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VIII

AGAIN night broods over Jerusalem. The feast of the Passover is at hand. The town is filled with thousands upon thousands of pilgrims, whose hearts are stirring in eager expectation tinged with awe. What are the thoughts of the pious as they say their evening prayers? Which of the prophets do they read by the light of their tallow dips, while awaiting sleep's caresses? The visions of Daniel! "And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another." The kingdoms of the world, the realms of Babylon and of Assyria and of Alexander, all of which had oppressed God's chosen people, and in turn had perished. "Behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it." This is Rome, foreseen by Daniel, the great prophet, companion of Maccabeus, the liberator! Rome would fall, as the three earlier Gentile dominions had fallen. "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days.

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And there was given him a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him."

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A Son of Man! Earlier prophets had not used these words, though the same idea had vivified their sayings. Since the fall of the great kingdom of David that had stretched from Lebanon to the Red Sea, all the prophets had known that the mighty new King of Israel would spring from the house of David. "Out of the broken cedar-tree, God shall plant a shoot on Zion." Will the Redeemer bring peace or war? Some declare that through a great battle, and thus only, will God, starting from Zion, win the promised kingdom for his people. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord." So strenuous and so cheerful was the song of the old prophets.

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Zechariah, however, looked only for the coming of a prince of peace: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth."

Of like sort had been the prophesying of Hyrcanus, who, a hundred years back, had seen a white bull with golden horns entering the temple as a great patriarch. As recently as Herod's days there was a psalmist who sang: "Look, Lord, and awaken for them their king, a son of David, at the time thou hast appointed that he may rule Israel as thy servant." Was it not yesterday that the Egyptian sibyl had seen the coming of the saviour?

"But who will the deliverer be?" Pharisaic precisians were wont to inquire, when evening prayers had been said, "Does he live and breathe, here and now, somewhere in Palestine?" What if once more, as happened when Herod died, false prophets should arise, each claiming to be the Messiah? There are always plenty of adventurers on the watch for a chance of deceiving the people! They lead the simple-minded astray with wizardry and magical cures. Galilee is full of insurgents who are ready to do anything that will get them a following. Then there are the Essenes, who sit them down beside the Jordan, weeping into the river, and crying that the kingdom of the spirit is at hand. Woe unto Israel should such a revolutionist or such an enthusiast quote the prophets for his own evil ends, arrogating to himself the powers of the Most High, in order to destroy the law. A speedy downfall to such deceivers. No, no, the new king of the Jews is not yet in the land of the living!

Such are the hopes and fears voiced by the pious as the night draws on. Even the enlightened pilgrims from Rome and Alexandria dream of the promised deliverer. They have read both Vergil and Horace, and know that these poets (whose patron was the great Augustus) had likewise written of a Golden Age, soon to come, when peace would reign on earth. Many declared that fortune would continue to favour Rome, the ruler of the world; but Daniel was an infallible prophet, and his promise would be fulfilled. Philo, too, saw in the clouds: "the divine figure of him who will lead all the Jews to one place, will intercede with God the Father, and will secure forgiveness. Then the destroyed cities will rise again, the deserts will be peopled, and the barren lands will bear fruit."

Night broods over the halls of the temple. The priests on watch sway drowsily betwixt sleep and waking. They have forgotten the Roman soldiers, have forgotten the slavery of Israel. Passover is at hand, and their minds are filled with thoughts of the coming redeemer.

All the sleeping city of Jerusalem is dreaming of the Messiah.

CHAPTER ONE

CALLING

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