13. Writhing Language!

[말레이]

13. Writhing Language!

Thus, ‘Shem,’ who failed to migrate eastward, upheld his father ‘Noah’s’ will and remained on Mount ‘Ararat’ to serve God as a priestly descendant. In contrast, the descendants of ‘Ham’ and ‘Abel’ descended from the mountains to settle in the fertile lands where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers flow, and began farming. As they enjoyed material abundance and the comfort it brought, they gradually forgot God, remembering Him only as an annual event. It was only during major festivals dedicated to serving God that the descendants of ‘Ham’ and ‘Japheth’ flocked to the mountains. Once or twice a year, they would come to the mountain where God had descended, offer sacrifices, and reunite with family members to share stories and greet each other.

However, this did not last long. As their descendants rapidly multiplied, the custom of returning to their homeland diminished over time. Instead, gatherings became centered around nearby families and clans, and the number and size of these gatherings grew exponentially. Consequently, they began to meet with close relatives or in nearby regions, and it became increasingly difficult to travel to Mount ‘Ararat.’ As a result, they started offering sacrifices formally in their local areas or sometimes not at all.

When the descendants of ‘Ham’ and ‘Japheth’ visited the ‘Shem’ clan after a long time, the descendants of ‘Shem’ began to feel a sense of inferiority. They saw the descendants of ‘Ham’ and ‘Japheth,’ who had developed civilization and culture in the plains, adorned in luxurious clothes and jewelry. This led them to shift their focus from God to the world and material wealth, gradually losing their devotion to God. This phenomenon also began to appear among the descendants of ‘Shem.’ They started to think that it was outdated to remain on Mount ‘Ararat’ and desired to move to the plains to live abundantly. However, ‘Shem’ always remembered his father Noah’s words: “The priestly clan, representing the family in offering sacrifices to God, must stay on the mountain to be closer to God and should not move to the plains.”

Despite remembering his father’s teachings, ‘Shem’ could not ignore his children’s rebellion. Therefore, while adhering to his father’s teachings, he allowed his children to move to other regions to relieve their frustration of staying on Mount ‘Ararat’ for too long. However, he repeatedly emphasized that they should base themselves on the mountains, even if they moved to other regions. Thus, the descendants of ‘Shem’ did not descend to the plains but moved to the Taurus Mountains on the left of Mount ‘Ararat’ and the Zagros Mountains to the southeast, where they continued to offer sacrifices to God.

As time passed, significant changes also came to the family of ‘Elam,’ the eldest son of ‘Shem.’ They no longer wanted to live confined to the mountains and let the fertile lands be occupied only by the descendants of ‘Ham’ and ‘Japheth.’ So, they began to descend to the plains, leading to conflicts with the descendants of ‘Ham’ and ‘Japheth’ who had settled there first. These conflicts eventually escalated into wars. Despite frequent wars due to long-standing tribal rivalries, the descendants of ‘Shem’ ultimately won the wars, forcing the descendants of ‘Ham’ and ‘Japheth’ to abandon their lands and flee elsewhere. The descendants of ‘Shem’ then occupied the plains and established the first human civilization, ‘Sumer.’

‘Elam,’ the eldest son of ‘Shem,’ took possession of the plains, began plowing fields with oxen, and started livestock farming with sheep. He managed the frequent floods in Sumer by building canals and levees, made pottery by baking clay, and smelted copper, making farming easier and increasing yields. He also created the first medicines, established markets with tokens for bartering goods, and smelted copper and metals to make axes. These advancements in agriculture, livestock farming, medicine, commerce, crafts, and tea culture were widely known to his descendants. People remembered him and depicted him with the head of an ox. They also offered oxen and sheep as sacrifices to God, and the priestly clan ate the ox heads. This custom naturally continued, leading to the Korean people’s habit of eating ox heads.

Additionally, ‘Elam’ remembered the principles of the ‘Heavenly Seal’(天符印 Cheonbuin) = the symbol of heaven, earth, and man = Heaven, Earth, and Human(天地人 Cheonjiin) inherited from his father. Before Noah’s flood, God created the heavens and the earth and entrusted the land and all creatures to Adam. This later became a symbol of creation, and the ‘Heavenly Seal’ was created to remember the creation of the heavens and the earth. It expressed the basic principles of creation in the first human script. Through the principles of the ‘Heavenly Seal,’ as the population grew, civilization naturally emerged. These principles were applied to create tools for daily life, leading the descendants of Adam to focus on civilization rather than remembering God. They indulged in the pleasures brought by civilization, forgetting God, which led to their downfall and the flood that destroyed the world.

Among the survivors were Noah, ‘Shem,’ ‘Ham,’ and ‘Japheth,’ who knew the significance of the ‘Heavenly Seal.’ Noah, who possessed the ‘Heavenly Seal,’ passed it on to ‘Shem,’ who continued the line of faith. ‘Shem’ then passed it on to his eldest son, ‘Elam.’ When ‘Elam’ developed the technology to smelt bronze, he created objects symbolizing the ‘Heavenly Seal’ with bronze: a bronze mirror representing heaven (○), a bronze sword representing man (⌷), and a bronze spear representing earth (△). These tools permeated daily life, diversifying it and rapidly advancing Sumerian civilization and culture. The nation expanded into a larger and stronger country. However, as the nation grew, people increasingly focused on materialism rather than God, leading to secularization.

As Sumer grew and strengthened, other brothers also began to establish city-states competitively, leading to conflicts and disputes over interests. This resulted in invasions, killings, and increasing competition and chaos in the world. ‘Elam,’ the eldest son of ‘Shem,’ realized that the various tools he created based on the principles of the ‘Heavenly Seal’ had caused these issues. He understood the consequences of his stubbornness and greed that went against his father’s will, leading to unbearable suffering. He became disillusioned with creating or developing anything new and wanted to give up everything. Therefore, he transferred the authority to rule to his eldest son, ‘Ju’ (also known as ‘Su,’ meaning ‘Lord of Heaven,’ depicted as a winged bird-man), and remained only in name as the king.

Then, his son ‘Ju’ rose up resolutely to strengthen the royal authority. Taking advantage of his father’s wavering, he expelled the cunning individuals who, for their own interests, caused disputes and conflicts, thereby weakening the nation. By quelling the chaos and unifying the surrounding city-states, all the other lords trembled in fear and submitted everything to ‘Ju’. As a result, Sumer became even stronger than during his father Elam’s time.

Having organized the chaotic surroundings, Ju always loved the people, punishing the wicked and urging the people to serve God devoutly. The people called him the son of God, praised him, and followed him. Ju built a ziggurat on the plains for the Semites who had come down from the mountains, so that they could serve God with the same heart as they did in the mountains. He made the priests offer sacrifices on the high ziggurat on the plains, just as they did in the mountains, and to remember his grandfather Noah, who walked with God, he made those offering sacrifices first enter the water of the altar’s pond and then come out again, to remember and not forget the history of Noah surviving the flood. The world was amazed at his profound piety, and everyone strove to serve God even more, making Sumer’s national power even stronger.

Ju pioneered the land, rebuilt the city walls, and created letters by engraving reeds on clay tablets. He also directly verified the toxicity of herbs to create medicine, cared for the people’s pain, opened markets for the exchange of goods, and had other descendants of Elam manage the waterways and build the palace, making it the capital. Thus, the world found stability, and the nation stood upright without disputes. However, Ju had one problem: he excessively liked women and was particularly weak to their words, granting whatever they asked.

At that time, Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, Noah’s third son, was skilled in trade. He established the Canaanite kingdom on the western coast, owned many merchant ships, and sent merchants everywhere, gaining great influence. He always defied God and incited other chiefs to rebel against God wherever he went. Canaan, having grasped Ju’s weakness, devised a plan to overthrow Ju and take over his kingdom. He flattered and pretended to serve Ju while secretly selecting and training beautiful women to send as gifts to Ju to seduce him. These women, once they gained Ju’s love and trust, manipulated him to create idols of other gods instead of God and to worship those idols. Ju, falling into Canaan’s scheme, increasingly trusted him and even married a Canaanite woman named Enmebaragesi, one of the women Canaan had sent. Ju began to follow her every wish, being led around by her, and neglected state affairs and the governance of the people, becoming increasingly absorbed in women.

As Ju, who was practically the king, was seduced by beautiful women, betrayed God, neglected state affairs, and was always absorbed in women, the people began to imitate him and became similarly dissolute. Consequently, Sumer’s national power weakened significantly. Ju did not stop there; he created a copper statue of himself with wings and set it up in the center of the palace. When the priests and loyal subjects criticized his actions and advised him to stop, Ju did not listen. He dug a deep pit in front of his statue, surrounded it with a wall, and put lions in it, throwing all the critics to the lions, making the world tremble at his cruelty.

Elam, deeply troubled by his son Ju’s tyranny, heard that Asshur, the second son of Shem and Elam’s brother, was the chief of the Assyrians in the north of Sumer. Asshur was known as a truly benevolent king who feared God and cared for the people’s suffering. His wife, along with those responsible for medical care, treated the sick, drawing the people’s hearts towards him from all directions. Elam, upon learning the details, felt proud and thought there could be no king like his brother, who served God well and cared for the people, creating a good nation despite its small size. He decided to pass the throne to his brother Asshur, hoping Sumer would become like his brother’s nation. Despite Asshur’s firm refusal, Elam relinquished his throne and retreated into the deep mountains to live a secluded life.

Asshur, unable to dissuade his brother, reluctantly took over Elam’s position. He ascended the hill called ‘Asshur’, meaning ‘shining’ or ‘sunrise’, amidst blooming flowers, received the newly made royal seal from the three representative priests of the time (the original seal was held by Ju and was not relinquished), and wore the royal crown, becoming the king who ruled all nations. The people rejoiced and sang at his coronation, and Asshur established the capital on that hill, naming the nation ‘Assyria’.

However, Elam had one problem: he had no son to inherit and rule the kingdom. At that time, his younger brother Arphaxad had a grandson named Eber, who was also a king and priest of a small nation, well-respected by the people for his care and governance. Elam learned that Eber had a firstborn son named Peleg and a newborn son named Joktan. Elam personally visited Eber and requested to adopt Joktan as his son. Eber, remembering that Ham had inherited the line of faith from Noah, and that his great-grandfather Elam had inherited that authority, and that the throne should have been passed to Ju, but seeing Ju’s tyranny, decided to pass the throne and the birthright to his younger uncle Eber. Eber, hoping that his son Joktan would continue the line of faith and live as a man of God, gladly allowed his son to be adopted by his second uncle.

Asshur, having adopted Joktan from Eber, renamed him ‘Hwanung’ (桓雄) and cherished and loved him, raising him diligently to grow up well before God and become a great king and man of God to rule the nation after him.

Meanwhile, Ju, enraged by his uncle taking over the throne and establishing the new Assyrian kingdom, raised an army to attack Assyria. Asshur tried to persuade his nephew Ju in every way, but Ju refused to listen. Asshur, concerned about the lives of the Sumerians and his nephew, did not want to go to war. However, his advisors and many officials, insisting that punishing Ju, who defied God, was God’s will and would save the Sumerians from sin and oppression, persuaded Asshur to reluctantly take up the whip to punish Sumer and Ju.

Then, his son ‘Ju’ rose up resolutely to strengthen the royal authority. Taking advantage of his father’s wavering, he expelled the cunning individuals who, for their own interests, caused disputes and conflicts, thereby weakening the nation. By quelling the chaos and unifying the surrounding city-states, all the other lords trembled in fear and submitted everything to ‘Ju’. As a result, Sumer became even stronger than during his father Elam’s time.

Having organized the chaotic surroundings, Ju always loved the people, punishing the wicked and urging the people to serve God devoutly. The people called him the son of God, praised him, and followed him. Ju built a ziggurat on the plains for the Semites who had come down from the mountains, so that they could serve God with the same heart as they did in the mountains. He made the priests offer sacrifices on the high ziggurat on the plains, just as they did in the mountains, and to remember his grandfather Noah, who walked with God, he made those offering sacrifices first enter the water of the altar’s pond and then come out again, to remember and not forget the history of Noah surviving the flood. The world was amazed at his profound piety, and everyone strove to serve God even more, making Sumer’s national power even stronger.

Ju pioneered the land, rebuilt the city walls, and created letters by engraving reeds on clay tablets. He also directly verified the toxicity of herbs to create medicine, cared for the people’s pain, opened markets for the exchange of goods, and had other descendants of Elam manage the waterways and build the palace, making it the capital. Thus, the world found stability, and the nation stood upright without disputes. However, Ju had one problem: he excessively liked women and was particularly weak to their words, granting whatever they asked.

At that time, Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, Noah’s third son, was skilled in trade. He established the Canaanite kingdom on the western coast, owned many merchant ships, and sent merchants everywhere, gaining great influence. He always defied God and incited other chiefs to rebel against God wherever he went. Canaan, having grasped Ju’s weakness, devised a plan to overthrow Ju and take over his kingdom. He flattered and pretended to serve Ju while secretly selecting and training beautiful women to send as gifts to Ju to seduce him. These women, once they gained Ju’s love and trust, manipulated him to create idols of other gods instead of God and to worship those idols. Ju, falling into Canaan’s scheme, increasingly trusted him and even married a Canaanite woman named Enmebaragesi, one of the women Canaan had sent. Ju began to follow her every wish, being led around by her, and neglected state affairs and the governance of the people, becoming increasingly absorbed in women.

As Ju, who was practically the king, was seduced by beautiful women, betrayed God, neglected state affairs, and was always absorbed in women, the people began to imitate him and became similarly dissolute. Consequently, Sumer’s national power weakened significantly. Ju did not stop there; he created a copper statue of himself with wings and set it up in the center of the palace. When the priests and loyal subjects criticized his actions and advised him to stop, Ju did not listen. He dug a deep pit in front of his statue, surrounded it with a wall, and put lions in it, throwing all the critics to the lions, making the world tremble at his cruelty.

Elam, deeply troubled by his son Ju’s tyranny, heard that Asshur, the second son of Shem and Elam’s brother, was the chief of the Assyrians in the north of Sumer. Asshur was known as a truly benevolent king who feared God and cared for the people’s suffering. His wife, along with those responsible for medical care, treated the sick, drawing the people’s hearts towards him from all directions. Elam, upon learning the details, felt proud and thought there could be no king like his brother, who served God well and cared for the people, creating a good nation despite its small size. He decided to pass the throne to his brother Asshur, hoping Sumer would become like his brother’s nation. Despite Asshur’s firm refusal, Elam relinquished his throne and retreated into the deep mountains to live a secluded life.

Asshur, unable to dissuade his brother, reluctantly took over Elam’s position. He ascended the hill called ‘Asshur’, meaning ‘shining’ or ‘sunrise’, amidst blooming flowers, received the newly made royal seal from the three representative priests of the time (the original seal was held by Ju and was not relinquished), and wore the royal crown, becoming the king who ruled all nations. The people rejoiced and sang at his coronation, and Asshur established the capital on that hill, naming the nation ‘Assyria’.

However, Elam had one problem: he had no son to inherit and rule the kingdom. At that time, his younger brother Arphaxad had a grandson named Eber, who was also a king and priest of a small nation, well-respected by the people for his care and governance. Elam learned that Eber had a firstborn son named Peleg and a newborn son named Joktan. Elam personally visited Eber and requested to adopt Joktan as his son. Eber, remembering that Ham had inherited the line of faith from Noah, and that his great-grandfather Elam had inherited that authority, and that the throne should have been passed to Ju, but seeing Ju’s tyranny, decided to pass the throne and the birthright to his younger uncle Eber. Eber, hoping that his son Joktan would continue the line of faith and live as a man of God, gladly allowed his son to be adopted by his second uncle.

Asshur, having adopted Joktan from Eber, renamed him ‘Hwanung’ (桓雄) and cherished and loved him, raising him diligently to grow up well before God and become a great king and man of God to rule the nation after him.

Meanwhile, Ju, enraged by his uncle taking over the throne and establishing the new Assyrian kingdom, raised an army to attack Assyria. Asshur tried to persuade his nephew Ju in every way, but Ju refused to listen. Asshur, concerned about the lives of the Sumerians and his nephew, did not want to go to war. However, his advisors and many officials, insisting that punishing Ju, who defied God, was God’s will and would save the Sumerians from sin and oppression, persuaded Asshur to reluctantly take up the whip to punish Sumer and Ju.

To him, Hwanwoong was a disciple with the most influential environment. He believed that if he could guide Hwanwoong properly, he would be the one to realize the dreams of Geumja. While he was inwardly very welcoming, he knew it wouldn’t be easy if he couldn’t raise Hwanwoong freely and faced various restrictions. Therefore, he proposed that he would accept Hwanwoong as a disciple if he could move freely between the palace and his residence without any restrictions. Nimrod, also thinking absolutely about the future generations, gladly accepted his proposal, hoping that Hwanwoong would grow into a king through various experiences. He entrusted Hwanwoong to him entirely for his education as a prince.

The teacher, who gladly accepted Hwanwoong as a disciple, educated him in a way completely different from the current values and ways of the world. He raised him with the hope that he would become a true king who knows God and the people, not a king through physical force and worldly greed. This education included teaching that God is the center of the world, serving God well above, and serving the people well below to create a truly great nation. Along with this teaching, he also included various physical training to ensure Hwanwoong grew up healthy. Thanks to this love and nurturing, Hwanwoong grew not only in body but also in wisdom and academic level, becoming a handsome and robust young man with both intellect and wildness.

However, Hwanwoong had one concern. Although he was still a young man, he couldn’t help but worry deeply when he looked at the country of Assyria, which went against God, and its people who lived freely without restraint, enjoying infinite freedom in material, time, and space. Despite being in the position of a prince who would inherit that country, he was not happy at all. He enjoyed meditating and thinking alone since he was young. He defined the true attitude of life as serving God above, benefiting people widely in God, and living a disciplined life with self-imposed standards even in freedom, which he called “Hongik Ingan” (弘益人間). He prayed and pondered on how to bring about such a world as his teacher taught, dreaming and resolving to build such a nation in his heart.