When I originally wrote Excavatia I was not certain of where the journey would lead. As in any endeavor, few creatives see clearly what the end will bring. They just start with a vague idea and move forward into the steps of creating. It is an organic outworking of an internal vision, that we cannot see clearly. But something happens when we get past all of the typical excuses we have and just start.
For me as a Christian, once I start, the process becomes an active collaboration with the creative seed-engine planted within me by my Creator. It is an out-working of the internal dialogue within my soul. A chronicle of the conversation with my Creator but also a story in which these ideas and concepts take form and meaning with sight and symbolism.
The Concept
“Long ago, an ancient dragon slithered out of our Surface World into another world (Mid-World) carrying a stolen, crown cast of the purest gold. It had been forged in the ancient world in the land of circles known then as Havilah. (The word Havilah [חֲוִילָה] means “circle” in Hebrew? See Genesis 2:11-12)
The Dominion Crown was a supernatural signet of world dominion, stolen from its rightful owner by craft, deceit, and treachery. The crown bore three magnificent gemstones–each one representing an eternal virtue confirmed and imbued with properties by the World Creator.
In the creature’s flight, the three virtue stones fell from the crown the beast had greedily clutched in its massive claws and were lost somewhere along the beast’s twisting and erratic flight path.
The dark creature was pursued over mountains and through valleys, but it eventually succumbed to the mysterious soporific influence of a massive mountain range called “The Wall of Stone,” where it fell into a millennia-long sleep in the stony heights.
While the beast slept, it dreamt dreams of its own grandeur and fiery violence, continuously breathing out a dense fog that masked the peaks of the mountain chain so that nothing could be seen beyond it. The fogs descended into the lowlands and eventually were carried out to sea, where they coalesced and formed dangerous, living mists that stole away or repressed the memories of anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves trapped within them.
The land is now under the oppression of warring kingdoms and shadowy creatures known as ‘The Half-Men’ under the tenuous rule of a creature that was once human.
There is an ancient prophecy on a mysterious columnar stone, called The Marker Stone, indicating that the land will not be set to cease from its strife and warmongering until the stolen Dominion crown is restored to its rightful owner. But the restoration of the incomplete crown is not enough. Its rightful owner will not reclaim the crown until the three lost jewels are found in a series of three successive stone quests, involving people not of this present Surface World, but from the land in which the crown was originally stolen. For it was a man and a woman from our world who despised the crown and permitted it to be stolen.
The stones must be recovered, secured, and restored back into the stolen crown before the Conqueror King will return to claim it as a successor and a precursor to the man who betrayed his birthright.
The stone quests have commenced. A mysterious, ancient man, who participated in the first successful stone quest, still roams the Mid-World, quietly attending to the needs of a people enslaved by their current captors. There had been a second stone quest, that followed years after the first, but it has failed due to internal divisions and betrayals. The land grows increasingly under threat, and the enemies of The Marker Stone and its attenuated legends, grow bolder, and more vicious. Determined to drive the fading memory of The Marker Stone and its quests, they have almost succeeded in driving hope out of those they oppress, for it has been twenty-one years since the last quest failed, and the remaining Surface Worlders still lingering in the Mid-World after the failure of the second quest have disbanded and gone separately into hiding. They are hunted by both man and sentient beasts. Their virtue stone is lost to them and betrayed into the hands of a dark enemy, whose hatred for humans of any sort knows no bounds.
But that is not the end. It is only the beginning of this tale. For now, the one from the Surface World who was a party to the former betrayal has returned to this land, to make amends and pick up the quest where it last fell off. He must make alliances with those he once betrayed and make amends for his actions if he ever hopes to renew the quest and join in carrying out the requirements for the prophecy to be fulfilled. Factions within the land of The Mid-World once willing to put their hopes in the promise of the prophecy, no longer believe in it. In fact, they have suffered much for their former beliefs, and are no longer interested in seeing these “other world” interlopers return. They still fear the oppressive rulers of these lands who have been gaining power over them since the failure of the prior quest, and they fear what might happen if the virtue stones are found, or ever placed back within the legendary crown itself–A crown still held by a dangerous sleeping dragon, who might very well reawaken and seek vengeance on the land once all the stones are restored to each of its magnificent golden tension rings.
This is the betrayer’s story–a tale of a quest renewed, and a faith reclaimed. A story that may have more relevance to our own personal and real-life faith journeys than we ever imagined was possible.“
[1 Thessalonians 5:8] “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”
The Marker Stone – (source)
“Notice the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. I will engrave an inscription on it” – this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies – ”and I will take away the iniquity of this land in a single day. [Zechariah 3:9 CSB]
The Ebenezer Stone – “Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The LORD has helped us to this point.” [1 Samuel 7:12 CSB]
Glowing Letters – “Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place–until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.” [2 Peter 1:19 NLT]
Seven Eyes – “Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign that I am about to bring my servant, the Branch. “Notice the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. I will engrave an inscription on it” – this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies – ”and I will take away the iniquity of this land in a single day. [Zechariah 3:8-9 CSB]
The Legend of The Three Virtue Stones
Life experienced within time is a movement through transition and change.
But some things do not alter with time. Some things remain constant and eternal. These exist outside of time. These give those of us subject to the winds of change and time a sense of permanence, certainty, and stability. An anchor that holds true, no matter what life and experience may bring.
For those of us who believe, we know that The One who holds all time in His hand, exists in a reality outside of time. This is The One Who Changes Not. From Him we are given three values of constancy: Faith, Hope and Love.
…But the greatest of these…
… is Love.
The Ancient Text, the Living Word, was given so that mankind might know there is a permanence outside of their immediate experience. That there is a greater story being told by The One who spoke all things into existence. A story being told upon the pages of human history within the Book of Time. The story was given so the He might reveal Himself once again to His creation and restore the relationship that was lost so long ago. The Father-Creator is the Living Stone within His story. Unchanging, immutable, impervious and constant, a loving anchor that holds. He is symbolized as the Truth Stone. The Truth Stone is the constant and foundation upon which all created things exist.
“6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” [John 14:6 NLT]
“17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.” [Colossians 1:17 NLT]
The Ancient Text speaks of a place that existed prior to the fall of the angelic guardian.
“I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. “You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire.” [Ezekiel 28:14-16 NLT]
The Stones of Fire were something unknown that existed in a place called “the mountain of God.”
The fallen supernatural creature was given clothing set with precious jewels that it adorned itself with and admired to the point of obsession.
We are further told that this created being was present in Eden, the garden of God. And its bejeweled garment is described by The Ancient Text as follows:
“You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone–red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white moonstone, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald–all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created.” [Ezekiel 28:13 NLT]
When this being was cast from the heavens, its raiment was taken from him and scattered throughout the heavens.
“4 His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born. … 9 This great dragon–the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world–was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.”[Revelations 12:4, 9 NLT]
Having been so cast down and imprisoned within the unseen world linked to the world of the seen, the one who is interchangeably called both the “great dragon” and the “ancient serpent”, rages within his prison of both time and space, attempting to make war against the race of men and deepen the chasm of rebellion that divides them from having direct fellowship with their Creator.
“17 And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children–all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus. 18 Then the dragon took his stand on the shore beside the sea.” [Revelation 12:17-18 NLT]
And so begins this tale of an ancient and modern conflict, in a mysterious land inextricably connected to both the seen and unseen worlds.
It begins on a beach within a place called The Mid-World, for this land is the middle ground placed between two Kingdoms. One of death and darkness, and one of life and light. The Mid-World is a metaphysical place, where supernatural beings have form and where certain enduring supernatural concepts take on substance. A place where both dreams and nightmares take shape and occupy presence. The battlefield against this being of wrath, and its agents is fought at any given moment on two fronts.
Both in the realm of the physical world, but also firstly in the realm of the metaphysical world that occupies that between region spanning the two Kingdoms.
That Mid-World is carried within the being of every human. It is a place born into darkness.
It is the realm simply known to each us as the human soul.
The journey into the Mid-World of the Soul is one of both introspection and vulnerability, for those called to venture into it.
There are rules that govern this realm of the Mid-World, vestiges of its prior state before the subversive entrance of Sin, for all created beings and places were once declared “Good” by their Maker.
“All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.” [John 1:3 NET]
“…for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.” [Colossians 1:16 NET]
Because the substance from which they came into being was good, the sickness of sin and death that has stricken them, only thrives if there is no counter to its fatal contagion.
Thankfully, Mankind, was given a path and a cure, residing within the Person of One arising from the Seed of Woman, born outside of the Curse of Fallen Man. The Word made into flesh entered the world of physical form and flesh to redeem us and join us into Himself, so that He would become a literal Doorway into a Kingdom of Life and Light.
“7 So Jesus said to them again, “I tell you the solemn truth, I am the door for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” [John 10:7-10 NET]
Every person then stands before the threshold of their own choices and the Doorway, who is personified in Christ, God-in flesh and expressed in Spirit, within the Mid-World lands of their own heart. But a doorway alone serves no benefit unless the ones standing outside are given entrance through it.
This Human Door, expressed in the Person of Christ Jesus, requires three keys offered freely to those living in the mean streets the Fallen Kingdom that they themselves chose to enter when they seek their own redemption apart from this singular Door.
1. First, they must be brought to see and recognize the danger of their fallen condition. They must be made to see that their method of entry into the Kingdom of Life is hopeless and futile. So then, they must place “Hope” in something other than themselves. Hope must be rooted in an expectation of the fulfillment of a promise made. Hope then is one of the keys that must be volitionally placed in the doorway of the heart.
The first Messianic promise given in the Word of God is contained within God’s judgement pronounced upon the Deceiving Serpent:
“I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” [Genesis 3:15 CSB]
Human beings carry within them these three keys, and they can be inserted into many portals, but there is only one of these “Doors” that offer a real and tangible substance of Hope. But having Hope alone, does not offer passage, if one does not believe enough to take a step of Faith.
2. That is why, secondly, coupled with Hope, there must be a point where a step of Faith is made in the heart as well as in physical motion. Faith must be given form and substance. It is the action that joins the concept and feeling of Hope with observable form.
The Scriptures affirm that Faith is a metaphysical joining of that which cannot be seen with that which is made to be seen.
“1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” [Hebrews 11:1-3 KJV]
The final and most important key is something defined purely by a joining of both Hope and Faith and is the greatest gift of these which is produced entirely from the Spirit realm and birthed entirely from the Kingdom of Light and Life. That key is what allowed the other two keys to be possible and useful.
3. Thirdly and finally, the remaining key is Love. Love has many aspects and expressions, but it is the power that makes turning the lock mechanism, where both Hope and Faith were inserted, possible.
Love unmerited is the force-release mechanism, that opens the way to redemption and life everlasting. The Kingdom entrance that reverses the hold of the Darkness and Death and allows Light and Life into the one who trusts in the One and Only Begotten Son of God.
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16 NLT]
But the story does not end there….
The Person who came in through the Portal has entered the Kingdom of Promise, but the Kingdom of Promise must be realized within their own heart and be given observable substance within their Heart and Soul and Physical Life. It is a Faith Walk.
The same three keys, entrusted into the Personhood of the Door that secures for us our eternal residence within, must also be used to allow His Kingship to be expanded into the life of the believer. This is where the charge is given, by the One who invited you in.
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” [Matthew 6:33 NLT]
On the other side of the Door, you find there are vestigial strongholds still within you, residual denizens of your former life of darkness, that need to be addressed and rooted out of your heart and soul. Strongholds that must be taken down. Monsters that must be driven out under the authority of your new name and identity.
You stand on the Beachfront shore wondering how to make all this possible. Then, from deep within, you hear a Voice speaking from your awakened Spirit. The Words are not unfamiliar to you. You recognize them as coming from a Holy Book you read in the Physical World. Words you were told by the self-proclaimed prophets of the world you left behind were just regarded as an Ancient Text. But these Words are timeless and assuring.
You have journeyed out of the streets of Eternal Night, Death and Disease. Your entrance is made by Way of The Door.
But there is still a sickness within your life, and it is now time to allow The Cure to combat the disease.
Imprinted upon your mind are these Words of Life, the affirmation of the Presence of the Living Word written upon your new heart. You cherish them for you find they hold the remedy that will take territory back from the enemies of your soul, for though the War has been won, the Message of this Good News must be delivered through the land to proclaim its new liberty.
Let the quest for seeking the realization of the Kingdom begin…
It is now your calling to carry the Keys to the Kingdom. To make the journey into the Heart of Man…
Two passages in the Ancient Text show how this victory was effected:
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, 22 but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him – 23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant. [Colossians 1:17-23 NET]
We are united in the Victory Christ secured in Himself, but one thing remains…
“9 This great dragon–the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world–was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. 10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last–salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth–the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.”[Revelation 12:9-12 NLT]
The Blood of the Lamb has purchased the ransom of the Believer, and eternal hope stands upon the Promise of God. Death is swallowed up. But the Deceiver must be run to ground. His accusations defeated and his deceptions peeled back and exposed by the Living Words of Truth.
Read the words once more…
“And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” [Revelation 12:11 NLT]
Notice these words…And By Their Testimony…
What is a Testimony? Simply, put, it is a story, but not just any story. It is your personal redemption story. There is a message in the life you are called to live as part of the Redemption. For believe it or not, you are called to be part of the Enemy’s defeat.
So where is this Enemy? Where does he lurk? Where you are supposed to encounter him?
Let’s find where the Ancient Text says he will be…
“Then the dragon took his stand on the shore beside the sea.” [Revelation 12:18 NLT]
How can this Enemy be defeated? By opening the door to the Kingdom within your own Heart, with the same three eternity keys applied to the Person of Christ.
Faith, Hope and Love
Jesus revealed the effectiveness of these keys when, during His final Passover meal, Peter, his disciple, made the profound statement in answer to his query.
15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” [Matthew 16:15-19 NLT]
The secrets of the keys have been revealed to every blood-bought believer. Now there is but one thing that remains for each of us. To take back the territory that was stolen. To break down strongholds and allow the Kingdom we are promised to be lived out in our own lives by observable faith and Life application. To be sharpened in our journey by becoming the living church through fellowship, encouragement and a deep and abiding love relationship with our Redeemer.
It is now your call, as a Redeemed, Follower of Christ, to answer the Master’s question, “Who do YOU say that I am?” But you must answer this with the evidence of your life given capability by Love, empowered by Faith, and living under the assurance of the Hope you have in who you claim Him to be.
It is you who must treat as tangible and evidentiary those real and enduring concepts that are the keys that open supernatural and metaphysical doors and allow you access through anything that presents itself as a barrier to you in pursuit of your divine calling.
There then is a reason why these three enduring concepts are represented in the metaphysical world of the story, as precious gate stones.
Each of these stones are the signet of a particular quest.
The Story of Excavatia is a pattern and foreshadowing of these concepts.
The story blends elements of the real and imaginary world together in its palette of depiction. Like life there are both myths and truths presented to the modern Christian, and it is only by discernment and with application and diligent knowledge of Scripture that are we able to discern what is truth from what is fiction.
God creates mankind.
Fallen Mankind creates mythological gods.
God creates nature.
Fallen Mankind creates nature worship.
God requires that no other gods be served.
Mankind elevates himself and serves man as god.
The story of Excavatia is about a High Kingdom pursuit. A type of Pilgrim’s Progress story employing fantasy elements and biblical characters. A journey through lands under threat, to deliver three sacred keys or gate stones to open a door to let the High Kingdom rise and dispel the physical and supernatural darkness that rules the lands.
The two, principle counter-kingdoms (with subsets) are represented as follows:
Pantheism – Old World
Greek nature-gods in the form of Half-Men
- Hedonism/Paganism/Spiritism
Humanism – Modern World
Xarmnian Rule – Collectivism Philosophy
- Communism/Marxism/Atheism/Scientism
Capitalian Rule – Individualism Philosophy
Relativism/Pluralism/Commercialism/Crony Capitalism
Excavatia is also about learning the art of servant leadership, discovering relational gifts as part of a functional body and coming together into a fellowship in which hidden testimonies are revealed, and timeless Biblical truths are transcendent and essential for living an empowered life.
The first book of this new series is called…
From Dust Arise
…It begins on the shores of a sandy beach…
…where a massive monster falls from out of the sky…
…shortly thereafter, the first traveler from another world arrives…
…and so begins, the third quest of The Called…
…others arrive to join him, and together they will learn what happened…
…in the times BEFORE…
Hope Stone Quest (First Quest)
God gives us a future promise in which we place our Hope.
Without the promise of God, there is no hope and no point for a quest or for existence.
Hope tells us what is purposed for us.
It is the promise that love will follow and lead us back into the light.
Love Stone Quest (Second Quest)
God manifests His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ (Love come in the flesh) died for us and made the Way manifest to us.
By mankind’s standards, the crucifixion would make this appear to have been a failed quest and that evil had won.
Faith Stone Quest (Third Quest)
Faith actuates hope and receives love to cover failure. The faith quest is what causes us to place ourselves under the justification purchased by Christ through His shed blood.
Faith does not make us perfect, but it applies perfection to the scales of justice to purchase redemption for us.
Faith requires hope and love as its forerunners. Our condemnation is a truth, spoken against us by our accusers. But the remedy is surrender to the Word of the Lord and willing to lose our lives to gain them.
The Hope Stone
“2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” [Titus 1:2 KJV]
“11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” [Jeremiah 29:11 NLT]
“23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.” [Romans 8:23 NLT]
The Love Stone
“9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” [1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV]
“15 Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” [1 John 2:15 KJV]
“14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” [John 1:14 NLT]
Love is the central coalescence of faith and hope within the person of Christ. He is the Word that creates, The One who makes all things new.
The Faith Stone
“1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” [Hebrews 11:1-3 KJV]
“17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” [Romans 10:17-18 KJV]
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. [James 2:26 CSB]
17 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it. [Rev 2:17 CSB]
The Eternal Book
The Ancient Text written within Time from a perspective outside of Time
A Voice The Resonates…
Like no other book in history, the chronicles of the history of the human race and the Jews collectively know as the Bible is a remarkable book that remains as a testament resistant to the ravages of time because it is connected to a Source outside of time.
Within its pages, we come to know an account of a Being without the capriciousness other man-imagined ‘gods’ as described by their religious texts.
“11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper [in the thing] for which I sent it.” [Isaiah 55:11 NKJV]
12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. [Psalm 19:12 NLT]
Unchanging and Certain…
“13 Three things will last forever–faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love.” [1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT]
“6 “I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.” [Malachi 3:6 NLT]
“19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” [Numbers 23:19 NLT]
“8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” [Hebrews 13:8 NLT]
“17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” [James 1:17 NLT]
The High Place…
“27 “Therefore, son of man, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your ancestors continued to blaspheme and betray me, 28 for when I brought them into the land I had promised them, they offered sacrifices on every high hill and under every green tree they saw! They roused my fury as they offered up sacrifices to their gods. They brought their perfumes and incense and poured out their liquid offerings to them. 29 I said to them, ‘What is this high place where you are going?’ (This kind of pagan shrine has been called Bamah–‘high place’–ever since.) 30 “Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Do you plan to pollute yourselves just as your ancestors did? Do you intend to keep prostituting yourselves by worshiping vile images?” [Ezekiel 20:27-30 NLT]
A Witness In The Heavens…
“1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 [There is] no speech nor language [Where] their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,” [Psalm 19:1-4 NKJV]
Themes of the Books
The Overarching Theme of the Novels, stated succinctly is that of:
“The Christian’s Discovery of Who We Are IN CHRIST and the challenges that attempt to thwart us in that Journey of Discovery.” All of the individual themes are subservient to the Overarching theme, but they are subsets that examine aspects of our journey.
Book 1: From Dust Arise
Receiving Forgiveness and Walking In It – Dealing with “The Past Sins” that so easily beset us. It is not enough to “be forgiven” as much as it is learning how to release the guilt of past wrongs into The Forgiver’s Hands and walk in the freedom that comes from that.
Book 2: A Swirl of Ashes
Faith in the Forges – Any time one declares that they have faith, count on it being tested by fire. Faith is not something merely stated or possessed, but it is something that demands to be released to do its work. Faith is polished through challenges and difficulties to a precious shine. It endures both tragedy and conflict, believes in hope that cannot easily be seen and walks in the certitude of that promise.
Book 3: Walls of Stone
Overcoming Self-Doubt in the Face of Formidible Odds.
Book 4: In The Flesh
Walking Boldly as an Outward Evidence of an Inward Change. This book challenges the false doctrine of Gnosticism, [hidden knowledge], that proposes that there is a duality in the nature of humankind, which makes the physical body unredeemable, and it is only the pursuit of the esoteric part of humanity that is capable of reaching The Divine. [If this were true, it would be pointless to “resurrect” a body, or reconstitute it into an incorruptible form, as if promised in 1 Cor. 15:52, 1 Jo. 4:2-3, 2 Jo. 1:7] Gnosticism further impugns Christ’s incarnation and Deity, by suggesting that God’s Son’s death on the Cross was symbolic and HE never really died, and the “resurrection” was merely a transition from the “physical simulation” of His “body” to the expression of His liberation to “spiritual body”. God calls “His Redeemed” to glorify Him in our physical bodies: to make visible the invisible evidence of our inward change and the guarantee of our future glorification. (See Romans 8:11 & 12:1, 1 Cor. 6:15 & 1 Cor. 15:51-56, 2 Cor. 3:18) To redeem mankind, Christ had to give a physical body, in the lineage of humankind [born of woman], a divinely incarnated ‘seed of woman’, not under the Adamic “father’s curse” of the ‘male line’, to form the bridge back to the guaranteed Hope, in relationship with The One, through a resurrected body, quickened by God’s Indwelling.] It is not enough for the ‘Surface Worlders’ cast in this story/series to gain the insights and character arc changes from experiences in ‘The Mid-World’, but they must be given the chance and duty to demonstrate what “walking” looks like before their peers “in the flesh.”
Chapter 1: The Valley of the Shadow
A passage from the Ancient Text attended my mind:
“2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. … 10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.” [Matthew 18:2-5, 10 NLT]
Chapter 2: Writing From Prisons
‘So you, my son, be strong [constantly strengthened] and empowered in the grace that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus. The things [the doctrine, the precepts, the admonitions, the sum of my ministry] which you have heard me teach in the presence of many witnesses, entrust [as a treasure] to reliable and faithful men who will also be capable and qualified to teach others. Take with me your share of hardship [passing through the difficulties which you are called to endure], like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service gets entangled in the [ordinary business] affairs of civilian life; [he avoids them] so that he may please the one who enlisted him to serve. And if anyone competes as an athlete [in competitive games], he is not crowned [with the wreath of victory] unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer [who labors to produce crops] ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Think over the things I am saying [grasp their application], for the Lord will grant you insight and understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ [the ever-living Lord who has] risen from the dead, [as the prophesied King] descended from David [king of Israel], according to my gospel [the good news that I preach], for that [gospel] I am suffering even to [the point of] wearing chains like a criminal; but the word of God is not chained or imprisoned! For this reason I [am ready to] patiently endure all things for the sake of those who are the elect (God’s chosen ones), so that they too may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it the reward of eternal glory. This is a faithful and trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He will also deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself. ‘ [2 Timothy 2:1-13 AMP] https://my.bible.com/bible/1588/2TI.2.1-13
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Chapter 3: The Beasts Between Both Worlds
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Chapter 4: Where Do Trolls Come From?
Renamed – The Unwelcome Guests
Chapter 5: The Incident Behind the Inn
Trolls are elusive creatures.
Chapter 7: A Better Side of Ugly
The Marker had been buried by both Begglar and the Xarmnians. Its message is
Chapter 8: The Hill of Skulls
(Formerly: What’s In A Name?)
Again, I wonder…
Chapter 9: The Buried Past
(Formerly: Murder in the Cradle)
‘His disciples said, “Ah, now You are speaking plainly to us and not in figures of speech! Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; because of this we believe [without any doubt] that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now [at last] believe? Take careful notice: an hour is coming, and has arrived, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, leaving Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]’ [John 16:29-33 AMP]
https://my.bible.com/bible/1588/JHN.16.29-33
Chapter 10: The Departing
(Formerly: The Blood Stone and The Builders)
(Original Text)
Chapter 11: A Life of No Consequence
The Beast I mentioned before…Distraction. Y
*** [Original Start of Chapter 11 – A Life of No Consequence]***
“We are not going to the armory,” Begglar tells me as we begin walking down from the promontory where the three cairn hills were set, “To do so would be suicide.”
Chapter 12: Days of the Warrior Kings
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Chapter 13: The Namesake
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Chapter 14: The Shibboleth and The Sword
From time immemorial, mankind has always sought to communicate forward to the generations that will follow after. Ancient caves show pictographs of how the peoples of antiquity live and survived as hunter-gatherers and in agrarian development. Carvings on ancient stone posts called steles are unearthed bearing a complex structure of symbols and images that we find even now hard to decipher, yet we call these ancient peoples primitive and falsely assume they are unlearned. Messages from those ancient times have survived the ages because they were carved into stone. It seems that the writers of antiquity were trying to tell us something that would outlast the test of time, so they chose a medium that represented something that to them would last. One form of communication that has proven time-resistant through the ages, is the communication of values through stories. This usually begins from parent to child and so on, but in the Surface World that practice is breaking down. There is an impediment to traditional communication, or a speech impediment if you will. Despite the myriad forms of new ways in which to communicate, the historical tradition of transferring values from one generation to the next is under assault. There are competing voices clamoring for attention. Sights and sounds that dazzle, delight and shock. Modern generations are losing their ability to hear and seek wisdom from prior generations. They are told any message the old has to offer the new is faded and out of date and no longer connected to the new norm. But despite what you might be told, people do not change that much, in spite of whatever “progress” might be happening around them. They are losing the answers that the past would have already provided them—To equip them to handle the advent of “progress” in their brave new world. Languages are being lost to antiquity. Their words no longer easily form on the lips of the modern youth. Words are being snatched away from their meanings, like a child torn away from their birth family and having their heritage and identity dissolved into society’s modern progressive “System”. Languages, once lost, are difficult to learn again. The tongue of one culture, even in modern society, finds difficulty pronouncing the sounds passing as a language in another. This is not because of ignorance, but because the way words are phonetically produced requires mouth and tongue movements that are only perfected by repeated and habitual practice. We may smile at the Asian learner’s difficulty in perfecting the “L” sound of the Latin alphabet, or the English speaker’s difficulty of approximating the “Ж” sound of the Cyrillic, or the buzzing and rolling “rr” sound of the Latin languages. These distinctions of the ability or inability to produce such sounds were used to reveal the culture and background of the person to which one is speaking.
In the time of the Judges, as told by the Ancient Text, there was a judge whose name was Jepthath who used this linguistic challenge to root out enemy spies from a neighboring tribe who were seeking entrance into their lands to cause them harm.
“Then the people of Ephraim mobilized an army and crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They sent this message to Jephthah: “Why didn’t you call for us to help you fight against the Ammonites? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!” Jephthah replied, “I summoned you at the beginning of the dispute, but you refused to come! You failed to help us in our struggle against Ammon. So when I realized you weren’t coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the LORD gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?” The people of Ephraim responded, “You men of Gilead are nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.” So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them. Jephthah captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to go back across, the men of Gilead would challenge him. “Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?” they would ask. If the man said, “No, I’m not,” they would tell him to say “Shibboleth.” If he was from Ephraim, he would say “Sibboleth,” because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.” [Judges 12:1-6 NLT]
In this way, the families of the tribe of Gilead were preserved, because they had a means of revealing the enemy concealed among them. A test that they could give which would expose the danger in their midst. There are many tests that can be put to the challenges you face ahead. I have told you of some of the ways the philosophies work among the cultures here, to prepare you, and equip you to discern attempts to deceive you and lure you in. The battlefields we have to cross below and ahead are not just those in geographical locations, but that of a mental nature as well. Everyone is new to you here, so you may not recognize the enemy who seeks your harm when they walk among you. The Ancient Text implores us:
“Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.” [1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 NLT]
To discern good from evil and friend from foe, you must be able to test for its presence. This is essential for your survival. Yours and ours together.
When I purposed to be part of this journey and answer its call and challenges, I knew I could not do it on my own wisdom. Some of you have asked, why I use the Ancient Text so much? Why do I seem to be joined to the past and the words written in another world? Again the Ancient Text provides me with the answer I must give you at this moment.
“Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” [1 Corinthians 2:6-13 NASB]
There is a transcendent truth that is being communicated and has gone out for centuries before I was even born or thought of by my parents or their parents. These ancient truths, some say are out of date. I would simply have to agree because they are timeless. Dates have no meaning in the light of Truth. We have access to One who speaks forth from Eternity. What measure does time and location present to Him? He can answer in our moment or provide the answer ahead of us or behind us in our past. We merely have to be humble enough to seek it and it will come to us like a refreshing breeze on a sweltering summer day. We are called to be discerning, to expose deception, and to recognize evil when it presents itself in disguise, but to do that you have to know and embrace the truth taught by the Ancient Text. The words I share with you, if you are ready for the challenges ahead, should not be new to you, but should resonate with the knowledge you already carry from your own personal experiences and study. The question I pose to you all and myself included is this: How well do you listen to the instructive and experienced voices of the past in your own journey and story?
The Ancient text says this, following the text quoted above:
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.” [1 Corinthians 2:14-16 NASB]
Where does your own insight come from? A timeless source? Or a finite one?
What attitude does that person providing you with these insights you embrace have towards you? Are they building you up or tearing you down? These are questions you and I have to ask ourselves because we are being continually tested from moment to moment.
“By what right do you have to test us?” asked Will, the young man now grown more emboldened.
“Who gave you this authority over us that you dare to question our loyalty to the quest?”
“Aren’t you the one who admitted that you have betrayed countless stories? That you murdered and dismembered many that we will see on this journey? Aren’t you just the convicted serial killer being forced to reveal the hidden gravesites where you left your victims to rot and be devoured by scavengers? Why should we trust that you are committed? How do we know that you are not leading us into a trap of your own? What right do you have to lecture us on recognizing what is good and right and decent? Who are you to say whom we should follow, or what we should do? You, yourself are a hypocrite! You have more blood on your hands than we do, so you have no right to even speak to us. Let Begglar lead. He, at least, lives here and has a stake in this fight.”
I looked over at Begglar and he laughed nervously and raised both hands, palms outward, “Not me, laddie. I’m fat and old. That is why I run an Inn. Or, at least, did so before all this. I have more skill with a cook-spoon than a sword.”
I turned to Will with the others watching. What I was about to say would gain me no friends and would test the ones I had made already.
“You are correct in what you say of me.”
I could tell he was prepared for many responses, but he wasn’t expecting this.
“As I’ve said before. I didn’t choose me. If you have a problem with staying, you are free to go. Seek your own ease. If you plan on staying, but want a different guide here, then you will then have to take it up with the One who chose me for the task. What you do not know is that I do have a stake in this. I can die in this world and in this conflict. I am also held accountable for the services I render in leadership. If one is to lead, he must become the servant of all who would follow. As a servant of those who chooses to follow, I must protect their interests and well-being. We are a volunteer force in this plane of existence. We share the journey and the mission. We succeed when we work together for a common goal. If there is disharmony, I must protect against it. United we stand, divided we fall. It is as simple as that. If you choose division, those of us who chose unity will have to say goodbye to you. You may choose to remain and explore here, but you will not do so in our company or share in our provisions. You must make your own way and join the group that suits you. If we meet upon a battlefield and you have aligned yourself with the enemy, you will be treated as such by us. Choose you this day, what cause you will serve: Your own, or that of this shared company?”
As I used the term “we” I realized that this term could very easily come to represent a much smaller group from this moment forward.
They all remained quiet. Thinking over what I had said.
A man in the back of the crowd muttered, “I don’t have time for this nonsense. I’m going back. Keep your little quest, or whatever it is. I’ve too many responsibilities back in the Surface World to spend any more time following this whatever it is,” and with that he turned to go, trudging back up the hill towards the crest in the direction of the Inn.
He turned and looked down on us when he had gone about fifty paces. He addressed Begglar, ignoring me, but looked meaningfully at the rest of the company.
“You said we could help ourselves to a libation when we were back at the Inn, didn’t you?”
Begglar nodded, “Aye, I did, sir.”
The man, somber-faced looked hard at me, and then nodded and tipped his forehead to Begglar, “Good. I think I could use one before the journey back. Any of you others are welcome to join me.”
Turning his back on us again, he continued up the hill road to the Inn.
Two or three others followed him, but the rest remained.
The woman, with whom I had spoken before, asked me, “Why do you seem to be driving and showing us away? Don’t you want our help on this quest?”
“This quest is not about me. But it is something I must do…feel called to do. There is a place called Excavatia. All you have is my word on it. It is real. But we will have to dig through these tunnels of experience, tragedy and struggle to get there. There are armies being drawn together ahead of us. If they meet on a shared plain, under the current climate of suspicion of each other, that ground will quickly become a battlefield that will escalate into the war that has been steadily brewing for the last few years. Xarmnian, Capitalian or not, we will all get swept into it.”
“What are you saying? You’re afraid for us?”
“I am worried. I do wonder if you all would be safer going back. Pretending that nothing was happening here, going about your lives with no thoughts of this elsewhere. Just because I have the calling to go, does not mean that I have the right to put you all at risk.”
“I don’t remember being forced here,” and she turned to her companions and our company at large.
“Do any of you remember Mr. O’Brian, compelling any of you to come? Do any of you remember him saying that this would be safe and easy?”
The response was mixed, but by and large in the affirmative, though not coordinated enough for me to be certain of what I heard.
The woman turned and folded her arms and nodded as if her point had been clearly made.
“See. We are all in agreement, save those who left. We are here because of our own choices. Quit doubting yourself and us. It is not fair of you to do so.”
I looked at her seriously and the sober faces around her, nodding in agreement.
I couldn’t help it. I chuckled to myself.
“Well, if you put it that way, I certainly want to be fair and not rude to you all. In the service of fairness, I suppose I do not have any other choice, now do I?”
“No, you really don’t,” she said with an impish grin. “You spoke of Gideon, Mr. O’Brian. Are you planning on having us all drink from the river to narrow our company down a bit?”
“Ha. Ha,” I said, “Good reference. Did you know that the particular account of Gideon was the original group of 300 warriors in 1194 B.C., long before the 300 Spartans in September or August of 480 B.C. (714 years later) fought in the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persians? Gideon’s group of warriors was the ‘Original 300’.”
The Ancient Text says this:
“The LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ “Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.'” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. Then the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.” Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. The LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.” So the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. … Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.” [Judges 7:2-8, 12 NASB]
Gideon began his quest with 32,000 warriors and systematically reduced them down to 300 through a series of tests. The Master wanted only those who were committed, so he had Gideon send those with fear and lack of commitment to the cause of the fight, home. The 10,000 that remained he divided among the kneelers and the lappers. Now think about that for a moment. If your face is down in the water, what can you see ahead of you? Not much but your own reflection in the shimmering pool. But if you kneel, you are still scanning the horizon and watchful for the threat ahead, as you bring your hand from the water up to your mouth. The kneelers had a sense of the danger ahead. The lappers were concerned only with the fact that they were thirsty and attended to their own needs. This said a lot about the two kinds of people in Gideon’s marshaled force of warriors. If you were in command and were as fearful as Gideon was, which group would you pick to go to battle with? The kneelers or the lappers? Well, guess what? The Master chose to send Gideon to battle with the self-centered lappers. Doesn’t seem to make sense, does it? But The Master was doing something with Gideon, that we might miss if we’re not careful. He was stripping Gideon’s trust in everything else away from him, so that victory over the Midianites and Amalekites, appearing in the valley ahead like a swarm of locusts, “numerous as the sand on a seashore” could be gained in no other way except by Divine help. I have quoted it before, but it bears repeating.
“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” [1 Thessalonians 5:24 NASB]
One other thing that The Master did, which further demolished any confidence Gideon might have had in the 300 lappers who remained with him to bring about a victory against overwhelming odds. He was told to give each of them a trumpet and a clay pot placed over a torch. Each of you has a torch. The Ancient Text says:
“When the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and cried, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”” [Judges 7:20 NASB]
One of the young boys in the company, seeming to be in some measure of distress, raised his hand, and I nodded to him to ask his question.
“But Mr. O’Brian, sir. I don’t know how to play the trumpet.”
Begglar laughed a big-throated belly laugh that shook his whole body. The others nervously smiled at me and looked about in puzzled amusement.
“Don’t worry, laddie. We’re fresh out of trumpets, fifes, and piccolos. But if ye have a mind ta try me bag pipes, ye’ll find those need a might fixin’ as well. Honk like a goose, they do. Ha, ha, ha!”
Another spoke up, “For one who agreed not to insult us, you are certainly not off on the right foot. Are you saying we are lappers?”
“Not at all. Not at all,” I assured the speaker, a teen-aged male, not far from boyhood and just on the cusp of being a man.
“I am merely trying to point out that when you are called to do something you believe is beyond your own ability, consider whether or not the task to which you are called is within the scope and ability of the One who calls you to it. If so, you can be confident that it will be in His power that you will find your success, if you choose to follow that call. Like the lappers, did not make the best kind of warrior, so it is that God does not require the skill of one over another to accomplish what He calls you to do and will do through you. As I have said, I am ill-equipped for this quest, but that does not limit the One who called me to it. Understand?”
He shrugged and then stepped back into the company.
There is a reason I told you of the warrior tests. It is not necessarily to see who is the bravest or most competent to continue the quest, but for another reason entirely.
There is one other customer that was not mentioned in “The Shopkeeper and Collector” story. It was not mentioned for a reason, because we could not give this kind of warning of what we are about to do.
That other kind of person is the villain, the thief that often do not come into your shop under the bells of the door, but flees from your shop under the sirens at the back of it. Running away from it with the precious items you protected from other customers as The Collector.
I do not want to alarm you unduly, but both Begglar and I have suspected something for some time now. We value you all on this journey. Especially those who wish to remain here with us to accomplish what we’ve set out to do. There is a simple question that Begglar will need to ask each of you before we give you the arms and battle gear we are about to equip you with.
We shall have to ask each of you in turn and privately from all of the rest because this question requires your honest answers with no copying or overhearing the response of another. For those of you willing to go forward, we ask that you follow Begglar one by one into that grove just yonder.
For those of you who feel that this quest is not for you, the others are still within sight if you wish to follow them up the hill road there back to the Inn. We won’t judge or condemn you. As the young lady says, I have not compelled or forced you to follow me, and I will not do so now, but if you are willing to follow you should know that I will ask you to do somethings along the way that may seem odd to you. That is merely something a leader must do to coordinate and delegate the tasks of the quest. So, if you are willing please line up and when called follow into that grove yonder. The sky is beginning to gray, so we may not have much time.
They aligned themselves in a sort of meandering line pointed towards a copse of darkened trees which formed a sort of oval shape into a darkening sky. Daybreak had seemed to come only a few hours ago, and it was odd that gray dusk should be descending upon us so early and so shortly down the trail. At this rate, the sky would darken soon, and shadow would build-up to the mountain peaks in the distance.
Whatever catch release Begglar had pulled within the granary storehouse should have unlatched the hidden weapons cache, but where was it to be found, and why did Begglar insist that our company be led through the copse and grove, before seeking the cache. There could be no other reason except to bewilder and confuse the enemy walking among us.
One by one, my fellow companions walked towards the grove and met Begglar under the shadows of the bare trees. Something gleamed in the distance between the two silhouettes as Begglar asked his private and mysterious question, waited for the answer, and then, satisfied, directed each person to proceed on to an area just out of my line of sight to wait until the testing was over.
When it came to my turn, at last, I met Begglar under the trees, beneath the light of a gibbous moon.
Very pointedly, he asked me the following question.
“O’Brian, I’ve know ye for most of yer life. You’ve been a faithful chronicler of this land and the truths and lies in it. You know what they’re facing ahead, same as I. But as I’ve asked all the others that are here, so it tis that I’m askin’ you.”
And here he took a breath and stared hard at me.
“What are ye thankful for?”
Of course, that would be the most logical question to ask. And brilliant it was too.
This was our form of Shibboleth Test. It works almost every time in the Sub-World, and I nearly suspect it may work the same way in the Surface World as well. Everyone has lots to say about what they don’t like, but fewer and fewer take the time to say what they are grateful for. Gratitude is becoming a lost language, in the age of protests and angry demonstrations.
Xarmnian enemies here are incapable of expressing gratitude. They live under the illusion of resentful entitlement. They expect everyone’s love. They expect to be compensated. They expect to be enriched at everyone else’s expense. They believe anyone who has what they do not, achieved it through privilege or theft and disenfranchisement. Therefore, a Xarmnian, whose mind has been taken over by that mentality, will struggle to come up with anything that they are thankful for.
If you expect everything, then you will be grateful for nothing. No one owes you anything. You and I walk under the dispensation of the Master’s grace, whether we acknowledge it or not. For He holds the worlds that exist together under His will. He owes us nothing, yet He gave us everything. Your fellow travel owes you nothing. Be grateful when they choose to show you mercy and recognize that every gift of that mercy comes to you undeserved. That is my mindset. You do not own me loyalty, or friendship, or the time you have taken out of your lives to travel here with me. These things I receive from you as a mercy and a gift. I am not entitled or deserving of them…but I am grateful for it.
A humble, grateful person will understand that every good gift they are given, was provided to them apart from their merit. In the courtroom of life, we come not as the plaintiff, but the guilty defendant, and all we have left to us is to plead for the mercy of the court.
For everything in which you feel entitled, those things you become incapable of also being grateful for and appreciative of. In a culture growing more ungrateful and unappreciative of what sacrifices were made for that provision, the closer that culture will be drawn into the state in which the very stones will cry out.
That gleam in the distance that I saw flash slightly ever so often was the shining blade of a sword embedded into the ground at the end of the copse. The sword had a red sash, that flapped in the breeze that reminded me of a bloodline. The hilt of the sword was a burnished gold forming a golden cross. The red sash though symbolic of a stream of shed blood from Immanuel’s vein, was also a lifeline. The wielder of the sword was intended to wrap the sash around his or her forearm and bind it there, so that the sword would never be lost in battle. It would be fixed to the hand and arm that bore it forth. That is why the sash was traditionally called The Bloodline.
Seeing it, and my trusted friend standing there, I freely told him all I was thankful for. Perhaps more than he wanted to hear.
Mysterious background notes behind Scene 13 (3-parts) of Excavatia – Chapter 14
Enoch – Background
I have always been fascinated by the Biblical character of Enoch.There’s a lot behind what is referred to in the 3 parts of Scene 13.The Hebrew word translated as Serpent in Genesis is Nachash.The account in Genesis 6:1:4 and its connection to Enoch has always intrigued me.This was a pernicious attempt by fallen angels to insert themselves in the redemption prophecy of Genesis 3:15.Genesis 3:15 (KJV) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.The race of giants known as the Nephilim and later also called Anakim and Rephaim were the result of this coup attempt against God’s divine plan to make us His own and redeem us with purely human blood as Him being both fully God and fully man.God allowed the outrage to occur because He had a future plan of His own to use His chosen nation to deal decisively with the descendants of the Nephilim.In Deut. 9:1-5, God is giving Israel the land populated by giants (Anakim) for their inheritance. He allowed those descendants to temporarily occupy territory that He would use His nation to reclaim and dispossess those interlopers, showing His might through such a small, desert-weary gathering of former slaves from Egypt with no fortified city of their own. They were the beneficiaries of a promise God had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.Did you notice that all sounds of the storm cease when both The Lamb and later The Man are speaking?There are 3 voice tracks when The Lamb speaks, but they coalesce in One when The Man in white speaks. Both representations are the same person.Here are references to Enoch in Scripture:“When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God three hundred years after the birth of Methuselah and had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And [in reverent fear and obedience] Enoch walked with God; and he was not [found among men], because God took him [away to be home with Him].”Genesis 5:21-24 AMP“By faith [that pleased God] Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven so that he would not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found because God had taken him; for even before he was taken [to heaven], he received the testimony [still on record] that he had walked with God and pleased Him.”Hebrews 11:5 AMP“It was about these people that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, when he said, “Look, the Lord came with myriads of His holy ones to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly deeds they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh and cruel things ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.””Jude 1:14-15 AMPThe Nephilim were hybrids and a cursed result of the Genesis 6 account.God instructed Joshua to annihilate them completely whenever they encountered their descendants in the land of Canaan. [Joshua chapter 10] Incidentally, the name Joshua is “Yeshua” in the original Hebrew, and that name is later rendered as “Jesus” in the Greek language.King Saul was rebuked sharply by Samuel for not fully annihilating some descendants of the Nephilim in Samuel chapter 15. God used the judges and the kings of Israel to annihilate that particular race of hybrids because they corrupted the bloodline of humanity. The book of Jude alludes to this. See verses 4-7. Verse 6 is the fate of the fallen angels’ attempt to add themselves into the bloodlines of humanity in Genesis 6:1-4.A corrupted bloodline would have made it questionable to whether Christ was both fully God and fully man, which would have invalidated His sacrifice of Himself as being wholly and exclusively the Redeeming Sacrifice for humanity. The act of rebellion by those fallen angels was an attempted assault on God’s plan to be born fully human and redeem us with his human blood. It was an attack on God and on His plan. That is why God dealt so severely with them. For our sake. Because He purposely wanted us to be family of His precious blood.Ultimately, Jesus (Yeshua) will complete the final cleanup of the seed of the serpent (See Revelation 19:15-21 & 20:7-10.Isaiah 14:12-23.The seed of “Lucifer” is particularly poignant in verses 20-23. God did that very thing using His Chosen nation to bring it about. They dealt with Nephilim and Rephaim (descendants of Nephilim and Anak). See Deut. 2:10-11 & Numbers 13:32-33
Chapter 15: The Monster and The Maelstrom
They aligned themselves in a sort of meandering line pointed towards a copse of darkened trees which formed a sort of oval shape into a darkening sky. Daybreak had seemed to come only a few hours ago, and it was odd that gray dusk should be descending upon us so early and so shortly down the trail. At this rate, the sky would darken soon, and shadow would build up to the mountain peaks in the distance.
Whatever catch release Begglar had pulled within the granary storehouse should have unlatched the hidden weapons cache, but where was it to be found, and why did Begglar insist that our company be led through the copse and grove, before seeking the cache. There could be no other reason except to bewilder and confuse the enemy walking among us.
One by one, my fellow companions walked towards the grove and met Begglar under the shadows of the bare trees. Something gleamed in the distance between the two silhouettes as Begglar asked his private and mysterious question, waited for the answer, and then, satisfied, directed each person to proceed on to an area just out of my line of sight to wait until the testing was over.
When it came to my turn, at last, I met Begglar under the trees, beneath the light of a gibbous moon.
Very pointedly, he asked me the following question.
“O’Brian, I’ve known ye for most of yer life. You’ve been a faithful chronicler of this land and the truths and lies in it. You know what they’re facing ahead, same as I. But as I’ve asked all the others that are here, so it is that I’m askin’ you.”
And here he took a breath and stared hard at me and asked…
“What are ye thankful for?”
Of course, that would be the most logical question to ask. And brilliant it was too.
This was our form of the Shibboleth Test. It works almost every time in the Sub-World, and I nearly suspect it may work the same way in the Surface World as well. Everyone has lots to say about what they don’t like, but fewer and fewer take the time to say what they are grateful for. Gratitude is becoming a lost language, in the age of protests and angry demonstrations.
Xarmnian enemies here are incapable of expressing gratitude. They live under the illusion of resentful entitlement. They expect everyone’s love. They expect to be compensated. They expect to be enriched at everyone else’s expense. They believe anyone who has what they do not, achieved it through privilege or theft and disenfranchisement. Therefore, a Xarmnian, whose mind has been taken over by that mentality, will struggle to come up with anything that they are thankful for.
If you expect everything, then you will be grateful for nothing. No one owes you anything. You and I walk under the dispensation of the Master’s grace, whether we acknowledge it or not. For He holds the worlds that exist together under His will. He owes us nothing, yet He gave us everything. Your fellow travel owes you nothing. Be grateful when they choose to show you mercy and recognize that every gift of that mercy comes to you undeserved. That is my mindset. You do not owe me loyalty, friendship, or the time you have taken out of your lives to travel here with me. These things I receive from you as a mercy and a gift. I am not entitled to or deserving of them…but I am grateful for it.
A humble, grateful person will understand that every good gift they are given, was provided to them apart from their merit. In the courtroom of life, we come not as the plaintiff, but as the guilty defendant and all we have left to us is to plead for the mercy of the court.
For everything in which you feel entitled, those things you become incapable of also being grateful for and appreciative of. In a culture growing more ungrateful and unappreciative of what sacrifices were made for that provision, the closer that culture will be drawn into the state in which the very stones will cry out.
That gleam in the distance that I saw flash slightly ever so often was the shining blade of a sword embedded into the ground at the end of the copse. The sword had a red sash, that flapped in the breeze that reminded me of a bloodline. The hilt of the sword was a burnished gold forming a golden cross. The red sash though symbolic of a stream of shed blood from Immanuel’s vein, was also a lifeline. The wielder of the sword was intended to wrap the sash around his or her forearm and bind it there so that the sword would never be lost in battle. It would be fixed to the hand and arm that bore it forth. That is why the sash was traditionally called The Bloodline.
“There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.” [Proverbs 14:12-13 NLT]
Azragoth’s History
[Ecclesiastes 9:14-18 NLT] 14 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. 15 A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. 16 So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long. 17 Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person than the shouts of a foolish king. 18 Better to have wisdom than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.
Excavatia 