Novel Review: Ashes Like Bread: A Biblical Novel of Lamech and His Two Wives (Thrones of Genesis Series Book 1) by Jean Hoefling.

 I reviewed this novel on 30/03/19 in another blog, now defunct. 

Ashes Like Bread: A Biblical Novel of Lamech and His Two Wives (Thrones of Genesis Series Book 1)

A scorned prophetess. A deadly omen. Will this kinswoman of Adam and Eve persevere with intuition she can’t deny?

Zyla is used to the elders of the clan rejecting her dark glimpses into the future, and bitter that she doesn’t receive the honor she deserves. When her forecast of a terrible flood gets her exiled, she and her sister flee the mountain of Eden to live among evil descendants of the murderer Cain. There, Zyla is willing to do anything to advance her status, even if it means becoming a second wife to her sister's desirable husband, or aligning with forbidden spiritual powers.

When the flood Zyla prophesied slams into her new home, the outcast must decide whom she really loves and what is worth risking death for. Will she be strong enough to find hope on the other side of the waters, or will the devastation sweep her and her prophecies away forever?

If you like ancient legends and dramatic Old Testament re-imaginings, you'll love this biblical fiction novel based on a story from Genesis 4. Buy Ashes Like Bread today to see the distant past through a prophet’s eyes!

Perspective by Peter: 

I was asked by the author to review this novel. 

This story is based on the account of Lamech and his two wives from Genesis 4: 17-24, Adah and Zillah. Hoefling has spelt Zillah as Zyla and has used the background from The Book of Jasher (2: 12,15-16) that directly shows her as a daughter of Kenan (also known as Cainan in this book and in other records), 

15 And when Cainan was seventy years old, he begat three sons and two daughters.

16 And these are the names of the children of Cainan; the name of the first born Mahlallel, the second Enan, and the third Mered, and their sisters were Adah and Zillah; these are the five children of Cainan that were born to him.

whereas the Bible does not and just says that Kenan had other sons and daughters as stated in Genesis 5:12, 

¹² Kenan was 70 years old when he fathered Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan lived 840 years after the birth of Mahalalel, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So Kenan’s life lasted 910 years; then he died.

I needed to see this visually. A family tree is always good for this purpose so I discovered this (from Wikipedia) about Kenan and his family. This certainly helps me visualise what the author has included in her novel. 

When I started reading this novel, the first thing that hit me was how well-written this is. Hoefling has an excellent and competent command of the English language and executes it to its full potential. This enhances the novel and progresses the plot smoothly and seamlessly. This is especially evident in the first-person narrative of Zyla. You will definitely get to know her very well from this. I have found that using this first-person narrative is either used well or not by authors and I can see why readers do not like this type of narrative. I used to dislike it immensely but after reading a few novels where it is executed well, I have come to like it and see its specific value in a novel. 

I admire author's like Hoefling who set about to fill in the gaps or re-imagine what life would have been like in the times of the Bible where it does not give enough specifics as to what life was like at that time. It is not supposed to or else the Bible would have many volumes and to get to what God wanted us to know about Himself, our purpose here on earth, and how to live according to His tenets and doctrines would be counterproductive. These re-imagings definitely make it edgy and speculative and definitely draw you in. 

I can see that using poetic license here to re-imagine these gaps would either support the existing biblical accounts or take them on a tangent that would either mock or undermine the latter. I must confess I almost expected this to be the case with this novel. When I read one review that criticised the novel and the author for including a Cain who was delusional and lusting after a female fallen angel, my radar was activated. I approached this novel with a preconceived idea of what I would expect based on this. I do agree with that reviewer but only to a point. The Bible does not specify whether angels are male or female but due to the names of some, Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer, these are referred to in the masculine. Other angels are referred to in the masculine sense even though they are not named. As Matt Slick from CARM states,

One of the possible reasons angels could be referred to only in the masculine is that of the issue of authority and strength. Generally, the male gender is associated with authority and strength more than the female gender.

This reviewer's point is a valid one where she states that if there were female fallen angels then why would male fallen angels need to procreate with human females when they could produce their own offspring and leave human females alone? This would still be an abomination to God just like the Genesis 6:4 account. Maybe this is why God did not create female angels? Hoefling's poetic license here could be interpreted as undermining the biblical account of Genesis 6:4,

⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

(Holman Christian Standard Bible, Biblegateway.com)

Now, I have not read the previous novel in this series, Gold in Havilah, where,

Cain spirals into ever-deepening tiers of delusion through his bondage to a beautiful fallen angel 

to quote that novel's description. It seems in this novel that Hoefling may be expanding on the female fallen angel concept. I will have to read and find out. I found it interesting that this same reviewer also mentions the Bible hinting as to the presence of female angels in Zechariah 5:19, but Matt Slick again addresses this,

The context of Zechariah 5 is a series of visions. It is the sixth vision in which verse nine is delivered.

• Verse 1, a flying scroll
• Verse 2, its dimensions are 20 cubits long and its width 10 cubits
• Verses 3-4, the scroll represents a curse upon those who steal and those who swear falsely by God's name
• Verse 5-8, a woman is personified as wickedness
• Verse 9, two women coming out with the wind in their wings
• Verse 10-11, the women are going to build a temple

So, contextually the figures spoken of in verse 9 are not angels. They are representative of wickedness and are not dealing with angels. Therefore, we can see that universally in Scripture angels are referred to in the masculine and not the feminine even though the Bible does not tell us why this is so.

And Slick continues,

We do not know for sure if angels can have sexual relations with women because the Bible doesn't tell us. Nevertheless, some Christians think it is possible, and others do not. Various scriptures are used for both sides of the argument. Let's take a look at some of them.

• Matt. 22:30, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."
• Luke 20:34-36, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ for neither can they die anymore, for they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection."
• Gen. 6:1-4, "Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.' ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown."

We can see from Matt. 22:30 and Luke 20:34-36 that angels do not marry, but this does not mean they can't take human form and have relations. I am not advocating that they do have sexual relations with people, but I am simply stating that we cannot assert either position from this passage especially when the Bible tells us that people have entertained angels without even knowing it (Heb. 13:2). This means that angels can take on human appearance to such a convincing state that they can't be distinguished from people. If this is the case, then it would seem logical that an angel (a fallen one) could imitate a human physical form including the sexual organs. On the other hand, I see no biblical support for such a manifestation of fallen angels in human form. Therefore, we are still left without an absolute answer.

Gen. 6:1-4 above is a more controversial passage. The question is: Who are the sons of God? Are they angels or people? Some commentators think that the Sons of God were the descendants of Seth:

"By the former is meant the family of Seth, who were professedly religious; by the latter, the descendants of apostate Cain. Mixed marriages between parties of opposite principles and practice were necessarily sources of extensive corruption. The women, religious themselves, would as wives and mothers exert an influence fatal to the existence of religion in their household, and consequently the people of that later age sank to the lowest depravity."1

Other commentators teach that the Sons of God were angels since the term "Sons of God" is used elsewhere to refer to angels as the following scriptures suggest:

• Job 1:6, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them."
• Job 38:7, "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

However, the term "sons of God" also refers to Christians in the New Testament, as Gal. 3:26states, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." Since the question at hand deals with an Old Testament scripture, we must examine the context of that particular scripture to see how it is used.

Whichever the case, we do not know the abilities of angels. Given that they are very powerful and intelligent creatures, it is possible that they could manifest themselves as humans. This has been verified in scripture as we see from the following passage: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." (Heb. 13:2). Since they can appear in human form unbeknownst to people, it seems that a fallen angel manifesting itself in human form would be able to have sexual relations with a person.

• 1.Jamieson, R., A. R. Fauss

So based on this, I can only speculate that if angels could manifest as male and have sexual relations with human females, could they also manifest as female and have sex with human males? Very speculative indeed! I have not conversed with the author of these novels but it would be interesting to find out her thoughts on this and what evidence, if any, she has based Gold in Havilah on this concept with its minor carryover into this sequel, Ashes Like Bread. 

Hoefling only mentions Cain's obsession with Lilith, the aforementioned female fallen angel, in Ashes Like Bread, a few times and it plays no major plot arc other than to be a small part of the history of Cain as it pertains to Zyla learning about Cain's life after he was banished by God from Eden for his sin of committing the first murder, that of his brother Abel. Thus, Hoefling has not deviated on a tangent here.

While speaking of this re-imagining of life in the Cain camp after he was banished from Eden, Hoefling transports you to the life of Cain and his descendants and the life they create for themselves. It is very convincing and one that illustrates what a life, even in the 21st century, is like when it is based not on God, but on any other god or spirit that presents itself in deception over the unsuspecting. Zyla noticed this immediately after she arrived in Cain's city. The people seem dull and followed more of their base natures, which spiritually is regarded as their sinful, fallen nature. They also were very subservient to their gods whether they considered them beneficent or maleficent. Hoefling's account of Zyla's life amongst Cain's descendants successfully shows what life is like when a society has strayed from their higher calling and purpose from God and live not according to His standards, and have abandoned their relationship with Him or just do not know any better. 

I read with interest Zyla's journey from being scorned by her people for being a prophetess. In their culture and belief system, this role was seen and expected to be part of the male line. Ignored and excluded from many relationships with others in this community, and treated as though her visions are demonic in origin, she leaves Adam's city on the mountain and settles in Cain's community. Not only did her father and aunt deny her abilities to function as expected in their community, however, Zyla, never gave up on her abilities and responsibilities and continued to act as a surrogate mother to Adah when their mother, Mual (Mualeleth in the extrabiblical record, Book of Jubilees) died.

At first, I wondered why Zyla would leave this community that still had the covering of God and whose leadership of Adam and male relatives ensured the community lived according to what God had instilled in them. Then I realised that she had very little option as to where to go. Most of the other communities were too far away and the closest was that of Cain. And to stay with the only family that had not rejected her, Adah, she left with her to follow Adah's future life with Lamech and to ensure that this marriage of these two would be according to the tradition of the Sethites and God to be honoured in this as well. I also wondered where was her faith that she would leave based on the way her family and community had treated her? But the author had to follow what the Biblical record stated as history, that she married Lamech of Cain's community. So everything leading up to this was the author filling in the gaps from the Biblical record and from the other extrabiblical texts mentioned. 

Hoefling is a master at creating the environment, the relationships, the culture, and being true to what we know of the Biblical record. In doing so, she creates a novel that is engaging, all-engrossing, and more importantly, honours God and does not show Him to be any less than what the Bible reveals Him to be. This I appreciated. This account of Adah and Zyla in Cain's city and the descriptions of their lives, cultures, and religious practices borders on being dark but is definitely demonic as their worship of the gods is purely of those fallen angels. Only one of these is named, in this novel and is first mentioned in the Book of Enoch. 

I can understand some readers having negative reactions to the depictions of sex and sensuality but despite what a reviewer has stated about the repulsive sex scenes, I wondered what she was talking about. Readers must remember that this author is depicting life in a community that is devoid of God, His precepts and tenets, and the true meaning and purpose of sex that is designed by Him to only be between a married man and woman. In Cain's community, sex and sexuality are used as a means to an end and as an expression of one's base nature. In this community, you could have one wife for reproduction and one for sexual pleasure. In this novel, Adah was for the former and Zyla for the latter. The only thing that I could say was explicit was the frequency that Lamech had relations with his wives, but there were no explicit details or graphic descriptions. Hoefling only depicted this community as it most likely was. 

Hoefling describes well how conflicted both Adah and Zyla are in their adoptive community and what they have to give up, compromise, and even betray each other in order to survive. But it is almost as if a supernatural drawing from God, changes their hearts and attitudes and they both re-embrace their faith in God and leave the city of Cain, one returns to Adam's community while the other seeks a future elsewhere. And the former will be continued in the next installment which is all about Mahalalel, Zyla's brother from the subplot that started in this novel. 

Hoefling has explored this world of early mankind and brought it alive with research, clever use of poetic license, and imagination. This has given it a plausible and believable version of life that effectively fills in the gaps in the Biblical record. For me, I found this has not detracted from this record, undermined it, or lessened its impact or authority. Any Christian author should have this as their aim when writing Christian fiction. It needs to support and promote the Biblical account and the power and authority it contains. 

I look forward to reading Gold in Havilah and the next installment in this series, Watchers that deals with Mahalalel as mentioned above.

Strongly Recommended. 

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