nimrod. The pet name meant chaotic activity, and that was a cute assessment of the boy as a young child. As the child grew into manhood, the nickname continued to label Enmerkar. Overindulgence had bred a strong-willed and defiant man.

  Cush, the oldest son of Ham, made himself the first King of Ethiopia, ruling the land from the Nile to the Red Sea and south toward the Indian Ocean. Mizraim, Ham’s second, built his kingdom from the Nile delta southward into the headwaters of the Nile and then westward toward the oasis in the Sahara. Phut, son number three, migrated to the land of Libya, the land that lay on the west of the Sahara and east of the Great Ocean. But Canaan, son number four remained in the land of Shem.

  As the years passed, war broke out between the sons of Phut and Mizraim as they fought over the oasis of the Sahara. Cush attempting to avoid the conflict moved from the Nile east to the Red Sea and then again south to the Gulf of Aden. There he took a concubine from a nomadic tribe of the land. Nearing the age of two hundred, Cush was pleased when his concubine gave birth to a son. Enmerkar would become the son, above all others, most favored.

  Enmerkar testified no
t only to Cush’s virility, but also that his god favored him. Cush worshipped the god Nabu. Cush took the name Hermes; claiming Nabu had gifted him with demi-god abilities. The name Hermes means son of Ham, and Nabu wise-one. Nabu, according to Cush had favored him with great wisdom and to honor his god Nabu, Cush sought stonecutters to sculpt and form images of his own likeness. These idols placed at the gates of his palace, demanded worship. To gain entrance into the courts of Cush, all were required to bow and worship his likeness and to pay homage to Nabu. Cush pursued the reputation of one who spoke for the gods, and if any said otherwise, that person was soon without a head.

  The five sons born to Cush as a young man never idolized him nor sought his counsel. By the time Enmerkar was born, all five of Cush’s older sons were estranged from their father. They waited eagerly for Cush to die so they might inherit his kingdom. Everyone knew even though Enmerkar was favored, he held no birthright.

  Cush announced across his kingdom the gods favored Enmerkar, and one day Enmerkar would receive a great assignment. Cush had received from Ham, Noah’s lambskins. But Noah still lived. No one would dare wear the lambskins while Noah lived. Noah did not possess an army, still he served a God that Cush’s god was afraid of. Nabu warned Cush not to wear the garments but to wait and give them to Enmerkar upon the advent of his twentieth birthday. Cush waited.

  While he waited, he filled Enmerkar’s heard with stories of Noah and the error of Noah’s logic concerning the gods. Enmerkar heard Cush frequently say, “The gods are Elohim, and they rule the Celestial beyond our stars. At one time, there was a primary god, El Elyon. His essence was divided into all of the Elohim and he is no longer one god. Therefore, we worship him through silence. Someday a ‘great one,’ whose mother will be untouched by mortal man, will appear. He will take Earth into a glorious golden age. The gods teach he will be a great hunter and many will follow him, the one to come shall be part god and part man.”

  “How father,” the young Enmerkar asked, “how will he be part god?”

  “Well, I know before the flood there were many who were fathered by the gods.” Placing his son upon his knee, Cush continued, “The Elohim came from faraway across the chasm of the cosmos. They fathered many sons. Before the flood, their offspring were mortal. Enmerkar, my father spoke to me as a young boy, that the Elohim would return, and I believed him, you must too. Something went terribly wrong the first time they came, I’m not sure what, but the problem was in the flesh of their offspring. Before they could fix the problem, El Elyon stopped them. You must remember El Elyon was a jealous God, he passed judgment and scattered the Elohim who opposed him. Chaos resulted and the great flood came.”

  “Father, I’m glad El Elyon is worshipped in silence. I think I might be afraid of him,” Enmerkar hopping down from his father’s lap whispered. “I’m glad we have new gods.”

  ************

  Rising slowly from his bed, the tall handsome lad untied the long black braid and allowed his hair to fall past his massive shoulder blades. Shaking his head while running fingers through the thick locks, he scratched at his scalp. The night had been a long journey of sleeplessness, tense muscles knotted at the base of his neck. Tautness, which had gathered along his spine during the dark pilgrimage of wakefulness, refused to vanish. Stretching, he moved his neck from side to side. He had no energy, he felt void of life.

  Pushing the heel of his palm against an eye he yelled, “Kesed, bring Raham!” A ride on the mesa would drive away the nagging feeling of impending chaos and if nothing else, the exercise would extricate the foul mood from his soul.

  Enmerkar, standing over six feet tall, mounted the sleek white stallion with one swift movement. Twisting his fingers through Raham’s mane, he kicked the charger into a full run. Hoof-beats thudded and pealed upon the red clay of earth and as the ground shook and the animal closed the distance between Enmerkar’s home and the purple mesa, the young man became one with his mount, moving the steed forward to the full measure of his name; pealing of thunder.

  By the time they reached the base of the mesa, the horse, winded to the point of exhaustion wheezed laboriously. Enmerkar lessened his grip upon the reins and allowed the horse to cool down before he threw a long leg over the saddle and leapt to the ground. Booted feet pounded the ground, matching the thuds of the steed, Enmerkar ran beside his horse until finally both man and animal could move no longer.

  Weakened knees gave out, thoughts running amuck blazed, and then as they burst into a raging fire in his belly, Enmerkar bent over and screamed with fury. Straightening his back, he yanked the bow from his breastplate and slammed it into the ground. Seething, his hands shook as he loosened the quiver from his leather vest. Once the pouch was free, he slung it as far as he could, causing the arrows to scatter in differing directions.

  Ignoring the resulting bedlam, his legs buckled. Kneeling on the hard dry ground, Enmerkar gasped for air, and then fell exhausted face down. Depleted of emotion, body exhausted, unwilling to move, he lay where he fell and moments later was fast asleep.

  Sleep however, proved to be a fickle friend, and rest hid quickly when the nightmare reappeared. It was the same dream that had come, night after night, for over a year.

  The day that commemorated his birth, Cush had given him the garments that purportedly belonged to his ancient ancestor, Adam. As he received the lambskins, his father had said, “As you wear these garments, remember they are meant to be worn by the Melek of Earth. The melek is both priest and king. You will possess all authority. No prey you hunt will escape as long as you wear the garments. By the law, I cannot leave to you my kingdom, but I can leave the garments to whom I choose, and I choose you. Often I have worn these garments and often I have both seen and heard the voices of the gods. They will come to you also, listen and heed their words. Noah became Melek only because he lived before the flood and inherited from Methuselah. Someday, Noah will die, and on that day your destiny will be fulfilled.”

  The next day, Enmerkar donned the lambskins to prove the promise of his prowess, and sure enough later that day he killed his first lion. Taught to show gratitude when the gods favored him, he immediately built an altar and offered the lion’s carcass to the God of the Garments, El Elyon. His father had told him that El Elyon was the God who had created Adam and gifted the garments. It was only natural to express gratitude to El Elyon, even though he was the God who was to be worshipped by silence.

  As Enmerkar sat before the altar and watched the lion’s body burn, he spoke of his desire to be a great warrior, “My Lord, I understand I’m to seek you silently, I nevertheless feel it imperative I seek openly for the permission to hunt not only animals, but the enemies of my father, Cush, and of my grandfather, Ham, it is family honor.”

  Lifting a cup toward the heavens, he drank the blood of the lion. “I swear to you, this will be the first of many I shall kill. Even though I don’t know you well, if you are real, then I seek to bring great honor to the house of Ham, I shall remove the curse of Noah from the sons of Ham so we may inherit Earth.”

  That night the dream came, and as it began, he was standing over the body of a lion much like the one he had killed earlier in the day. He was intent upon removing the bloody arrow from its heart, and at the precise second it was free, he heard the thundering of a strange beast approaching. The beast’s features were not discernible at first, but as it neared, the features clarified. The creature appeared as a lion, a bird, and a bull. Walking upright it had the body of a lion, the head and horns of a bull, and wings like an eagle. In its hand, it carried a bow and as Enmerkar looked to the hand, he saw that it looked much like a man’s hand.

  The beast spoke telepathically. I have come for you.

  “Who are you?” Enmerkar asked.

  You may call me Ba’el, came the answer. The beast took a single step forward and added. From this time forward, you are mine. You will worship whom I tell you to worship. Never again, build an altar to El Elyon. I alone am your god.
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  As he heard these words in his spirit, Enmerkar lowered his eyes and as he looked down. The arrow he held dripped blood. In horror, he watched as what started as a trickle of blood became a stream, and the stream quickly a river flowing with dark red blood.

  And again, he heard the sound of terror as it continued to speak within his heart. Today you opened a portal, and it has become my pathway. Today, the heart of a lion failed to withstand you but soon, men will fear you.

  The bloody arrow he held flew out of his hand becoming a beam of yellow light attaching itself to the bow in the beast’s hand. The creature lifted the bow to shoulder level and aimed the arrow. It swiftly burrowed itself deep into Enmerkar’s heart. He awoke screaming!

  14

  Ham begat his firstborn Cush; he gave him the garments in secret and they were with Cush many days. And Cush also concealed them from his sons and brothers, and when Cush had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments through his love for him, and Nimrod grew up, and when he was twenty years old, he put on those garments. And Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, and God gave him might and strength, and he was a mighty hunter in the earth, yea, he was a mighty hunter in the field, and he hunted the animals and he built altars, and he offered upon them the animals before the Lord. Book of Jasher 7:28-30

  Rising from the ground, Enmerkar dusted dirt and grass from his tunic, and as he did, he remembered his sack attached to Raham’s saddle. The lambskins were always in the saddle sack. A glimmer of hope pushed past the despair, releasing a deep sigh, he spotted Raham. The steed, gingerly grazing on the slope a hundred yards away, looked up intuitively. Putting lips tightly across front teeth, Enmerkar blew a shrill summons. After an acknowledging neigh, followed by the toss of his majestic head, Raham pranced toward his master.