It was in the cool of a sunset on a summer day that Josh sat among the olive trees. The trees seemed timeless. Had they been here when the harvesters of the great Kings of Judah had passed by the unripe figs of Bethphage to find the delights of the Bethany dates and olives? He knew olive trees could last for centuries. New ones would have been planted, but the land was ageless. Had Hezekiah sat here to contemplate his gift of life. Here he looked through the trees and the landscape seemed to mimic his dreams. The figures were not behind the trees anymore. But he felt the presence of the Assyrian. Adad-Niri. A breeze brushed his face. A breeze, a breath, a spirit, a ruah, A coolness spread through his body and an inner voice whispered’ ‘you are to bear the heavy weight of the word of Adonai. The people have grown fat and self-satisfied. They have forgotten their vows as the bride of Adonai. You will be my messenger, Malachi. Go to the people; tell them I required the circumcision that Moses commanded, circumcision of the heart. I desire the fast of Isaiah, of helping the poor and the fatherless and of unchaining the burdened.’
And so the words of Noadiah and Malachi were raised against the folly of the people.
Di bore two children. Benjamin the firstborn and Anna her daughter. Malachi and she spoke the word of Adonai without fear or favour, as did the other prophets. Some listened. They were shunned by the ‘society’ of Judah. They helped the divorced wives and children, even sending the destitute ones to Samaria where Othniel arranged surrogate families for them and where they were free to worship Adonai, free from the stigma they had in Judah.
Month after month, year after year they preached the message.
‘If Adonai is your master, where is your reverence? If he is your father, where is your love. You bring the lame and the diseased for sacrifice and you exploit the poor. But Adonai says “my name is growing amongst the goyim. From the rising of the sun to its setting my name has been glorified among the goyim and in every place, incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the goyim,”
‘Can’t you see that it is you, Judah who has broken your wedding vow. You have married a foreign god. Adonai told Jeremiah that he divorced faithless Israel – and you are going the same way.’
Their families stood by them. Josh’s part in the family business dwindled to just a menial role. His still did some of the labouring work, but his brother took over the running of the business, the administration. The business flourished as more people poured back into Jerusalem and surrounds. Josh’s son and his nephews joined and did well at learning the trade. Josh’s father had died some time back, and his mother was well supported by her two sons. There was no animosity toward the prophets, although it may be said that they were distracted from their day-to-day chores. Di did a little work as a female scribe and accountant, and they accepted gifts of food and clothing from those who loved Adonai.
In the year Di turned forty, and Josh was forty-eight, came the eunuch Nehemiah from Artaxerxes the Great to oversee the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was a great and powerful man in the city of Susa. He was the chief butler to the king and as such he had the king’s absolute trust. He was quite wealthy, and as a eunuch, he was focussed on his work and not distracted by women. It had been said that he and the King were so close that the King recognised depression in Nehemiah, rather than a physical illness. Hearing Nehemiah’s lament about his native city, and the desecrated graves of his ancestors, the King had given permission for him to come to Jerusalem and had provided great wealth for Nehemiah to re-establish the city. The king had also provided guards and horsemen. The news of his imminent arrival spread, although there seemed to be no set date.
Some months later Nehemiah just seemed to turn up in Jerusalem. Did he sneak in? Had he deliberately come surreptitiously into the town? No one seemed to know. It was only later confirmed that he had arrived alone on horseback and had inspected the walls at night. This caused some concern and conspiracy theories flourished. How the people loved a good conspiracy story. He was going to build the walls again! He was planning to rebel against Persia! He would proclaim himself king! Some of the more influential officials believed all they heard and were terrified that the King of Persia would come down on them like a ton of mud bricks. They had peace as it was – but that wouldn’t last if the renewed Jerusalem was seen as a threat.
The leaders of the conspirators, Sanballat the Moabite, Tobi′ah from Ammon and the Arab Geshem were not keen on any Jewish entrenchment. Conflict seemed to be coming. They all abused the plans to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and set about making mocking slogans to chant to those set on rebuilding.
Build the wall, the wall, the wall
Comes a fox and watch it fall.
It seemed to Malachi and Di that this ridicule was as childish as it was counterproductive. Why not concentrate on the positive. Yes – build the city again, and its wall. But make it open and inclusive. Di especially had had enough of exclusion. Open its gates. Welcome the goyim. They could both see that the abuse heaped up by the conspiracy theorists was going to lead to tears. The abuse only led to more distance between the ‘warring’ parties. Any chance of a mutual understanding or even a truce seems a forlorn hope. The same old exclusion that Di had lamented in years past now seemed to be entrenched.
Nehemiah set about allocating clans and families to strict sections of the wall and the work commenced. It was arduous but there was a certain joy is restoring the former glory – or at least trying to.
Di could see that things were only going to get worse. She and Josh went to the Jewish leaders and suggested holding out an olive branch to their enemies.
“Invite them to join in the work’ Di suggested. ‘If they feel included, they may well not only stop harassing you, but even help. Remember the great Isaiah told us that “in the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be glorious, and the house of God on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall come to it.” All nations. The goyim! Moabites, Ammonites and Arabs. Please, invite them. Isaiah went on to say, “many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will tell us his way, and we will walk in it: for out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem.” Can’t you see that you have the chance to change. Learn the purpose of God’.
But all she saw was the same old hatred in their eyes. Her dream. They had no concept of the all-encompassing love and plan of Adonai.
Sanballat, Tobi′ah and Geshem went back to Samaria. Di and Josh guessed they would be looking for a friendly reception in those they assumed to be enemies of the Jews. Sanballat had been governor there for some time and knew what to expect.
Josh wrote to Othniel to sort of warn him. After a little longer that usual, he got a return mail. Othniel was old now – Josh guessed in his seventies.
Sanballat had also in fact tried to recruit the army of Samaria as a bluff against the Jews. “Have you seen our army, Josh? There would be less that a thousand able bodied men, all almost totally unprepared and unarmed. A mouse could chase them, away. Don’t worry about it. Our priests here have pleaded with these rebels to just stop – to try for peace. I hope they listen”. They didn’t.
On their return, the rebels looked for other support. They spread their conspiracy theories to the people of Moab and the remaining few Philistines in Ashdod. They seemed to collect a loose promise of support. Nehemiah publicly prayed for the destruction of Sanballat and his gang – no mercy. But Josh had a feeling it was all bluff. And how easily it could have been diffused by either side. Josh and Di tried again.
They went to the Jewish leadership and again pleaded for peace with the men of Sanballat. Hadn’t King David invited the Philistines into his army? The Gittites. He had given them a chance to come to Adonai. Then they ceased being goyim and became children of Abraham.
Di and Josh pleaded with them. ‘Don’t you recall the words of the great prophet Isaiah “Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you.”, but you have excluded them. You have sealed the doors of Jerusalem at Shabbat, exactly what Isaiah told you not to do “Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations’. Yes – keep Shabbat, but teach the goyim to do it too – don’t exclude them’
Their pleas fell on deaf ears.
So, the work continued, with the Jews building with work tool in one hand and sword in the other. Shifts were arranged to make sure a guard was on hand while others built. But no attack occurred. Josh and Di knew it was all bluff.
The building went well and Nehemiah had time to instruct the people. Josh thought that he was basically a good guy, who tried his best to encourage the people, but who had no concept of God’s plan with all people. He castigated the officials and rulers of the people for extorting money and taxes from the masses and for charging interest. Some people even had to sell their children into slavery they were so impoverished. He changed the people’s habits – but not their hearts.
Sanballat then tried a new tack. He asked to meet with Nehemiah repeatedly on neutral territory. Whether this was indeed a plot to harm Nehemiah or not, Nehemiah refused. The meeting venue was changed to a room in the temple, and still Nehemiah refused. This time Di saw it as a pig-headed refusal to meet with non-Jews.
Nehemiah sought the counsel of the prophets, including Di and Josh. They all enquired of Adonai and were told to advise that Nehemiah should meet with Sanballat – a first step in reconciliation. There was a great sense of mistrust. Everyone suspected the others of being a spy or a double agent. Nehemiah suspected that the prophets had been bribed to say that he should meet Sanballat. So, he refused and called a curse on Noadiah and all the prophets. So sad. Di felt a genuine sadness for Nehemiah. He really was trying to do Adonai’s work, but he saw that work as exclusively for the ‘holy race’. What a contrast to the past. Israel could hardly wait to go a whoring. Now, their piety was extreme – to the point of missing the whole intent of the Law. How often did Di and Josh tell their leaders that the great king David had said ‘You don’t love sacrifice, or else I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings, what you want from me is a broken spirit; and a contrite heart’. But they would have none of it.
Ezra and Nehemiah led the people in the ridged ways of law keeping. On many occasions Ezra would take to the platform in front of the Temple and read the law to the people and explain it in detail. He was a good teacher – a good Rabbi. The people asked questions and Ezra answered. They learned and learned well. They reinstituted the feast of booths, which again had been let slide after Zerubbabel had instituted it. The people heard Ezra read the whole history of their nation, so they knew well what the booths feast meant. What Passover meant. They were prepared. But their whole focus was to look back to the past. They were not read from the prophets’ scrolls. No looking forward. Ezra got the people to all sign a pledge to keep the law without exception and to shun all foreigners. All goyim were to be excluded from all worship. Josh couldn’t help but feel the difference between this covenant and the Samaritans of Othniel. Such a contrast.
He had just received a letter from Othniel. It had the sound of a last letter. He was old and sick and parts seemed to be written in a different hand. Miriam? He said how happy he was to have met Malachi, and that he was indeed a prophet of Adonai. He loved the title ‘my messenger’. But he confided something to Josh that he’d never said before. He too had had the word of Adonai. Just once. He had been told to prophesy of a messenger that would come. He initially thought that it was Malachi, his friend Joshua, but now he knew different. There would be a greater messenger. One whose voice would call out ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for Messiah, make his paths straight.’ He felt that his name would be Jonah, like the great prophet to Assyria. A prophet to initiate the goyim into the promise.
‘You must prophesy of him, Josh. You will receive the message, I am sure.’
Di imagined that the messenger would be another Elijah – dressed in hairy coat and with a leather belt. Like Elijah? A goyim? She wondered. So, another messenger would come to herald Messiah. The chosen one. What would be Messiah’s name she mused. Joshua? The salvation of Adonai? Why not?
Josh replied to the letter. He replied to Othniel and Miriam, as he felt that perhaps only she could read it or reply. ‘I will be aware of any promise from Adonai of a future messenger.’ He wrote. ‘I will anticipate the word of Adonai’.
The daily grind went on. There were times were Adonai seemed to be silent, then followed by a flurry of messages.
‘You have bought defiled sacrifices and denied the sonship to the Father. You have done evil. You have denied the wife of your youth. You have forsaken her. Adonai hates divorce. You have forsaken your partner – the very mother of your children. Don’t do this.’ But the message went unheeded. It seemed that nearly every day Ezra read the words of the Torah to them. They all seemed to especially relish the part of the Torah which said that Moabites and Ammonite were to be excluded unto ten generations. Josh and Di tried to make them see that Ruth had ceased being a Moabite upon her conversion – but to no avail.
Eventually, Nehemiah returned to Persia as his allowed time had expired. While he was away, Eliashib the High Priest gave Tobias a storeroom in the Temple in which to live. When Nehemiah returned a couple of years later, he threw Tobias out. The angst all came back. Jew Samaritan hatred. Jew goyim hatred.
Sanballat had actually been very instrumental in rebuilding the Temple at Gerizim7. The simple structure Josh had seen had now been totally demolished and replaced with a grander version – much like the Jerusalem one. Josh was saddened at the news. He liked the simplicity of the original Temple. Adonai hadn’t asked for pomegranates and palms carved in rock, but rather the Torah carved in hearts.
Sanballat had instructed his sons to keep supporting the Jews in Egypt, and in the event of conflict over Adonai’s Temple, they should arrange money and labour to rebuild the temple in Elephantine8 if ever it was harmed.
Nehemiah reinstituted a strict shabbat. No foreign traders were allowed into Jerusalem. Mixed marriages were again condemned. It all seemed so predictable.
The word of the prophets Noahdiah and Malachi continued. Just as Othniel had prophesied, Josh had received the word of Adonai that another messenger would come. Josh couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment. He had hoped that he had been the messenger who would bring the people back to Adonai. But it seems it was not to be. Together they preached that Adonai would one day send his messenger who would prepare the way for the Messiah whom they all sought. He would burst into his Temple, this one in whom Adonai delights. Who shall be able to stand before him? He’ll be like a consuming fire. In that day he’ll refine Levi and remove all sin and refine them as precious metals. In that day blessings will flow to Israel and Judah with no division.
‘A day is coming’, they called out, ‘which will consume like a burning oven. On that day the Sun of righteousness will arise, and healing in his wings’.
And Di received her Elijah message. ‘I will send to you Elijah before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes and he will turn again the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbour, lest I come and smite the earth furiously.’
Di and Josh were greatly loved by their family and those who loved and understood Adonai. People with spiritual insight gathered around them and listened to their words. They became a light in the darkness of hatred. Especially Di and Josh’s children. Although not following as prophets, they admired and followed the Spirit of Adonai they saw in their parents. They could all see the fulfilling of the words of the prophet Isaiah ‘the heart of this people has become like lead, and their ears are blocked, and they have closed their eyes; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.’
Anna had carefully collected the sayings of her parents and wrote them in a scroll. She wanted to add their words to the Nevi’im. It only contained eleven minor prophets – adding her parents would complete the twelve – Israel.
One evening she sat with her aged parents and asked; ‘what shall I call this scroll?’ Shall I follow the title of your favourite prophet mum? Joel. ‘The word of Adonai that came to Joel son of Pethuel.’ I could write ‘The word of the Adonai that came to the Levite Noahdiah, daughter of Ishtab, and to Joshua of Judah, the son of Shimmon.
Josh laughed. ‘Your mother has taught you well. Never in Israel has a woman’s name preceded a man’s.
‘Ah’ Di butted in, ‘how about Deborah and Barak.’
‘Yep,’ I stand corrected, Josh said. ‘But I think we are tired of names and lineages. Let’s leave the book anonymous. What do you say Di?’
‘Yes, Ezra was a zealous man, but misguided. He thought that a Jewish lineage back to Aaron the Chief Priest was what made the man. But he was so wrong.
We always felt that we were just messengers. Adonai should be the subject of our prophecies – not us. Then let the prophecy be called ‘My Messenger’, Malachi. People in the future may pour over its contents and try to find clues as to who the prophet was – but that’s not important.
It’s the message. The message alone.’
7 Israeli Antiquities Authority – ‘Today we can state with certainty that the first phase of the temple on Mount Gerizim was erected in the middle of the fifth century BCE by Sanballat the Horonite, a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah… It seems that along with the grandson of Eliashib the Priest other Judean priests came to Mount Gerizim where they built and sanctified the temple as a replica of the Jerusalem temple’
8 The Elephantine Papyri refer to an appeal from the Jews of Elephantine for permission to rebuild their temple in Egypt. They wrote to the Persian governor Bigvai in Judah, and the high priest Johanan, requesting permission to rebuild their temple. After not hearing from them they sent an appeal to the sons of Sanballat in Samaria asking for permission. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephantine_papyri_and_ostraca
THE END
Renewed 