I’ve loved sharing my
novel with you! We have only three weeks to go before the end of our story
andI’m going to miss you! But before we part ways, cataclysmic events will kill
every living thing on earth. There’s safety only inside the ark, but Atarah is
planning to disembark and return to the city in order to reconcile with her
mother and rescue her from the coming Deluge. The problem is, time is running
out. There isn’t time.
Chapter
181
© Jeannie St. John Taylor
Atarah’s statement
that she didn’t know who Satan was stunned Shem. That should be elementary
knowledge for everyone. “You’ve never heard about Satan?” For some reason Shem
hadn’t even considered the possibility that no one had explained the source of
evil to her. He kept forgetting that his upbringing had been entirely different
from hers.
Piling a one last
fish onto the cart, he put his back into pulling the load toward one of the
lifts and Atarah fell into step alongside the cart. “So who’s Satan?”
Where
should he start? “He was the evil spirit in the Garden of Eden who possessed
the serpent and spoke through him to seduce Eve. He’s still the being behind
everything bad and violent and wicked in the entire universe. Every evil
thought or action on earth results from people surrendering to him.”
A
fish tumbled from the cart and Atarah stooped to retrieve it. “I thought that
was a myth.”
“No, the story is
true.” Shem covered his surprise at her lack of knowledge. “Adam and Eve were actual people who walked
and talked with the One True God in the Garden. Both were innocent and good
until Eve changed everything by becoming the first human to cooperate with
evil.”
“By
taking a bite of the fruit?”
“Yes. When she
disobeyed God by tasting the fruit she handed kingship of this world over to Satan.”
“Where do idols
fit in?”
“All the idols and
every one of your city’s thousand are nothing more than fronts for Satan. All
paths lead to him.”
“What about the
Nephilim?”
“Fallen angels who
fought with Satan in a battle against the One True God.”
Shem
pulled the cart onto the food elevator and Atarah stood back apprehensively,
obviously afraid of heights. Shem understood how she’d feel that way after her
awful day hugging the side of a cliff on her way to the underground.
“The
lift is pretty full. Do you mind taking a ramp? I’ll meet you there.” He
grabbed a rope to lower the elevator, calling after her. “Changed my mind,
better take the stairs. The ramps will be jammed with animals.” All creatures
but humans seemed to avoid stairs. Well, all but the pair of lions he’d seen
when he was with Paseah. Plus, he’d spotted a couple raccoons lumbering down
another stairway.
She
walked backwards long enough to smile and wave.
Atarah
located the first stairway and descended in a daze. The news about an actual
evil being controlling every vicious violent thought and act on earth stunned
her and made her desire to talk to Mother stronger and more urgent. She would
leave tonight.
Mother had fought the evil just as
Atarah had. If only Mother could understand that the invisible evil around her
was a being, an entity who had enslaved her, she’d run from him and onto the
ark. Atarah only had to clarify the facts for her.
But first Atarah
herself needed to understand more. Question after question peppered her brain
as she hurried toward Shem. When she reached the small alcove near a
white-washed door where Shem was parking the cart, she immediately asked, “Who
is Satan?”
“He was a powerful
angel – a guardian cherub. The One True God created him ‘blameless and perfect
with every precious stone adorning him and music in his wings.’ That’s a quote
from Father.”
“What did he mean
– ‘music in his wings?’”
Listen to Jeannie’s
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About Jeannie St. John Taylor
Jeannie St. John Taylor, best selling author and two-time Gold Medallion finalist, is the author of five non-fiction books as well as fifteen books for children. She writes and illustrates in the office-studio her husband built on their beef farm ten minutes from the skyscrapers in downtown Portland, Oregon. She and Ray have three grown children. Her books include: Culture-proof Kids, Building Character in Your Children, AMG Publishers, Am I Praying, Kregel and How to Be a Praying Mom, Hendrickson Publishers
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