Birth of an Age

by James Beauseigneur

  “To minimize the risk, he appeared in the form of a simple animal that would be familiar to them. He told the woman that if she ate the fruit she would not die[64] but instead would realize that Yahweh had lied, and that he wasn’t what he claimed to be. She understood. And in a truly remarkable show of courage and strength that has been recalled in song and legend a million times on a thousand different planets throughout the universe, she ate the fruit.”

  Jerusalem

  The predawn air was cool but exceedingly dry as Andrew Levinson walked with his father, brother, uncle, and two cousins across the dusty, parched ground toward the ancient city of Jerusalem. Before them the Jewish Temple rose in unequaled splendor above the city’s walls. Already they could hear the faint bleating and lowing of lambs and cattle brought to Jerusalem for sacrifice. The six Levinson men had come from their homes northeast of the Sea of Galilee in Korazin and had spent the night at the home of Andrew’s grandparents near Bethany.

  Despite the utter devastation that surrounded their country, this wasn’t the time to think on such things: This was the Levinsons’ week of service in the Temple. As members of the ancient Hebrew tribe of Levi, their duty to their nation and their God was as clear as it was uncompromising and unyielding to the events around them — no matter how severe. Twice a year they came, just as in the ancient days, to serve for a week carrying out the myriad duties required for the efficient operation of the Temple.

  To Andrew Levinson, the fact that Israel survived while the countries around them had all perished was reason to believe and fear God, and therefore to serve him. Certainly Israel had its own problems, having been plagued by drought these past three and a half years, but at least they were still alive.

  At first, when it became clear that Israel was being miraculously spared from the madness that took the lives of all in the Muslim countries around them, Andrew, like most of the other religious people in Israel, had actually celebrated, believing that God was punishing Israel’s enemies. But then the madness continued to spread, reaching countries far beyond their region. Now Israel’s friends and foes alike were dying in bloody acts of dementia, and Andrew began to fear, as did many others, that the killing might consume the whole world.

  It was a dreadful thought, a terrifying thought, and yet Andrew couldn’t dwell on it. It was God’s will, and the will of Yahweh was not to be questioned, and so the six men walked in silence toward the Temple where they would go about their work as if all was normal, offering themselves in service to their god.

  Over the Atlantic

  “The woman knew that if she was wrong she would die,” Christopher said, “but she also knew that if she didn’t eat, her people might never know the truth.

  “And, of course, she didn’t die! Yahweh had lied! Quickly she shared the fruit with others and neither did they die. Even the Bible acknowledges this and says that instead of dying, as Yahweh had threatened, ‘Their eyes were opened!’[65] That should have been enough to convince mankind for all generations that Yahweh was a liar, but within a few centuries that knowledge was lost.”

  Decker had to interrupt. “Please,” he implored. “The other Theatan you’re talking about . . . Is that Satan?”

  “His name is actually Lucifer,” Christopher explained, “which means ‘bearer of light.’ Yahweh refused to call him by name and addressed him simply as Theatan, the implication being that he considered himself superior to the race that had given him birth. There are many languages that don’t have a th sound, and over the centuries ‘Satan’ became the accepted pronunciation.”

  Decker held his head. “And you’re saying that Yahweh is the bad guy. But then who was it you talked with during those forty days in the Israeli wilderness?”

  “Lucifer,” Christopher acknowledged.

  “But he identified himself as your father.”

  “I think you can understand that at that time — before I knew the truth — I wouldn’t have been very receptive to the idea of conferring with Lucifer. Besides, he is my father in a way that’s much more important. Just as you cared for me and protected me and helped me to reach my destiny, so also has Lucifer. Which is more important, Decker, the one who gave me life nearly four billion years ago, or the one who has loved and cared for me?” The question was rhetorical.

  Looking back and forth from Christopher to Milner, Decker asked, “Is there any possibility that you’re mistaken?”

  Christopher shook his head. “There’s no mistake, Decker. Over the past three days, while my body lay dead, I was spiritually in the presence of Yahweh. I spoke with him face to face. I discovered that the cold, inhuman laughter and voice in my dream was his.”

  Decker struggled, but nodded for Christopher to continue.

  “Yahweh’s ‘final evolutionary step’ did indeed make him more powerful than other Theatans,” Christopher said, “but in many ways he is a throwback to the past, possessed of greed, pride, and jealousy. He acknowledged this himself in the commandment he gave to Moses in which he stated: ‘You shall have no gods before me . . . for I am a jealous god.’[66]

  “The Bible itself convicts him again and again. It’s filled with examples of Yahweh’s oppression and cruelty. Just a few pages after the account of the garden of Eden, in Genesis chapter eleven, it tells the story of the Tower of Babel — a story that’s particularly relevant to our time.”

  Robert Milner opened his briefcase and took out a Bible, which he handed to Decker, who found the reference. “Starting in verse five,” Christopher said, and Decker found it:

  But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, ‘If as one people, speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’[67]

  “When Yahweh saw the people of the Earth cooperating and working together,” Christopher explained, “he interfered to crush that unity. In the same way, today he sees the unity the world has reached through the United Nations, and seeks to crush it as well.

  “It wasn’t the tower that frightened Yahweh. It was that the people of Earth were unified in the effort. In unity there is power — power that Yahweh fears because he knows that when people depend on themselves and each other, they no longer have any need for him. He thrives on division and suffering. Indeed, he promotes it at every turn. The self-righteous hatred that Yahweh promotes and which has led to so much religious persecution and so many wars is the very fuel by which he corrupts the human spirit. Yahweh doesn’t want peace on Earth. The Bible itself proves it!

  “But look over at the fourth chapter of Exodus,” Christopher directed. “At this point, Yahweh has just told Moses to go to Egypt and to tell Pharaoh to free the people of Israel. But then Yahweh says, ‘But, I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will not let the people go.’[68] And to make it even worse, Yahweh tells Moses:

  Then say to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me.’ But you refused to let him go, so I will kill your firstborn son.”[69]

  “Can you see the sheer unmitigated evil we’re dealing with?” Christopher asked. “Yahweh sent Moses to warn Pharaoh, but then he hardened Pharaoh’s heart so he would ignore the warning. And then Yahweh blames Pharaoh, and he kills his son!

  “The whole thing was just a big game to him! And, of course, it wasn’t just Pharaoh who suffered. All of Egypt suffered as Yahweh dumped one plague after another on the unsuspecting people, just as he has done today through John and Cohen.”

  Jerusalem

  As it was with most of their extended family, Andrew Levinson’s father, uncle, and cousins were members of the Temple Guard — not a position of any great honor, but still a relatively choice task compared to some. The men of each family from the tribe of Levi were assigned for life to one of the duties at the Temple. Some served as assistants to t
he priests, others as doorkeepers or groundskeepers. Some hauled away the entrails and manure of slaughtered animals or cleaned up where the sacrifices took place. Some skinned the animals for sale to tanneries. The types of jobs seemed endless. Which families were assigned to which jobs was based on some unexplained and unchallengeable judgment of the High Priest, and the Levinsons were just pleased that fate hadn’t given them something far less desirable. It was the responsibility of those in the Temple Guard to ensure that order was maintained and that all Temple laws and customs were obeyed by the thousands of worshipers and visitors who passed through the Temple each day.

  Andrew and his brother James would have been members of the Temple Guard as well had it not been for the training that both had received since early childhood from their mother. For a minimum of two hours each day she had tutored them in the singing of the psalms and playing of the Temple harp, an instrument believed to closely resemble that of Israel’s great king David. Because of their musical abilities, the two had been selected to be among the Temple musicians and singers — James played the harp, and Andrew, because of his robust tenor voice, had been selected as a singer. Both positions were greatly coveted, but their mother also taught them humility, and so they handled the honor well.

  It was still before dawn, but as the Levinson men entered the city they saw them — thousands of them. There were whole families: some with doves or pigeons in cages; others with young goats or lambs or bull calves on makeshift leashes; a few held small lambs in their arms. People from all over Israel had come to the Temple to offer their sacrifices to God. Some brought their sin and trespass offerings[70], some their fellowship offerings,[71] still others their thank offerings.[72] All of them had one thing in common: fear. Those with sin offerings wished to ask God’s forgiveness in hopes that he would continue to spare them from the contagion. Those with fellowship offerings wished to show their loyalty to God and to ask his protection. And those with thank offerings came to thank God for protecting them thus far and to ask for continued preservation from the destruction that encircled their country.

  Tel Aviv

  Ben Gurion Airport was all but shut down. Because of the spreading madness, there were no planes coming in and, accordingly, there were none leaving. Had there been, they would have been packed with passengers hoping to flee the area of madness. Not everyone in Israel accepted the idea that the best way to ensure their safety was to trust the Jewish god to continue to protect them. Many wanted to get as far away from the danger as possible. A few had attempted to leave by land, but were overcome by the madness within minutes of crossing the border. But surely, most reasoned, it would be safer in North or South America or in Australia or some other place that might be isolated from the madness by the oceans.

  It had been the middle of the night in Israel when Christopher was resurrected, and most Israelis didn’t learn of it until morning. As the news spread, the story left everyone dumbstruck. Millions viewed the videos online, amazed.

  A few might still have been skeptical that spiritual forces were causing the madness, but that skepticism was no longer evident in the reports of the world media. Perhaps it was because of the media’s constant need to simplify, but from the perspective of most news reports the matter was settled: The madness that had killed millions and threatened the entire planet was somehow the result of the spiritual or at least psychic powers of the two Israelis, John and Cohen. And Christopher Goodman, following his resurrection from the dead, was headed to Jerusalem to somehow try to put an end to their atrocities.

  To most, Christopher’s arrival in Israel was a sign of hope. There were those, however, who thought of a more immediate utility that his pilgrimage might serve. For them, his arrival meant that a plane was coming in and therefore would be going back out. When it did, one way or another they intended to be on it, whether by begging and pleading or, if necessary, taking the plane by force.

  Over the Atlantic

  “I don’t understand,” Decker still struggled. “Admittedly, I’m no Bible scholar, but surely this can’t be right. How could literally billions of people over the centuries have followed a belief system if their own book showed their god to be so unjust? There must be some explanation.”

  “I understand,” Christopher replied. “And if I hadn’t spoken with Yahweh myself, I wouldn’t have believed such pure evil could exist.” He shook his head and sighed reluctantly. “But we’ve only scratched the surface. If you read the next few verses, you’ll see that after Yahweh sent Moses on the mission to talk to Pharaoh, he decided to kill Moses for doing the very thing he had told him to do![73] Somehow, Moses’ wife understood Yahweh’s cruel, insane nature, and she cut her son with a knife and smeared his blood on Moses’ feet so Yahweh wouldn’t kill him.[74] I know it all sounds primitive and crazy, but that’s the whole point! And it’s right there in the Bible for everyone to see.

  “There’s endless examples: Animal sacrifices,[75] even a human sacrifice.[76] But for more insanity, look in the twenty-second chapter of the book of Numbers.”

  Decker found the place.

  “The king of Moab sent messengers to get the prophet Balaam, but Balaam refused to go unless Yahweh approved. Read starting right there,” Christopher told him, pointing to a place on the page.

  Decker found the reference and began,

  That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.” Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him.[77]

  “We find out a few verses later, in verse 33, that Yahweh instructed the angel to kill Balaam. And for what? For doing exactly what he told him to do! And then Yahweh has the unmitigated audacity in the very next chapter to declare, ‘God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind!’[78] But, as the stories of both Moses and Balaam demonstrate, Yahweh changes his mind whenever he pleases!”

  It was hard for Decker to accept, but here was the evidence laid bare.

  “Later,” Christopher continued, “when the Israelites finally reached the promised land, there was just one ‘small’ problem: There were already people living there! So what did Yahweh do? He told the Israelites to drive out or kill every man, woman, and child they found, showing no mercy.”[79] Christopher was clearly in control of his emotions, but his voice revealed growing anger with each example he raised. “Later on, in the fifteenth chapter of First Samuel . . .” Christopher paused. “Well, you read it, Decker. It’s First Samuel, chapter 15, starting with verse 3.”

  Decker flipped the pages and found the place and began to read.

  Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.[80]

  Christopher shook his head in disgust. “What kind of god would demand the killing of innocent children, even ordering that babies be slaughtered?”

  It appeared there was no explanation. Slowly, Decker was beginning to realize that Christopher must be right.

  “As amazing as it may seem,” Christopher said, “it’s all right there in the Bible, recorded in black and white for all to see. Because even when the writers of the Bible put the best face on his actions, ultimately they couldn’t disguise the sadistic, twisted being that Yahweh truly is.

  “According to the Bible, Yahweh created humans in his own image[81] — in the image of a god — and yet he demands that they remain as his servants, and pronounces laws that go against their very nature, laws that are, in fact, designed to prevent them from ever reaching their rightful place in the universe!” Christopher struck the arm of his chair with his clenched fist. “What could be more insidious, more sadistic, or more depraved?”

  Jerusalem

  Passing through the crowds, Andrew and his relatives reached a s
et of passageways beneath the Temple, where they were granted entrance by the Levite guard. Here they would prepare for the day’s service.

  Andrew pulled the curtain behind him and placed his robe in a pile with others on a table. He had checked his sandals with another Levite before reaching this point. Naked, he stepped quickly into the cold spring water of the mikvah. The ritual bath was meant for cleansing the soul far more than the body, and though the chill was unpleasant, it lasted only long enough for him to get fully wet. There were more than five hundred members of his ancestral tribe of Levi and perhaps four hundred priests who served with him this week. All of them would bathe in these same waters or in one of the other six mikvahs built beneath the southern entrance to the Temple, so it was extremely important that those bathing be quick about it. It was also expected that, in order to keep the slow-flowing spring water as clean as possible, each would bathe before he arrived. Like the others in his party, Andrew had bathed only a short time earlier at the home of his grandparents. Because of the drought, water was strictly rationed, but an exception was made for those serving in the Temple.

  Emerging from the water, Andrew stepped into a small room to dry and dress himself in the traditional garments of the Levite. As commanded by God through the prophet Ezekiel,[82] they were to dress only in linen with no wool or any other fabric that would make them perspire. First were the white linen undergarments; over them a close-fitting, ankle-length, seamless robe bound at the waist by a long girdle, also of white linen; and finally, a white linen turban. Like the priests, all Levites went barefoot in the Temple, even in the coldest weather, for it was demanded by the laws of their god. Once properly attired, Andrew Levinson joined the others of his order to wait for the formal procession into the Temple.