Abba's Lament

By Tina Webb

Angels were created long before Adam, and some of them once lived on Earth.

In Abba's Lament, Helel Ben Shachar (Lucifer) morphs from a faithful servant to a cunning foe. God (Abba), out of love and parental resolve, pursues his anointed cherub to get him to repent. But the Father is rejected and reviled. Evoking sympathy from Earth's angelic tenants through flattery and deceit, Helel wins many to his side. Those loyal to Abba realize that their peaceful and harmonious existence will never be the same. The first war begins and Earth becomes a useless and barren wasteland. "A spiritual thriller!", "wonderful and fast paced novella", "skillful execution of pacing and story telling."
"Your word patterns draw intricate images that are just fantastic and flawlessly creative. You don't waver from the world you so lovingly built, and there's nothing that abruptly yanks the reader out of the story. It's a wondrous world you've constructed, with the visuals woven in like they are characters. It's really interesting, and I can easily add that I've not read anything like it before."
Abba's Lament was previously published as Before The Beginning

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tina Webb
• Release date: Apr 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310070242

Tina Webb

Born in the Midwest, I was a child of the 1970s. Donna Summer was my favorite singer and I remember when Debby Boone sang "You Light Up My Life" at the Grammy Awards in 1978. The downturn of the steel industry took my family to upstate New York when I was twelve. There, I learned the techniques of how to properly shovel a driveway, how to drive in a blizzard, and how real Buffalo Chicken Wings taste. I grew into a pretty good violist and tried my hand at writing teenage love songs on the piano. I spent hours upon hours upon hours doing what I loved most: reading.I moved to Virginia to attend college, to meet my husband, Doug, and to begin my family. I'm blessed to be the mother of six wonderful children.I guess I'm no longer a Northerner (yikes!) and I confess that I now call pop, soda. Marriage and motherhood are integral to being the person I have become. I'm growing to love to play golf with my husband. I love being a sports mom. I absolutely love to cook and I'm a budding gardener as of this summer. Music is still like the air I breathe and forever will be. It's in my genes. So as I summarize for you who I am...I'll conclude with this. My identity is not in who I am, but Whose I am and because of Him, who I have become.

Book preview

Abba’s Lament

Abba’s Lament

Tina Webb

Copyright © 2013 by Tina Webb

Smashwords Edition

To my husband Doug, whose desire to teach the Word of God to our children, led to an interesting adventure into what existence might have been like before sin was found in Lucifer.

Tina Webb: www.beforethebeginningbook.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/BeforeTheBeginningTWebb

Table of Contents

Part I

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Part II

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Prologue

Heavenly beings had been created long before Adam, and some of them once lived on Earth. The Creator of these beings was Abba, which means ‘father’ in the ancient Chaldean language. It is the name Jesus used when praying in the garden of Gethsemane. Abba is Love, and all He creates is good. But once, Abba saw something He did not create and lamented.

‘Thus says the Lord God:

"You were the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

You were in Eden, the garden of God;

every precious stone was your covering:

You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,

Till iniquity was found in you.

(Ezekiel 28:12-15)

Part I

Self-existent and self-sustaining, the Creator had no beginning. His Spirit formed the expanse of the universe as His only begotten Son called forth the substance of matter. Every molecule birthed from His will formed all that He desired to exist.

Love was His essence. Permeated with this powerful force, the universe revealed order and tranquility. In this atmosphere, various living beings were created. Some were seraphim that would endlessly worship the Creator. Others were heavenly beings that would be used as envoys to carry forth the Creator’s will.

In the realm of Heaven, seated upon the Great Throne, the Creator watched as every sub-atomic particle rested in its designated place on a planet that He would name Earth. Oceans and land masses were formed. These same particles would form seeds from which every tree and plant would erupt. Rich mineral deposits rested deep beneath the fertile soil.

Once the planet was pleasing to His eyes, He turned to His Son who sat at His right hand. I will send some of the angelic beings to live on Earth. The kingdom of Heaven shall extend to Earth. I will get pleasure from watching them investigate and develop this planet.

Chapter One

Great cities, built on majestic mountain peaks and the highest hills, filled the earth with grandeur and majesty. Each city reflected the Great Light that gave it warmth and destiny. Rising upwards into the earth’s clouds were tall crystalline towers made of the purest diamonds. Vines of continually blooming flowers draped the sides of small buildings creating vertical gardens and a constant fragrance for city dwellers.

A few of these cities were the capitals of their provinces and a center of commerce, trade and the arts. Included in the arts were the areas of invention: chemistry, engineering—and such subjects that allowed for innovation to prosper. Instead of streets, twenty-foot wide walkways of gem-laden sand sparkled.

In the very center of each city was an arena, its ceiling open to the tranquil blue skies above. Regularly, heavenly beings would fill these arenas for exuberant hours of worshipful song and dance as they basked in their Creator’s warm love.

Outside many of the cities sat intricately planned manufacturing towns, designed to mine the earth of its treasures without eroding the surface. The towns burrowed into the earth four and five stories deep as long circular moving stairs carried merchandise, rocks, stones, and workers to their necessary destinations. From the top of the tallest city tower, one could look down at these manufacturing towns and see the mammoth entrances. Each entrance was brightly lit with a transparent dome on top of it. These entrances were a mile in diameter and were the origin of locomotive tracks that decorated the landscape of the surrounding valley. A constant twinkling of lights and a soft buzz of sound emanated from each dome signifying the constant activity down below the earth’s surface.

Across the earth, the centers of commerce, trade and manufacturing were balanced by the natural beauty of an unused world. Clear blue lakes and oceans reflected the stars of heavens. Snow capped mountains watched as gentle rivers meandered around them. Cliffs of flint rock and beaches of white sand projected the majesty and splendor of their Creator. Soft, luxurious grasses covered meadows and prairies. Trees of all kinds grew stout and strong giving natural cover to various species of animals.

The heavenly angelic beings that resided on Earth were called tenants. They were beautiful creatures of notable physical stature. Their celestial bodies could penetrate any object of mass. All were perfect in health as their atoms vibrated with the power that spoke them into being.

They enjoyed competition for competition’s sake and fun. A loss was considered acceptable because effort was celebrated. Play was daily and laughter easy. None had ever shed a tear in disappointment.

The tenants compiled a little over a third of the heavenly beings that existed. After volunteering to reside on Earth, they were distributed into groups according to their prearranged skills and tasks. The Council of High Governors coordinated the managers and supervisors under the leadership of Helel Ben Shachar, the Shining Star and Son of the Dawn. Despite hierarchical structure, they were a band of siblings, each cherished by the Creator, whom they fondly referred to as Abba.

Word had spread throughout the ranks that Abba might create more planets and some of them may get to transfer. This created much anticipation. Many of the inventors got much joy imagining what they could create from elements that they had not yet seen. The artists were tickled at the thought of seeing new hues of colors. Engineers wondered about mechanisms of production and governors wondered about other techniques of organizing and managing the ranks for maximum productivity and enjoyment. The air was electric with curiosity and excitement.

High Governor Michael walked along a river that ran through the city of Luz. He was a lean being, whose quickness was admired. Tenacious in his work, he desired maximum efficiency in the quickest time possible. This allowed the tenants to have more time for competition and leisure. Michael loved the excitement of competition. On this day, he was consulting with Highest Governor Helel Ben Shachar who was called Daystar by all of the tenants.

You see, Michael continued, if we begin a new circuit of trade from the Southern Islands to the North territory, then we may have a shortage of captains. Builders have said that a new fleet would be ready soon; however, I believe we need to secure other tenants from Heaven to come down and command this fleet. Each current captain enjoys his or her place of employment. Let us see if we can secure other volunteers to come down from Heaven.

Michael looked over at Daystar with tender fondness. From their creation they had been delegated to be governing beings. Along with deep voiced Gabriel, broad-chested Phinael, golden haired Atara and wise Adi, they organized the tenants for games, work, worship or whatever Abba desired. As the highest office holder, Daystar labored in tandem with Abba’s only begotten Son, the Bright and Morning Star, called Emmanuel by the tenants. In appearance, they looked like twins.

Michael knew that Daystar was perfect in beauty, like Emmanuel. No envy existed. Michael knew that Emmanuel, who made all things according to Abba’s heart, had rejoiced to make a being so perfect in everything, though not divine. Daystar sparkled like light, due to his covering being the precious stones of topaz, jasper, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald. Like the other governing beings, he had wings which could be concealed behind his arms.

All knew that Abba enjoyed in sharing His attributes with the beings He created. Daystar reflected Abba’s perfect leadership by allowing Michael, Gabriel, Phinael, Atara and Adi to govern their provinces as they saw best. When they needed counsel, he would assist them. He would consult Abba when he had questions. Atara, next in rank, could have stood in for Daystar if needed. Aptly named Atara for crown, she governed the biggest province on Earth.

Michael looked at Daystar as he pondered Michael’s suggestion. They passed by a small mound of river rock that some tenant had placed by the path. A bird flew low and then careened vertically into the air.

Shrugging, Daystar kindly replied, That sounds fine…I’ll go and speak to Abba soon about this. The benefits of trade between the Southern Islands to the Northern Territory are endless. But yes, to lose captains of other fleets may cause the other routes to run with less efficiency. Michael…

Daystar suddenly stopped and turned to Michael. His bright multi-colored eyes sparkled like the jewels on the path on which they walked.

If Abba indeed decides to create other worlds, we may still need to send our experienced captains there to train others. Let us tell them to begin training at least twelve tenants to take their place. That way, if there are none in Heaven who volunteer for our new trade route, we can recruit from our own trained tenants here.

Michael bent down to pick up a river rock. His long fingers played with it as he spoke.

I’ll tell my managers to make the announcement to their captains. If you’d like, I’ll also tell the other governors to do the same in their province. Every province might as well begin to train. We are creating so many new items out of simple material like this…, he cracked the river rock open with his strong fingers, that trade between other worlds will eventually occur.

Daystar nodded in agreement. Smiling he said, Alright, but I’ll tell Atara myself.

Winking, he immediately disappeared as he journeyed to Atara’s province at the speed of light. Michael chuckled. He knew of Daystar’s fondness for the strong, golden haired High Governess. As formidable as himself, Daystar enjoyed competing with her in physical as well as mental exercises.

Yaaniv

Daystar and Atara sat on a high hill outside of Nirel, capital of the province of Yaaniv. They sat silently, looking at the industrious tenants gathering the bounty of the land. It was good, fertile soil, dark brown and glistening with minerals. Wisps of the gentle hilltop wind danced around their faces, cooling them, as the sun warmed their skin.

Daystar broke the silence.

I think that your province is the best run so far. Your management skills have developed well. You are a great leader, Atara.

Daystar looked steadily into the exotic eyes of the beautiful High Governess. They had been great friends ever since their creation. Similar in personality, they found themselves spending time together whenever they got the opportunity. 

Atara smiled. Well, thank you Daystar. I just… she elbowed him gently in the side, follow your lead.

Daystar smiled, enjoying the playful teasing. A red-tailed hawk circled high above the working tenants. It flew towards them and seemed to hover in the air seventy feet from Atara before zooming back down towards the open fields of harvest.

I wonder, as she combed the grass between them with her long fingers, "who Abba will choose for the next new world? It would be fantastic to see other elements and soils and atmospheres and experiment with them. It