Rising Darkness

by D. Brian Shafer

  Gabriel and Michael stood on the low hill overlooking Jericho. They watched as the Hebrews lined up once more in procession, to march around the city. The Ark of the Testimony went before the armed men, borne by the priests, who were also carrying trumpets looted from Egypt years before.

  “The city seems more still than usual,” remarked Gabriel. “Even the enemy seems more subdued.”

  Michael agreed. Over the past six days the demon presence, which had played such a prominent part early on in cajoling and attempting to strike fear in the hearts of the men of Israel, had slowly ebbed. Now there were only those few devils who remained on in possession of particular people, or who remained loyal to Khasis—who had vowed to resist until it was over.

  “I thought at first that Joshua’s marching might only encourage the enemy to their usual mockery,” said Michael. “Instead they seem to have vanished.”

  “There is more here than marching, Michael,” said Gabriel. “They sense that the Lord is about to judge this place and they have abandoned it.”

  Just then an alarm went up in the city as a watchman observed the Israelites approaching in their usual procession. Soldiers began peeking up over the walls, watching with bemused looks the strange behavior of Joshua’s men. Occasionally a man would curse the Hebrews, or dare them to come nearer the walls. But Joshua’s troops resolutely began their trek around the city. One…two…three…and finally six times.

  “Six times today,” said Gabriel. “There is something different in this.”

  “I can sense a shift in Jericho,” agreed Michael. “And the Host is moving in as well. They know it will soon be over too.”

  “They have been instructed in what to do?” asked Gabriel.

  “Of course,” said Michael. “On Joshua’s signal they will move in.”

  Gabriel observed as thousands of shimmering angels descended upon the scene, preparing to do battle with an enemy that was largely vacating the battlefield. Every so often an enemy spirit would shriek and curse and fling himself through the angelic cordon, vowing that the fight was not yet over.

  “Strange how the city seems so unaware…so ordinary,” said Michael. “It’s as if nothing has changed for them in these past six days. They seem totally unaware of what is about to befall them. Even their fear is beginning to subside in the face of no real war.”

  Gabriel pointed to a particular section of the wall.

  “There is one in Jericho who is aware,” he said.

  High above the ground, dangling from a small window, was a red cord that cascaded down about 20 feet.

  “Rahab,” said Michael quietly.

  CHAPTER 4

  “How can a man sin against God on the heels of a great victory?”

  “Shout! The Lord your God has given you this city!”

  Upon Joshua’s command, the men at arms who surrounded Jericho began shouting with all their might. The priests accompanying them blew on their trumpets—and a great noise filled the city.

  Khasis and what was left of his demon attachment were filled with panic as they saw thousands of the Host descending upon the city. What was left of his troop scattered like dust and only he remained fixed—preferring to stay in Jericho in defiance.

  The Host slammed into the walls, hitting them with their great swords. The men on the walls were still laughing at Joshua’s men, making jokes about the concert they were enjoying. Some of them blew trumpets back in mockery.

  Suddenly the walls began to shift and the men who stood upon them became silent. They looked about themselves in disbelief as first one, and then another section of the walls gave way with a great crash. Scores of men fell with the walls and were killed by the great stones.

  As the walls continued collapsing, Joshua gave the command for the Israelites to attack. Joshua’s men poured through the great cloud of dust that had engulfed the once proud city, and began killing the defenders. Panic had set in completely, as the people of Jericho fled in every direction, trying to escape the vengeance of the Lord.

  Here and there, devils and angels were locked in battle, swords flashing and curses being uttered. Khasis knew he was defeated, but he and his few remaining defenders determined to face their former brethren from Heaven head-on. Khasis brought his sword down hard on Sangius, one of Michael’s chief aides, who had led the Host into Jericho.

  Sangius yelped in pain and swung back with his own sword, clipping Khasis on the shoulder. Khasis grinned and brought his sword down once more, narrowly missing Sangius’s head. Then, over Sangius’s shoulder he saw the red cord dangling from Rahab’s window, and he growled and lunged in that direction. He swung at Sangius with his sword as he flew toward the harlot’s home, narrowly missing him once more. Sangius could only watch him for a second before he was engulfed by several more of the enemy, including a captain of Jericho’s evil host.

  “I will at least see that traitor Rahab dead,” said Khasis in a rage to his aides, his reddish aura manifesting in uncontrolled anger.

  Several demon spirits accompanied him with enraged anticipation of what Khasis would do to Rahab. Inside her home, Rahab waited and prayed to the God of Joshua for herself and her family who had managed to find shelter with her.

  Khasis and his devils burst into the room. There was only one holy angel guarding her, and Khasis immediately ordered his warriors to distract him. They immediately set upon the guardian, who fought them off valiantly. Even so, they forced him away from Rahab so Khasis might be able to approach her unhindered. He grinned and lifted his sword high. Her guardian watched, unable to get to her in time to help.

  The crash of Michael’s sword against the sword of Khasis was so loud that every angel in the region heard it. Khasis’s sword spun out into the heavenlies, and he reeled and turned, cursing Michael, whose sword was lifted high for another blow. Khasis shrieked and vanished, as did every other enemy angel with him.

  Rahab’s guardian watched as Joshua’s two spies, who had promised Rahab that she would be spared, entered the room and placed her under their protection. Outside, as Rahab and her family were escorted to Joshua, the last remnants of resistance were killed by the Israelites. Every man, woman, and child of Jericho was put to death as the Lord had ordered.

  One of Joshua’s generals, the one who had been fighting a demon-inspired depression, appeared before Joshua.

  “A wonderful victory, sir!” he said jauntily. Joshua was glad to see his spirits up again. “A dreadful stronghold.”

  “The Lord is good,” Joshua admitted, looking over the carnage. “I have pronounced a curse over this place. Should anyone ever attempt to rebuild this city it will be at the cost of his firstborn.”

  Several of Joshua’s officers walked about with gold cups and other valuables in their hands. They were enjoying the fruit of plunder. Joshua pointed to the men.

  “Commander, remind the people that this unrighteous place is devoted to destruction. Everything in it is to be destroyed or left behind in honor of our Lord. No plunder!”

  “As you wish,” said the commander, who went to the men and spoke with them. The men looked at the commander and then over at Joshua. They dropped their goods where they stood and walked off, muttering a bit. The commander walked back to Joshua.

  “I’ll go throughout the ruined city and make sure that nothing is taken,” he said to Joshua. “Although it will be difficult to explain to some of the men.”

  “You let me worry about the men, Achan,” said Joshua. “You just carry out the order that nothing be taken.”

  “It shall be just as you have said,” Achan responded, as he looked down at the small gold ring that he had let casually drop to the ground while talking with Joshua. After Joshua left, Achan looked at the ring that he had found and was going to give to his wife. For a few seconds he stood there as the sun hit the ring and made it shimmer. He shook himself to his duty.

  “Such a pity,” he said and ground it into the dust.

  From within a ruined section of the
wall Jhara and Khasis had been watching the whole scene.

  “Interesting,” said Jhara. “We might get a win out of this yet.”

  “Possibly,” said Khasis carefully. “He is certainly unlike Joshua’s other commanders. He broods. He is quite a thinker.”

  “And he is greedy,” added Jhara hopefully.

  They discreetly followed Achan as he went from house to house, ordering the clearing of the dead and making certain that Joshua’s orders were being carried out. As he crossed over the courtyard to what had been the king of Jericho’s great house, he saw the dead king, whose body had been crushed by one of the wall stones. In his hands he was clutching a small chest.

  Achan looked at the chest for a moment and then continued on. As he walked Khasis scrambled up next to him, placed his hand upon his shoulder and began speaking into his mind.

  “I wonder what a king would keep inside a chest,” he said. “What would be in that chest that his dying thought was to preserve it?”

  Achan turned and looked again at the chest that lay in the hands of the dead king. He looked about to make sure he was alone. He then stood there for a moment as if trying to decide what he should do.

  “It certainly wouldn’t hurt to see inside, would it?”

  Achan reasoned within himself that just taking a look wouldn’t be the same as violating Joshua’s command. He slowly wandered over to where the box lay in the outstretched hands of the king.

  “Open it.”

  Achan hesitated for a minute.

  “Open it!”

  Achan kicked the chest out of the dead man’s hands, spilling its contents on the dusty pavement. He counted about two hundred shekels of silver, plus a gold wedge of about fifty shekels. He was about to bend down and touch it when someone came up behind him.

  “Sir, look at this beautiful Babylonian robe I found in the king’s house!” said Zara, one of his commanders. “It must be worth…”

  “Leave it,” said Achan, who led the man away from the spot where the chest had spilled open. “These things are not to be taken. Nothing is to be removed from Jericho. These are Joshua’s orders.”

  Zara looked grimly at Achan and then with a great sigh started to take the robe back into the house. Achan called out to him.

  “Leave that with me,” he said. “I’ll place it with the other things that are to be burned.” He then shifted to a fatherly tone. “Besides, Zara, the Lord has promised us a land of milk and honey. We have no need of such pagan goods!”

  Zara reluctantly handed the beautiful robe over to Achan.

  “I must say these Babylonians certainly are luxurious people,” Achan said, holding up the robe. “Decadent to be sure. But fine craftsmen!” He looked at Zara, who was watching him inspect the clothing like a tailor looking over a fine piece of merchandise. “Thank you, Zara. That will be all for now.”

  Zara nodded and walked off to join the other men, most of whom had already left Jericho to rejoin their families. Achan looked at the robe and the chest. He understood that these things were given over to the Lord as trophies to Him. Still it seemed such a waste to leave them for some scavenger who had not paid the price of battle. Besides, some of this would be given to the priests in honor of the Lord. What should he do?

  “This land is your inheritance, is it not?” came a voice. “Take what has been given to you. You have waited four hundred years for this day…take it…”

  “After all, it is my inheritance,” he said to himself, as he gathered the things to put away until he could come back and reclaim them.

  “Achan has taken something for himself from Jericho.”

  Michael stopped his address to his warrior commanders who were in charge of the conquest of Canaan. He looked at Gabriel in disbelief.

  “What?” he responded. “Already the humans are degrading?” He hushed the stir among the other angels with him and then followed up with, “The things devoted to the Lord?”

  “Yes,” said Gabriel. “He has taken some gold and some other items and hidden them under his tent.”

  Michael could barely contain the rage he felt brewing inside him. How could this be? He was embarrassed for Gabriel. He felt compassion for the warriors who stood before him and were dedicated to helping this ungrateful people reclaim their land. Most of all he felt heartsick for the Most High, whose law seemed never to be respected by men.

  “How am I to set up a strategy and support the humans when they are defeating themselves?” he asked in an exasperated tone. Gabriel looked at the other warriors and back at Michael. The archangel understood and dismissed his loyal angels, ordering them to scout out the enemy’s movements outside of Jericho.

  “Disappointment in humans should long be settled,” said Gabriel. “Since Eden we have learned on numerous occasions of man’s propensity to sin against the Lord.”

  “But on the occasion of such a great victory?” Michael asked. “How can a man sin against God on the heels of a great victory? What causes men to be so carnal?”

  “That’s easy,” came a familiar voice. “The same thing that caused Lucifer to sin in the very presence of the Most High.”

  Michael turned to see Crispin landing on the hillside along the Jordan where Michael had been addressing his angels. Michael and Gabriel hailed their old teacher.

  Crispin looked at Gabriel with an understanding demeanor.

  “I heard the news already,” said Crispin. “Heaven is abuzz with Achan’s foolishness.”

  “But why?” asked Michael. “Why do they do these things? A magnificent victory at Jericho and now this?”

  Crispin loved Michael’s passionate loyalty for the Lord. He glanced at the archangel and responded.

  “As I was saying, humans suffer from the same inclination that befell Lucifer,” answered Crispin. “Pride.”

  Gabriel silently nodded in agreement while Michael continued stewing.

  “Pride!” repeated Michael. “The stuff of sin.”

  “Just so,” agreed Crispin. “Pride will bring down a man or an angel. In some cases it will bring down a nation.”

  Michael could only shake his head in utter disgust at the creatures into whom the Most High had placed His very image.

  “So once more the creature turns on its Creator,” he could only manage. “Incredible! Here I am planning with my commanders the coordination with Joshua’s men to go before them and sweep out the enemy at Ai. And now this?”

  Gabriel looked to Michael.

  “There is more, my brother,” he said sullenly.

  Crispin didn’t look at either one of the archangels. Michael glanced at both Crispin and Gabriel, trying to imagine what else might happen.

  “I have a message for you from the Throne. You are not to accompany Joshua in the next battle,” Gabriel announced. “Israel has defiled itself; the Presence of God, not any of the Host, is to be with these people in battle.”

  “Shall they lose this battle?” asked Michael.

  “Yes,” said Gabriel. “They will be defeated at Ai.”

  Michael nodded in agreement with the pronouncement. He could only picture in his mind the defeat that awaited even as Joshua and his commanders prayed for a victory. And one man in particular who prayed would be sinning in his prayer.

  “Crispin, can the sin of this man Achan bring down the whole of Israel?” Michael asked. “Why not punish the man and not the community?”

  “Crispin thought about his answer for a bit.

  “Michael, do you recall the days before the rebellion? I mean, before Lucifer transgressed beyond his own ability to find his way back from the darkness he had entered?” asked Crispin.

  “Yes,” said Michael. “Of course.”

  “He was one angel—a powerful one, granted—but his pride brought with him one third of the angels. These creatures, once holy, defiled themselves and were caught up in his wickedness and swept away. In the same way, Michael, if the Lord does not deal severely with this sin—if all Israel does not realize
the effect that one sin can have on an entire nation—then these people who are already given to failure are doomed to compromise themselves and become just as carnal as the nations they are now ejecting from Canaan.”

  “So the Lord must use Achan as an example to the people,” said Michael. “And innocent men will die because of it.”

  “That is the nature of sin,” Crispin said. “The lives of many are often caught up in the wake of sin. Humans believe that when they sin in secret, they are doing everyone else a favor. On the contrary, there is no sinning in secret. And unfortunately they do nobody a favor—rather they darken the entire community. That’s why the whole of Israel is affected by Achan.”

  “So one man sins and all must suffer,” said Gabriel.

  “Yes,” said Crispin. “If there was only another way…a better way. It would be much better if one man suffered for all sin.”

  Bethlehem, 4 B.C.

  Jarod and Joshua were wide-eyed, enjoying the recounting of Joshua’s invasion of Canaan. Some of the men around the fire had settled in for the night. When Eli stopped to get a drink of cold water, Jarod looked at his father, who gave him a knowing look, as if to say, “go ahead and ask him.”

  Daniel, in the meantime, had moved in closer to the fire, preferring the nonsense of Eli to the cold chill of the night. He still hadn’t entered into the conversation, but brooded, mindlessly staring at the fire and trying with all his might to block out the old man’s story.

  When Eli finished his drink, Jarod spoke up.