Princes of Mammon
by
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“Years ago in the dateless past, known to modern man only by the dubious legends surviving the intervening millennia, a swarthy man of large proportions stood at the apex of his ziggurat in lower Mesopotamia and looked upwards to where the fluffy clouds and deep blue of the sky seemed to give a definition to the edge of the firmament. He felt no awe, however. For, feeling such would require acknowledgement of a Creator greater than he. This he would not concede. His purpose was to glorify himself and luxuriate in the magnificence of works of his own.
“He was the ultimate human being of his day. His perfect proportions manifested a lithe, well defined musculature. His actions were perfectly coordinated and affected with grace unparalleled. His superior intelligence, great strength, and imposing presence, coupled with extraordinary leadership ability and burning ambition, enabled him to rise above to dominate the masses. From his shoulders upward, he was taller than all the people.”
Thus begins Princes of Mammon in primeval times when the lust for power and the lust to dominate others first appeared in the character of man causing tyrants to arise and force society into the molds they designed for it.
“The girl said, ‘You darken counsel by words without knowledge.’
Nin-Marada, stood stunned, momentarily speechless.
The girl continued.
‘You were not there when God laid the foundation of the earth.
‘You did not enclose the sea with doors.
‘You have never commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know its place.
‘You have not understood the expanse of the earth.
‘You cannot lift your voice to the clouds so that an abundance of water may cover us.
‘You did not give the horse his might.
‘You cannot explain how the birds soar.
‘You call yourself ‘Mighty Hunter Before the Lord,’ but you dare not lay a hand on behemoth and you dare not disturb leviathan. You cannot withstand the strength of behemoth or leviathan yet you presume to withstand the strength of God Almighty.”
’Thus concludes the pre-historical portion of Princes of Mammon as God intervenes in the affairs of men and raises up the humble to oppose the mighty.
“Rev. Halvorsan-Clark stood at the gate of the wrought iron cemetery enclosure and clutched his worn Book of Common Prayer as he offered condolences to the family who filed past. Slowly, the black clad group of bare headed men and veiled ladies made its way along the quarter mile walk back to the warmth of the manor house, and Halvorsan-Clark watched them with a sense of gravity and some unease as he raised his right hand to his chest to feel through his vestments a medallion given him many years ago.
‘“What have you done, Jacob Davids,”’ he thought aloud as his gaze fixed upon a tall young man near the rear of the procession and the young woman walking beside him with her hand in his.” Thus continues Princes of Mammon as those specially chosen to bear the Medallions of the Far Times are sifted as through a sieve and purified as by refiner’s fire to purge them of dross to lay them low so God can raise them up as His chosen ones to oppose the satanic forces behind the great men of the modern times.
“Hundreds of feet above street level, the elevator silently lowered Cyrus Wheaton from his sanctum sanctorum atop the Petroleum Chemical Bank Building to the level of his business offices one floor below. He seemed happy, because ponder though he would with all his genius, he could think of no more powerful a man in all the earth. No one held sway over more people and enterprises and governments and institutions than did he. This gave him indescribable pleasure, especially today, for in a short while he would soon be luxuriating in the misery of people he had crushed.
“The corpulent banker padded into his office suite past the secretaries and into his private chambers. Before settling his bulk behind the great desk, he took a moment to savor the panorama before him. The office occupied half a floor and large picture windows formed three of the walls. From this height, higher than any of the other buildings around, Wheaton could look eastward over Brooklyn and out to sea, southward past the Statue of Liberty, and westward into New Jersey. Of course he felt great pride that he and he alone of all men in the earth occupied such a lofty pinnacle from whence flowed downward the orders affecting most of the world’s affairs. He ceremoniously took his seat though no one was there to see him.”
Thus concludes The Princes of Mammon as the godly meet the godless in a stunning denouement of the age old tensions and conflicts between the sublime and the vulgar.
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About the Book
Princes of Mammon begins in primeval times when greed, arrogance, and lust for power and domination of people first arose in the character of man. Those traits carried forward to the modern era, when technological advances make possible previously unimaginable power and wealth accumulation.
But throughout history, God has raised up opposition to the blasphemous tyrants who think they are God, who force themselves to the forefront, only fading away to be forgotten. He intervenes directly in the affairs of men as when He destroyed the blasphemous Tower of Babel and confounded the languages of the people. He calls courageous people as the two ancient families who recognized evil in the tyrant Nin-Marada and as the young girl who defied him to his face and later took her place in the lineage of Christ.
God commissions the Medallions of the Far Times to be passed down through the ages to remind the bearers of His ways and to mark them for His purposes. He chooses his servants, sifts them as through a sieve, and purges them with refiner’s fire as with Sterling Davids whom He laid bare then lifted up again to more lofty pinnacles.
Princes of Mammon is a compelling story of the age-old conflict between the cabals of evil men who seem to prosper in every era and the humble, mostly unseen people God has kept for Himself who do not bow the knee to idols.
About the Author
Asa Stone, a native of Jackson, Tennessee, has been a Coke truck driver, machinist, youth marketer, newspaper editor, photographer, shipping manager, patent writer, and draftsman. He has been married for thirty-seven years and has two sons. He is a devout Christian. He collects stamps and is a ballroom dancer.