David Ascendant Quotes

“King Saul stood opposite him staring at his sworn enemy, now held in chains in the prison outside the royal palace. They were alone. He noticed a restlessness and a slight tremor in the arms and head of his captive, accompanied by a perpetual grin that looked more painful than humorous and resulted in occasional blurts of maniacal laughter. These Amalekites were not merely evil, they were stricken with a madness because of their diet of human flesh. They were cannibals. They were also very hard to kill. They engaged in dark rituals and howled when they fought because they were known to be possessed by the siyyim and iyyim, howling desert demons. They worshipped the satyr goat god Azazel and the goddess Lilith, connected with their Edomite and Seirim past. Saul was king of Israel and Yahweh had commanded him to wipe out the Amalekites. They”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“The wedding of David and Michal was a glorious affair. Though Saul was normally stingy with his money, he was not so with his daughters. Michal had started the day with a bath followed by a bodily anointing of oil. She wore a linen and silk dress with embroidered cloth of Phoenician purple. Her hair was brushed to a soft perfection and placed beneath her Tyrian style crown of gold. She was bedecked with gold and silver jewelry from Egypt. Bracelets, necklaces, ear coverings and a ring on her nose. She walked through the Gibeah streets in fine calf leather sandals, surrounded by a cadre of dozens of virgin bridesmaid companions dressed in white linen. A band of minstrels led her with rejoicing on tambourine, flute, and lyre. She felt like a queen. She would be a queen one day. She knew that she was marrying the mightiest warrior in all of Israel. The gibborim who had killed the giant Rephaim Philistine, who her own father, the anointed warrior king, could not conquer. All she could think of the entire journey to the palace were the lyrics she first heard her from the lips of her bridegroom upon their first acquaintance. She had never forgot them. They were burned into her heart. He had sung a song of virginal submission to a manly king as a sample of his musical talent to her father. But she knew he had sung those words for her. She knew by the look in his eyes, his unquenchable stare of desire for her. It was like a prophecy. Now those words were coming true, she was going to be living them out any moment. Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him. The people of Israel lined the streets and cheered their beautiful princess as she approached the entranceway to the palace. She could feel her heart pounding out of her chest. Would he sing to her on their wedding night? Would he seduce her with his musical talent before he ravished her? All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“It was not through the childish fun and shallow pleasures of youth that a man and woman would become one soul and plumb the depths of intimacy. It was through mutual pain and suffering. It was in sharing hope in the midst of pain that they touched the very presence of God.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Yahweh chooses what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He chooses what is weak to shame the strong, and what is low and despised—the things that are not—to bring to nothing the things that are. The only thing I can offer you is that Yahweh did not choose Israel because she is more righteous than other nations. She is not. He chose her so that our faith in him may not rest in our own goodness, but in the power of Yahweh, who delivers us from our own evil.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“He then whispered into her ear, “Ummi, my beloved, you shall never be my servant. Never. I will only accept you by my side as my wife. Will you have this miserable half-man as your husband?” She looked up into his tear-stained red eyes and all the pain had gone away. She said, “You are a half-angel. And you are accepted by the messiah. I love you, Ittai of Gath, and I will follow you and your god to the depths of Sheol — as your wife.” They kissed. And all the world fell away.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“leader of the squad was Ittai the Gittite. He led the dissident Gittites that David met earlier. Their numbers had grown. They stopped and presented themselves formally to David. Ittai stepped forward and announced, “My lord David, anointed messiah king of Israel, please accept our force of Gittite warriors as your loyal followers. As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the promised king lives, wherever my lord David shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servants be. We will fight on your behalf and we will die on your behalf. Take us with you to Ziklag.” Benaiah cautioned David, “They are Philistines.” More murmuring in the group of leaders signaled agreement with Benaiah. But David knew something the others did not. He turned to the rest of his men and announced, “Does anyone know any reason why we should not allow these circumcised warriors of Yahweh to join our forces?” The gibborim muttered and buzzed with surprise. Circumcised warriors of Yahweh? Ittai must have led them in the Israelite sign of their covenant. David shouted, “Neither do I! We welcome you, Ittai the Gittite and your number of faithful gibborim. Now, everyone go each to his own home and retrieve your families and possessions. We meet at Ziklag in a fortnight.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“the first thing is to get you settled. Tell your men to gather their families and move to the city of Ziklag. It is twenty miles south-west of Gath, on the outer reaches of Philistia in the Negeb. I will relocate the current inhabitants to Gaza and Ashkelon.” David bowed and left the cup on the table. “Lord Achish, you are too kind and too wise. I only hope to be worthy of your goodness and greatness.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“David continued, “I recommend a twofold strategy: leave the highlands of Judah and the desert of Negeb to me. I will secure your interests in that region. Instead of your forces attacking the interior, which will draw the fullness of Saul’s forces into maximum conflict, I suggest you hit him on the periphery where you are strongest and he is weakest, on the flatlands of the Jezreel Valley up north.” Achish thought for a moment, then blurted out, “Brilliant!” Then he paused skeptically. “But that is quite a distance from our own stronghold.” “But it is flat plains all the way up the coast and inland to the city of Shunem. You could secure that whole region and therefore box Saul in from both north and south.” David felt like the reverse of the Serpent in the Garden, leading the real serpent with his own whispering rhetoric. Achish’s mind was not as sharp as usual under the influence of wine, but it was not blunted completely. “How many Philistine forces will you require? That might split my own strength in half.” “None, my lord.” “None?” This was looking better every moment to Achish. “I will not lie to you. Even though my men are rebels and dissidents from Saul, they are still Israelites, and they do not like fighting alongside Philistines. But they are loyal to me. So, if you give us our own city near the Negeb, and grant us a measure of independence, you need never fear an uprising. I will lead them in flash raids against Israelite clans in the far south to secure the desert territory. That way, they can work out their enmity with rival tribes, without feeling as if they are fighting for you.” Achish moaned with agreement, but eyed him suspiciously. “You will be outside the pentapolis.” “But still inside Philistia,” replied David. “Autonomy,” pondered Achish. “Under your sovereignty,” pandered David. “I will be at your beck and call. If Saul goes after me, Israel will be ripe for your taking. If he splits his forces against you and me, then you will still have an easy victory in the north.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Mastema shook his head, then said, “What of the Sons of Rapha? Are they not an elite squad of assassins?” “Disbanded by the Lord of Gath,” said Ba’alzebul with an angry look at Dagon. “Achish is protecting David because he is using him in raids against the Israelites in the Negeb.” Dagon added, “The entire court of archangels sought to bind us at Gath, so we cannot return there.” It didn’t take Mastema any time to think of it. He already knew the answer. “Morons. Since David’s rise to power is forestalled until Saul’s fall, and David is now in Achish’s confidence, the answer is obvious. Get Achish to fight against Saul with David helping him. Have Achish withdraw his forces from David in the battlefield. He will be killed by Saul’s soldiers, and you kill Saul. The line of messiah Seed will die, and you can rename all of Israel ‘Palestine.’” Palestine was the Latin pronunciation of Philistia. Asherah added with a smirk, “Crushed by the mouth of the Serpent.” That drew Mastema’s attention with a return smirk and nod. He said, “Well, you are not all buffoons.” Ba’alzebul’s face went flush with offense. Dagon grinned. Mastema added, “But beware, my divine imbeciles. The heavenly host will show up in full force. So you had better all be there, and you had better be in top form, or you will find yourself in a certain underworld dungeon that starts with a “T” and rhymes with Tartarus.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Asherah, Ba’alzebul, Dagon, Molech, Resheph, and Qeteb had journeyed from Sidon to the mount of assembly. Marduk and Ishtar of Babylonia, Asshur of Assyria, Kumarbi of the Hittites, even Osiris and Horus from Egypt travelled their long distances to answer the urgent call for a council of the seventy gods over the seventy nations. When Yahweh had sent the Great Flood and bound the Watcher gods into the earth and Tartarus, he left seventy of them to rule over the nations with their minions of fellow mal’akim. The lands were allotted at the Division of Tongues at Babel. This dispersion was supposed to keep mankind from ever again uniting in evil over the entire earth as they had under Nimrod the Mighty Hunter.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“It was at Hermon in the land of Bashan, “the place of the Serpent,” that the two hundred rebels set up their supernatural fortress in the bowels of the mountain. From here, they engaged in their primeval plans of usurping Yahweh’s authority, corrupting his creation, and violating his image. They proclaimed themselves gods over the people and began to mate with human women. Their offspring were the Nephilim, giants of old, demigods who would be considered the first of the Seed of the Serpent, Nachash. Yahweh had most of the rebel Watchers bound into the earth, and drowned the land to stop the cancerous growth of this diabolical seed along with mankind’s violence and idolatry. He saved Noah and his family to start over with a purely human bloodline from which to bring forth a new Seed, a messiah king, who would destroy the power of the Serpent and his Seed forever. Yahweh allotted the nations of sinful mankind and their territories to the rebellious Watcher gods. But he kept for himself the nation of Israel and claimed the land of Canaan as his allotted territory.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“When he spoke, Bisha did not realize that he was in fact speaking of himself. “Yahweh chooses what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He chooses what is weak to shame the strong, and what is low and despised—the things that are not—to bring to nothing the things that are. The only thing I can offer you is that Yahweh did not choose Israel because she is more righteous than other nations. She is not. He chose her so that our faith in him may not rest in our own goodness, but in the power of Yahweh, who delivers us from our own evil.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“David turned pensive. “I cannot deny what you say, my Lady. Yahweh indeed chooses unworthy vessels for his will.” He was thinking of his own unworthiness as Yahweh’s chosen messiah, yet to be inaugurated. All his sins were before him and he was ashamed of how he too was vile and hypocritical. “Sadly, I have seen all too often that the great are not the good, and the good are not the great.” When he spoke, Bisha did not realize that he was in fact speaking of himself. “Yahweh chooses what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He chooses what is weak to shame the strong, and what is low and despised—the things that are not—to bring to nothing the things that are. The only thing I can offer you is that Yahweh did not choose Israel because she is more righteous than other nations. She is not. He chose her so that our faith in him may not rest in our own goodness, but in the power of Yahweh, who delivers us from our own evil.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Mikael took command. “The gods are not cowards. They have escaped today, but they will return. We must be ready for them.” He looked at Uriel and Gabriel. “You two squabblers try to gather intelligence on where they went. They will be much harder to catch if they become guerilla fighters.” Raguel said, “Mastema has left Assyria in the hands of another. I am needed there.” “And I at Babylon,” said Remiel. “Where did Mastema go?” asked Gabriel. “To the Italian peninsula,” said Raguel. “That doesn’t make any sense,” complained Uriel. “That is a backwater of small Latin villages with undeveloped agriculture. There is no earthly power for him there.” “Maybe that is why he wants it,” said Raphael, the angel who barely spoke. “He can build from the bottom up, and he can engage in his nefarious purposes unmolested for centuries.” Mikael said, “We need to focus on what is happening right now in front of us. I will return to Israel with Raphael. The Rephaim forces are building and the Sons of Rapha have not slackened their pace in hunting down the messiah king.” Saraqael said, “I am called to Syria. That will be Israel’s next trouble, Mikael. They are amassing quite a strength up north.” “Well then,” said Mikael, “let us call upon the name of Yahweh Elohim and ask for strength to face what is coming.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Six heads erupted from the water with fangs flashing and mouths roaring. On the neck of one of them was Asherah, riding it like a steed. She pointed down at the approaching form of Mikael. The monster focused on the angel as a target. The sound of gurgling from deep within its bowels warned Mikael. He had been caught by this attack before, at the beach of Mount Sapan. He was not going to let it happen again. He dove behind a huge boulder as a stream of fire poured out from the dragon head and blackened the entire area of stone. Another head reached down and Dagon leapt onto it, pulled away before Uriel and Gabriel could reach him. Ba’alzebul and Molech dashed headlong at the seven heads. Ba’alzebul’s muscular form launched an amazing thirty feet to catch one of the gaping jaws as it swung past the rocks of the beach. Molech was not so glorious. He could only make a good twenty feet. It was not enough to reach his target. He landed in the water in a belly flop. Uriel and Gabriel could not help but look at each other, smirking. One of the dragon heads reached down and picked Molech out of the water with its teeth and placed him on the back of another neck. The head that Ba’alzebul had caught had a sword stuck in the roof of its mouth, the hilt sticking out of its head. It was Gabriel’s sword, from their confrontation at Sapan generations earlier. Ba’alzebul pulled it from the creature’s mouth and swung around to mount its neck. He raised the sword high in victory, as all seven heads plunged back into the deep, carrying its four riders away from the grasp of the angels. Mikael stepped down to the shoreline to stand by Uriel and Gabriel as Raphael and Raguel helped the trapped angels get free from the rocks. They looked out onto the frothing, swirling waters left behind by the exit of the gargantuan and its riders. There was no way the archangels could ever chase that chaos monster. “You have to hand it to that Asherah,” said Uriel. “She is one goddess with chutzpah, taking her chances with enchanting Leviathan.” Gabriel added, “And I thought Ashtart was gutsy.” “Ashtart cut your gut in half back at Mount Hermon,” said Uriel wryly. “If I had not found your legs in the waters of the Abyss you would have been a paraplegic until the Resurrection.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“When the dust settled, pieces of stone began to move as the warriors of both sides pulled themselves out from under the ruins. Two of the angels, Remiel and Saraqael, had been pinned beneath too many tons of rocks to free themselves. It made the numbers more equal than they had anticipated. One of the gods, Asherah, had been swept into the water by the tidal wave of force that washed over them. Dagon was on the shoreline, picking himself up, bruised and battered, but in one piece. Uriel and Gabriel, always synchronized with each other, immediately picked up their weapons and leapt down to the water’s edge to engage Dagon.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“The gods were on the cusp of completing their ritual when the archangels hit them. They had swum across the wharf area and slipped up the rocks to assault the gods from behind. All seven burst in through the pillared open-air sanctuary, swords flashing. The gods drew their weapons. Dagon stuck his sword into his lower fishy half and cut it off with a swipe. He would not be hampered in battle. Everyone paused for a moment. The four gods stood facing off against the seven archangels, each waiting for the other to make a move. The mightiest of Yahweh’s heavenly host were here to bind the Watcher gods who would be fighting for their eternities. This was going to be brutal. An earthquake rattled the foundation of the temple. Everyone had to catch their balance. Dust and debris fell from the cracks in the stone above their heads. Asherah and the gods smiled. The archangels realized it had been no earthquake. That was an announcement of the arrival of something. Something very huge. Something from the depths of the sea. The water behind the gods suddenly exploded upward with the form of the seven headed sea dragon of chaos: Leviathan. It burst out of the water and leapt over the manmade jetty that housed the temple. Mikael, now healed, joined his fellow archangels for the fight. He saw the huge four hundred foot long serpentine body fly past them through the air. It landed on the wharf side with a huge splash that drenched everyone in the temple. Its double tail followed, with a swipe at the architecture. It smashed half the structure, wiping it into the water with the force. Gods and angels fell beneath the debris of the other half collapsing on top of them.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Ashkelon was the Philistine port city on the coast eighteen miles west-southwest from Gath. The gods Dagon, Asherah, Ba’alzebul and Molech arrived there early afternoon the next day. They knew the time was short before the archangels would find them. Ashkelon was the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan. As one of the cities of the Philistine pentapolis, it supported a thriving import and export maritime trade. Its populace, about fifteen thousand people, lived on one hundred and fifty acres, surrounded by a mile and a half of brick wall fifty feet high and fifteen feet thick. It was built on a large sandstone outcropping and included a large port. A long, manmade jetty about fifty feet wide and several hundred feet long functioned as a breakwater and housed a sea temple of Dagon on its outer edge. Departing and arriving ships could look upon the large, open-air rotunda encompassed by a ring of pillars and say their prayers to Dagon for protection on the seas or thanks for deliverance from the waves.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Within moments, they were through the sanctuary tunnel way and headed down into the cavern below the altar. But the gods were gone. “Deplorable,” said Uriel, gazing upon the dismembered body parts of his brother archangel on the wall. They carefully took down the arms, legs, torso and head of Mikael and reattached them like a human anatomy puzzle. Uriel said, “Why would they have left all of him here for us to find and heal?” Uriel remembered all too terribly when he had been decapitated by Anu in the primeval city of Uruk. Anu had kept Uriel’s head separated from his body so that the angel could not heal and fight them. Gabriel said, “They must have wanted us to find him.” Raphael said, “But they did not want us to follow them, as we would have, had they taken part of his body.” The angels had done so in the past when Ishtar had cut Gabriel in half and threw his legs into the Abyss. “Which means we should follow them,” said Uriel. “But where?” It would take some time for his organic tissue to reconnect, including his voice box. But Mikael could not wait for that healing. His hand wrote out on the sandy floor, “Ashkelon.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Shut your disgusting mouth, mole,” spit Asherah. They stood in the large secret cavern carved out of the rock fifty feet beneath the temple of Dagon. Dagon and Ba’alzebul watched Asherah walk up to the rock wall where they had fastened Mikael’s body. Or rather, where they had fastened the parts of Mikael’s body. When they had ambushed Mikael in the Valley of Hinnom, Ba’alzebul had fallen with him some two hundred feet to the valley floor where all Mikael’s bones had been shattered. Ba’alzebul was also incapacitated in the fall, but because he used Mikael’s body as a cushion, and because he had a much stronger bodily structure, he had healed more quickly and was ready for action. But before Mikael could heal to move at all, they had him drawn and quartered. All four of his limbs were severed from his body, and he was beheaded. As an angel, he could not die, but this was surely a living hell as they pinned all his body parts spread out on the wall so he could look helplessly down upon them and their mockery. Asherah looked into Mikael’s eyes. He could not respond verbally because his head was severed from his voice box and lungs, which were separated from each other by about six feet, like a sick spread-out puzzle. But he could watch her and hear their discussion. Ba’alzebul said, “The only time all of them came together like this was to take back the body of Moses from Mastema.” Molech said, “I think they plan much more than retrieving the prince of Israel here. I think they came to bind us into the earth.” “Of course, you idiot,” said Asherah. “But why do they not hide themselves?” said Dagon. Ba’alzebul said, “They want us to stand and fight.” “And why not?” said Asherah. “We are in our stronghold, we are empowered by the Philistines.” “We are confident,” added Ba’alzebul. “Presumptuous. So we will be reckless.” “Exactly,” said Asherah. “If they can deliver this blow to us now, they will control all of Canaan. Which we cannot allow. So we will run.” “Like cowards?” worried Dagon. “Like insurgents,” said Asherah. “Look at the Amalekites. They were almost wiped out. But their few roaming hordes have become a terror to the Israelites, because they cannot be targeted in a specific location. They hit and they run, and Israel has nowhere to respond or retaliate. In our fortified Philistine cities, the archangels know exactly where we are, and what we are doing in our temples. And they can come get us whenever they want. Because they know where we are. As they do this very moment.” The other gods nodded with understanding. Asherah added, “It is time we become more mobile.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“The city of Gath was the earliest Philistine settlement in Canaan. It had a large urban populace on one hundred and twenty-five square miles of land. As the furthest inland stronghold, nearest the Valley of the Terebinth, it maintained a strong siege system that made it impregnable to hostile forces. The walls were thirty feet high, surrounded by a man-made siege trench and an earthen embankment called a “berm” that made approach to the walls by besiegers extremely difficult. It was guarded by a threefold entrance gate to the city, watched over by a regiment of Gittite warriors. All this fortification would be useless against the six figures who rode their horses to the city entrance. They would not be besieging the walls, and they would not be fighting the army of Gittites. They were simply nomadic travelers on a personal quest. They did not hide themselves, because they were not recognizable to any human inhabitants. They were archangels. Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, Saraqael, Raguel, and Remiel walked their horses through the large Phoenician carved gates and into the city. They made no attempt to disguise themselves from the gods of the Philistines because they wanted the gods to know they had arrived. They wanted a showdown.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“they were rebels and subversives. They had been carefully sought out and vetted by the leader over years of careful covert deliberations. Some were regular citizens of Gath, more were disillusioned warriors. But they were all united in one commitment: they were secretly devoted to Yahweh, the god of Israel. If any of their neighbors found out about their beliefs, they would be handed over to the authorities, imprisoned, tortured, and executed. Apostasy was considered the highest treason against Dagon and his Philistine pentapolis.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Jeremiah jumped at David. David snatched up the sword from the ground and rolled back around, thrusting the blade up at his flying predator. The sword impaled the Lion Man through his gut. He yelped and landed on David with a groan of deep pain, but he was not dead. He was close to David’s face and had enough left in him for one last act. The Lion Man opened his mouth wide in order to rip out David’s throat. Before he could bite, another knife blade was embedded in his back from behind. It was Abigail. She had found David’s dagger in the cottage and used it against the beast to save her beloved.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Jeremiah did not pick up the blade. He wanted to kill the messiah king with his bare paws. He wanted to feel the flesh rip with his fingers, and taste the blood on his lips as the life left David’s veins. But David had much experience killing lions. And Jeremiah acted entirely predictably for one. Jeremiah growled. He crouched low, muscles tightened, ready to bound upon his victim. David saw the movements, planned his response. When the Lion Man leapt, David ducked down and rolled beneath the flying assassin who landed in the dirt again. David was still on the ground when Jeremiah gathered himself and immediately jumped toward David again.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“David saw Benaiah on the ground still wrestling with Machbannai. Ariels were extraordinarily strong and agile. David had once seen one of them take on a bear and win.   The other two circled David, claws extended, fangs bared, ready to pounce. The sound of cracking bone turned everyone’s heads. Benaiah’s grappling hold had stayed strong. He broke the neck of his adversary with a massive jerk. Benaiah was no bear. He was a behemoth. Benaiah pushed the body off himself, drew his sword, and jumped to his feet. He spit out, “Let us teach these pussy cats a lesson.” Benaiah tossed his sword to David, just as Jeremiah jumped. The Lion Man knocked the sword away as he tumbled into the dust. When the growling leonine warrior got to his feet, he stood over the sword.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“David was outnumbered. He could take one of them, maybe hurt a second. But three of them in this small closed space was certain death. His back was to the wall. These Lion Men had fooled everyone by saving Benaiah’s life, only to elicit the trust they needed to spring their long planned attack. They were the most clever of assassins. The trio of assassins were surprised when Machbannai, at the door, was yanked backwards from behind—by Benaiah. The other two Lion Men were thrown off. They had not anticipated discovery. David saw his one opportunity and pulled Abigail to the door. He didn’t know if there were other Lion Men outside, but if she stayed inside, she would surely die. With all his might, he threw her outside the doorway about six feet.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“was not through the childish fun and shallow pleasures of youth that a man and woman would become one soul and plumb the depths of intimacy. It was through mutual pain and suffering. It was in sharing hope in the midst of pain that they touched the very presence of God. You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you Seed of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you Seed of Israel! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to Yahweh, and he rules over the nations. His music melted her heart. Not through manipulation or artifice, but through truth. Because the way to capture the heart of a woman of God was to be a man after God’s own heart. He kissed her, as he had never kissed a woman before.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“David and Abigail performed a wedding ceremony as quickly as possible. But the particular formality of a celebration would not be so hurried. David’s men had traveled long, fought hard, and suffered many losses for their leader. He wanted them to feel appreciated. So Abigail set up a feast to last for several days at her home on the hilltop for the six hundred of David’s company. She gave above and beyond what Nabal had withheld from David’s request. There was much meat to fill their bellies, and much beer and wine to make their hearts glad. It was a welcome respite from the endless chase they had been engaged in, avoiding Saul’s malevolent intent.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“But now he was finally gone. Abigail was free.   When David received word of Nabal’s demise, he praised Yahweh for the merciful rescue of Abigail. He immediately sent for her to ask her hand in marriage. Though she was a most desirable woman, and though they had been drawn to each other with intense attraction, it was still a political move for them both. For her, she would have the protection of a husband whom she was sure would be the next king. For him, he gained the wealth and resources of a rich, landowning widow, who was a high-ranking member of the clan that controlled the Hebron area, a target for his eventual proclamation of kingship. In this world of blood and iron, romantic attraction was a luxury in the politics of kingdoms and dynasties. David was overwhelmed with gratitude to Yahweh for giving him far beyond what he deserved with this amazing woman he was about unite with in holy matrimony.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant

“Then it came to him. This was not the diversion, the battle of Gibeah was the diversion. The real goal was to capture Mikael himself, the prince of Israel. Well, he thought, they picked the wrong archangel to mess with. I have a chosen nation to protect. He pulled out his horn to call for help, but Ba’alzebul’s mace smashed it out of his hands. Dagon assaulted him with a barrage of sword slashes and strikes. Mikael kept him at bay, but almost got stung by Asherah’s javelin from the other side. He dodged and kept moving. His Karabu training was his only hope. It was the heavenly battle technique of Yahweh’s archangels developed to protect the Garden of Eden in primordial days. They had taught the human giant killers Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Caleb the Way of Karabu, but now he would need to call upon his training to survive this ordeal. He flipped, spun, and danced around the four attacking gods and their weapons. It frustrated the malevolent beings, which was to Mikael’s advantage. But archangels were still created beings. He began to grow tired. They were wearing him down. Dagon’s sword grazed Mikael’s arm, cutting through his tunic. He was not going to be able to keep it up. He would have to do something drastic. Ba’alzebul moved in on Mikael. The biggest, meanest, mightiest of the gods had been waiting for his opportune moment when Mikael was just weary enough, just worn enough, to be incapable of expecting the unexpected. Ba’alzebul took the lead and pounded Mikael’s sword with his mace and backed him up against the ledge. Mikael looked down to the chasm floor. Saul and his forces made their way through the chasm below after slaughtering the priests of Molech. It wasn’t a fair fight. And neither was this fight. But Saul was safe. He had made it through and went north toward Gibeah. But the gods were not here for Saul. They were here for Mikael. Ba’alzebul suddenly threw down his mace and rushed Mikael like a bull goring its prey. Mikael didn’t register why, until Ba’alzebul hit him. The two of them launched off into space, plummeting toward the chasm floor two hundred feet below. Angels and gods could not die. But they were not mere spirits. They were enfleshed spirits. While it was unique flesh that would heal miraculously, it was still flesh that could be hurt — as Ba’alzebul knew all too well from his own painful experience in the molten earth. They hit the ground with a powerful thud and sank several feet into the dirt. Every bone in Mikael’s body was broken in the fall. He was paralyzed in excruciating pain. Ba’alzebul had been on top of Mikael, so while he too would be somewhat incapacitated, it would not be as bad for him, having used Mikael’s body as a cushion in the fall. As Mikael slipped into a state of delirious pain, he knew that their goal had been to capture him this way. To ambush him and therefore make both Saul and David more vulnerable to human attack. But what did they plan for Mikael? He could not begin to imagine.”
― Brian Godawa, David Ascendant