|
 It would have been easy to let the Euphrates' mighty current sweep her away to where it desired or perhaps Enbilulu, the river god would carry her to safety. It could not be this way as Ishi was in the river as well, and Rabin knew she had little time to find her - alive. As Rabin came up for air, she screamed, Ishi's name. Although there were guards watching over the riverbank, who were sure to hear Rabin, keeping quiet while Ishi perished was not an option.
"I'm here," gurgled Ishi and in the moonlight, Rabin could see her hand waving frantically. Rabin began to move toward Ishi across the current as quickly as she could. She was making little progress but would not give up. As Ishi continued to sail down river, Rabin could see a piece of driftwood near her.
"Grab the wood," Rabin yelled. Ishi could see the wood, and was approaching it fast. She reached out and grabbed it and immediately she slowed down but not enough for Rabin to catch up to her. Instinctively, Ishi began to kick her legs, as if trying to run in the water.
Ishi realized that if she kicked hard enough, she could remain still. Rabin began to move faster knowing that Ishi could not keep this up for long. In no time, Ishi began to drift dangerously close to the riverbank. Rabin's movements became more spastic and frantic and a jet of water splashed in her eye. She quickly recovered, but as she regained her focus, she saw Tarik, the palace guard she thought she'd dispatched earlier, running toward Ishi.
"ISHI!" Rabin screamed, alerting her to Tarik. She saw him and began kicking her feet wildly, slowly moving the opposite direction, but knew she could not escape the guard fast approaching her.
"That's far enough, Little One," Tarik grunted as he pulled Ishi by a piece of her wet garment. Ishi screamed and then felt a force pull her in the other direction. The guard looked back and saw Rabin, pulling Ishi by the legs back into the river. "So you want to fight, Girl? Let's fight." Just as Tarik released Ishi a bit in an attempt to get a tighter grip on her, Rabin threw her body back, and she and Ishi crashed into the river. Tarik cursed his god and ran after them desperate for the reward their capture promised, but the swiftness of the Euphrates was too much even for him, and he watched them float away.
The black, seemingly depthless water that encircled Rabin and Ishi did not scare them as the driftwood was big enough to keep them both above water. As they fought to catch their breath, Rabin held Ishi tight. She kissed her face and Ishi began to cry. "Thank you for saving me," she whispered. Rabin hugged Ishi even more tightly, feeling strong and weak in the same moment. Yes, she had saved Ishi, and it had taken everything in her. This journey of theirs was just beginning. They would journey down the Euphrates to the Kebar River, to Tel Abib and then the arduous trek though the Arabian Desert to Jerusalem. Rabin closed her eyes as she thought about what lay ahead. How would they make it thorough and if the time came, who would save her?
It had been two days since Rabin and Ishi pulled themselves from the Kebar River. Ishi had been less of a problem to travel with than Rabin expected. She had kept up, never complained, although there was always a never-ending stream of questions. Apparently, children had a lot of them.
"How much further is it?" Ishi asked, her dark eyes filled with curiosity.
Rabin looked up ahead and noticed a group of men tending their fields. "We're close," Rabin answered as she quickened her pace, knowing Tel Abib, the city Daniel promised would be a safe resting place, was near.
As Ishi and Rabin arrived in Tel Abib she laughed to herself, amused by how far she had come. She was a Jebusite, who only weeks before considered herself an enemy of the Hebrews and here she was, relieved to be entering a city full of them. They were exiles from Judah like Daniel himself.
Tel Abib was nothing like Babylon. It was simple. Its wide streets allowed for everything and everyone to be seen. It had no high buildings and left no hiding places. Best of all, no one there wanted to do them harm.
It did not matter to Rabin that all eyes were on her and Ishi as they neared the well at the center of the village. She knew it was because they were strangers here. Ishi on the other hand was disheartened. "Why won't they smile back when I smile at them?" she wondered out loud.
"They don't know if they can trust us," Rabin answered.
"How do we know we can trust them?" Ishi suddenly had a bad attitude.
"Because Daniel said we could," Rabin answered confidently. It was at the moment that Rabin's eyes filled with tears. Daniel, her friend, the reason she had escaped Babylon was dead - thrown into the lion's den that no one had ever escaped. She would not forget him. She would not forgive his God.
As they reached the well, Rabin wiped her eyes, successfully hiding her sadness from Ishi. It was just before the cool of the day, so no one was there. Ishi sighed heavily as she sat down and laid her head against the well. How tired she must be. Rabin looked down upon her. With closed eyes and her hair fanned across the rocks, Ishi looked peaceful, childlike, the way she had not been allowed to look for so long. She was free, finally free.
Rabin pulled her travel bag from around her neck and looked inside. She removed a flask and as she moved to fill it with water, she saw an old woman standing behind her. The woman smiled, "Do you need another flask for water?"
"Yes, if you can spare one," Rabin answered quickly, "but I have no money or nothing to trade."
"The woman caught a glimpse of the gold medallion in Rabin's bag, but before she could offer an explanation, the woman laughed, "Don't worry. Nothing I have is worth that."
Rabin smiled as she took the flask from the woman's hand. Ishi sat up and smiled at the Old Woman, but the woman did not look her way. Her eyes were focused on the idol around Rabin's neck. Suddenly, the Old Woman's face soured. "We worship only the Most High God here. So get your water and be on your way."
"If you worship the God of Daniel, then you worship a powerless god," Rabin was surprised by the anger and coldness of her words, but she wasn't finished. "He cannot even protect those who are faithful enough to die for him."
"If you truly knew the Most High God, you would not wear that powerless idol around your neck," the Old Woman charged, wishing she had never given Rabin her flask.
"I know Daniel is dead, and His God refused to save him," Rabin choked on her last words, the reality once again setting in. Ishi instinctively gripped Rabin's hand wanting to comfort her.
The Old Woman's face sank, as she pondered the possibility, and then shook her head dismissing it. "Daniel is a great man. If he were dead, we would have heard."
"Five days have passed since he was sentenced to die in a lion's den. You will hear." Rabin deeply despised having to relive it all again in her mind: the part she played in Daniel's arrest, the way the guards heartlessly dragged him away as he was praying to his God, and King Darius' inability to save him. It was too much to think about. She and Ishi had to keep moving. In one swift move, Rabin slung the travel bag over her shoulder and pulled Ishi away from the Old Woman.
As they were leaving the village, Ishi wondered out loud, "Who is Daniel?"
"Just a storyteller," Rabin answered not wanting re-open this already tender wound.
"Why would they put a storyteller in a den of lions?" Ishi had a way of asking questions in such an innocent manner that it made Rabin feel generally guilty. Rabin gripped Ishi's hand and quickened her pace; hoping Ishi would abandon this line of questioning and focus on leaving Tel Abib.
"Ow," Ishi cried as she struggled to keep up. The next time she hit this sore spot named Daniel, she'd make certain that Rabin was not touching any part of her body.
The Man was not a stranger to this town as he was accustomed to stopping here on business. He watched regretfully as Rabin and Ishi left the village, having been unable to stop them. While he and his servant Shallus had been watering his camels, he overheard the last bit of Rabin's exchange with the Old Woman. She was quite mistaken in her beliefs on many levels. Hadn't he just closed a lucrative deal in Babylon, where he heard the truth of what had happened to Daniel? The truth would surely change how this woman thought about the God of Heaven. Right then, the Man prayed that Rabin and Ishi would make it to their destination safely. He opened his eyes, as he felt his heart flutter and then a thought came into his head. Isn't this how God often spoke to him? A smile passed over the Man's lips, as he suddenly knew that he had not seen the last of Rabin and Ishi. He would keep an eye out for them.
The sand of the Arabian Desert was proving to be a more formidable foe than Rabin expected. She and Ishi did their best to navigate the coarse, blazing hot granules of quartz, which extended far beyond what the eye could see. Rabin looked on worriedly as Ishi drank the last of her water. Her cracked, dry lips could barely get around the spout of her flask. Rabin knew that they would have to find water soon or they would not make it to Jerusalem.
As Rabin passed a "family" of sand dunes, she sighed, feeling as if she had accomplished something. To take the desert on, you had to think of it in terms of small victories. The thought of conquering the whole of it was completely overwhelming. Rabin turned to smile at Ishi, hoping to encourage her, but she as not behind her. "Ishi?" Rabin cried, looking around frantically until she saw a piece of her clothes in the sand. Rabin fell to her knees. "Are you all right," she asked, desperately hoping for a quick answer. Ishi was unconscious and unresponsive. Rabin shook her, trying to wake her but to no avail. She pulled Ishi close and rocked back and forth as if attempting to lull her back to life. "Please don't die Ishi. Please don't die," Rabin pleaded, knowing she would never be able to forgive herself if Ishi perished in this desert.
As Rabin closed her eyes, she heard a faint whistling sound that was moving closer and closer. Rabin opened her eyes, and in the distance, she could see a whirlwind of sand coming toward her and Ishi. Her heart sank. She'd known the desert was ripe with threats: sand cats, lack of water, marauders, even quicksand, but for some reason, she had not thought once about the sandstorms that could be as gentle as a passing breeze or as forceful as the breath of a god. Rabin lifted Ishi in her arms, as she thought about trying to outrun the sandstorm but knew it was no use. The only chance at survival was to brave the storm.
Rabin quickly dug into her travel bag and removed all of the linens that she had taken from Daniel's quarters. She draped them over her and Ishi in a tent-like fashion and secured the ends with her hands and feet. She had no idea if this would work or if she could even hope to stand up to a desert storm. All she knew was that the whistling was coming closer, and it was clear this sandstorm was not of the "passing breeze" variety.
The storm was upon them. Rabin held the corners of the linens the best she could with her feet and hands. She looked down at Ishi, an innocent in all of this. "Don't die. Please don't die," she whispered desperately, knowing she would not be able to forgive herself if Ishi did not make the journey to Jerusalem. Why did she think that just the two of them could make such a dangerous trip? All that had been on her mind was escape, but death in the desert was no escape at all.
Rabin winced as the sand began to beat down on her back. The fear and pain that she felt simultaneously was almost too much to bear. The tears began to flow. Still, she could not give in to her emotions. She had nothing left, nothing more within her to fight with and that is when the words that surprised her ears came from her lips, "God of Daniel, please protect Ishi." Immediately, she felt an ounce of strength return to her body. "Please, protect us," she said louder knowing she needed protection as well. The sand began to beat down on her harder, and the wind refused to allow her to keep her balance. An especially violent gust blew the linens from under her feet. The sand began to swirl between her and Ishi, threatening to separate them. Rabin pressed her body onto Ishi's knowing that the linens she held in her hands would soon be caught up in the storm as well. As soon as the thought entered her mind, the linens were swept away in the storm. Rabin closed her eyes tightly, resolved that whatever happened to Ishi would happen to her. They would not be separated again, as they had been in the river. The fate of one of them would be the fate of both. As Rabin clung tighter to Ishi, she ventured to open her mouth and with every bit of strength that was left in her body she screamed, "God save us!" And then it all went black.
First light. The sunrise was lovely. Its colors were created only for this morning. Daniel smiled as he looked at the sky. This would be his last glimpse of God's beauty on earth. Slowly, he was lowered by a rope into the lion's den. As he reached the ground, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. The stench was almost unbearable. A bit of sunlight was all that lit the room now, and he could see bones and the blood-stained clothing of previous victims. As Daniel untied the rope around his waist, he began to pray, silently. The heavy breathing circling him and claws scratching the ground only feet away signaled that the hunt was on, though not much of one. Daniel was defenseless, except for the prayers he lifted up to God. From out of the shadows, a flash of a lion's deadly teeth. Another approached from behind. Daniel's voice grew louder as a lion roared just inches from his face. The palace guards returned the large stone that covered the mouth to the lion's den. Blackness. Heavy breathing. The scent of death. Daniel should have been frightened but wasn't and that is when he realized, he and the lions were not alone.
Another sunrise. King Darius tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Frustrated, he rises from his bed and nears his window. Drawing back the curtains, he looks into the morning. Something about the beauty of it, gave Darius a hope that had been absent for two days now. Without even bothering to change his clothes, Darius ran from the room.
Darius stood near the mouth of the lion's den willing the palace guards to remove the stone covering the entrance. His impatience took over, and he joined their effort. As the stone was removed, Darius lay on his stomach and shouted into the den, "Daniel, servant of the Most High God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to rescue you from the lions?"
And then he saw the feeble old man move into the light and looking up at him. No harm had come to Daniel. "King, live forever! My God sent His angel to protect me from the lions, because I was found innocent in His sight. Nor have I done anything wrong before you."
Darius' eyes filled with tears as he motioned for the guards to pull Daniel from the den. Daniel fastened the rope around his waist then tugged on it, signaling he was ready. As Daniel rose, he looked into a corner of the den. A brilliant light in the form of a man moved toward him, slowly disappearing. Daniel smiled, grateful for the angel's presence. The light began to fade, the lions sprang into action, just missing Daniel, who was now out of their reach. The lions roared in disappointment, denied their hunt and their meal.
Rabin awoke from her dream with a sense of peace. Daniel was alive! As she looked up at the rich blackness of the fala'ifs, thick, coarse strips made of goat's hair, she suddenly realized she was in a tent of some sort and obviously had been dreaming. Whose tent was this anyway, and where was Ishi? So much for her sense of peace.
Rabin heard voices and turned toward them. She winced in pain, but still managed to roll onto her side. Through the brightly decorated curtain-like qata, Rabin could hear Ishi speaking with a man. The man's voice was strong but gentle, a bit like Daniel's, which mysteriously gave her comfort.
"Dulin, what happened to the bad man that tried to kill Daniel?" Ishi questioned excitedly.
Dulin closed his eyes imaging once more the den and Habron being lowered into it screaming for mercy to any god who would listen. "Too much to tell a young girl," he thought. "He is no more," Dulin said diplomatically.
Rabin suddenly realized that her dream had been no dream at all. Hadn't she simply just overheard the story this man had been telling Ishi? Was it a story or was it truth? Rabin pulled herself through the qata into the room where Dulin and Ishi were.
"Does Daniel really live?" Rabin's voice cracked as she spoke.
Dulin looked over at Rabin, delighted to see life in her eyes. God had answered his prayer at the well and brought this woman and Ishi back into his life.
"I thought you were going to sleep forever," Ishi said. Rabin gushed as she looked at Ishi. She finally looked like the vibrant, beautiful girl she was made to be.
Dulin smiled warmly at Rabin before moving to her. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he knelt next to her.
"I'm...I'll be fine, I think. Who are you?" Rabin wondered out loud.
"I am Dulin, and you are most welcome in my home. I have just come from Babylon recently where the city is aflutter with the miraculous news of Daniel's rescue. Obviously you knew him?"
"Yes, I knew him," Rabin barely managed. "He was my master."
"Your master lives," Dulin chuckled, "and his enemy...," Dulin changed his tone out of respect for the dead, "...his enemy is no more."
That's when the tears began to flow. Rabin had struggled with everything within her to believe in a God she thought had abandoned one of his most loyal servants. But, this God was a miracle worker and for some reason, liked to show up at the last minute. Rabin's eyes began to flutter and an unflinching fatigue took over her body. She had no control over it. As she fell into a deep slumber that would last for days, a smile would remain on her face, because she was finally convinced that there was a God who was more than willing to save any who were faithful to Him.
Rabin exited the tent for the first time. She was surprised to find that Dulin had camped near a refreshing oasis. She sat down next to it and closed her eyes as the light from the full moon shined on her and the warm wind swept over her. Her body tingled, as if she had been kissed by God. She was so grateful for this place, where she and Ishi had found healing and peace.
As Rabin opened her eyes, Shallus, Dulin's chief servant waved to her from the other side of the oasis, having just watered the camels. He and his five daughters had taken great care of her and Ishi as Dulin had been forced away on business. "I have told Shallus to meet your every need, and I know he will," she remembered Dulin's attempts to assuage her doubts of being left in the care of yet another stranger. "He is of the Recabites, a people recognized by the God of Heaven as a most obedient people. They have always followed the commands of their forefathers to never sow seed, drink of the vine, nor build a house, and he has done everything I have ever asked."
Dulin had left Rabin in the best of hands, and it would be hard to leave, but she and Ishi had to continue on. Now, they were just three days away from Jerusalem, and Dulin had promised to lend them a camel for the rest of their journey. "Home," Rabin whispered as she closed her eyes and thought of warm family memories. Jerusalem was the closest thing she had to a home, but hadn't the city been given to the Hebrews by their God centuries ago? How could that be a true home? Rabin imagined a place that was truly for her people. Wouldn't that be something! A thought slipped into her mind, one she'd never had before. Perhaps the God that had saved Daniel from the lions would give her and her people a true home. Was that possible?
"What will you tell your people of the God of Heaven?" Dulin asked as he walked up behind Rabin. He was a man that got right to the point. His success as a camel trader depended on it. As she gazed up at him with a surprised look on her face, Dulin chuckled. "It is a long lonely trek from here to Babylon and back. Your unique situation has intrigued me and has been quite on my mind," Dulin continued as he sat next to Rabin.
"I cannot imagine that my people would believe anything I have to share about Him and will doubt all of His promises. Why would they even listen to me?" Rabin answered practically.
Why wouldn't they listen?" Dulin responded.
"In the ways of your people, the Hebrews, are women held in such high regard that they speak and men are moved to faith and action?"
"Not all women, my dear, but yes, there have been women of such influence." Dulin said with a smile. "Perhaps your destiny is to be like one of them."
"One of them?" Rabin wondered out loud. There had been more than one of these women of influence? Rabin looked up at Dulin with anticipation in the hopes that he would paint a vivid picture of what kind of woman the God of Heaven might have it on His heart for her to be.
It was midday. The sun was at its highest and hottest, yet Rabin did not feel the heat. She was seeing everything new, even the sand. For the first time, she noticed how the feldspar gave it a lovely orange-purple tint. Ishi slept in her arms as they rode one of Dulin's camels and Rabin's mind was filled with a host of possibilities for her future. Could she and her people stand out to God like the Recabites had? So impressed by their obedience, hadn't God said of the descendants of Recab, 'amongst his sons, they will never fail to have a man serve me.'
She was excited about the prospect although not completely faithful about her people following Daniel's God. She wondered if they stayed in Jerusalem, where worship to foreign gods was commonplace, would her people ever come to know the one true God? If only He were to provide them with a new home and...Rabin laughed to herself. She must not try to tell such a powerful God what to do, even in her heart. She would ask Him, pray to Him. Yes, pray like Daniel did! She would pray about a new home and that her father and the elders would not laugh at her or worse kill her, when she shared about the God who had won her faith. She would pray that God would give her the words and wisdom to accomplish His will. Isn't that what He had done with Deborah - a Hebrew woman of great influence? Rabin laughed to herself as she remembered storming away from Dulin as he told her Deborah's story. She was a judge amongst the Israelites, so gifted in wisdom, leadership, and warfare that she settled disputes amongst all of her people and led them into victory in battles against God's enemies.
"Are you telling me this woman truly lived," she'd spat at him.
"Yes," Dulin replied out of breath from chasing her. As surely as you stand before me, Deborah lived, walked this earth, conquered, and brought children into this world. She was real, a woman of God's creation, unique but real!"
Rabin decided at that moment that Deborah was real and that God had made her everything she needed to be in order to do His will. Rabin resolved that she would never stop asking God to do the same for her.
The Shulgi house was exactly where Dulin promised it would be, and Rabin and Ishi had arrived just before he predicted they would. Four high walls and no roof was all it was. Shulgi houses dotted the expanse of the Arabian Desert and offered protection from the night, and the things that made the night a time of prey.
Rabin held Ishi in her arms as she slept and gazed at the stars. Their beauty made her feel as if God was smiling upon her. He had made these stars in the sky, even that desert. Who was this God who could do all of that? Why wouldn't everyone want Him to be their God? It seemed simple, but Rabin knew it was far from that. How difficult it had been for her to believe through sandstorms, countless escapes, near death experiences, protection from so many things and people. Yet, it took all of that for her to see the truth.
"God of Daniel," Rabin spoke to the stars, "I humbly ask you to move in the hearts of my kin so that they will come to a faith in you. Give me the words and wisdom to persuade them to trust you, believe in your ways, and make our hearts faithful to you alone. Help us to find a place that can truly be home to us - our own land, like you gave the Hebrews. Please give us a home, where we can wait with great anticipation for your kingdom to come." As Rabin's eyes fluttered to a close, she could still feel a smile on her lips. She knew the God of Heaven had heard her. And, soon, she would see how quickly He would begin to answer.
A mountain peak shrouded in a mysterious fog. A quaint, welcoming village at the base of the mountain. Along the mountainside, terraced fields of crops so reminiscent of Babylon's Hanging Gardens. Ishi twirling around in the rain catching raindrops on her tongue. A circle of women holding hands and praying with loud cries and petitions. And, then she saw her, Darya, her sister, just a few years younger than Rabin. Darya's long curly dark hair blew wildly as she wielded a sword, fending off her attacker. Darya was agile and strong, unlike the sister she remembered, but who was this mysterious adversary she was fighting? He was tall and strong, a mighty warrior. All this Rabin could tell from the back, but then he turned and there was no mistaking that it was Zardek, her kin. He moved suddenly, catching Darya off guard. With the flick of his wrist, the sword was at Darya's throat.
Rabin awoke suddenly, "Darya!" she exclaimed, as she tried to catch her breath. Like her, Darya had been sold into slavery, the unspeakable kind. Would she see her again? "Zardek?" Rabin was puzzled by his appearance in her vision. She had not seen him in 10 years, yet knew without a doubt who he was. Why had God showed her these visions? Was this the future or something else?
As Rabin lay back down to sleep, she pulled Ishi close to her. She wasn't sure if she ever wanted to be sent a vision again. Now, she understood why Daniel painted his visions or wrote them down. They were to be remembered, prayed about, studied and prayed about again and again. Zardek, why was he fighting Darya? Was he a friend or foe? Rabin closed her eyes, knowing that she would find little rest. She had discovered how when the visions of the Lord take hold of you, they are an all-consuming fire that haunt the soul and must be obeyed...but how?
To be continued...
|
