Ryan was having a lot of doubts,
He wasn't sure what to believe.
He said, "I was looking for answers.
But questions were all I'd receive."

Gabriel had been an enigma
As long as Ryan could recall.
He would just show up in times of need.
When fear and doubt would come to call.

"Perhaps I could answer your questions."
He said, with reassuring tone.
"I have some knowledge of such matters.
Perhaps I could share what I've known."

Ryan considered the man's offer,
And thought of a question to pose.
He wanted to make it difficult,
It's answer no one truly knows.

"Who was that someone Cain referred to,
Who might find him and do him ill?
Why did God put a mark on his brow,
What end was that meant to fulfill?"

Gabriel did not waste a moment.
"In the Bible you'll find concealed,
If you seek within pages quite old.
Your answers will then be revealed."

"The early Bible has not been changed.
God created man on the sixth day,
Man and woman both in his image.
That is what you'll find it will say."

"In the old book there is no mention
Of Eden, as later suggested.
Nor is Adam then formed from the dust.
They appeared after God rested."

"You seek an answer for your question,
I'll not let your quest be denied.
But many questions are found herein,
So many answers, I shall provide."

"You wonder about Neanderthal,
And others that time has banished.
You think also of the dinosaurs,
How could they all have just vanished?"

"Let us look at one mistranslation,
Man is not God's "image", I'm afraid.
The original word was "tselem",
The meaning of which is to shade."

"You were created in God's shadow,
sheltered there since mankind began.
You are shaded by His love for you,
But you are the image of man."

"Now God created man and woman,
The plural obviously applied.
Yet Adam was made in the singular,
While later Eve took her first stride."

"Fossil records prove without a doubt,
Other "men", on Earth, once did reign.
The first creation explains that fact,
As does the need for marking Cain."

Neanderthal was not much different,
Than Homo Sapiens are now.
There was one way to tell them apart,
The difference was found in their brow."

"Did you think the mark was a tattoo,
A brand or some kind of a rune?
He was made to look like the "others,"
That he'd be encountering soon."

"His sisters would dare not do him harm,
For he was still Adam's own heir.
The Nephilim appeared much later,
Yet we know Neanderthal was there."

"As far as dinosaurs are concerned,
Are meteors that selective?
Do they kill off just one form of life?
Look at the Bible's perspective."

"Eve was beguiled back in the Garden,
By a serpent, not just a snake.
It had to be great in It's stature,
When it walked, she felt the Earth shake."

"It convinced Eve that God was lying,
and for that deed its kind was cursed.
Their lives would be spent on their bellies.
A fate God would never reverse."

"And so it has gone for all reptiles,
Since the dinosaur disappeared.
Yet reptiles survived through the ages,
How was it that they persevered?"

Gabriel reached for Ryan's shoulder,
And told him, "Seek and ye shall find.
A man who accepts another's word,
Risks following one who is blind."

With that, Gabriel said his goodbyes,
And handed Ryan a Book.
It was well preserved, yet very old.
Ryan thought he'd give it a look.

He was given a new perspective,
His answers were now in his reach.
There were lessons yet to be learned,
He knew this old Bible could teach.

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