THE FRUSTRATION OF SATAN 3

CHAPTER THREE

THE VISIT OF THE MAGI

“It is signed and sealed waiting to be delivered,” Dagon of the Philistines, said excitingly and tapped Dianah of Ephesus, on the back.

“Too early to rejoice,” Dianah said cautiously. “But we actually have over 50,000 demons on the trail of the magi. We are monitoring them big time. Intergalactic Intelligence is dissecting every footpath and trail and detailing their footprints. Meanwhile we are feeding Herod’s prejudice and anger. The poor human can no more sleep. The thought of killing the Anointed One has eaten him up.”

“What about the boss? How is he taking this?” Dagon asked while pressing the remote control for a chief in India to order the massacre of his people for insurrection.

Dianah looked at him and said “When you kill all of them who would remain to give us worship? In Ephesus, I take seven human sacrifices every week. But the birthrate supports it.”

“It is my territory, princess-god, mind your business and part of that business includes telling me how the boss is faring,” Dagon said with mild rebuke.

“He and Baal have been having talking and they both are worried. Lu claimed that Inca had so many human sacrifices that it set his emotions wild. If it were not for this challenge, he would have been a very happy devil. Well, he pulled off the Eve trick, against popular opinion, and I believe he can come up with something in the present case.”

Dagon nodded and pressed the button again to kill more Indians, “Yeah. Deceiving Eve was a masterstroke! A strategy par excellence.”

Just then the phone rang. Dianah did a check on her hand held for the minute-by-minute report of the progress of the wise men. It was Lu and she needed to have something to report. “Boss, everything going well. The search party reports that the situation is calm and quiet. The progress is slow because the magi only travel in the night when they see the star. In the day they just lazy around and sing hymns. Travelling in the night is a plus for us because then we increase our team. Good job so far from the foot soldiers.”

Lu grunted, “Some human sacrifices beg for my attention in Africa. Some local administrators there mainly Ibritam, Anansa and Atakpo need my attention, they have prepared a huge human feast. But keep me posted.”

Dianah was just about to disconnect when all alarms went off. “Alpha Emergency! Alpha emergency!! Alpha emergency!!! Alpha Serpent’s attention required India Mike Mike!”

When Lu is described as Alpha Serpent, it means maximum cunning is required. “India Mike Mike” means immediately. From his end Lu said in his calmest voice, “Alpha Serpent on deck! What is ruffling your horns?”

“Wise men lost! Search for them futile! Intergalactic Intelligence has turned on all equipment – even the global micro scanner and multiple independently targeted human finder are deployed but still no trace. It is like they just melted into air.”

Lu slammed the phone down and muttered, “I figured you had 50,000 demons on their trail. So how could they disappear just like that?”

“Take it easy Big Boss. Remember we told you of the ring of fire around Rama. Alpha Serpent, it is a huge inferno and any poor devil that gets close to it would certainly be sucked up - destroyed. The wise men just walked into it, and there was nothing we could do. We watched them disappear into that inferno. Even the monitoring device we attached to all of them stopped functioning. We figure the monitors got burnt or destroyed. Everyone is still battling but the chance of success is dimming. Believe me penetration is impossible!”

Lu considered the matter and decided it would be better to suspend his trip to Africa and provide support to the team. “Coming to take control, hang on and keep trying. Let Intergalactic put their (the magi's) DNA’s in the Sunray Driven THCMD (Telescopic Microscopic Cross Human Detector) and zero it on Rama.”

"Read you loud and clear. Instant Action Assured."

Meanwhile, Mary had just realized that they were running out of baby care products. She turned to Joseph, “Mighty Joe, we need some stuff for the baby.”

“I know,” Joseph replied, “But honey, business has been slow. Yitzak is owing me for the last table I made for him. Rabin said he would be yesterday but up till now no hint. Do not know what to do. I figure they are taking advantage of me because they know I do not take police action. It is not fair.”

Mary smiled, “Not to worry. God shall supply our needs according to His riches in glory. Do not quarrel with anyone over money or anything. We are not poor just that our riches are in Heaven not on earth and Heaven releases them at our point of need.”

As Joseph turned to kiss her on the forehead, Mary added, “Mighty Joe have you noticed that whether he eats or not, he does not trouble us. I have never seen such a wonderful baby. So sweet and he has such a gently smile and deep, beautiful penetrating eyes.”

Just then Joseph heard footsteps. They were not expecting anyone – at least he was not. He turned and looked at Mary questioningly. She shook her head, “Am not expecting anyone.”

A gentle knock on the door. Joseph stepped over and opened the door. It was late in the evening. Some old men, who from their looks, had travelled quite some distance saluted him, “Peace be to you and this house!”

“Peace be to you too!”

“Pray, do you have a baby in this house?”

“Yes, we do!”

“Would you mind telling us when he was born? We have come from the east following his star, which has come to rest on this blessed house. We passed over rivers and mountains, forests and deserts, to come and see him. We want to confirm that it is your baby God sent us to come and see. When was he born?”

Joseph told them.

They literally pushed him aside and hurried inside with so much joy that Joseph stood there shocked holding the door. Mary turned and looked at him, puzzled. The baby was in the parlor in his cot. They cluttered around him and knelt down reverentially.

“What are they doing?” Mary asked Joseph a little confused.

“They are kneeling down and worshiping him,” Joseph answered. “Can’t you remember your encounter with the angel and what the angel said?”

“Of course I do,” Mary replied. “But on the night of his birth we prayed for an accommodation in the hotel or inn but nothing happened. Did the angel forget us?”

“I have told you before that I believe that is how it was meant to be. God wanted him to be born in a lowly place. But for these old men to come all the way from the east to worship him is another confirmation of all that the angel told you. So forget his birth and look forward at tomorrow.”

“The Messiah! The Anointed One!” Mary nodded and remembered the precise words of Angel Gabriel to her. Then she proclaimed again the things she said before her cousin, Elizabeth. “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.”

The wise men got up and gave them gifts. They spoke excitedly about their experiences on the way.

Joseph and Mary offered them food and shelter for the night. They accepted the food but said they would sleep in their mats. The leader of the team spoke up, “Blessed sister and brother. You have found grace in God’s sight. We were shepherding our sheep when angels broke out upon us in songs and informed us of the birth of the Messiah and that peace was about to reign on earth. On the way, we met Herod the King and he was excited too – very excited. He told us to come and see the baby and bring him word of where the child was, so that he will also come and worship him and organize a state banquet for him. We would sleep for a little while and leave at the first light of dawn. God has prospered our journey and we bless his holy name.”

Mary and Joseph insisted on preparing a sleeping place for them, but they declined and opted to sleep on their sleeping mats. “Kind people we came with our mats and we have been sleeping on them all these days of our journey. Let us sleep in them and leave in the morning. Seeing the baby is our highest joy,” they said.

Mary turned to Joseph in the night as they folded into each other’s hands, “Mighty Joe, with their gifts, we have enough now to care for the child. Oh! God is so good and awesome. Bless is His holy name. This is a major miracle.” She turned to the baby, “Oh Joseph look! Jesus is even smiling as if he knows that we have just had a miracle.”

Joseph replied, “What makes you think he does not know? I suspect he knows everything.”

It was a happy night for the wise men. They talked about their trip excitedly until they dozed off. Then they all woke up together suddenly. The leader said, “I just had a dream that we should not go back to Herod, that he wants to kill the Anointed One.” They all chorused that they all had similar dreams.

They shook their heads in sadness, and thanked God for warning them. Then they had a prayer meeting with Mary and Joseph and departed for their home, taking another route.

At Intergalactic Intelligence, Lu was crosschecking all monitoring equipment. “Baal!” Lu said, “Let us use heat waves and determine where the wise men had been. Cordon off the area of the fire and watch out. They would emerge from somewhere and then we try to use reverse heat sensors to know where they had been. I want us to….”

He did not complete the sentence, when all equipment crackled to life. “Breaking intelligence! The magi back at home!”

“But how?” Baal asked furiously.

“Easy,” Lu said. He knew how. “Heaven must have put them under the shadow of the Almighty and escorted them home. That is why we missed them. Not because demons were not vigilant. You do not see through His shadow.”

“So what do we do now?” Dagon and Diana asked at once.

“Yeah,” Lu said simply, “We get Herod to kill all the children in Rama. You know we cannot walk in there, but humans can walk in there. So let Herod do the dirty work for us.”

At the palace, Herod had the table set for the feast. He was expecting the wise men. He would have a feast as he promised for the wise men and send soldiers to kill the child while the feast was going on. There after he would also kill the wise men to keep the matter quiet. The wise men were taking longer than necessary and patience was not his virtue. One of his servants came to him and said, “Oh King live forever. The wise men were sighted leaving our country a day ago. I think they have mocked my lord the king.”

Herod was livid. “Are you sure? Get me my Chief of Staff!”

The Chief of Staff, a tall bearded gentleman, showed up.

“You talked with those miserable idiots who were going to see the so-called ‘King of the Jews,’ right?”

“Sure! My King.”

“What time did they say the star appeared?”

He was told. Herod turned around and asked for his Army Commander. The army commander came hurrying.

“Move over to Rama this night. Cordon off the area and in the morning kill every single child who is two years old and younger. I mean every single child within that range.”

The army commander thought he did hear right. He had killed all kinds of people but killing helpless children was not his kind of thing. He was not trained to kill babies. He was trained to kill fellow soldiers. “You mean babies? I do not understand.”

Herod removed his shoe and tried to stone him with it. The commander dodged. He had dodged spears and arrows more times than he cared to remember. He retrieved the shoe and took it back to Herod officiously. “My regrets My Lord the King. Just that I did not understand the order. Now I do. Kill all babies. That we will do. Not one of them would be alive by evening of tomorrow.”

Herod collected his shoe and latched it on. “Now get going with all your men.” He turned to his chief of staff, “Feast cancelled. Get who you can to come and eat so that the food would not be wasted.”

That night Joseph woke up in a cold sweat. Mary. who was feeding the baby, asked, “Anything wrong? You had a nightmare?”

“Just had a dream. God spoke to me that we should take Jesus to Egypt that Herod would seek to kill him,” Joseph replied.

Mary dressed Jesus up and started gathering things.

“What are you doing?” Joseph asked.

“Did you not hear yourself? You said God said we should move so we are moving now. More so did the wise men not say that they were going back to Herod? May be Herod had killed them and is coming for us. Lets go this very minute!!!”

“Oh take it easy, we can do it morrow and take time and pack. More so they are persons I worked for who are owing me and I need to pick up my money from them.”

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. The silver and the gold are His. Lets go! He that watches over Israel does not sleep nor slumber. I am ready to go! Lets go!!!”

Joseph heard a voice from within, “Follow thy wife.” He threw his things into a sack and saddled their horse. They began the journey to Egypt in the darkness of night.

The soldiers had arrived and surrounded the city. They saw Joseph and Mary approaching. “Do you think they are carrying a baby?” one of the soldiers asked his commander.

The commander thought about it and said, “Not a chance. Who would expose a baby to such cold this night. And why would a couple travel at this time of night with a baby. It is not likely at all.”

“Hi!” the commander called out to Joseph. “Where are you going to?”

“Egypt!”

“What do you do?”

“I am a carpenter.”

“Oh, that is great,” the commander said. “My dad was a carpenter. He did all the carpentry works for King Herod. It was through his work for Herod that Herod got me to join the army.”

“So why do you not wait till morning before travelling?”

“We need to join a caravan in the city which leaves for Egypt in the morning. That is why we are leaving now.”

The commander came over and gave him some shekels of silver. “You take that for your journey. You kind of remind me of my late father. Go in peace and take this pass so that no one molests you.” He gave him a pass.

Joseph thanked him and continued on his journey. He showed the pass to all the other soldiers he encountered on the way. When they were safely out of the danger zone, he turned to Mary and wondered, “He did not seem to see the baby?”

Mary heaved a sigh of relief, “I was scared to death. God be praised.”

They continued their journey to Egypt… and they had multiple favors on the way.

(An upcoming book by Pastor Anietie Ukpe. Just allowing my imagination to rumble. This is not by revelation please. Watch out for Chapter Four)