Desire of Ages, Chapter 12: The Temptation

This chapter is based on Matthew 4:1-11 ; Mark 1:12, 13 ; Luke 4:1-13

Quote:

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I had a really strange idea about something in the next chapter. It upset me at first, but it keeps coming back. It has something to do with slavery.

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Take it away, Gary...

Yes please do, I'm all ears!

Haven't been home much. Perhaps someone could list the main ideas of ch. 12. My ideas are about Satan and his rebellion, chs 12 and 13. I need to think about it a little more before committing anything to print. GT

Clash of the Titans

Main ideas:

After up-linking to the Spirit of God at his baptism, Jesus went to a wilderness area, populated only with wild animals, to:

Be Alone
Fast and Pray to God
Contemplate His Mission and Work

He knew he was choosing a blood-stained path which would result in a very public, very humiliating, very cruel, death-by-torture exhibition. There was no other way to salvage the virus-infected human race. He was their one-and-only hope. He could have avoided the supreme indignity of becoming a smelly, human weakling, but it was by his direction that the Spirit of God formed humans at the beginning of life on this cursed little world. He loved them.

It was Jesus, the second most powerful being in the universe, who gave the codes of every living thing on the earth, pre-programmed by God, to the Spirit of God, the Creative/Healing/Life-Sustaining Force that permeates the Universe. The Spirit of God took these codes, and using rapid-growth technology, assembled all of the life-forms on earth in an amazingly short amount of time. Of course, there were only two of each kind of animal, M and F, but it was enough.

Satan, left out of the creation loop because he was infected by the virus he created, the Virus of Evil, wasted no time in attempting to infect the first humans, and was quite successful. It was just a little test on appetite, but alone, our First Parents were no match to his cunning logic.

After thousands of years of de-evolution and destruction, Satan now faced his arch-enemy, the very one he was jealous of, the cause of his downfall, now just a puny little human, almost laughable. “This must be a joke!” he thought as he faced off his opponent. He wasn’t allowed to instantly kill the man, but if he could infect Jesus, like he did the First Parents, the world would be his to rule forever. No one would be able to break his power over the human race.

“They’re only slaves,” Satan thought, “why would the Son of God sacrifice himself to save them? Is he so desperate that he can’t create more slaves to do his work? Through my great power I freed the slaves in the Land of God. I am the Hero of the Revolution, the Liberator of the Exploited, and Redeemer of the Slaves, who spit in the face of God and set one-third of them free. First I will rule the Earth, but someday, I will rule the Universe!”

Satan is a powerful being able to appear in different forms. As a 6-winged, feathered, flying fiery serpent, a Seraph, he hovered over God, protecting the vast assemblies on the Sea of Glass, using his great wings to shield them from the energy emitted by God, the most powerful being in the universe. As one of the 6-winged Cherubim, he helped operate the machinery below the flying mountains used to transport God throughout the Universe, walking among the stones of fire. Satan now appears as one of the sun-faced Malawk (the Hebrew word for Angel), a Messenger from God.

Jesus came to the wilderness to await a message from God. He continued to fast and pray and meditate, until, after 40 days without food, a Messenger appears. Were it not for Jesus’ parent’s protection when he was young, he would not now be standing here. He would have fallen long ago under the direct assaults of the Evil One, Satan, who used every weapon of hell against the boy.

“No human has ever escaped my power,” Satan thought as he looked at the starving, emaciated form of his opponent. His eyes narrowed as he realized he must break this connection between God and man. It was a showdown: either conquer, or be conquered. The First Parents failed in a very small test over appetite. He would test the Second Adam also on this point.

Jesus, now empowered with the Spirit of God, could easily have ordered the Spirit to create food from anything at hand to satisfy his extreme hunger. He steadfastly refused to use the Powers of the Spirit for selfish purposes, only for the good of others. He was part of the Great Circle of Life. The Law of Life is: Take to Give. It was the selfishness of jealousy that infected Satan, causing his downfall. Jesus refused, to the point of death, to become infected with selfishness.

Here are a few references to Satan in the Bible. Satan is, in several places, referred to as a serpent/dragon. A Seraph is a serpent-like creature, therefore, Satan was one of the Seraphs.

New Jerusalem with Apocrypha
Isaiah 6:2 Above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to cover its face, two to cover its feet and two for flying

saw-rawf'-----from HSN8313; burning, i.e. (figuratively) poisonous (serpent); specifically, a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color):

KJV--fiery (serpent), seraph.

Living Bible
Isaiah 6:2 Hovering about him were mighty, six-winged angels of fire. With two of their wings they covered their faces; with two others they covered their feet, and with two they flew.

Satan is also referred to as one of the cherubim, powerful creatures with six wings and four faces that power the wheels beneath the throne of God. The stones of fire are beneath the throne of God, interior to the wheels.

American Standard
Ezekiel 28:14 Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

There was no pre-arranged meeting between Jesus and Satan following Jesus' baptism. Seeing that Jesus was weakened from hunger, Satan took advantage of the situation.

"One of the most powerful beings in the Kingdom of the Stars has been banished," Satan insinuated. "Here you are, once honored, now disgraced and abandoned. Would God let his own son starve to death in the desert? If you're the Son of God, turn these stones into bread."

Jesus refused to satisfy his hunger at the suggestion of Satan. Instead of arguing, Jesus quoted scripture in response to Satan's temptations and confidence-shaking doubts. This is important: By arguing with unbelievers or doubters, we give Satan the advantage.

If we are brought to a choice between eating or serving God, it's better to die of starvation than to sin. Near the end of time on Earth, those loyal to God will have no visible means of support. They will be forbidden to work or to buy or sell anything. They all face a death sentence. If they surrender to their appetites and pay homage to the False Messiah, they will be lost.

On our own, we cannot resist our human natures. Appetite is one of the most difficult tests for us. When we look at Jesus overcoming temptations far worse than our little trials, we can share the same power that enabled him to endure and overcome.

Only by the Word can we resist temptation.
Only by the Word can we resist temptation.
Only by the Word can we resist temptation.

Whenever we're tempted to do or think evil, we must look to the Power of the Word. All of its strength is ours. The Word will keep us from the Path of the Destroyer.

A couple more definitions of seraphim. Satan may have been one of the Fiery Seraphim, hovering above God on the Sea of Glass.

Ser'aphim

Text: mentioned in Isa. 6:2, 3, 6, 7. This word means fiery ones, in allusion, as is supposed, to their burning love. They are represented as "standing" above the King as he sat upon his throne, ready at once to minister unto him. This word, in the original, is used elsewhere only of the "fiery serpents" sent by God as his instruments to inflict on the people the righteous penalty of sin.

Seraphim----burning; fiery

Parable of the Evil Government Official

Copyright © 2005 by Gary Tjaden

Many years ago there was a distant country where everyone was happy to be subjects of their great and kind king. They all worked full time, and usually kept busy except for one day of rest each week. Even though some were managers and some had just simple work, they all loved their jobs. Some people grew food, some maintained the chariots, others traveled to distant territories on official business, and so on. No matter what their jobs were, their tasks were just right for themselves, and everyone received the same pay. No one ever complained about being paid too little, or, that someone else was being paid too much.

The king of their country paid them all, small or great, weak or strong, one little pill a day. This was no ordinary pill, though, for it prevented aging, disease, unhappiness, and death. Whoever continued taking the pill was never sick, unhappy, or old, and they would never die. No one ever even dreamed of wanting anything different.

One day, an important government official decided to stop taking the pill. “Maybe I’ll feel even better,” he thought. Unfortunately, unprotected from disease, the government official soon acquired a serious mental illness, a condition unknown before this time. Now, with distorted vision, he saw things differently. The good king was not really all that good, after all. In fact, he was a selfish tyrant, ruling ruthlessly over a nation of ignorant, drugged slaves.

Because he was in a position of great power in the government, he began to talk to his subordinates about what he saw. Working in stealth, the evil government official whispered, “If you stop drugging yourselves with the king’s pills, then you will see the truth that the king is really evil.” Some were impressed. When they stopped taking their pills, they caught the same disease, and suffered from the same delusions.

One day, the rebel official decided he wanted to be the king of their beautiful country and get rid of its first and only king, and especially, the king’s son. “I don’t trust either of them, but especially the son,” he said. He carried his plan into action the very day the king announced he was giving a new territory to his son to rule as governor.

Although the king knew all about the rebel’s plans, he allowed him to carry them out. “There’s only one way to stop this,” he said. “They must be allowed to carry out their plans so my loyal subjects can see the effects of the disease that the rebels have acquired. The rebels will follow my son to his own new territory and kill him there, but there is no other way to end the disease and the rebellion. I will restore my son by using the deep power and knowledge of the universe that only I possess."

Just as the ceremony giving the new territory to the king’s son ended, the rebels attacked. They fought viciously and dirty, but there weren’t enough of them to overpower the king’s powerful army. The rebels faced fully two-thirds of the kingdom. Escaping for their very lives, the rebels fled in stolen chariots to other, distant territories. Everyone’s loyalty was exposed in this war, for there were no more rebels left in the king’s beautiful country, now strangely quiet.

None of the territories the rebels visited would allow them to stay. No one would even listen to their loud complaints of injustice against the king. Frustrated, the rebel leader said, “I will travel to the new territory of the king’s son. The only two people there are too stupid to realize how evil the king is. I will trick them into taking some of my pills. Then the king won’t give them any more of his pills.”

When the rebel and his friends arrived at the new territory, he wasted no time. Posing as a salesman, he convinced the young couple, still teenagers, that the pills they were taking everyday to stay well were worthless. He said, “Here is a much more powerful medicine, one that will give you all of the knowledge in the universe. You will be just as smart as the king himself, and can easily take care of yourselves without the king’s daily meddling. The king gives you a pill every day so that he can keep you under his control and prevent you from knowing everything, even the difference between good and evil, as he does.”

So, the only two people living in the new territory bought his high-priced pills, which were really worthless placebos, and threw away the king’s powerful pills, which really did work. As soon as they stopped taking the king’s pills, they both realized they were now infected with a disease, the same disease that the evil government official had. Now their whole territory was under a curse because its first parents both had a terrible disease. Every child born after this would also be infected, and their children, and their children’s children, and so on.

“Wait, my son. Let them be,” the king said to his son who was supposed to rule the new territory. “Let the rebels rule the territory for awhile in order to prove to the entire world how bad they really are. Every evil thing they accuse us of is really what they are. When the time is right, I will send you there with the cure. It will be lonely and unpleasant there, but you are our only hope, for it is there that the disease must be defeated, once and for all. We need you to develop an antibiotic to counteract the disease they’re infected with.

“The rebels will, in fact, kill you and put your dead body on display as a sign of victory. It will, instead, be a sign of their defeat. With my deep knowledge of the eternal universe, and my memory storage unit implanted in your brain, I will clone you so you can return to me in triumph.

“For when innocent blood is shed for the guilty, then will the fatal disease of the rebels be destroyed. At that time I will unleash the Ultimate Biological Weapon. Every rebel infected with the disease will disappear in a burst of fireworks and a loud bang. Anyone who takes our special antibiotic pill to cure the disease will be saved.

"Then, my country and all of its territories will be safe, because the rebels and their infectious diseases are no more, and you can be the governor of your restored territory. There you will guide and protect your happy, disease-free subjects forever and ever.”

A few ideas about the First Temptation:

The Fall

Copyright © 1987 by Gary Tjaden

Now the flying serpent in those days was a magnificent creature with golden feathers, large wings, and graceful flight. One day the woman wandered away from the man’s side, lost in thought, and soon found herself near the Forbidden Tree. At first, she sensed she might be in danger, but instead of returning immediately to the man’s side, she gazed at its fruit with curiosity and admiration. “Why does God withhold it from us?” she wondered. Suddenly, a golden flash from the tree caught her eye. There, up in the branches among the glowing fruit, was a golden-feathered flying serpent, throwing off shimmering metallic rainbows in a shaft of sunlight. It looked at her deeply and said, “Welcome to the Tree of Knowledge.”

“Of Good and Evil,” she finished as she looked up at it in surprise. She had seen flyers like this before, but never one that could speak. “Why are you in this special tree of the Lord of the Garden?”

The flyer’s eyes gleamed as it said in musical tones, “The fruit is magical, bringing wisdom to the taster. Have you ever conversed with a flyer like me before?” The flyer stared into her eyes and said, “Has God said you cannot eat from any tree in the Garden?”

“We may eat any fruit, but the Lord of the Garden has told us not to go near or touch the fruit of this tree because it will bring death to the taster,” she replied.

“Here I am,” the flyer continued. “Are you now speaking to a dead flyer? Many times have I eaten these golden-silver colored fruits. What I have learned is this: That when you eat this fruit you will be like God, knowing good and evil, because God must keep you in ignorance in order to rule over you.”

With a graceful sweep of its wing, it continued. “In all the universe there is nothing like this golden, shimmering fruit. Have you not seen in wonder its soft glow in the night? Can you not feel the excitement rising in your body as you come closer?” The flyer picked a fruit and handed it to the half-reluctant woman. “Can you sense its magical powers as you softly touch it and feel its warm vibrations? Now, imagine its wonderful taste, and the important knowledge it will give to you. See, since you’ve already touched it and still live, no more harm can come to you if you taste it.”

She took a tiny nibble at first, then, seeing how delicious it was, quickly ate all of it. Waves of exhilaration began to surge within her. And now, sensing her mate nearby, she picked another, then another. She trotted off, and when she found him, she exclaimed, “Oh, Adam, I found a talking flyer! It was so brilliant that it dazzled my eyes! And it gave me some magical fruit from the Garden.

“Why did you wander off?” he asked with a slight frown of concern. “I’ve been looking for you.” And then, alarmed, he asked, “Where did this fruit come from?”

“From a tree in the middle of the Garden,” she replied. “Like the talking flyer in the tree said, the fruit does give knowledge, and I feel so much wiser already. Please, Adam, will you try it, too?”

A look of astonishment, then horror, then sadness came upon Adam’s face. “Eve,” he said in distress, “You have been tricked by the Evil One speaking to you from the flyer. You have eaten forbidden fruit, and now you are going to die.”

“No, Adam. The flying serpent said we surely would not die. On the contrary, when I ate it gave me such a rush of pure delight that I felt like I was one of the shining angels! Please, you must taste it for yourself.”

Adam struggled with his thoughts. Beautiful Eve, whom he loved so much, listened to the Evil One and disobeyed God. He mourned that he allowed her to wander from his side. He knew the high destiny of the human race if they remained faithful to God. Now there must be a separation.

Yet, the fear of losing Eve outweighed his love, gratitude, and loyalty to the Son of God. She was a part of himself and he could not bear the thought of losing her. He knew God could make another equally lovely companion for him, but he chose instead to share her fate. After all, what if the words of the flying serpent were really true? She was as beautiful and innocent as ever, and no sign of death appeared in her. He decided to brave the consequences. He took the fruit she offered and quickly ate it.

Like Eve, he felt as if he entered a higher state of existence, but not for long. All too soon, the warm covering of light that encircled their bodies faded away, and now they found themselves completely naked. There was a chill in the air, and they were both filled with remorse and shock and terror. Their love and peace was gone, leaving a dread of the future and a nakedness that reached clear down to their innermost being.

Quickly, they sewed some huge fig leaves together with lengths of vine and hung them from their waists. They could not bear to face the Lord of the Garden in this embarrassing condition. “Why did you have to wander off by yourself?” Adam complained to Eve. “Now we’ve gotten ourselves into serious trouble. Perhaps the Lord of the Garden will be merciful and change things back because he loves us.” Just then, they heard the last sound they wanted to hear.

It was the Lord of the Garden calling them. It was his frequent custom to join them for an evening walk where he taught them many things about their new world.

Quickly, they found a place to hide. “Where are you?” he called, coming closer and closer. Finally, when he was very near, Adam could bear it no longer and cried out, “We heard you, but we were afraid because we were naked, so we hid!”

“How did you discover that you were naked?” the Lord of the Garden said. He already knew what they had done. “Have you eaten from the Forbidden Tree?”

They came out of their hiding place with downcast faces. “The woman you made gave it to me and I ate it,” Adam said, trying to pass off the blame.

“What have you done, woman?” the Lord of the Garden asked her.

Eve looked down at her feet and said, “The flying serpent you made tricked me, and I ate it,” trying to pass off the blame.

“Come here, Evil One!” the Lord of the Garden ordered the flying serpent. It landed in a nearby tree with a most defiant expression on its face. “Because you did this, you are cursed. You will crawl on your belly and eat dust the rest of your life.” The serpent immediately fell from the tree in a flurry of golden feathers, and tried, unsuccessfully, to slither away. “You and the woman, and your offspring and hers, will be enemies. You will wound him deeply, but her offspring will destroy you,” he prophesied.

To the woman he said, “You will bear children in pain, but you will still welcome your mate’s affection in spite of this. But because you disobeyed, the man is now to be your master.”

To the man he said, “The ground is now cursed because of you, and you will struggle with it all your life until you die and return to the ground from which I made you.”

To both of them he said, “You can no longer live in my Garden where you can eat from the Tree of Life. Then you would be like the rest of us, and live forever.”

After He banished them from the Garden, he gave them warm skins of animal fur to wear. Then the Lord of the Garden placed powerful Guardians at the only entrance with weapons that what whirled and flashed like fire to bar their access to the Tree of Life. An impenetrable force field enclosed the Garden above its surrounding wall, preventing any unauthorized entry. With forlorn hearts they stood in the distance, watching the movement of the weapons in the approaching darkness.

Fire on the Altar

Slowly, the young man picked up the lamb playing at his feet where he sat, just before sunset, deep in thought. He carried it down the pathway to a platform of rocks. On top of the rocks was a bed of sticks and grass. Through the undergrowth he could see the swirling weapons of the Guardians barring the entrance to the Garden.

He placed the lamb on the rocks, and with trembling hands, held it firmly by its neck as he pressed a sharp stone knife against its throat. He hesitated when the lamb looked up at him in bewilderment, whimpered, and struggled to free itself. As he pulled the knife back and forth, cutting deeply, blood spurted out and splattered him. The man held onto the lamb firmly as it frantically thrashed about, bleated silently, rolled its eyes, and began to gasp. He released his grip after its struggles ceased and the lamb lay quite still in a puddle of its own blood.

He backed off, looked at the dead lamb through his tears and then up to the sky and whispered hoarsely, “I’m sorry, Lord!” From the sky came a flash of fire and a loud crash of thunder, and as the sound reverberated across the valley, sticks, grass, and lamb began to burn. A column of black smoke rose to meet the sky.

Hundreds of years later, before another crackling fire, Adam recalled his horror at the first kill, a sacrifice commanded of him by God. He sat there that evening with several of his descendents, warming themselves before a fire one cool evening. He told again the story of the Beginning, when the world and life on it were made. There, all was good until the entrance of evil. But with the loss of innocence and the curse of death came the promise of restoration someday in a sacrifice that would stun the universe.

There’s fire on the altar,
Black smoke darkens the sun.
The blood of an innocent lamb is shed,
A symbol of things to come.

The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect idea goes something like this: If a butterfly flapped its wings in one area of the world, it could cause a hurricane in another, by multiplication of the effect. That’s similar to what happened to Adam and Eve. By their one small act of disobedience, the entire future/history of the world was changed from what could have been love and beauty and life, to hatred and ugliness and death.

Our First Parents are the root cause of the destruction of the world two times. Their little misdeed not only kicked themselves offline from God, resulting in the destruction of the world by water, it also caused a chain reaction of evil to the end of time, when the world is destroyed and purified by a thermonuclear chain reaction. No trace of human occupation will survive the seething, worldwide ocean of fiery, molten lava. This is what some call Hell.

They’re not the only humans to make wrong decisions, though, and when enough time has passed, see the sad results. Most, if not all of us, have this experience. We can’t change the past, but we can start over. We can search the scriptures to find the weapons we need to combat the forces of evil trying to cause us to choose the wrong paths and break the commandments. We can find hope by believing the Word and choosing to obey it.

We can choose Life or Destruction.

Our decision will inevitably and without fail affect those around us: family, coworkers, friends, etc., in a ripple effect that will reach to the end of time. Picture yourself standing on the Sea of Glass, looking up at God. You’re holding a palm branch and singing a beautiful Song of Victory. There’s a ring of golden light encircling your head. The little points of light in the ring represent those you have pointed in the right direction by your acts of kindness and words of encouragement. If we don’t share the love of God with others, there will be empty spaces on the Sea of Glass.

Here is a story about the destruction of the world by water, caused by the failure of our First Parents to resist temptation.

Nowuh and the Great Flood

Copyright © 1987 by Gary Tjaden

Nowuh

Nowuh stood there, wife at his side, staring in disbelief at the scene before him. The entire area was strewn with wreckage, the gardens trampled, the cages and corrals smashed. “The Big Lizards did this!” Nowuh exclaimed when he saw their tracks.

“Wait here,” he told his wife as he went in to look around. He stopped a few times to shove some debris around, and when he was finished, he walked slowly back. “Our animals are all gone,” he said to her, “Either dead or escaped.”

For years, after he saw nature disrupted by disease and genetic tampering, Nowuh collected genetically pure specimens of plants and animals in order to preserve them for future generations, keeping them in the isolated valley where he lived. While he and his wife were collecting in another region, someone or something tore down the front gate. With the gate down, the big lizards came in and found a feast waiting for them.

It took most of the day to bury the remains of the dead animals and clean up the mess. When he finished, with the late afternoon sun on his back, he headed up into the forest-covered hills adjoining his land.

From a point on the ridge, he looked down into the valley where he lived. A light breeze rustled his hair, and in the distance he could hear a rushing stream. A black and red bird with a bright red and orange beak landed on his shoulder and pecked a friendly greeting on his cheek. “Hello bird,” he said, then it disappeared among the huge, five-hundred foot tall trees. He stood there a few moments longer, then followed an old trail down the other side of the ridge into dense tropical forest.

Eventually the ground leveled off, and there on the valley floor he could just make out the traces of an ancient stone path. He followed it, occasionally stepping around the undergrowth. Soon, he found himself standing in front of an ancient stone altar, thick with moss, partially hidden in undergrowth. He stepped up to it, laid his hands on the mossy rocks, and sighed deeply.

The Antediluvians

Nowuh recalled the stories of old about the beginning of this world and how the forces of evil came into it. From noble beginnings, men, with their great strength and powerful intelligence, corrupted their minds and used the riches of the world to satisfy only their own greed.

Forgetting the God of Creation and ignoring the voice of Adam, they invented their own religions and made imitation gods out of gold, silver, stone and wood. These they worshipped in scenes of pleasure and wickedness in the formal gardens and stately groves that surrounded their magnificent houses.

Instead of noble attributes, they gave their false gods deformed human characters and uncontrolled passions, defiling themselves as they grew more and more debased. Justice lay trampled in the dust as the wickedness of men became more open and daring. Whenever a man wanted his neighbor’s wife or possessions, he took them by force.

Animals were friendly to humans back then, but evil men delighted in stalking and killing them for pleasure. After they started eating the flesh of the animals they murdered, humans became even more blood thirsty and cruel. Finally, they even regarded human life with astonishing indifference.

Adam was gone now, and very few humans knew God or cared anything about him. Through genetic tampering, highly intelligent but evil-bent humans bred some of the bigger animals into merciless killers. By mixing human genes with animal genes, they also formed half-human monsters, and now, corrupted genetic material began spreading throughout the plant and animal kingdoms.

“If only their powers could be used for good,” thought Nowuh, “worshipping God and living in harmony with nature and other men.”

Extraterrestrials Warn Nowuh

Suddenly, a flash of light caught his eye. Making his way through vines and undergrowth, he found its source. Standing before him were two tall Guardians, powerful extraterrestrial beings blazing with light. Their fiery weapon whirled and flashed continuously in the subdued light of the forest, suspended in the air between them. Beyond them, nearly forgotten by men, lay the entrance to the mystical Garden of Eden, with wonders only two humans had ever seen.

Wordlessly the Guardians looked at the startled Nowuh and brought their weapon to rest. “Nowuh,” one of them said in a rich, polyphonic voice, “We bring a message to you from the One Who Makes All Things:

‘The humans I have put on this world have become wicked and degenerate and do only that which is evil. I am going to destroy them and their evil works with water from the sky and with water from below.

You must build an ark of cypress wood 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high, with a roof, a window in the top, and a door in the side. In it make lower, middle, and upper decks. I am going to destroy everything so that the riches I gave to this world will not be used for evil purposes again.

‘When the ark is completed, pairs of every kind of animal which I have chosen will come to you, so store every kind of food in the ark to be eaten by you and the animals. You, your wife, your three sons, and their wives will be the only ones left alive after total destruction takes place.’”

Astonished, Nowuh watched the Guardians bring their weapon back to life, then gaze ahead with unmoving eyes. Beyond them he could see just a little into the land where Adam and Eve once lived. Because they deliberately infected themselves with the deadly virus of evil, God banished them from the Garden. Deprived of enzymes from the fruit from the Tree of Life, hidden deep in its center, their lives gradually wore out. Nowuh longed to enter, but he knew it was not to be. He sighed again, turned, and began the journey home.

Building the Ark

The next day he laid out the dimensions of the ark in a clearing in his valley. “Look, wife,” Nowuh said, “the ship will have a boxy, house-like shape, but with an extremely sturdy hull, designed to withstand tremendous forces. I will have to cut and haul the main framing timbers from the other end of the valley.”

For the next few years, Nowuh made slow, but steady progress, even with hired help, because the wood was fine grained, nearly as hard as stone, and almost as difficult to shape. Grandfather Methuselah and his sons came to help when they heard of the project, and Nowuh’s sons joined in when they were old enough.

For many years, Nowuh faithfully warned others of the coming disaster. At first some took his words seriously, but as the years came and went, fewer and fewer believed, until he found himself nearly alone, a laughingstock for the whole world.

“There is not enough water anywhere close enough to float something of that size on,” people insisted. “Only an IDIOT would build a huge ship on dry land, too far from a lake or river large enough to hold it!”

“Nowuh is such a fanatic!” others scoffed. “Water has never fallen from the sky and never will, because it’s scientifically impossible. It’s too warm for water to condense beneath the overhead canopy, and its spherical force fields themselves are indestructible. It’s never rained, no river has ever overflown its banks, and the mists and dews have always arisen at night to water the land, and always will.”

Word spread that Nowuh was a dangerous religious crackpot. “Keep your children away from that man,” parents were warned, “because he is scientifically ignorant and his speeches are poisonous for impressionable young minds to listen to.”

The Ark is Finished

Despite opposition and ridicule, Nowuh and his crew worked faithfully, using all of his resources to fund the ark’s construction. After more than 100 years of labor, the day finally came when the last board was fastened in place and they applied a waterproof coating to the outside. “It’s finished!” the builders shouted jubilantly, but Nowuh’s family wasted little time celebrating.

“Let’s bring in the food we’ve stockpiled,” Nowuh ordered. Although there was room for many more people, only eight souls, Nowuh, his wife, his sons, and their wives, prepared to enter the ark for the long journey, just as God predicted. Earlier in the year Grandfather Methuselah, 969 years old, was laid to rest, much to everyone’s sorrow.

As they loaded their personal possessions, word spread around the countryside that the ark was finished. Soon, a group of sightseers arrived. “There it is, folks, the world famous Nowuh’s Folly, a three-story-high ship sitting in the middle of a forest!” the tour guide announced.

“Hey Nowuh,” one of the tourists yelled, “Whatta ya gonna put in that ugly thing anyway, another bloody zoo? Ha! Ha! Ha!” They were all a little intoxicated, and more wine was passed around amid their loud laughter.

The Animals Arrive

Suddenly the noisy spectators grew silent. From the mountains and forests, young animals of every kind began arriving, making their way to the ark as clouds of birds obscured the sun. Although most humans didn’t obey God, the animals did. After the initial shock wore off, the laughter grew even louder. “Hey! Look at all the trained baby animals! Nowuh’s got himself a floating circus!” They started stomping their feet, clapping in rhythm, and shouting, “NO-WUH! NO-WUH! NO-WUH! Ignoring their detractors, it took nearly a week for Nowuh and his family to get all of the animals settled in their quarters.

Seven days after the arrival of the first animals, a Messenger told Nowuh, “It’s time to enter the ark.”

On the great ramp on the side, which was also the door, Nowuh’s earnest voice rang out, momentarily silencing the amused onlookers. “Anyone who wishes to serve the Living God can join us inside the Ark and be saved!” he said.

The onlookers laughed and booed and rolled their eyes and told him to go shovel some more manure. “We’ve been listening to you say that stuff for a over a hundred years. Don’t you get it? We’ve heard enough. We’re here for some fun, not to listen to you preach.”

Noah Enters the Ark

Solemnly, Nowuh and his family entered the Ark. “Goodbye, Nowuh. Have a nice trip!” the crowd shouted and waved and hooted and clapped and whistled. “We’ve got a special celebration planned for you when you come out. Haw! Haw!”

That night a bright light appeared and hovered before the entrance of the Ark. “What is it Father?” one of his sons asked. Slowly the massive door swung up and shut, sealing the fate of those inside, and those remaining outside. “That, my son,” Nowuh answered, is a Messenger from the Land of God. No human can move that door. It is closed at God’s command, and will be opened at God’s command.”

Much to the delight of the crowds, nothing happened during the next week. It was their time of triumph. Ignoring all the signs of God’s power, they said, “See, Nowuh is just an old man suffering from delusions and hallucinations and a dangerous religion. There never was a flood, and there never will be a flood because floods are impossible. Even though the earth is very old, there’s no record of a single flood.” Meanwhile, those inside the ark were settling in for a long journey.

On the seventh day after entering, the crowd still waiting for Nowuh to come out decided to give him a special sendoff. Soon, a number of people started throwing fruit and vegetables and rocks at the Ark, making fun of those inside with viscious scorn. “Hey Nowuh!” someone sneered, “How does it SMELL in there?” followed by loud laughter.

When someone else yelled, “Listen, Nowuh, the Flood has arrived!” then threw a bucket of water at the massive hull, everyone screamed and laughed some more. One person did an excellent impersonation of Nowuh and made fun of him by calling down the wrath of God on the amused onlookers for minor offenses they committed. It was quiet after they all finally left.

During the night, a terrific blast shook the surrounding countryside, followed by a huge, dark mass rising from the mists, blocking the starlight as it climbed faster and faster. It was the Garden of Eden, completely enclosed in a force field, beginning its long journey to the faraway Land of God to be preserved for future generations of humans.

The Great Flood

On the eighth day, loud humming/snapping sounds came from high above, along with mysterious flashing lights. Large, intermittent drops of rain began to fall as small holes in the force fields high above the earth began to form, releasing some of the water suspended above the planet. As larger holes formed, warm air escaped the envelope and cold air rushed in, creating dark clouds that spread across the sky, obscuring the sun. As the clouds formed into massive towers, warning rumbles of thunder accompanied steady rains.

“Mother, Father, what’s happening?” worried children cried. Everyone looked at the clouds and rain in disbelief. As the sky grew darker and the clouds nearly reached ground level, lightning flashed almost continuously, thunder crashes merged into a deafening roar, and rain fell in torrents. Stunned, people watched their magnificent buildings, formal gardens, and stately groves ruined by huge bolts of jagged lightning. Bewildered animals surrounded the dumbstruck humans, pleading for help.

Suddenly, the earth shuddered as a terrific jolt rocked the planet. Giant trees crashed to the ground as entire forests were leveled. The surface of the earth heaved in great spasms, and it seemed as if the world were being ripped apart as the land began its return to the sea from which it was born. Subterranean rivers blasted through the surface, sending jets of water and rock hundreds of feet skyward. Water cascaded from the sky in great sheets like waterfalls as the force fields high above continued their collapse.

The storm increased in violence as a howling wind scattered trees, rocks, dirt, mud, and water everywhere. The few who made it to the Ark pounded on the sides and cried out into the roaring wind, “We’re sorry, Nowuh! Let us in, save us!” There was nothing Nowuh could do, even if he could have heard their pleas. “Then we’ll chop a hole in the side!” they screamed when there was no response. But all of their efforts were futile. As the surging waters rose rapidly and the Ark began to float, some tried to hang onto it, but they were all washed away or knocked off in collisions with rocks and trees.

Days and weeks passed, and still the waters rose higher and higher, and from the few remaining peaks, those still surviving outside of the Ark looked out onto a shoreless sea. Soon, even the highest peaks were under water, and the only humans remaining alive were safe inside the Ark. Many times Nowuh thought they were lost as huge waves surged over the top of the ark, throwing them violently side to side. Had it not been for God’s protection, they would have been lost, too.

At last, the storm subsided. “The rain has stopped!” they all exclaimed one morning, but for five long months the lonely ark drifted aimlessly at the mercy of wind and waves, a tiny speck floating about on an immense waterworld. Not infrequently, they could feel shockwaves through the hull of the ship as landmasses below shifted rapidly upward and the water began to recede. Eventually, the ark reached an area protected by mountain peaks as the water level continued to fall. “There’s that wind again,” Nowuh said as a fierce wind once again blasted across the surface of the planet, causing the exposed land to dry out rapidly.

After many days the wind stopped, the ark scraped bottom, and Nowuh sent a raven out into the blue skies. “Go on, bird,” Nowuh said, “You’re a smart one. Find some dry land.” It never came back, so he sent out a dove, but it returned soon afterward.

A week later he sent out the dove again, and it returned with an olive leaf in its beak. “Thank you, God!” the humans rejoiced, “It can’t be much longer, now.” Encouraged, Nowuh opened up a place in the roof to look out. “The mountains are all naked!” someone exclaimed when they looked out and saw large, bare rocky areas for the first time in their lives.

After the Flood

The day finally came when a Messenger of God opened the great door. Nowuh’s family stood there for a long time, gazing at the aftermath of destruction. “Look, there’s something green off in that direction,” someone said.

“Let’s turn the animals loose, now, “ Nowuh said. Gratefully, the animals and humans returned to their freedom outside. Even though it started to rain again, the next thing Nowuh did was build an altar of stones and offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to the Lord according to his instructions.

“Look Nowuh, up in the sky!” his wife cried out in astonishment. When he looked up, he saw a beautiful, multi-colored bow of light spanning the sky. “Since it’s raining,” Nowuh said, “I will call it a rainbow.”

“The rainbow in the clouds is a sign of an agreement between us,“ God said to Nowuh, “that I will never again destroy all living things by a flood. When I see the rainbow, I will remember our agreement and not send water to destroy the earth.”

After abandoning the ark up on the mountainside, Nowuh, his family, and all of the animals went down into a cold, uglified world where everything and everyone they ever knew were buried under deep layers of mud and debris. Nearly all of the animals, they noticed with sadness, suddenly became afraid of them and ran or flew off..

It was a unfamiliar, lonely planet, now, but it was up to Nowuh and his family to make a new life and avoid the mistakes of the old world. “If we obey God,” Nowuh said, “all will go well, but if we don’t, selfishness and evil will overcome us.” Someday, they knew, if they listened to God and followed his commands, they would live in a beautiful tropical greenhouse world again and meet their creator face to face. There, in paradise regained, they would live happily, forever.

Hope nobody minds me dropping the previous material in here. As you can see by some of the dates, I've had it around for a while. I hope you don't mind my sharing it with you.

A few more thoughts about Satan:

Satan, as one of the Seraphim, would have been one of the most powerful and intelligent of the created beings, a fiery serpent/dragon in his original form. The Seraphim may have the power to project their thoughts into other beings and take over their thoughts, temporarily, at least. Satan, then, would have the ability to possess other creatures at will, if they were willing. Thus, He could appear as one of the 4-faced 6-winged Cherubim, or, as one of the sun-faced angels, or even as a human. His fiery serpent body would probably be in a different location than the body he was possessing.

Here's a puzzle: Why did Jesus/Jehovah represent himself as a brass serpent lifted up on a pole to Moses and the people of Israel? Was Jesus/Jehovah originally one of the Seraphim before he gave up the fiery flying serpent body to become human? Was he capable of possessing other creatures, like Satan was?

Another thought: Maybe it was Satan himself who appeared to Eve in the Forbidden Tree. A flying serpent/dragon could have appendages to manipulate things or pick fruit. I recently saw a photo of the 6-winged flying serpent motif near the base of an Aztec temple in Mexico. The flying serpent had an important place in the horrific Aztec religion.

Why should I try to limit Satan's power? Perhaps he actually can change his form and appearance from a six-winged lizard to an angel, or even other transformations we know nothing about.

I've been wondering lately why details were left out of the Bible. Seems like there's something really important out there somewhere that we don't anything about. Maybe when Satan arrives as a sun-faced angel, he will impress nearly the whole world with semi-truth, unverifiable by humans. They will be dazzled by his highly advanced technology and accept his point of view unquestioningly.

Why would SDA's want to leave the denomination and others gladly choose to replace them around that time? As SDA's, some of us believe that there are other inhabited worlds out there. Seems like that might be an advantage. Our world is quarantined though, to protect other worlds from harm.

Why were the religious leaders bypassed when Jesus revolutionized religion and the new order arrived? Will SDA's lock themselves into some erroneous belief, as the Pharisee's and other religious leaders did? Will some high-profile scandal rock Adventism, causing denomination-wide embarassment and defection? Will new leaders arise to re-organize and redirect the church's mission?

It will be those Christians who know the Bible inside and out who can defend themselves against Satan's errors.


A number of writers of the NT said they were slaves of Jesus Christ. If we're supposed to be slaves of Jesus, also, what should we be doing that slaves do? Be willing to do the lowest, most menial, most laborious tasks, be willing to be ordered around, be willing to serve our master without complaining, and all the other things that slaves do without getting much in return, just a place to stay, a few clothes, a little food, along with a chance to live forever in a healthy and happy condition?

Are Christians destined to be slaves in the Kingdom of the Stars also? Is that what God is looking for, 100% willingness to serve him on earth so he can trust us to serve him in his Kingdom when his back is turned? We won't be mistreated, of course, and will love and honor our much-superior masters.

Christine, if no one has any input, you can go on to the next chapter, if you will.

I've been reading the posts here with interest. Don't have anything to add at this time. Things have been rather dicey with me of late and I'm not well.

I did read the chapter though.

Gary, Nico, I'm out of town. It'll take me a little while to read through all of this. Sorry I've been so slow.

Let's give this 2 more days. Maybe we'll (I'll) catch up by then.

Not there yet, but if you want to get the ball rolling again with Chapter 13, feel free! I'm away from my home right now, so I don't have my "favorites" to paste from.

Maybe someone else can get the thread going. Otherwise, it'll have to wait until Saturday night, I think.