Resurrection weekend is my favorite holiday (holy day). The significance it has for the world, the staggering meaning behind the cross, the miracle of the empty tomb, the personal value it has for me (for me?!?), and then the additional bonus of celebrating new life during the advent of Spring pushes this celebration to high levels for me.
It's so exciting, so amazing to think about! Jesus bursting from the tomb, to the horror of the astonished demons, the shouts of praise from the watching angels and the everlasting joy and wonder to humanity.
For the first 3 months of this year, my (fictional) writing focus was on a single story. (Very unusual, because I have 3 or 4 at any given time.) I've always loved thinking about angels. I've read a few novels where a main focus is on the angels in spiritual warfare. But I hadn't really considered what the angel's perspective might have been throughout the Biblical timeline until this last December.
A depiction of the Christmas story that included some elements of the Heavenly side, and a conversation with a friend prompted me to climb out the window onto the roof late Christmas Eve night, look up at the stars, and imagine. My thoughts slowly changed from envisioning the angels over the fields of Bethlehem, shouting praise and singing glory, to wondering what it would have been like to see their King and Master as a human, subject to pain and persecution. What would they have been feeling as they watched Him on the cross? Surely they must have shouted aloud in triumph when He burst from the grave!
From this time of imagining (& a random Howard Shore tune + Peter Jackson line) grew a story that occupied my focus for 3 months. The sacrifice made means more to me. The joy in saying "He's Alive!" is multiplied. And the pain in His cry; "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" touches me deeper now than ever.
I hope, as you read this, whether it is over this Easter Weekend or some time in the future, that the story of the Resurrection would touch your heart in a new way. For it's not just a story. It's HIS story. And He wrote it for you.
A trumpet sounded through the realms of Heaven and the angels paused. A hush descended as the single note echoed into silence. Akim quivered where he stood frozen, waiting for someone to make the first move. He had been carrying a message from one angelic commander to another, but that task was forgotten as he stood motionless. The angel’s wings sparkled in the light that envelopes the dwelling place of God, and the brightness of the Creator’s glory flashed off the city walls, but Akim did not notice. He hung in agonizing anticipation, desperately straining his ears for another call. But it did not come.
Slowly, he realized that his comrades around him had begun to move. Angels, great beings of light and beauty came pouring from behind the walls of the city, passing Akim as he stood on the path outside the wall.
Cosmo, one of the chief worshippers in singing praise; Meghdad, overseer of justice, marking men’s deeds in scrolls to be opened in the last day. Sashi, a guardian of infants and children; Oberon, one of the few to report directly to Michael the Archangel. Amaram, famously known for disguising himself as and taking the place of Gabriel, God’s messenger, in order for that angel to escape battle and deliver a message to Daniel, faithful servant of the Lord. Sirius, one of God’s brightest beings and Pallas, the last angel to be created. Wings beat the air as these warriors of the living God moved away from the city and towards a single destination.
In a moment Akim had risen and joined the throng. His heart beat quickly and his hand drifted to his sword. He knew where they were going. But he wasn’t sure he wanted to know why. A hand touched his shoulder and Akim looked up. His own captain, Tariq, caught his eye and nodded reassuringly. Akim felt his dread lift and his mouth turned up into a smile. He knew and trusted his captain, and the commanders above him. He was sure in his identity, and he was sure in his purpose. And with Tariq to instruct him and his fellow warriors beside him, he was confident.
“Tariq,” he questioned his mentor in an undertone, “do you know…” Akim trailed off, leaving the rest of his question to ask itself.
His superior shook his head brusquely. “No one knows why we’re summoned. I feel – ” now it was Tariq's turn to cut off his sentence. A pause, and then quickly, “I fear as if something has gone wrong with Him,” he said quietly.
Again, Akim’s body began to quiver with suppressed agitation.
“Do not fear, Akim,” Tariq encouraged. “Our King knows what things He’s doing.”
“I wish He’d let us know what He’s doing,” Akim grumbled, causing Tariq to smile.
When they began to draw near their destination, Akim dropped behind Tariq and fell in place alongside the other angels under his Captain’s command.
“It’s about time you showed up,” Nalani, Akim’s closest friend spoke in an undertone as Akim took his spot beside him.
Akim shook his head with a smile.
“The great Akim, protector of the eminent Jeremiah himself, honors us with his presence at last,” a voice said on his right.
Akim didn’t need to turn his head to see Puck flying beside him. He had stood in rank with these two angels beside him for nearly a thousand years of earthly time, and Puck’s propensity to tease had not abated a whit.
“Oh, but then,” Puck continued, “you couldn’t have been that great of a guardian. Did you ever read his books? You let poor old Jeremiah get into all sorts of scrapes. So, Nalani,” the irrepressible angel turned to the last in their trio, “are we honored, or oughtn’t we to be perturbed at his arrival?”
Nalani didn’t bother answering and Akim shook his head. “You aren’t ever going to let me forget about Jeremiah, are you?” he asked in a resigned tone.
Puck thought for a moment, than rejoined, “Not in any foreseeable future, no.”
“I didn’t think so,” Akim sighed.
With a touch of his hand, Nalani motioned ahead. Before them, lines of angels alighted to stand neatly in companies of 350, 700, 1500, 3000 and 6,000. A moment later, Tariq landed softly on the ground. With a quick motion of his hand, the 249 angels who followed his command dropped into position behind him.
More angelic beings continued to fall into place around Akim in his company until Akim guessed that nearly 50 legions had assembled. 300,000 angels stood, tall and silent, row stretching back upon row. Warriors. Waiting at the gates of Heaven.
Akim had been there before. 3 times the angels had been summoned to stand at this place and watch what the Lord would do. Akim smiled fondly as he remembered the first time the single trumpet had sounded.
– About 4000 years earlier –
“Akim!”
Akim spun to see Nalani rushing towards him.
“Did you hear that trumpet?” His friend asked excitedly.
“Of course,” Akim responded. “Do you know what it means?”
“It means we are called to the gates of Heaven!”
“The gates of Heaven?” Akim questioned doubtfully. “Heaven is everything. Where could gates lead to other than here – the dwelling place of the Creator? Where else is there?”
Nalani slapped his arm and started to pull him in the direction that others were heading.
“I hear the Creator isn’t done creating,” he said significantly.
Following the hosts, the two angels arrived at a place they did not recognize. Tall, impenetrable and flashing in the glory of the Lord, two gates arose out of the ground and stretched until they disappeared from Akim’s sight.
He gaped at the splendor of them and wondered. But not for long. Already a million angels had assembled at this massive gate. Not far away, but completely separated from the rest of the multitude, he could see Lucifer and Michael, God’s two highest created beings, conferring. Together, they led the rest of the angelic host in worship and praise to God. Akim admired them both, but Lucifer held the highest regard of all who looked on him. He was called ‘the angel of light’, and his beauty surpassed all created things.
As Akim watched the two mighty ones, he realized that something was amiss. Michael talked animatedly in hushed tones, gesturing with his strong arms. Lucifer stood silent, staring out across the amassed angels, beautiful and expressionless.
Hardly had Akim noticed this however when the gates began to swing open with a pulse that sent a shock over the entire assembly. Akim’s mouth dropped, dumbfounded. Here was something that he had never seen. The gates were opening, into nothingness. A blank emptiness rested beyond the gate, and the glory of Heaven and the light from a million angels did nothing to relieve the darkness beyond the edge of Heaven.
Nalani grabbed his arm in a vise-like grip, and Akim too, felt something akin to fear. What did this mean? What were these feelings inside him, this strange nothingness before him, unlike anything he’d experienced while he dwelt in the presence of the Almighty?
Scarcely had he thought this before a voice shook the ground.
“LET THERE BE LIGHT!”
Instantly, the darkness outside the gates of Heaven vanished, replaced by a light so uncompromisingly brilliant that the watching angels raised their hands to protect their eyes. Despite his watering eyes, he grinned, for he recognized that Nalani was correct. Akim had recognized immediately the Voice of the LORD. The Maker was at His work again, and Akim couldn’t wait to see what He would create.
The angels remained there, watching as their King fashioned a Universe out of nothing. Time, light, firmament, water and darkness. This last confused Akim, until on the fourth of what the Lord had named ‘day’, there exploded into existence trillions of brilliant entities: planets, moons, and stars. Akim loved the stars from the first. They were magnificent and breathtaking, and without the darkness that God had created, they would have had no place to shine.
But the Lord’s true masterpiece had been on the sixth day. The angels recognized that one small planet in particular was the focal point of Creation. There alone had God placed water; there he had caused land to appear and trees to grow. Creatures of the land, sky and sea had been created and set to inhabit the earth. Every one was beautiful, some were strange - all were intricately designed. Yet the Lord was not done.
On the sixth day, the Voice had spoken, almost tenderly this time, but with authority so great Akim ducked his head. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”
A wave of awe swept over the gathered angels at the words. They watched in wonder as God created a man, fashioned after Himself, and breathed the breath of life into his lungs.
That had been a jubilant time, filled with praise and rejoicing at the new creation. But soon after that – the rebellion.
Lucifer, jealous of God and filled with pride in his own glory, rebelled against the one who brought him into being. Heaven was rent in two as Lucifer drew a third of the angelic host with him into a revolt. Many of Akim’s companions were deceived and joined the side of Lucifer, while he and many more were left grieving at their desertion. However, grief soon turned into righteous anger as they clashed swords with their former friends.
The uprising was demolished, with Michael himself casting Lucifer out of Heaven. But the rebellion did not stop there. Not long after, Lucifer succeeded in tempting man to sin, separating them from God. And so ensued the battle that had been raging ever since.
The King, out of love for His creation, gave them a promise: a Redeemer, who would somehow take away their sin and allow them to enter His presence once again. Always Lucifer, now called Satan, and his fallen angels wreaked havoc on the earth, encouraging sin and destroying what good they could. Michael led the counter-attack, commanding God’s armies in defense of the people of the Lord. They grappled daily with these deadly rivals, demons now consumed in bitterness and revenge.
But God’s gift of choice to mankind resulted in years of adversity, as time and time again, man chose sin over God. People grew in their wickedness until every thought in nearly every man’s heart was evil.
– About 2,000 years earlier –
Those who truly loved and followed their Creator grew fewer until again, the angels were summoned to Heaven’s gates. They watched as God destroyed the world he had made with a flood that covered the entire earth. Through obedience, the one righteous man and his family were saved, along with two of every kind of animal. The ark carried them to safety until the waters decreased.
Millennia passed by. From that one man’s descendants, God crafted a Nation to be especially His, to be an example of His love and Character to the rest of the world. Men like Jeremiah prophesied about the coming Messiah, the promised deliverer, in the lives they lived and the books they wrote. And yet, God’s people were not ready for His coming, nor did they recognize Him when He came.
God the Son, second person of the Trinity God-head, entered the womb of a virgin, preparing to go into the world as Messiah.
– About 33 years earlier –
For a third time, the angels assembled at the gates of Heaven, waiting and watching as their God and King became incarnate, taking on the flesh of a human and being made in the likeness of man. Jesus, Son of God, was born as a baby in a dirty stable in an over-crowded village. One might think that seeing the King of Glory in such conditions would make these loyal angels weep. But not so. They understood what this signified. Jesus came, out of love, for all people. He came to rescue by love. And that was something worth celebrating.
At the moment of His birth, the angels at the gate let out a shout. Gabriel, the messenger of God, led the joyful charge through the gates and down into earth below. The hosts waited on the edge of the firmament as Gabriel appeared above the fields outside of the town of Bethlehem. He spoke to the terrified shepherds, relaying the wonderful news of the Messiah’s arrival. When he had finished his message, the angels behind him poured into the night sky and joined their leader in shouting praise to the Lord.
That was a special time, Akim remembered. Of course not all the angels were there – thousands were deployed around the earth – but they had no trouble with their enemies that night. The Holy Spirit of the Lord, third person of God, encompassed Bethlehem and the surrounding area, repelling evil with righteousness.
Since that day, every angel and every demon’s focus had been on this Son of God, growing up perfectly in a sin-filled world. Satan devised plan after plan, attack coming after attack, to rid himself of God in his self-proclaimed domain. But always, the Lord’s angels, strengthened by the Spirit, stood firm against the wiles of the devil.
When Jesus started His ministry some 30-odd years later, Satan became desperate. Satan himself went to the Son of God when he was weakened with fasting and tempted Him to sin against God. Using all his strength of will and wily craftiness that had gained him his title as ‘Father of Lies’, he attempted to entice the weary Jesus into transgression. The angels had watched this interchange furiously, forbidden by the Spirit to interfere.
Exhausted in both body and spirit, Jesus withstood Satan’s temptations, overcoming him with the Word of the Lord.
That was nearly 3 years ago, realized Akim. He hadn’t been there – his assignments had taken him to another part of earth – but the account had been passed from angel to angel. Satan’s tactics had changed after that occasion, focusing instead on bringing harm to Jesus through men, especially the Jewish leaders that surrounded Him. They hated His teachings, which proved their own deviations from the law of Moses and explained the will of God in ways that even commoners understood. Spurred on by Satan’s lies, these priests of God sought to trip Jesus into a mistake in the theological traps they set for Him. Ever and always Jesus came out the better in these situations, and His following of people grew as He healed the sick, reversed the effects of paralysis, raised the dead and cast demons out of the people they’d possessed.
Such had been the state of things for 3 earthly years, and Akim hadn’t heard of anything changing. He had not been on assignment in Judea for most of that time, to his own regret, but the joy of every angel was sharing and discussing what the Lord was doing. Now, he well knew, Jesus was somewhere near Jerusalem, for it was nearing the celebration of Passover. For centuries upon millennia, the sins of the God’s people, starting with Adam and Eve and continuing through the Nation of Israel, had been temporarily paid for by sacrificing a pure lamb as an offering to the Lord. Sin requires payment, and the payment due is a perfect substitute. The young and faultless lambs offered became substitutes for the people, temporarily satisfying the debt no human could ever pay. The standard ceremony was on hand and Jesus, as a good Jew, was there to participate.
So why are we here now? Akim wondered. What has changed?
Rayyan, gatekeeper of Heaven, rose into the air until he hovered high above the gathered mass of angels.
“Hosts of Heaven,” Rayyan’s voice thundered through the air. “The Spirit of the Father calls us here, to watch His plan unfold on earth – the plan for the saving of mankind!”
A low rumble of whispers swept across the crowd as the angels murmured their excitement.
“So prepare, mighty warriors,” Rayyan continued. “Wait and watch what God will do.”
The keeper angel swept away from the gate and the multitude, as one, leaned forward to look down into earth, into Judea, near the city of Jerusalem.
(For ease of reading, the story has been split into two parts. The second part is in the next post.)