Hidden Bloodlines from Adam and Eve
"We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
"You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (1)
The serpent slithered off, leaving the woman before the tree. She picked off a healthy fruit, brought it to the man, and they both ate of it.
I turned off the projector, and sat in the dark, thinking. I'd seen this tape before, many times, but now it took on a different meaning.
I knew what I had to do.
"Yes, Even (pronounced Evan), did you need something?" my 9th grade history teacher asked as I approached her desk the next day at school.
"Yes, I was wondering if I could do a different history project, one not about evolution."
"Dear girl, that's not an option. If I gave that option out, we'd have no projects on evolution." How dare she contradict me! But I wasn't done yet.
"What if I told you I am in direct bloodline with Adam and Eve, the first people on Earth?"
"If that were possible, I'd like you to prove it, but that's not possible. If you would like to try to prove your heritage as a project, I don't see why not, but you are going to have to explain to the class why your project isn't on evolution. Now, go. You're going to be late for 6th period, and I'm not writing a pass."
I left excited. I don't remember anything I learned in the next 3 periods, and they went by in a breeze.
I got home and couldn't wait to write my report, which was a first because I hate writing reports, especially for history class, but my teacher loves to torture us with a report a week:
Hidden Bloodlines
(I swear I didn't steal that from anyone so if it's your book's title I'm sorry!)
After Adam and Eve sinned (took from the wrong tree, ate its fruit, hid from God, placed the blame, you get the point), they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. They soon had Cain, and later, Abel. Cain committed the first murder and killed his younger brother Abel, and he was exiled, never to return to the land from which he came from, (the live one was exiled, anyway). Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters, which most people overlook, and that includes Evan, my grandfather of many centuries past.
It's because of Evan I am here, and my nickname is Even, though my real name is Eve. Allow me to show you videos passed down to every firstborn male and female of every household connected directly to Adam and Eve. This tape shows the proof of Adam, Eve, the serpent, the Garden of Eden, and God's very existence.
I was reading my report aloud and hooking up my video presentation when the video began playing a scene from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the part when Voldemort gets his body back and he and Harry have their first duel. (If this is false, read the book, because I don't like to watch those movies! It's in the book, for sure.) Not a very good representative of God, a movie about magic.
The class began laughing at me, yelling out things like liar and cheater, and all I could do was grab my things and leave the classroom at a full-fledged sprint. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm not going back in there.
I reach and empty my locker into my backpack, and it's surprising that the teacher wasn't running after me. I pick up my backpack and am ready to head out when I feel something hard against my back. It was smaller than my binder, and all my textbooks I left in my locker for the teachers to pick up at the end of the year. I reach in and find the bible I placed in my locker at the beginning of the year. I pull it out of my backpack and continue running. I flip open my bible as I burst out of the school's doors, and the bible fell on Hebrews 11. I begin to read the chapter as I get a steady pace with my breathing and running:
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.
They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated—
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.
God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (2)
Again, I knew what I had to do. But this time it wasn't as easy as before.
I walked back to my locker and dropped off my backpack, then first went to apologize to my history teacher, then my seventh and eighth period teachers, as the school was . But that wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was apologizing to the rest of my history class the next day.
"Well, I have to say I'm really sorry first that I ran out of the classroom yesterday, and didn't stay to explain the tape. I didn't realize that the tape was that smart... it could sense that there were people other than the heirs around, and resorted to the last movie shown in the tape, which, I didn't realize this, was Harry Potter, sounds educational... anyway, I have to explain these bloodlines someway.
"There's only one way to explain this accusation. Faith. It's because of faith that we have the bible. It's because of faith we're here. There's a chapter in the bible, in the book of Hebrews that was what inspired me to come back and talk to you.
"In Hebrews 11, it talks about all the people in the Old Testament that had faith, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and other prophets and hundreds of unnamed people. But a few verses stuck in my mind: "Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.
" 'They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated—
" 'The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
" 'These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.
" 'God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
"This kept playing over in my head, and I realized that nothing you did to me would be as bad as many of the early Christians in Rome had, they were executed, so what more could you do to me? If I were to lose my life for this, it wouldn't matter to me, because I'd be dying for my faith, and I'd be right with Jesus the second I die. Which was why I came back. I can't prove anything to you about my bloodlines, but I can say this, the reason we're alive and here in this room today is because of that word, faith. Thank you," I concluded and sat down.
They pondered my last paragraph, and then one brave soul began clapping. Soon, the entire class was clapping, and then they stood up for a standing ovation. I was surprised. I thought for sure they would be booing and hissing at me. I thought for sure they were going to hurt me for my faith. But, this will work too.
A/N: The moral of the story is... Don't be afraid to stand up for your faith. You never know how the audience will react, but it'll be worth it in the end when you meet those people in heaven, hopefully.
(1) Genesis 3:2-5
(2) Hebrews 11:1-4, 6, 36-40