Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. MICAH 7:8

The friends from the Palace Beautiful walk with Christian down the hill. Prudence warns him that it is a hard matter for a man to go down into the Valley of Humiliation and catch no slip by the way, and even with their help he catches a slip or two. At the bottom they give him bread, wine and raisins and send him on alone. He has gone only a little way when he sees a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him. His name is Apollyon.

A monster who argues

Apollyon is hideous: clothed in scales like a fish, with wings like a dragon, feet like a bear, fire and smoke coming out of his belly and a mouth like a lion’s. Christian’s first thought is to turn back. Then he remembers that his armour has no piece for his back. To run would only expose him. So he resolves to stand his ground.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. JAMES 4:7

Apollyon opens with a claim of ownership. Christian comes from the City of Destruction; therefore he is one of Apollyon’s subjects, for all that country is his. How dare he run from his king? Christian answers that he was indeed born in Apollyon’s dominions, but that the service was hard and the wages such as a man could not live on, for the wages of sin is death.

Then Apollyon tries bargaining. Come back, and I will give you what my country can afford. Christian replies that he has let himself to another, the King of princes. Apollyon tries sympathy: many of that King’s servants give Him the slip after a while; do the same, and all shall be well. Christian says he has sworn allegiance; how can he go back? Apollyon offers to forgive and forget. And Christian answers that what he promised Apollyon was in his nonage, and that the Prince under whose banner he now stands is able to absolve him even of that. Then he says, simply, that he likes his new Master’s service, wages, servants, government, company and country better. “I am his servant, and I will follow him.”

The accusation

Then comes the cruellest weapon. Apollyon accuses. You have already been unfaithful, he says. You fainted in the Slough. You tried wrong ways to be rid of your burden. You sinfully slept and lost your roll. You nearly turned back at the lions. And when you talk of your journey you are inwardly desirous of vainglory in all you say.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. REVELATION 12:10

Every accusation is true. That is what makes it so deadly. And Christian’s answer is the answer every believer needs. He does not deny it. He says: all this is true, and much more that you have left out. But the Prince I serve is merciful and ready to forgive; I have groaned under these infirmities, been sorry for them, and obtained pardon of my Prince.

That is how Bunyan learned to fight the accuser. In Grace Abounding he describes long seasons in which Satan brought his sins before him, one after another, and he had no answer until he learned to say, in effect: yes, I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Saviour. The accuser wins only when we argue about our record. He loses when we plead Christ’s.

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. ROMANS 8:33–34

Half a day of fighting

Now Apollyon breaks into a rage. He straddles the whole breadth of the way, swears by his infernal den that Christian shall go no further, and throws a flaming dart at his breast. Christian catches it on his shield. Then the darts come thick as hail, and Christian is wounded in his head, his hand and his foot. The combat lasts above half a day, and Christian grows weaker and weaker.

At last Apollyon closes with him, wrestles him down, and Christian’s sword flies out of his hand. “I am sure of thee now,” says the fiend, and presses him almost to death. But as Apollyon fetches his last blow, Christian nimbly reaches out, catches his sword and cries the words of Micah: Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise. He gives Apollyon a deadly thrust, and then another, crying, Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. And Apollyon spreads his dragon wings and flies away.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ROMANS 8:37

The sword is the word of God, and Christian’s two thrusts are two verses of Scripture. Bunyan does not make him win by courage or skill, for he has almost none left. He wins by grasping the word when he is flat on his back. That, too, was Bunyan’s experience: again and again in Grace Abounding it is a single sentence of Scripture that turns the battle.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. EPHESIANS 6:17

Wounds and healing

The dreamer says that he never saw Christian give so much as one pleasant look all through the fight, until he saw he had wounded Apollyon; then he smiled and looked upward. Christian gives thanks, and a hand appears with leaves of the tree of life, which he applies to his wounds and is healed at once. He eats and drinks the bread and wine his friends gave him, and goes on with his sword drawn.

Why the Valley of Humiliation

Why does Apollyon meet Christian here, of all places? In the Second Part, when Christiana passes this way, Great-heart tells her that the Valley of Humiliation is in itself as fruitful a place as any the crow flies over, and that Christian’s trouble there came from his own slips on the way down. A pillar stands there warning those who come after to take heed of Christian’s slips before he came hither. Great-heart adds that our Lord formerly had His country-house in this valley and loved to walk its meadows, and they hear a shepherd boy singing that he that is down needs fear no fall.

That is a wonderful balance. Humiliation — the lowering of our pride — is a place where the devil fights hard, especially when we come into it carelessly, still proud of our privileges. But it is also the place Christ loved most, and where humble pilgrims find peace. The same valley is a battlefield for the proud and a meadow for the lowly.

He must increase, but I must decrease. JOHN 3:30

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Which of Apollyon’s arguments do you hear most often — ownership, bargaining, sympathy, threat or accusation? Write down your answer to it from Scripture.

2. When the accuser brings your sins before you, practise Christian’s reply: all this is true, and more; but my Prince is merciful, and I have obtained pardon.

3. Memorise Micah 7:8 and Romans 8:37 as weapons for the day when your sword has fallen out of your hand.

4. If you are wounded from a long fight, receive the healing God provides: rest, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, His Word.

5. Ask God to make you lowly, so that the Valley of Humiliation may be for you a meadow and not only a battlefield.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I was born in the enemy’s country, but You have bought me, and I am Your servant. I like Your service, Your wages, Your people and Your country better than his.

When the accuser throws my sins at me, let me not argue my record but plead Your pardon.

When I am down and my sword has fallen, put Your Word back in my hand. When I fall, let me arise.

Heal my wounds with the leaves of the tree of life, and make me low enough to walk safely in the valley You loved. Amen.