We Come In Peace

We Come in Peace

iUniverse, Inc.

Chapter One

In Sodom the afternoon was getting started with preparations being made for another celebration in the city. The people of Sodom celebrated almost every day and gave no thought to the Lord. Their evil and wickedness was so great that the news of it spread all across the plains. Only the evil and wickedness of Gomorrah rivaled that of Sodom. Both cities were known for their evil and wicked deeds from across the Dead Sea and all points North and South.

The newly crowned king of Sodom, King Kfir, relished in his palace. He flung his cape back ... flopped down in his chair and sighed out loud. He came to power by murdering the previous king and now was ordering the execution of all the servants that served the previous king.

King Kfir commanded, "Guards, bring out the servants of King Jarib and place the men to my left and women to my right."

The King's trusted servant answered, "Yes, sire."

The servants were brought before the King, the men on the left and the women on the right.

King Kfir looked them over, "Ah ... nice ... what a selection we have here. King Jarib had good taste. Today, some of you will live ... and some of you will die."

He approached the men first.

King Kfir continued as he looked them up and down, "You ... you ... certainly you ... you and you ... in the back over there ... come forth. You will serve my pleasure for many years to come ... or you will die. What say you?"

The first man selected boldly stated, "I ... would rather die."

The King answered with a sheepish grin on his face, "Then ... die you shall."

The King pulled his sword from its sheath and thrust it into the stomach of the man. The look on the man's face showed that he was in excruciating pain that riveted throughout his body.

He grabbed the King's shoulder and the King looked in his eyes and saw a plea for mercy. None was coming. It was too late. The king then turned the sword while in the stomach of the man ... hoping to cause him even more pain.

King Kfir then said "Now burn in hell for eternity."

The servant's screams for his life was deafening. It continued until it began tapering off till his death.

The King looked at the rest of the servants and said "Anyone else desire to follow him?"

The King looked at every man as they nodded their head to do whatever the King desired.

The King envisioned being with each of them in his mind. He desired men equally as much as women. On occasion the King would entertain several women of his choosing in one evening. When he grew tired of them he would turn his attention to men. He loved the lewd and lascivious acts. He knew most of the men and women he had been with hated being with him. He remembered one night when a servant girl drank poison and died rather than spend another night with him.

The King then moved to the women that were placed on his right and looked them over smiling seductively and imagining what he will do with them later that evening.

The first woman he moved to was a very beautiful young woman. He gazed at her skin. He noticed that it was smooth and bronze in color. Her eyes were hazel colored and they captivated him when he looked into them. Her long black hair was shiny and when he touched it, it felt like silk. It ran down her back and ended just pass her hips. He knew she had been prepared to be the wife of a king from the day she was born. The day for her to become King Jarib's wife was near but now King Jarib was dead. King Kfir chose her without giving any thought.

"You were bread to be King Jarib's wife but now you will be mine." The King said.

The next woman was an older woman and a concubine of King Jarib. She had served in the palace for seven years. King Kfir had secretly had an affair with her without King Jarib's knowledge.

King Kfir stated, "Rakefet ... you are still a very desirable woman. Now I can openly love you as I have in secret. I will raise your status from that of concubine to my wife! You are of fine stock and I know you will give me strong and powerful sons."

King Kfir selected five more wives and three concubines.

He then returned to his throne and said "Take those I have selected ... bath them in my finest oils ... and prepare them for this evening's festivities."

His trusted servant asked, "What shall we do with the others?"

With a deep, dark cold heart the King said, "Kill them."

While the selected ones were removed, the King's guards pulled out their swords and began executed the remaining servants. He laughed as the cries of death filled his palace, and the streets of Sodom.

As the screams of death continued behind him King Kfir looked out the window. He saw tears rolling down the faces of the murdered servant's families, who stood outside the palace. He relished in watching them submerge in their pain. He saw it etched on their faces. He loved how the loss of life was so easily and senselessly erased. That was the way he knew life to be in Sodom and Gomorrah.

* * *

Dekel and Ilan were brothers and two of the few righteous people in all of Sodom and Gomorrah. Together they made up a total of 11 righteous souls in Sodom and Gomorrah. This total included Dekel and Ilan's wives and children and those members of Lot's family. Together these three families constituted enough righteous souls to spare Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction.

Dekel saw a woman who appeared to be desperately making her way somewhere. From a tavern about 100 yards away two men who were drinking heavily began shouting comments at her.

Dekel heard the first man who was short and stubby shout, "Hey missy come over here and sit with us for while. We need some company."

Dekel then noticed the second man who was older, taller but still looked out of shape add, "Yeah ... where you off to in such a hurry?"

He then saw the woman hasten her pace as she appeared to try and get away from the men. They ran after her and cornered her in an alley.

Dekel was in ear shot of the alley and could hear what they were saying.

The second man said, "I got to her first so I get to have her first."

The first man responded, "No, you had the last one first, it's my turn."

The woman shouted "Leave me alone ... please ... I have children. I need to get to my children. Please let me go."

The second man swung and punched her in the face and she fell to the ground with blood spurting from her mouth.

The first man said, "Shut up wench. You're going to serve our needs and we don't care if you like it or not."

The woman cried out with a shrill that curled Dekel's skin. Dekel often came to the aid of others in need, never caring if his life was in danger or not. He believed that his life was always protected by the Lord.

His brother, Ilan was the more conservative one. He often thought things out rather than act impulsively. Dekel didn't have time to think the situation out. He had to act with or without the support of his brother.

Dekel shouted to his brother, "Ilan I am going to help her!"

Ilan responded, "No my brother. Remember we are in Sodom. If we interfere we can be executed."

Dekel couldn't take it and said, "I must help ... no matter the cost."

The look in Ilan's eyes told Dekel that his brother would come to his aid even if he didn't support his impulsiveness. He had seen the look before. He knew it all to well.

Ilan said, "Then if we die ... we die together."

The two brothers ran into the alley and fought the two drunken men. Dekel struck the first man with two quick punches, one in the stomach and the other to the face. The man went down quickly. He looked over at his brother and saw him winning the battle with the other man. He saw Ilan wrestled the other man to the ground ... then punched him a couple times in the face. The fight didn't last long.

The brothers then turned to the woman and helped her to her feet. As she got to her feet, still dazed, Dekel saw the King's guard surrounding them.

The woman looked at Dekel and said softly, "I'm sorry."

Dekel looked at her.

He said to her, "Whatever happens is the Lord's will and I freely give my life in His name."

Dekel watched as the sergeant of the King's Guard walked around them with a cold look engraved on his face. He had a half smile on his face as though he was savoring the moment at hand ... pondering his next move.

He then looked at the two brothers and said, "What do we have here? Did you assault these two men?"

Dekel responded "We did so helping this innocent woman. She was being attacked by them."

Dekel saw the woman look down as though she did not want to look the sergeant in his eyes. He thought she feared that she would be killed for resisting the drunken men.

The sergeant walked up to Dekel and said, "You are not from here ... are you?

Dekel bravely said, "No we are from En Gedi ... West of the Dead Sea."

Dekel thought that the hearing of this information was pleasing to the guard as his face was now poised with a sly grin on it.

His voice was noticeably joyful when he responded, "Well ... do you know the punishment for a foreigner assaulting a citizen of Sodom?"

Dekel was about to answer but then he allowed Ilan to answer instead, "We were merely ..."

The sergeant cut him off and continued, "Its death by execution."

Then he ordered his men, "Take them to the dungeon."

Ilan shouted to the guard "Wait ... but ... we were preventing a citizen of Sodom from being assaulted."

The sergeant spit on the ground and said, "You should have minded your own business."

Then he looked at the woman and said to the two drunken men, "Do with her as you please."

As Dekel was being taken away he saw the woman he had tried to rescue stumbling as thought she was still in a daze. She was not putting up much resistance.

She used what little strength she had to shout "Please ... no ... let me go ... please!"

* * *

That evening King Kfir proclaimed a celebration in his own honor for the city of Sodom.

The King boastfully shouted, "Today, we shall celebrate my ascension to King and the uniting of me with my new brides. However, first we must attend to some matters of law. Bring out the criminals."

The Chief Priest came before the King and spoke, "Sire ... I do not believe it to be wise to execute these two men today. Rumors are spreading that say the Hebrew Lord will destroy this place if ten righteous souls are not found amongst us. These two brothers are known for their righteousness and they are firm believers of the Hebrew God ... Jehovah.

The King paused as if to consider what his Chief Priest had just said. He looked at the people then at the two brothers and finally back at his Chief Priest.

He thought to himself, "If I chose to believe my Chief Priest then I would have to spare the lives of these men thereby causing the people to believe that I value the life of foreigners over my people. If I execute them and the rumor is true then my city will be destroyed. That's preposterous; a God would not destroy an entire city! We have done nothing to Him and who is to say that we do not have ten righteous souls in Sodom. I am a righteous man myself!"

The King stood and spoke, "The Chief Priest has said I should spare the lives of these two foreigners because there is a rumor that the Hebrew God ... Jehovah will destroy our great city if ten righteous souls are not found here."

The crowd laughed and some shouted, "Kill them! There is no truth to this rumor!"

Another shouted, "Baal will protect us!"

Others shouted, "We cannot allow this crime to go unpunished. Kill them as you would any other foreigner!"

The King turned to his Chief Priest and said, "There ... you hear the people have spoken. Besides who is to say that ten righteous souls are not amongst us."

He turned to the crowd and said, "How many righteous souls do we have here? Raise your hands if you are a righteous person!"

There were over 500 people in the square that day and all of them raised their hands.

The King said, "There ... we have well over the required 10 people."

The crowd yelled, "Yeah!"

King Kfir looked again upon his Chief Priest. His face portrayed sadness and fear.

The Chief Priest said in a voice that confirmed the King's belief that he was sad, "You have doomed our great city to destruction. Even I know to concede that this Hebrew God is real and this rumor is true. The blood of all these people is squarely on your hands."

The King moved toward his Chief Priest and whispered in his ear, "Move from me or I will execute you as well."

He suppressed his desires to kill him but instead he watched coldly with evil in his eyes as the Chief Priest moved away and eventually out of his sight.

The King ordered the two brothers, Dekel and Ilan, to be beheaded.

The King began to speak as the men were brought in, "These men are from En Gedi and must be executed because they assaulted two citizens of our great city. Assault of a citizen of my land by a foreigner will not be tolerated!"

The two men were guided out by guards and led to a platform where the guillotine awaited them. The executioner stood poised to do his job. King Kfir had many meetings with his executioner. He knew he took pleasure in doing his job. The King knew that unlike his Chief Priest, he did not question whether it was right or wrong to behead these men; he just knew that he would enjoy doing it. The King liked that about his executioner. The first brother, Ilan was placed on the guillotine and the executioner wasted no time.

A man from the crowd shouted "Kill him! He assaulted our brothers. Kill him!"

The rest of the crowd joined in "Kill him, kill him, kill him!"

It happened ... slowly the blade rose in the air ... screeching a deafening sound as it rose ... then ... the axe fell ... severing the head of Ilan from his body.

In minutes, his brother Dekel would also be dead. In the same manner as Ilan, Dekel's head was severed from his body. Both men were now dead.

The King sat back on his throne happy that he had just solidified his presence on the throne. He knew that if anyone doubted his ability to rule they no longer would after the executions.

As the crowd cheered the second execution, the King laughed out loud and heartily.

The King cried out to the people, "There ... you see ... no one has destroyed our great city! She still stands mighty as ever. Let's celebrate this day as my first day as King of Sodom."

* * *

While the celebration was getting started in Sodom the two men who were resting outside the city began to approach Sodom. The evening sun was losing the battle to the night sky over the city of Sodom.

The two men were met by Lot, who pleaded with them to come into his home and stay the night. Lot was a good man, from a good lineage. He was the nephew of Abraham, a man that God would bless to be the father of all nations. Lot accompanied Abraham on his journey to Canaan but when a conflict arose between the two, Lot traveled east to Sodom where he was currently living. Because of Abraham, Lot and his family had favor with the Lord and their lives would be spared.

Lot recognized that these men were Angels of the Lord and they intended to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the outcries against them have become so great.

Word traveled throughout the two cities of the arrival of the two men and later that evening the people of Sodom came to Lot's house to find them. Lot came out to meet the people of Sodom.

"Bring the two men out that you have hidden away in your home" said Elhanan who told everyone about the two men and appeared to be leading the mob.

He continued saying, "Let us have sex with them."

Lot said to the men, "No, do not do this wicked deed. I have two daughters who have never been taken, you may have them instead."

Lot's comments angered the mob even more. They demanded that Lot move aside as they continued to press their way to his door. The Angels of the Lord struck the people with blindness and they were not able to find Lot's door.

* * *

King Shemaiah, the King of Gomorrah, heard the news of these events and he feared for his life and the lives of his people. He had conversed with his friend, King Kfir, who dismissed the idea of the Hebrew God destroying their cities. King Shemaiah believed they were surly going to die when the sun rose the next morning.

King Shemaiah asked his royal priest, "Do we have ten righteous souls in the city?"

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from We Come in Peace by Gerald C. Anderson Sr. Copyright © 2010 by Gerald C. Anderson Sr.. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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