We Come in Peace

Gideon dropped his head and cried for his friends. General Idit laughed at Gideon’s tears. General Idit slowly made his way down the steps and to the square. He was ready to exact his revenge. For years, over and over, General Idit had to hear how great a warrior Gideon was from everyone. He could even tell his own men believed that Gideon was greater than he was. Now he would put an end to all that talk. Each step he took down to the square inspired his revenge more and more. It fueled his anger to the point that when he arrived he was highly motivated, as King Abimelech would put it, to whip Gideon to within an inch of his life. King Abimelech sat back in his seat, looked at his Queen and said, “This will be good. Finally General Idit will get his revenge.” The General walked out to the grounds. As he walked he reached out his hand and on cue a soldier placed a whip in it. It had five leather straps at the end of a wooden rod. Each strap was a foot in length and had a fisherman’s hook at the end of strap. He wanted to exact some flesh from Gideon with each strike. The General wanted to whip Gideon until he was tired and then hang him until the life was out of him. General Idit ordered the guards, “Remove his shirt. I want him to feel each and every whip across his back.” The guards removed Gideon’s shirt and General Idit began striking him over and over with the whip. The leather straps cut into the skin of Gideon. The hooks dug into his skin and made gouges in his body. Flesh was flying into the air every time General Idit pulled the whip back. Each blow created bright red marks on Gideon’s back. The more strikes across his back the redder it became until it was covered in blood. General Idit grunted loudly as if with each blow he was trying to cut Gideon in half and King Abimelech bellowed out laughter with each strike. The crowd cheered louder and louder with each anticipated strike. Roaring for more and more…screaming for death…the crowd seemed to care little about life…especially the life of a traitor. No one man could have sustained the punishment being handed out to Gideon. He was truly the strongest warrior anyone had ever seen. As Gideon fell over from the pain, one of the Gomorrite soldiers ran over and placed him upright again. Each time he fell a guard picked him up for more abuse. From their view in a small building just off the square some of the women and children of the resistance watch and cried for Gideon and their fallen comrades. With each blow more and more tears flowed out from all of them. One woman pleaded to the Heavens, “Please, God make him stop…Please!” Another shouted, “I cannot watch any longer.” After nearly a hundred blows General Idit stopped. He gathered his breath and ordered the guards to pour alcohol on Gideon knowing it would cause him severe pain. Gideon bellowed out a scream as the alcohol hit the numerous open wounds across his back. General Idit looked at Gideon as he lay pitifully on the ground, moaning in pain, his back now covered with blood, alcohol, and dirt. He walked over to him, lifted Gideon up by this hair and spit in his face. He then dropped Gideon back down to the ground. Gideon rolled over in pain. He could not reach his wounds because of his chains. All he could do was cry out in agony. General Idit looked up in the balcony at King Abimelech as he laughed and enjoyed the punishment he was putting on Gideon. General Idit noted the look on Queen Metuka face. It was filled with excitement. He thought, "She was truly an evil woman." General Idit then turned back to Gideon and snarled, “Look at you…pitiful Gideon…the great so called warrior. Look at you. All of these years I have waited to get my revenge and now I am enjoying each second of it. You disgust me. My friends Yanisin and Rafael were killed by your people. I exact revenge on their behalf as well.” Gideon looked up from the ground and managed to utter the words, “You are still a coward. No matter what you do to me, I am still a believer in the one true God…Jehovah!” This angered General Idit even more. He turned and slapped Gideon across the face with a powerful blow. Then he grabbed Gideon and dragged him up the steps of the gallows himself. Once there he threw Gideon down on the platform beneath one of the hanging ropes. He yelled at the guards, “String him up…now!” The guards hurried to Gideon. Gideon cried out again as the guards securely placed the noose around his neck and tighten it enough so his neck would not snap right away. They wanted Gideon to hang for a while before he died. Gideon looked at King Abimelech and then to General Idit and announced, “Jehovah will avenge me…both of you will burn in the fires of Hell for all eternity. This…I do in the name of my God…Jehovah!” Then in a cold emotionless voice General Idit commanded the guards, “Pull the level!” With one swift pull Gideon legs went out from underneath him and his body began to kick for several minutes as the noose tighten around his neck. He kicked and kicked as he struggled in vain to free himself. His arms remained chained behind his back and around the steel rod. He could not get free. After what seemed like a lifetime the noose slowly choked all the life out of him. With his last breath Gideon proclaimed, “Father…I give my life to you!” Gideon’s body went lifeless on the platform before all. The crowd became silent and the clouds above Gomorrah began to get dark. It was a darkness never seen by Gomorrites before. Many of them ran in fear. A thunderous explosion rolled across the sky unlike any other ever heard before. The rain began to pour down from the sky and the wind raged with anger. The greatest warrior of the resistance had died. One man standing in the rain and part of the now silent crowd asked, “What have we done?” General Idit stood there proud of what he had done. The rain was soaking his body from head to toe but wanted to take in every moment of this revenge. *** In the small room the women and children of the resistance were crying feverishly as the life of Gideon was lost forever. Many hoped that he would lead them to victory but now he hung dead in the center of New Gomorrah as the thunder rolled across the sky and rain poured down washing his body free of the blood and dust that once covered it. One small child who stood looking out the window looked up and asked her mother, “Mommy…is God crying too?”