Rising Darkness (11 page)

“His price,” said Lucifer. “The price of the Lord’s favor is repentance. And that is why we shall win this war ultimately.”

Lucifer led the two angels through the abandoned streets of the burned-out city. Little was left except ruined hulls of what had been homes facing the street and sections of wall that had not yet collapsed.

“Look at this city—or what is left of it,” Lucifer began. “At one point it was a thriving community of humans. Then war came and their way of life was finished. For now, Israel enjoys the Lord’s protection. But humans being what they are, I assure you that one day they will turn from the Lord completely, and He shall turn His back on them. Remember that He almost destroyed them in the desert? Had not Moses interceded for them, they would not have survived to this day. For now they resist the Baals. But one day they shall rejoice in them!”

An angel swept in from the north and came to stand in front of Kara. It was Shawa. He looked about and was surprised, as well as terrified, to see Lucifer standing nearby.

“Go on,” said Kara casually. “Report.”

Shawa looked once more in the direction of Lucifer and then, collecting his thoughts, began reporting that the Angel of the Lord had appeared again to the wife of Manoah—this time in a field near her house.

“He addressed the woman as before, my lords, and this time she ran and fetched her husband so that he might inquire of the visitor. He asked the Angel about the coming child, how they were to raise him. The Angel of the Lord repeated to the man that the child would be holy to the Lord—a Nazarite who could drink no strong drink and whose hair must not be cut.”

“Interesting,” said Lucifer, who strolled over to where Kara stood listening to Shawa. “A Nazarite vow to be taken by the child. He will be special indeed.”

“The man Manoah asked the Angel his name, not knowing that he stood before the Angel of the Lord.”

“Really,” asked Pellecus, most interested. “And what answer did He give the man?”

“None. The Angel simply said that He would accept from the man an offering of meat. But when the fire began to consume the lamb, the Angel stood within its midst and disappeared up into the sky! At that point the man and wife knew they had been visited by the Lord and they fell to the ground and worshiped.”

Shawa awaited a response or reaction from the three angels to whom he had reported. Lucifer contemplated in silence the report that Shawa had brought. Kara and Pellecus also awaited Lucifer’s response. Finally Lucifer spoke to the higher-ranking angels.

“How I envy the Lord’s ability to make humans truly worship Him,” he said.

“My lord, most of the world worships you,” said Kara. “In one form or another people bow down to you through images and incantations and…”

“Snakes! Crude statues! Beasts of the field! Those are the objects of worship that we have managed to build into the minds of men,” said Lucifer. “I enjoy the worship of minds twisted by sin. Only the Most High God truly enjoys worship in its purest sense.”

Shawa stepped back as Lucifer’s purplish aura began to manifest in his anger. As his rage subsided, so did the aura. He looked at the others and sighed…and then smiled a half smile.

“Ah, my brothers, we shall never be worshiped in purity,” he said, much calmer now, even cordial. “But we can enjoy the fruits of corruption. We may not truly know what it is to capture the hearts of men—but we can have the satisfaction of capturing their minds. Thus we might prevent their worship of the Most High.”

Shawa looked first to Lucifer and then to Kara as if to ask what his instructions were. Kara understood and then proposed that Shawa maintain a close watch on the family. Lucifer agreed.

“The child shall be born,” said Lucifer. “Of that there can be no doubt. So we shall keep a close watch on him. In the meantime we continue pressing in from the Baals and that filthy god of the Philistines.”

“Ah, Dagon,” mused Pellecus snidely. “Very crude deity indeed.”

“Sponsored by a very capable angel,” said Kara defensively.

“Berenius runs Dagon, does he not?” asked Lucifer.

“Yes, my prince,” answered Kara, looking at Pellecus with hate-filled eyes. “Berenius is one of our most devoted and capable angels. When he was given the principality over the Philistines, he began the cult of Dagon and has prospered with it.”

“It seems there is about to be a revival in the land,” said Lucifer sullenly. “For when this child has come of age he will wage war on us.”

Kara and Pellecus nodded in agreement.

“Kara, I suggest that Dagon begin to impress himself on the Israelites—especially the Danites from whose tribe this child shall come.”

“Yes, my prince,” said Kara. “I will see to it.”

“The Angel of the Lord is not the only prophet on earth,” said Lucifer. “This planet is filled with prophets. I prophesy that the priests of Dagon will be inspired this year through all manner of signs and wonders and dreams. Make certain that Berenius begins this religious zeal immediately.”

“It shall be done,” said Kara.

“The Philisitine rulers shall thus become emboldened, and by the time this Danite deliverer is born, the oppression from the five cities shall be so great that the spirit of Israel shall be crushed!”

“And the deliverer?” asked Pellecus delicately. “Suppose he turns out to be another Moses?”

“Even deliverers are corruptible,” said Lucifer. “Moses was a murderer and we used that to great effect.” He thought about it a moment. “Shawa! You will make it your task to discover the weakness of this man—his peculiar passion—so that we might one day exploit it.”

“I shall do so,” said Shawa, proud of the important role he would now take on.

“And even should the child of Manoah manage to live to his maturity, and be greater than Moses, the fight shall already have been taken out of Israel. He shall be a deliverer of a stillborn people.”

Chronicles of the Host

The warm air felt good on Samson’s face. He had been traveling between Zorah and Eshtaol, lost in deep thought about his life. For some reason a brooding, almost melancholy spirit had been emerging. He knew that God had prepared something special for him. Many times his mother and father had related the story about the Angel of the Lord appearing to them. But when? And what?

He brushed back his long black hair as he thought about the Nazarite vow he had made—or rather that had been made for him by the circumstances of his birth. Truly it was a marvelous thing to be called of the Lord. But what did it mean? Of course he had heard of the great men and women before him—men like Ehud who, declaring that he had “a message from God,” killed the king of Moab and rescued Israel from that nation’s grip. He recalled Deborah, who stepped in with Barak to war against the Canaanites. But who was he? A Danite from a nothing little town called Zorah.

As he continued down the road near Mahaneh Dan, a small caravan of Philistines on donkeys came up from the distance—some of the local tax gatherers making their usual call. Samson hated how this godless nation made prey of his people. He watched the men approaching, escorted by several chariots, the pride of the Philistine army, which had swept much of Israel before them.

As they passed by, a couple of the Philistine charioteers cursed Samson for being in their way. They would have run right over him had he not jumped to the side. Behind the first chariots came the tax collectors, lolling about under a large umbrella, fat with gold and graft, and hardly batting an eye as they passed by Samson.

“How long, O Lord, must we endure these dogs?” he asked aloud after they had passed. “I have taken a vow to You. And my mother told me that one day I was to deliver the people. But what good is a vow kept that is not also paid?”

As he finished speaking the wind around him began to pick up, kicking some dust into the air. Turning once more toward the Philistines, he watched as they disappeared over the top of a hill. They seemed unaffected by the wind. In fact, the only place that the wind seemed to be gusting about was right around Samson!

A sudden realization overtook him. Stirred by the Spirit of God, and falling to his knees, Samson called out to the Lord, praising the Most High and singing the hymns of Israel to Him. He then fell face first onto the ground, crying out to God as the Spirit of the Lord stirred and spoke to him the things that he must do.

Dheer, who accompanied Samson everywhere he went, was overjoyed at this anointing of the Spirit of God upon him. He had followed Samson’s life from childhood until now, longing for the day when God would confirm upon him the seal of His Presence. Now the man Samson had become Samson, judge of Israel!

Samson stood up, filled with a new sense of who he was. He felt so many things—as if he had been given a whole new life. His heart felt as if it were on fire, and his mind had never been sharper. But the greatest change of all in him was his strength. He suddenly felt that he could lift ten men.

Samson looked once more in the direction of the Philisitines who had passed him by. A crooked smile crossed his lips. He suddenly dashed up the road, from the direction he had just come. Dheer realized what he was about to do and stayed with him, wondering if perhaps he should call upon more angels.

In a superhuman burst of speed, Samson easily caught and passed the Philistine tax caravan, staying off the road so they could not see him. When he had gained a few hundred yards ahead of them, he awaited their turn around a small hill, standing in the middle of the road. Dheer remained alert to the situation, watching for any sign of the enemy, and curious as to the behavior of this very different man.

The lead chariot turned the corner and faced Samson. The horse stopped as if under instruction, refusing to go around Samson. Not able to see that Dheer was holding the horse back, the Philistine soldier picked up his whip.

“You there, get out of the way,” he hollered.

Samson remained fixed, arms crossed and refusing to move.

“You heard me!” he said. As the other soldiers pulled up beside him, the one holding the whip looked at Samson completely confused.