The War in Heaven (24 page)

Around them, about a dozen angels dressed from head to toe in white milled about, talking in groups of two or three. They noted the arrival of the newcomers dressed in black but made no attempt to greet them, with the exception of one. A blonde, blue-eyed angel approached the group, a slight smile on his face.

“I bid you welcome, Lucifer. Welcome to the assembly,” said the angel. “Michael,” said Satan, bowing but slightly.

“I am surprised to see that you have not come alone,” said Michael, scanning the others. “Saral, Otimus, and Metallis, I bid you welcome.”

“We no longer go by those names,” objected Molock. “Those were the names the Father gave us, but we have taken on new names since our departure; surely you must realize that.”

Michael shook his head sadly. “Yes, I know. I’m sorry, I did not mean to offend.”

Satan smiled broadly. “No apology necessary, my old friend. I wish no ill will between us, not on this day. I know that your heart is in the right place, and I for one am glad to see you. I bring a proposal to the table this day… one that I think will interest you.”

“Indeed,” said Michael, his smile returning. “I await your words with great anticipation.”

Michael rejoined the other angels. No others came over to speak to the four who seemed so very different. Even here they were shunned by their peers.

God’s arrival occurred with no fanfare, no blowing of trumpets. He simply materialized as the others had. He took the form of a human man, just over 6 feet in height. He did not have the long beard so often ascribed to him in the classical and renaissance paintings. Nor did one gain any sense of
His actual physical age, so smooth were His features. His hair was long and curly, and at first glance, it looked to be blonde. Yet any discerning of color with respect to God’s physical form was subjective at best, for His entire being was aglow, from His flawless skin to His long white robes.

At His side was a very human looking man with long flowing hair and a short beard. Like the Father, He too was dressed in white. He appeared to be in His mid-30s, a very handsome man with kind blue eyes. He and the Creator of the universe were discussing some issue between them, though the others did not hear the essence of their conversation.

He did not glow physically, as God did, yet one could sense the invisible spiritual aura that surrounded Him. It was as if a portion of God’s divine spirit had been placed into a vessel of flesh. He was well-known and respected by this assembly, the only true son of God the Father—Jesus, the Nazarene.

All of the angels, even Satan and his minions, bowed low before them. God and His Son responded with wide characteristic smiles. God walked over to the large table and stood at one end, His Son to his right. The angels approached, standing before the other chairs.

“This is different,” noted Satan, turning to his followers. “It reminds me so much of a corporate business meeting, so common among the humans of this age. I believe that the Father has become the President of Heaven, and His Son the Chairman of the Board.”

When the group was assembled around the table, the Father sat down and His angels followed suit. For a moment the Father scanned the assembled angels carefully, then he began. “My children, I have called this assembly not to speak unto you, but to give you the opportunity to address me. Some of you have concerns to address, others have proposals. Speak what is on your heart, my children; I am here to listen.”

It was Iseus, an angel under Michael, who spoke first. “Good Father, I must object in the strongest terms to Lucifer’s meddling in the affairs of
humankind. Since our last assembly, his minions attempted to murder two of your earthly children, children sanctified by the blood of your Son. They attempted to do so through the possession of another dying and downtrodden human whom they found easy to control. Only the quick actions of one of our own saved their lives.”

“You distort the truth,” objected Satan. “It was but a random act of violence, nothing more. As it happens, it was an act of violence you prevented through your meddling in the affairs of humanity.”

“Random?” asked Iseus. “There was nothing random about it. It was deliberate and calculated.” He paused, scanning the faces of the others. “And why did they do it? Why did Lucifer himself order this to be done? He did it to prevent the discovery of a celestial body on a collision course with Earth. He attempted to steal from man his freedom to choose his own destiny. Humankind has a difficult enough path to tread without your interference, Lucifer.”

“And through my ‘interference’ as you call it, man becomes stronger,” argued Satan. “He needs me more than you think. I am essential to his survival and you know it. It is I who has driven him to improve his lot in life, to find a better existence through technology. I lit the spark of curiosity within his mind. You cannot deny it, for it is a truth we all must acknowledge.”

“Pure fantasy,” objected Gabriel. “You are the enemy of humanity.”

“And do you serve the best interest of humanity?” continued Satan, who seemed oblivious to Gabriel’s comment. “I had not intended to offer my challenge so early in our meeting, but you have forced my hand.”

Satan turned to the Father, his eyes full of sincerity. “Father, I have not always been faithful to you as I should. For that, I beg your forgiveness. But I question if Michael and his followers are themselves worthy of serving you. If put to the test, I do not believe that they would remain loyal to you. I beg your permission to test this.”

He turned to Michael. “I challenge you to armed conflict.”

Michael looked at Satan incredulously. “Surely this is not the place for jest.”

“I jest not,” assured Satan. “I propose a battle that will continue until only one side remains, no matter how long that takes.”

“Yes, and what shall we do after the first minute of the battle, once you have fallen?” said Iseus, barely loud enough for the others to hear.

“You are no warrior,” said Michael. “Iseus is right. You would not last long in single armed conflict against me. Surely you must know this.”

Satan smiled. “I speak not of single combat. I speak of a war the likes of which has not been seen in one hundred centuries. I speak of war in Heaven—a war between those loyal to me, and those loyal to you—a war to determine who shall serve the Father.”

Satan turned to the Father. “I ask Your permission, O Lord. Should I prevail, I vow to serve You forever. It will not be as it was before. I promise to be obedient to Your will. I will not question Your wisdom again; I swear it. I will rule the angels with wisdom and justice. Once again angels shall sing unto You songs of worship in Heaven. There shall be a new golden age of angels in Heaven.”

“And what of our human brethren?” objected Gabriel. “It was their creation by the Father that led to your revolt, the revolt that inevitably cast you and your minions from the Father’s presence. After tormenting them in Hell for so many millennia, how can I believe that you would be willing to serve them now?”

“There shall be a place in Heaven for them too,” vowed Satan. “I have tormented only those who rejected God’s plan of salvation, those whom He Himself condemned to the realm of outer darkness. I have acted as His avenging hand, and I will continue to do so. Those loved by the Father, those who have found a place in the Father’s presence will be loved by me as well.”

All eyes turned to the Father. Surely he would not agree to such a challenge. The Father’s eyes were upon His most wayward angel; He seemed to look deep into his very soul. Then He scanned the others.

To his right, Jesus said nothing. His eyes did not move from His Father.

When the Father at last spoke, even the winds whistling through the mighty columns grew still. “These are my words. The house of the angels, my loyal servants, has been divided for a very long time. You do not know how this grieves me.”

Once again He turned to Satan. “I will agree to your challenge, but know this: the war is between your angels and those of Michael and Gabriel. It is not with the saints of Heaven. Should you lift your sword against them, you will suffer the consequences. Be assured, those consequences will be indeed grave.”

Satan was quick to raise an objection. “But what shall I or my legions do if the saints raise up arms against me? They have no love for me or my kingdom. May we not defend ourselves?”

“You may,” replied God. “But it must be they and not you who makes the decision. If they choose to enter the battle, fight on the side of Michael and Gabriel, then you may war against them as well.”

“And you will not take sides?” asked Satan.

“I will not,” confirmed God.

Gabriel looked to the Father in disbelief. “But we have been Your obedient sons. Surely You can not abandon us and open the door to our enemies.”

God looked to Gabriel with sympathy in His eyes. “My dear Gabriel, you have served Me faithfully…all of you have…but this thing must happen. Since the Fall, it has been within your power…all of you…to seek reconciliation with each other. During these many thousands of years the
house of angels has been divided. I have allowed it to be so up to this point, but it will be so no longer. This conflict must be resolved.

“That I allow this to happen does not mean I do not love you. I loved Job, but I allowed him to be tested. Never since the Fall have your brethren been put to the test; you have been spared. The time of trial has been postponed, but no longer. Now is the time. When this battle is over, an age will have ended and a new order of peace will be established. All of you will determine the shape of that new order.”

“But a war in Heaven?” objected Magar, a lieutenant of Gabriel. “We have all worked so hard to build the infrastructure of this place. We have had millennia of peace. Now we face the real possibility of seeing much of it destroyed, seeing much of Heaven reduced to a wasteland. It might take decades…even centuries to rebuild it.” He turned to Satan. “Have a care, sir.”

“You could surrender,” suggested Satan. “My terms would not be unreasonable, I assure you. In the case of your surrender, many if not most of you would remain here in Heaven with my minions. In many ways it would be as it was in the first time, the time before man. We would all live together once more.

“You would assist in the day-to-day operation of this place as you have always done. Others of you would assist us in seeing that the humans in Hell, those who did not accept the gift of salvation offered by God’s most holy Son, got all that they had coming to them. I assure you, it is not a task without its rewards. You shall come to see what I mean.”

“You are asking me to become a torturer,” replied Magar. “That, I could never be.”

“This assembly is adjourned,” proclaimed the Father, rising to his feet.

The others quickly stood with the Father. Never before had an assembly been so brief.

With no fanfare, God and His only Son entered a starry mist and vanished from the others’ sight. As They walked through the mists, Jesus turned to the Father. “Then this is the time?”

“Yes,” replied the Father, glancing only briefly at His Son.

“I knew the day was coming,” replied Jesus, “I preached it to My disciples two thousand years ago, though I find no satisfaction upon its arrival.”

“Nor do I,” replied the Father.

There was an uncharacteristic moment of hesitation before Jesus spoke again. “I do not see the coming events so clearly as You, Father, what shall I expect?”

“Let Your heart not be troubled, my Son,” said the Father, who had come to an abrupt halt in the mists. “I have always been ready to point out the path to You, although You have most often discerned it on Your own. But for now we must wait. It is for the angels to determine their next course of action; we must not interfere. The saints also have choices to make, but we must trust them to make the right decisions as well. They do, after all, have free will, and I shall not take it from them.”

Back in the great hall, Satan and his minions had also made a hasty departure, leaving the other angels to ponder their situation. It became quickly apparent that there was no consensus of opinion.

“We must take the offensive,” declared Iseus. “We can ill afford to allow Satan to dictate the venue of the initial thrust of this war. We must attack Hell with what forces may be quickly assembled.”

“This was no sudden impulse of Satan’s part,” replied Michael. “You can rest assured that his forces are even now prepared to strike. If we strike out at him without a well-thought-out plan, then we place ourselves at an even more perilous disadvantage. No, the move is his, we can only respond. However, we must recall the majority of our forces from Earth at once. We shall set up our command post at the great angelic hall in Zion—time is of
the essence. We should all use the portal here in the judgment hall to gate there at once.”

The angels moved quickly to the corridor behind them, only one of two corridors that opened directly into the vast arena. It came to an abrupt end 30 feet back. It seemed like a tunnel to nowhere. Usually, this was the route through which unsanctified human souls bound for judgment entered the great hall. But now the angels would use it to gate back to the city of Zion. An angel could open it to the destination of their choosing through an act of pure will. The angels had now stood before it in silence for over a minute.

“What’s wrong?” asked Magar, turning to Michael.

“The gate to the angelic hall in Zion won’t open,” replied Michael. “Something’s wrong.”

“Try to open the gate to Elesia in the second Heaven,” suggested Gabriel.

“I’ve already tried,” replied Michael. “This gate works…it responds to me. But the gates on the other end appear to be open to somewhere else.”

“Lucifer,” gasped Iseus.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” cautioned Michael. “There could be any one of a number of possible explanations.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” asked Gabriel.

“Try to gate into another angelic hall—any other hall,” suggested Magar.

For more than 20 minutes these highest leaders of the angelic hosts attempted to access the other portals but in vain. Then it became only too clear what had happened.