Rising Darkness

by D. Brian Shafer

  Soon after that the Most High God began to disclose to Daniel through wonderful visions what must indeed transpire in the future. Daniel was hard-pressed to understand the cryptic scenes that played out before him, but the angel Gabriel assured him that his task was not to understand the mysteries but to record them and seal them for a future time when their meaning would be revealed.

  Babylon, 539 B.C.

  “Daniel!” muttered Kara, glancing at a map of Nebuchadnezzar’s empire. “How far he has come since arriving in Babylon. How far shall we allow him to go?”

  “He is becoming as difficult a distraction as Moses was,” said Rugio. “I should like to thrash him just once.”

  The demons were in the king’s study, discussing the latest reports about Gabriel’s visits to Babylon. Kara scoffed at Rugio’s bold threat.

  “Thrash him?” he said. “He enjoys not only the protection of the Lord of Hosts but also of the lord of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar will never turn on him. I would say that the captive has become the captor.”

  “True,” said Rugio. “These Jews are perplexing types. And their prophets are equally vexing. Ezekiel and Jeremiah have been preaching hope in the midst of exile. These people cling to their faith like…”

  “Like we do,” interrupted Lucifer, entering the room with Pellecus.

  “Faith, my prince?” asked Kara.

  “Of course, Kara,” said Lucifer. “We must have faith that we can persevere in this war and ultimately achieve a satisfactory conclusion. We cling as desperately to hope as the Jews do.”

  “As for Jeremiah, I wouldn’t worry too much about him,” said Lucifer. “He has fled to Egypt with some other exiles. They have made a nice little community for themselves on Elephantis.”

  “And Ezekiel?” asked Kara, knowing of a recent prophecy that had unnerved Lucifer. “What has he been spouting lately?”

  Lucifer glared at Kara, who sheepishly tried to reframe the question. The others waited for Lucifer’s reaction. He surprised them all when he smiled back at Kara.

  “Ezekiel is quite a man,” he admitted. “Bizarre to be sure. But clever on the whole. You speak of course of his prophecy against the king of Tyre?”

  Kara looked very uncomfortable.

  “I was speaking generally, my prince,” said Kara. Pellecus grinned at him with a “you are such a fool” sort of grin.

  “How early you dig your grave, Kara,” said Pellecus. “Don’t you recall that we still have hope?”

  “Yes,” continued Lucifer. “The Lord is tantalizing at times. His veiled description of this haughty earthly king of Tyre is clever, but shallow.”

  “And quite revealing,” mused Pellecus almost absentmindedly. He caught himself and then added, “For a human, I mean.”

  Lucifer bowed in acknowledgment to Pellecus—more courteous than sincere. He then ordered a demon into the room, one of his scribes, and asked him to read the portion of Ezekiel’s prophecy that had become the subject of the current discussion. The demon, whose former position in Heaven had accorded him the privilege of recording the sacred testimonies of the Zoa, now read for Lucifer the words of Ezekiel:

  “You were the model of perfection,

  full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

  You were in Eden,

  the garden of God;

  every precious stone adorned you:

  ruby, topaz and emerald,

  chrysolite, onyx and jasper,

  sapphire, turquoise and beryl.

  Your settings and mountings were made of gold;

  on the day you were created they were prepared.

  You were anointed as a guardian cherub,

  for so I ordained you.

  You were on the holy mount of God;

  you walked among the fiery stones.

  You were blameless in your ways

  from the day you were created

  till wickedness was found in you.”

  The demons in the room were deafeningly silent. Rugio could only manage a snort of dismissal. Pellecus merely waited for the dialog to begin once more. Kara looked around wishing that someone would say something. Then Lucifer broke the spell.

  “The Most High has His petty ways of digging in,” he said. “Not content merely to reveal His word, He must also revel in it. No matter.”

  “Of course the description is quite revealing,” said Pellecus. “If it were not for Ezekiel, you might not appear at all in Heaven’s chronicles!”

  “You make light of something far more dangerous than you realize,” said Lucifer. “These words—these revelations—are not for the simpleminded fools who are captive in Babylon. They are for those who one day shall read the words of these prophets—and establish a school of thought that is both dangerous and far-reaching.”

  Lucifer’s eyes began to glow a white light that looked at first like small dots and then began to fill the room with their intensity.

  “However, the Lord is not the only voice for prophets,” said Lucifer. “Place these words in the Prophecy of the Morning Star.” “They will affirm our destiny and give rise to our own cult when earth is finally ours.”

  He then rose above them all in the center of the room and began uttering:

  “Record these words for the book divine,

  The prophecy unfold, in time:

  The prince will rise in much distress,

  His earthly cover now to best,

  The prince of Tyre now called me,

  The prince of death I’ll always be,

  And so Messiah, ever-told.

  Whatever prophecies unfold;

  Willing deathly place to be,

  Anointed One His price to me,

  Bloody end will be His place

  A thing of scorn and of disgrace;

  And when the Seed of woman dies

  Another, greater seed arise.”

  “Inspiring!” said Kara.

  “Your sincerity is always gratifying,” said Lucifer, always suspicious of Kara’s praises. “And in this case, it is true. Nevertheless, I am anxious for your report, Rugio. How go the Medes?”

  “They are on the march, my lord,” said Rugio. “Like Assyria before them, I have guided their leadership through their gods and they have created an army unmatched on earth! They will be here tonight.”

  “Well done,” said Lucifer. Of all his leaders, he trusted Rugio most of all. He was not ambitious like Kara, nor clever like Pellecus. Rather he was intensely loyal—something rare in Lucifer’s hierarchy.

  “I have decided that you shall be the prince over Persia,” said Lucifer. “You, Rugio, will guide the Persians into world empire and bring them on to Babylon.”

  “Why should Rugio be accorded this responsibility?” sputtered Kara. “He guided Assyria and they are no more! At least my Egypt still exists.”

  “It is obvious by now, Kara, that in the affairs of humans, empires come and go,” said Pellecus. “Assyria, Babylon—even the Medes one day. The point is to take advantage of a nation’s strength while it is thriving and then move on, once it has run its course.”

  “But why Babylon?” continued Kara. “Why should it be overturned?”

  “Because these kings have grown too close to the Jews,” said Lucifer. “Another nation with more appetite might be able to dispense with them.”

  “Besides all, Daniel prophesied the end of Babylon,” said Pellecus. “Only moments ago he interpreted some words that the Lord Himself had written on the wall while that fool Belshazzar was giving one of his parties.”

  “Writing on the wall?” asked Kara.

  “Theatrical but effective,” said Pellecus. “Daniel told the king that the words meant his kingdom was to be overthrown by the Persians. There is always a prophet nearby when disaster looms.”

  “At any rate, Rugio shall be prince over Persia,” said Lucifer.

  “I have studied their king,” said Rugio. “Cyrus is benign and tolerates other faiths in his domains—as does Darius, his soon-to-be-ruler
in Babylon.”

  “That is certainly discouraging,” said Kara.

  “But,” continued Rugio, “there are some ambitious men within that government who I believe will be very useful in dealing with Daniel and these other prophets.”

  “And when will Cyrus arrive with his army?” asked Lucifer.

  As he finished speaking, an alarm went up in the city. Shouts of panic were relayed through the great streets. Lucifer glanced outside at the commotion. Tower signals were being lit. Trumpets sounded. People within the palace began rushing about. The city was under attack…and the gates were being thrown open to the enemy!

  Lucifer walked back to the table with the map of the empire. Next to the parchment, on the table, was one of Belshazzar’s wine cups, half-filled. Lucifer knocked it over, spilling the red wine across the map of Babylon from north to south.

  “Well, Rugio,” said Lucifer, smiling, “I would say Cyrus has indeed arrived!”

  CHAPTER 16

  “A simple exile will never do.”

  Chronicles of the Host

  Persia

  In the end, the kings of Babylon were judged by the Lord and found to be wanting in the balance, and Babylon was overthrown by the Medes, whose king was Cyrus and soon after, Darius. The city was taken without an arrow being fired, and Belshazzar was one of the few men killed in the collapse.

  Ever faithful to his prophet, the Lord Most High gave Daniel favor with the new king, and Daniel was appointed as an administrator over much of his domain. Sensing an opportunity in this promotion, Rugio, with the assistance of Kara, moved quickly upon the hearts of Darius’s closest ministers to engineer a jealous and hateful spirit. Within the hearts of these men they created a dark and unholy plot that might see Daniel overthrown once and for all….

  The gathering of newly appointed administrators for the new kingdom had been a glorious event. Darius, who was ruler now in Babylon for the Medes, had overthrown the previous government and established 120 districts, each ruled by a capable man called a satrap. The men bowed low as Darius greeted them in Nebuchadnezzar’s reception hall.

  Taking his place on a dais provided by his chief minister, Darius congratulated each of the men for their service to the kingdom and for having the king’s confidence. He then made an announcement that took some of the men by surprise:

  “And I must say,” Darius continued, “that Daniel, formerly called Belteshazzar, has proven himself time and again to the kings of this land. For this reason he shall be the third man in this trio of administrators who shall govern over you all. He will do well by you, as he has for the kings of Babylon and for his present king.”

  Daniel stood silently as 120 men nodded to him in homage. As the assembly broke up, the 120 satraps came by and congratulated Daniel one by one. Most of the men were sincere in their praise of Daniel—but there were several who were quietly enraged.

  “There,” said Kara, pointing out a man in a deep blue cloak who had just spoken with Daniel and was now meeting with a small group of men on the other side of the room. “That man—who is he, Rugio?”

  Rugio smiled.

  “You have a good eye for discontent, Kara,” said Rugio. “That is Kezzar-mar. He is an ambitious man of subtle nature. Quite bent on advancing in Darius’s government. But he has an obstacle to promotion—the prophet Daniel.”

  “Ah yes,” said Kara. “The human lust for power. Soon we’ll turn that ambition into hate.”

  “The hate is there already,” said Rugio. “I visited him last night and made him dream of bowing low before Daniel in front of all the important men in the kingdom. He woke up infuriated!”

  “Has he some accomplices?” asked Kara. “It will take more than one voice speaking against Daniel to bring him down.”

  “Of course,” said Rugio. “I have not been idle these few months since Darius has been in Babylon. I suggest we look into the conversation he is having right now. I believe he is talking with some of the other like-minded men.”

  Kezzar-mar smiled and nodded as one of the satraps walked by. He then turned his attention back to the three men to whom he was speaking.

  “These are not satraps,” he continued. “They are cattle—cattle led by a religious zealot who has imprisoned the king’s mind.”

  “Might I suggest that we discuss this elsewhere?” said Berza, whose satrapy was near the old city of Nineveh. “It might be more prudent.”

  The others agreed.

  “Very well,” said Kezzar-mar. “Tonight at my apartments we will meet to discuss this rather delicate problem that is facing us. At that time I will relate to you a very interesting dream that I had.”

  The group of men broke up and each left separately. Only Kezzar-mar remained behind. He looked up at Daniel, who was still receiving the congratulations of the other satraps. How could so many be beholden to one man? It must be sorcery. And yet Daniel would never bow to another god, much less a king. If only some sort of charges could be brought up against him, he muttered under his breath.

  “Charges,” came a voice. “Now that might prove interesting.”

  Kezzar-mar smiled as a thought came into his mind. In his mind’s eye he saw Daniel on the docket, with the great men of the kingdom leveling charge after charge of corruption against the man.

  “Of course Daniel is a man of integrity. The charges must be unique…”

  Kezzar-mar felt hatred for Daniel rising in him as he thought about the possibility of trapping the man legally. Yes—that just might work! But how?

  Daniel will never be brought up on charges of corruption or abuse of power, he thought to himself. One must be cunning…subtle…but Daniel is above reproach. “There are no charges that can be made,” he caught himself saying.

  “Then you must find charges against this holy man that have to do with the law of his God whom he worships, not with the law of men which he respects.”

  A sly smile came over Kezzar-mar’s face. That was it! What he could not do outside the law, he could manipulate within the law! He walked over to Daniel and congratulated him once more. Daniel looked deeply into his eyes and thanked him. Kezzar-mar bowed his head, and excused himself, thinking that very soon Daniel would be meeting his God face to face!

  “Excellent work, Kara,” said Rugio, after Kezzar-mar left the room.

  “I’m sure that Gabriel will be particularly shocked when Daniel’s integrity is the basis for his destruction,” said Kara. “I merely hinted to Kezzar-mar that when one is undermining a holy man, one should take advantage of his holiness.”

  The meeting in Kezzar-mar’s apartment was attended by humans and devils. The humans had come to hear Kezzar-mar’s plans for dealing with Daniel. The devils had come to make sure the proper atmosphere was established to ensure compliance on the part of the others. The men seated themselves around the low table in the center of the room. Kezzar-mar dismissed his servants and then turned to the others.

  Kara and Rugio remained off to the side, listening with interest to the intricacies of the human mind when involved in something sordid. Pellecus had joined the other two demons for the meeting when he heard that Daniel would be the subject of the discussion.

  “Reminds me of those grand days in Heaven,” said Kara, “when we too dreamed of greater days…meeting in Lucifer’s house…speaking of the future…”

  “Yes,” said Pellecus with a sneer. “I only hope that their plans turn out a bit differently than ours have.”

  Kara glared at Pellecus.

  “I should wonder what Lucifer might think of such talk?” said Kara self-righteously. “After all, Pellecus, we are Lucifer’s greatest rulers.”

  Pellecus looked at Rugio’s vacant stare and Kara’s usual stupid arrogant smirk.

  “That, my dear elder, is what frightens me.”

  Just as Kara was about to respond, the devils realized that the men were beginning to discuss frankly the issues revolving around Daniel and the need for his immediate, albeit discreet, remova
l. Kezzar-mar began by underscoring his utmost loyalty to Darius and the kingdom.

  “I love our king as all of you do,” he said. “But he has a blind spot when it comes to governing these foreigners. He is much too compassionate and accommodating.” He stood as he continued speaking. “But our kingdom was won with blood and not with compassion. Brothers—these Jews view Cyrus as a liberator. But why shouldn’t they? He has turned over the artifacts from Solomon’s temple that were taken by Nebuchadnezzar and given them to the Jew Zerubbabel for the rebuilding of the temple!”

  “Astonishing,” said Berza. “We send the Jews back better trained and with greater knowledge that when they arrived years ago.”

  “We will have to fight them eventually,” added Sheshbar, sipping his wine. “Why send them back to fortify that rebellious city once more?”

  “I had hoped that Darius, who rules in Cyrus’s name here in Babylon, might show a different spirit,” said Kezzar-mar. “But that hope was lost when he appointed Daniel over the rest of us.”

  “Thus our meeting,” said Berza. “And the question: What to do with Daniel?”

  “The question, Berza, is not what,” said Kezzar-mar, “but how?”

  The silence in the room was chilling. Even Kara was impressed with the tension that hung as the talk shifted from politics to murder.

  “Zerubbabel,” commented Kara. “He’s the one who has taken it upon himself to organize these animals as they prepare to return. I hear he has even appointed a high priest!”

  “A lot of good that will do them when they get to Jerusalem,” said Rugio. “Once they see the total destruction they will lose heart.”

  Pellecus only shook his head in disbelief.

  “What you two forget is that this was prophesied by Isaiah,” he said. “And now it is happening.”

  “Don’t worry about these Jews,” said Kara smugly. “Berenius is already in Jerusalem organizing some very discouraging enemies. Zerubbabel will find himself with tremendous opposition from the people who live there. They want nothing to do with the Jews. But then, who does?”