His Love In Time: Volume I

FALLING THROUGH THE HOME OF SEVERAL BARN animals, IT IS CLEAR that I am a long way from going home. I would have thought that after helping Noah ship off, I would be home free. But I guess God has more in store for me.

I am far from excited to be in the desert, again, and it more than lives up to the heat of the Egyptian myth of how hot it is here. Of course, there is plenty of shade, and ways to keep cool here. Not to mention the rain storms, when they happen. All I can do is remember Azazel betraying all of us. I recognize that angel though. He was the one that escorted Orias through the gate. Makes me begin to worry about what actually happened. These portals aren’t exactly trustworthy. Someday, I’ll be able to control them. Standing in the small village, I am watching all of the commotion going on. No one seems to notice me, or if they do, I am being ignored.

“Jacob,” God says to me, in my thoughts.

“Yes, Father,” I respond out loud.

“I have a new task for you,” he says.

“Why am I not surprised.”

“Watch your tone with me, Jacob.”

I nod my head.

“I want you to keep an eye on Abram and Sarai. I will be starting a new covenant with them. They will be the leaders of a great nation.”

“How am I to get in on their good graces?”

“I want you to appear to Abram, in the Temple of Ur, as a messenger angel for me,” he continues. “He will listen to you, I promise.”

“Understood.”

I am a little hesitant about going to the temple. Considering most of the time, only high priests are allowed inside. I don’t look anything like a priest. I suppose it is time to start blending in. I close my eyes and try to focus. My halo cannot be completely useless. The halo gives a low vibration, and my clothes change from what I am wearing to clothes of the current time. A robe wrapped in the front with a rope to keep it shut. A headdress also falls on my head, with a cloak over my shoulders. My boots change to sandals, and I am genuinely fitting in. It feels weird to have a draft under me. It would appear that my halo will allow me to blend in, wherever I am.

I hurry to the largest temple in all of Ur. On the way, I can hear disturbing chants about other Gods, but I chose to not let them bother me. I am on a mission, and nothing will stop me from getting to Abram. I begin to worry, what does Abram look like?

Entering the great temple in Ur, I look for a man who, I think is Abram. They all look alike. All of them wearing a white headdress, white robe, white this, white that. All of them with beards, I suddenly feel like I am in the wrong place at this time.

I overhear one of the men, making his way to the front, greeting everyone the same.

“Peace be with you, my brother,” the man says as he is walking by so many people. He is shaking everyone’s hands, giving them hugs. This must be the man that God told me to find. Looking around the temple room, I notice hundreds of people worshipping idols and praying out loud to various gods. The temple walls are covered in different, crazy, symbols – a wolf, a crescent moon, snakes, and there’s even one of a big god holding a lightning bolt. Abram is surrounded by worshippers that begin to migrate and sway towards a brightly painted wooden statue. The statue is pretty significant, and being carried to a low alter, to allow a priest to offer an offering to the gods. But Abram, regardless of the crowd, stands still. A closed mouth smile is painted on his face, but not for the offering.

I quickly and swiftly make my way to Abram to give him the news that I was told. Also to share the news that I have read from the gospel during my time. Abram, enjoying the festivities, is not partaking in the offering.

As he and I watch the priest draw a sacrificial knife I speak to him loud enough for him to hear, but no one else. “Abram.” He stands here smiling, but his head turns towards me, getting his ear closer. “Do not be afraid, I have a message from God. Leave your country, your people and your father’s household to the land He will show you.”

Abram lifts his head high, mouth open in shock as my message is being delivered. Giving him an enormous demand and promises.

“He will make you into a great nation, and He will bless you. He will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. He will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you He will curse. The Lord says that all people on earth will be blessed through you.”

Usually, any other man would be frightened by the information I just gave. Yet, for some reason, Abram honestly heard the call, that God has revealed to him. He knew that like Noah before him, he was destined to live a new covenant with His people.

We notice the priest is holding up the goat’s liver, and Abram smiles once more. He says, “I hear you, Lord.” Abram says quietly yet passionately.

Abram and I make our way outside the temple. Before we get too far, he stops and turns to greet me. “My name is Abram.”

“It is very nice to meet you, Abram, I am Jacob. God has sent me here to deliver the message to you.”

He smiles and gives me a gigantic hug. With the hug, he whispers in my ear, “You will travel with us and be our guide.”

We break the hug, and I nod my head. Abram and I race through the courtyard to tell his wife, Sarai. On the way, he notices a man that looks just like him.

He runs up to him, gives him a hug similar to the one he gave me, greeting the man. “Lot!” he says with excitement.

“Abram,” Lot greets in return. “What has you so happy?”

Abram slaps Lot on the shoulder and smiles. The three of us walk to the front door of a house. Sarai, who I recognized before, and another woman are cleaning and making bread. Both the women and Lot have curious looks on their face. “Sarai,” he says excitedly.

I look around to see all of the fertility dolls in the back of the house we are in. It is clear that Sarai is desperate for children. She smiles and says, “What’s gotten into you? I haven’t seen you this happy since our wedding day.”

“I have received a message from God, today.”

“Which one?”

“Not a god, I mean God!”

“Okay. Who delivered this message?”

“Jacob did,” he points to me.

Sarai pulls back and stares at me, confused. We all know that to mention faith in one god is a punishable crime.

“Who are you?” she asks me.

“I am Jacob, the angel. God has sent me to deliver a message and to accompany you.”

“For what? I am confused.”

“God wants us to leave this place, Sarai,” Abram says.

“To leave?! But this is our home.”

“I understand that, but God is going to give us a new home.”

“What good would that do?”

“He said that he will bless Abram with children in the new land. All you have to do is get there, and follow His lead,” I say.

“Children?! God must not have sent you, I cannot have children.”

“You are worshipping the wrong god. He will grant this promise, and you will have multiple children.”

Sarai looks down in disbelief. I can tell that she wants to believe us. She wants more than anything to bless her husband with a child, a son. But it is a major task that I am asking of her. That God is asking of her.

Abram takes his wife in his arms. “Believe me, Sarai,” he continues. “Believe him, believe in God. The message is true. He promises. Imagine, God wants to start a new covenant with me. God never breaks His promises. Believe me. We must have faith,” he tries to convince her.

She looks down, looks at her sister-in-law that has more worry than she does. Lot, eager to go with. She takes Abram’s hand, gives a deep sigh, and says with a smile, “Take us there.”

Excited Abram leaves the house and tells everyone about their new plan and invites as many followers as are willing to come.

The three of us, Lot and his wife, and Sarai’s servant girl all set out on new land. Following us is a large group of people that believes in Abram. They know that he is not one to lie. We begin our long journey northwest of Ur. We travel in the direction that Abram feels is right, believing that God will lead us to where we are supposed to go. Our journey takes us through a Haran, there a vast desert, before finally finding land near a beautiful green oasis. Palm trees as high as the sky, with crystal clear water. It’s gorgeous, but there is not enough land for everyone. Especially with their animals. The scariest part is, Lot’s wife is making matters worse. A jealous woman that is annoyed by Abram’s authority. She loathes him, I can see it in her eyes, for convincing Lot to relocate. It doesn’t take long before Lot and Abram are confronted with a standoff between the two of them and their followers.

While they are arguing, I am distracted as two shepherds start to fight over land. Rolling around in the dust, I come to their aid. Punching and gouging at one another, I grab one of them by the belt and pick him off. The other shepherd gets up and tries to attack again, while I punch him to the ground.

“Enough!” I yell.

Lot comes to my aid. “Lemuel!” The one on the ground looks at Lot in anger.

I release my hold from the other shepherd. He turns to Abram and says, “Lemuel is accusing me of stepping on his land!”

“This land is not for us to divide. This land was blessed to us, given to us to share with each other.” Abram argues.

“Then your god should have given us more!” Lot’s wife says.

“Know your place woman!” Lot yells.

“Then tell him, Lot,” she says. “Tell him what we talked about.”

Abram looks at his nephew with a concerned look. “Abram, there just isn’t enough room.”

“You need to have faith, that God will provide,” Abram says.

“Your false prophet has given you lies!” Lot’s wife says.

Abram and I ignore her. “God will provide,” Abram argues.

Lot, looks down as he says, “We are leaving.”

“Lot, no. We are family, we must stay together,” Abram says.

“Stay and do what? Starve and die?” Lot’s wife yells.

Abram looks at Lot’s wife with the glare of a wolf. She silently puts her head down. She knows that she has crossed the line.

“Where will you go?” Abram asks Lot.

“Sodom,” Lot says.

“No, Lot. That city is full of sin. All of them are wicked and cruel. Followers of Cain!”

“At least we won’t starve!” Lot’s wife speaks one last time.

I grab Abram and pull him aside. “Let them leave, they will need to learn.”

Abram nods his head and gives Lot a loving goodbye.

I escort Abram to a hill not too far away from their new land. This hill is tall, tall enough to build an altar for sacrifices and meditation. A hill that helps us see for miles, where it is quiet. We can see the small village below, with the empty plots opening up and the flocks settling in for the night. The beautiful green trees and forest.

In the distance, we can see Lot and his shepherds following close behind. Abram sighs but knows this is what needs to happen. Shortly after Lot gets out of view, “Abram,” God says. We both can hear him, but the village remains still. He continues, “Open your eyes, Abram, and look all around you. Look as far north as you can see and as far south. Look to your west and east. Everything that you see is yours. This land belongs to you, now, and your offspring forever.

He looks around as God told him to, and a big smile races across his face. As the sun is going down, the two of us begin to build an altar on the hilltop. “This will be for our sacrifices. It will be the center of this great nation,” Abram says.

A few months have gone by, and the village is beginning to thrive. The grass is sprouting all over, along with the water spreading. The sheep are multiplying, and everything is going well. Abram has placed a stone on the foot of the altar to kneel and pray. He prays every day, twice a day. Once in the morning and again in the evening.

Abram is concerned by Sarai’s continued use of fertility dolls. He prays for her most of all. But he also prays for Lot. “God, perfect provider, please give me a sign on how well Lot and his followers are doing. I know that they chose to not have faith, but he is still family.”

Abram looks down on the valley that Lot walked away from a few months ago, and sees a stray man, limping towards the promised land. Abram recognizes this man. He was one of the shepherds that was fighting over the land. It was Lemuel. Quickly, Abram gets off the altar and runs to his aid. The bruised and bloody Lemuel falls at Abram’s feet.

“Tell me, what happened!” Abram demands.

Trying to catch his breath, “We were attacked. There were hundreds of them.” Lemuel groans in pain and coughs hard. “The fight was horrible; we didn’t stand a chance. They took everything, my flock, my wife.”

Abram takes off his cloak and wraps it around him. He takes the water flask and hands it to him, Lemuel drinks it like he hasn’t drunk for days.

“How is my nephew?”

“Lot is alive, but a prisoner.”

Abram straightens up and looks towards the direction of Sodom. His gaze changes from a gentle, humble man, to a man with anger fueled by hatred.

“He helped me escape so that I could find you,” Lemuel says.

“I want you to go to my house, find Sarai, and she will take care of you,” Abram instructs.

Lemuel limps away while he and I get ready for battle. The sword of the spirit appears in my hands, the shield of faith on my left arm. Abram looks at me, surprised, and asks, “Do you have another sword for me?”

Laughing, I say, “I am sorry, but I do not.”

“That is alright,” he pulls out a short sword. “I am ready.”

We arrive at the enemy camp, a few hours later. Lemuel was not exaggerating on the number of men that are here. Most of them, however, are drunker than a skunk. All of them are not of this world. Obviously they are all descendants of Cain.

Whispering I tell Abram, “The only way to kill these men is by jamming the blade through their heart. If you miss, you will only make them angry.”

“What are they?” he whispers back.

“They’re called vampires. It looks like these are of direct bloodline from Cain, he was the first.”

“Is there any way to save Lot without waking the demons?”

I look at the men to see where they all are. There are twenty in the center, partying. Loud enough to enter quietly. However, there are five in front of one of the tents. Four at all five entrances. And there is no way to find out how many are in the shelters. But there are at least twenty different tents.

“Without knowing which tent Lot is in, there is no way to find out for sure,” I sigh. “It looks like we’re going to have to just start killing them off. If we can get to that tent,” I point to where the five are standing guard. “We can attempt to go in, undetected.”

I look around to see if there is much of a chance. Above all of the tents, it appears that there are several trees hanging above. Abram says, “Look, if we climb above, we can jump down near that tent and free them all.”

I nod my head, and we proceed. Along the way to the tent, Abram loses grip and starts to fall. He catches himself, just above the guarded canopy. However, the five guards get the smell of fresh blood. They proceed to where the smell is coming from and stop just underneath us. We were only a few feet above the five of them. I have taken on this many before, but how to do it without alerting the rest is going to be the hard part. Abrams cut, though, is not making it any easier.

Being as quiet as we can be, the five vampires are smelling around to find out where it is coming from. Before they are able to figure it out, to avoid Abram getting hurt more, I drop down behind one of them. I jam my sword through him, causing him to turn to ash. The other four hear the explosion, and I run in the opposite direction. Causing the four of them to chase me.

While I am fighting the four vampires, luckily far enough away from the rest of them, I notice Abram rescues Lot, Lot’s wife, and dozens more. Taking the head off one vampire, I move to jab the sword in another. Taking two more out. The last two think they are smart, trying to get me on both sides. The two of them charge me at the same time. I jump, complete a backflip, and swing my sword to complete a double beheading with both vampires. The four monsters, now ash, no longer pose any threat.

I run to Abram, alone. “Where are they going?”

“They are choosing to continue on to Sodom,” he replies.

“Well, we need to get back to your wife,” I say while I pat his back to hurry him up. The two of us start jogging back to Abram’s village.

God has promised Abram a beautiful land, flowing with possibilities. With so much to be thankful for, God has yet to fulfill one promise. That Abram will have descendants as numerous as the stars. Regardless of which, Abram still stands true, and so do I. We honestly feel that God will grant this promise. Regardless of the time that He is providing.

One evening, the three of us are sitting by the fire eating bread. I can tell that Abram and Sarai both have something on their mind. Abram is worried about his nephew, and Sarai is worried that she will never give him a child. It is getting late, and Abram is restless. We are about to turn in for the night when Abram goes outside. “Abram,” Sarai whispers. “Let’s go to bed.”

Abram starts to walk for a short while. While he is walking, he stares up into the sky in awe.

“Jacob?” Sarai says. “Will you go check on him?”

I run to his side, to see how he is doing. “Abram, are you alright?” I ask.

“God has provided so much, Jacob,” he continues. “Rich land, friends, and family, you. But he is promising children.” He stares at them all, trying to count.

Purposely, he falls on his back.

“Abram!” Sarai witnesses the fall and runs to him. When she gets to him, she is relieved that nothing is wrong.

“Sarai, do you see them?” he says with a whisper.

She looks up, “What?”

“The stars,” he says while Sarai begins to cradle his head in her lap. “God has promised me descendants as numerous as the stars.” He speaks with complete belief that God will do exactly as he has promised.

But Sarai has a different belief. “What makes you think that God will provide? The fertility dolls have not helped.”

Abram ignores her.

She looks at him and says, “I can never have children.”

I say, “Hey, if you want to make God laugh…” I spoke out of turn.

She looks at me and shakes her head. “I will not ever be able to have a child. You must realize this.” She looks down at him and kisses his forehead. “God has promised you children, not me.”

Realizing what is about to happen, I decide to speak up. “This is not a good idea Sarai.”

“You stay out of it,” she says.

“Stay out of what, what is he talking about?” Abram asks.

“Hagar?!” Sarai calls to her hand servant. Walking over is a beautiful Egyptian woman. Her beauty is much like an Amazonian and Israeli Princess. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that she looks like Eve. But that’s impossible. She walks to the three of us and kneels down.

“Yes, my lady?” she responds. Even her voice sounds like Eve and Lynn.

“Abram, I want you to have her,” says Sarai. “I want you to fulfill God’s promise.”

Abram sits up and looks at her, “No,” he says. “I will never be with another woman.”

Sarai nods, looking firm. “Yes!” she takes Hagar’s hand and places it in his hand. “Abram, you need a son!”

Abram looks at Hagar. He looks at her like he has known how beautiful she is, before, but never in a lustful way. He then looks at me, shaking my head no. Unsure of himself, he does as Sarai wishes.

Not long after, Abram emerges from Hagar’s tent, to see Sarai waiting. Abram is disgusted by what just happened and is upset that Sarai forced him to do it. It is evident that the two of them know that what they did is wrong.

“Sarai, we have forced God’s promise. Rather than waiting for His plan, we pressured His plan ourselves.”

Fourteen years have gone by, and yes… I am still here. A lot has changed, Ishmael is thirteen and is genuinely a great boy. He’s sweet, loving, energetic. Looks as beautiful, well handsome, like his mother and is pretty funny, too. I begin to wonder if this had to happen. Did Abram have to get Ishmael to receive Isaac later, or could I have done more?

Sarai comes by my side and asks me, “Jacob, you have not aged a day. God must shine brightly in your life. Tell me, can God make me be able to have children?”

“I think that by the mere fact that you are questioning it, means that you believe that He can.”

“That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear.”

“Sometimes, you have to hear an answer that you do not want to hear,” I continue. “But if it is one thing that is for certain, you must make sure that you and your husband are on good terms.”

“I understand.”

The next morning, is not like most mornings. There is a little bit of cheer in the air. I can see that Sarai and Abram are back to being a sweet, loving couple. But Abram is getting concerned. The land of milk and honey is turning to the land of cottage cheese and sand. His followers are not listening, Sarai and Hagar are not getting along, and Ishmael is put in the middle. But in the distance, a man is walking to the village.

There is something different, but familiar, about this man. He approaches Abram’s tent. His feet, are dirty from the walk, and his beautiful red hood is covering his perfect hair. It is God.

“Father, I have not seen you in a while.”

“It has been some time, Jacob.”

“Father?” Abram asks. “Who are you?”

“I am Love, your provider.”

“Father!” Abram falls face first to the ground.

“I have come to complete the covenant between us,” God continues. “I will keep my promise.”

Abram is smiling but still, face down. “What can I do for you, my Lord?”

“First, sit up and treat me as a guest.”

“Abram gets up, as told, and offers wine and bread.

“No thank you, please sit.”

Abram sits down and listens to what God has to tell him. “You are to change your name from Abram to Abraham.”

“Father of many nations?”

“Yes, and Sarai is no longer Sarai, she is Sarah.”

“Princess.”

“I also command that all males in this tribe be circumcised, or never be considered a Hebrew. This will show me a sign that you are accepting of the covenant.”

“Sarah, your princess, is to become pregnant with your son. He will be the king of the nation.”

Sarah overhears the conversation and chuckles to herself. God then says to her, for the first time, “Why do you laugh at my covenant with you?”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“You will have a son, and his name will be Isaac. So that you will never forget laughing at me,” God instructs.

Suddenly, Sarah feels her stomach as the holy spirit enters her body and heals her stomach. She can feel life inside her belly, and within moments, joy comes over her. Her laughter is from pure happiness, now.