Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1 Testing The Covenant
The shadows lengthened in the cold dusk as the sun began to slip quickly below the horizon of mountains of barren rock. Winter twilight lasts only a few minutes up in the high desert where Elaine and Rebecca lived. This particular eve-ning of December 21, 1988, the wind was stilled and every-thing seemed to be hushed, waiting for the events of that night. Evil stalks, always, under the cover of darkness. This night was of particular significance because December 21st is the night of the winter solstice, a high day for the Satanists.
This particular day was also to be the day of the death of Elaine and Rebecca. Once again the age-old battle lines were being drawn -- the forces of Satan against the forces of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
God's most recent covenant with Rebecca was about to be tested (See Prepare For War: chapter 2, "Covenanting with God" and chapter 7, "Hearing God"). The first of December, 1988, God had covenanted with Rebecca, giving her His promise that the valley in which they lived would be a haven for people coming out of Satanism. The Lord directly promised her the lives of everyone coming under her care or working with her in the ministry. He told Rebecca she would have many battles and some "close calls" but in the end, their lives would be saved. Shortly, they were to see the mighty arm of God warring against Satan on their behalf.
As darkness fell, Rebecca went around and re-anointed and sealed their home. The warm lights from the windows shone out in stark contrast against the dark, cold evil outside. All as still as dark figures began to gather on the edge of the property. Rebecca and Elaine's home was in a country-type area with a yard of a little more than an acre. Sheba, their dog, began to pace the floor from one room to another with continuous low growl in her throat. This was her warning signal of danger on the property. But everyone in the house ready sensed the growing evil outside.
How would they attack? Elaine and Rebecca were the targets. One of Satan's top assassins, and her associates planned to have the two for their winter solstice sacrifices his night.
Esther (not her real name,) Elaine, Rebecca and Betty (not her real name) gathered together in the family room for a short time of prayer. There wasn't much to say, except to hank the Lord for His covenant and promise to keep them live and ask Him to work in this situation in whatever way He saw fit to bring the most honor and glory to Himself. As darkness fell fully, Sheba increased her pacing and growling. The girls peeked out of the front windows and saw some shadowy figures around the edge of the property. There was dark van out in the street in front and another on the side of their property. Several of the men were armed with what looked like shotguns, but it was difficult to tell clearly in the darkness
Esther began to cry. "I'm so scared. Those people look dangerous Is God really strong enough to stand against hem?" Her slender body was shaking with fear. Rebecca went over to her and took her hand. "Listen, Esther, you KNOW Jesus is stronger. You have seen His power demonstrated over and over again. Now you must stand with us in faith and rebuke fear in the name of Jesus. Father promised us a haven here and He NEVER goes back on His word." "But are you sure you heard Him right?" was the tearful response. "Yes, I am sure. He also confirmed the promise to Elaine and Betty. There is no doubt in our minds. Come, Esther, let us sing praises to our Lord and stand and watch to see how He will fight this battle for us. Betty put on some soft praise music and they all started to sing together. Time passed and the tension grew. Everything outside was deathly still, but the demonic pressure built steadily. They peeked out the windows again. There seemed to be even more shadowy figures out on the lawn, some were coming towards the house. Betty spoke up. "Listen, it is silly for us to stand here and be nervous and afraid. Let's do something constructive, like make chocolate chip cookies. "The others laughed. "Cookies!" Elaine exclaimed. "Well why not? I just hope the Lord doesn't let those guys come in for some!"
So, they all gathered together in the kitchen. No sooner had they started the cookies than suddenly they heard a loud THUMP, which shook the house. Then another and another and another and another. Five in all. Esther cowered against the counter in the kitchen.
"I'll bet they plan to start a fire on our roof. That's typical for how these folks work," Elaine said thoughtfully. "What do we do now?"
"We stand. We just stand!" was Rebecca's reply. "If Father lets them come into the house then we will know that we must share the gospel with them, but I don't think He will let them come in, or start the fire." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than they heard the sounds of a tremendous scuffle taking place on the roof. Their house as typical of most desert homes -- single story with a flat tone roof. The noise of the commotion and fight went back and forth from one end of the roof to the other.
The cookie making was suspended as the girls stood praying and looking up at the ceiling as the noise increased. Suddenly, after about five minutes, there was a yell and loud cursing and a thud just in front of the house. There were more yells and thuds as the girls ran to peek out the front window. There, before their astonished eyes, they saw five men, cursing wildly, picking themselves up off the ground. One had landed in the large cactus growing up against the front of the house. He cursed the loudest of all! The girls shouted with laughter and rejoiced and praised the Lord while the men went back to the van to regroup. Still laughing, they went back into the kitchen to continue with the cookies 'Wow! Would I like to see what those men saw," claimed Betty. 'I wonder if the Lord let them see the angels that they were fighting with?" Rebecca commented thoughtfully. "I hope so, that will really shake them up. If they don't see the angels, I'm afraid they will just think they are fighting against ore powerful demons." "Oh, I have no doubt He did," said Elaine. "I vividly remember the time I went against God's angels! It was a humbling experience, to say the least. We couldn't get through no matter what we did. It sure did start me thinking. Satan wouldn't tell me what they were, but inside I KNEW they were God's angels. It sure made me realize Satan wasn't as all-powerful as he said he was."
About a half an hour later, they heard the men climbing back up on the roof. Sounds of an intense struggle again came from the roof. Shortly, the men were thrown off the roof again. But this time the men did not get to their feet. Instead, each one was grasped under his arms by an unseen force and dragged off the edge of the property. The girls did not see the angels, but there was no doubt in their minds that they were there. The men were unceremoniously dumped out into the street. The fight was over. The satanists lingered around the property for another couple of hours, but they were unable to set foot back on the property. Finally they gave up and left.
The girls ate cookies and praised the Lord for His wonderful deliverance from their enemies. As always, the Lord had kept His covenant.
Once the victory had been won in this area, they were quickly faced with a new attack and a new battle with new lessons to be learned.
