“Those Baal prophets followed you, Lucifer,” said Michael, adding these chilling words: “The sentence of death was already upon them—as on anyone who follows you, be they man or angel.”
“Watch your prophet well, Archangel,” sneered Lucifer. “I assure you that the Most High is not the only one handing out death sentences.”
Chronicles of the Host
Fugitive Prophet
True to his word, Lucifer raged against Elijah for the humiliation of Baal at Mount Carmel. Inflaming the hatred of Jezebel, he found a willing accomplice to carry out his wrathful vengeance. Jezebel ordered that Elijah be found and killed at any cost. Thus Elijah could did not savor his victory at Carmel for very long before he became a fugitive from Jezebel’s fury.
Making his way down to Beersheba, Elijah despaired of his life. So sullen was he, and so disappointed with his plight, that he begged the Most High to let him die. Now this is a wish that no angel has ever understood, coming from a creature made in the image of God. Yet Elijah prayed such a prayer and lay down under a juniper tree to await his death….
“Elijah. Get up and eat!”
Elijah lifted his head and saw a figure towering over him. It was Serus, dressed in a flowing white cloak. Serus touched the prophet on the shoulder to encourage him to rise up. Elijah jumped up, startled, and Serus indicated food and water that he had provided.
Elijah kept an eye on the angel as he ate, relaxing more and more as he understood that this was a messenger from the Lord. When he had finished, he lay back down and waited for this angel to fulfill his prayer. Instead Serus awakened him again with the words: “You must eat once more, because the journey you are about to take will be too great for you.”
“Journey?” Elijah said disappointedly. “I thought you were here to take me with you to be with the Lord!”
Serus restrained a smile and only repeated his words: “You must eat again so you will have strength for the journey.”
Elijah got up reluctantly and ate and drank. Then, scanning the horizon around Beersheba, he took off for the south.
“Whether I die here in Beersheba or someplace else is of no consequence,” he muttered to Serus, as he began his journey once more.
Bethlehem, 4 B.C.
Michael was touching Mary, trying to comfort her as the donkey walked the last couple of miles to the city. Joseph could now see the light of lamps and watchmen’s torches in Bethlehem, and he pointed this out to his wife.
“It won’t be much longer, love,” he told her, gripping her hand.
Mary said nothing, but she smiled down at her husband of whom she was so proud. He had trusted the Lord’s angel in a very delicate matter, and she would always treasure that in her heart.
Michael also could see the lights of Bethlehem—but not from the torches. Above the city were thousands of angels, gathered for the momentous event for which they had been waiting. He smiled proudly at the warriors encircling the city, and thought of the long and bloody trail that had brought God’s people to this point. Preserving the prophecy had not been without great cost to Israel—in fact it had cost them their nation.
“Now Ahab was a cruel and indifferent ruler,” Eli said. “And to be sure he married a wicked wife in Jezebel. But he was a great commander in the field and very successful in his wars against the Arameans.”
The shepherds were enjoying their second evening meal—some fruit and goat milk cheese—and the fire roared cheerily. Some of the men had gone home for the evening, their time of watch having been completed.
“Daniel!” Eli called out. “Come join us!”
Daniel, who had been sullen for most of the night, came over.
“Thank you,” he said. “I think I shall.”
He sat down among the men, who were puzzled by his change in attitude. Jarod handed Daniel a piece of bread, which he took gratefully. As he chewed he looked at the old man whose storytelling had dominated the evening.
“My father wanted to be a priest,” he said.
All the men looked at him.
“Really, Daniel,” said Eli. “Is that so? You are a Levite?”
“Yes,” he said. “But many generations back my people became shepherds rather than priests. Now of course we are not acceptable. And with Herod as king, the priesthood is far less pure.”
The other men were still in shock that Daniel had so suddenly opened up to them. The boys, too, did not understand the change that had overtaken him.
“Daniel?” asked Joshua.
“Yes,” he responded.
“Why were you so cross earlier?”
Elron, Joshua’s father, shook his head vigorously, indicating that the boy should be quiet. But Daniel smiled a half smile.
“It’s alright, Elron,” he said. “The boy was not asking anything that the rest of you were not thinking.”
He turned to Eli.
“You have been speaking of our nation, our heritage,” Daniel began. “As I was looking over Bethlehem, I began thinking of my fathers and their commitment to the priesthood. How God had selected my family to serve Him and how my family broke away from that service.”
He leaned back from the fire and continued.
“Eli, I must know…is the promise still alive? Because if it is, I wish to rejoin my brothers in the temple and fulfill my family duty.”
“Yes,” said Eli. “I would not believe otherwise. Someday the Messiah will arrive and save His people. But your question is understandable, Daniel. For even after Elijah’s ministry passed to Elisha, the kingdom of Israel was in great peril.”
“Yes,” Daniel said. “You mentioned the series of wars with the Arameans.”
“Not just war with nations, Daniel,” Eli said somberly. “War within Israel itself. Elijah’s ministry came to a close shortly after Ahab was killed in battle. Elisha, his disciple, took the old prophet’s mantle when Israel’s enemies were pressing in both from without and within…and he continued the work of the Lord in Israel’s last days…”
Jordan River near Jericho, 868 B.C.
Elisha, who had been with Elijah for some 11 years, watched as his mentor took his mantle and beat the surface of the Jordan River with it. He had seen many bizarre things over the years, so nothing much really surprised him—not even the splitting of the river that allowed them to cross over! As they crossed the river bed together to the other side, Elisha thought back over his life with the greatest living prophet in Israel.
Elisha had been Elijah’s loyal attendant. Together they had faced hostile foreign kings, attempts upon Elijah’s life, and the tricky intrigue of the Aramean wars, in which Ahab had finally been killed. Elisha had also been with the old prophet when an angel appeared and told him to speak against Ahaziah, the king who succeeded Ahab, for consulting with Baal diviners. Twice, Elisha had witnessed Elijah call down fire from Heaven that consumed two companies of Ahaziah’s men and their officers! It had been quite an adventure so far.
Now the end of Elijah’s ministry was near. Prophet and disciple arrived on the other side of the Jordan, neither one speaking a word. Elisha looked with deep feelings at his mentor, dressed in his shaggy mantle and the leather belt around his waist. The old holy man turned to Elisha and spoke.
“What can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” he asked.
“I have seen the Lord work through your life,” said Elisha. “And I know that if I am to succeed, it must be by the Lord’s anointing. Therefore give me a double portion of your spirit.”
Elijah considered this request for a moment or two, the sun beating down upon his wrinkled face. He then looked at Elisha.
“You are asking something very hard,” he finally said. “But if when I am taken away, you see me depart, then the anointing is yours. Otherwise, it is not.”
Elisha continued walking with the prophet, chatting with him and recalling some of their experiences together. He wanted to glean whatever wisdom he could from Elijah before he was taken away.
&nbs
p; Suddenly they both stopped. In front of them a strange apparition appeared—horses and a chariot that appeared to be made of flames! There was nobody in the chariot, and Elijah walked toward it. Suddenly the wind picked up around them. A great whirlwind swirled in from the north and enveloped Elijah, picking him up and disappearing into the sky.
“Master! Master!” Elisha screamed. “I see the chariots! I see the horsemen!”
Elisha watched until his teacher disappeared completely. He knew that he would not see his mentor again until he saw him one day before the Lord. He also knew something else: that the mantle left behind was now his and that the double portion he had asked for was also his. He picked up the old coat and put it on. It was heavy indeed.
From a distance, several demons who had been assigned to Elisha watched as the new prophet of Israel made his way back toward the Jordan. They had not dared come near the men while Elijah was still around—especially when the chariot of fire had arrived to escort Elijah to Heaven.
One of the demons, a particularly hateful assistant to Rugio by the name of Grolius, had a particular vendetta against Elisha. Having lost a great companion and mentor in Shawa at Mount Carmel, he had sworn vengeance upon Elijah and Elisha. Rugio determined to give Grolius a chance and dispatched him with several warriors to find an opportune time to kill the prophet.
“Elisha is never without escort, is he?” said Sar, whose last important task was during the fight against Moses in Goshen. “Always an angel around.”
“And not just an angel,” said Grolius. “Several warriors—and usually an archangel somewhere about. They always seem to accompany the humans who have the greatest anointing.”
“He took the mantle, my lord,” said Corell. “It is his now.”
Grolius watched as the prophet, now wearing Elijah’s mantle, disappeared down the bank of the Jordan. He smirked and said, “The prophet told him that it was a burdensome mantle. Let us therefore oblige him!”
Chronicles of the Host
Elisha
The Spirit of the Lord was indeed upon Elisha, and with the company of some prophets who also served the Lord, he traveled throughout the land. These were hopeful days for the Host. Elisha conducted himself with such faith—subduing his enemies; doing great miracles, including the raising of a boy from the dead at Shunem; and perhaps of greatest satisfaction for the holy angels, frustrating Lucifer’s plans to stop the word of the Lord by leading a reform against the Baal prophets.
Thus it was that a new king arose in Aram, the sworn enemy of Israel. He found that the very words he spoke in his bedroom were being repeated by Elisha the prophet to the king of Israel! Such was his rage, that he sent an army to surround Elisha and his servant in the little city of Dothan, there to capture him….
Grolius was riding in the chariot with the Aramean commander. The night before they had come upon Dothan and surrounded it. Their last word was that the prophet Elisha was there. Now they had an opportunity to end the career of the man of God who had been so troublesome to them.
Along with Grolius were hundreds of unholy angels, all of whom wanted to witness the final chapter in Elisha’s life. Many of them had been at Mount Carmel, and like Grolius, sought revenge for their humiliation there. The angels moved in and out of the Aramean position, fanning the Arameans’ hate and preparing them for possible resistance by the other prophets and some of the townspeople.
Over the city, in a large and organized concentration, were holy angels under the command of Serus. He had called in a legion of warriors after he had heard of the approaching Aramean army. He knew that Grolius had been with the king of Aram and expected a great fight. Michael had left, promising to return in due course with more angels, but as yet had not returned.
Serus positioned himself directly over the house in which Elisha slept. He saw Grolius approaching and went to meet him at the city’s edge.
“Well, Serus,” said Grolius. “From a traitor to a commander of traitors in such a short time. Congratulations!”
Serus ignored the comment and watched as the Arameans drew in closer and closer to the city. He called to one of his aides, an angel who stood nearby, to awaken Elisha’s servant. Within moments, the servant of the prophet stepped out and saw the Aramean army surrounding the city.
“Master!” he cried out, running back into the room where Elisha was sleeping. “An army has surrounded us with horses and chariots!”
Elisha woke up, looked outside the door, and saw the army that was awaiting the signal to attack. Elisha stretched and looked at his servant. Some of the others began to awaken as well, and within a few minutes there was a low drone of concern. All eyes were on Elisha, who seemed quite calm about it all.
“I suppose it’s me they are after,” he said casually. “Shall we go and talk with them? Or do you think they want to fight?”
“Master!” said the servant. “They will kill you!”
Elisha smiled and indicated for his servant to follow him outside.
Grolius saw Elisha step outside and pointed him out to his warriors.
“There is the prophet!” he screamed. “Make sure to clear the guardians around him so that he can be captured by the soldiers!” Several of Grolius’s angels closed in around Elisha. Serus responded by moving in with his warriors, who now were tightly around the prophet with their swords drawn.
But Elisha told his servant not to be afraid. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them!”
The servant looked about and did not understand. He knew that they could not count on a handful of prophets and a few of the locals for help—against a trained veteran army.
“How can that be, master?” he asked nervously.
Elisha shook his head as if it were all so easy. He looked up toward the still dark morning sky and began to pray: “Lord, open his eyes so that he might see!”
Suddenly, dots of light began appearing all over the hills around the little city. At first Elisha’s servant could not make them out. Maybe they were fires from a relieving army! Perhaps Elisha was going to pull a trick like Gideon had done with his torches. But then the servant saw that they were not torches but horses and chariots of fire! It was the Host of the Lord all about them!
The angels under Grolius began to back off the city when they saw that it was they, not Elisha, who were surrounded. Many of Grolius’s commanders tried to rally the fleeing spirits and were able to restore some order among them, although all were unnerved by the appearance of the large army that had enveloped them. Enraged, Grolius saw that the commander of this newly arrived host was Michael!
“I told you I would return,” said Michael to Serus. “And I brought a few friends along for company!”
“Perfect,” said Serus. “The enemy was just about to move on Dothan.”
“Now it seems they are moving out of it!” observed Michael as the last of the demons backed away, leaving the Aramean army to its own devices.
Grolius, however, would have none of it and moved upon the commander of the enemy army to begin the attack. The roar of charging horses and chariots filled the dust-filled morning air as the Arameans moved in to take Elisha.
Michael watched as Elisha looked toward the heavens and declared boldly, “Lord, strike this army with blindness.”
Michael, compelled by the Spirit of God, ordered his angels to attack the Arameans, striking the men with their swords. Grolius’s demons moved to block as many of Michael’s angels as they could, but the strength of the heavenly host overwhelmed them, pushing them aside. Each Aramean, as he was struck by an angel, suddenly became blind, wrecking his chariot or slowing his horse to a walk. The Aramean army was frozen where it stood—blind and helpless because of the Lord’s angels and Elisha’s great faith.
Chronicles of the Host
Israel in Decline
Grolius was powerless to stop the demoralization of the humans who, when confronted with their sudden blindness, dropped their weapons and cried out in surrend
er. The Aramean commander awaited his disposition and asked to speak with the prophet. Elisha, pretending to be another man, offered to guide the army to a place where they might indeed find the prophet. They consented and he delivered them into the hands of the king of Israel—the ruler of their enemies!
Throughout the remainder of his life, Elisha, led by the Lord and kept by His angels, continued in service to the kings of Israel. These were perilous times for both kings and prophets, as war and assassination were ever present, and the prophets brought unwelcome messages of impending destruction.
Hard-hearted as always, and fed by the lies of demon-inspired prophets, Israel refused to repent and in the end was destroyed. The nation that had been stirred up by Rugio, the cruel Assyrians, came in and destroyed Israel and Samaria, taking many people into captivity into their dark and dismal land.
Having thus seen the northern kingdom of Israel destroyed, Lucifer looked forward to the destruction of Judah. He met in council with those wicked angels who were the princes over Assyria, determined to bring a quick and bloody finish to Jerusalem, and to put to rest forever the threat of the Seed that hung over all of them….
CHAPTER 12
“I will make myself like the Most High!”
Samaria, 710 B.C.
“Well done, Rugio,” said Lucifer, pacing in front of the hulking warrior who was seated in a place of honor in front of the Council. “If all my leaders had the resourcefulness and ability that you have demonstrated over the kings of Assyria, we should have destroyed these people long ago.”
Rugio nodded in humble agreement, stealing a glance at Kara, who was quietly stewing in moody contemplation. The Council was meeting in the occupied city of Samaria, former capital of Israel, now the capital of the newly annexed province of the Assyrian empire that Israel had become. Ahab’s former palace, the proud heritage of the house of Omri, gave evidence of the recent hardships. Much of the marvelous ivory inlaid walls and panels had been stripped and sent back to the Assyrian king in Nineveh as a trophy of war. Other parts had been burned out by fleeing nobles.
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