The Strength of His Hand (35 page)

“Prove it!” Iddina threw the sack he carried onto the ground in front of the priest. The bag writhed as the living creatures inside fought to escape.

“What is that?”

“Judean rats. My men captured three of them alive.”

“
Rats?
What am I supposed to do with them?”

“Examine their entrails. See what they portend.”

“You must be joking! Entrails of a
rat
?”

Iddina clenched his fists and took a step closer. “Do it!”

“Very well, my lord.”

Iddina hovered nearby as the bewildered priests began the ritual, reciting the incantations to the beat of pounding drums, enveloping themselves in billowing clouds of incense. He watched the high priest’s face as he sliced open the first rat, and Iddina knew immediately that the omens foretold something terrible. By the time he had slaughtered the third rat, the high priest could no longer disguise his horror.

“I-I don’t understand this… .” he mumbled.

“Tell me!”

“But I-I can’t explain it.”

Iddina grabbed the front of the priest’s bloody robe, nearly lifting him off his feet. “Tell me what the omens say!”

“They … all three of them … foretell death!”

“
Whose
death? The Judeans?”

“No, my lord.” The priest’s voice trembled.
“Ours!”

“How? How is that possible? The Judeans don’t have an army left!”

“I don’t know, my lord.”

“Is it the Egyptians? Are they coming to Judah’s aid?”

“My lord, these omens are meaningless. Let me do it again with the proper sacrifices, not with vermin. This time the omens will foretell victory over Pharaoh’s forces, just as they have before.”

But Iddina didn’t wait to see what the omens foretold the second time. He faced a god more powerful than any he had faced before, and he didn’t know how to fight him. He withdrew to his tent, battling his own terrible fear, and spent the long night carving figures of rats and tumors—as the Philistines had once done—and fastening them to his ankles, to his wrists, and to his neck.

26

A
TE IN THE AFTERNOON
on the eve of Passover, Hezekiah followed the directions Isaiah had given him, through the narrow, winding lanes to the rabbi’s house. As soon as the sun set, Passover would begin. But as Hezekiah left his guards and servants behind and wandered the unfamiliar streets outside his palace, he regretted accepting Isaiah’s invitation. He felt lonely and out of place here, walking among the crowded houses and stinking gutters. Isaiah met him at the front gate.

“Welcome, Your Majesty. We are honored to have you as our guest.” He led Hezekiah inside his tiny, one-room home. Isaiah’s wife was busy at the hearth, and the fragrant air carried the aroma of roasting lamb. A small wooden table, covered with a homespun cloth, was set with ordinary pottery plates and cups.

Hezekiah looked around at the cooking pots on the hearth, the sleeping mat in the corner, the rabbi’s scrolls and tablets piled on a shelf, and the humble, intimate setting made him feel awkward, like an intruder.

“Won’t you sit down?” Isaiah asked. He gestured to the seat in the center, while he and his wife took their places at each end of the table. Hezekiah had presided over all of the Passover feasts at the palace since his grandfather had died, but tonight the honor would go to Isaiah, as head of the house.

“Your Majesty, don’t you think it’s fitting that we celebrate our nation’s miraculous deliverance at the first Passover so soon after our own deliverance from Assyria?”

“I’m still overwhelmed, Rabbi. The Assyrians just vanished, and we were spared! Maybe you haven’t heard yet, but Pharaoh is finally sending out his forces to rescue us. A huge Egyptian army is marching north from Egypt into battle. That’s probably why the Assyrians withdrew.”

“Yahweh promised seven years ago that He would deliver you— remember? ‘The Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will “pass over” it and will rescue it.’ ”

“Yes. I remember the day you told me that.”

“This Passover feast celebrates our physical deliverance from our enemies, but it symbolizes our spiritual redemption, as well.”

“Our spiritual redemption? What do you mean?”

“The feast represents Yahweh’s eternal plan to redeem our souls from the sin of Adam’s fall.”

“I’ve celebrated Passover dozens of times, but I never heard that it symbolizes our spiritual redemption. Will you explain how it does that, Rabbi?”

“Why don’t we begin, and I’ll explain as we celebrate.” Isaiah’s wife lit the Passover candles, and Hezekiah bowed his head as she recited the traditional blessing. Then Isaiah said, “Just as the woman begins our Passover by providing light, so it will be that the seed of the woman will begin God’s redemption plan, bringing salvation to light. It is written, ‘So the Lord God said to the serpent …“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” ’ ”

“Is Yahweh speaking of the Messiah?”

“Yes, the Messiah, the promised seed of the woman. The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned… . For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness.”

“I don’t understand. How can the Messiah—the seed of David— be called ‘Mighty God’?”

“Don’t you remember what the psalmist has written? ‘O Israel, put your hope in the Lord. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.’ ”

“Yes, but—”

“It was revealed long ago, even to our father Abraham when he told Isaac, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.’ ”

“Was that when Yahweh provided the ram in the thicket? So that Abraham wouldn’t have to sacrifice his son?”

“That’s right, Your Majesty.” Isaiah lifted the flask of wine and filled their cups. “This wine reminds us of the blood of the Passover lamb that was shed for Israel’s salvation. As it is written, ‘When I see the blood, I will pass over you.’ The four cups of wine we will drink speak of God’s fourfold plan of redemption: ‘I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians… . I will free you from being slaves… . I will redeem you with an outstretched arm… . I will take you as my own people.’ ”

He set the flask of wine on the table, and they all bowed as Isaiah prayed the blessing. Then Hezekiah raised his cup and drank.

“Tonight we recall our slavery, Your Majesty, so that we can understand the true meaning of freedom. Yahweh liberated us from bondage to man—and from bondage to sin—so that we would be free to serve Him.”

Hezekiah looked at Isaiah to see if his words were meant as a rebuke for trusting in the alliance instead of in God, but the prophet held a clay bowl and pitcher out to him, pouring the water over Hezekiah’s hands, saying nothing. When they had all washed, Isaiah passed the plate of parsley and a bowl of salt water to dip it into.

“This represents the hyssop our ancestors used to paint the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. The salt represents the tears we shed in Egypt and at the Red Sea.”

After they had eaten the parsley, Isaiah took a basket with three loaves of unleavened bread and broke one of the loaves in two, reciting, “This is the bread of affliction our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt; let all those who are hungry enter and eat, and all who are in distress come and celebrate Passover.”

He looked up at Hezekiah and said, “In the same way, Yahweh invites us to partake of His salvation, saying, ‘Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? … Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.’ ”

“Rabbi, I have difficulty comprehending a God who is so generous— so forgiving.”

“We all do, because we are so unlike Him. That’s what tempts us to make idols. We want to cast God in our own image.” Isaiah poured their second cup of wine and raised his own. “This represents Yahweh’s second promise to us: ‘I will free you from being slaves.’ If the Holy One had not brought our ancestors out of Egypt, we and our children and our children’s children would still be in bondage to the pharaohs in Egypt. But Yahweh our God heard our voice and saw our affliction. Blessed be our holy God.”

Hezekiah stared into his wineglass, wondering why he had so foolishly trusted in Egypt for help. Pharaoh’s forces had finally come, but much too late for most of Hezekiah’s nation. The enemy had destroyed all his fortified cities except Jerusalem.

“Do you know the next part of the ritual, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, Rabbi.”

“Then why don’t you recite the words?”

Hezekiah cleared his throat. “God’s promise of deliverance has been the hope of our ancestors and of ourselves. For not only one nation, but many have risen up against us in every generation to annihilate us. But the Most Holy God, blessed be He, always delivered us out of their hands—”

He stopped, unable to finish, and Isaiah continued for him: “Just as He brought us forth from Egypt, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror, and with signs and wonders.”

Hezekiah bowed his head, reciting the next part of the liturgy from memory as Isaiah and his wife echoed the response: “If God had merely rescued us from Egypt, but had not slain their firstborn …”

“It would have been enough.”

“If He had merely slain their firstborn, but had not parted the sea for us …”

“It would have been enough.”

“If He had merely parted the sea, but had not fed us with manna …”

“It would have been enough.”

“And if He had merely fed us with manna, but had not brought us to this land …”

“It would have been enough.”

“Yes, Rabbi, it would have been more than enough.”

“But we know that Yahweh has done so much more. Someday, Your Majesty, on this very mountain the Lord Almighty will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.”

“God will swallow up death, Rabbi?” Hezekiah thought of Molech’s gaping mouth, swallowing his victims in death. “How is that possible?”

Isaiah set the Passover lamb on the table in front of him for the next part of the ritual, then held up the shank bone. “This is the Passover lamb our forefathers ate, because the Holy One, blessed be He, spared the houses of our ancestors from death. Even so will the Messiah—the Lamb of God—destroy the power that death holds over us.”

“Has Yahweh shown you the Messiah, Rabbi?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Can you tell me what you saw?”

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth… . Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

“Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

A tear glistened in Isaiah’s eye as he finished. Hezekiah stared at the Passover lamb on the table in front of him and murmured, “But that can’t be—I’m not worthy of such a sacrifice.Why would Yahweh do that for me?”

“Because He is your Father. Unlike your earthly father, who sacrificed his children to save himself, your heavenly Father will sacrifice himself to save His children.”

“I can’t comprehend such love, Rabbi.”

“None of us can. If we could, what different lives we would live!” He raised the cup, reciting, “Therefore, we praise Him who performed all these miracles for us. He brought us from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to dancing, from servitude to redemption. Let us therefore sing a new song in His presence. Hallelujah!”

They sang the traditional Passover psalms together, but as Hezekiah pondered what Isaiah had told him, he knew that the words had never meant so much to him before. Then, as he sang the last verse of the hymn:
“He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy
mother of children,”
Hezekiah suddenly thought of Hephzibah, and he felt the pain of her betrayal shudder through him. He scarcely heard the rabbi recite the blessing on the unleavened bread and bitter herbs as he stared down at the table, thinking of Hephzibah. When he finally looked up, Isaiah’s wife had taken the pots with the Passover supper from the hearth and laid the meal on the table in front of him. He began to eat, as his hosts were doing, but he barely tasted the food.

“What are you thinking about?” Isaiah asked gently.

Hezekiah was ashamed to confess that he still thought about Hephzibah, an idolatress. “I was thinking of the words we just sang: ‘Who is like the Lord our God?”’ he said instead.