How Dragons Survived the Flood

Chapter 3 Part 3

"Did you hear the voice of Yahweh?"

Japh looked at his father. Noah yearned for him to experience Yahweh, but how does one know the unknown? How does one prove the unknown? To hear a voice with no one present? He had been able to do that with Ismi. Was Ismi the voice of Yahweh?

Japheth suppressed grinning at his irreverent thought and shook his head. "I only heard the shofar, gong, and flute, Father, and I saw the woman."

Noah looked excited and then frowned. "Yes, Yahweh's voice." He continued on in a rush, "As you become more learned, you will hear the words meant for you in His voice and you will know His desires." Noah shook his head, "No. He does not show us women."

"Maybe Yahweh showed Japheth his bride." Ham teased. "After all, she is the last part of the prophecy."

Japheth's brow furrowed and he looked away, feeling the need to defend himself against his father and brother. "Each man gets his own message from the instruments?" He raised an eyebrow. "And how is the message verified? Has this not been the problem?" He looked away for a moment.

He looked at his father again, noting how his eyes had turned a lighter blue. Carefully keeping his voice neutral, Japh said, "You received your Ark message, but all else deny hearing it."

Japh glared at his brother, wanting to wipe the cocky grin off his face, "And I was not told of a woman by the voice of Yahweh, Ham, but saw her outside the high sanctuary right before I entered. Her eyes were green and her skin smooth."

Ham's smile remained, as he raised his own eyebrow in disbelief. "Green eyes?" He laughed. "Who has ever heard of a person with green eyes? Of all the people I have met, only you and Father have blue eyes; all others have been brown or black." He shook his head and laughed again. "Green eyes."

Noah did not pay attention to his sons, but looked heavenward, caught up in his own explanation, "Each man learns the sound of Yahweh's voice. I speak with Yahweh daily, in my home sanctuary and at Temple. I know His voice well. There is no need for others to verify what He has told me. The message is always a test of a man's faith. The verification humanity desires comes through other means, not a man standing and saying, 'Yes, Yahweh revealed it to me as well,' rather through confirming messages given to others." He sighed. "As for women, they are only allowed on the lower ramparts of the temple; they are not allowed in sanctuary."

"And we only hear His voice in the sanctuaries? Can I not look at the earth and all its wonders and see the hand of Yahweh and know His actions are good?" Japheth shook his head and paused for a minute. "Wouldn't a man standing and saying, 'Yes, Yahweh revealed it to me as well,' be a confirming message? Why must it always be a riddle?"

Noah saw Japh's look of disbelief, and quickly changed the subject. "Japheth, I am being gentle with you, but your understanding of Yahweh is as a child's understanding. Shem, what was your message?"

Japh smarted under the rebuke. The teasing glance from Ham only sharpened the sting.

Shem dutifully replied, "I was told to walk uprightly in the upcoming days of tribulation."

Noah turned, "And yours, Ham?"

Again a dutiful response. "I was told to respect the doe, lest the fawn is lost."

Noah smiled triumphantly. "See? The days of tribulation are the days surrounding the Ark's completion. And to respect the doe, well, to give honor to the lives he will tend to. Thus tended to, they will provide offspring when the tribulation is over."

Watching Noah as he spoke, Japh rubbed the ring on his thumb. Its smooth surface was a tangible reminder of the woman he met, no matter how his father might try to deny it.