After Shem left I spent more time with Jared and Nathan.  My problem at that moment was not knowing what I was supposed to do, or where I was supposed to go.  Some weeks passed and a very sad series of unfortunate events fell on Job.

The Troubles Of Job

I never came to know the man well other than in passing.  We spoke a few times but that is about all.  Truly I am not sure if he would remember my name.  What took place in his life would break anyone’s heart and make you feel for the man.

In one day he lost his children, his wealth, and much of his lands.  After this his health was gone. I heard that he could only sit in ash due to the pain from boils on his skin.  There was nothing that anyone could do for him.

He did have friends which came to visit him but there was not much that they could do.  The fortunate part was that his physical ailments would pass. Later the broader community of the city as well as ours would help him.

The Sabeans Who Attacked Job

The man’s reputation preceded him.  Although pained emotionally and carrying physical scars he would find his footing once again.  Throughout this time Jared, Nathan, and I helped to round up some of the animals which had been scattered that he lost.

In the process we ran into a skirmish with Sabeans which had a raiding party roaming the countryside.  This was one of the groups which had attacked Job’s people.  Here was the first time I used my sword.  After finding them we waited until nightfall and entered their camp.

There was no hesitation.  Jared and Nathan’s arrow fire took out the watch.  We rushed in and took out the leadership of the camp in their sleep.  In the process we set fire to anything we could touch that would burn.  Chaos ensued.

We rescued the enslaved people which were from Job’s camp, many were women.  Taking the Sabean horses we mounted and rode away before daylight came.  Both of the boys had smiles on their faces.  I think they enjoyed this a little too much.

My Journey Into The World Begins

That week would mark the last week I spent in the land of Uz.  I paid my respects to Job thanking him for all he had provided. I also thanked Elias and his sons.  It was there with Elias I would find a surprise.

Jared and Nathan would go with me on my journey.  Elias stated that the two boys would get into too much trouble around Uz.  They needed to serve a bigger purpose he said.  Elias asked if I would allow them to come with me.

I am not sure what he meant by a “bigger purpose”.  I had no idea what my purpose was or what I would be doing.  I simply felt the need, no it wasn’t a need, it was like a pull to go East.  When I agreed to allow the boys to go with me, I did not realize their friends would come with us.

I did not mind the company of men especially in this world as it presently is.  In total there would be ten of us that would begin this journey.  There was an odd occurrence which took place along the way concerning Nathan, Jared, and the men with them.  We discovered they too would stop aging.

*** Note to readers, the journey of Clay into Eastern lands will be a separate series that will come at a future date ***

Many suns would rise, and many sunsets I would watch as they set.  Across the lands of what would become India, China, and Mongolia.  I was searching for something.  I came to know the people, their customs, and see their struggles.

Notes On North And South America

Witnessing the ice caps beginning to fall we crossed what would soon be the Pacific Ocean.  The land bridge from Asia to North America was rather large in this time.  Arriving in North America I discovered societies that no one knew existed.

Mound builders that were believed to only exist in South America once resided in the Great Plains.  We encountered a race of giants that also inhabited the lands.  Native American folklore from the future had mentioned them, but we fought them.

They were hunters of men.  Tall and strong they could crush a man with a single blow.  Their jaws had two rows of teeth, their hair was blonde or red in color, and their skin was pale.

No matter where we went there was one thing that stunned me.  No matter how far I traveled there was one story which I kept hearing.  The telling of the story may have been different as were the names, but the story was the same.

It was the story of the flood.  A flood that destroyed all life in the world but there were only a few who were saved.  In Cholula, which would become Mexico City thousands of years from now, the gods name who saved the people was called Tlaloc.

Their version of the flood story was that a race of giants had originally built Cholula but the flood was sent by Tlaloc to destroy them.  Seven people that survived the flood feared another flood would come.  A giant named Xelhua helped them build a massive pyramid to escape.

This was the retelling of Noah and the events leading up to Nimrod.  The one difference was that they held a piece of the story I did not have.  We knew some people migrated East early, but we did not know how far.  Their legends gave me this answer.

Their legend states that Quetzalcoatl came to them from across the sea riding on a boat of serpents.  He had advanced knowledge of civilization, building, farming, but he was thrown out by a war god.  He left the lands but promised one day to return.

This part of the legend would be the dispersion of the people across the world after Babel. It told of a more advanced and knowledgeable people encountering those who spread throughout the world earlier. This kind of story would be a common occurrence.

The Paradox Of Indonesia’s Sundaland

In what would be Indonesia, in my present time called Sundaland, there was a pyramid built which was named the Mountain Of Light.  In modern times it would be named Gunang Padang.  Here a more advanced culture existed side by side with a people who were primarily hunter gatherers.

It is interesting that modern archeology rejects such ideas.  They claim two such cultures could not have existed side by side.  The irony is my modern world is littered with such duality of cultures around the globe.  Ultimately it often leads to the more advanced culture becoming hostile and subjecting the less advanced one.

The Fallen Ones Worshiped

Aside from these common stories of the flood there were other very common beliefs I found.  Stories of an underworld, the worship of the sun, snakes, and the stars.  At every turn the archetypes of Nimrod and Semiramis could be seen.

Where these ideas flourished so did complete indulgence into the basest desires of a human heart.  Men and women withheld nothing from themselves seeking whatever it was that pleased them. 

If it were not for the few hundred years I spent with Noah, I would have been sucked into it. The darkest parts though I began to see by remembering his words. 

“There is a difference between knowing sin and no longer being able to know God.” Noah said.

There was no doubt that the fallen ones were at work in all of this taking place.  You could see their fingerprints on every tribe and culture.  It had nothing to do with cultural diversity but everything to do with the destruction of who we are.

Through indulgence the people became slaves to impulse and compulsion.  A complete loss of self-control ensued.  The reaches of this knew no boundaries as many turned to human sacrifice, even the sacrifice of their children.

It was no longer called murder, rather it was called an offering.  Their religion was an exchange-based system.  Give at a great cost to receive prosperity or benefits.  Noah had nothing to do with this.  His beliefs were about relationships, saving lives, and loving people.

The Desire To Return Home

I came to have enough of seeing the world.  I had enough of its madness.  In this search I had only become more lost than when I began.  I decided to go back to the only place I knew to call home in this present world.  I deeply desired to be back at the farm if it was still there.

I had completed everything I wished to see or do.  When I began this journey I had only one task to complete at the request of a friend.  Noah and his trees.  Standing in the Sierra Nevada I planted his great trees, each seed about the size of a tomato seed.  I spread them carefully.

Nathan and Jared would return home with me.  We had picked up a few new men along the way to replace those we lost.  As time passed we also grew in number now totaling fifty men including myself.  Most of these men came from our war against the giants in North America.

The journey home would be long.  We would continue moving East across the newly formed Atlantic.  An early predecessor of the South American tribes had established trade routes to what would be North Africa.  From there we would slip into southern Spain and continue across southern Europe.

As the days slowly passed I could feel what felt like home getting closer.  It was the only home I really knew.  I missed my new family although I knew they would be gone.  I merely hoped that the farm would still exist.

Shem once said to me that he still had one task left to complete.  It was the handing of the manuscripts over to a man that God selects.  Surely by now this had taken place.

Unfortunately, my memory from my childhood years at church would fail me.  I had no idea who this man could be, but I needed to find him.  This was my last connection to what home I would know.