Fire and Sword (4 page)

“Why doesn’t the Most High simply be done with it?” snorted Kara, standing up dramatically. “Whatever He is about to do, why not simply get it over with. The Son has left. The Father remains in Heaven. What next?”

Pellecus shook his head in pity of Kara’s ignorance.

“We are not speaking of the Son of God,” said Lucifer, staring at the gathering of angels nearby. “We speak of the Counselor … the Spirit of God. Ah, Rugio.”

Lucifer’s commanding angel appeared, and the other angels backed away slightly. Rugio was a brutal one-time commander in Heaven who was now Lucifer’s chief commanding angel. He had been sent by Lucifer to scout the enemy position, but finding the enemy so numerous, he had returned.

“They continue to arrive, my lord,” said Rugio. He stood near Lucifer, who put his hand on his shoulder. “Quite a number of them now.”

“Loyal Rugio,” Lucifer said. “And is Michael among them?”

Rugio bristled at the name of the angel he hated so intensely. “Yes, lord, the archangel is there. As always.”

“You swore to have his sword one day,” Lucifer continued. “You will have it yet! I promise you.”

Rugio smiled in agreement.

“Er…speaking of promises made,” began Pellecus.

“Yes, Pellecus, what is it?” asked Lucifer.

Kara was amused at Pellecus’ discomfort.

“Don’t you recall Jesus’ promise?” asked Pellecus scornfully. He directed his question at Kara. “One would come after Him: the Holy Spirit of the Most High!”

“Of course,” countered Kara, looking at the others. “But I thought that was simply kind words to buttress them against His impending departure. I saw no reason to take Him literally. We cannot presume that the Spirit of God will interfere in this cause now that Jesus is gone!”

Lucifer suddenly looked up. A look of concern came over his face, and he motioned for the others to listen carefully to what he was hearing. A noise was heard throughout the room, almost imperceptible at first, but then growing to a deafening, clamorous roar. It was the sound of a mighty wind. Yet nothing in the room moved—not even the papers stacked on a nearby desk. The council began shrieking and scattering in fear.

Lucifer attempted to maintain order, but to no avail. His council scurried and emptied the room. Lucifer, enraged, looked outside, barely able to withstand the energy of the noise that drove through him like lightning through a cloud.

Pellecus was knocked to the side violently. Even Rugio was thrown off balance by the wind which affected nothing except for the angels. The room itself remained at peace. Everyone vacated the room except for Kara, Pellecus, and Rugio. They moved nearer to Lucifer.

Above the building where the men and women prayed, the holy angels rejoiced as a great hand appeared in the form of a fist and opened up, releasing hundreds of small, fiery dots of light that descended upon the house like snowflakes. They pulsed and praised the Most High in many languages and disappeared through the roof and sides of the house. Pellecus shuddered in astonishment. Kara merely was wide-eyed at it all.

Lucifer turned to Kara. “You may now presume that the Spirit of God has interfered,” he snapped.

Peter and the others looked in wonder as the sound of a great wind filled the room in which they prayed. Andrew looked at Peter, but Peter could only indicate that they should wait and see whether this was something from the Lord.

Peter ordered that the group should remain in prayer, but many had stopped to observe the strange phenomena.

“Peter, what is it?” Andrew asked.

“Look!” said Peter, pointing to the center of the room.

A gasp from some of the people sounded as a large, fiery image appeared in the room near the center. It was pulsing, and the strange sound of what seemed like hundreds of voices—all in different languages—was plainly heard. As the disciples looked about in amazement, the image began breaking up, and the individual parts began settling upon people as they prayed and watched.

Peter started to tell Andrew something, but when he spoke, a strange sound came from his mouth. He spoke in a language that he had never before studied—much less heard! Andrew started to say something in reaction, but the same happened to him. Before long everyone in the room was speaking in strange languages of which they had no knowledge—yet they all understood, men and women alike, that they were speaking praises to the Most High God!

The angels rejoiced in a great shout to the Lord as the Holy Spirit fell upon the people and filled them with His presence. Crispin and Michael watched the other angels singing praises to the Most High as they recognized a great prophecy of the prophet Joel being fulfilled.

“This is what Joel spoke of,” said Crispin, as always in a teaching mode. “This is the great outpouring of God upon flesh!”

“So the humans are not only led by the Spirit of God but filled with His presence?” said Michael. “What does it mean?”

Crispin watched as the people, filled with the Spirit of God, poured out of the building and continued speaking in whatever language the Lord had given them. A great crowd started to gather as pilgrims to Jerusalem from far-flung regions of the empire heard glory being given to God in their native languages. The crowd was growing, to the obvious discomfort of the Roman soldiers charged with keeping the peace during the feast.

“This is the beginning of a new age,” said Crispin.

He looked at the retreating devils and wicked angels who had moved in to keep watch on the fledgling Church. Now, in the face of this holy outpouring, they dissipated like a weak mist, shrieking and cursing as they left. Crispin pointed to the retreating spirits.

“And it looks like the beginning of a new war,” he said, soberly.

The crowds on the streets in front of the house had come to a standstill as thousands of men and women heard the faint but distinct sounds of familiar language being lifted up. Jews from as far away as Rome, Parthia, Libya, and all provinces between were represented as they stopped to hear their native languages pouring forth from these very unlikely people.

Some of the pilgrims searched among the noisy throng for the speaker, hoping to discover who this prophet of their land might be. Others were bewildered by the raucous atmosphere and put it down to the religious mystique which Jerusalem held. Still others, not so reverent, mocked the situation and pointed to those who were speaking praises to God, accusing them of being drunk.

Above them all, the holy angels pressed around—curious as to what the Lord was performing among the humans. The men were praising God to be sure, but it was praise unlike any they had ever heard, evoking power and authority. They knew that the prophets had spoken of such an event many years earlier, but they never imagined what it might actually look like. They were astonished that such an honor might be given among men.

“Look at them, Crispin,” said Serus, who had joined the group of angels enjoying the spectacle. “They speak with such boldness and clarity.”

Serus had risen among the ranks of the Host following his departure from Lucifer’s influence before the Great Rebellion. He had been apprenticed to Michael early on, and now had been given the honor of an assignment to one of the leaders of this fledgling move of the Holy Spirit—the man known as Paul.

“That’s because the Holy Spirit of the Most High has fallen on them,” said Crispin. “They are filled with His boldness and clarity. There will be no stopping them as long as they maintain this wonderful relationship with the Lord.”

“No stopping them?” said a sneering voice.

It was Kara. “That’s a bit premature, wouldn’t you say?” he continued. “After all, these are the same humans who only weeks ago saw the man Jesus killed. And that man—” he pointed to Peter. “He styles himself a leader of this rabble? He denied the very man whom he now would worship? I think this war has quite a ways to go.”

Berenius, who always seemed to accompany Kara, laughed in agreement.

“You’ll see that man in a new light, Kara,” said Serus, who took his charge of Peter and his duty to keep him safe quite seriously. “He is a new man since the Lord’s glorious resurrection.”

“There are no new men,” scoffed Kara. “Just the same old humans with the same flaws. They’ll succumb to their terminal failure as always.”

Laughter erupted from the growing group of devils.

“Just as you and your ilk do?” asked Crispin.

Kara cursed the angel, as did those unholy spirits with him.

As they spoke, angels from both camps began gathering around them. The unholy spirits had recovered from the initial fear that had sent them scurrying, and were beginning to reappear with boldness. Some of the holy angels saw the buildup of their enemy and began gathering around Crispin and Serus in support. Upon Michael’s arrival, a distinct look of fear came over Kara’s troop.

“We’ll not fight you here,” said Kara, looking at the gathering Host and Michael in particular. “You needn’t fear us … yet.”

“We’ll never fear you,” said Michael, glaring at the defiant, yet obviously fearful angels with Kara. “Or your master’s plan.” He indicated the scene being played out below them on the streets. “Nor will they.”

Kara laughed.

“We’ll see, Archangel,” he said. “These humans are weak and led by the weakest of all. Peter will fail as always. His actions will eventually betray him. And when he speaks, his words will fail him. It is his way.”

“Then let us watch how he acts and speaks,” said Crispin, pointing to Peter, who was climbing on a pedestal to speak. “For he is about to do both!”

Peter stood and raised his hands to speak, with the eleven other disciples standing with him. They looked at the crowd who had broken out in a mixture of harassing jibes and perplexing questions. Andrew watched his brother trying to get the people quiet. He could not help but recall how, only weeks before, this same man had cowered in the face of questioning by a young girl the night of Jesus’ betrayal. Now he stood before thousands to bear witness of the risen Christ he had denied.

Peter, sensing an opening, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:

“Fellow Jews from various parts of the world and all of you who live in Jerusalem, I want to tell you what it is you are seeing!”

He looked at a group of men who had been heckling from the side and smiled.

“And no, these men are not drunk! Why it’s only nine in the morning! Much too early for drink!”

The men laughed at Peter and waved him off. One man, a notable drunkard named Samuel, held up a small wine flask as if to drink it in Peter’s honor. Peter waved back in good humor.

“Now listen carefully to what I say. It is not drink that is the cause of this great occasion. No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel!”