The altar honors God. It honors his holiness. God’s love supports the substitution of blood for sin. Orna does not fully understand why, but knows that God had asked them to approach him this way.
It shows obedience and their dependence on him. They cheerfully give God the first and the best. On this journey Enoch and Orna begin to understand the significance of blood.
‘Water and blood,’ they said, ‘That’s how we keep the faith of our ancestors alive in our hearts.’
Warming fires draw tired bodies after a day of toil and travel. Fathers tell the old stories as younger ones clean up after the evening meal. Nokh and his wife feel this welcoming warmth. Kids sit on laps, loved ones hug, fire keeps the bugs and fiercer animals at a distance.
Evening light fades. Minds finally relax with peace from God. An ancient one says,
‘The name Enoch means – Dedicated to God!’
If anyone should keep the faith, Enoch should. Once, long ago, he knew it, but had now forgotten more things than he wished to admit.
This older, wiser family loves to talk about God and life; what is God like; why did sin enter the world; how sin is destroying everything? They accept the intense labor for food and survival. Their women gladly brave the pain of childbirth. They see hope beyond death.
Death has become a cold reality: Animals tear one another apart and eat the bloody flesh. Hatred, anger, and pride cause unspeakable things among all peoples.
Human conscience shouts! Death and Sin reign!
‘Will the entire world be destroyed because of this violence and selfishness among us?’
Love conquers when individuals believe. They enjoy relationship with God if they keep the altars in the way God has instructed: Not Cain who tried to prove that his way was better than God’s.
Everyone speaks openly of their belief as the fire shifts down to glowing embers. But where is the missing generation, Nokh thinks,
“Where are the people who bear children?’
Orna notices so many aged and their few children birthed in older years but the vital, thriving ones have gone away.
‘They go the way of all flesh. Bigger towns pull them toward the excitement and prosperity of another world: the world of fleshly desires and progressive ideas.’
A great, great grandmother whispered softly as tears well up in her eyes.
The masses of people do not believe the truth. They worship creation – not the Creator. Things are more important than attitudes of the heart. Buying and selling, making stuff for living, textiles, production, musical and dramatic arts, planting and harvesting eventually has led to bondage and even slavery.
Then there are enchantments. The sons of God tells stories that should never leave the lips of man or woman.