“I suspect that there are most certainly other ways to bring you to this place, but this is the path that has been chosen for you.”
“What do you mean that a path has been chosen for me? Is this what God has decided?”
“Yes.”
“You mean God is the one who decided my child would die?”
“Would you rather that your son’s death be a random and purposeless accident or would you prefer to know that the infinitely wise Sovereign of the universe has a plan and that your son’s death is in that plan?”
Mark shook his head slightly. “You mean God killed my son?”
“No, he did not. Mark, I know this is hard. Please understand that I am not trying to be insensitive, but I know you want straight answers. Let me say this again. God did not kill your son. He permitted your son to die.”
Mark didn’t like what he was hearing. It was emotionally difficult to say the least. But he had seen demonic forces, was talking to an angel, and was quickly realizing that there were truths about himself, the world, and God that he didn’t particularly like.
“It kind of makes God a little cruel, wouldn’t you say? I mean, he permitted Jacob to die when he could have saved him. I have to admit, as a father, it is not comforting to hear that God arbitrarily let my son die.”
“Nothing is arbitrary with God.”
“Then is it a game he’s playing to see how I will react?”
Mark’s tone was hard. He was getting more agitated so Sotare let the moment soften before saying, “Mark, my friend. I hurt for you, for your loss, and for the unsatisfying answers. But, sometimes we have to face the unpleasant things before we can accept something of greater value.”
“No, I’m sorry; I’m having a tough time here. This is something that has always bothered me. If God is all-powerful and there is suffering in the world and he chooses to do nothing about it, then something is wrong. How can he be good if he lets so much bad happen when he can stop it?”
Sotare stared at Mark, obviously forming an appropriate response. Mark stared back.
“God does stop suffering, just not all of it,” said Sotare. “There are many instances where suffering is prevented, but you wouldn’t know about that because you, and others, don’t experience it.”
“Why not stop all of it, then?”
“To do that would require removing your freedom. It’s like this. You have the ability to choose among different options. If God were to stop all suffering he’d have to stop you from making your free choices that have bad consequences.” Sotare paused and then asked, “Do you want to be free?”
Mark hesitantly answered, “Yes.”
“And do you think others want their freedom, too?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
“People make bad choices that lead to suffering. Do you want God to stop people from making those choices?”
Mark didn’t answer.
“Then there is the issue of belief,” continued Sotare. “You can choose to believe something like a lie that can end up bringing suffering. Should God stop you from freely choosing to believe what you want? Should he step in and make you believe something to the contrary of your desires?”
Again Mark was silent.
“Remember what I said earlier about being made in God’s image?”
“Yes.”
“Part of that image means that you are able to make choices, are responsible for your choices, and need to face the consequences of those choices.”
“But if God is all powerful then can’t he arrange it for us to be free and also to not suffer?”
“I guess you want it all, don’t you?” responded Sotare with a tilt of his head. “You want God to take care of all of your problems while you’re completely free to make choices, even choices that are wrong.”
Mark looked back at Sotare as he thought about it.
“It sounds to me like you want to be a child. You want to be comforted in everything and have no suffering, all while you are free to choose whatever you want, even if those choices are wrong. It seems to me you’re asking for the impossible.”
There wasn’t much more Mark could say at this point. He’d been cornered again and was feeling a little insulted.
“Your bedside manner leaves a little to be desired,” responded Mark a bit defiantly. It was obvious he didn’t like the answers. “You’re quite direct.”
“Would you rather that I tell you what you want to hear with nice-sounding words so you can feel satisfied and fulfilled—even if those words are not true? Or do you want the truth?”
Mark knew the answer to that question. He wanted truth, even if it was uncomfortable. He exhaled, resolved to see this through.
“You know something?” said Mark.
“What?
“Truth is uncomfortable. No wonder we try and find things that make us feel good.”
“Yes. Humans enjoy their deception.”
Sotare relaxed into his seat and straightened a fold in his pants. “May I say something that is just a little difficult?”
Mark shook his head slightly with a half smile, preparing himself for another hard truth. “Go right ahead.”
Sotare swept his hand as he emphasized, “People don’t like it that God allows bad to happen, so they complain. They have no problem accepting good from God but they reject the adversity he may send. Yet, both are part of God’s plan, a plan that is infinitely complex and old.” Sotare stopped and stared at Mark.
“So,” began Mark in a measured tone, “God is in control, and we need to trust him, right?”
“Right, even if it is difficult at times.”
Mark thought about it and rubbed his chin.
“So, basically, you’re saying we have the free will to screw up and yet God is still in control?”
“That’s one way of putting it. But think about this. Since God knows all things, nothing that exists can exist outside of his knowledge, whether it is the past, the present, or the future. This means that every action and choice that you make is known beforehand by the Almighty. In turn, since this knowledge is eternally known by God, the interaction between God’s control and your freedom is already known by him as well. Though you are free to make choices, God is also free to be sovereign. It is as though they work together, yet you are taken where you go and you are still free.”
Mark was trying to understand what he was hearing. “It sounds like philosophical mumbo-jumbo.”
Sotare smiled. “Is a fish in a fishbowl free to swim wherever it desires?”
“Yes, within the limits of that bowl.”
“And if you were to pick up that bowl and move it to where you want it to be, have you forced the fish to swim in a different place or a different way?”
“Well, I suppose not.”
“Your life is that fishbowl. God moves it where he wants it to go, yet you are still free to act as you desire. It’s just that God knows your free will choices before you do.”
Mark was following Sotare. “If God knows what I’m going to choose, then how can I be free to make the choice? I mean, I can’t really make a different choice than the one that God knows I am going to choose, right? Isn’t he restricting my choices by knowing them ahead of time?”
“I’m glad to see you can think through these issues. But, God is not restricting your choices. You are. You are the one who freely chooses and thereby it is you who excludes other possibilities. God just knows how it’s going to work out. And, just so you know, he does some nudging as well.”
Mark relaxed a little. But he was still unsure. “I think this confusion is going to be a regular occurrence for a while.”
Sotare laughed lightly.
Mark realized this was the first time that Sotare had laughed. It made him more personable. “Okay, so I guess this means that God has a reason for why he allowed it, but I’m unable to understand it completely now, right?”
“Yes, to put it simply.” Sotare turned around and looked up to the t
reetops. The prince was staring down at them. The angel sensed something. He turned back to Mark. “Please hold on. I will be right back.”
Sotare looked up, flapped his wings, and again ascended just above the treetops a safe distance away from Nabal as he looked out to the west. After a little bit, he descended back to the ground.
“That’s going to take some getting used to.”
“I apologize. I have become comfortable speaking to you and I thought nothing of ascending.” He looked over at Nomos, who had been standing quietly on guard the whole time. Nomos said, “I have sensed the same thing. Are you going to tell him?”
Sotare was looking at Nomos. All Mark saw was him staring into an empty part of the garden. He heard Sotare say, “Yes,” and then he turned to Mark. “Something is coming.”
The way Sotare said it sent icy chills down Mark’s spine.
“What is it? What is coming?”
“I am not sure, but it might be a principality.” Sotare looked at Mark. “You are very important. I do not know why, but you are the reason it is coming.”
Mark swallowed hard and tasted the fear rise up in his throat. He forced it down.
“A principality?” asked Mark cautiously. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s bad, very bad.” Mark’s expression went blank.
“There is no easy way to say this, so I suppose that being straightforward is best. A principality rarely leaves its abode. It commands princes such as Nabal, and the princes carry out these commands without hesitation. The prince who is above us on the tree could easily defeat both Nomos and me. In fact, it might take twenty angels like us to match it. As it is, there are only two of us here for you.” Sotare looked at Nomos then back to Mark.
“If Nabal is so great, why hasn’t he attacked?” asked Mark.
“If he were to attack us, he could defeat us. Then you would be far more vulnerable to him. But as I said before, it cannot arbitrarily harm you. It can make your life miserable. It can make fear come over you, influence others to harm you, cause you to have horrible nightmares, and even make you sick. If it were allowed to work on you unchecked, it could end up killing you.”
Mark recoiled slightly and frowned. He had seen the fierceness of the ugly prince and did not doubt Sotare.
“But a principality,” continued Sotare, “can rip a hole in your spirit and influence your mind not only to hurt yourself, but also your wife, and others.”
“There is no way I would hurt my wife. No way!”
Sotare looked at Mark with a quick and direct examination. “Your suicide would have hurt her deeply.”
That stung.
“Mark, my point is that you must always keep guard over your heart. Don’t be so confident and boast about things you cannot guarantee. You don’t know what really resides in your own soul. Let me ask you, would you have ever suspected that you could commit suicide?”
Mark did not like Sotare’s reasoning, but he already knew the angel was correct.
“No, you’re right. I guess you never know what you’ll do until you are in the situation.”
“Exactly,” Sotare concluded. “Anyway, let me continue. A principality is so strong that it can defeat many princes. It is a monstrously hideous and awesomely powerful evil force, and if it is coming, then things are going to get much, much worse.”
Mark swallowed hard. He frowned and pursed his lips. Fear hit Mark’s soul with the thud of a large rock hitting the ground. He managed to ask, “And are you worried that one of these principalities is coming here for me?”
“I don’t know,” said Sotare straightaway. “There are other people involved in the battle. It might be coming for someone else. But it could be coming for you.”
Mark’s chest grew tight and his heart thumped with the fear that seemed to have crawled down into his stomach and taken hold.
“But,” said Sotare, “it is also possible that it is coming to open the door for a larger demonic presence, I don’t know. There are many possibilities.”
Mark couldn’t say anything. He sat motionless, his full attention on Sotare.
Above them in the trees the prince opened its wings and held them outstretched as it threw back its head and howled into the sky.
Sotare instinctively flexed his wings, causing him to vanish. The unfortunate timing was disturbing, yet Mark had to force himself to stay calm, accept it, and wait. A moment later, Sotare reappeared.
“I apologize again, Mark. I know that if I tell you not to worry my words might seem meaningless. But, still…don’t worry. Though a battle is coming, the fact that I have been given the privilege to appear to you means that God is working. I doubt very much that he will let anything too serious happen to you.”
Mark found the words comforting as well as disturbing. He looked up to the treetops and visualized Nabal, then back to Sotare. “Too serious?”
Chapter 5
BACK IN THE CAVERN, the creatures moved restlessly among the well-worn paths that snaked around boulders. In a large, open flat area groups of beasts congregated according to their kind. They gathered there because the recent portal opening above had excited them and they were hoping another might open among the ground creatures. They wanted their turn in the world of people.
The Cavern was a dangerous place even for them. There were occasional skirmishes and battles for position and territory. Sporadic screams, growls, and scuffles echoed off the walls as creatures of one kind would clash with those of another. The stronger would attack the weaker and the weaker would return in groups to exact revenge. The cycle was ongoing, ages-old, and relentless. Any sign of weakness was an invitation for pain, so they stayed in groups according to rank and kind.
None of the creatures knew what opened the portal, though they assumed it was controlled by the worst of evil forces, called Satan. This horrendous creature possessed no compassion, no love, no kindness, and no beauty. Instead, in the black void of Satan’s soul flowed pure evil—utter and complete evil—the depth of which was matched only by its tremendous power.
No demon, no worker, no prince, and no principality ever dared to challenge the angel known as The Great Fallen One, the Deceiver. All the demonic forces cowered in its presence and greatly feared its ability to exact unimaginable pain upon any who did not instantly obey its commands. But the devil never came to The Cavern. It had its own place of dwelling that no creature here had ever seen, nor had any ever desired to visit.
Near a dark fissure that had ripped a gaping hole into The Cavern’s side, a lizard-like thing was licking a frothy liquid that had spilled upon a stone. Unexpectedly, a cool wisp of air brushed up against its wet leathery skin. It paused and turned, dropping its guard for a moment. Then, a second wisp, almost imperceptibly cold, barely brushed against its torso. In this place of fire anything other than heat was out of place. The creature stood up straight and peered into the blackness from which the cold emanated.
Nearby, a skeletal beast, with loose black skin, huge shoulders, and massive jaws watched the first creature drop its guard. It crouched and immediately lunged upon it, thrusting its fangs deep into its victim’s leathery back. The first growled, reached back, and grabbed the assailant’s head with its claws. But just before the second was about to inflict another wound, an intense wave of cold swept over them both. They instinctively stopped and cowered. The second fled. The first tried to run, but quickly discovered it could not. A huge gash in its lower torso made it impossible to run. It fell to the ground, wounded, only able to feebly hobble away from the icy cold that now was washing over its entire body.
The frozen air moved like a wave, flowing over rocks, filling crevices, moving around boulders, and reaching like fingers deeper into The Cavern. As it did, more and more creatures paused and stared out into the dark cave before falling silent and running. The first to flee were those closest to the outside. They felt the presence first. Then, as it swept inward, more and more demons felt the chill and they,
too, finally erupted into a panicked race to flee through the numerous fractured corridors that scarred the landscape. They clawed and growled at each other as they ran, until finally the last darted into a deep crevice and The Cavern fell silent.
Soon, two faint points of light appeared. They seemed to move slightly back and forth as they approached. There were soft, rhythmic tremors in the ground as the creature walked and a low-pitched growl, like that of a prowling lion, almost inaudible. The cave funneled the sound outward into The Cavern, gradually increasing its intensity.
The foreboding sound and dense cold swept into The Cavern ahead of the mighty beast that lumbered forward until finally, the principality known as Paraptome entered The Cavern. It stopped and looked around; its huge black, shiny form was illuminated by the soft glow of numerous golden fires. It surveyed the landscape through deep-set, red eyes.
Paraptome was an immense hulking mass. It had a huge bony head topped by several immense, sharp saber-like quills pointing backward where hair would have been. Its red eyes were sunk deep into its skull, which was separated by a shallow cleft running from its nose up past its forehead and back down its neck. Its cheekbones were abnormally large, as were its brows and sloped forehead. On top, two huge horns twisted upward and outward. In its massive jaws, two teeth protruded forward from the bottom and curled upward slightly, ending below its eyes. Its neck seemed an impenetrable mass of muscle that led down to a hulking black chest that moved as the creature breathed. On its back, two inconceivably huge bat-like wings were partially extended. A barbed tail the size of a tree trunk rested on the ground behind it and the talons on its two hoofed feet dug deep into The Cavern’s earthen floor.
It looked down at the wounded and terrified creature that had managed to drag itself only a short distance. Paraptome approached it, the ground thudding with each step. Then, slowly, it extended a giant clawed hand, palm forward. The wounded creature rose into the air and floated towards the hulk. It kicked wildly in suspended motion and snarled in sporadic bursts of fearful growls until it was finally in the giant’s hand. Paraptome brought the creature close to its face and gazed upon the fragile demon. Then with a rumbling gurgle it squeezed until the creature fell silent in the steel grip of the principality. A dark liquid oozed forth and fell to The Cavern floor.
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