Chapter 9: The Bowels Of The Dragon

The white eagle flew into a darkened tunnel that seemed to be a passageway through a mountain, but the walls were like part of a living organism, resembling an intestine. The sides of the walls seemed packed with fecal matter, and the stench was nauseating and overpowering.

An Attack: The Flesh

Although I was with the white Eagle, the filth and blackness shocked me. I was afraid. I tried to maintain some sort of spiritual equilibrium, but fear began to paralyze my faith.

Hopelessness, oppression, and despair were within the very walls of this tunnel. I knew that Jesus was protecting me, but the presence of evil was suffocating.

Then, like a trapped animal, my mind began to search for an escape: Where am I going? Why am I here? What if I fall off in this place? How can I get out of here?

Once doubt had gained an entrance, panic soon followed, bypassing all assurance of the Lord's protection. Now, thoughts like wild dogs began to lunge at me. Did they come from within or from the tunnel? I did not know, but I was frantic with fear: I won't make it; I can't hold on. They'll hurt me. They'll kill me!

If the Lord had not shielded me, I believe these thoughts would have torn me to shreds. I clung to the white Eagle. "Jesus, Son of David," I cried, "have mercy upon me."

I could not tell what happened, but slowly the sense of almost being eaten alive lessened. Jesus, my Savior, had come forth in me. He had shown mercy.

I was in shock, though, and dazed, rather like a person who has been attacked by a pack of ravenous wolves and escaped only with her life. I was left weakened and trembling, badly shaken.

The Lord strengthened me, and I sighed, relaxing my grip somewhat. He would protect me. He would not let me fall.

"I am all right," I sighed. "I am all right." My trust in God had returned.

Then silently, more like vapors than thoughts, insinuations reached for me like tendrils of smoke.

An Attack: The World

It has always seemed strange to me that after a severe attack by the enemy, the most dangerous period of time appears to be after the battle is over and the victory secured. Perhaps one is vulnerable because of weariness, allowing vigilance against attack to be relaxed. But stranger than this is the fact that after the heat of battle, I always forget this truth.

I forgot again.

The insinuations reaching for me were disarmingly subtle; they made the world, which is satan's Heaven, seem to be all that I could ever desire or should ever desire. Promises sweeter than honey enveloped me, promises of having satan's Heaven now and God's Heaven later.

Suddenly the tunnel lost its stench; instead, it emitted a tantalizing fragrance. I thought to myself, Why am I doing this? I can have anything I want simply by applying myself I don't need to live like this. In fact, I'm tired of living like this.

I began to think of ways to make money-and not just to make money, but to make a fortune. Only a fortune can lift me above this sort of trial, I thought. Only a fortune can give me luxuries commensurate with my taste, which deserves to be expressed and enjoyed. There is so much beauty in the world, and I want to surround myself with this loveliness. There 's nothing wrong in that. I can do it with hard work. All I need to do is to center myself upon this goal and head for it, give myself to it... head for it and give myself to it... head for it and give myself to it...

"Wait, wait," I said to myself. "This isn't right. Giving myself to a life of accumulation, just satisfying my senses, can't be right."

Such an idea was a siren song whose allure, if it did not bring shipwreck, certainly would have seduced me into a spiritual limp.

Deadly.

"No!" I said silently. "Choose you this day whom you will serve, and I choose Christ. I choose Christ," I cried aloud.

The vaporous fingers ceased reaching for me and silently slid away. Again, the Lord strengthened me. I sighed deeply as before, relieved.

An Attack: The Devil

By this time I thought I saw some light at the end of the tunnel. I started to become anxious for relief. I wanted out. Out.

Then, as if in my own voice, I heard, "Jesus may love you, but it's a strange sort of love that would bring you into a place of such great danger. And I can't see that He's protecting you as He should. Of course, if He'd told you beforehand what you would be facing... but He didn't. If you could acquire more knowledge yourself, you wouldn't need to rely upon Him for protection. You could protect yourself. You deserve better than this."

There it was: pride, presumption, unbelief, accusations against the Lord's loving kindness, and an invitation to be independent of Him, better than Him-in other words, rebellion. All of these were the deep things of satan.

"Oh, God," I said within myself, "forgive me. That I would think I could do anything by myself, when I know that apart from You there is no life. I love You, and I know that You love me. You alone are the victor, You alone. You alone will do all and be all and are all; I trust You, my Savior and my Lord, my God in whom I trust."

With great passion I cried out within the tunnel: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me!"

The Gigantic Cavern

Joyously the white eagle burst through the far mouth of the tunnel. Now we seemed to be flying inside a gigantic cavern within that mountain, but I could not be sure, for I was unable to see the top. Within this cavern, if it was a cavern, the atmosphere was gray and deathly still, but electric, as it might be in the eye of a hurricane.

Tunnels honeycombed the encircling mountain, both up high, as was the one we had traveled, and at the base. satan's Palace

Just ahead of us was another mountain rising from within the center of this cavern. It looked as though it was made of shiny, jagged coal. On its top was an exquisite palace, as perfect and lustrous as a jet gemstone. A thick, yellow liquid oozed from beneath the structure and slid down the mountain. The air reeked of sulfur.

At the base of this mountain, large red dragons luxuriated in a cesspool moat, as wild beasts might cool themselves in muddy water on the Serengeti." Their heads rested against the base of the mountain. Slight fire would come from their nostrils; when this fire touched the yellow liquid sliding down the mountain, a flame would ignite but quickly go out. They rolled their eyes up at us, but we must have been outside of their designated patrol area, for we did not raise their ire enough to protect the castle.

The palace itself was ingenious in design-imaginative and tasteful, but dark, cold, uninviting, and foreboding.

"satan's mountain and his palace," the white Eagle said. He continued to fly toward it.

Attack of the Harpies

Suddenly, dark angels by the thousands poured out from the tunnels and began encircling us, like bats leaving caves at sunset.

They had the heads and torsos of women and the wings, tails, legs, and clawed feet of rapacious vultures.

"They cannot touch us," the white Eagle said. "Remain calm."

These harpies would pass by us closely, crying and taunting, but they never obstructed our view of the palace nor hindered the white Eagle's relentless flight toward it.

The Prince Of Darkness

High in the black palace at a lightless window, a solitary figure appeared, looking at us. From a distance, one could sense his power, authority, and extreme loneliness. Yesloneliness-separation, isolation, and a cold, cold heart.

He looked like a Spanish prince. He wore an elegant black velvet robe encrusted with jewels; he was tastefully and perfectly groomed. He was handsome, almost perfectly handsome, with shiny black hair and dark intelligent eyes.

He waved his hand, and the harpies flew away as quickly as they had come, retreating into the honeycomb of tunnels. The sound of thousands of leathery wings dwindled away, leaving the cavern quiet in comparison.

After that he continued to stand unmoving at the window, his eyes fixed upon us: lonely, like a king who is also a rejected lover.

I thought to myself, There he is: he who was so full of light that he was named 'the shining one '-now 'the prince of darkness,' he whose executive ability still is such that he manages a vast, global empire of deceit, seducing the whole world.

Seeing his impeccable, ageless beauty, I could not help wondering what he must have been like before his fall, for he was created sublime in order to hold the most exalted position in the heavenly court. He was "the anointed cherub who covers." I wondered if once there were three cherubs guarding the throne of God, one on either side and one above? Was that why he was created so beautiful, wise, and powerful? To guard the throne from that elevated position?

He walked amid the coals of fire, sharing the very heart of God, intimate with the Godhead. Did he betray the One who loved him by striking at Him from above? Is that the reason he boasted that he would exalt his throne above the stars of God?

There he is, I thought to myself, still superior, but superior now only in evil, and because of his vaulting pride, isolatedbeyond mercy's reach and beyond asking for it.

The white Eagle turned from the palace and began to fly back toward the tunnel.

Taunts of the Black Raven

A huge black raven suddenly appeared beside us. Its feathers were a brilliant ebony, and its eyes flashed a fiery red. "Why have You come?" hissed satan. "Does it please You to shame me before my subjects? Does it please You to bring love and warmth here to torment us? You are cruel!"

The Lord said nothing.

"Don't You miss me?" satan continued. "Did You come here because of Your loneliness for me? Would You like to come here more often to be with me, just to see me?" The raven cracked a hard, cruel laugh. "You miss me and love me still' he exulted.

Then in tones venomous with bitter scorn, he mocked:

"You are a fool to love me even now, Jesus of Nazareth." The Lord's silence infuriated the raven.

"Don't come back to shame me before my subjects! I am king here. Stay away! I don't love You, and I wish all manner of exquisite torments upon You to express my contempt. Stay away!" satan spewed vehemently.

Having said that, the raven made a sharp turn and flew back to the palace.

The white Eagle continued through the tunnel from which we had come. A void, deathly silence was in that darkness now.

Return to the sheepfold

He flew to the sheepfold and stopped before the gate. I climbed down from His back. He became the Lord again with His shepherd's staff in His hand. He opened the gate and led me inside.

We both removed our shoes and stood barefoot within the sheepfold. I was shivering, and He put His arm around me.

"It is all right, Anna," He said. "You needed to see that satan is cruel. Rest now."

Warmth began to flow into me, and I tried to breathe deeply, settling myself.

"Why did You show me these things?" I asked.

"To you it has been granted to know," He said. "Mark well what you have seen and heard."

The Vision Of Judgment

"look" he continued, gesturing toward the ground in front of us within the sheepfold. The area opened to reveal the world spinning some distance beneath us.

As I looked at the globe, I heard huge footsteps, as if giants were walking, shaking the earth. The ground of earth trembled, and mountains began to break apart.

"Look again He said, gesturing above Him.

Heaven opened, and I saw something dropping from the center of the bright angels.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A plumbline," He answered. The weighted plumbline dropped from Heaven through the sheepfold to the earth.

"Our great God has relented twice before, but now He has dropped the plumbline."

As the plumbline reached earth, great rejoicing began in Heaven. It was as though every created being there was singing, and the sound began to shake the celestial realms:

His righteousness is from everlasting to everlasting. His judgments are sure and will be withheld no longer.

As the thunderous rejoicing increased, fire came out of Heaven and traveled the plumbline, passing before us and sweeping down the line to the earth. Suddenly the whole world was aflame.

The False Church Judged

As the chant in Heaven continued, Jesus spoke, "Edom will be judged. To the world she looked pure, but she will be stubble before the wrath of God. The children of the living God will see Him on His holy mount. But to the church of Edom, He will hide Himself in darkness, never to reveal Himself again.

"The mountain of Edom will melt like wax before the flame of the Lord, but the righteous will thrive amid the flames. Indeed, the righteous will be a flame before the Lord.

"The righteous will be counted as nothing by the enemies of our God. They will be mocked, a crown of thorns pressed into their brows, but God, our God, will consume the thorns with His fire and heal their wounds with His balm.

"The plumbline has dropped. The earth shakes as giants walk the land. God's power will be seen. No giant can stand before His power. No giant can walk into His flame. The righteous will look up and rejoice with the whole assembly of Heaven. In one mighty chorus they will proclaim His righteousness and His power. His justice will prevail, for the plumbline has dropped and will not be removed.

"Fear, O you who lie with the adder, you who drink the venom of vipers. The day is coming and now is when the Word of the Lord will cut you in two, and you will writhe in the agony consigned to those who embrace idols.

"The heavens proclaim His righteousness and His throne; like a great rock, He will fall upon the wicked. The righteous will look upon His face, but deep darkness will shroud Him from the eyes of Esau.

"Woe to those who embrace idols. They couple themselves with demons. Fire has traveled the plumbline. Lightning has flashed from His hand. Indeed, the world will see it but will remain deceived. When giants walk the land, the mountains tremble; but when God walks the land, the mountains melt.

"As the chant of God's righteousness goes forth in Heaven, there is a splitting, a separation, a falling away, and a letting go: ruin follows the reverberation of that refrain. Division that could not be measured until the plumbline dropped from Heaven to earth. All of Heaven has joined in the song, and all of earth will hear and not hear. Judgments are in the land. The righteous will grow in righteousness, and the wicked will gnash their teeth and curse God.

"Hold fast to God, Anna. Hold fast to God. Once He relented, even twice, but now judgments have begun with the household of God. The righteous will shine like the sun, and the corrupt church, rich though she be, bedecked in beautiful gifts from God, will be stubble before Him. For He will relent no longer, and the mountain of Esau will be leveled. A man will kick at the dust of that mountain and say 'Where is she? Not even a mound as high as an ant hill remains. Where is she? Her rocks and earth will have been ground to powder and blown away. In her place there will be a desert wasteland that none will turn aside to see because nothing will remain.

"The mountain of the Lord: the righteous will see it and be glad. They will join in the mighty chorus of Heaven. They will walk the streets of gold and feed upon the manna. They will stand beside the plumbline and not be ashamed. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne, O righteous God.

"O Just and True, mankind has thought itself more just than

You; but to the righteous You will reveal Your righteousness, and to the just, You will reveal how just You have always been."

Join the Chorus

The Lord continued, "Join the chorus of the sons of God. Proclaim His righteousness forevermore. Let the sound of our cry fill the sky. Let the sound of our cry fill the earth. Join the rejoicing as the chant goes forth, falling with a weight mightier than giant's steps, falling with the weight of the throne of God Himself.

"Rejoice, O heavens; weep, O world. Rejoice, O righteous, and tremble, O flesh. For fire has come from Heaven, traveling the plumbline, and only the Son of God will pass through this flame. Rejoice, O heavens, and be glad, for judgments have begun; the final redemption is near. Our God will settle all accounts. The plumbline will not be removed until all lines up with the Son of God. Rejoice!"

The Lord turned to me and said, "Mark well what you have seen and heard, for these things are and will be; no hand will stop them. Come."

He took my hand, and together we followed the flaming plumbline into Heaven,