The Darkness of Night
Did Tamar even know what awaited her? Did she know the battles that she had to face and the dark of night that would soon be upon her? Yet as we look at Tamar heading with confidence towards the sun, we know that she will make it through to the Mountain of Zion with a new confidence and strength, not because of the strength she possesses in herself, but because of the strength that has been given to her by the Prince.
In reality it is not by our own abilities that we can face the fears and the heartaches of life, but with His divine ability. For when we see through His eyes and understand through the love of His heart, the world around us changes, and the dreariness of our world transforms to reflect a world of hope and possibility!
For there is much yet for Tamar to learn on this journey. There are things she will learn about herself, things she will learn about the Prince, and things she will learn about the foe who works against the warriors of the Prince...Leviathan who even now on the edges of darkness draws near to where Tamar walks, waiting to ensnare her in the trap that he has laid in her path.
So let us join Tamar again and discover the true power of the Prince of Peace and come to know what it is that will overcome the kingdom of darkness.
The sun that had just begun to set as Tamar headed out on her journey went down faster than she anticipated, and before she knew it the shadows of night had overcome the wilderness around her as well as the path that lay ahead. She had tried to cover as much ground as she could before the fullness of nightfall but realized that evening had already begun to overtake her. The moon had risen and it shone its pale light just enough for her to make out the shape of the road ahead of her.
She felt assured that the path was straight enough, so that she did not need to strain to see where she was going. Looking briefly behind her, Tamar had a faint hope that she might still see the golden gates that she had passed through, yet knowing that she was already a long way from the Crystal Palace and its glory.
Her brisk walk had now slowed down to a steady pace. The darker the night became, the more careful Tamar began to walk, not sure what lay in the road up ahead of her. The darkness seemed to settle on the ground as a heavy blanket, and whereas Tamar could see far ahead along the road she walked before, she could now barely make out a step in front of her.
Tamar had never seen or experienced such darkness before and she was unsure what to do or how to react in such unknown territory. As the blanket of darkness grew heavier she suddenly became aware of a weariness that had overcome her. She could not even remember the last time that she had slept and the past few days events suddenly caught up with her. She strained her eyes, trying to see if she could make out any more of the road ahead of her, but seeing nothing more than darkness, she gave up and decided to take a rest and renew her strength. Feeling her way to the edge of the road, she surveyed the ground with her right foot in the darkness. She could not feel any rocks or obstacles and found the edge of the road quickly.
In the darkness, Tamar settled down and used her shield as a form of pillow to rest her head on; lifting her head a few inches off the ground. She was just too weary to feel uncomfortable, and before she knew it, she had fallen into a deep sleep. Dreaming of a garden perfumed with roses and warmed with a golden sunshine, Tamar was not aware of the evil that had slowly begun to creep up to her, waiting to seize her when the time was right. Here in the darkness it could not be seen, and as it silently weaved its way across the wilderness it could not be heard. In silence it approached her as she slept soundly upon the ground.
In the thick darkness, unbeknown to Tamar, a serpent had begun to approach her. She was not aware of its soft hiss or deadly coils as it approached steadily and silently. The serpent slithered up to her as she slept, looking through the darkness. It was here in the darkness that he could see the best. The darkness was his friend, for here he could not be seen, but the serpent himself could see as though it were daytime. Darkness to the serpent was as light was to the Prince of Peace. The serpent thrived and grew in the darkness, and as he approached his hapless prey he expected to find something easy to devour and to destroy before the night was out.
The serpent surveyed Tamar from all angles before beginning to wrap himself around her body. He moved ever so gently and softly, so that Tamar was not even aroused from her slumber. Yet coil by coil, he wrapped himself around her, until he had her entire body encased by his emaciated body.
Even though the serpent looked thin and frail the darkness gave him strength, and once he had finished coiling himself around Tamar he came to a stop, ready now to begin squeezing the life from her, for he fed from the life of the living. It was that life that would allow him to grow. Many had fallen prey to the serpent before. They had given up their life to him, and as they did they gave him more strength and more power, and so he grew - thus able to consume more and take over more.
The serpent had no power of his own, stealing from any soul he could the life that they had. Fueled by the darkness and strengthened by the lives of other victims, he had continued to grow and grow until there was no stopping him. He let out a self-satisfied hiss, as it began to squeeze his coils around Tamar, looking forward to draining the life from this victim that had so easily fallen into his clutches.
How pleased he was to compare himself to his master. Oh how proud Leviathan would be of him! Like father like son! He did only what he was created to do, and that was to replace light with darkness and life with death. He was after all, the devourer, the devourer of life and all that resembled it. Almost quivering with the sheer delight of it, the serpent put all its energy to Tamar, tightening its grasp.
The delight was short-lived however as the devourer came to realize that this was not going to be as easy as he had anticipated. Feeding off the life of his victim was usually a simple matter of wrapping his coils around them and squeezing the life out of them as he fed. Yet the more he squeezed, the more he felt his grip being resisted. He turned to look Tamar directly in the face, confused and unsure as to why this was not going the way he had planned it.
Tamar remained asleep, not aware of the danger she was in. Again the devourer tried to squeeze his coils together, yet again it felt as if he was trying to squeeze a solid bar of metal. Confused and very frustrated that his easy prey was not turning out the way he had hoped, the serpent unwound his coils from Tamar and backed off to take a better look at her. There had to be a reason that this victim was not succumbing to his power! What protected her from his clutches and his strength?
The devourer studied the armor that covered Tamar. It looked like regular armor. Usually he could squeeze out a life, even through armor. Many thought that they could protect themselves by putting on armor of different strengths and sizes, but always he was able to get past that. So what made this victim so different?
He studied each inch of Tamar from head to toe, trying to figure out the solution to this puzzle. He was not ready to give up so easily. It was then that he noticed the breastplate in that thick darkness. The serpent began to breathe rapidly as he caught sight of the insignia of the Prince, the fiery eyes of the Mighty Eagle almost challenging him in the darkness. At that exact moment Tamar began to rouse a little and turned over in her sleep. He began retreating, and at Tamar's sudden movement began to panic and frantically back off into the wilderness, in the same direction he had come from.
As soon as Tamar was out of his sight, he breathed a sigh of relief. There had been a few times before when he had come across some who had worn the insignia of the Prince. The Prince's warriors were the fiercest in the land and they fought with weapons that he could not overcome. They fought with light, with love and with life, all of which the devourer could not comprehend in the darkness.
"I must tell Leviathan," the devourer muttered to himself. "He must know that the Prince has commissioned another warrior. Yes, he must know soon before there is more trouble for us!"
Quickly and silently, the devourer headed into the darkest part of the wilderness, seeking out his master.
Tamar did not know how many hours she had been asleep. Opening her eyes and waking from her sleep, she was greeted by the same darkness that she had fallen asleep in. She was puzzled by a dream she had of being overcome by a flood of waters and then having an unseen wall coming before her to protect her before the waters overcame her.
"What a strange dream," Tamar muttered to herself. "I wonder what it means."
She lay on her back in the darkness for a few more moments to allow herself to wake up. Still pondering the strange dream, she pulled herself to her feet and tried to look around her. She could not see a thing, and feeling disorientated, did not even know which way to begin walking. She felt confused and did not know why this night was lasting so long. Which way was she to go? How was she going to get to her destination if she could not even see her hand in front of her face?
Tamar was tempted to let her circumstances get the better of her, but having the knowledge of the Journal in her mind, she stopped and went through its chapters in her head, trying to figure out the best thing to do. In the darkness a passage from the Journal seemed to come to life in her and she knew that this was the answer she was looking for. It went like this:
Psalms 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.
The Sword of the Spirit! How could she forget? Suddenly many of the things that she had read in the Journal so many times before made sense to her. Tamar felt for her Sword that still hung at her side and slowly pulled it out of its sheath. She drew it high above her head until she was standing with her right hand raised, clutching tightly to its leather hilt.
At first she could not see anything, but as she kept it raised it began to glow. At first it looked like nothing more than a slight glimmer in the darkness, but as she kept it raised it seemed to react with the darkness around her and the glimmer turned to a steady glow, and the steady glow to a stream of light. From there the light turned into a torch of fire, and what was a lifeless looking dagger was now transformed into a torch of fire that was bright enough to reveal the path in front of her feet.
The dagger was still small, but Tamar was sure that as it lit up it grew about an inch. She was not sure if it was her imagination, but she was very grateful for the light it provided for her now as she reached down and took her shield by the hand. With the torch ahead of her and her shield once again by her side, she glanced at the road ahead.
Both sides of the road seemed the same to her. Which direction should she take? Should she step forward, or should she turn and go the opposite way? It was difficult to tell in this darkness which was the right way to go. Frustrated and flustered, she decided to follow the road in the direction she was facing, yet after just a few paces the Sword suddenly began to dim as if giving her a warning. Stopping dead in her tracks Tamar inspected the Sword, not quite sure what it was trying to say. She slowly walked a few steps more, watching the Sword as she went. Without a doubt, the Sword dimmed. Examining it closely and pondering for a few moments, she thought that she would try a little experiment.
Turning around, she took a few paces in the opposite direction that she had been going in. Sure, enough the Sword began to brighten again to its original brightness. Almost as though playing a game, Tamar went in one direction and then turned and went the other. Each time the Sword dimmed and brightened, dictating which way she needed to go. Both amused and comforted, Tamar put her trust in the Sword and followed the direction that it responded to by shining the brightest.
Now able to see a few steps ahead of her, she picked up on her pace and headed towards her destination once again, feeling confident that she was going in the right direction. Feeling strengthened from her rest and ready to see what lay ahead of her, Tamar's mind went over her commission, and she wondered when this darkness would end and when she would begin putting into practice all that the Prince had sent her to do.
She thought again on the blood stain that remained on her hands and on her feet, wondering what purpose it served. Little did she know that it was this very blood that had served as her protection in the darkness of the night when...
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