Reluctant Demon (22 page)

"That woman's son will not share an inheritance with my boy," Sarah declared.

"Sarah, be reasonable," Abraham tried. "There is plenty to go around. Isaac will never miss any of it."

Sarah remained unrelenting in the matter until at last Abraham agreed. He truly loved Ishmael, and the thought of sending him away crushed him. Inconsolable, Abraham went out into the desert, looking for God.

"God," Abraham cried. "Do You see what's happening here? What about Ishmael? What is to happen to him? These women will be the death of me."

God took pity on Abraham's sorrow. "Don't be so distressed about Ishmael and Hagar. Make it easy on yourself, and do whatever Sarah tells you. It is through Isaac that all I promised you will come about. Don't worry. I will make Ishmael into a nation also, because he is your son."

Hagar and Ishmael left the next day, and Satan lost interest in them for centuries.

After Hagar and Ishmael left town, Sarah settled down, Isaac grew up, and Abraham pretty much got his domestic act together. He followed God more faithfully than ever before. For the next twenty years, nothing happened of the slightest interest to Satan where Abraham was concerned. Abraham did not sin, and God protected and blessed him in everything he did.

When he finally resigned himself to the fact that Abraham was a lost cause, Satan turned his attention to Earth people who did not know the God of Abraham.

They were such easy prey that he quickly tired of them and handed them over to the other demons for their sport.

It was painful to watch. Those pitiful souls were so desperate to worship something, and not knowing the true God, they were easily trapped into worshiping Satan by the antics of his hordes. The demons could get humans to do anything they wanted. The men built temples and stone images for the evil emissaries to inhabit, and Satan received the worship he lusted for. Although he protested boredom because it posed no challenge for him, everyone knew he found it intoxicating. He thrilled to see God's little dust people groveling around in front of the images they had carved, sacrificing at times their own children, begging the demons for blessing. Pathetic, isn't it?

One might think after a few centuries, it would have occurred to the people that they never got any of the things they begged and sacrificed for. As a matter of fact, their circumstances worsened; the more they worshiped the idols, the worse the demons treated them. The pitiful humans would go to any extreme to extract a favor from their stone gods. They implored and pleaded with the demonic image to punish their enemies and save their offspring, all of whom Satan had in his clutches. There was little they would not do to get in touch with the supernatural.

I expected them to resist more, but it was no time before the demons were able to convince them to offer their children as sacrifices. After that, teaching them to self-mutilate was easy. The bizarre rituals the people were willing to perform for the entertainment of Satan came from ideas the demons deposited into their wide-open minds. No life form created in God's image could have imagined doing such horrible things on its own.

That was most of their problem. Earth people had lost their collective memory of being created in the image of God. Otherwise, Satan could never have forced them to do what they were now willing to do.

Satan's hordes ravished them so completely, I thought they would surely go insane or go running back in search of the God who had so lovingly created them. That's what I would have done—what I tried to do—but they never did. All of the people of Earth were in Satan's clutches.

All, that is, except for the tribe of Abraham.

Given that the odds were obviously in Satan's favor—he had hundreds of tribes, and God had one—a reasonable person would have expected God to treat Abraham very carefully, even delicately, to make sure that Isaac grew up and fulfilled his destiny. If, for any reason, Abraham were to jump the fence, God would have been left with no team. No team? Game over. No question about it. If God had any chance of saving a remnant of humanity, He could not afford to call any risky plays with Abraham.

"Hold the ball, and let the clock run out." That's what I would have advised Him. I was certain this had to be His plan. Satan was so resigned this would happen that he ignored the situation entirely and allowed the demons to turn their complete attention to torturing the peas-ants. I alone was left to watch and wait for Abraham to die.

Years passed before God showed up again. When I heard His voice, I quite naturally assumed He was coming personally to take Abraham to eternity, but it was nothing like that at all. I had seen God require strange things of His humans over the centuries, but nothing I had seen before prepared me for what God was about to require of Abraham.

Abraham was walking in the field when he felt God's presence. Even though it had been a long time, one never forgets what it feels like when God draws near.

God said to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am, Lord" he replied. Abraham seemed excited to hear from God again, and to be honest, so was I. Satan came right away when he heard me shouting the news. He did not want to miss the exodus of Abraham from Earth, and neither did the others. All of the demons lined up to watch. At last, Abraham would be gone, and Satan would face no resistance. He was counting down the clock when God spoke.

God said, "Take your son, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering to Me."

A great sucking wind pulled the oxygen out of Earth's atmosphere from the cumulative gasp of both the demons who watched and from the angels who guarded Abraham.

Each side was stunned by what God said.

"Sacrifice Isaac? Command Abraham to commit murder?" The murmuring traveled like an electrical current through both heavens.

"Will God defeat His own team?" a voice exclaimed.

Satan was first bewildered, then beside himself with victory lust.

"Was I right, moron?" Satan shouted at me. "Didn't I tell you there was a side to God no one else knew about? He isn't all good, now, is He? I knew He didn't really care anything about those puny humans. It was all a game. He strung Abraham along, and now that it is nearly payoff time, He turns on him."

Then Satan went off to a chant to himself as the others joined right in shouting and howling, "Satan rules. There is no god like Satan."

I walked away and sat back on my tail, trying to figure out what was happening. "Satan is
not
right about God," I said, utterly confused. "But why—what is He thinking? What does this mean?"

I don't know why I did not join in with the revelry, keep my mouth shut, and let time tell the tale. Actually, I do know why. I had been a good angel, but I was terrible at being a demon, and I could not force myself to be jubilant about any of this. There didn't seem to be any good way out of the corner God had backed into, and I felt bad about the whole thing.

I wondered if this might not be one of those faith tests God was forever demanding of people and then decided against it. If testing had been the point, God would have left an escape route for Abraham—like He always did for people—you know, in case the one being tested can't quite measure up. But there wasn't an emergency exit anywhere for Abraham.

"What will Abraham do now?" one of the demons asked Satan.

"He has only two choices," Satan bragged. "He can obey God and kill his own son, forfeit his inheritance, destroy Sarah, lose everything he's worked for, or..."

Satan paused for emphasis, "...my personal favorite, disobey God and lose everything anyway because that is the penalty for disobedience when you are a chosen one."

He rolled over in glee.

The demons laid bets as to which way Abraham would go. Not that they cared. No matter what he chose, Satan won. Most were betting Abraham would call it quits and disobey. We had been witnesses to the love Abraham had for Isaac and for Sarah. God's command to sacrifice Isaac was beyond all reason. The smart money was on Abraham to rebel. Satan just wanted to see someone else turn against God.

"On the other hand," Satan waxed philosophically, "there is a bonus to be had if Abraham obeys God."

"How could it get better than if Abraham were to defy God?" a cheerful demon asked.

Satan responded, "There would be no limit to the sorrow and misery we could render on Sarah and the others who would surely turn against Abraham."

"They're sure to find a way to bring him up on charges," a demon laughed.

"Or, better yet, maybe they would kill him without a trial," another chimed in.

The possibilities for devastation and chaos in the human race were endless. What Satan feared but dared not voice was the possibility that God retained a card He had not played. That's why Satan took no chances and sent his most persuasive tempter, flying at light speed to speak into Abraham's mind.

"Abraham, you've been a fool. What kind of God is this?" the demon hissed.

Abraham looked around as if expecting to see someone.

The tempter continued, "The truth is, Abraham, you have surpassed God Himself in knowledge, wisdom, and authority, and He is jealous of you."

"That is utterly absurd," I said under my breath as I watched the whole mental assault roll out. "Abraham would never believe such a thing in ten thousand years."

I could not tell whether or not Abraham was listening.

The demon continued, "Show Him what you're made of. Stand up to Him. You know what is best for your family. When was the last time He was even here?

How many times have you looked for Him and He was nowhere to be found?"

Abraham looked at the ground but said nothing.

The demon continued, "Think about it. W h e n was the last time you heard anything at all from Him? He doesn't care about you or Isaac or how this is going to make you look. You did your best; everything was on track for His promises to be fulfilled. Now, what—murder? Besides that, what kind of father entertains thoughts of killing his son? What kind of dad considers putting a knife to his son's throat as an act of obedience? How many years did you wait for a child—a son? And now you're willing to spill his blood? How can you sleep?"

I thought I saw tears in Abraham's eyes, but I could not be sure. Maybe there were tears because the demon continued to accuse Abraham to himself.

"You failed God, you know," the demon continued. "If you do this, don't expect some dramatic rescue. You made Him look bad. He never really forgave you for that tryst with Hagar. W h o did you think you were fooling?"

Abraham looked to the right and then to the left, as if thinking it over.

The demon changed tactics, "You tried, didn't you? It hasn't been easy. You did your best, and all the thanks you get is the destruction of everything that has meaning to you."

Abraham stared straight ahead as the demon pressed in.

"He's made you look like a dithering old fool time after time. Remember that ridiculous circumcision business? What did that prove? People still resent you for that. What happened to that covenant? This will never stop unless you refuse to be part of His celestial insanity."

I have to say the tempter was good at his work. We could tell by the anguish on Abraham's face that he had heard every word. The betting was heating up, and the smart money banked that Abraham's faith was about to fail him; he was sure to defy God.

The others assumed I had not bet anything because I didn't have anything to gamble with—which was true, of course. The rest had territories and spoils from devastating nations and could use them as stakes in this game. I didn't have anything of value to bet with because my job was to be a watcher. One does not play for the nations if he is just a watcher. I watched and I reported; that was it. It was not necessary for me to opine which way Abraham would go, and, frankly, I was relieved no one was interested in my opinion. Anything I might have said right then would have only meant trouble for me. I knew beyond all doubt that Abraham was going to obey God, no matter who; no matter what. I don't say that I knew why he would do such a terrible thing, but I knew that he would. And, as usual when it came to humans, I was right again.

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his servants with him, and Isaac and began the long journey to the mountain God had told him about. On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham and Isaac cut wood for the fire, saying nothing to each other. When they had enough, Abraham instructed his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while Isaac and I go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to you."

Isaac, strong and tall, picked up the heavy wood and started up the mountain with his father. Tell me, where did you humans get the idea Isaac was a child and some sort of helpless victim when this happened?

He was twenty-five years old. Do the math. He could have escaped at any time.

Satan was clearly taken aback by what he saw. Then a cold and fearful look of knowing came into his eyes as he looked my way. He knew what I knew: Abraham was going to obey. Satan glared at me as if this were somehow my fault. The tempter demon had failed. Abraham's faith in a God he could not see overcame his fear of the circumstances he could see.

Satan cursed and yelled at me, "Why is he like that?"

I wisely did not respond. Satan stomped his hoof, hating that he knew what would happen if Abraham obeyed God. God would rescue Abraham and Isaac.

Satan turned and slapped the tempter demon for his failure and sent him tumbling through the atmosphere to Abraham's side to try once more.

"Foolish, senile old man," he seethed into Abraham's ear. "Is there no limit to your idiotic devotion to this killer God? If you do what He asks, you will kill Isaac, and your inheritance will be lost. Isaac will be dead, and you will be blamed for it. Turn back while you still have time."

With the burden of wood, Isaac continued on ahead of Abraham, who followed with the knife in his hand.

At last, Isaac spoke up. "Father?"