Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim) (17 page)

The gods and goddesses of Canaan met at their cavern in the heart of Mount Hermon.
Mastema presided over the meeting on the throne seat that looked out upon the pitch-black lake that had a perpetual flame across its surface: The Abyss.

Dagon, Molech, Asherah
, and Chemosh had been waiting for Ba’al and Ashtart to arrive.

They were late.

When the two gods finally entered the cavern, the others noticed Ashtart being led by a collared leash with spikes around her neck. But that is all she wore. She was humiliatingly naked and sported excruciating body piercings all over her anatomy, from bars, studs, and rings, to hooks in her back, used to hang her by her skin. The reason she was naked was so that everyone could see the bruises, contusions, and open wounds covering her from head to toe. She walked with a slight limp and one of her eyes was a pus filled bulge closed shut.

She would heal quickly. She was a Watcher.

It was obvious Ba’al had been carrying out his violent sexual fantasies on her, but no one dared make reference to it for fear of Ashtart visiting the same upon them. She was submissive to Ba’al’s dominance, but she was still the goddess of war and could cut anyone else down with ease.

She was just glad to be on
top of the earth instead of below it.

Mastema said, “
You are late.”

Ba’al
replied, “Ashtart and I were building my temple on Mount Sapan in the far reaches of the north.”

Mastema glared at Ashtart.
“I am sure you were.”

Ashtart played her part with irony. “We put a wonderful window in it, so
Daddy Storm God could hurl his thunderbolts and rain storms. The earth convulsed, the mountains quaked, and he opened a rift in the clouds. You will all simply have to come and have a party.”

Mastema was gangly
and ugly, but he still commanded the attention with his superior legal standing over the seventy Sons of God.

“The time for celebration is over
,” he said. “The War of the Seed is upon us.”

A hush went over the gods
. They knew what that meant.

It had been prophesied in the Garden
that the Seed of Eve would be at war with the Seed of the Serpent. The gods had sought to pollute the seedline of Eve by interbreeding with it. They had bred the Nephilim, giant hybrids of human and angel, and had used them to draw worship away from Yahweh. They sought to violate the holy separation of creation.

But they had also sought to track down Yahweh’s chosen one, the bearer
s of the seedline, in order to destroy him: Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah.

The great Flood was Yahweh’s
response of judgment.

But their project of
corruption did not stop. And their search for the Seed in each generation continued and failed time after time. Even after Yahweh had made a covenant with Abraham to establish his inheritance through his lineage. That Seed through Isaac and Jacob eventually became a large family of seventy that was sent into captivity for hundreds of years in Egypt and were forgotten to the world.

That family
of seventy became a nation of seventy thousand.

Meanwhile
, the Seed of the Serpent filled the land of Canaan with their progeny and purpose.

Mastema caught them all up on recent events. “And so this Moses has led the Seed of Eve through the desert for a generation, and is now
on its way around Edom to enter into the Transjordan.”

Ba’al asked, “So their claim is on our land to dispossess us?”

“Yes,” said Mastema.

“Then w
hy did they not enter into south Canaan?”

“They tried, but failed,” said Mastema. “
Yahweh even killed an entire generation for its lack of willingness to fight. And therein lies our hope. They may be Yahweh’s people, but they lack conviction. Many of them still worship some of us, and are therefore subject to curses from their god.”

Molech and Dagon chuckled.

Mastema continued, “If we are strategic about our battles and operations, we can crush these Habiru.”

Ashtart said, “But the Cisjordan is considered the Promised Land by Yahweh. Why are they approaching the Transjordan?”

“I think this Moses is going to
establish a base of operations in the Transjordan from which to launch an invasion of the Cisjordan.”

Ashtart said, “Well, I say, come and get it, old man.”
Ashtart had been preparing for this for a long time.

Molech sniggered.
They had worked together on a plan so bold they actually wanted the Habiru to attack them. They would unleash a storm and stress upon these troublemakers that they would have no idea how to deal with.

“We must be ready,” said Mastema. “And we must stay organized. Chemosh and Molech
have the southern region of the Transjordan with Moab, Ammon, and King Sihon. Ashtart guards Bashan and King Og. Ba’al remains in the southern hill country with the Anakim, and Dagon, the coastline cities of the Philistines. Asherah can take the north.”

“What about you?” asked Molech.

“I will be filing legal motions against Yahweh in his heavenly court to try to keep him from entering into Canaan.”

Ashtart grinned. “
You are trying to force Yahweh’s hand.”

“What do you mean?” asked Molech.

Ashtart kept watching the legal adversary as she spoke, “Mastema believes that the Seed of Eve, is more than this nation of people, the children of Abraham.”

Molech, Dagon
, and Asherah looked to Mastema and the others for their answer.

Mastema gave it up, “The Seed is not plural. It is singular.”

“A person?” said Dagon.

“A king.”

“A king?” repeated Molech. “And it is he who will inherit Canaan?”

“He
,” said Mastema, “will inherit the
earth
. Canaan is only the beginning. I fear the real plan of Yahweh is that this tyrant ruler may even undo Babel, and with it our inheritance.”

Molech was having a hard time following. He was a bit slower than the others.

Ashtart tried to steal a bit of Mastema’s thunder as she quoted the ancient antediluvian prophecy. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Ba’al jumped in, “
He shall crush your head. He is singular.”

“
Brilliant,” said Ashtart.

Ba’al yanked her chain to quell her sarcasm.
She gave a choked gasp.

“Is it this Moses?” asked Ba’al.

“No,” said Mastema. “But they have a sacred text that claims he will be a prophet like Moses. And he will come from the lineage of Judah. It says, ‘The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.’”

“How do you know this?” asked
Molech.

“
Because he keeps up with current events,” said Ashtart. “You should try it sometime, ignoramus.”

Molech withdrew. He felt stupid.

Mastema explained, “Moses has spoken of it publicly to his people. He is even writing it down. And we, of course, have spies.”

“
That is audacious,” said Ashtart.

Ba’al tried to sum it up. “So
the Children of Abraham are coming to war on our inheritance. But then there is an anointed king who is coming through the line of Judah, and he is the prophesied Seed to crush…” he paused respectfully, “…your head?”

Mastema showed his only moment of actual weakness, when he replied, “And all the Seed of the Serpent will go down with me.”

“Well then,” concluded Ashtart with a more positive attitude, “I suggest we send out scouts to find this chosen seed—and kill him. And in the meanwhile prepare for war.”

The Israelites left Mount Hor and traveled south. Their goal was to travel around Edom, by way of the Gulf of Aqaba where they would turn north and approach the King’s Highway, which would take them into the Transjordan area.

One day, Joshua and Caleb came to Moses’ tent as he was writing on his leather parchments
, a new technique he had learned in Egypt before the exodus. Tablets were so heavy and could break so easily. But this new form of writing on parchment was much more mobile, flexible and saved space. For years, Moses had carefully written down the laws and applications that Yahweh gave to him. But he also had been incorporating it into research on his people’s ancestry, from the Garden of Eden all the way up to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s lives. He would eventually add his own journeys in the wilderness with Israel.

“Wait,” interrupted Moses.
He was in the middle of looking through some clay tablets.

“These are toledoth tablets,” he added. Toledoth is the word for
genealogy.

“They are the very genealogies
of Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah.”

As a court Egyptian, Moses had been taught not only Egyptian hieroglyphs, but Akkadian, the international language of trade, as well as
his people’s distinctive Canaanite dialect.

“These have been engraved by the very hands of our ancestors. It is both humbling and rewarding. Like a window to our own past in Yahweh’s hands.”

Joshua had no patience for such scribal frivolities. He got right to the point.

“Moses, the people are protesting our desert sojourn again.”

“Now what?” said Moses, annoyed at how this all kept interrupting his very important job of putting down Israel’s history. He started to glow with his emotion.

Caleb explained, “
The same as prior gripes. ‘Why did you take us out of Egypt? We do not have any food or water. Our families are going to die in the wilderness. It is not just.’”

“
They want justice, do they?” said Moses. “Then let us pray that Yahweh gives them justice.”

Moses
got up and led them to the Tent of Meeting. Caleb stood outside the tabernacle courtyard waiting as they prayed.

His thoughts beg
an to drift toward his daughter and how she really needed a mother. He felt a bad parent because he had been so involved in protecting the nation that he neglected his daughter.

But then he thought of Joshua’s loss of his wife and children, and his heart was broken for his friend. He wondered if Joshua would ever recover his ability to love
again.

For so long he had envied Joshua and his special status as Moses’ servant. He wondered how a man could be so close to the presence of Yahweh, and yet
be so hard.

Meanwhile, Caleb, who loved every
small detail of God’s tabernacle and every poetic ritual of atonement, was forced to stay outside the center of holiness.

It was as if law and holiness seemed to be at odds with grace and beauty.

Caleb’s attention was taken out of his thoughts by the sight of movement on the ground in the corner of his eye. He looked down. It was a snake. It looked like a kind of cobra. But this one had wings, four of them. It was what they called a
seraph
nachash
, or flying fiery serpent, because it had shining copper scales like the Shining One in the Garden, and it looked similar to the seraphim that guarded Yahweh’s throne in heaven.

But this seraph was on earth, and it was deadly.
He pulled out his sword and chopped off its head.

He had heard legends about th
ese creatures being in the Negeb, but this was the first one he had ever seen.

He wondered
if it had bitten anyone.

And then he heard a woman scream.

Instinctively, he ran toward the scream.

As he did, he could hear ot
hers scream throughout the camp, and a dread came over him. He suspected he knew the reason.

He
saw another cobra crawling in front of him, about to launch itself in flight. Its wings were not large enough to fly like a bird, but they would enable short aerial bursts that made it look like the serpent was leaping like a jackrabbit. He cut it in half as it leapt.

He was sure of it now
. There must have been a nest of these seraphim cobras that was accidentally unsettled by someone.

But as he turned past a lane of tents, he stopped in horror.

He saw thousands of serpents slithering and flying throughout the camp. People were running to escape them. Some were throwing them out of tents. Some were trying to kill them.

Caleb
started hacking off the heads of the ones closest to him. But he soon discerned that it would be impossible to make a dent in their numbers.

It
had to be a miracle. Or more precisely, a curse.

Moses’ words came back to him, “They want justice, do they? Then let us pray
that Yahweh gives them justice.”

More screams were
all around him. People were being bitten throughout the camp. He knew that the venom of the seraph nachash could be lethal. Many would become very sick. And many others would die.

He
rushed home to make sure Achsah was okay.

He reached his tent and heard a scream from inside.

“Achsah!”

He whipped back the tent flap to find Achsah standing on top of a pile of wood. The entire floor was covered with the nasty vipers. Some of them were leaping at her.

But Othniel was there, hacking the snakes to pieces.

Caleb
helped him finish off the serpents and then hugged Othniel with fierce gratitude.

“Once again, my brother, you have saved my precious treasure.”

Othniel said, “It is my honor, brother.”

Othniel opened his arms and Achsah let him carry her out of the tent
. And at that very moment, Caleb could see a tenderness in Othniel toward his daughter that he had not noticed before. A connection between the two of them.

But now was not the time for such petty observations.

They arrived back at the tabernacle only to discover that there were no snakes around it. It was as if Yahweh was keeping them away from his holy presence.

Evidently, others of the congregation had begun to discover this protection as well and had begun to crowd around
as close as they could to the outer courtyard curtains.

When Moses and Joshua came forth from the
Tent of Meeting, people cried out, “Moses, save us!” and “We have sinned!”

One of the elders ripped his clothes and bellowed in a loud audible voice, “We have spoken against Yahweh and against you! Have mercy on us!”

Moses stopped, turned and walked back into the Tent of Meeting.

Caleb thought it looked like Moses did
not want to listen to their pleas. Like he wanted them to wallow in their sickness and death.

Or he was
going to plead with Yahweh.

After a few minutes, Joshua led Moses out of the tent, and up to the courtyard entrance.

People were still weeping and crying out. It was rather loud and noisy.

Moses waved Caleb over.
Caleb had to avert his eyes somewhat at Moses’ shining.

Moses
said to him, “You are an artist, of sorts, are you not?”

Caleb wondered what that had to do with the pain and misery all around them.

“Yes, Moses,” he said with hesitation.

“Good. I need your help then.”

Moses led Caleb over to a blacksmith’s station in the camp.

He picked up some copper objects made by the smith, and spoke to Caleb.

“Do you remember the
image magic in Egypt?”

“Yes.”

The Egyptians believed in sympathetic magic that would replicate images of creatures like snakes as a means of scaring away those creatures.

Moses said, “I want you to make a bronze
seraph serpent on a pole, similar to what we saw in Egypt, only different.”

Caleb said, “But that could take
several days.”

“We
do not have several days. You will have to get the help of the blacksmith and make it within a day.”

Caleb sighed. He hated doing things hastily, and
it was even more important not to do mediocre work on an artistic object.

Moses said with a glint in his eye, “Joshua tells me
you are enamored with the art of the tabernacle.”

“Yes.”

“Now is your chance to make some art.”

Caleb said, “I wish Bezalel were still alive.”

Bezalel was the spirit-filled artist who crafted the tabernacle to Yahweh’s specifications with his own creative flair. His background in Egyptian and Philistine aesthetics had been a source of much beauty in the work.

“
He used to complain too,” said Moses. “You artists never have enough time to create your ‘masterpieces.’ But I need one tomorrow. So create for me a beautiful seraph serpent on a pole—and do not forget the wings.”

“Okay,” said Caleb.

With the help of the smith, Caleb sculpted a clay winged serpent wriggling around a pole, and had it cast into bronze. He could not put the detail he wanted into it, but he was not disappointed.

•
• • • •

When Caleb brought the bronze serpent to Moses and Joshua at the tabernacle, the next day, He could barely stand up. He had worked all through the night and did
not get any sleep.

Moses looked at it, and said, “
Well done, Caleb. It is beautiful.” And then he took the bronze serpent with a litany of priests to parade through the camp.

As he walked through
the camp, Moses had Joshua speak his words loudly for the ears of everyone. “Hear O Israel! We are entering into a land that worships the Serpent! These fiery serpents that have attacked you are an example of what will happen to you in Canaan if you continue to grieve Yahweh with your unfaithful hearts! The Serpent will bite your heel and you will die. Turn now from your unbelief and turn back to Yahweh. If a fiery serpent has bitten you, and you look upon this
Nehushtan
, you will be healed! Trust in Yahweh and he will do it!”

Nehushtan was a Semitic wordplay on the words for bronze and Nachash, as well as a third word for practicing sorcery.
It was a sarcastic jab at Israel’s wayward tendencies.

Everyone was coming out of their tents to see the great sign before them. An
d those who had been bitten would merely look upon the bronze serpent and they were healed. Others had to be carried because they were sick and others were on their deathbed. But as Moses said, if they looked upon Nehushtan, they were healed. Caleb saw the serpent shining in the sun with the same brilliance as Moses would shine when seeing Yahweh.

It was a beautiful picture to Caleb of how Yahweh would
place their sins upon a cursed object, and then forgive the Israelite who simply looked to that object with faith.

It was too
bad that Canaan, the final destination to which they were arriving, was like a horrid pit of flying fiery serpents full of poison and death.

Caleb decided to teach his daughter Achsah how to use a bow that day. Her life had been in danger twice and she was helpless without Caleb. Both times she had been protected by Othniel. But Caleb felt that he had failed her. Though he treasured the femininity of women, he thought that they should still have some ability to defend themselves in this hostile desert.

He
found a bow and some arrows and brought her outside the camp to begin her lessons. He was determined that she would never be caught without a defense again.

After he taught her the basics of nocking an arrow, aiming and releasing at a target, he talked to her as she practiced her skills on a
small desert tree at a short distance.

“So, my little turtle dove, you are of marrying age.”

Achsah aimed and hit the tree without response.

“
Good shot,” he added.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Have you any young men who show interest?” he asked.

She nocked an arrow and aimed with nary a concern.

“None that I care about.” She aimed and hit the tree again.

“You have a natural skill,
Achsah.”

“Not really,” she said. “Othniel
has given me a few lessons.”

“Othniel
again,” he said annoyed. “I am being outdone in parenting by my own brother.”

She snapped, “He is not my parent. You are.
Othniel is a kind and giving man.”

“
There is no need for hostility.”