The last glow had faded from the western sky as Marduk looked towards it
over the shoulder of Olivet. But there burst upon the view of the
Phoenician a scene of weird magnificence. The stars above seemed to
reflect themselves in hundreds of lights that gleamed along the
hill-side, and from the valley between Olivet and the city. In sombre
contrast with these, the walls of Jerusalem, with their regular outline
broken by the temple and scattered turrets, rose black as a rayless
night. But as Marduk gazed, the temple suddenly blazed as if with
volcanic brilliance. It seemed like some massive altar in the midst of
flames that had fallen upon it out of heaven. Every graceful
architectural line was revealed, every burnished plate of gold and brass
glowed in the fire. Only the outer surface of the city walls remained
unillumined, and in their immense mass of darkness made the contrast
startling and sublime.
Marduk's awe did not stifle his Phoenician curiosity; and, leaving his
men to arrange his camp, he turned towards a couple of Jews who were
engaged in erecting a booth near him. They proved to be Ben Yusef and
his son. The venerable man was evidently inclined to be communicative,
if one might judge from the low tones in which they conversed, as they
walked among the booths and back into the shadows of Olivet. Anon they
stood by Marduk's tent, while the Jew pointed out the objects of
interest, and explained their significance.
"There are in the court of the temple two enormous lamp standards, each
fifty cubits in height, and supporting four immense basins of oil. The
garments worn by the priests during the year have been twisted into
great wicks, and now at a signal have been suddenly lighted. See, too,
hundreds of hand-torches are being waved by priests who crowd the court!
The night gloom that first hung over the city symbolled the moral and
spiritual darkness which we Jews believe hangs over all the nations, as
our prophet Isaiah said, 'Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and
gross darkness the people.' The bursting illumination, throwing its
glare for leagues through the night, expresses our faith that the truth
of Jehovah shall shine forth from Judaism and fill all lands, as Isaiah
also says, 'Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the
Lord is risen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light and
kings to the brightness of thy rising.'"
"But what mean the sudden shouting and singing?" asked Marduk.
"Listen closely," replied Ben Yusef, "and you will hear the Levites, who
stand on the fifteen steps leading from the women's court. They strike
their harps and cymbals as they chant the fifteen Songs of Degrees, some
of which you may have heard the pilgrims singing as they were coming up
hither. See! they are dancing over there; and soon the whole city, and
these multitudes outside, will join the innocent revelry. It is a sin
not to be merry to-night. The man whose griefs have made him shun the
face of his fellows must be neighborly now. The stranger must make a
comrade of the one next to him. Our God is a happy divinity, and men may
share the joy of the Lord."
Marduk did not sleep that night. Most of the hours were spent in the
company of Ben Yusef and Elnathan. They wandered among the booths, which
the Jew said were everywhere, not only in the fields, but in the city,
wherever there was space enough in the streets, in the house-courts, on
the roofs, on the walls. Indeed, the stone city and the stony hills
about were mantled with an artificial forest of palm and pine, olive and
myrtle.
"But," asked Marduk, "how dare so many Jews leave their homes to come
hither in such times as these? The Samaritans and other enemies of your
nation must take advantage of this."
"No," replied Ben Yusef; "our God, who stopped the mouths of the lions
when our prophet Daniel was thrown to them by Nebuchadnezzar, stops the
wrath of our enemies at such times. When our three annual festivals were
set up, ages ago, in the days of Moses, Jehovah promised: 'Neither shall
any man desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord
thy God thrice in the year.' I leave my own little girl alone in my tent
in far Galilee, fearing no evil for her until I return."
All night long joy echoed from the walls and over the hills about
Jerusalem. With the first pale shimmer of daylight over Olivet came a
hush. The people stood by their booths, with faces turned towards the
city, in silent expectation. At length a sweet note floated out from the
temple precinct.
Ben Yusef pointed to the distant forms of two priests who, leaving the
temple, advanced eastward across the court, carrying great silver
trumpets. Reaching the wall, they suddenly turned their backs to the
east, and shouted in loud tones these words: "Our fathers once turned
their back to the sanctuary, and their faces to the east, and worshipped
the sun-god: but we will lift our eyes to Jehovah."
Soon a thick column of smoke rose from the great altar in the temple
court, and outspread above the sacred precinct like a canopy, its edges
fraying in the scarcely moving air, and, as Marduk said, "floating some
fringes of its blessing to the good heathen beyond."
"Yes," replied Ben Yusef, "for during the week of festivity seventy
bullocks will be offered--a round number for all the nations of the
world."