Caleb Vigilant (Chronicles of the Nephilim) (4 page)

The Son of Man
stood before the throne of witnesses and began his legal defense of Yahweh’s Wars. Mikael waited impatiently in his place, knowing that he was needed by Israel as soon as they could get this ridiculous restraining order thrown out of court.

Unlike the satan,
the Son of Man would follow protocol and properly give honor to the Judge of all things.

“
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Yahweh, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the gods is like Yahweh, a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? O Yahweh Elohim of hosts, the heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. You have taken your place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods you hold judgment.”

The satan muttered under his breath to his fellow litigants, “
Fecal-nosed god licker.”

The Son of Man
then took his own turn around the dais to give his delivery some movement. But he was careful not to take the bait and respond to the satan’s pompous bloviating with his own in kind. Enoch had learned this lesson at the Eden trial where his pride got the better of him and he almost lost the case, had it not been for the Son of Man who came and rescued the verdict with victory.

The Son of Man’s
delivery was passionate yet professional. He decided to begin with restating the charges that were lost in the emotional vomit of manipulative rhetoric used by the satan.

“
Do the Israelites have the right to dispossess the land of Canaan from its inhabitants? Are the Wars of Yahweh just or unjust? That is the question before us today in this court. And we will prove that the plaintiff’s charges are prejudicial and frivolous; his arguments fallacious and without legal or moral merit.”

Mikael could hear the reaction
of the litigants’ scoffing mockery and ridicule under their breaths. They were Sons of God, divine heavenly beings, and yet in this courtroom they acted like snide sophomoric juveniles. It was despicable.

The Son of Man
continued, “First, regarding the prosecutor’s accusation of imperialism, I think a definition of terms is in order here. Imperialism is defined as an act of empire asserting authority over dependent states. You have no argument from the defense on that count, since Yahweh Elohim is the emperor of the heavens and the earth and he does as he pleases. So, yes, he is the imperial authority and his acts are indeed imperial and all humanity are his subjects. Duly noted. And without moral condemnation.”

“Which brings us to the only charge with legal merit
in this case: The covenant documented between our sovereign emperor and the Bene Elohim. Did Yahweh break his covenant promise to the Sons of God? I submit to you that if you consider the wording of the document you will notice that at no time did Yahweh forfeit his absolute ownership and therefore authority over any land. The earth is Yahweh’s and the fullness thereof. The world and those who dwell therein. In his allotment of the nations and their boundaries to the Sons of God he did not sign over the deed of absolute ownership. He is a landlord who has loaned the inhabitants the land. Simply put, the Sons of God and those under their authority are renters, not owners. The land has always remained Yahweh’s to distribute as he wills, when he wills. He is after all, as we already established, the emperor.”

He paused to change course. “But
even so, his dispossession is not an arbitrary act of power. It is rooted in a moral and legal failure of the gods to fulfill their responsibility to the covenant, thus rendering the covenant null and void.”

The
Watcher gods huffed again with contempt.

The Son of Man
turned to them and prophesied, “How long will you judge unjustly, O gods, and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. You have neither knowledge nor understanding, you walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, ‘You are gods, sons of El Elyon the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince. Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!’”

Again, the plaintiffs rolled their eyes, muttered curses under their breaths
, and made theatrical faces of disgust that made Mikael wonder how great was the gracious patience of Yahweh that he did not simply annihilate them in his presence.

The Son of Man continued,
“What does the claim of victimhood, the protest of grievance, and the accusation of oppression tell us of the litigants, when they are made against the Creator and owner of the universe? Very simply, that they define everything against their own wills as oppressive and unfair, because they are the oppressors, they are the despots, they are the tyrants—every last one of them.”

The hubbub grew loud now from the
plaintiff’s corner. The satan spoke up, “I object. Counsel has complained about me engaging in ad hominem attacks and yet that is exactly what he is doing now.”

The Son of Man
addressed Yahweh, “Your honor, I am merely proving that the plaintiff’s claims are actually expressions of his own guilt.”

Yahweh
Elohim said to the satan, “Overruled.”

The satan sat down, but not without grumbling, “
I am outraged and personally offended.”

The Son of Man
moved on. “Now regarding the accusations of anger and wrath unbefitting the Creator and Judge, let me just say this: It is not the god who punishes that is cruel and wicked, but the god who does not. Because the so-called “god of love” who does not pay recompense on the evildoer multiplies and extends the suffering of the victim which multiplies and extends injustice. Compassion to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent. The god who does not punish evil is the god who inflicts evil.”

The Son of Man
took a pause to prepare mentally for his next launch. “Now in reference to that punishment of ‘innocent’ Canaanites and the law of
herem,
or devotion to destruction, I have a series of points to address.”

“First,
Yahweh is the creator and sustainer of every living thing. He gives life and he takes it away, blessed is the name of Yahweh. He owes no man, woman, or child anything. So who can complain when something they do not own is taken from them by the one who owns it? And he takes it when he wills.

But
I find it a bit of an oddity that the satan would argue that the actions of Yahweh toward women and children are cruel, when the Canaanites themselves kill women and children, and the gods of Canaan enslave women as property and sacrifice their children on altars of blood.”

“I object!” interrupted the satan. “The Canaanite gods are not on trial, Yahweh is!”

The Son of Man said, “Yes, the Canaanite gods are not on trial, because they have already been judged as unjust idols worthy of execution and their land to be confiscated as criminal property. But since the prosecution is charging the Creator with crimes against humanity, it is only fitting that their witness be disclosed as not credible in light of their own criminal behavior.”

Yahweh announced
to the satan, “Objection overruled. My Law states that a plaintiff may not be guilty of the crime of which they are a witness against a defendant.”

“But your honor,” said the satan with a slithering
sarcasm, “We do not kill
every
man, woman, and child like you do.”

The Son of Man
said, “You know full well the
herem
is standard military hyperbole used by all Near Eastern nations.”

The concept of
herem
meant complete spiritual victory or triumph over the opponent. Most non-combatants who lived around cities were not generally touched and were allowed to escape to other towns not under the
herem
. Only those who stayed in solidarity with the city were under its judgment and were annihilated.

The Son of Man added, “
But regarding women’s innocence, we have already seen with the Midianite seduction, women may act in ways unlike warriors, but just as evil.”

The Son of Man
moved on again. “And this brings me to the fallacy of innocence asserted over and over again by the prosecution. Are the Canaanites really innocent? Is Israel a barbaric xenophobic oppressor who is engaging in racist hate crimes against innocent victims? Or is that just another manipulation of emotional hate rhetoric from a barbaric xenophobic oppressor himself who seeks to engage in racist hate crimes against Israel?”

“
The fact of the matter is the Canaanites are
not
innocent. The wrath of Yahweh falls justly on them because they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. For Yahweh has made himself known through his creation and in the consciences of all men, so that they are without excuse. For even though the Canaanites knew Yahweh, they did not honor him as their Creator nor did they give him thanks, but their wicked and foolish hearts were blackened with evil and they exchanged the truth of Yahweh for their lies. They turned and worshiped creation in place of the Creator. So Yahweh gave them up to their depravity to dishonor their bodies and defile themselves with shameless unnatural acts of sexuality, idolatry and rebellion that they engage in to this day. And even though they know the law of God and that such things are punishable by death, they nevertheless rejoice in their evil and heartily encourage others to do so as well.”

The Son of Man
paused again for a conclusive punch. “So you see, the devotion to destruction of
herem
is not based on racial prejudice at all. It is based on criminal religious behavior. This is not ethnic cleansing, it is evil cleansing. But even then, Yahweh offers grace. If anyone repents from their idolatry, they will be accepted into the congregation of Israel. Yahweh has even provided laws protecting the alien and the sojourner who live amidst his people.”

“
And Yahweh’s holiness is not a double standard. For Israel too will be judged if and when she engages in the abominations of the Canaanites, as we have already seen with the judgment on those seduced by the Moabites and Midianites. God is not partial, he extends his justice to all who commit evil, Canaanite or Israelite, and he extends his loving-kindness to all who repent, Canaanite or Israelite. And one day, he will bring all the earth under the dominion of his kingdom.”

The satan jumped up again, “I object! If the
Israelites are no different than Canaanites, if they are no more holy, then why do
they
get to be the instruments of Yahweh’s wrath? Why would he not choose Egyptians or Hittites or Babylonians? That is not fair! In fact, why does he not choose the Canaanites to dispossess the Israelites?”

Mikael was holding back his righteous indignation.
He wanted to smite the snake. The satan was objecting to every petty little detail he could to try to derail the defense line of argument.

But
the Son of Man was not fazed. He responded to detailed attacks with detailed counterpoint truth. “Yahweh Elohim has chosen Israel to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth, not because of their righteousness or the uprightness of their hearts. They will be given possession of the land because of the wickedness of the nations. That is why Yahweh Elohim is driving them out of Canaan, that he may confirm his promise he swore to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

“That does not answer the question!” snapped the satan.

The Son of Man countered, “Yahweh Elohim chooses his elect, based not upon human will or deeds, but based upon Yahweh who has mercy. He has mercy on whom he has mercy, and he hardens whom he desires.”

The satan was getting desperate. “Then why does he condemn anyone, for who resists his will?”

“On the contrary,” said the Son of Man. “Who are you to answer back to Yahweh? Does the potter not have the right over the clay to fashion what he desires? The potter takes one lump of clay and makes some vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for honor, and glory, and makes other vessels of wrath prepared beforehand for destruction to make known his power. Such is the folly of that which is molded demanding an answer from the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”

“
Lastly, the notion that other religions will use the dispossession of the Promised Land as a justification for their own land grabs and ‘holy wars’ is moot. The Yahweh Wars are restricted to establishing his ownership of Canaan alone and cannot be extended to normal warfare. This is a one-time historical event that cannot be repeated. Only Yahweh is the Creator who owns all the cattle on a thousand hills as well as the hills on which those cattle stand. Only Yahweh owns the land to distribute it as he wills. All claims by other gods that mimic the Wars of Yahweh are illegitimate forgeries and therefore null and void. They are mere rationalizations of tyranny. And so I rest my case.”

Yahweh Elohim retreated with his divine council to deliberate the verdict. When he returned, he announced to the lawyers at the bar, “I declare the defense righteous in standing. The accuser has failed to provide proof of his charges against Yahweh’s right to eminent domain, and his use of Israel as his instruments of justice.”