Free 04 The Edge of Darkness by Tim Lahaye

for almost an hour. Then the sound of the withdrawal trumpets began to blast. Both sides retreated to opposite ends of the valley to rest, regroup, and reevaluate battle strategies. It was also a time for counting losses and assisting the wounded back to camp
.
    General Abiezer was in his tent with his advisors when the messenger brought word from the battlefield. “Sir, the Philistines have killed about four thousand of our Israelite warriors. There are about another two thousand wounded. It is estimated that we killed only three hundred of their soldiers.”
    Abiezer was speechless. All of his advisors dropped their heads in despair. There was a long silence. Captain Gaddiel was the first to speak
.
    “Why has the Lord allowed us to be defeated before these Philistine dogs today? Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to the battlefield. It will protect us and give us victory.” Gaddiel thought that the sight of the Ark of God would encourage the disheartened soldiers
.
    The advisors in the room nodded their heads in agreement
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    Gaddiel continued, “The Ark of the Covenant is under the care of Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli the priest. They are in Shiloh. It would not take long to get the Ark and bring it here.” He nearly choked on his own words. He had heard too much about the sordid lives of Hophni and Phinehas
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    Commander Hadoram joined in. “The Ark is the home of the Lord of Hosts. He dwells between the two cherubim on the top. If the Ark comes among us, it may protect us from the hand of our enemies.”
    General Abiezer gave a questioning look at all of his advisors. He was not yet convinced. He issued a silent prayer
. “Oh, God, I need your help in this decision. We must win the battle tomorrow.”
    One by one, all of the advisors voiced their agreement with Commander Hadoram, until Abiezer finally acquiesced to their suggestion. A new sense of courage and hope arose in their hearts
.
    Abiezer spoke: “Captain Gaddiel, I want you to take a group of soldiers with you to Shiloh. Bring back the Ark of the Covenant, along with Hophni and Phinehas. I want them to pass through the warriors and bless them as they go out to battle. I am confident that the Lord will give us a great victory.”
    Gaddiel bowed and left the tent. He quickly gathered fifty of his elite soldiers
.
    “Men, we have an urgent mission. We must travel through the day and into the night to Shiloh. Our orders are to bring back the Ark of the Covenant and the sons of Lev i, the high priest.”
    The men looked surprised, but Gaddiel pressed on. “We have about eighteen hours to do this. We must return in time for tomorrow’s battle. Our brother soldiers are depending on us. We cannot again suffer so great a loss as we did today.”
    This resonated with the men. They stood ready to do whatever was necessary
.
    Gaddiel swelled with pride. With the Ark at their side, how could they fail?

FIFTEEN
    MURPHY HAD GROWN to adore his course in biblical archaeology. His students seemed alert and eager to learn. Word of mouth had made the class size increase each year. Everyone seemed to enjoy the lectures, except the dean of the Arts and Science faculty, Archer Fallworth. Maybe he was jealous because his classes seemed to diminish in size. Or, maybe it was the fact that he just didn’t like Christians. He often said that the Bible was for “bubbleheads.” And he referred to any athletes who shared their faith as “Jocks for Jesus.” Murphy just found him boring. Anyone who published a paper on “Button Materials of the Eighteenth-Century Georgia Plantations” needed to get a life.
    Murphy entered the lecture hall and joked with a number ofstudents before he set up his PowerPoint presentation. He flashed the lights once and everyone got the message to sit down and stop talking.
    “Good morning. In our last class we spent some time looking at various pagan gods.”
    He had barely gotten started when the back door opened and in