Rising Darkness (8 page)

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.

“So Achan caused Israel to be defeated?” he asked.

Eli nodded.

“I’m sure that the Romans will be happy to hear that,” chimed in Daniel, who could no longer hold back.

“The sin of Achan brought disgrace to the nation,” Eli said, looking at Daniel. “The sin of one man can bring down a people.”

“And who sinned that we are now in the hands of Rome?” asked Daniel. “As long as you are telling the boys about our glorious past, you might mention all the other nations who have conquered us—Alexander, the Ptolemies, Persia. And that’s just a few of them!”

“Israel strayed from the covenant they made with God,” responded Eli. “They forsook the words of the prophets. And the Lord judged us.”

“And when does He stop judging us and bring us into our inheritance once more?” Daniel demanded. All of the men were looking at him now, ready to take action should he provoke any of them. He looked at all the angry eyes upon him. “When does your Messiah arrive and remove this Roman curse?” he continued, a bit more subdued in tone.

“Only the Lord knows when Messiah will come,” Eli finally said. “You know this, Daniel. But come He shall!”

Daniel grumbled and buried his head back in the warmth of his knees. Eli continued talking to the boys, who didn’t really understand the rough exchange with Daniel, but welcomed Eli’s recaptured attention.

“And so, boys,” Eli continued, “Achan’s sin at Jericho turned what should have been a very easy victory at Ai into a defeat.”

“But what did Joshua do?” asked Jarod eagerly.

Eli winked at one of the men and motioned his head toward Daniel, whose head was still buried in his knees in disgust.

“Well, poor Joshua was sort of like our friend Daniel here…”

Daniel looked up for just a second at Eli’s pause.

“He was beside himself trying to figure out what was wrong.”

Some of the men chuckled as Daniel grunted and dropped his head once more.