Descendants of the Fallen, Part 3 [A Story]

Hello and welcome! This week, we are continuing with Descendants of the Fallen! In the first post, I shared the opening poem. In the second, I shared the Prologue. And now, we are getting to the meat: the actual story in real-time. Albeit, ancient real-time. I hope you’ve been enjoying the read thus far, and that your interest is continually piqued. Happy reading!

Our Father Adam was the son of God. Born of the earth, and filled with the breath of life, he walked with God in the midst of the Garden before the light on us began to dim. And our father, Adam, ate the fruit our mother, Eve, gave him. She was deceived, and he joined her in her deceit. And the Serpent who walked upright was stricken to crawl on his belly because his wisdom was turned to darkness by the Evil One. And God cursed the Serpent, cursed the Seed of the Serpent, and his desire was evermore for the dust of the earth of which man was made. 

And to the woman, God caused her to bring forth fruit in great pain. And her desire became to rule over her husband because she listened to the Serpent.

And to Adam, God made his labour hard; only by the sweat of his brow would the ground yield to him its fruit. And even then he would have to contend with thorns and thistles. And his desire became to lord over his wife because he submitted to the will of the Serpent and did not exercise his dominion over it.

And all three were banished from the Garden of the Lord in Eden. And Elohim placed two cherubim at the East of the Garden. And He also set a flaming sword at the entrance that turned every which way to keep out the perverse who seek to take hold of that which is holy. No more on this earth would man be able to glimpse the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

And so our Father, Adam, and our mother, Eve, were cast out. But they did not know that it was done to preserve their lives. Stricken from the Tree of Life, their fallen condition would not remain permanent. Death had indeed entered their veins, yet the glory remained. And long life was given to them because they were the inhabitants of Eden and the firstborn of humanity. And God blessed them and gave them many sons and many daughters, and the earth began to be populated. 

In those days, Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived a son and his name was called Cain meaning acquired, because though they had left the dwelling place of the Lord, He had still honoured His covenant to them and given them a son. And soon after, she brought forth another son whose name was Abel so named because they saw that the breath of God was in him. And for many years, they were happy and dwelt in the land outside of Eden. And the earth did bring forth its fruit though it was bittersweet because of the curse of the Lord. And God honoured His word to them; he had respect unto them because they chose to honour His name. And Adam raised Cain and Abel and all of his children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. He taught them to walk uprightly before Him and to make offerings unto Elohim. And God was pleased. And his firstborn, he set over the fruit of the earth. His secondborn, he set over the beasts of the field. And for many years, they grew and lived in harmony.

But Cain became discontent.

What he had once esteemed a high honour—the tilling of the land—he began to despise. And he despised the closeness of his father and his brother. While they had many brothers and sisters, it was Abel who had the breath of God in him and was a prophet, like their father, Adam. And he spoke to God, and God answered. And Abel began to grow in favour and stature with God and man. His flocks increased greatly and at times, they trampled the ground that Cain had so preciously tilled as unto the Lord. And while Abel would seek to reprimand the animals and make restitution to his brother, Cain never accepted it, and Cain never forgot. His heart became festered. His festering became jealousy, and his eye became evil toward his brother. Eve saw it, but she did not wish it to be so, and so was silent. Her heart went out to her sons, but more so to Cain because he was her firstborn, her son given by the Lord. And her heart was broken for him because he was made to til the cursed ground just like his father. Many times his hands would be bruised and bloody from his cultivations; the thorns and thistles were long and strong, and sometimes, the battle overtook his strength, even though he always had a great harvest to show in the end. And Cain began to despise both his father on earth and his Father above. 

“Why have You granted me the curse of my father, as if I stood in Your presence and sought to deceive You?”

“I have empowered your hand to cultivate the fruit of the ground,” said the Lord, “and if you will walk uprightly before Me, the harvests shall grow greater still. And you shall also find favour in My sight.” But Cain grew to despise this.

“You have put the breath of Heaven in my brother, yet have left me to till the fields. The Spirit in his voice goes into all the world and accomplishes what it was sent for, and the earth responds. Father and mother, brother and sister; the beast of the air, field, and water all respond to him. Even the Serpent cowers in his presence, if he dares come at all.”

“What I have given your brother does not concern you, My son,” said the Lord. “Serve Me and I will bless you, and I will increase you, and I will make your descendants mighty in the earth. And they will carry the wisdom of men, and their hearts shall be inclined toward Heaven. And many inventions shall come by their hands, and you shall be a mighty people before Me on the face of the earth.” And for a time, Cain’s anger and jealousy was assuaged. And the Lord did indeed bless him.

He harnessed the waters and brought their life to his plants. He invented tools his father had never dreamed or imagined to cultivate the fruit of the fields. He learned to house the more delicate species, and everything under the touch of his hand flourished. Adam was astounded, Eve was deeply impressed, and Abel rejoiced with his brother for all that God had wrought by his hands. And this joy lasted for some time. But his heart grew jealous again. 

Increasingly, Adam left the tending of the fields to sit in the coolness of the day and teach Abel the wisdom and counsel of the Most High. And Abel began to excel all the more. And Cain’s patience ran out. The jealousy in his heart turned to hate. And the hate turned to rage. And the rage turned to violence. And Cain’s eye became evil toward his brother. At meals he would say neither good nor bad to his brother, but he would simply say, “Eat! Drink!” But his heart was not with him. And the darkness of his eye became exceedingly great.