CH16-17 (Eng)

 

16 CHRISTIAN ENTERS INTO BATTLE WITH APOLLYON

Now Christian had not gone far in this Valley of Humiliation before he was severely tested, for he noticed a very foul fiend coming over the field to meet him; his name was Apollyon [Destroyer]. At this Christian became afraid and immediately pondered whether he ought to retreat or stand his ground. But on further consideration he realized that he had no armor on his back, and therefore to expose himself there in fleeing would probably give this foe the advantage with his use of piercing darts. So he determined to risk confrontation with this enemy. For he further thought, “If I only had in mind the saving of my life, then it would still be best to stand my ground.”

So he continued on, and Apollyon met him. Now this monster was exceedingly hideous to behold; he was clothed with scales like a fish of which he was most proud; he had wings like a dragon, feet like a bear, and out of his belly belched forth fire and smoke through a mouth like that of a lion. When he drew near to Christian, he looked down upon him with a contemptuous, sneering expression, and then commenced to question him.

APOLLYON: From where have you come, and where are you going?

CHRISTIAN: I have come from that place of all evil, the City of Destruction, and am heading toward the City of Zion.

APOLLYON: So from this I conclude that you are one of my subjects since the whole of that region belongs to me; I am its prince and god! This being true, then how is it that you have run away from your king? Were it not for the fact that my plan is for you to serve me further, I would, right now, strike you to the ground with one smashing blow.

CHRISTIAN: It is true that I was born in your territories, but your employment was hard; and your wages were such that a man could not properly live on them since the wages of sin is death. Therefore when I came to adulthood, I did what other thoughtful people ought to do, and that is seek for better employment.

APOLLYON: You understand that no prince worthy of the name will easily release his subjects; and so neither will I let you go at this time. But since you have complained of your duties and salary, let me encourage you to return; I personally promise that every attempt will be made by our government to improve your wages.

CHRISTIAN: But I have yielded my loyalty to another, even to the King of princes; so in all fairness, how can I possibly return to you?

APOLLYON: You have done that which the proverb describes, namely, “exchanged a bad for a worse.” Though it is quite common for those who profess themselves to be his servants, after a while, to slip away from his employment and again return to me. Do this and I assure you that all will be well.

CHRISTIAN: But I have given him my faith and sworn allegiance; so how then can I go back on my word and not be hanged as a traitor?

APOLLYON: You did the very same thing to me! Nevertheless, I am willing to let the past be forgotten if you will simply turn once more and go back to the City of Destruction.

CHRISTIAN: What I promised you then was in my nonage [as an immature youth]; and besides this, I regard my Prince, under whose banner I now stand, as able to absolve me of your charges; and even further, he is able to pardon whatever I did in serving you. And besides all this, oh you destroying Apollyon, to be perfectly truthful, I like his employment, his wages, his servants, his government, his company and country infinitely more than yours. Therefore, stop trying to change my mind and leave me alone; I am the Lord’s servant and I am determined to follow him.

APOLLYON: That is all very well; but consider what it will be like when your spirit is low and at the same time you have much to encounter in the way you are going. You are aware that, for the most part, his servants come to a wretched end because they are transgressors against me and my ways. How many of them there are who have been shamefully put to death! And furthermore, while you count his employment better than mine, yet he has never come from his heavenly residence to rescue any of his servants out of our hands. On the other hand, all the world well knows that I have, so many times, used my power and fraudulent schemes to deliver those who have faithfully served me; even when they were captured by he and his followers, still I have rescued them, and so I will also deliver you.

CHRISTIAN: His present restraint in delivering them is for the purpose of testing their love, that is proving whether they will be loyal to him to the end. And as for the sorry end that you declare is their destiny, why they are assured of receiving future glory. In fact they do not expect present deliverance; rather they are content to wait for their glory in the future, and then they shall certainly have it when their Prince comes in glory along with the angels.

APOLLYON: But you have already been unfaithful in serving your new Lord, so how is it possible for you to receive any wages from him?

CHRISTIAN: Tell me, oh Apollyon, in what ways have I been unfaithful to him?

APOLLYON: Very soon after leaving the City of Destruction, you were quickly discouraged when you almost drowned in the Slough of Despond. You made several wrong attempts to be rid of your burden, whereas you should have waited until your Prince relieved you of it himself. Through shameful oversleeping, you lost a very precious personal possession; also you were nearly persuaded to turn back at the sight of those fierce lions; and when you converse, as you travel, of what you have heard and seen, your inward desire is for personal glory with regard to everything that you say or do.

CHRISTIAN: All that you say is true; in fact there is much more that you have left out. But the Prince who I serve and honor is very merciful and most willing to forgive; but besides this, these misdemeanors were committed in your territory where I was educated in them; and as a consequence I have grieved over them and repented of ever doing such things. Furthermore, I have received a full pardon regarding these crimes from my Prince.

APOLLYON: (In a furious rage) I am an enemy of this Prince of yours: I hate his person, his laws, and his people: for this reason I have purposely come out here to oppose you.

CHRISTIAN: Apollyon, be very careful what you are doing, for I am in the King’s highway, that is the way of holiness; so watch yourself.

APOLLYON: (Now defiantly astride the whole width of the way) I am void of fear in this matter, so prepare yourself to die, for I swear by my infernal den [of iniquity] that you shall go no further; here I will spill your soul!

At this Apollyon was quick to throw a flaming dart directly at his breast; but Christian used the shield that was in his hand and deflected it, and so avoided this danger. Then in response, Christian drew his sword since he now realized it was time to stir himself. But Apollyon swiftly hurled a hail of darts that, notwithstanding all the skill that Christian could muster to avoid, yet inflicted wounds on his head as well as his hand and foot. Now this assault caused Christian to retreat a little, so that Apollyon pressed more forcefully; yet Christian again took courage and resisted as courageously as he could. This agonizing combat extended beyond half a day, even until Christian was almost exhausted. For you should know that Christian, on account of his wounds, inevitably grew weaker and weaker.

Then Apollyon, recognizing his opportunity, began to press closer upon Christian and, now wrestling with him, heavily threw him to the ground. As a result, Christian’s sword flew out of his hand. Then Apollyon gleefully exclaimed, “I am sure of you now,” and immediately he drew close intending to inflict a mortal wound.

At this point Christian began to despair of staying alive. But, as God would have it, while Apollyon was preparing his final blow so as to destroy this good man, yet Christian was enabled to nimbly stretch out his hand and regain a grip on his sword. At the same time he cried out, “Do not rejoice against me, oh my implacable enemy, for when I fall, I shall yet arise.” Then he gave Apollyon a deadly thrust which caused him to draw back as if he had received a fatal wound. Now in perceiving this, Christian moved in upon him while declaring, “Even so, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” As a result, Apollyon quickly spread out his dragon’s wings and fled away so that Christian saw him no more.

Now unless any man had seen and heard the intensity of this combat as I did, he could not possibly imagine the yelling and hideous roaring of Apollyon, as well as his dragon-like manner of speaking. On the other hand, what sighs and groans there were that burst forth from Christian’s heart. During the whole encounter I never saw him give so much as one pleasant look, that is until he was aware of his wounding of Apollyon with his two-edged sword; but then he smiled broadly and at the same time looked upward. However, on the whole, this was the most dreadful sight that I had ever seen.

So when the battle was over, Christian declared, “I will here give thanks to him who has delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, that is against Apollyon;” and so he spoke with gratitude as follows:

Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend,
Designed my ruin; therefore to this end
He sent him harnessed out, and he with rage
That hellish was, did fiercely me engage.
But blessed Michael helped me, and I
By dint [blow] of sword did quickly make him fly.
Therefore to him let me give lasting praise,
And thank and bless his holy name always.

Then there came to Christian a hand in which were some of the leaves of the Tree of Life, and taking these he applied them to the wounds that he had received in the battle; as a result he was immediately healed. He also sat down at that same place to eat bread and drink from the bottle that had earlier been given to him. So being refreshed, he prepared himself for moving forward in his journey. Now his sword was already drawn in his hand, for he said, “I do not know if some other enemy may be near at hand.” Even so, he did not meet with any further opposition from Apollyon, that is throughout the remainder of this valley.

 

17 CHRISTIAN CONFRONTS THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH

Now at the end of this valley there was another called the Valley of the Shadow of Death; and it was necessary for Christian to pass through it because the way to the Celestial City was in that direction. Now this valley was a very solitary and lonely place. The prophet Jeremiah describes it as, “A wilderness, a land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought and of the shadow of death, a land that no man” (except a Christian) “passes through, and where no man dwells.”

Now it was here that Christian was more severely tried than when he earlier engaged Apollyon in battle; and this will become evident in the following account.

So I [Bunyan] saw in my dream that, when Christian arrived at the borders of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, two men met him there, namely children of those [spies] who had earlier delivered an evil report of the good [Promised] Land, and quickly determined to turn back. To these Christian spoke as follows:

CHRISTIAN: Where are you going?

MEN: Oh back, yes definitely back to where we have come from! And frankly, we would have you do exactly the same, that is if you value either life or peace.

CHRISTIAN: Why? What is the matter with the way ahead?

MEN: You say “What is the matter”? Why we were pressing ahead just as you are presently doing, and reached as far as we dared. In fact had we gone only a little further on, it would have been impossible for us to return and bring this news to you.

CHRISTIAN: But what was it that you encountered?

MEN: Why we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but through good fortune we happened to look ahead and see the danger before we came too near.

CHRISTIAN: But what was it exactly that you saw?

MEN: What did we see? Why it was the Valley itself being as dark as pitch. We also saw there the hobgoblins, satyrs [human/animal creatures], and dragons of the pit; in that Valley we also heard a continual howling and yelling, as if from people experiencing unspeakable misery, people who sat bound in affliction and irons. And over that Valley there hung the discouraging clouds of confusion while death spread its wings and hovered over it. To sum up, it was a thoroughly dreadful sight; everywhere there was nothing but disorder.

CHRISTIAN: It is true that I have not yet seen what you describe. Nevertheless, the way ahead remains the chosen route by which I hope to arrive at my safe haven.

MEN: If that is still to be your way, then so be it; but we will not any longer choose it as ours.

So Christian parted with the two men and continued to move forward, though his sword remained drawn, at the ready, for fear that he might be assaulted.

Then I saw in my dream that, for the whole length of this Valley, on the right-hand side there was a very deep Ditch. And this was the same Ditch into which the blind have led the blind for endless ages, with the result that they all have miserably perished. Similarly on the left-hand side there was a very dangerous Quagmire into which, if even a good man fell, he could find no solid bottom for his feet to stand on. It was into this same Quagmire that King David once fell, and doubtless he would have been smothered there had it not been for the deliverance of He who was able to pull him out.

Now at this place the way was extremely narrow, and for this reason Christian was severely tested as he pressed on. When in the dark he was careful to shun the Ditch on the right-hand side, but then he found himself in danger of stumbling into the Quagmire on the left-hand side. Moreover, when he attempted to escape the Quagmire, unless he was very cautious, he would find himself on the brink of falling into the Ditch. Yet Christian went on and it was here that I heard him sigh ever so bitterly; the reason was that besides the dangers mentioned above, the pathway here was so dark that often, when he lifted his foot to take a step forward, yet he did not know what he would find when he put it down.

Now about in the middle of this Valley, here I noticed the location of the very mouth of Hell, it in fact being hard up against the narrow way. At the sight of this Christian wondered what he should do since so much flame and smoke were belching forth, accompanied with sparks and hideous noises. These fearful eruptions seemed quite unruffled concerning Christian’s sword, as had been the case with Apollyon; so the trembling pilgrim found it necessary to resort to another weapon called All-Prayer. In using this I was able to hear him cry out, “Oh Lord, I implore you to deliver my soul!”

So Christian continued to pray in this manner for a long while; at the same time, as he crept along the way, the flames of Hell seemed to lick ever so close to him; he also heard doleful voices and rushes back and forth, so that sometimes he thought he would be torn in pieces or trodden under foot like mire in the streets. While continuing to observe this frightful scene and hear such dreadful noises over the space of several miles, he came to a place where he thought he also heard a company of fiends who were approaching to meet him; this caused the pilgrim to muse over what it would be best for him to do.

Sometimes he had half a mind to go back; on the other hand he wondered if he might be at least half way through the Valley. He also recalled how he had already vanquished many a danger, and therefore he wondered if the perils of going back might be much greater than those encountered in going forward. So Christian decided to move ahead. Yet the fiends seemed to draw nearer and nearer; but when they seemed to be almost upon him, he cried out with such an impassioned cry, “I will walk in the strength of the Lord,” that they drew back and ceased their approach.

One thing I should not avoid mentioning, by way of observation, is how poor Christian now appeared to be so confused; as I watched him, he did not even seem to know his own voice. Just when he came close to the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones sneaked up behind him, ever so softly, and whispered in his ear many suggestive and distressing blasphemies; these he was convinced had originated from his own mind. Thus, in this manner, Christian was more sorely pressed in his journey than at any other time, since it troubled him to think that he could possibly blaspheme he who he loved so much. If he could have helped it, he need not have been so troubled; nevertheless, he did not have the discretion both to stop his ears and understand the real source of these blasphemies.

When Christian had traveled in this depressed condition for some considerable time, he then thought he heard the voice of a man on pilgrimage ahead of him, saying, “Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” As a result he felt very glad, and that for the following reasons:

First, because he gathered from what he heard that some who feared God were in this Valley as well as himself.

Second, since he understood that God was with them, even in such a dark and dismal place, then he reasoned that this invisible presence ought also to be with him, in spite of the hindrances of such a region.

Third, for the hope that he entertained of eventually having fellowship, should he be able to overtake those ahead of him. So he went on and called out to the man who was ahead, though he did not know what to say in reply since he also had thought himself to be alone. Eventually the light of the morning dawned; at this Christian exclaimed, “He has turned the shadow of death into the morning.”

Now that a new day had come, he looked back, not out of a desire to return, but rather to see more clearly, by daylight, exactly what hazards he had traversed in the dark. So he saw more distinctly the Ditch that was on one side and the Quagmire that was on the other; he also perceived just how narrow the way was that lay between these perils; furthermore, he also identified the hobgoblins, satyrs, and dragons of the pit, even though they were now some distance from him. Apparently after daybreak they were reluctant to draw near, though he saw them in fulfillment of it being written, “He reveals deep things out of darkness, and brings to light the shadow of death.”

So Christian was greatly moved with his deliverance from all the dangers of his solitary journey thus far. Now these trials, though he feared them more than ever, yet had become more apparent to him because the light of day had exposed them. So with the sun now rising, this advantage offered Christian even more mercy; for it is to be noted that though the first part of the Valley of the Shadow of Death was dangerous, yet the second part ahead of him was, if at all possible, far more dangerous. This was because throughout the remainder of the Valley there were set innumerable snares, traps, gins [catching devices], and nets, as well as there being countless pits, pitfalls, deep holes, and unsafe ledges in those depths.

Had it now been as dark as was formerly the case, though he possessed a thousand souls, yet they all would have been lost in this region. But, as I said, the sun was now rising. For this reason the pilgrim declared, “His candle shines on my head, and by his light I go through the darkness.”

Therefore in this light Christian came to the end of the Valley. Now I saw in my dream that at the end of this Valley there lay blood, bones, ashes, and the mangled bodies of men, even of pilgrims who had earlier come this way. And while I was musing over what could be the reason for these remains, I noticed a short way ahead a cave in which lived two giants, Pope and Pagan; here they had lived for a long time, and by power and tyranny had cruelly put to death the men whose bones, blood, and ashes lay before him.

Yet at this place Christian passed by without much danger, and this somewhat surprised me. But subsequently I have learned that Pagan has been dead for many a day; and as for the other, though he is still alive, yet, on account of his old age and the many shrewd conflicts that he met with in his younger days, he has grown crazy and stiff in his joints. As a result he can now do little more than sit in the mouth of his cave, grinning at pilgrims as they go by and biting his nails, being frustrated because he cannot intercept them.

So I saw that Christian went on his way, though at the sight of the old man that sat at the mouth of the cave, he could not decide what to think, especially because Pope was unable to approach him, though he threateningly spoke, “You will never mend, until more of you are burned.” But he held his peace and smiled as he passed by, though without suffering any harm. Then Christian sang:

Oh world of wonders! (I can say no less)
That I should be preserved in that distress
That I have met with here! Oh blessed be
That hand that from it has delivered me!
Dangers in darkness, devils, Hell, and sin,
Did compass me, while I this vale was in:
Yes, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie
My path about, that worthless silly I
Might have been caught, entangled, and cast down:
But since I live, let Jesus wear the crown.