Chapter
1
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Hilkiah ben
Israel died at one hundred and four years of age, far from the land of Israel he loved so passionately, full of years and
wisdom; surrounded by his family and friends who sought not to have to let him go with work still undone for he was the oldest
living man who’d been with Jesus from the beginning of His worldly ministry. With him, as he breathed his last, were
the eldest members of the church he helped to found, his adopted daughter Ahava, the youngest daughter of Joseph of Nazareth
the carpenter and her family, who helped the Almighty as El Eloah of Israel, The personal and Tender God of Israel
blessed families, by raising his only begotten Son in one, with all the privileges and demanding responsibilities to a young
boy of being an older brother to those who arose from union of Joseph and his young wife Mary bat Eli; and his aged son Noah,
now a patriarch with a bristling white beard, with grandchildren to the third generation. He remained a humble and generous
man despite his lifelong association with the Messiah, or perhaps, knowing his tender nature, because of it.
He had been born in Bethlehem of Judea under the reign of Herod the Great as `Hilkiah ben Jezreel, the youngest son
of his father’s second marriage, and he was a strapping lad just past his thirteenth birthday, having stood before the
Bema weeks before to take his place among the sons of Israel, when he and his father and older brothers witnessed and heaven
the Heavens open to the joyous witness of the Messiah’s birth. As he knelt beside the young mother who’d just
given birth to her first child, a son they named Jesus, he worshiped and vowed to serve the rightful king of Israel with the
depths of his innocent soul and faithful nature. He humbly said he had been brought forth at that time and age to be there
as a witness and he told the story with as reverent and heartfelt a purpose the final time as he did the first, having spent
his life watching and shaping the world left by the Great Being’s earthly ministry.
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*
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Friday, 20th of Iyar Fourth
watch of the day
3761
Bethlehem
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Jezreel the Patriarch was related to the priestly caste both by blood and by marriage. Indeed, their lambs, where the girl
took shelter to give birth to her first child, was reserved for the lambs destined for the daily sacrifice in the Temple of
the Most High, blessed be His Name. The husband of the girl had amply repaid his slight kindness, which had been his younger
wife Hannah’s idea; though barren herself, a curse to women in Israel, but a boon to him as he already had two wives
who gave him strong sons and then withered and died, she remained tender hearted toward other women and often helped Ruth
at her task. The man Joseph of Nazareth had spent the last week fixing the things around the cave house he had neither the
time nor the skill to repair, but inviting the blessed family to his house for a meal seemed only right since they were kinfolk
by marriage. And in these troubled times of the Roman census there were few enough places to find food or shelter! The girl
had given birth with his second wife Hannah and Ruth, the Innkeeper’s wife in attendance and he found, if he were to
notice another man’s wife so intimately, that she was indeed as kind and shy as she said since, without ceasing! He
made no pretense of embracing the ethereal or the majestic, he was too laden with years, and aches of the heart and body to
wish such exalted weight to be added to his lot in life, but he had been as profoundly moved by the dizzying display which
had filled the night skies last week, and the thought that his youngest, and until now, least liked, son would link then to
royalty and a prophet of the Most High, that couldn’t hurt when it came to be his time to stand before the Throne of
Judgment, could it?
He watched in pride as his three grown sons and their families entered their cave home and filled it with the happy
sounds of children’s laughter although shy Sari, the newest bride married to Abigail’s first born, embarrassingly
large with child, Jehoaddin, the eldest wife though she was married to his third son, crowded around Hannah, grasping her
hand and yammering at her about nonsense women’s issues, no doubt questioning her strange absence from the woman’s
mikvah when she should have occupied herself with wifely duties like making sure the Sabbath meal
went smoothly despite so many families being gathered at the second table. The steep gray walls hid any reminder of the savage
power that ruled over their lives during the rest of the week. Each son made sure their father saw and approved of what they
brought with them, and the children of Maaseiah, as the offspring of the eldest the boy and two girls endured his greater
scrutiny and words as he was always inspecting ‘the Prince’ as they mockingly called him behind his back to be
certain his first born by Merah of the master Shearer’s house lived up to the expectations he set for himself and his
family. Only thirteen-year-old Hilkiah, his youngest wasn’t in view, remaining below with the prize ram and ewes
until the last possible moment, because Hannah refused to allow him to miss this special dinner with their guests, and there
wasn’t anyone one free to watch them in the field. The two dogs Shadow and Unkempt lay on a
stone ledge in between where they could watch the people and the sheep. Heads on paws knowing that no matter the tender coaxing
of the children’s voices they would be severely beaten if they dared to approach without the Master having summons them,
or the Boy.
“ Joseph! Joseph, come. Take my place at the head of the table, I implore you. Grace our poor house with the privilege
of your remarkable voice leading us prayer, if you will. Sari, look, see! This is what my son Asa lacks! This is what
a proper young wife does for her husband, a son! A child! A first-born! Son! “
Hilkiah
watched his family at Shabbat dinner with a lump forming in his throat. After tonight he would no longer guard the flocks
in the fields. His gaze turned instinctively to the man seated in the place of respect at his father’s right hand, who
would be his new master, and having taken him in as an apprentice, until the time his newborn son Jesus was old enough to
claim His rightful throne on Mount Moria in David’s walled citadel, would one day lead him far from the comfort of these
gentle hills and the need to be on guard against the wild beasts at night that had so often stolen sleep from him for fear
of failing in his father Jezreel’s eyes, as much as he trusted Shadow and Unkempt, the family
guard dogs, to the chill walls of the king’s palace where fangs weren’t as readily shown, nor avoided. It was
both frightening and exhilarating, though it lay in shadows of years yet to be lived. Tomorrow, Sunday, the first day
of the week they would begin the three-day journey to reach the top of the sacred mountain and Jerusalem, so his parents might
present the infant boy Jesus to the authorities at the Temple. Mary could complete her final days of ritual purification as
a guest at the hillside farm of a friend of the family in Bethany. Rather than rejoin his brothers and family, he would
be expected to remain with them until they were ready to return to Bethlehem and the house that would then
be available to them as the other cousins were free of Roman obligation and could return to their interrupted lives across
the country. The enormity of his impulsively assigned vow filled his eyes with the threat of tears that he was quick to hide
from Eli, who taken Jeerer’s role as bully when their oldest brother could afford his own house at last. Part of him
was excited that he’d taken on the mantle of a man because Hannah needed someone young and strong to fetch the wood
and do any of the number of small things Abba was getting too old to do. Yet in this moment of self-doubt he felt more like
a boy than he had at any time since his own mother died in childbirth.
“ The angel said to call his name Jesus. “
Asa demanded as soon as he could clear his mouth to take a breath in over his supper
Thirty-year old Maaselah snorted low in his throat in contempt at the excitement in the
seventeen year’s voice, although all of them had seen and heard the heavens open up with such dazzlingly display a week
ago, and it earned him a hard look of contempt from his father, who made no attempt to hide his deep regard for Lydia’s
oldest living son.
“
That was a sacred experience and nothing to mock. “ He warned the least liked son, but to be
fair in his own mind, he struck the handsome looking boy he called ‘the prince’ in front of all of them,
striking him harmless on the edge of his ear. “ And too sacred to profane with everyday conversation. “
But for once, even his three married sons were so filled with their own thoughts and delights that they seemed to think of
him as just another of them! It was insulting!
“ Such matters are holy! “ Jezreel warned, laying down the lamb shank with such a clatter even
the young wives stopped whispering and looked at him fearfully, then at the corner, as he acted as if he was ready to reach
for the sapling drying in the corner for maximum efficiency and pain against bared calves and thighs, the amount of nudity
required by the presumed measure of the offense. “ Leave it to the wealthy and the wise. We’re shepherds,
Joseph! What do we know of the Holy Words or the thoughts of the Great One, Blessed be His name, Who is so
far above us. “ Asa! I understand you saw that butcher, Aaron, that over-charger for lamb’s deaths, after
I told you not too! “
The
conversation began to heat up with a lively exchange of ideas and a few good-natured cuffs from the next youngest to the one
in line behind them and he smiled in rare good humor. Life was as it should be. It pleased him, even though gentle Hannah
made it a point not to allow him to catch her eye so he could smile at her in front of his sons. They were too close in age,
he noted with asperity, never guessing the silent agony of the smallest boy at the table. Because his adopted mother
spent so much of her time with her new friends, able to share their laughter as an equal at last, the young lad had time during
the ritual of feminine purification, Hilkiah came to know the man he would be serving as carpenter’s apprentice for
the next several years. They had no airs about them. However deeply felt their belief in the young child given into their
care who would one day be king over all Israel, the older man felt the necessity of providing for himself and the Child’s
mother until such time as the infant was grown and ready to publicly claim his crown.
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*
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Tuesday,
8th of Sivan First
watch of the day
3755 Bethlehem
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On the eight day of His life, the newborn child was child was circumcised and presented to the Community as a man entered into the
ranks of Judaism before the LORD. Joseph of Nazareth and his young wife waited until the end of her twenty days of purification
after birth before he and they began to lengthy trek for the new mother and child on the thirtieth day of the child’s
life, across the river and up the steep mountain pass to David’s walled city in order to carry out the Pidyon Ha Ben ceremony demanded by the Holy One, to redeem
the child Jesus from the curse of death Yahweh Elohim, in His infinite wisdom, lay against to the male who
opens a womb, man or beast. Animals had to be destroyed but the children of men were to be redeemed by a sacrifice appropriate
to the parent’s means; emphasizing the need for blood sacrifice for redemption. At the same time,
the child would have survived long enough to named and be recorded among the nation of Israel as kept in the sacred Temple
before Him. It was an exciting time, deeply laden with new purports for the shy young shepherd who accompanied them in keeping
with his sacred vow to serve the new King until He took His rightful place on the Throne in David in Jerusalem. Although it
was in no wise done to gave no deliberate offense to the woman who’d so recently given birth, the main party of men
left without saying goodbye to share in their neighbors harvest of ripened barley at the first sign of light.
Since lingering after he’d said goodbye to his only mother was too difficult for him, Hilkiah chose to wait beside
the couple and the infant in Mary’s arms. He felt his youth even more than he did around his vastly older brothers,
even though the young wife shivering in the cold beside him was only two or three years older than himself. As the darkly
bearded man approached who would now be the center of his life until the Child came of age to claim His rightful throne in
Jerusalem, his thinness and youth seemed all the more apparent.
“ It’s a long climb, sir. I’ll try not to hold you back.
“
“ I have every confidence in you Hilkiah. “ The carpenter’s
deep, rich voice assured him, but at each rattle of a dried branch or a rock set free by the cloven hoof of an unseen beast
struck its way down the edge of the steep cliff noisily, the boy feared they would be set upon by bandits and he began to
wish he had a better weapon that his child’s sized shepherd’s staff and slingshot!
They spent the night with friends on the hillside of Bethany, and Hilkiah slept almost from the time the bowl of warmed
stew entered his belly, while Joseph remained awake with the man of the house as they discussed their first born sons, Lazarus
and Jesus. There was some difficulty making the priest in charge of the men’s mikvah to believe the
hairless youth was indeed the age he claimed to be, but at last his turn came his ears began to fill with a buzzing noise.
Grasping his hands in front of his curled knees as he lay in a fetal position against the smooth tiles of the indoor baths,
Hilkiah forced his eyes open in fear. What he saw shocked him so badly he opened his mouth for just an instant, allowing the
chill spring water to cover his tongue and lower jaw! The area above the domed cavern shone with the brilliance of a dozen
suns and he felt rather than heard the return of the angelic choir praising Yahweh Elohim with such naturalness
that his own heart took up the song with a mighty voice. The old priest who waited, to make sure all was done according to
tradition and divine instruction shook his head slowly in sorrow at the light and joy shining from the youth’s face
as he stepped up from the water. His too thin torso and faint tracings of pubic hair trembled so hard the droplets of water
immediately shook free of the scrupulously cleansed skin that permitted him access to this formalization of the right to worship
the One, True GOD, leaving only the “goose-pimples” of fear or awe, cloaking the boy with dignity even before
he accepted the freshly washed towel to cover his natural maleness.
‘A virgin.‘ The old man thought to himself, mildly annoyed that youth
still believed in the discovery of faith the boy’s fertile imagination had no doubt uncovered, by the silly smile and
the light shinning so innocently from the unlined face. ‘You’ll know the truth of
life soon enough, that reverence doesn’t feed the belly, nor piety protect the innocent from death or disease or the
cruelty so abundant in the heart of man! ‘
Yet, oddly, a portion of the boy’s reverent joy lingered in the old priest’s heart even as he dozed, waiting
for his relief to come and take his place. He seemed to hear a voice calling his name at a great distance and his flesh stirred
as his spirit struggled to get free to answer, even as he had hidden from his mother’s voice as a child, this Voice
seemed to call him but he was unable to find its source.
“ Here am I, LORD! “
He whispered with a measure of asperity that if he was indeed being sought out,
the Seeker would have to come to him, he waited expectantly, even as he slept.
The sight of the warm spring sunlight against the marble and gold of the enormous structure took the boy’s breath
away more than the climb up the broad staircase that led toward the dust and noise of the busy courtyard. He tried to speak
but all he could do was to seize the edge of the older man’s cloak and try not to be broken away from his mentor as
he approached the gate to the courtyard of Women and Gentiles, to take the heavily wrapped infant in his arms. Taking the
cage with the two birds demanded as a sacrifice by Mosaic Law, he followed the parents and the sleeping boy toward the crowded
portico where the assigned priests waited to receive the offerings of the poor. They were stopped midpoint
by an old man in a flowing white beard who seemed to have had too much to drink despite
the early hour of the day! Praise flowed from his age discolored lips with a maddened fervor suggesting lunacy. His eyes were
became wide, folding out the wrinkles from around his eyes in his surprise and delight as the father handed the infant Jesus
to the old man’s waiting arms. Hilkiah heard the name of ‘Simon’ whispered with respect from several different
directions but he was uncertain at Joseph’s ease in yielding the child. The old man sunk in the knees a little as the
boy moved within his swaddling clothes, and he turned his back to where the sun wouldn’t shine directly into the infant’s
eyes. The smile on his face like as a mother’s tender regard for her first born
son.
“
Now Lord, do You do allow your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation.
Which You have prepared in the presence of all people. “
Two younger men, dressed in the garb of temple priests approached Simon, discretely supporting his weight. As the thirteen
year old watched their faces he wondered if they were angels, for never had he seen such prolonged respect or peace on a man’s
face in his father or brother’s house! Glimpsing a world he had never suspected till this moment, the tall youth suddenly
felt the weight and size of the massive house of worship behind them, as if the temple itself had drawn near to listen in
anticipation and a weight flew from his shoulders that he didn’t pretend to understand, leaving his wildly beating heart
room to swell with the hope and surety of the One who overshadowed Israel with His love even in the midst of their difficult
times of struggle.
“ A light of revelation to the Gentiles. And the glory of your people Israel. “: Mary and Joseph were astonished at his words about the
infant boy, looking at one another as the young man remained behind them, unnoticed, as the holy old man returned the Child
and blessed them with a gentle, love filled voice that made Hilkiah sink to his knees in awe, swiftly absorbing the very air
and intimacy of the old man’s lifelong love for the Invisible One, Blessed be His Name. Such things had been spoken
of in ponderous tones in the classes at shul for boys approaching their thirteenth year when they would be
called to the Bema to read as a sign of their maturity into the covenant with El Gebor but
they had laughed coarsely afterwards to throw off the cords of bondage to an old man’s ideas linking them to something
and someone unseen, and instead of shielding himself now, he found himself possessed of a sudden hunger to know more, to do more. And when he had blessed them, he turned and looked at the fifteen-year-old mother, speaking to
her as one of his own household, in the unity of their passion for the sleeping king. “ See and know E’ma, this Child is destined for the rise and fall
of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed - and a sword will pierce even your own
soul - to the end that many hearts may be revealed. “ As Mary gasped,
the shepherd youth stood, to help Joseph to keep her from falling, briefly earning a weary smile from the old priest as he
turned to go, leaned as heavily on the arm of the man younger than him. Tears wet Simon’s cheeks anew and his thin,
spotted lips quivered in prayers too soft to be heard by any except Him to whom they were intended. Though Hilkiah looked
away quickly to avoid drawing attention to himself as the couple found strength in one another’s love and commitment,
he found himself alone in the milling crowd that broke up with the departure of the old holy man, and yet he never felt so
connected to the world his eyes had never been able to see unaided, and he found the ease of praise flowing from his inner
being as if he’d been doing it his whole life time and not merely when he saw a rainbow or something so beautiful it
took his breath away as he kept the sheep at his side! As they prepared to leave, the young mother’s face was filled
with a questioning the youth shared in his heart, he found himself profoundly grateful that he had been here to share
in this offering to redeem the first born from the weight the Almighty One had placed on them since that long
ago night in Egypt. Although it seemed a rote task to the priest assigned to that day’s entry
of newborn males from the vast countryside sprawled at the foot of the great mountain from water to water and mountain to
desert, it was for him, a moment unlike any other in his life.
As
Anna bat Phanuel approached them, gray haired and bent, Hilkiah found himself offering her tender regard formerly reserved
only for the maternal figure who had taken his mother’s place. Like the old man who had hastened to meet them, as if
summoned, the old woman praised GOD with a youthful voice that belied her eighty-four years upon the earth, praising the Holy
One of Israel and continuing to speak to those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. It remained with him long
after they passed through the crowds of beggars waiting near the Temple for alms, since they themselves were forbidden to
enter.
“ Blessed be the Holy
One, the Keeper of Israel, Who neither slumbers nor sleeps, and blessed be thy womb, Dear Girl to have brought forth fruit
unto the Salvation of your people! All generations shall rise up to call you blessed. “
Though she was modestly pleased at the gentle and warm salutation she kept looking over her shoulder with a worried
frown, remembering the strange words that were spoken directly to her despite the barrio of their gender.
“ I am but the handmaiden of the LORD. “
She said with a smile of gratitude, possessively reclaiming the stirring infant from the old woman’s arms. They
might recognize Who he would become, but He was first and foremost her child, and she loved Him with a passion she never suspected
cradling her dolls or helping her two older sister’s with their children’s care when they arrived from Capernaum
for a visit!
Joseph placed himself so
near her that his shadow overtook the glare in her eyes.
“ And very tired Old Mother, as I’m sure you can understand. “
Instinctively Anna turned, holding unto the young mother’s arm, watching the intent gaze of the darkly bearded
man protecting her. A crowd of wealthy men intent on ‘stopping’ any possible blasphemy. One stooped, picking up
a stone rejected by the builders as the construction on the Temple proceeded over the din of the animals and people.
“ I agree. Go quickly. You’d be surprised how well these old bones can intercept a mere
man on his way to important business. “ A slight smile played on her withered
lips.
Joseph leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, as his own flesh and blood but determinedly hastened away mother
and child as a crowd of well dressed, stern faced men gather to rebuke them. Gamaliel and fifteen year
old Saul of Tarsus approached from their place of teaching in Solomon’s porch, having heard of the words of Simon. Saul’s
well-dressed slave behind him, carrying the tablets and items the youth needed. It is a wise and hungry face.
“ Your eyes are younger than mine, Saul. Do you see them? “
“ No, Master. There are half a dozen young countrywomen with babes in their arms to present
to the priests today. “
The old Pharisee vainly tried to hide his disappointment.
“ I know how earnest you are for the things of the Law, whatever your youth, dear boy. Promise
me that you’ll continue to ask around. I would speak to them if I may. If they are from Bethlehem as the sages of old
foretold, then I will see if I can go there myself and seek out this remarkable Child. “
“ But, You are too old for the journey up and down the mountain, Abba.
You’ll hurt yourself and there is none other grandson of the great Hillel to replace you! Who will teach us what
you have taken a lifetime to learn? No, Old Father! “
Gamaliel smiled to himself. “ Even older than you know, my dear one. But my grandfather’s
sole regret was dying before this day, and I don’t want to be here, and not help to make the new sovereign ready for
the task before Him. What does a poor couple know about raising a king?
With a nod from his young master, the educated man bearing the pupil’s tools left in the direction that Joseph
and Mary took as they left the temple mount; taking the boy’s heart with him, for he was the only link left to a life
in his father’s busy house that was already beginning to feel like a dream as excited as he’d been about this
once in a life opportunity. When shadows were long against the stairs and the old scholar dozed to ease the strain on his
throat, with Saul seated with his back to the lowering sun as one of the newest students at the old scholar’s
feet; Alexander returned, his face etched with weariness and dust as it shook in somber negation of success
He hadn’t able to find them. Mary and Joseph were simply too common a name and the city was filled with such
as bore this name who called the city David’s birthplace as their ancestral home.
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Clearly there were others who
felt the same way this man and woman from Galilee felt, and as Hilkiah spent the next couple of days with their old friends
in Bethany, whose recently born second child had proved a boy he named Lazarus, it seemed less and less strange that he should
be at the side of an infant king whom the Holy One, Blessed be His name, had chosen to cloak in obscurity until the day of
His revelation, as the holy old man, and the old widow in the temple had foretold. The full magnitude of his impulsive decision
didn’t sink in until the small group reached the bottom of the steep ascent and prepared to part company. His father,
mother and three older brothers turning to the left to return home to their modest homes and flocks while he stayed by the
couple’s side who remained nearer to town in a small hillside house left emptied by the completion of the census demanded
by the Romans. ‘If he was so lonely with this slight separation, would he ever be ready to journey north several
days to Joseph’s father’s house in Nazareth of Galilee. Nazareth of the Gentiles? A town notorious for its freedom
from the shadow of this mountain and those great minds that lived upon it! ‘
When
his father roughly embraced him and blessed him, it filled him with a sense of his own worth as a man, but once
they strode away, laughing between themselves as if he’d never existed, and certainty wouldn’t be missed, he suddenly
saw himself for who and what he was. A boy just past his thirteenth birthday with no assurance of a trade or wealth enough
to provide for a wife, who’d thrust himself on the good will of kindly appearing strangers! Would Jeezer, Anani or Maaseiah
stop long enough in their busy days as Jezreel’s oldest sons to even remember they had a younger brother
once? Would Eli and Aaron join in sitting Shiva with Asa, his mother’s other son,
if word reached them inopportunely of his death? He suddenly felt very frightened and very much alone! Rooted to the spot
as his father’s third, young wife approached him shyly, implying a manhood on his part that he certainly
didn’t feel! He had to fight back his own tears seeing them in Hannah’s eyes.
Hannah’s grip around his neck tightened as he pulled to leave then she released him with a thin, apologetic smile
that he shared, to try and hide the sudden fear he was feeling as the new family he would share his life with said their goodbyes
to new friend they’d made in the inn keeper’s wife. Though it was only a two-hour brisk walk there and
another back again into town from his father’s cliffside home, it may as well have been on the moon! For bandits masquerading
as ‘zealots’ prowled and the Romans marched with eager eyes to humiliate the young men they suspected would soon
be secret zealots slashing at their throats with unseen knives at the first sign of solitary carelessness. There
might have been an absence of armed revolt, but a movement stirred the young of the land, rumbling like a cow’s belly,
with the same results. Stifle it and the beast of war would explode, allow it and it would swell of its own pride and become
as an army of stinging scorpions that retreat into the night. Kill one and five more would leap from under the rocks in its
place! One kept it under a tightly sealed bowl, pressed hard to the ground and waited for it to die of its own incapability
and sense of failure.
At the beginning of
the road he turned back to look and the familiar maternal figure was still standing there alone. She waved and then turned
around and started to walk back to the house. Part of the young man was glad she would have her own child after so many years
of being denied a child of her own, but a part of him feared the ordeal she would have to endure. It had claimed
his and Asa’s mother, his father’s beloved second wife, he could only pray it would spare her. Lifting his eyes
to the startling blue sky and the white clouds shielding the gleaners in the open fields from the growing heat of the midyear
sun, he tired to pierce the thickest collection of white clouds, sure that the Invisible face was using them to watch through.
‘You
trusted us enough to send your own Angel to speak to us, hear me now, Great One! This woman, this child, will do great things
in your Son’s coming kingdom through me! I know it. and I trust it, no matter how my brothers laugh! Honor
me, Great One! As I honor your Son! Let the woman live!‘
A sense of release flowed through him, and as he turned around, he was deeply touched that the older carpenter had
paused the patient little donkey so that he could follow beside himself, the young mother and child.
“ It’s never easy to say goodbye, Hilkiah. We’ll understand if you delay
your coming with us until the expected child is weaned. Little will happen in the next three years. “
Joseph offered, with a smile that put the thirteen-year-old at ease for the first time in many days.
Returning
Mary’s smile shyly, for there was only two years difference in their ages for all that she was already married and a
mother, he took a deep breath of grass scented wind and filled his heart with resolve.
“ That is my father’s house, and my father’s child. I have laid claim to
service for my king. Unless you don’t wish me to remain you? “ He
asked in sudden shame and fear.
Even Mary
reached out to reassure him, and at the arrival of the first Sabbath in the carpenter’s family house
in Bethlehem, it was as if he were the younger brother she and her two older sisters never had, until now.
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End Chapter
1
Sivan, May/June [9th
month of Civil Year][3rd month of Religious calendar] Barley harvest, winter wheat; First Fruits Deut
16:9-12 30 days
