16
Iron Collars & Chains
W e only walk a couple hundred yards through the scattered trees when we come out in an opening. “Oh, my goodness, hey guys, this is exactly like the other one! I mean God’s mountain, with the portals.”
This place had the same rock formations and bench that was on God’s mountain, including the portals. I bump Allayer with my elbow and whisper, “I still say it looks a lot like Stonehenge.” I ask Nipper, “Hey bud, which one of these portals leads to you know where?” Nipper shakes his head and tells me to follow Allayer.
The horses walk through a small opening that leads to the inside of the rock circle, each one stopping near the middle allowing the rider to dismount. After dismounting, the men were directed to sit on the stone bench and wait. The horses all walked out of the arena and started grazing just on the outside of the stone circle behind us.
While sitting on the far side of the rock circle, we could see the faces of the condemned men and also have a clear view of all three portals. The men still have a blank look on their faces and their eyes are covered with a dull bluish sheen.
I whisper to Allayer and Nipper, “That little Angel with the power of persuasion, how long can he control them like that? ”
Nipper shrugged his shoulders, “I guess as long as he needs to.”
We sit for a few minutes and my anticipation gets the best of me and I ask Allayer, “What are they waiting on? I figured they would have just herded them through and we would be on our way by now.”
Allayer holds his hand out with a gesture, like you would if you were going to pat a kid on the head. “Have patience and watch.”
I hear what sounds like a wagon and horses coming up from behind us. We all turn, sliding our butts on the rock bench, positioning ourselves to see what is slowly making its way through the scattered timber, when finally it appears. It is a two wheeled cart, being pulled by mules. This thing looks like it’s a thousand years old, and the guy driving this ancient cart looks like a great big bodybuilder with long black hair reaching below his belt.
He stops the wagon just on the outside of the rock circle, gets off, walks around to the back of the cart, reaches in and grabs a hand full of chains and what looks like iron collars. He walks inside the circle directly in front of the men and drops his heavy load of medieval chains and collars on the ground.
He then turns and looks over in our direction as he reaches for a lamb skin wine pouch hanging at his side. He holds it up over his head with both hands squeezing it with his mouth wide open. The stream of wine makes a hollow sound as he fills his mouth. He then holds it up at us, as if to ask if we want any. We all three gave him a friendly wave letting him know, thanks but no thanks.
I ask Allayer and Nipper, “Who is this guy?”
Nipper answers, “You want to guess? Here’s a small clue; he kicked a lot of butt in his day and had his power stripped away when a cunning woman cut off his hair.”
I laugh, “Well that was easy, it’s got to be Samson!”
“Yep, you got it, Samson.”
After Samson gets his refreshment, he turns back to the job at hand. He reaches down and picks up the iron collars and locks each one on to the necks of all the condemned men. Each collar has a four to five foot chain already attached. Samson goes back to his cart and retrieves eleven sections of rope, comes back and starts attaching a single rope to the end of each chain. The ropes look to be at least ten to fifteen feet long.
I ask my Angels, “What are the chain and ropes for?” Allayer and Nipper at the same time, “You’ll see.”
After tying each rope securely to the end of each chain, Samson walks back down the line of men, carefully coiling and placing each rope directly in front of them.
To my surprise, after he finishes he walks over and sits down right beside us, smiles, holds his hand out and shakes our hands. I’m thinking, Now how cool is this? I just shook hands with one of the heroes of the Bible . He doesn’t say a word as he lies back on the rock bench, takes some of his long hair and drapes it across his eyes to block the sunlight and immediately goes to sleep.
Allayer looks over at me with a grin, “Samson must have been putting in a lot of overtime.”
Nipper and I both giggle.
The sun starts to set behind the mountain range and I mumble, “Well what do you think?”
Allayer tells Nipper, “Looks like it won’t happen until morning, too risky for this late in the day.”
Nipper replies, “Yes, I believe God will delay the passing until morning.”
“Hey guys, what’s going on? Why’s God delaying, what did you call it, the passing over?”
Nipper shakes his head yes, “God probably has someone coming for this one. Who knows what Lucifer might have up his sleeve? God might be sending backup. ”
With my eyes blared, “Backup, we might need backup?”
Allayer explains, “Chado Cole, here on Tabula Rasa, the fallen angels aren’t allowed to come and retrieve the souls of men without permission; on Earth when the lost die, they have a right through the authority of Lucifer. Remember he is the prince of the air on Earth. On Earth as the lost die, at that very second the demons of Hell grab them by the hand just like we did you, and they are immediately taken straight to the pit.
Here on Tabula we have to wait until an appointed time, and that appointed time is exactly when God allows it. You see those two big Angels over there? When all this goes down, you’ll get to see them do their job; and sometimes they allow Samson to complete the task while they stand guard.”
“I have to ask, what’s their job?”
Nipper mumbles, “Well they sort of feed the demons those ropes as they poke their nasty heads out. Trust us, it won’t be pretty.”
Allayer asks “Can you see that gold threshold in front of the portal to Hell?”
I stand to get a better look, while Allayer continues to explain. “It’s about twenty-four inches wide and embedded in the rock about six feet in front, circling all the way around the portal. Can you see it from here?”
I take a few steps toward the portal, “Yeah, I see it. What’s it for?”
Nipper stands and walks up beside me, “Chado, the fallen angels are scared to cross that threshold, because if they happen to get brave enough and try it, they lose almost all of their power. When this happens, the fury of those two big Angels will be unleashed!”
Allayer tells us, “Let’s find a place to rest for the night.” We all head for a dark green grassy spot underneath an evergreen tree leaving Samson lying on the rock bench.
After only a few minutes I fall into a deep sleep and I dream of meeting God. When I first saw Him from a distance, His face shone so bright I couldn’t quite make out what He looked like, but I could hear His deep soft voice. “You will be given two scrolls, each having one page. They will be made of papyrus sheets; the length of each is eighteen inches and the width of each fourteen inches. Each scroll on its own attached with two pieces of cedar wood . The print of your bloodline will reveal to each, a mystery.”
I feel someone bumping my shoulder, rousing me out of a deep sleep. I slowly open my eyes and see Samson standing over me with his huge body blocking the morning sun. He doesn’t say anything, he reaches down and gives me a handful of figs and drops his lambskin wine pouch beside me. I turn to say thanks as he heads back toward the portals. As I’m thinking, How in the world, is that fig tree making it up here at this altitude?
Allayer asks me, “Chado, did you sleep well? This was your first time to sleep since they woke you up for your last dive on the barge.”
Before I can answer Nipper interrupts, “Hey Chado, did you dream about a scroll last night? Allayer and I both dreamed about a couple scrolls.”
With excitement I reply, “Yes I did, God told me the sizes, what they’re made of, how they’re held together with cedar wood and something about my bloodline would reveal mysteries, and that’s about it. Samson woke me up.”
Nipper tells me, “Yeah, that’s about all He allowed us to see also. God loves to give us little hints in our dreams about things to come.”
Allayer takes one of my figs that Samson gave me and pops it in his mouth, “Come on, we need to get back to the portals, I believe it’s going to be a wild morning.”
* * *
As we walk back over to what looks like Stonehenge, I see the condemned men were still sitting in almost the exact same position. From the weight of the iron collars and the heavy chains they are all slumped, leaning forward. Each one having to look down and being forced to bow before God.
The two big Angels dressed in sackcloth are standing, one on each side of the gold threshold in front of the portal to Hell. Each one with the tips of their swords lightly stuck in the ground, they rest their hands draped on the handles of their weapons. They both stand at attention staring across the threshold at each other.
I can feel the warm rays of the sun now peeking over a nearby mountain, thinking what a beautiful morning to be witnessing such a dreary scene.
Allayer hears my thoughts, reaches over, places his hand on my shoulder, “Chado, they had their chance. From the time they died on Earth until yesterday, they were presented with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and their free will got the best of them. Remember, God designed this place to give all without knowledge a chance.”
Nipper joins in, “Yeah, remember what Tabula Rasa means; chance without prejudice.”
“I reckon so.”
Suddenly, I feel a warm strong wind hitting my back. Allayer wheels around and points behind us, I turn and see heavy dark clouds moving in our direction. I ask Allayer and Nipper, with a whisper, “Hey guys, is it about to go down?” Nipper shakes his head yes.
Samson gets up and slowly walks across the opening, with his size and weight the small stones crunch under his sandals. He walks up to the first man reaches down and takes hold of the chain in one hand and the coiled rope in the other. He slowly turns, looking at the portal .
I see the little Angel of persuasion positioned just to the right of the eleven lost souls. He kneels and raises his hands to Heaven.
I look up at the heavy dark clouds now starting to cover the morning sunlight. Allayer reaches over with his foot and bumps me on the leg, “Can you hear it?”
“Hear what; the wind?”
“No, it’s coming from the portal. The dark angels are on their way; you can’t hear that?”
With the wind from the storm, I can’t make out what Allayer and Nipper are hearing. I then turn my head and lean forward, as a few seconds pass.
“I can, I can hear it. That sounds just like when my Warrior Angel spooked me on our way here. Without any warning he flew over and then suddenly slowed down right in front of us. The air rushing over his wings made that same noise. Yes, I hear it.”
The two Angels standing on each side of the portal pick up their swords and hold them in a position ready to strike whatever comes across the golden threshold. The portal opening, which had been transparent allowing a clear view of the forest behind it, is now becoming darkened, covered with a burning, reflective liquid. The sounds of the dark angels’ wings have stopped, a silence comes over the whole place, even the wind from the storm has ceased.
I look at Nipper and whisper, “Hey bud, this is freaky.” They both at the same time reach up and place a hand on my shoulder, then turn, continuing to watch this scene unfold.
As I look back at the portal, “Hey, I see something coming out.”
Allayer tells me, “Be quiet.”
To my surprise, a nasty little three foot demon walks through the portal. This spawn of Satan has black tar dripping from its hands and feet. His face looks half rotted with parts of his chin bone exposed, and suddenly, his smell makes it to where we are sitting. This gross, pungent odor of sulfur mixed with rotting meat would gag a billy goat. It slowly gazes around like he is on a mission to see the strength of his opposition. After taking his time at looking everyone over, he turns and retreats back toward the portal opening. Just before he steps through, he turns and snarls loudly at one of the Angels standing at the threshold.
I don’t need Allayer or Nipper to explain what just happened, that thing had a mission. I’m wondering if this is normal and I see Nipper shaking his head no.
Allayer tells me, “Hey Chado, let’s move back a few feet. We both think they are up to something.”
“Aren’t we covered with the two big Angels and Samson?”
“We are usually covered, even with one Warrior Angel. The thing is, Lucifer knows that time is running out and will try every trick in his play book to harvest the souls of this planet. And here’s the tricky part: If they get their hands on either one of those two Warrior Angels’ swords, the threshold won’t have any effect on their power.”
“Well, if they can’t cross the threshold due to losing their power and being destroyed by the Warrior Angels, how can they do it?”
Allayer asks me, “Do you remember in the Bible about the Nephilim Giants?”
“Yes, they were enemies of God. In the Bible, Lucifer devised a plan and used a select group of angels to go down and lay with women for offspring that would contaminate the gene pool of mankind. The theory of some folks said Satan’s reason was to prevent the birth of Jesus Christ. So God destroyed them all… right?”
“Wow Chado, your gift of knowledge is coming along. You hit the spike right on the head. But here’s the kicker, Lucifer took the fallen angels offspring, and gave them power to actually do battle with our Warrior Angels. At this same location a little over three hundred years ago, they made a stab at stealing one of our swords. ”
“What happened?”
“Well I’ll put it like this. It didn’t end well for the Giants.”
Nipper chimes in. “We think this might be why God delayed this from happening yesterday. He knows that Lucifer is up to something.”
* * *
A bit of black smoke belches through the portal and one by one dark angels walk through. They are all just a bit smaller than our two Warriors, each having a look of hatred in their faces. I notice several of the little short demons walking in and around the fallen angels legs, like cats around their master.
Samson wastes no time as he takes the rope of the first condemned man and tosses it over the threshold. One of the demons reaches out and catches hold of the rope, turns and walks through the portal.
At the very same time the demon catches the rope, the little Angel of persuasion releases the mind of the condemned soul. I could see his face, the glaze over his eyes vanished and the expression on his face told me he was now aware of his surroundings.
The rope was now uncoiling as the demon continued to pull, and we could hear the sound of the chain being dragged across the rocks. He starts struggling, leaning back against the chain with his heels dug in. With the resistance, two more of the small demons join in and grab the rope; skidding the man across the ground.
The man is now lying flat, trying with both hands to get the iron collar off while he is slowly dragged across the threshold. Finally we see the bottom of his feet disappearing through the portal. One by one, the demons drag the condemned men through the portal until there is no one left except the priest .
I hear the swooshing sound of wings; we all look to our right and out of the portal of Heaven, to my surprise, my Guardian Angel appears. He looks over at me and smiles, then immediately turns and regains his stern Marine Corps stare and heads in the direction of the portal to Hell.
Not far behind him, six more Warriors walk through Heaven’s portal. Nipper and Allayer stand, one on each side, and place their hands on my shoulders. Nipper chuckles, “How’s that for backup? Let Lucifer try something now.”
Allayer points at the rock bench, “Hey guys, I think we can all sit back down.”
I look back about the same time Samson tosses the end of the last rope over the threshold. The arrogant priest, released from the little Angel’s spirit of persuasion, comes alive and starts yelling.
Still thinking he’s back at his mosque, “We will have your heads, bow to Hurrian or die!”
He reaches up and feels the iron collar attached around his neck, “What’s going on here? Release me immediately!”
He looks over at the seven Warrior Angels then back at the gate to Hell. He sees the demons pulling the rope attached to his chain. “Oh no, have mercy, don’t take me, I am a priest of Hurrian, have mercy!”
The demons standing at the threshold are laughing and jumping up and down as they look up at the fallen angels for gratification.
Another demon much larger than the rest walks out of the portal and starts popping his fanged teeth together. The sound of this pop, pop, pop, was echoing across the opening, sounding like someone banging two hollow wooden boxes together.
The priest now begging to his false god, “Help me Hurrian, rescue me from these infidels.” Now on his stomach clawing at the ground with one hand and pulling at the chain with the other, the demons pull him over the threshold .
One of the fallen angels reaches down with one hand and grabs the priest by the hair of his head. He lifts him completely off the ground, holds him face to face and tells the priest, “Hurrian is not real, you hunk of flesh.”
The fallen angel lowers him down a couple feet and the demon that’s still popping his teeth reaches up and bites the priest in the forehead leaving fang marks on his flesh.
The dark angel lifts him back up, “I’ve marked you, now you’re mine forever!”
At this point the priest is screaming, “Have mercy, please have mercy!”
The fallen angel turns and throws his limp body through the portal snarling, “There will be no mercy this day.”
The very same fallen angel looks over at the Warriors and starts laughing, and suddenly I hear the sounds of swords being unsheathed. Several more dark angels appear out of the portal; followed by two Nephilim Giants, both having to bend down, just to make it through.
They looked to be twenty feet in height, their shoulders as wide as a truck hood. They were carrying battle axes and their shields looked like the skin of a dragon.
I hear the little Angel with a loud voice, “If you giants cross the threshold, your existence will end!”
One of the giants pushes his way through the fallen angels, with the other one close behind. As the first giant’s foot crosses the threshold, he swings his axe at the Angel standing on the left side of the portal. The Angel leans back like tall grass swaying in the wind, with the giant’s axe missing him only by inches.
The two Angels wearing sackcloth positioned on each side of the portal swing their swords at the exact same time. With the sweeping sound of their blades moving so fast, the naked eye could only catch a glimpse as they cut both the right and left legs completely off of the first Nephilim Giant. We feel the vibration of this huge monster when his heavy body hits the ground.
The seven Warrior Angels are already advancing and strike the second giant, causing him to land on top of the first one. A couple demons run out past the blades of the Angels as they turn to try to get behind the two Angels wearing sackcloth.
Out of nowhere, Samson grabs the two demons by their feet. Twisting like he is playing shot-put, he throws both demons against the stone entrance, leaving them injured and staggering as they crawl back across the portal to their safety of Hell. As I look back at the battle between the Angels, I catch a glimpse of my Guardian Angel taking off the head of both giants.
Several of the angels from Hell that had been attempting to cross the threshold, now retreat by jumping back through the portal.
The fallen angel that was laughing when all this started barely escaped and had to dive through the portal with one of the Warrior Angels’ blades just missing him.
After the dust settles, Samson takes one of the giants’ axes and goes out and cuts down a couple trees. While he is doing that the other Angels roll the two giants’ bodies over to the edge of Hell’s portal. Samson brings the two trees over and everyone together uses the trees to shove the dead giants through the portal.
With his feet, Samson rolls the heads of both giants just inside the threshold. Then he backs off a couple of feet, turns like he’s playing football, and kicks each head through the fiery portal. The two big Angels dressed in sackcloth both throw their hands in the air, with their swords dripping with blood and shout, “Touchdown!”
Samson had not said a word the whole time he’d been here, but then looked over at us and smiled. “You know, they weren’t the Philistines, but it was still a good fight. ”
He walks back over to his cart, and as he’s climbing aboard, the seven Warrior Angels, who are still standing in front of the portal to Hell, give Samson a wave of appreciation. Samson smiles and bows his head while popping the reigns against the mules’ backsides. As he turns this ancient wagon, we have to take a couple steps back to give him room. I suddenly remember his wine pouch still lying on the ground where I had slept.
“Hey Nipper, I’ll be right back.” I trot over, grab the wine pouch, then hustle back to catch his slow moving cart.
“Hey Samson, you forgot your wine pouch.” He reaches down grabbing the lamb skin container, holds it up over his mouth while squeezing out a mouth full of wine. With his huge hand, he wipes off a bit of dribble from his thick black beard while handing the pouch back to me. He smiles and with a deep gentle voice, “Keep it, there’s plenty of wine where I’m going.”
“Thanks Samson. Hey just so you know, you were one of my favorite heroes of the Bible.”
He humbly grins, pops the reigns and starts heading back down the mountain. I stand and watch as he goes out of sight, twisting and turning through the evergreen trees, thinking: How cool is this? I just had a conversation with the mighty Samson, and he gave me his lamb skin wine pouch!