“I put it to you, Moses, that your leadership over us is presumption and not legitimate authority!”
CHAPTER 24
“Korah has set quite a nice trap.”
Korah was building his case against Moses brick by brick, and his audience of 250 men spurred him on heartily. Moses, in a situation far too familiar, stood in front of the Tent of Meeting, listening to the complaint against him.
“It is not you alone with whom we have a grievance,” Korah continued. “Your brother, Aaron, has usurped the position of high priest, and together the two of you have conspired to lead this nation to a place of desolation and wilderness. How petty! I put it before this nation that you are a man obsessed with power. And because power was taken away from you when you murdered an innocent man in Egypt, you returned years later to grab whatever measure of power that you could.
“My question is a simple one, Moses. Why? Why have you set yourself above us? Are you any better than the rest of us? Am I not a Levite? Have I not duties to our Lord as well? Do you truly believe that only you and Aaron are holy?” He shouted loudly for all to hear, “This entire nation is holy to the Lord! Every man here! And all of them are separated to the Lord and the Lord is with them!”
A great cheer went up from the people as Korah moved over to allow Moses to speak. Dathan patted Korah on the back and spoke laudatory words in his ear. The rowdy crowd finally settled down as Moses waited for silence.
Like spectators in an arena, the Host of Heaven and the fallen angels watched the confrontation with great interest. Since the assembly was taking place in front of the holy Tent of Meeting, the devils stayed clear of the area and watched instead from more heavenly perches.
Crispin observed the hesitancy on the part of Lucifer’s angels, and called to them, inviting them to come in for a closer viewing. They responded with profanities that caused Michael to look at Crispin with a “Why did you do that?” sort of look. Crispin smiled.
“It is amazing how Lucifer dismisses the Lord with one hand, but calls his angels back from His Presence with the other,” Crispin said to Sangius. Sangius, who had once been close to Lucifer, agreed.
“Lucifer shall never attain to such a Presence,” said Sangius. “He hates the presence of God because he shall never have it.”
“Yet these poor, simple humans are making accusation of the Lord’s chosen right under the shadow of the tent of His Presence. At least the devils have the sense to respect the Lord’s Person. Korah has no idea what he is courting.”
Moses walked up and down the rows of men who stood to accuse him. Some stared back at him with intense vigor; others avoided his eyes altogether. He then stood upon a small platform brought for the occasion and addressed the crowd for what he hoped would be the last time on this issue.
“You have tested the Lord once more, and now the Lord will test you,” Moses began. “I am weary of your accusations. You don’t accuse me in this…you accuse the Lord! Therefore the Lord will prove who shall stand before Him…”
Watching from his vantage, Lucifer suddenly said to himself, “Watch out now…”
“My lord,” asked Pellecus.
“There is something sly going on here,” said Lucifer.
“Don’t worry, my prince,” said Kara. “Korah has set quite a nice trap.”
“A trap has certainly been set,” said Lucifer. “But for whom?”
“Tomorrow,” continued Moses, “you and your followers are to bring censers and incense before the Lord. Whomever the Lord chooses will be holy.”
He then looked at one group in particular—Korah’s group.
“As for you Levites, you who were chosen by God to enter into His service in the Tabernacle…isn’t it enough that you have been so honored? You who rushed to the Lord’s side when the golden calf was destroyed—do you now covet the priesthood as well by attacking Aaron?”
He then turned to Dathan and Abiram, who had been with Korah.
“And you two—you also accuse me?” said Moses.
Dathan, unaccustomed to being thrust into the light, suddenly found his voice and began hurling offenses at Moses.
“You Moses! You said you were taking us to a land flowing with milk and honey. Instead, you brought us out of such a land to die in the desert. Yes, I accuse you—of deceiving your own people and betraying their trust.”
“Tomorrow, Korah, the Lord will judge between us,” Moses said. “I pray He will have mercy upon you!”
“And I pray that the people will have mercy upon you, Moses,” said Korah, dismissing the assembly. Dathan followed him, giving Moses a proud look as he left.
That evening Kara met with Berenius and instructed him about the upcoming contest. Because Moses had picked censers as the weapon of choice, Lucifer had ordered that Korah’s censers must light. Berenius was given the task of manipulating the censers and creating a flame to demonstrate for the people their fitness to lead. And so he organized his lead demons into pairs—each assigned to a censer. The demons assured Berenius that at the proper moment the censers would burn brilliantly and prove that Korah was indeed chosen by God.
“Has it really come to trickery?” asked Rugio. “I mean all these censers and smoke and nonsense. How low must we sink to prove our power?”
Pellecus, Rugio, and Kara, who made up Lucifer’s inner circle of leadership, were meeting in summary of the latest events. On the whole, Lucifer was satisfied with the way things had been going. The people’s blatant opposition to Moses, and therefore to the Most High, was a gratifying development. If the war must be fought by grinding everything to a creeping or halting progress, then so be it—anything to delay the Seed.
“Trickery?” asked Lucifer. “You believe that trickery and deceit are not viable weapons for us?”
“Yes, of course,” said the warrior. “But at some point we must exercise our power to destroy these people outright. I am weary of their existence!” Rugio’s aura began manifesting as his anger grew. “I hate Israel,” he snarled.
“Don’t we all?” said Lucifer.
Pellecus and Kara smiled at Lucifer’s disarming statement.
“I am simply saying that I am tired of rule by deception. I crave force!”
Lucifer stood from the rock on which he was seated, overlooking the camp of Israel. He indicated the many fires below and said:
“Do you see all of those flames of light?”
All of the angels looked down at the camp, dotted with thousands of small fires in and around the many tents.
“Each of those flames represents something that might destroy us. What began as one man and woman has become a nation that threatens our very existence. You talk of deception as if it is not a weapon. I maintain that it is our greatest weapon. What we cannot take by force we can influence through the minds of men. We shall never be able to confront the Most High directly—we saw that! But we can destroy His plan through His people. Thus, whether it’s smoking censers or idols that speak or familiar spirits of dead relatives makes no difference to us. It is the hearts of men that must be destroyed. And it is only through deception that this will happen!” He looked intently at Rugio. “You’ll have your opportunity to strike at Michael. I know that you are storing a great amount of hate for him. That is good. Hate is a great motivator. But in due course, my warrior. In due course.”
“Besides,” said Kara pointedly, “the last confrontation by force that you had with Michael saw you and your greatest angels bested. I would not be in such a hurry to…”
Rugio screamed an angry curse at Kara and drew his sword. Kara backed down in terror, shielding himself with his arms and calling upon Lucifer to put a stop to it. Pellecus remained impassive, wondering how they were ever to win a war with such leaders.
“Rugio! Put your sword away at once!” ordered Lucifer. “Save your anger for the field of battle! And you, Kara. Make certain that the censers light up on cue. Do not fail me in this.”
He began walking away.
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nbsp; “I must visit the other four members of this council in their domains. I shall return when the contest begins.”
He looked over the camp, still blazing with fires.
“By tomorrow these lights will have moved on…towards Egypt. And Moses and Aaron will be buried under a pile of bloody stones!”
The men of Korah stood before the Tent of Meeting, each holding a censer filled with incense. Some of the men were nervous; others were exhilarated. All of them were curious as to the outcome of it all. Next to each man, unseen by them of course, was one of Berenius’s devils—each prepared to create the fiery climax that would prove Korah’s leadership. They were grim-faced, ugly demons, who were very nervous because of their proximity to the tabernacle of the Lord’s Presence.
Korah walked among them, instructing them on how to hold the censers and how to pray and all. Dathan and Abiram stood with him. It would be a great day for Israel, they boasted with confidence. Next to the men was a curious pile of stones that had appeared overnight. Shammua, the chief agitator among the spies who had gone into the land, guarded the pile. He held one stone ominously.
Moses finally emerged from the tent with Aaron. He looked over the scene and felt the same disgust for these rebellious people that he had felt for some time. He was ready to be done with them. Michael, as always, accompanied him, and received the usual “unwelcome” from the many devils in the area.
A great shaking in the heavenlies suddenly erupted as the shekinah—the glory of the Lord—appeared over the Tabernacle. A few of the demons scattered, but those standing with Korah’s men stood firm—albeit frightened.
From his place on the hillside, Lucifer watched the proceedings with the Council of Seven who had assembled to watch the final chapter of Moses’ prophetic and bothersome career. Kara took great satisfaction in watching the discipline of Berenius’s angels, who did not flinch when the Lord’s Presence manifested. They had been trained—as well as warned—not to do so.
The men of Israel became silent in the face of God’s Presence, and all eyes were upon Korah as he walked up to Moses.
“I have assembled the men as you requested,” he began.
“Not as I requested,” corrected Moses. “As the Lord requested.”
“Ah yes, as the Lord requested,” said Korah. “Be that as it may, we are ready for whatever it is that you have planned for this day.”
Moses suddenly convulsed, as if in great torment, and fell to the ground upon his face. He began weeping bitterly. Korah was wondering what sort of display this might be. He figured he could use this as another example of Moses’ sorcery and demonic ties. The people could hear the muffled pleadings of Moses—he seemed to be interceding for them.
“My Lord,” he cried out. “Will You condemn the whole assembly for the sins of one man?”
Korah was now getting angry at this display. What trickery was this?
“Moses, your drama no longer works here!” he said. “The people no longer believe your…”
“People of Israel, hear me!” Moses spoke loudly. “These men have asked to be chosen of God—and so they have been! Hear, O Israel, and act! Move away from the house and tents of these three—Korah, Dathan, and Abiram! The Lord shall meet them there!”
The men with Korah suddenly felt a panicked rush and began running to their tents to protect their homes and belongings. Korah was rapidly losing control of the situation and ran to his tent, in case Moses was preparing to attack with some of the Levites who had remained loyal. Dathan and Abiram also rallied their families at their tents. In a few minutes the three men—Korah, Dathan, and Abiram—stood with their families outside their tents, prepared to defend them.
“What is this?!” Lucifer screamed. “Kara, light those censers at once!”
Kara gave the order and the devils next to the men with the censers caused the censers to begin bursting into flame. Some of the men dropped their censers in fear, but quickly recovered them. Others took comfort in the fact that, whatever happened to Korah, at least they had been accepted.
“Keep an eye on Moses!” Kara screamed to nobody in particular.
“Don’t worry about Moses,” said Lucifer, who was watching Shammua’s men gather stones from the pile and infiltrate the men with the censers.
Moses had moved down to the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Many of the devils who had lit the censers were now moving over these same tents. Michael remained with Moses, sword drawn. Rugio also moved in, sword drawn, keeping an eye on Michael and hoping for the chance to get in a blow.
The people had pulled back from the three men’s tents, isolating them. Korah remained smug, though a bit unnerved by what was happening.
“Is that the smell of incense?” he said sarcastically. “I believe, Moses, that you said my men should bring censers to prove who was with the Lord.”
A few of the crowd agreed with him. Moses ignored them. With the men were their wives and little ones. Moses felt compassion for these innocents, and yet he understood the reach of sin—that one man’s behavior affected many more than himself. And so he addressed the crowd:
“Men of Israel—these men have accused me and Aaron of betraying your trust. They have asked for a share in this leadership. I say to you that the Lord will now prove who is His own.”
He pointed to the men who stood before their tents. As he did, one of Dathan’s daughters ran to him. He picked her up and looked at his wife with fear for the first time. Korah remained confident that this was simply another of Moses’ tricks and that the lit censers had already made their case.
“If these men die a natural death, then the Lord is with them,” he continued. “But should they die an unnatural death…something completely out of the ordinary…If the earth should open and swallow them up—they and their families and all that they own alive into their graves—then you shall know that these men have offended the Lord your God!”
Korah nervously began to reply a contemptuous remark, when suddenly the earth beneath his feet convulsed violently. He looked at Moses with sheer fright in his eyes as Moses stepped backwards from him. The devils all around were jeering and laughing hysterically, for the death of any human was to them gratifying. Michael watched with a mixture of pride in his Lord and compassion for the little children who were about to follow their fathers’ sins to their graves.
It was all over in a few seconds—the earth beneath the tents and feet of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram opened like great jaws. Every one of them and all their possessions disappeared in a screaming, roaring terror. The sounds of the children tore at the heart of Moses, but it was out of his hands. Then the earth shut upon them and all was quiet once more.
Suddenly great rays of light began shooting from the cloud of glory above the Tabernacle into the 250 men who were holding the censers. Men and devils shrieked as the judgment of God poured forth upon that body of men. Shammua only managed to take one step before he was cut down, still clutching a rock with which he had intended to open Moses’ skull. All of the 250 men died within seconds. The people of Israel panicked, believing that God would kill them all.
As for Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, they perished and were gone from the community of Israel forever. Moses ordered that the censers be taken and hammered into sheets to overlay the altar—for the censers were holy to the Lord. This was done to remind the people that only those who had been ordained by God—Aaron and his descendants—could rightfully bring incense before the Lord.
Chronicles of the Host
Desert Sojourn
Following the defeat of Korah and his rebels, the Host presumed that perhaps the men of Israel would finally begin to recognize the Lord’s authority through Moses. But in true human fashion, and with encouragement from Lucifer’s unrelenting angels, a group opposed Moses the very next day! This time the Lord wasted no time and sent a plague among the people that was only stopped through the intercession of Moses and Aaron.
On many other occasions did these rebellious
people offend the Lord; and many other times did He deal with them harshly. Even Moses fell into sin, and because of his offense at Meribah in disobeying the Lord, he himself was barred from entering the Promised Land! But eventually this evil generation died in the desert, as did Aaron, Miriam, and others, as had been foretold by Moses.
A series of victories over local Canaanite rulers encouraged the people as they continued on their trek toward Canaan. At Mount Hor, because Edom refused to allow the Israelites to travel though their territory, Moses gave the order that they would have to go the long way around. This caused the people to balk and complain, for which the Lord sent venomous snakes to bite their heels.
Forty years after the spies had been sent into the land, the people of God, emboldened with a new generation, were prepared once more to enter the land of promise. They seemed unstoppable, as one by one the pagan kings fell before them: Arad; Sihon, king of the Amorites; Og, king of Bashan. And then they reached the borders of Balak, king of Moab, who had a different strategy in mind for dealing with the invading people of Israel…
“My king! Are you well?”
Balak, king of Moab, was lying on his bed, drenched in the sweat of another nightmare. His steward brought him some wine and the king sat up. He looked at the steward and took the cup, drinking it greedily. The king rose from his bed and looked over the city. All seemed quiet enough…for now. But the dreams he had been having and the news from the other kingdoms in his region indicated that his very throne was in jeopardy.
His own advisors also were feeling the dread, as were the people. All of Moab, it seemed, was terrified of the coming threat from the south. Only last week, delegations from the people pled with the elders to do something before it was too late. Balak had considered a military solution, but upon hearing of the deaths of Og and Sihon, and the destruction of their kingdoms, he had decided upon another course.
Unholy Empire: Chronicles of the Host, Vol 2: Chronicles of the Host, Book 2 Page 31