In the Beginning (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book I)

by John J Higgins

  "He wouldn't do that to you," Adam said again, trying to stay hopeful. "I wouldn't allow it!" he added, with a touch of bravado.

  "How could you stop Him, Adam? We don't even know what this means. And we don't have any power like that to create things like He does."

  "He told us we were the greatest thing He ever created, remember?" Adam said, trying to sound reassuring.

  "What happens if I die now and He leaves you to live here in Eden all alone? It will be just like when Lillith left. You remember how painful that was for you?"

  Suddenly both of them became silent again. They each realized that Lillith had disappeared and never came back to Eden. If she wasn't in Eden, where could she possibly be? Perhaps her leaving Adam caused her to die because she had broken a rule of the Almighty's by leaving on her own.

  Adam began to cry, and triggered Eve to cry again and they both reached over and held one another.

  After they had ceased crying, Adam pulled back so he could see Eve's eyes. She was able to look directly into his again. She felt so close to him, closer than she had ever felt before.

  Adam whispered to her, "There is only one way I can see to deal with this. Once the Almighty finds out, you will have to die. I can't think of living without you, Eve. Even if we find this serpent, who is to say he would tell the truth to the Almighty anyway? He certainly was capable of lying and tricking you earlier. All he would have to do is to deny he even spoke to you. Regardless, even if he admitted lying to you, you were the one who ate the fruit. We do not know that there isn't something in the fruit that will make you die even if the Almighty wants to protect you."

  Eve nodded her head in agreement with what Adam was saying, as she was feeling more love for him.

  "The only choice I see is to combine our futures. I will have to eat of the fruit myself. I will seal myself to your fate. Whatever happens to you then will happen to me. If we both die because there is something within the fruit itself, or we die because of disobeying the commandment of the Almighty, so be it."

  Eve leaned in and kissed Adam.

  "Let's hurry back to the Tree and I will eat one of the pieces of the forbidden fruit, before something happens to you," he said as he stood up.

  "Oh Adam, you don't have to do that," Eve said.

  "Yes, I do!" he said. "I have made up my mind. It's the only solution I can live with."

  "Oh no! I meant we don't have to go back to the Tree to get some of the fruit," she said, looking into his eyes adoringly.

  For a second Adam looked down at her, perplexed.

  "I told you I intend to eat the fruit, so if we perish we perish together. We need to get some of the fruit!" he repeated.

  "I brought some pieces back with me, Adam. I hoped that you loved me enough to sacrifice for me. And you have not disappointed me," Eve said, relieved.

  Adam was surprised that she could think for him like that, but he simply smiled back at her and said, "Let me have the fruit."

  Luciferael remained for a few moments after he heard Adam eating the fruit. His work was done here for the day. Nature will now take its course and we shall see what the Almighty does now about His "greatest creations!" He flew back to where Serpentalia was, released him from his trance and flew off before Serpentalia realized that he had been there. Serpentalia would have no recall of Luciferael being there and certainly would have no idea of what Eve was talking about if he was ever accused. It would look that Eve made the story up to break the Almighty's commandment and to bring Adam along with her. He smiled to himself as he flew back into his palace. It had been a great and glorious day.

  Chapter 45

  EXPOSED

  The sun rose the next day in the east as it always had, but everything looked different to Adam and Eve. They had been up most of the night, worried about any noise they heard in the dark. Adam had eaten the forbidden fruit just before nightfall and they did not know what would happen, now that they had both disobeyed the Almighty's commandment to them.

  Adam, too, had found the taste of the fruit to be exquisite at first. It was the aftertaste that was horrible. Where he had peace of mind when he would go to sleep before, now he had all kinds of terrible thoughts. Everything appeared stark, cold, and naked. Eve, too, tossed and turned all night, she could not rest peacefully either.

  When the sun had come up, Adam was at least relieved that they had not died during the night.

  "We made it to morning," Adam said. "But I still feel miserable. I can't stop thinking about what is going to happen to us now."

  "Yes, I hardly slept," Eve said. "My mind won't turn off either," she said, rubbing her eyes.

  Adam noticed that she had dark circles under her eyes this morning. He had never seen that before. Her face appeared drawn, older than it had the day before.

  Adam himself felt weaker this morning; he did not smile nor was he at peace as he had been almost every day except for the day when he lost Lillith. But even after Lillith left he did not have his mind racing and just seeing terrible things in the future, as it was doing this morning.

  Looking down at their bodies, Adam said to Eve, "You do know that we are naked?"

  "Yes, I never thought about it before," she responded. "It always seemed so natural. Now it feels awkward and shameful. Like we are doing something wrong."

  "I want to cover myself up," Adam said.

  "So do I," said Eve. "I think we can string some plant leaves together and cover ourselves."

  "I wonder why the Almighty never told us to cover ourselves?" Adam wondered aloud.

  "It just seems like we are doing something wrong if we now walk around outside uncovered," Eve responded, trying to cover herself with her hands as she was thinking about it.

  "Let's take care of that first," Adam said. "Let's go get some of those plants and leaves to cover ourselves, like you suggest."

  They went outside and found some thin vines, and broke off long pieces. Adam lifted Eve up to a tall branch where there were some large leaves and she pulled down a number of them.

  A few minutes later, they had fashioned coverings for themselves out of the leaves and vines.

  "Finally I feel a bit better about our nakedness," said Adam.

  They went to gather some fruit to eat and headed directly for the Tree of Life, hoping that its powerful fruit would make them feel better and even counter the effects of the fruit of that terrible tree nearby.

  They arrived at the Tree of Life and picked some of its fruit, and ate it slowly, hoping for its full effects to kick in soon.

  "This should make us feel better," Adam said, hopefully taking a bite out of the fruit.

  "Let's hope so!" added Eve, biting into her piece.

  They both regained some energy and the haggardness that had been about them disappeared.

  "I wonder what is going to happen when the Almighty discovers we have eaten of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge," Adam said, repeating himself out of worry, slowly twisting a lock of his brown hair between his fingers.

  Eve watched him play with his hair and said, "I think we should just avoid the subject. After all, there is no one here to tell Him that we did eat of the fruit. And I have never seen Him inspect the Tree. He never even goes near it on most of His walks with us."

  "Next time He visits us, let's make sure we keep him away from the Tree at least long enough for all of its fruit to grow back," Adam said as he looked over towards the Tree and continued, "I can't see that any of the fruit is even missing from here. We can hope that the Almighty does not notice either."

  They then decided to take a walk around Eden and for the day stayed together as much as they could. There was not anything more important to either one of them and each felt better being in one another's company.

  "We should keep our eye out for that creature Serpentalia. Maybe if we capture it and get it to confess what it has done, we can make a case for forgiveness from the Almighty," Eve said.

  "That's a good idea," added Adam. "Where d
id you see him?"

  They traced back Eve's movements from the day before, but could not find any tracks belonging to the serpent.

  The day passed very slowly; time for them had slowed down to a crawl. They felt a darkness hanging over them even though it was a typical gorgeous sunny day in paradise. As the day was ending they headed back to their hut, bringing along some extra fruit from the Tree of Life. It was the only thing that seemed to make them feel better. It gave them a burst of energy which made the obsessive thinking about their doom easier to deal with.

  And because this was the usual time that the Almighty would come to see them, they were becoming more fearful despite having eaten a great deal more of the fruit of the Tree of Life. They were both hoping that the Almighty was still away in other parts of the Universe, and would not visit them for a while longer.

  But they were not that fortunate and they had good cause for concern. They saw the clouds part as the Almighty descended down into the clearing by their hut, accompanied by his Seraphim and Throne Angels.

  Now they both were getting frantic about facing the Almighty.

  Adam thought to buy some time to calm themselves, perhaps they should hide themselves in some bushes behind the hut. "Maybe the Almighty will just go back if we don't appear," whispered Adam to Eve.

  She agreed and the two of them ran into the bushes behind the hut and hid as the Almighty was descending.

  A few minutes later the Almighty appeared and looked around the clearing for His two Humans.

  "Adam! Eve! Where are you?" He called out.

  Despite being hidden, they both heard the Almighty's voice as though He was standing right next to them.

  He called their names again and His voice remained absolutely clear once again.

  Adam whispered to Eve, "This isn't going to work. Our pretending not to hear Him is not believable. Let's go greet Him and act as though everything is normal and the same."

  As they came out of the bushes they both tried to act normal as if they had just been on a stroll together. The Almighty saw them come through the bushes behind the hut and looked directly at them. As they came out, both Adam and Eve bowed before Him, as they usually would do as a sign of respect.

  The Almighty continued to stare right at them, His gaze becoming hardened and fiery. It felt to the two of them that His eyes were blazing into theirs and that He was in the middle of their minds.

  "What have you done?" He bellowed at them and the ground itself shook.

  "Nothing my Lord." Adam's voice trembled as it let out the words.

  "Do not lie to Me!" His voice bellowed again, the ground shaking with the pronunciation of each word. "Why were you hiding from Me?"

  Now they were both trembling.

  "We had to find some clothes, my Lord," Eve said, desperately hoping his demeanor would soften.

  "I see that you have succeeded in clothing yourselves," He said as his rage turned to sorrow.

  Adam added, "We were naked and wanted to be covered in Your presence," thinking that it would meet with the Almighty's approval.

  "Who told you that you were naked?" the Almighty asked, tears rolling down His cheeks.

  "The serpent creature Serpentalia," Eve blurted out, as she tried to throw some blame on him for tricking her.

  "Why do you continue to lie to Me?" the Almighty said sadly. "Why do you take Me for a fool?"

  Both Adam and Eve realized for the first time that what they had done and all these lame attempts at covering it up actually hurt the Almighty. And they began to cry again.

  "I had given you everything. Everlasting life, a paradise to live in, with no need to toil to survive, you could do whatever you wanted with your time. There was no pain, no suffering."

  Adam apologized first. "We are so sorry, my Lord. We know how much You love us."

  "I had put you above all of My other creations, even my First Born, the Angels."

  "Please forgive us!" both Adam and Eve pleaded in unison as they threw themselves down flat upon the dirt of Eden.

  Eve stopped sobbing, pushed her head up from the ground and started to explain. "It was not our fault, my Lord. We were tricked by that creature Serpentalia into eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He told me lies about the fruit!"

  The Almighty looked Eve directly in her eyes. "What did this creature tell you, Eve?"

  "That You did not want us to eat of the fruit of the Tree because it would give us the same knowledge that You have, my Lord. That You were afraid that we may become more powerful than You!" she said. It still sounded like a reasonable answer to her, but Adam cringed when he heard it said that way.

  "You mean that you wanted My powers? You wanted to be more powerful than I? You thought I was depriving you of that knowledge and power because I was jealous? And if that was true, and you did become more powerful, what were you going to do with Me? Cast Me out of Eden? Maybe the Heavens too?" the Almighty asked, tears rolling down his cheeks again.

  Eve shut up and stayed silent as she realized that those were distinct possibilities, things that she had never thought through before she ate the forbidden fruit.

  "And you, Adam. Is that why you ate the fruit as well?"

  "No, my Lord," he said, hoping that he could convince the Almighty that this was all just a large misunderstanding. "I was not with Eve when this creature tricked her. I do not even know what this creature looks like. I was tending plants when it happened and only found out afterwards when I saw Eve last night."

  "So you were not tricked then?" the Almighty asked.

  "Well no. . . or I mean yes . . . my Lord," Adam stuttered. "When I found out that Eve had eaten of the fruit and had disobeyed Your commandment, we were both afraid. I was afraid that I would lose her, and I would be left here in Eden without her. I would be alone again just as I was when Lillith disappeared."

  "And did I not deal with Lillith's disappearance in a way that restored your happiness and returned you to greater feelings of contentment, Adam?"

  Adam's sadness and confusion as he spoke was palpable in the air as he continued, "No, I mean, yes my Lord, You did. But we were both afraid that You would make Eve die. . . and I decided that I would share her fate in case You did decide that she must die. If I had not eaten of the fruit and we appeared before You, You would separate us and I would not have the opportunity to stay with her or die with her."

  The Almighty spoke ever more softly, "That saddens Me even more Adam. You chose a path away from My love for you. You love Eve more than I, your Creator. I, who have given you everything. Even gave you a second chance with a mate when the first one did not work out as planned."

  "You made Lillith die, my Lord!" Eve blurted out.

  Deeply perturbed, the Almighty bellowed at Eve, "I did no such thing. She is alive and well in Heaven as we speak. Her fate is not condemned as now your two fates are!"

  "Please forgive us, Lord," Adam pleaded.

  "I did not make that commandment idly. It was an important test of loyalty and love for you two. You now have knowledge of how to be evil, to be destructive. To lie, to cheat, to steal, to hurt others for selfish reasons, to kill. I gave you free will, the ability to make one choice over another. But you have chosen out of selfish motives already, even before you had this new knowledge of evil. If you betrayed Me when I have given you everything, what would you do to Me or even your own kind when you don't have everything you want?"

  The Almighty moved back from Adam and Eve. "It pains Me greatly to see what you have done. Love is to be honored and reciprocated not ignored, nor betrayed, nor only honored until a better deal comes along."

  The Almighty called out, "Michael, Gabriel, Uriel come here at once!"

  Immediately, the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Uriel appeared. Adam and Eve were startled at how quickly these large and powerful Beings appeared and gasped with fear in their presence. These Beings remained far more beautiful, than any of the Angels either of them had seen from th
e distance in their observations of the construction of the pyramid. This day they did not radiate love when they appeared, but were cold and distant, reflecting the Almighty's wrath, causing both Adam and Eve to tremble.

  "This is My judgment and I have summoned these three Archangels here to enforce it. Heed My words Humans! Adam and Eve you are banished from Eden. You will no longer be able to eat of the Tree of Life. You will age and your bodies will eventually die. You will feel pain like you have never known.

  "You wanted to be in charge of Eden and maybe the Heavens. I would have given you the entire Garden of Eden and all of the Earth to be part of your dominion. Now all I give you is dominion over your children and the lesser creatures who live on the Earth, many of those creatures that do not live by divine guidance. You will deal with strife among all of them for all your days. Eve, for your treachery you will be cursed when you bear children as it will be painful for you and often deadly for your daughters who follow. And you and they shall be cursed because you will be driven to have children. Adam, you will struggle and have to till the Earth to produce food. It will no longer be as easy as just picking it off the trees and plants of Eden. And you and your offspring will suffer from selfishness, greed, evil desires, and fighting among yourselves. Lastly, you will love others and love things of the Earth that you will never be able to keep, they will be taken from you, and not be yours when the time comes for your deaths."

  The Almighty turned to his Archangels. "Michael, this creature Serpentalia is a creation of Luciferael, is it not?"

  "Yes, my Lord, he is the leader of the serpents. The species we spared when we destroyed the dinosaurs in anticipation of expanding Eden onto the Earth," Michael responded humbly.

  "We should have destroyed them then, despite Luciferael's plea to spare them. Michael, I gave you this commandment to be repeated and carried out on Serpentalia and his species. For his treachery, no matter what the guise that caused it, I condemn all the serpents to crawl upon the Earth and never travel upright again. From this day forward, man and serpent will be enemies, out to destroy one another. For the poison that Serpentalia placed in Eve's mind, that venom will be contained in Serpentalia's mouth to be used as a danger to mankind and their offspring. For the serpent's leading Humans into ruin, the serpent will now be under the heel of man and be destroyed by him wherever possible.