Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5) QUOTES

1 " Arisha noticed that all the greenery and trees were dying the more they walked on. They finally arrived at a large clearing of a hidden valley. But it was desert like, bounded by the foothills of the mountains on one side and the dry rocky bluffs on the other. It seemed strange to Arisha. It seemed like a little pocket of dry desert death in the midst of an otherwise lively area. She stopped, stunned by the sight before her. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

2 " A huge tree, hundreds of feet around had grown up into the clouds high above her. Its roots at the ground level were serpentine, twisted around like a tangled pile of, well, the only thing she could think of was snakes. She wondered if the mushrooms were distorting her vision, but she was not sure. She was surprised that she had not seen this tree from a distance and wondered why it was the only living thing in this little valley of deadness. “That, my dear Arisha,” said Izbaxl, “is Gaia, the Mother Earth Goddess. The World Tree. And those are her worshippers. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

3 " A beautiful woman approached them with two young daughters by her side, about the same age as Arisha. She was stunning to Arisha. If Izbaxl’s music tranquilized her fears, this woman’s raven black hair, sensuous movement and penetrating eyes sedated her soul. Her voice expressed motherly assurance. “Welcome, Izbaxl. I see you have brought someone new to the goddess. A maiden. Sedated.” How did this phantom-like beauty know anything about me? thought Arisha. “Arisha,” said Izbaxl, “This is Lilith and her daughters Lili and Lilu. They are the guardians of Gaia. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

4 " Well, then,” said Lilith, “by all means, show her around. Expose her to the beauty of Mother Earth.” A chill went down Arisha’s back. She could swear she saw a split tongue in Lilith’s mouth. Almost like the garter snakes she had played with in the forest. Maybe it was the mushrooms. She saw three tame looking hyenas sitting off a short distance from Lilith and her children, watching them like loyal dogs—or guardians. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

5 " But Yahweh was not concerned about the foreign people; he was concerned about their foreign gods. As soon as Zimri found Cozbi and married her, she brought along her household gods, the teraphim, and her worship of Ashtart. Cozbi had no problem with Yahweh. She would be willing to worship Yahweh as well as her local deities. They could all be one happy family of gods. Zimri was one of many Israelites who could see the benefit of ecumenical coexistence. Yes, Yahweh was the chief of all gods. He would receive Zimri’s highest worship. Zimri would continue to bring his sacrifices to the tabernacle as required, and keep the Sabbath and other laws of his people. But to appease his wife, he would also participate in the Midianite rituals and sacrifices. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

6 " Moses was weeping as much as the rest of them. Joshua was angry. He had been in the tent when Yahweh commanded Moses what to do. He had seen the idolatry of Israel as it worshipped Ba’al and the other gods of the pantheon. They were not yet in their Promised Land of Canaan, and they were already playing the harlot with Ba’al of Peor. It was a form of spiritual adultery. Yahweh had taken care of them in the desert wilderness these forty years until all the original gripers and complainers were dead. They had just conquered the Transjordan and the mighty Og of Bashan as a prelude to Canaan. And still—still—these pathetic miserable backsliding wretches were already fornicating with Ba’al like wanton harlots. They worshipped household idols and even engaged in human sacrifice on Mount Nebo to the god of plague. The plague was therefore an ugly but fitting expression of a spiritual judgment. Afflicted Israelites would get puss filled boils and rashes in their genitals and anus like a sexual disease. Their excrement would be full of blood, both solid and liquid, and excruciatingly painful to release. After a few days, if the victim did not get well, their genitals would turn black and rot. Within a week, the victim would be dead. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

7 " It disgusted Joshua. Not the plague so much as the spiritual and moral corruption that it pointed toward. These Canaanite gods of depravity inspired the debasement of every aspect of Yahweh’s image in man. They bred sexual perversions that violated all sacred separations: Fornication, Incest, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality; they provoked fetishes with excrement like vomit and fecal matter; and they defaced the body with occultic tattoos and mutilations. And they mocked the atonement of redemption with their human sacrifices. Israel had become a festering cesspool of evil. The only thing that made Joshua feel any better was knowing that he was to be the instrument for Yahweh’s cleansing. Sin was a cancerous tumor. It had to be gouged out, not merely from those who hated Yahweh, but also from Yahweh’s own people. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

8 " Leaders of Israel, bring forth your clan heads from all the twelve tribes!” The twelve clan leaders stepped forward with trepidation. They knew this could not be good. “Hear O Israel, Yahweh our God is a holy God! And these leaders of the clans have not exercised their authority in honor of Yahweh’s holiness! They have allowed Ba’al worship to thrive amidst their tribes!” The twelve clan leaders looked at one another in fear. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

9 " Commence the judgment of Yahweh.” Joshua called forth a contingent of the army that had been situated by the side of the tabernacle. They came forward and grabbed the clan leaders. They dragged them over to a clearing and took twelve-foot long pikes and impaled the leaders on them. They hung them in the sun for all to see, that Yahweh might turn away his wrath. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

10 " Judges of Israel, each of you kill those of your men who have yoked themselves to Ba’al of Peor.” Women screamed and guilty men took off, trying to escape the swords that came after them. Men were hacked and hewn by the edge of sword and axe for their abominable practices in Israel’s midst. Yahweh’s zeal for holiness did not end with the Canaanite heathen. It applied as much to Israel as to anyone else. Yahweh would not compromise his glory. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

11 " After four hundred years in the land of Canaan, the giant descendants of the Nephilim, the Seed of the Serpent, had spread out upon that land. The Jordan River ran north and south, splitting the country in half. The Anakim dominated the Cisjordan, which included the desert hills and valleys east of the Jordan River. The Rephaim controlled the Transjordan, which included the fertile hills and valleys west of that same river. They were both called by the generic term Amorite, and they worshipped the pantheon of Canaanite gods led by Ba’al the most high, Ashtart, goddess of sex and war, Molech of the underworld, and other patron deities of the region. The land of Canaan was filled with abomination. The iniquity of the Amorites was complete. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

12 " It was another terrible spiritual picture of the monstrous evil of idolatry that day. And it was Phineas’ cleansing act that stopped the plague. From that moment on, the sickness released its stranglehold on the Israelites and faded away. Phineas would receive a promise of perpetual priesthood, because that very day Phineas was jealous for Yahweh and made atonement for the people of Israel. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

13 " Joshua had been overcome by his own righteous indignation. He had become so obsessed with Yahweh’s war that he forgot he was a servant and not the sovereign. He became momentarily blinded by the delusion that he could do no wrong. And when his hatred for evil was projected outward, he was overwhelmed by his rage and forgot the evil in himself. His momentary madness was the potential of every living person. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

14 " the problem was that the instruments of Yahweh’s wrath were still men. And the taking of human life, though morally justified, was still the destruction of man created in the image of Yahweh. And once you had taken human life, it changed you. You were no longer an innocent. You had stepped into a polluted river of pain that cried out for redemption, for atonement. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

15 " Joshua and Caleb stayed outside the camp of Israel for seven days of purification, along with Othniel and all the men who had killed anyone in the destruction of Midian. It was required of Yahweh as a consecration of his holiness. Even the spoils that they captured would have to be purified. They killed every male, adult and child, and every woman who had lain with a man, since these were the ones who had seduced the sons of Israel into their idolatry. The young girls who had not lain with men were taken as captives. These captives as well as their clothes, and personal items were all cleansed in the waters of baptism, along with the Israelite soldiers. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

16 " Despite his frightening exterior, he too, like king Sihon, was still in subjection. His superior was Ashtart, the goddess ruler of the region, and personal escort of Ba’al, the most high god. Ashtart’s hairdo distracted Molech’s attention. It consisted of a massive amount of hair twirled and piled into the form of two large horns that accented her heavily made up face. Horns were symbols of deity, so she was tickled by the ability to combine the symbolic with an outrageous style. It would be a bit comical if she were not the most frightening of all warrior divinities. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

17 " Thousands of sheep, cattle, and donkeys were also cleansed through water as spoils of war and divided among the peoples. So too the thousands of shekels of items of silver, gold, bronze, and iron were purified through fire and also apportioned out to the tribes. On the final day of purification, Joshua and Caleb were getting ready to return to camp. They were in Joshua’s tent eating a small meal of goat and bread. Joshua took a sip of wine from his goatskin flask. Caleb watched him closely. He had been watching Joshua closely these seven days. Joshua looked refreshed. And he looked different. Like he was a changed man from the one whose pursuit of rigid excessive holiness rose to a crescendo of self-righteous vengeance and hate. He had come to the end of himself and was crushed by his own unrighteousness. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

18 " Have you forgotten the allotment at Babel?” She was referring to the act of Yahweh that occurred with the Confusion of Tongues at the Tower of Babel in the ancient days. He divided the nations, fixed their borders, and allotted them according to the number of the Sons of God as their inheritance. He had given the nations over to be ruled by the gods. But Yahweh kept Jacob, through the Seed of Eve, for his own inheritance. Molech said, “That is how we received Canaan.” “Yes, that is how we received Canaan,” she mimicked. “But, do not get too settled down little mole man. The Seed of Eve is on their way to Canaan, which means Yahweh intends to dispossess the Seed of the Serpent from their inheritance. It will be a great War of the Seed. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

19 " earth. If you thought that the earth was not created to be a servant to humanity, but humanity was created to be a servant to the earth, then treating humans as servants and slaves would not be outrageous at all. Killing them might even be a good thing in this view. Perhaps this was also why the satyrs went to great lengths to protect the births of animals in the flocks but regularly caused miscarriages in her fellow nymphs, killing any infants that accidently survived. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

20 " They would worship you when you brought them success or food for their bellies, but they would impale you on a pole if you crossed them or failed to live up to their expectations. The people were a mob. Yahweh did not pick Israel because they were more righteous than the other nations, or for anything in themselves. He chose them as his people from his own mysterious sovereign will, for his own mysterious sovereign purposes. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)