Unholy Empire: Chronicles of the Host, Vol 2: Chronicles of the Host, Book 2 (41 page)

In the midst of the torrent, Berenius and his legion mustered all their strength to stave off the water, but they could not stop the deluge. It crashed down upon the Egyptians, scattering horse and rider, tearing apart the great weapons of Pharaoh, destroying the greatest army in the world.

The shield that Kara had ordered to hold back the waters gave way as the power and presence of the Almighty overwhelmed it completely, scattering the fallen angels who had created it like so many leaves in a storm. The devils shrieked in anger and fled the scene, abandoning the Egyptians to their ignoble deaths.

General On saw the waters closing in behind him and struck his horses violently, but in the end it was useless. The waters came in on him and smashed him against his chariot, killing him instantly.

All that was left of Rameses’ army were the bits and pieces of uniform, weaponry, and bodies of drowned soldiers and horses that washed up on the beach near him. Incredulous, he looked at the small guard who had remained with him and said nothing. He then threw down his sword and screamed to the heavens:

“I submit to You, God of Moses, that the gods of Egypt are weak in Your light. Go now, take Your people, and leave me alone. For I have done battle with You…and I will fight with You no more.”

He looked down at one helmet with an insignia of special rank upon it, the waves lolling it against the rocks. It was the helmet of General On. Rameses walked over and picked it up, noting the deep gash in its side.

“General On,” Rameses said, speaking to the helmet almost tenderly. “We have both been fools. You have paid with your life…and I have paid with my kingdom.”

He looked at hundreds of helmets and other military objects now blanketing the beach and ordered his men to pick up everything. All that he had was now lost. He would forever keep this helmet and the other remains as a perpetual memorial to the folly of contesting the true and living God.

C
HAPTER
20

“It won’t be long before they turn on Moses.”

Chronicles of the Host

New Life, New Hope

What a glorious day it was when the waters shut forever the door on Egypt, and the children of covenant began a new life in a new land. From the morning of the first day in Sinai, the Host recognized that, apart from the Most High’s grace and provision, the humans stood little chance of surviving in the desert. We also kept a wary eye for the enemy, although for the time being, they seemed to have vanished just as the Egyptians.

The people quickly fell into a routine of moving within the power and presence of the Most High, either following His great column of smoke by day, or resting under His fiery Presence at night. But the question on everybody’s mind was: Where is Moses taking us?

Ever vigilant, Michael stationed his greatest warriors about the camp, always cautious, always watching for any movement or intrusion by the enemy. But it was quiet…too quiet.

We knew that the enemy was only regrouping for a future strike. All we could do was wait patiently. As for Lucifer, wherever he was, the Host realized that he was spoiling for revenge following the exodus from captivity…

“Four hundred years of captivity thrown away,”

Lucifer stared coldly at his war council. It was the first convening of this level of leadership since Moses’ victory in the desert at the Red Sea. Attending were Rugio, Pellecus, Kara, Berenius, and the seven leaders of the seven world regions. All of them were curious as to their next move, but none of them dared ask Lucifer outright—especially Kara, who had fallen out of favor since the disaster in Egypt.

“Four hundred years we kept the vile Seed contained,” Lucifer continued. “We had them broken and hopeless.” He began manifesting a bluish aura as his anger welled up. “How foolish of us not to have killed Moses as a child!” He looked at Kara. “And you, Kara, I hold responsible.”

Every eye shifted to Kara, who squirmed a bit. Pellecus couldn’t help but smile at Kara’s discomfort. Rugio also smiled. Kara looked back defiantly.

“My lord, I understand my responsibility in this,” Kara began. “But may I remind you all that four hundred years were prophesied before the people should be delivered? How could I combat the words of the Most High?”

“You fool!” snapped Pellecus. “Everything we are combating is prophetic. And it all has to do with the bloody Seed. The Seed is the supreme prophecy with which we must contend. If we cannot prevent these smaller events from occurring, we shall never stop the Seed and its destructive intent!”

“Well said, Pellecus,” said Lucifer, beginning to calm down now. “All of these smaller ‘events,’ as you put it, are a part of the larger plan of the Most High. Indeed the four hundred years were spent and the people were freed just as God had promised. And so the Seed continues down its damning path.”

He looked over the group, which was meeting on the Dead Sea plain. The area was littered with pieces of salt and dead branches, still giving evidence of the massive destruction that had occurred here in Abraham’s time. Lucifer picked up a large salt-encrusted stone.

“You see how the salt has encased this rock?” he asked, showing it to all the other demons. “The Seed of the Most High—that which He nourishes and cherishes—is like the stone inside this salt. Our task is to penetrate the outer shell and get to the heart of the matter!”

Lucifer violently flung the stone against a much larger rock, shattering the salty casing and exposing the rock. He then picked up the rock and held it in front of the others.

“We must get through the influence and impact of the Most High’s Presence,” he continued. “We must expose the Seed and destroy it. But in order to do that, we must evade the presence of God. Even now He accompanies them day and night.” He sighed. “How pathetic that so great a God is reduced to the task of a caretaker to this rebellious lot, who would turn on Him without hesitation!”

The others laughed a nervous laugh—the first such liberty they had felt comfortable enough to take since the meeting began.

“And so the attack must come, my brothers. We must compromise these people and put an end to the Seed’s threat. But we have learned that it shall not be through an external offense. We’ve seen that brutal force is only contested by the Host. We must somehow penetrate the hearts of Moses’ people and create disturbances from within.”

Pellecus looked around to see if anyone else was going to speak, then began talking. “The humans have shown a marvelous capacity for self destruction. I suggest, my prince, that, left alone, they will find their own way to compromise the Lord’s working in their pitiful lives.”

“I quite agree, Pellecus, but we cannot take that risk,” chided Lucifer. “We must remain proactive and on the attack—relentless and unyielding—but subtle and, as I said, from within. We must divide the nation from its heart; then its head will follow. We must work around Moses and not through him!”

“As long as Moses has their confidence, they will follow him,” said Rugio, who rarely spoke up at the conferences. He then muttered, “I would enjoy tearing him in half.”

For a fleeting moment every mind envisioned such a thing with great satisfaction.

“Unfortunately, Moses enjoys the protection of the Most High and the most powerful angels in the heavenlies,” said Pellecus. “It will be about as easy to get to him now as it was to get to him when he was a baby in the Nile.”

“They key is not Moses,” said Lucifer. “The key is, as always, the human propensity to wander. That is the legacy we left them at Eden. Our mistake in Egypt was that we directly assaulted the Lord’s honor. We have learned a great lesson here. Let me explain further.”

Lucifer picked up a handful of sand and salt, and slowly sifted it out of his fingers. “We must not forget that these people are now in the wilderness of an alien and hostile land. No longer do they enjoy the bounty and security of Egypt. I tell you—give them some time in the blistering sun, with little water; give them a few more weeks of pitching camp and tearing it down on a moment’s notice; let them experience hostile raiders and scorpion bites and endless horizons!”

Lucifer smiled. “It won’t be long before these people turn on Moses and establish their own nation apart from God! It is in their nature to rebel. And I believe that, with some encouragement, they will not only overthrow Moses and his simple brother, Aaron, but will turn on the Most High as well!”

As Lucifer spoke a demon appeared and, discreetly making his way over to Kara, whispered something to him. The others watched and waited. Kara smiled and nodded his head. He seemed delighted with what he heard and looked at the others with a knowing, confident expression. Most of the demons present nodded back in response. A few ignored him altogether.

For all the faults that the others saw in Kara; in spite of his foolish inclination to boast and then be bested; even though he was currently out of favor with Lucifer, Kara maintained an enormous advantage over the others: he maintained the greatest network of agents and information gatherers on earth. This fact made him quite dangerous in the hostile world of territorialism that was part of Lucifer’s government. Every devil knew that Kara could use his information to damage a rival as easily as to further the war against the Most High.

“Well?” asked Lucifer finally.

“My lord, you have often said yourself that the Lord Most High has a propensity for leaving open a door,” he began.

“Yes, yes, well?” said Lucifer.

“It seems that at a place called Marah, Moses threw a stick into a pool of bitter water and made it sweet for the people to drink. It was the Lord, of course, and Moses was merely following instructions…”

“What is your point?” demanded Pellecus. “You, of all of us, should understand the Lord’s power over water!”

A few snickers escaped the group.

“The point, my learned brother, is that Moses had to do this in order to satisfy the complaints of the people.” He looked at all the angels as if he had stumbled upon a wonderful revelation. “Moses commands a nation of grumbling, petty Hebrews!”

“We have known that since they came to Egypt,” said Tinius, who had recently begun attending the Council of War. “They always complained.”

“Ah, but that was under the taskmaster’s whip,” continued Kara. “That was when they were in bondage. Now they are delivered…and still they murmur and grumble.”

Kara waited for his words to be absorbed by the council. Lucifer looked intently at Kara, then nodded slowly in understanding. Pellecus too seemed to understand, albeit grudgingly, since the words came from Kara. The others seemed lost as to the significance of Kara’s words.

“Don’t you see?” Kara went on. “You were just saying, and rightly so, that an assault on Moses directly would never be successful. The way to get at Moses is through these rotten, childish people…”

“Who murmur at every turn,” continued Lucifer, picking up Kara’s reasoning. “How true that these people are some of the most ungrateful people in the world. And how ironic! They are in covenant with the Creator of the universe, yet they grumble at the first bit of thirst—and in a desert!”

“Exactly, my prince,” said Kara. “And a grumbling, ungrateful people are not going to be prayerful or faith-filled.”

“Which means we can have greater access to them,” mused Pellecus. “Interesting. So what are you proposing, Kara?”

“Just this,” said Kara. “We take full advantage of this opportunity to discourage, distract, and embitter this rabble against Moses and the Lord God. We turn the people, his family, even Aaron and Miriam, against him. We scour the nation and find the leaders among them whom we can encourage to oppose Moses outright. Once Moses is overthrown, we will then have the rebel leaders escort the people back to Egypt.”

“Brilliant!” said Lucifer. “We will make the hardships of the desert, and consequently of freedom, so harsh, that they will beg to return to the comfort of Egypt.”

“You really think these people will return to the bondage of Egypt?” asked Pellecus. “They clamored for four hundred years to be released.”

“If there is one thing I have learned about humans, dear Pellecus,” said Lucifer, “it is that when they are pressed, they will trade their freedom for a sense of control—even if it means returning to bondage. We learned that in Eden—and we are seeing it now!”

He turned to Kara.

“Unleash your agents,” Lucifer said. “Uncover every element of discontent among the Hebrews. Anything we can exploit I want a full report upon. We’ll have Moses begging to get back to Egypt himself!”