“Don’t mind Him,” said Lucifer. “He never stays long. Perhaps one of the men is actually praying!”
“Has it come to that?” said Rugio in a mocking tone.
“The people of God have lost their nerve,” said Lucifer. “We need not worry about them sending anyone to fight your man.”
“Really?” asked Rugio, looking toward the Israelite camp. “Then who is that?”
Goliath’s shield bearer stood and ran to the giant. The man pointed to a figure approaching him from the enemy side.
The Philistine soldiers cheered loudly, gathering their weapons, as Goliath stood to meet the challenger. He was relieved that someone was going to end this incessant delay in the war. The shield bearer was astonished as the challenger came into view—it was a boy!
Goliath looked around to see if someone was coming behind David. Surely the Israelites were not expecting this boy to do their fighting. He scratched his head, confused and expecting that this was some sort of trick.
“Give me my shield,” he said.
“Well, well,” said Lucifer. “I see that Israel finally found a champion. A boy champion. Even I never would have guessed that one!”
Michael and Bakka ignored the taunts and stayed close to David.
“You know the rules, Archangel,” said Rugio. “You may not interfere with this battle. This is between humans!”
“Poor King Saul,” added Lucifer. “Reduced to sending a boy to be slaughtered because he could not find a man in Israel!”
“This is the boy whom Samuel anointed king, is it not?” asked Rugio. “He shall be killed before his reign even begins!”
“His blood shall run on this field just as Samuel’s oil ran over his head,” said Lucifer. “Such a wasted anointing!”
“There shall indeed be blood on this field, Lucifer,” said Michael finally. “But it will be the blood of a dog, not a boy.”
The closer Goliath got to David, the angrier he became. Perhaps Saul was mocking him, sending this boy out to fight him. Was this what Saul’s army was made of?
“Hey boy!” shouted Goliath loudly enough for the Philistines to hear him. “Go back and fetch your father!”
Rugio and Lucifer enjoyed Goliath’s comment, as did the men on the Philistine line, who howled with laughter. Michael noticed that the swirling, dark cloud of devils were also enjoying the spectacle.
“Is that your weapon?” Goliath continued, pointing to the staff that David held. “What am I? Some sort of dog that you are coming at me with sticks? By Dagon I will feed your body to the wild animals!”
David studied his adversary—a nine-foot killing machine covered with armor from head to toe, and holding a javelin with a head that weighed some 15 pounds. He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of scale armor. He stood proud and towering, with yellow teeth and eyes as black as his heart.
The Philistines burst out in laughter again.
Lucifer sensed that something was happening as David stopped a few meters from Goliath. He could see an aura shimmering around David, the anointing of the Most High beginning to create a wavy light all around him.
“Better get this over with quickly,” he said to Rugio.
“Right,” said Rugio, who also saw the Spirit resting upon David. Rugio quickly entered into Goliath. The giant felt a surge of strength building inside him. He looked down at David and continued to mock him.
Michael placed his hand on David’s shoulders as the boy began to speak:
“You come at me with sword and spear and javelin? You think those things will overcome the Lord Most High? I come at you in the name of the Lord Almighty—the living God of the armies of Israel! What’s more, it is you who shall be cut down and fed to the wild beasts. It is your head that shall be removed from your evil body!”
David took a step forward. “The battle belongs to the Lord of Hosts, and He will deliver you into our hands!”
Upon that declaration Rugio was thrown from Goliath by a mighty force. Lucifer, too, was knocked over as the faith of David met with the word of God. Lucifer and Rugio looked at each other, worried for the first time about what was happening. Michael continued to stand behind David, and Bakka watched from a distance, making sure no other enemy angels tried to interfere.
“Get back into Goliath and kill David now!” Lucifer ordered.
Rugio flung himself back into the giant just as he was raising his javelin to kill David. Goliath once more felt a surge of power as Rugio inflamed his mind to kill the boy! Goliath stepped up, his javelin at the ready. It should be an easy mark; the boy was without armor and close enough for a quick kill.
Bakka looked at Michael, wondering what he would do. But Michael simply remained behind David in quiet confidence. David reached into his bag and pulled out one of the stones he had picked up a few minutes before.
“Watch him,” said Lucifer. “Kill him now!”
David took the stone and placed it in the pouch of his sling and began swinging it in a wide, circular arc around and around. It was so quiet on the battlelines that both the men of Israel and Philistia could hear the whirring sound of the sling.
Suddenly Lucifer saw the Lord’s Presence manifest itself around David. He cautioned Rugio, who had already seen what was happening. Goliath raised his javelin and took aim at David. This should pin him neatly to the ground, he thought to himself.
It was his last thought.
David let go the rock that was in his sling; a hand of brilliant light took hold of the stone and sent it soaring toward Goliath. The giant never knew what had hit him. The stone cracked open his forehead and entered his brain.
Goliath simply stood there for a moment, dazed. His shield bearer wondered what Goliath was waiting for—then he noticed a small trickle of blood coming down the front of the giant’s face from underneath the bronze helmet. Goliath began to swoon a bit.
Rugio abandoned the giant as he felt Goliath’s life ebbing. He looked at Lucifer, who was aghast that the man they had raised to kill was himself dying. Suddenly Goliath fell down and hit the ground face first. He was dead.
Lucifer glared at Michael and vanished, vowing that David would never know peace. Rugio also vanished, but not before he witnessed David grab Goliath’s sword and cut off the giant’s head. A great roar went up from Saul’s camp as the army of Israel swept into the valley, charging the Philistines. With their champion dead, the Philistines lost heart and fled the battlefield.
Michael and Bakka watched David being congratulated by the men of Israel. Even his brothers were proud of him and hoisted him upon their shoulders. Saul came out to meet David. Looking at the severed head of the dead giant, some of his officers showed him Goliath’s enormous weaponry.
But Saul was not looking at the weapons. He watched the men crowding around David, patting him on the back and offering to serve under him should he decide to join the army.
“A great victory for Israel,” said Abner to Saul. “And for you!”
“A great victory indeed,” said Saul, watching the men carry David off toward the camp. “But for me? Perhaps I have traded one giant for another.”
“Sir?” asked Abner.
“Never mind, commander,” said Saul. “For now.”
Bethlehem, 4 B.C.
“Those were such glorious days for Israel,” said Eli, as he relived the moment when David became a hero. “David became one of the greatest kings in Israel’s history.”
“Did he really kill the giant with one stone?” asked Jarod excitedly.
“One stone is all it took to bring down the giant,” said Eli. “But David knew that it was not his sling or stone that brought Goliath down—it was the power of the Lord!”
“And David became a great hero!” chimed in Joshua. “David, the giant killer!”
Jarod rolled his eyes at Joshua.
“David, the giant killer,” repeated Bakka. “Those were certainly marvelous days of service to the Most High, weren’t they, Gabriel?”
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�Every day is marvelous in service to the Lord,” said Gabriel. “Even now, tonight, you are assigned to a marvelous situation.”
“Yes, so you have told me,” said Bakka, looking back at Daniel, who was just returning from his watch. “But Daniel is certainly no David.”
“No indeed,” said Gabriel. “But David had his challenges as well.”
Bakka nodded. He recalled how, after killing Goliath, David had become a national hero; how Saul became violently jealous of David and sought to kill him; how David fled Saul’s presence and was on the run for many years; how Saul and his son Jonathan died fighting the Philistines; how David became king in Jerusalem and brought the Ark back to the holy city; how David committed a great sin against the Lord by having an adulterous affair with Bathsheba and having her husband murdered; how his own sons rebelled against him. It was certainly a life that was both glorious and shameful.
“And yet, the Lord loved David and faithfully brought him through the many obstacles he faced,” remarked Bakka.
“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
Satan’s Fury
True to his word, Lucifer the adversary rose up against Israel. Appealing to David’s pride, he tempted David to number his army! Joab, David’s great commander, warned him against this foolishness, for even he saw it as a prideful move that could also expose the nation’s power to the enemy. But Lucifer had set the hook deeply, and David sinned against the Lord by conducting a military census.
So the Lord sent His Angel to ravage the land, causing great calamity. If not for the Lord’s great mercy upon Israel, and His compassion for David, the nation might have been utterly devastated. Thus did Satan tempt David into a grievous sin at the end of his reign. Nevertheless, David was recorded in the chronicles as one of the greatest kings in Israel—a man who saw by faith the day when the Seed of the woman would arrive and a greater King in Israel would reign forever.
The Great Temple
Upon the death of King David, his son Solomon became king in Israel. Solomon ordered the building of a glorious temple in Jerusalem. It was to be a holy place that honored God’s Presence on earth, and would be a wonder to behold throughout the world. Artisans and craftsmen skilled in their labor created a magnificent house of praise, and on the day of its dedication, the Glory of the Lord so filled the place that the priests could no longer remain in the building. Such times those were for the Host when God manifested His Glory among mere men!
But…as ever with humans, the tendency to rebellion remained alive and well, and it was not long before Lucifer would take advantage of the proud hearts of men to lead the nation astray….
CHAPTER 9
“The dream ended at Eden.”
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 be
come 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.”
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