Babylon Rising: The Edge of Darkness Read online

  "That sounds very difficult."

  "It is. It takes a lot of speed. The body must remain completely relaxed throughout the movement. Tension in the arm will slow down the blow. With practice, you can begin to do the twisting necessary at the last second. It will tear the paper if done properly."

  "I'll try that at home."

  "Enough of the karate lesson. Tell me about Ashdod. What are you looking for?"

  "Well, do you remember from your Hebrew classes that the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and taken to Ashdod?"

  "Yes. They took it before the statue of Dagon and left it there overnight. The next day the statue of Dagon had fallen on its face. Wait a minute, Michael. Are you saying that you might find the Ark of the Covenant in Ashdod?"

  "No, I don't think so. But we may find what was inside the Ark."

  "Inside?"

  "Yes. We may find Aaron's Rod that budded and the Golden Jar that contained manna from the wilderness journey."

  "That would be incredible, Michael. That would be an astounding find. I would be glad to help you any way I can."

  "That would be great, Levi. Do you think you can push through the paperwork for an archaeological dig in Ashdod?"

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  "I don't think that should be a problem. The Israeli government and the Israeli Archaeological Society would be most interested in this project. I'll call Moshe Pearlman tomorrow."

  "Who is Moshe?"

  "He's one of the men who worked with me in the Mossad. I will ask him to go to Ashdod and check it out for us. In the meantime, I'll start the paperwork. We'll try to eliminate as much red tape as possible."

  "Maybe you can suspend all the forms from two strings and just tear them with your nasty reverse punch."

  "That does it," Levi said. "Back on the mat. You're about to see my reverse punch up close and personal."

  Murphy grinned and took a defensive posture. "Bring it on, tough guy."

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  TWENTY-NINE

  In a field near the town of Ebenezer, 1083 B.C .

  MISHMANNAH THE BENJAMITE had been with the soldiers guarding the Ark of the Covenant when the Philistines unleashed their ambush. He was one of the first to spot them coming, and yelled to alert Captain Gaddiel. The captain had turned to look at Mishmannah an instant before an arrow entered his chest. Without a word, the captain fell forward to the ground, breaking the arrow that had pierced his heart .

  Mishmannah, along with his fellow soldiers, had fought valiantly, but it was too little, too late. He ducked as a spear was thrown, just missing him by inches. He turned and raised his sword a moment too late. A Philistine sword slashed his stomach and he collapsed in the throes of death .

  Neziah and Bazluth saw the attack on the Ark and rushed forward. A wounded Philistine reached out and grabbed at Bazluth's foot as he ran by .

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  He tripped and went down. Another Philistine raised his spear to drive it into the downed Bazluth .

  Neziah saw the move and swung his sword with all of his might into the Philistine's side. The Philistine screamed and dropped his spear and fell on top of Bazluth. Bazluth's eyes were wide with terror as he pushed the body off and struggled to his feet. He was covered with the Philistine's blood .

  Neziah was relieved to see his younger brother was not injured. He turned to rejoin the battle, when a battle-ax glanced off the side of his head .

  The blow rendered him unconscious. Blood from his wound flowed down across his face and pooled in front of his nose as he lay on the ground. The Philistines assumed that he was dead and went on to capture the Ark .

  It was late in the evening when Neziah awoke with a very painful headache. Instinctively he reached his hand up to touch the wound and winced as his fingers felt the gash on his head. The blood had clotted and dried in his black hair .

  He slowly sat up, listening for any sounds or indications that he was still in danger. As he tried to focus his eyes in the dark, he became aware of many bodies on the ground around him .

  He staggered to his feet, struggling to keep his balance. He tried to grasp what had happened in the battle. Even in the dark, he could recognize the markings on the uniforms of the Israelite army. Most of the bodies on the ground were his fellow warriors .

  Then the thought hit him , What about Bazluth? He began to look over the bodies around him. Ten minutes later he found his brother. There was a gaping wound on his neck and his eyes were frozen open in terror. Neziah let out a deep cry of anguish and fell weeping next to his brother. He held him and cried until no more tears would come .

  Neziah knew that it would be dangerous to linger on the battlefield. He guessed that the Philistines would return at the light of dawn and begin to strip the soldiers of any valuables and kill any of the enemy that might still be alive. He lifted his brother up and began to carry him .

  Neziah had no idea where his army had gone. He was alone. He was tired and in pain and emotionally drained. He carried Bazluth's body to a 159 spot near a tree and laid it down. He then found a sword from a fallen soldier and used it to dig a shallow grave. He gathered some rocks and covered the fresh earth in an effort to discourage any animals from digging there. The tears returned as he sat still in the darkness. The night had grown chilly and he began to shiver. Close by he saw a robe from a fallen soldier and wrapped it around his shaking body .

  I will head back to Shiloh, he thought to himself , and hope that the enemy has not gone in that direction.

  He looked at the sky and stars to get his bearings and then began his twenty-five-mile journey to Shiloh. He had to step over the bodies of several hundred Israelites before he left the battlefield. He was sick with grief as his thoughts dwelled on Bazluth .

  No one could persuade Eli the high priest to stay at home. He had worried about the Ark of the Covenant being taken to the battlefront by Hophni and Phinehas. They had not asked his permission. In fact, they no longer asked his permission about any thing pertaining to the operation of the tabernacle of meeting. They did whatever they liked .

  Hophni and Phinehas had always been willful children and Eli had been too permissive with them. Now that he was ninety-eight years old, very fat, very tired, and blind, he did not have the energy to confront them. He had heard about their taking sacrifice meat offered to God and using it for their own families. He had also heard about their laying with many women. He knew it was wrong, but as always, he was powerless to do anything about their behavior .

  Eli had one of his servants take him to the rock wall that lined the ramp leading up to Shiloh. He wanted to sit there all day until some word about the Ark of the Covenant reached him .

  It was late in the day when Neziah arrived at Shiloh. As he started up the ramp to the city he spotted the high priest sitting on the wall. With great consternation he approached the blind patriarch .

  "Sir," said Neziah to Eli .

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  Eli turned in the direction of the voice. "Yes, my son. "

  "I bring news from the battlefield."

  "Yes, yes. Please tell me."

  "I fled the battlefield last night. I was wounded and separated from the rest of the army."

  "Go on, my son."

  "The battle was lost and Israel has fled before the Philistines. There has been a great and terrible slaughter of our people."

  Neziah saw the look of fear come over Eli's face ... his blind eyes seeing nothing .

  "And what news do you have of my sons and the Ark of the Covenant?"

  Neziah hesitated. His thoughts went back to the battlefield and the death of his brother and the horror of what he had seen. He felt nauseated .

  "Go on, my son. Please tell me. I have been sitting here worrying."

  "I am so sorry to have to bring you such sad news. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the Ark of God has been captured by the Philistines."

  The old man was silent, but the shock was too much for him. He fell backward off the r
ock wall. If the horror of Neziah's words did not take his life, then the fall that broke his neck certainly did. Neziah stood there, stunned. He could only look up at the sky and silently ask , Why?

  Nimrah had called for the birthing stool and the midwives. The labor pains were growing stronger. Her pregnancy had not been an easy one. Added to her pain was her emotional displeasure that the soldiers had taken Phinehas and the Ark of the Covenant to the battle with the Philistines .

  A husband should be with his wife when she is giving birth, she thought .

  Another sharp pain hit and she cried out. Nimrah knew that it was time to give birth to a new life. She was about to bear down when a commotion arose from her servants .

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  "What is it? What are you... crying about? Birth is a time...for happiness, not sorrow," she said between breaths .

  One of the midwives spoke .

  "News has just arrived. The Ark of the Covenant has been captured. The news of its capture caused your father-in-law, Eli, to fall off the wall at the entrance to the city and he broke his neck. And ..." she hesitated to share the last piece of bad news, "your husband Phinehas has been killed in battle."

  Nimrah bowed her head . The baby was coming, but there was a lot of blood. Too much. The midwives could tell that something was wrong. They tried to encourage her, and after much pushing and crying, the baby emerged .

  "Do not fear, for you have borne a son. He will bring you new joy."

  Nimrah did not respond. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from her newborn child. The midwives continued to try to direct her mind back to the baby .

  "What would you like to name him?" they asked .

  Nimrah whispered, "Name him Ichabod. For the glory has departed from Israel because the Ark of God has been captured and my husband and father-in-law have died."

  With the utterance of those words she died .

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  THIRTY

  AS SHARI PASSED OUT printed notes on false teachers, Murphy noted with disappointment that someone was missing. Summer Van Doren was not in attendance, and he had begun to get accustomed to her presence in the back of the lecture hall.

  Get your head in the game, Murphy. You've got a class to teach. Anyway, how could you be thinking about her after you had that wonderful dream about Isis?

  "Let's all take our seats. We're going to begin."

  Murphy was about to speak when he saw Paul Wallach in the back row. It had been quite some time since Paul had dropped out of his class.

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  I guess he and Shari are really trying to put their relationship back together .

  Murphy smiled and nodded at Paul, who returned the nod.

  "Today we'll be expanding on the concepts we discussed in the last few lectures. We've looked at the influence that the concept of God has had throughout the ages. It has spawned many cultures to create pagan gods and idols for the people to worship. It was believed that these gods would provide food for the people, oversee the birth of children, give sexual pleasure, protect the people in times of war, and benefit their followers in many other ways. They had gods for the earth, sky, and almost every place imaginable."

  Murphy could see that many students were beginning to take notes.

  "We also examined the thinking about both good and evil angels. The concept of some type of devil and of fallen angels exists in almost all cultures. While most people would agree that there is evil in the world, there is much debate as to its cause. Some people, of course, do not believe in angels or demons or Satan. But there are more people worldwide that believe in some type of evil spirits than those who do not.

  "Today we are going to take a look at what we call 'false teachers.' Through the ages, people have preached a multitude of religious views that do not always agree with one another. Even Jesus addressed this concept when He said, 'Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many.... At that time if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!" or, "There he is!" do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible.'"

  Murphy clicked up the first slide.

  "Here are the names of people who actually claimed to be Christ or suggested that they were sent by God to speak to the people. Many of them gained a large following."

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  FALSE CHRISTS AND TEACHERS

  A.D. 30

  Theudas

  A.D. 30

  Judas the Galilean

  2nd Century

  Simon Bar Kokhba

  5th Century

  Moses of Crete

  A.D. 591

  Wandering Preacher

  A.D. 720

  Abu Isa from Baghdad

  8th Century

  Aldebert

  A.D. 832

  Moses--Risen from the Dead

  A.D. 1110

  Tanchelm of Antwerp

  12th Century

  David Aloroy

  "Theudas and Judas the Galilean are mentioned in the book of Acts in the Bible. They persuaded people to follow them in an attempt to overthrow the Roman government. Simon Bar Kokhba tried to set himself up as the Messianic king called 'Son of the Star.' He commanded over a half million trained warriors until the Roman army massacred them. Saint Gregory wrote about a nameless wandering preacher who claimed to be the Messiah and had a woman companion called Mary. Moses of Crete was an interesting man who claimed that he would lead the Children of Israel like Moses did. The people followed him to the sea, but it did not part. He ordered the people in and many drowned. He somehow disappeared from the scene and was thus believed to be some sort of malignant spirit who had been sent to destroy the Israelites. Aldebert was known to have distributed his nail-clippings and hair-clippings among his followers. Oh, by the way, Tanchelm of Antwerp claimed to be the Messiah and

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  passed out his bathwater to his followers. Some drank it as a holy drink in substitute for the Eucharist."

  Murphy could hear the students moaning and muttering "Yuck." He clicked up the next slide.

  FALSE CHRISTS AND TEACHERS

  A.D. 1240

  Abraham of Abulfia

  A.D. 1490

  David Reuveni

  A.D. 1523

  David Reubeni

  A.D. 1542

  Hayyim Vital

  A.D. 1543

  Isaac Luria

  A.D. 1626

  Shabbatai Zevi

  A.D. 1726

  Jacob Frank

  A.D. 1774

  Ann Lee

  A.D. 1792

  Richard Brothers

  A.D. 1800

  Baal Shem Tov

  "The followers of Isaac Luna believed that he could perform exorcisms and miracles, speak the language of animals, and read faces to look into people's souls. Shabbatai Zevi possessed an uncontrollable sex drive. He claimed to be the Messiah at twenty-two years of age and publicly married a Torah Scroll. His followers were involved in sexual orgies. The movement became known as Shabbetianism. Jacob Frank was an arrogant practical joker. He was also involved in religious sexual orgies. He appointed twelve apostles and twelve female concubines to serve him. Ann Lee was unique. She was called the 'Elect Lady' She asserted that she spoke seventy-two languages and

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  conversed with the dead. She instituted shivering and swooning and falling down as acts of devotion."

  Murphy was about to click on the next slide when he saw Clayton Anderson's hand go up.

  "Dr. Murphy, speaking about ministers with great power. Did you hear about the minister that wired all his pews with electricity? On the next Sunday he said, 'All who will give a hundred dollars toward the new building, please stand up.' He then pressed a button and twenty people shot to their feet. Then he said, 'Now all who will give five hundred dollars, please stand up.' Again he touched the button and twenty more people sprang up. Then h
e asked, 'How many will give a thousand dollars each?' He threw the master switch and electrocuted fifteen deacons."

  Murphy had a hard time regaining control of the class.

  "That's very good, Clayton. Clever idea to wire the seats with electricity. By the way, will you be sitting in the same seat next week?"

  Again the class broke out in laughter.

  "Now, if we can continue."

  FALSE CHRISTS AND TEACHERS

  A.D. 1919

  Father Divine

  A.D. 1959

  Maitreya

  A.D. 1993

  Ca Van Lieng

  A.D. 1993

  Aum Shinri Kyo

  A.D. 1997