(AN: Here it is! The one-off from my previous story, Joshua the King of Heaven now presented to you all! Influence from this part comes from the song "Arise My Love" by the band NewSong, The Desire of Ages, the Gospel of Matthew, Collegedale Seventh-Day Adventist Church's Easter pageant program "SonRise", as well as some ideas of my own: I do not own the other ideas, other than my own, they are the property of their respective owners)
(As with the main epic tale, from whence this was originally going to be a chapter, the name for Christ comes from the original Hebrew word "Yeshua", which also is the Hebrew version of "Joshua". Therefore, to further ground this story in its foundation, the people of Israel and Judaea, I refer to the main character by His Jewish name, not His Greek name "Jesus" [or Ieosus, the Greek version of Yeshua]. It's all good, don't worry)
(If there is anything here that doesn't quite make sense, I refer you back to Joshua the King of Heaven to either the story or my ANs at the beginning for clarification)
(And now...it begins!)
Sabbath night.
The end of the second day since Joshua of Nazareth had died.
Executed, more like.
Nailed up onto a cross and left there to die, the sport of the jeering crowds.
Only a few minutes left until the clocks struck midnight.
If any clock existed.
Around the entrance of the tomb in the garden of Joseph of Arimathaea sat the Roman soldiers.
The "honor guard" around Joshua's final resting place.
They had not fallen asleep at all on the night after He died, as they kept vigil around the tomb. The Pharisees would not let them sleep for nothing.
Nor even on the Sabbath, when all the Jews would be in the synagogues or resting, not doing anything that could be considered work.
Gentiles kept no such law. The Jews made certain to keep them out of the worship of the Torah.
And so the Romans kept their guard all through the Sabbath.
To them, the next day promised relief.
For one, it was the first day of the week, the venerable day of the sun. All of the nature-worshiping pagan religions feared the sun, and its worship ensured the with-holding of droughts, the sustenance of crops and the security of the Empire.
So they believed.
The guard would be exchanged, and many of those who now kept vigil would get to spend Sunday worshiping the gods, or at Magdala, partying it up.
But there was hope among the guards that tonight would be their last night guarding a dead man's tomb.
It seemed absurd to many of them, guarding a dead man's tomb.
It had taken the entire company to push the stone over the mouth of the tomb. Plus, they had tied it off with heavy chains. And these Romans were not yet the conscripts of the old Empire, in its latter days, but trained for battle, to die in service to Mars and to the Emperor.
They would not yield up this Man's body without a fight.
But this was the last night, it seemed, for many of them.
Some of them knew about this Man, others heard only rumors. But it was generally agreed upon in said rumors that this Man, Joshua to the Jews and Jesus in the Greek vernacular, prophesied that He would die and rise again from the dead three days later.
Well, that third day would come and go tomorrow.
Some of those who were here standing guard had actually seen the torturous execution of this Jewish prophet.
There was no way, they thought, He could ever rise from that.
Yes, once the next day had ended, they would be relieved.
But just beyond the frail, mortal eyes of the Roman guards, someone else kept watch on the tomb of Joshua, the Son of God.
One who had even more reason to ensure that this tomb was not broken into at all.
More reason than the Pharisees had, than they ever could have had.
The darkened figure stood alone, a fiery sword in hand, and all twelve, black wings, all of them full of eyes, stretched out, warding off man or angel who dared come before the tomb.
Three figures approached the tomb, all of them glowing in bright white raiment, armed with their breast-plates that shone like lightning.
All three of the shining ones bore faces that were contorted in sadness.
"What's wrong, old friends?" Satan mocked, turning to the new-comers. "You look sad. Is it because your Champion is dead? If He was really all-powerful, He could have survived death, couldn't He?"
They said nothing, but stood before the fallen one, their faces still grim.
"But He's not alive, is He?" queried Satan, in a voice like a whisper. "He's dead."
The angels said nothing, they did not even move towards him.
Their great emotional restraint unnerved the Prince of Darkness.
So familiar he was with humans, who could be so easily driven to anger at even less provocation.
"HE'S DEAD!" Satan shouted, his majestic voice, which would put the greatest orator or singer to shame, roared upon the un-fallen angels.
"Stand down, Lucifer." Uriel commanded, his face turned towards his former leader.
"You are in no place to command ME!" Satan shouted, pointing a prideful clawed finger at his own chest. "I am by far greater than any one of you! I, the covering cherub of the Ark of the Almighty God! I, commander of the armies of Heaven!"
"You fell from grace, old friend." Abdiel stated.
"I, who killed the Son of God!" Satan added. "Yes, little children. I killed Him! He's MY prisoner now! I killed Him, and I will not let Him go. Not to the likes of His foolish disciples, or to you...not even to God!"
"He promised that He would rise upon the third day," Sherael stated. "He cannot be wrong."
"Look who's talking," mocked Satan. "You, who go about among the children of men as a woman!"
"So have you." Sherael returned, indicating to Satan's present, beautiful form.
"I have purpose to this disguise," Satan said, waving hands over the body he now wore. "You see, I love seeing these little insects turn on each other. They'd eat each other alive, if they thought it would make them like God! And I've done rather well. They've heard the words from God Himself, and I told them what they really mean."
"What is that?" Sherael queried.
"Women are weak," Satan mocked. "Feeble! They have no place in Heaven, for they're only made in the image of man!"
"You're wrong," Uriel stated. "Women may have been formed from the bone of man, but they were made in the image of God."
"God is Father and Mother to His children." Abdiel added.
"That is my purpose," Sherael stated. "To reconcile the aspect of God that man will refuse to believe exists, because it would make women equal to man."
"Immaterial!" shouted Satan. "This whole conversation is immaterial. It doesn't matter if they know that God is all things, He's still losing!"
"God does not lose." Uriel stated, with a knowing inclination of his head.
"Doesn't He?" Satan returned. "The un-fallen worlds? Elijah? You ass-kissing yes-men? Do you call that a victory? I have billions of men, women, children and angels at MY command!"
"The ones you deceived." Abdiel corrected.
"They love me for it!" growled Satan sadistically. "And you three fairies are the best the Almighty has to offer?" Satan laughed that nauseating, mocking laughter that was somewhere between the titter of a whore and the deep, mocking roar of some hellish demon.
"What point is there to be gained by fighting for the losing side?" the arch-enemy queried again, his voice deep, creating the feeling of doom he loved to put into humans as he tried pushing them over the edge: into cowardice.
"There is no hope for your foolish crusade!"
"There is still hope." Sherael whispered, choking back tears.
"Hope?" Satan laughed. "God could not keep His own Son alive! That makes ME stronger than all of you...stronger even than God! I will NOT let Him escape the grave!"
Satan paced before the three angels, a smile creeping upon his deceptively beautiful face.
"Did you think I would risk the future of this world, the success of my insurrection, on a simple crucifixion? No, my fools. Golgotha was merely a set-back...one that I will not repeat today!"
"You owe your very existence to the mercy of God." Uriel stated.
"And what of Joshua's existence?" Satan asked. "That was all within God's hands to save, but He didn't! I, the Right Hand of the Almighty, killed His own Son!"
"It was a necessary sacrifice." Abdiel said. "To save these humans, the ones He loves."
"Necessary?" Satan asked. "They don't even want Him! They'd much rather have ME!"
"Some will believe." Sherael returned. "For them, for all of them, it was enough."
"No, it is all in vain!" Satan came to a halt, his twelve wings stretched out between the angels and the soldiers. "Because He bore sin on His shoulders and died, He's MY prisoner! I am the lord of this world, and I will not give up what I have spent four thousand years fighting for without bloodshed!"
Silence hung in the air as the sphere moved a little bit closer.
Five minutes to midnight...
The angels' faces were now set, the surety of their mission within their hearts.
Satan also kept up his best poker face.
Do not even let them have hope that they can win.
"Michael shed all His blood, and that is enough!" Uriel said at last.
"The Father wants Him home again!" Abdiel added.
"And you, fallen one," Sherael concluded. "Will not stop us!"
All three of the angels drew out their flaming swords, the fiery blades turned towards their enemy.
Who, but for his own pride, was once their captain.
Their leader...
Their friend.
"'Stop you?'" Satan mocked, resorting to that sickening laugh. "I killed the Son of God, what makes you think you can prevail against ME? The Almighty saw that day on Golgotha that I am strong enough to best His own Son in combat, why should you even be questioning my power?"
The sword of dark fire turned towards the angels.
"Come at me, if you will!" Satan roared in challenge. With one hand pointed towards the angels, Satan lifted his head towards the black, empty sky.
"I CHALLENGE THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!" he roared. "DO YOU HEAR ME? IF YOU WANT JOSHUA'S BODY, COME AND TAKE IT!"
All three of them rushed at Satan en masse. But they were prepared for his sword swipe, and they held theirs in defense. They felt a great strength push them back, but they stood their ground. Uriel attacked first, moving as a ray of light, stabbing and thrusting his burning blade into the Prince of Darkness.
But Satan knew Uriel's form: he helped him learn it. Every move the angel made, the arch-demon blocked. With one hand, he tossed Uriel aside, throwing him into the ground.
The strength of the blow shook the Earth. Almost forgotten, the Roman soldiers looked about as they could feel the earth trembling beneath their feet but knew not why.
Beyond their sight, Abdiel was thrown aside easily by the commander of the forces of evil.
Satan turned his fiery sword upon Sherael.
"You know you can't kill us." she stated.
"Ha!" mocked Satan. "I killed the Son of God, what makes you think I can't crush you just as easily?"
Sherael gulped, placing her faith upon the One she had chosen eons ago.
The One she knew to be right.
"The Almighty God will protect me." she returned.
Satan attacked, raining fiery comets of sparks upon the smaller angel with each deflected, guarded or parried blow. The demon pressed his sword against hers, bringing the two face to face.
"Even if I can't destroy you," he said. "I can still fight off the whole universe long enough."
She pushed him off with one blow. They now circled each other like a snake against a mongoose, as the other angels rose to their feet behind them.
"Long enough for what?" she returned.
"To prove that I was right," Satan shot back. "That I have won this little war, that even though He died without sinning, it won't profit the children of man. They'll still die in the end!"
He lunged at the angel, their two fiery swords clashing against each other.
"Now the Almighty God must watch as His beloved children die, forever without hope, and I will make my way back to Heaven."
"To take the place you forsook?" Sherael returned.
"NO!" shouted Satan, pushing the angel back and onto the ground before his hooved feet. "Once I've proven that God is wrong, there will be no going back to the old ways. There will be a new ruler over the Universe, a new sovereign to bow before beneath the eternal darkness..." Satan stepped back, holding out his arms before the darkened sky, declaring his true intentions to all the universe.
"I WILL BE GOD ALMIGHTY!"
A sudden lightning bolt struck the earth.
It hit like an earthquake, sending its shock-waves across the countryside of Jerusalem.
All were thrown off their feet by the extreme force of the strike.
This got the Romans' attention.
Standing before them was a towering, imposing figure, all clad in clothes as white as snow and armor that shone like lightning. Six large, golden wings stretched out from the giant's back, the tips of the feathers bearing eyes of fire. Huge hooves where his feet should have been, and from the head came four faces: a man, a bull, a lion and an eagle.
In pure shock, they fell down as if dead, before the terrible visage of the great angel.
Gabriel then turned to his old comrade, with whom he had shared the eternal eons before the world began covering the SHEKINAH upon the Ark in Heaven. Satan was now rising from the power of Gabriel's arrival, returning to his hooved feet.
"The LORD God Almighty sends this message to you, old friend." Gabriel greeted. "You've just lost the war."
"No!" Satan said, shaking his head. "Never! I will never lose!"
"The Father calls the Son home." Gabriel stated.
"NEVER!" Satan roared, shaking his head in denial. Even as he did, the face of the old Cherub came out. But it was different, hideously changed. Four faces leered at Gabriel in denial: a beautiful face, a goat's, a lion's and a phoenix's face, all of them evil and full of rage.
"Stand aside, old friend." Gabriel commented. "None can deny the will of the Father, not even you."
"He cannot be set free!" Satan roared. "He is MINE! I killed Him, and that makes Him mine!"
"The Father's will shall be done." Gabriel calmly stated.
"Damn the Father!" Satan roared aloud. "Michael is MINE!"
Two clawed hands reached out at Gabriel, trying to pull him away from the tomb.
But one powerful hand reached down and grabbed Satan by the middle head, the beautiful one he used in his dealings with man.
"You've just condemned yourself!" Gabriel shouted. "You've sealed your own doom! It's Gehenna for you."
Gabriel tossed Satan back, throwing him into the ground.
"Only if He lives," Satan returned. "And I won't let it happen!"
The arch-demon took out his flaming sword and charged at his old comrade. But Gabriel was faster, and his own sword flashed to life, deflecting the enemy's blow.
Both of them took a step back, eying their opponent's moves. Unlike the others, Gabriel and Lucifer had been like brothers in the eons before the world began. They were equals in almost every way, save that Lucifer had been the most exalted, the most beautiful and the most beloved of all the angels.
But it was not anger or vengeance that drove Gabriel's blade. Only duty.
The Father was calling the Son home, and He had given him, an angel more humble and obedient than Lucifer, the task of welcoming the Son back into the world of the living.
And no force in Heaven or on Earth would keep Gabriel from fulfilling his God-given mission.
Not even his old friend.
The two charged at each other, fiery blades crashing, sending hail and comets of fire upon the ground.
"Forget about Him!" Satan roared above the din created by their grinding blades. "He's dead! Just give Him up!"
"NEVER!" Gabriel shouted in return.
They were evenly-matched.
But this duel could not last forever.
There were but two minutes left until midnight.
The task still lay before Gabriel.
His mind turned to the one place he loved to go, the one place he knew he was safe, the one place he knew he could find victory.
He turned to his Creator.
'Almighty God, grant Thy servant the strength to fulfill the duty Thou hast given him!'
All at once, the awesome power of God flowed through the body of His angel.
He pushed against the blade of the Accuser of man, and he fell back.
A long way, falling upon the ground as if defeated.
"Bind him!" Gabriel ordered the others. "Do not let him move until He is arisen."
Three pairs of hands grabbed Satan by his wings or his shoulders and arms, keeping him from attacking Gabriel.
Uriel, Abdiel and Sherael smiled as they felt the power of God flow through their bodies, giving them the strength to fulfill His wish.
Gabriel walked over to the entrance of the tomb. With one hand, he broke the heavy iron chains as if they had been nothing but burned paper. The clattering of iron upon the ground echoed in the wake of the fading earthquake, though no ears were about to hear the sound.
With care, so as to not destroy their mortal forms, he stepped over the fallen bodies of the Roman soldiers with his hooved feet.
Gabriel now stood before the great heavy stone, the one that had taken all of the Roman soldiers to move. He merely blinked at the parchment, the edict of the paranoid Pharisees who feared that Joshua would rise from the dead.
It blew away as if it were nothing, for that was all it was.
Annas, Caiphas and all their money and power could not stop the Hand of God.
With one hand he gripped the heavy stone, and tossed it away from the opening as easily as if it had been a pebble. The heavy stone made a thick, dull thud as it struck the ground many feet away.
In humility, Gabriel took several steps back from the mouth of the tomb. Then he knelt down before the opening, lowering his head, and covering his head and feet with four of his six wings, the last two bowed upon the earth.
He then held out his right hand, preparing to unleash the power that God had bestowed on him for just this moment.
The eight eyes of Gabriel's faces swan with tears as he spoke.
"My LORD!" he called out into the tomb. "Joshua, Commander of the Armies of Heaven, Son of God! Satan has been defeated! The armies of Darkness have been vanquished! Death has been swallowed up in victory! PAY HEED, ALL CREATION! FOR THE FATHER SPEAKS, HE CALLS FOR HIS SON!"
Gabriel threw his head into the dust, as the mighty presence that not even he was permitted to see came down to look upon the tomb.
Upon His Son.
Silence filled the earth as the hour struck midnight.
"ARISE, MY LOVE! DEATH HAS LOST ITS STING, AND THE GRAVE HAS NO HOLD ON YOU! COME FORTH AND RECEIVE YOUR VICTORY! ARISE!"
Silence once again issued out as the presence of the Father faded.
All that was left were the angels: Gabriel kneeling before the tomb, the others standing guard.
And Satan, laughing maniacally behind him.
"He's not coming out!" Satan mocked. "Just go ahead and curse God! He's DEAD!"
The only sounds that were heard in the garden tomb were the mocking cries of Satan.
Suddenly, all was changed.
A great light flooded in the inside of the tomb and rushed out from the mouth in a great spear that shone as brightly as the Star did the very night Joshua was born.
Smiles crept across the faces of all the angels as they saw the light.
Only Satan did not smile.
His mocking had turned to howls of terror. All his curses had come to naught.
His claims on the body seemed as empty as the midnight air.
Already he realized just what he had done.
He had committed the fatal act that spelled his own doom.
Now he had to watch as he was proven wrong at last.
From out of the light that streamed brightly from the mouth of the tomb stepped the form of a naked man. The soldiers had taken away all His clothing before they tied and nailed Him to the tree. Back in the tomb, on the stone slab where He lay, the clothes He wore were folded neatly in two separate piles.
His body was completely reborn.
The glorified, perfect body He had before the world came into being.
All that remained of that horrible, bloody final battle on the side of Golgotha hill were two holes in His hands, two holes in His feet and the gash in His side.
"I AM the Resurrection...and the Life!" Joshua exclaimed as He stepped out of the tomb and into the night air.
He rose His head up towards Heaven.
It was all coming back to Him. The darkness had lifted, and He could see the Father once again.
A smile crept over His face.
Beyond all hope, He had done the impossible.
He had lived as a human, exposed to all the sins that accost humans day to day, but finished His life without sin.
As the Son of God, He gave His sinless life down to be the sacrificial lamb for all mankind, that they might have eternal life and everlasting peace and joy.
Every prophecy had been fulfilled, every form and type He had taught to Moses was now completed in Himself.
He had won the battle for the ages.
Death was laid dead at His victorious feet.
He is risen!
Suddenly white robes came upon Him, the same kind of robes that He wore in Heaven.
"NO!" Satan cried, almost refusing to believe the witness of his eyes. "This can't be! I killed You! You should be dead! I killed You, You shouldn't be alive!"
"No one takes away My life from Me." Joshua said to him. "I lay it down of My own accord. I have the power to lay it down, and take it up again."
Joshua walked over to the bound form of His friend and servant, who, even now as he spouted blasphemies against Him and against God, was being given mercy by being allowed to exist, and knelt down before him.
"You were never meant to rule, Lucifer." He said. "You exalted yourself unto the very throne of God, and you will be brought down to the pit of Gehenna. But I gave down My life for these I loved, I became their servant, and I alone have the right to rule over them...because I love them."
"That was all this was to You, wasn't it?" Satan asked. "Just trying to prove how good You are!"
"Your actions proved that you have no love for mankind," Joshua stated. "They were just a tool to you, a means to an end. To me, they were everything. I chose to give up the throne you coveted so I could live with them, so I could know life as they know it. They are the end, Lucifer, not the means. Their salvation was all that mattered to Me, and I was ready to be lost forever just so that they could be saved."
Satan turned away, too proud to even humble himself in defeat before the One who defeated him.
"But My grace is sufficient, even for thee." Joshua offered. "Accept My sacrifice, and even you can return to the place you once held."
Satan's eyes turned back to the face he once adored, the One he once praised and loved more than his own life.
His master.
He spat at Him.
Only Sherael's lightning-fast hand kept the sacrilegious scorn from touching Joshua's holy cheek.
"I won't grovel before You like some dog!" hissed Satan defiantly. "I'm still lord of this world. The people, they still love me more than You! Your sacrifice WILL be in vain! Even if I burn at the very bottom of Gehenna, I'll drag all of humanity down with me!"
"You have no more power, defeated one." Joshua said, rising to His feet. He then raised His right hand and waved in dismissal.
"Go."
In sorrow and anger, Satan twisted his way back into the void, running like a whipped dog.
Defeated.
His power over humanity broken forever, never to be returned...
Unless we come begging for it, after turning away from the love of He who died for us.
Uriel and the others noticed their Champion arisen again, and bowed before Him.
"Don't do this." Joshua said to them, bringing them to their feet with a wave of His hands.
"But You are the Son of God!" said Gabriel. "This is far less than You deserve!"
"I will not receive any worship," Joshua answered. "Until I go up to the Father, and see that My sacrifice was sufficient."
"May we take You there now?" asked Sherael.
"No, my friends." He pointed beyond them with His hand.
"Look, they are coming." He said.
Behind the angels walked an army of people. These were mortals, but they were mortal no more. Joshua had resurrected them with Him.
"Look after these." He ordered to Uriel and Abdiel. "See that they come not to harm. They are the first-fruits of My conquest, trophies of My victory over sin..." A tear of joy came to His eyes.
"My pride and joy."
"Yes, LORD!" the two cried out, turning to the army of the Resurrected Dead.
"Listen to the word of the LORD!" Uriel shouted.
"Pay heed to your Redeemer, rescued ones!" Abdiel continued.
"Go into Jerusalem, and tell them that I AM risen." Joshua said to them. "When I go back to My Father, I will take you with Me."
The Resurrected Dead bowed before Joshua, grateful of His accomplishment in saving them. Their orders given, they turned aside and left into Jerusalem.
"What about us?" Sherael asked, indicating to Gabriel and herself.
"My friends still think that I AM dead and imprisoned in the grave." Joshua said to them. "Let us wait for them here."
The two nodded in recognition.
Joshua, meanwhile, stepped aside, moving through time and space to a secret place where He would see one who needed Him the most.
Footsteps were echoing in the night air.
Someone was approaching the tomb.
(HORAY! I can't believe how powerful this moment was for me. I teared up everytime "Joshua" rose from the dead at SonRise while this NewSong...song was playing, and I teared us as I rewrote this portion for here. Remember, this is coming from someone who usually doesn't listen to all the sound-alike "pop country" contemporary christian music artists.)
(The appearance of the cherubim is inspired by Ezekiel, though how they have four heads, I would imagine looks similar to the Hindu gods, where its four faces out of one head [but that's just speculation, and won't profit for eternal life]. Satan's distorted cherub visage is based on the various animals which are associated with him, like the phoenix and the goat instead of the eagle and ox from the pure cherubim. The peacock is also associated with Satan, ergo his twelve wings. The wings full of eyes, though, was from Ezekiel as well, so both Satan and Gabriel have wings full of eyes. Yeah, no wonder humans freak out when they see angels, if they look like how Ezekiel and John saw them.)
(I bolded and capped several times when Satan refers to himself, signyfying his exceedingly great greed and extreme narcissism, not to show him any respect, as when I bold-n-cap whenever Joshua says "I AM". That is in reference to His status as YHWH, and I saw it as befitting.)
(That little exchange between Sherael and Satan is not found anywhere in the Gospels or in said texts I have also derived from for this passage. I invented it, since I believe that women are wholly equal in the sight of God to men, only sin made them any less than equal. In response to someone-who-shall-not-be-named, God is not misogynist, humans brought that hate and condemnation upon themselves, but Joshua rescued women from their shame and brought them into favor [see Joshua for all the events I have mentioned]. Neither is He a homophob, they just love being gay more than they love God, no different than every other person on earth who loves sin and vice more than God. And God doesn't love playing with fire, or He would have stricken down Richard Dawkins, Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson and Varg Vikernes long ere this. You obviously have no loving heart in your body, and I pity you)
(Sorry for the little rant, but people are really as bad as I portrayed Satan in this part. They think they're a better god than...well, God. Like I said before, just look into the evil of your own heart and you'll be surprised at jus how accurately you can depict the "man of sin." But the god you worship doesn't love you, he'd sooner see you burn with him. The God you hate, however, loves you more than life and glory, and was ready to give up eternal life and rulership over the whole universe just to save you. That is where the little exchange between Joshua and Satan came from, to show the nature of good and evil.)
(Yes, Mick Jagger, or whoever wrote that song, God is the only one who had sympathy for the devil.)
(Okay, I'm done now)