As Sure as the Dawn(133)
“Jesus was thirty years old when he came to John and was baptized. John resisted, recognizing Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus insisted John baptize him in order to fulfill all righteousness. That’s why we follow his example and do likewise. Our lives are to be a reflection of him. We decide for the Lord and act in obedience. And therein comes the difficulty, Atretes—living in accordance with God’s will and daily sacrificing our own. It was after Christ’s baptism that Jesus was sent by God into the wilderness where he fasted for forty days. At the end of it, when he was weak and hungry and most vulnerable, Satan tempted him.”
Atretes’ brows rose in disdain. “But this was God, so Satan was no real threat.”
“Satan is the enemy of God.”
“An enemy without power. Can he raise the dead?”
“As a warrior, you know better than to underestimate an enemy,” Theophilus said. “It’s true we aren’t to fear anything or anyone except the Lord. But now that you are a Christian, the real battle begins. Satan is a master deceiver, Atretes. Remember the subtle lie he told Eve and the consequences of it? Sin and death. Adam and Eve walked with the Lord in the Garden. They spoke with God face-to-face. If they could be deceived under such circumstances, do you think it impossible that you or I or Rizpah could be deceived as well? Satan is an eternal being, like God. He may not know all things as God does or have God’s power, but he knows our weaknesses even better than we do. He knows us intimately. He knows the evil desires of our heart and mind. He knows where and when to attack to gain the best advantage. Satan schemes and plays upon those things in order to separate us from God and bring about our destruction. Never underestimate him. Without our armor, we’re vulnerable.”
Atretes felt the intensity of Theophilus’ warning and heeded it. “What armor have we against this being?”
“The truth, the righteousness of Christ himself, the gospel of peace, salvation, our faith. Remember the arena, Atretes. You weren’t sent in to face an opponent without training and practice, without protection and weapons. Likewise, God will not send us into battle without the tools we need to stand against the enemy.”
He smiled grimly. “Gird up your loins with the truth God is revealing to you. Put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the gospel of peace, and wear the helmet of salvation. Your faith in Christ is the shield against Satan’s arrows, and the Word of God is your sword. Without faith, without the Word of God, we’re defenseless against the powers of darkness. The battle is for your mind; the goal, the destruction of your soul.”
“We must never forget the power of prayer,” Rizpah said. She took her husband’s hand in both of hers. “At all times, pray in the Spirit, for Theophilus, for our son, for me, for your people, for yourself.”
“I will do as you say.”
“Do as the Lord says,” Theophilus told him, seeing a reverence for Rizpah that was misplaced. He knew the Germans thought women had spiritual abilities above and beyond men. But the miracle of Rizpah’s return from death was God’s doing, not her own. “Walk in all his ways and love him. Serve the Lord our God with all your heart and soul, and keep his commandments. We must all be on the alert, Atretes, for we are going to a place of darkness, territory now held by Satan.”
“Then we’ll do battle for it!”
“Not in the way you think. We will stand firm in faith and love, so that God himself will battle for us.”
* * *
They passed several small villages and entered the country of the hercynian forest. The tree-covered hills ran on, sloping down toward the plains. Atretes led Theophilus and Rizpah around a swampland and through a forest of spindly pines with black trunks. It was an eerie place filled with the sound of frogs and insects, with shadows, and with the dank smells of decay.
“Do I smell smoke?” Rizpah said, wondering if it came straight from the fires of hell. The scent was brief, acrid, possibly imagined.
“Rodung,” Atretes said and kept walking.
Theophilus fell into step beside her. “The Germans slash and burn sections of forest to release land for raising crops. The wood ash enriches the soil for several years, and then they let it go wild again.”
“We’re close,” Atretes said. “I know this place.” The familiar smells of forest, swamp, and burning brought back memories. He felt at home for the first time in over ten years. He wanted to run through the forest, framea in hand, shouting. He wanted to strip off his clothes and dance over the swords before the fire, crying out to the heavens as he had as a youth.