CHAPTER 6
The familiar voice startled Amos; he shot up in his chair to find Tess standing in front of his desk. “I told you to get out!” he hissed, glaring at her.
“I know you did, general. But God told me to come back.” A Heavenly light poured off her ample body.
General Agnon’s hands trembled; his heart pounded. “What—who are—?”
“I am an angel. Sent by God.” Tess took a step forward, then rested her fingertips on the smooth surface of his desk. “I don’t want to spend a lot of time helping you to accept that, Amos Agnon, because time is of the essence and your son’s life is at stake. So is the survival of your nation. A lot depends on the decisions you make right now, general.”
Amos swallowed hard. “I made a terrible mistake.” His voice shook. “I sent my men out to battle without spreading them out over the battlefield, to maximize their chances of survival. As a result, I lost a lot of my soldiers, and my son and his friend have been taken prisoner.”
“I know that, general.” Tess’ voice softened. “You can’t spend the rest of the day dwelling on that now. God is going to use your mistakes for His glory, but you’ve got to give them to Him.” Tess paused. “Moreover, you’ve got to face your fears. The fears that impaired your judgment today, so that you couldn’t think clearly enough to take the necessary precautions.”
Moaning, Amos buried his face in his hands. “I wish I could. But I can’t!” His voice broke. “What happened to me was so horrible.”
Tess’ voice turned even more gentle. “I know that, general. And I know it hurts to remember those times now. But God wants to heal your memories, so that they won’t hold you back in the future.” She paused; he slowly raised his head. “Because an extremely dangerous time is now descending on your nation and on the whole world, and you will need all the clear thinking you can muster to get through it. More importantly, you will need the spiritual armor I told you about earlier, to keep you from breaking under the dangers of this period.” She wagged her finger for emphasis.
Leaping to his feet, General Agnon pushed his chair back and thrust his hands in front of him. Backing against the wall, he shook his head rapidly. “I can’t! I can’t!” he said. “I can’t face those memories—not now!”
“With God’s help, you can. And He is going to help you.” Tess circled his desk to approach him. “He sent me to be with you as you face them at this time, so you can be freed of their destructive power.” She placed a calming hand on his upper arm.
The next thing Amos knew, he and Tess stood in a dank, dark cell. Stone walls and a rock floor encased them; a small window set just under the low ceiling let a few rays of sunlight in; a sour, sickening smell permeated the room. Bars in the window divided the reflected sunlight into dark bars of shadows on the floor. A young man sat slumped on a lumpy pile of straw, gazing up at the window, wearing a bluish-gray prison uniform. Beads of sweat rolled down his face; he reached up to wipe them off with the back of his hand.
“That’s me!” General Agnon bit his lower lip, as he gaped down at his younger self. “That was me, when I was taken prisoner in the Yom Kippur War.” He looked at Tess. “The war ended long before my captivity did. It was only by a miracle that my nation wasn’t destroyed in the process.”
“Yes, it was, and yes, it did. Your country came dangerously close to being wiped out in that war. But just as Jehovah came to your country’s rescue during that time, He finally helped you to escape the prison camp later.” Tess nodded toward the younger man. “Just watch what happens, Amos.” She put her hands on her ample hips as she spoke.
The jangling of keys outside the door caught his attention; it also startled his younger self, so that he straightened his back and fixed his gaze on the door. Apprehension etched his face; his hands shook.
“I never knew if they were going to bring my food, interrogate me, or torture me,” General Agnon explained to Tess. “I dreaded every time someone came to my cell—dreaded what they were going to do.”
Tess nodded. “I know you did. And I know you’re dreading to watch what’s coming now. But you are not facing this alone. You didn’t face your ordeal alone then, either, although you didn’t know it at the time. You’re about to find out how God preserved you, how He kept their torture from inflicting permanent harm on your body.”
Amos yearned to shut his eyes to the horrible sights he was about to endure. Better yet, to flee! He had never been able to come to terms with the losses and suffering he had endured in battle, and the thought of having to face them now terrified him.
The door swung open; an immaculately-dressed commandant entered, followed by a couple of guards. The commandant grinned at the younger Amos Agnon. “You have a choice,” he told the quaking young man. “You can tell us everything we need to know, or you can die right now. Take your pick.” He adjusted his cap as he spoke.
Amos shook his head, glaring up at the commandant. He made no move to rise to his feet, but remained crouched on the rancid straw. “I will never betray my country.” He swallowed. “So if you’re going to kill me, go ahead.”
The commandant nodded toward the guards. “Do what you must.”
As the middle-aged Amos watched in horror, frozen, unable to speak, the guards yanked his younger self to his feet. They began to beat him, punching his stomach, pounding his face and his chest, kicking his legs. At that moment, another man appeared in the room. Heavenly light poured off him, as it did off Tess.
Amos turned to Tess. “Is that an angel?”
Tess nodded. “Yes, Amos. That is one of my colleagues. You weren’t permitted to see him then, but God has opened your eyes so you can see him now. Watch and see what he does—what he did to protect you.”
General Agnon turned his attention back to the scene in front of him. Unseen by the younger Amos or by his captors, the angel slipped in front of the frightened private; from that moment, all the blows fell on the angel.
After several long moments had passed, the commandant raised his hand. “All right, enough! I’m not ready for him to die yet.” The guards stepped back; the private slumped onto the pile of straw. Leaning against the wall, he clutched his stomach and took deep breaths, then dropped his hands onto the straw beneath him, crawling with lice.
“I will be back.” The commandant turned to approach the door. In the entrance, he stopped to look back at the P.O.W. “You’d better think about cooperating if you want to live, soldier!”
He left, followed by the guards. The door slammed shut.
Amos leaned against the cold stone wall, staring down at his younger self; memories flooded back. “I remember now.” The general shook his head in wonder. “I sat there wondering why that beating hadn’t injured me as severely as one would have expected it to. Even my stomach didn’t ache nearly so badly as it might have, after being punched several times by the guards.” He paused. “And that wasn’t the only time, either.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Tess patted his shoulder. “Time after time, God sent an angel to take the brunt of your torture so you wouldn’t be permanently maimed by it. And when He was ready for you to escape, He sent another angel to help you get past the guards and to find your way back to your outfit.”
“The man who came to me several times during my captivity?” General Agnon furrowed his eyebrows. “He had some keys, same as the guard, but he didn’t glow as you and that angel who protected me did. Did he leave the cell door unlocked?”
“He did, and he distracted the guards so they wouldn’t see you.” Tess smiled at him. “So you see, General Agnon, God was with you throughout your ordeal, even though you couldn’t see that. And when you were critically wounded in the Gulf War in 1981, He sent another angel to minister to you while you lay bleeding on the battlefield. That same angel visited you several times in the army hospital later, as you lay there recovering.”
She squeezed his shoulder, then dropped her hand to her side. “God kept you alive through both wars, so He could use you now. He has a purpose for you in the war that has just started. But you’ve got to turn your fears over to Him so He can use you effectively.”
General Agnon closed his eyes and bowed his head. “Jehovah,” he prayed, “please release me of my fears so I can go after my son and his friend. Please save them both. Amen.”
He raised his head to find himself back in his office. Tess stood next to him, the Heavenly light gone. Once more, the air-conditioner emitted its soothing cool air on his exposed skin. Clasping her fingers in front of her waist, the angel smiled.
“God has a message for you, general,” she told him. “Part of it you will be told later, but right now, He wants you to know that He has heard your prayers and He will clear the way for you to rescue your son. Just trust Him—He will make a way.”
The general nodded. At that moment, three knocks caught his attention. “Come in!”
END OF CHAPTER 6