Rising Darkness (20 page)

“Yes, but remember, Bakka, the Lord never excuses sin,” said Gabriel. “There is always a consequence to disobedience. Somebody must pay when a sin is committed. Sin never occurs without a price—sometimes a very great price!”

Near Jerusalem, 988 B.C.

Somewhere near Jerusalem, in an olive grove of a great estate, Pellecus was reporting to the Council on his findings about the state of David’s kingdom. He had been assigned to discover a weakness, a point of attack that could be used to bring David down as he approached the end of his reign.

“Thus far,” Pellecus continued, “we have had varying degrees of success. The incident with Bathsheba, the revolt of Absalom, various other indiscretions—all of these have been modestly successful in challenging David’s authority. Yet the man manages to come back—to remain true to the Most High…”

“And why is that?” asked Kara. “What is so special about this man that he is able to withstand our plans against him?”

“Faith,” interjected Lucifer. “He may be imperfect. And surely he has had his defeats. But in the end he is a man of faith. Ever since I saw him kill Goliath, I knew that he would be a problem for us.”

Rugio growled a low growl at the thought of Michael standing behind David that day in the valley of Elah.

“I vowed that day that I would find some way to trip him up—to destroy him and make him lose face before the Lord. Not merely to avenge that day at Elah. But because David is a critical part of the prophecy which is pointed against us.”

“The Seed,” said Kara. “Always the Seed!”

“Yes, Kara,” said Lucifer. “The Seed. The Lord has decreed that the Seed shall come through the house of David—that a king shall one day rise in Israel through the line of David! The Lord has made an everlasting covenant with David. We must do whatever we can to discourage him and his children after him until this accursed line is destroyed once and for all. We bloodied his life enough that the Lord will not permit him to build the great temple in Jerusalem. That shall be left to one of the other sons of Judah.”

“The Lord has done us a favor really,” observed Pellecus. “Until recently we had lost sight of the Seed. Now we know that it shall come through the tribe of Judah. The rest can do as they please—but Judah will remain our focus from this point forward.”

“Precisely,” agreed Lucifer. “If we can bring down the kings we can bring down the nation—and once the nation is destroyed, the Seed will have no place to root.”

“We have been over this time and again,” complained Kara. “And yet we have never been able to sufficiently bring down this man!”

“It is not a single blow that brings down a great man,” said Lucifer. “It is a constant chipping away that destroys even the mightiest of men. Remember that! Persistent and unrelenting attack is what will cause the godly ones to stumble.”

“I have been working on some of his generals,” said Rugio. “There are several who are ripe for revolt. Perhaps…”

Lucifer cut him off.

“Until now our attacks have been from the outside,” he said. “At this point in his life, David has much to be proud about. I suggest therefore that we hit him at the point of pride. There is nothing more susceptible to defeat than a proud heart.”

“Shall we take something from him?” asked Kara. “Something in which he places great pride?”

“No, Kara,” said Lucifer. “Rather than take from his pride, we shall inflame it. I suggest we create something that will be born in David’s heart, but will bring shame on the nation.” He looked over the others. “And to make certain that it is done well, it will be something in which I am personally involved…”

Chronicles of the Host

Jerusalem, 940 B.C.

“Solomon is dead!”

Lucifer looked up at Kara, who had made the announcement in his usual dramatic fashion. “We can now proceed one more step removed from David.”

Kara entered the garden area of a ruined Canaanite temple at the base of Mount Carmel where Lucifer and Pellecus were meeting to discuss the latest developments in Israel.

“Yes, Kara,” said Lucifer. “Your news is welcome but also late. We have known since he took his last wretched breath.”

Kara glared at Pellecus, who returned the glare with a “yes, I am the one who told him” smirk. Kara fought the desire to lash out at Pellecus, preferring to deal with him when he was not with Lucifer.

“Solomon was quite an opponent,” said Lucifer. “He will not be missed. Although I must say that at the end of his life he realized how much of it he threw away in useless, human pursuits.”

“Nevertheless the temple was built because of him,” said Kara. “Just one more step toward the fulfillment of the prophecy against us.”

He looked about the area with an annoyed expression.

“Where is Rugio?” he demanded. “He is supposed to be with us in developing our long-range strategy against Israel.”

“Rugio is assigned to another nation,” said Lucifer. “He is in Nineveh.”

“Assyria? Why is he there?” asked Kara with a mixture of suspicion and jealousy that Rugio was assigned a new task.

“The Assyrians are a crude and warlike people,” said Pellecus, assuming a lecturing posture. “They are also a nation that is on the rise and by our estimation will become a threat to Israel within the next century.”

“Rugio shall help to encourage those cruel tendencies that are a part of these people,” said Lucifer. “Therefore the three of us shall determine our course for Israel.”

Kara sat down on a broken wall overgrown with wild grapevines. Lucifer had decided that the best way to crack the nation was to divide it from within. He pulled on one of the vines near Kara.

“This vine was once trained and pruned and fruitful,” Lucifer began. “But over time it became wild and unrestrained and as a result the fruit it bears is not good.” He plucked a tiny cluster of grapes. “Like this vine, Israel is ripe for barrenness.”

He began to pace in the garden as he spoke.

“As Kara said, with David and Solomon now removed, their reigns will become a distant memory—phantoms of a glory that once was Israel. The nation will become unrestrained, untrained, slothful in the things of God. The temple will become a place of empty religion rather than true worship. And as the nation disintegrates from within, we shall present new adversaries from abroad! Nations like Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon shall rise up and bring the people into bondage—because they will have forsaken the Most High God for the gods of this world!”

“Wonderful plan,” said Kara. “But where to start?”

“Actually Kara, you shall spearhead the latest thrust,” said Lucifer casually.

“I’m honored, of course,” said Kara. “And I shall not let you down!”

“Yes,” remarked Pellecus. “Just as you did not let us down in Egypt.”

“You are completely suited to this task, Kara,” Lucifer interjected before Kara could respond to Pellecus’s offensive remark. “The new king in Israel…”

“Rehoboam,” offered Pellecus. “The son of Solomon.”

“Yes, Rehoboam,” continued Lucifer. “He is the son of Solomon but without the wisdom or the diplomatic sharpness.” He looked at Kara. “In short, Kara, he is vain, ambitious, and a complete fool.”

“Which is why you are so perfectly suited to this task,” said Pellecus dryly.

“As I said before, this kingdom is ripe for division from within,” said Lucifer. “The people are already groaning from the burdensome taxes placed upon them by Solomon so he could complete his building projects. They are weary and are looking for relief. I suggest that Rehoboam’s arrogance might be used to give them something quite different. Influence him, Kara, to drive the people into the ground!”

“An oppressed people will cry out for liberation,” Pellecus threw in. “Possibly even revolution. Political chaos will result and within a few generations Israel shall disappear as a nation and as a threat to us.”

“By then the Assyrians shall have taken prominence in the region and, with a bit of guidance from Rugio, will greedily devour whatever crumbs of Israel are left!”

Kara nodded in agreement. He liked the plan. If men could be destroyed from within, why not an entire nation? Corruption begets corruption—whether for an individual or a state. Yes, this would do quite nicely!

“It will be an honor to serve in this matter,” said Kara dutifully.

“Go to Shechem at once,” said Pellecus. “Rehoboam has just been anointed there and is gathering with his council to discuss his first action as king. And with Jeroboam back from exile in Egypt, things will get very interesting.”

“Jeroboam?” asked Kara. “Ah yes. He rebelled against Solomon, and the Lord promised him that he should be king over a divided Israel one day!”

“Exactly, Kara,” said Lucifer. “So all we are really doing is helping the Lord along in one of His own prophesies. The kingdom will be divided. The Lord has decreed it. But we can use what the Lord has decreed and turn it to our advantage.”

“I shall have the people under Rehoboam’s heels in a week!” boasted Kara.

“He is already headstrong, Kara,” cautioned Lucifer. “All he needs is a little encouragement. Nothing more.”

“Have no worry, my prince,” said Kara, smiling. “I have become quite adept at encouraging humans!” Kara then vanished.

Lucifer looked toward the heavens.

“Once again the Lord must bow to the free will of men,” he said. “That is the critical fact with which He must contend. He set up the rules and now He must abide by them!” He indicated the wildly growing grapevine again. “Humans are lost to Him. Unruly and unfruitful like this vine. They will never adequately find their way to Him—not on their own, anyway.”