My Dear Father:
Your letter, dear father, commands me to banish this "novelty" from
my mind, and continue humbly to worship Jehovah after the manner of
our fathers. I trust this I shall ever do, my dear father; and did
I discover in this prophet any disposition to bring in a new faith,
opposed to the ancient faith of Abraham, I should tremble to entertain
it for a moment. You say that this man must be "a false and base
prophet," or he would not herald a master so low and despised as he
professes will be the Christ he bears witness to. "The kingdom of
Messias is not a kingdom of repentance and humiliation," you add, "but
one of victory, of glory and dominion."
[Illustration: The TEMPLE of HEROD in the Time of CHRIST. This cut is
designed after the model prepared by the student and traveler, Sir
James Ferguson.]
How can I write to you, my dear father, that which is now rushing to
my pen, after such an expression of your sentiments as you have made
in this extract from your letter? But I know you are wise, and will
not evade truth, in whatever form it may offer itself to you, and I,
therefore, with confidence in your justice and wisdom, will faithfully
make known to you the events relating to the prophet which have
transpired.
You will remember how that John, Mary's cousin, stated that many
priests and others were offended at the plain preaching of the prophet
whom they went out into the wilderness to see. When they returned to
Jerusalem, and made known to the other members of the House of the
Priests what had been spoken against them, by the application to them
of the words of Esaias and Jeremias, and other prophets, there arose at
once a great outcry against him. At length Annas, who is High Priest
with Caiaphas, sent two of the most learned men of the Temple, Levites
of weight of character, to invite the prophet to Jerusalem; for Annas
is a wise man, and not easily carried away by popular feeling; and, as
Rabbi Amos hath told me, he is disposed to look upon the preaching of
this John with a serious and reverential eye. The messengers returned
after the fifth day, and made their report openly in the Court of the
Temple, where the High Priests sat to receive them. At length, the
assembly being convened, the two learned and venerable Levites both
rose up, and declared that they had delivered the message to John, the
son of Zacharias, the prophet of Jordan, and that his answer was given
with the reverence due to the station of the High Priest who had sent
to him.
"'Go and say to the noble High Priest,' said he, 'that I am the voice
of one crying in the wilderness, as it is written in the book of the
words of Esaias the prophet, who, foreseeing my day, saith, "The voice
of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
his paths straight." He who would hear my testimony to him who is to
come after me, let him seek me in the wilderness, whence only I am
commanded to lift up my voice till Shiloh come.'"
When the priests heard this answer they were greatly enraged, and many
fiercely cried one thing and many another; some that he should be
sought out and stoned to death for defying the High Priest; others,
that he should be accused to the Procurator, Pontius Pilate, Governor
of Judea, as a seditious and dangerous person, and fermenter of
insurrections. Caiaphas was of the latter opinion. But the milder Annas
viewed the whole matter in a different light, and said:
"Men and brethren, let nothing be done hastily. If this man be a false
prophet, he will soon perish, and we shall hear no more of him. If,
peradventure, as it would appear, he is sent from God, let us not
make haste to do him a mischief, lest, haply, we be found contending
against the Lord of Hosts."
This moderation found favor with but few, and of these few, Rabbi Amos
was one. But if the priests who thronged the outer court, in presence
of the High Priest, were deeply moved at the report of the prophet's
answer, their excitement became well-nigh uncontrollable when both
Melchi and Heli, their messengers, rose up, waving their hands for
silence, and declared that, after having listened to the prophet to
whom they had been sent, they were convinced of the truth of his words,
and of his divine commission, and had been baptized of him in Jordan,
confessing their sins!
Only the sanctity of the Temple prevented the five hundred priests
rushing upon them and smiting them when they heard this. They were at
once placed under arrest by order of the High Priest, Caiaphas, for
acting in a manner unbecoming a priest of the Most High God. The people
who had heard John preach, however, were only prevented from rescuing
the two priests by the presence of a guard of Roman soldiers, for which
Caiaphas promptly sent.
From this account, my dear father, you can form some idea of the
excitement which the preaching of this new prophet is producing among
all classes.
If the Prince of Glory should, indeed, suddenly appear, there could be
scarcely more excitement, though it would be of a different nature.
As next week Rabbi Amos does not serve in his course in the Temple, and
as he will have some affairs that take him to Gilgal, he has yielded
to the desire of his daughter Mary and myself to accompany him; for
he does not conceal from us that he shall make it a point to visit
and hear the prophet, as it will be but two hours' travel from Gilgal
to the place where he preaches. You will, I fear me, object to this
journey. But if the worship of our fathers has nothing to fear from
falsehood, it surely has naught to fear from truth; and in either case
I, as a true daughter of Israel, have nothing to fear. If the prophet
teach what is false, I shall remain true; and if he teach that which is
true, shall I not be the gainer?
One thing is clear--if the Christ that John prophesies be the true Son
of the Highest, and is in reality to make his appearance ere long, in
humiliation and poverty, his rejection by the High Priests, and by
the rich and powerful of Judah, is certain. May God, then, remove
blindness from our eyes, that, if this be the very Messias indeed,
Israel may recognize their king when he cometh, and not do so fearful a
thing in their pride as to reject him openly.
You will remember the young Roman centurion, to whose courtesy I was
indebted for rescuing me from the rudeness of the two Gentile soldiers.
He has preserved, since then, acquaintance with Rabbi Amos, who speaks
of him with respect; and as he has of late expressed some interest in
knowing what the studies are which occupy the Rabbi so constantly when
he calls to see him, the Rabbi sent for me to come into the marble hall
of the corridor, where they sat by the fountain under the shade of the
acacia, which Amos says you took with your own hands from Isaiah's
grave and planted here, many years ago, and which I, therefore, call
"my father's tree."
"Come hither, Adina," said my uncle, in his benevolent tones; "here
you behold a noble Roman youth whom you must be too generous to have
forgotten." I bowed and scarcely lifted my eyelids from the tesselated
floor, for there was a fire in the glance of the handsome youth that
they could not encounter. He said some words of salutation; but I only
heard the voice, which fell upon my heart with a strange vibration,
like the effects of music. "The Roman centurion," continued Amos, "hath
desired to know something of the sacred books of our nation, of which
he saith he hath heard much; and of the prophecies, from which he
believes the famed Sibylline books were composed."
Then, turning to the centurion, "Here is an Egyptian maiden, who can
interpret for thee in the idiom of Grecia, or of Italia, and I will
place the sacred roll in her hands while I listen. Come Adina, open and
read the beginning of the Book of Moses."
To this narrative the youthful warrior listened with the profoundest
respect and attention. He asked if the Messias had yet come who was
to restore all things; and, if not, when he was to be looked for.
This inquiry led to a conversation upon the preaching of John in the
wilderness and his predictions of the near advent of Shiloh. Rabbi
Amos, seeing that he was becoming deeply interested in the subject,
made me turn to the particular prophecies of Daniel, Esaias, David
and others, and read them to him; both those which described, in
golden words, the glory and dominion of his power, and those which
represented him as despised and rejected. The young man remained some
time very thoughtful. At length he said, with animation: "I can now
comprehend why men run into the wilderness. I should like to hear this
prophet."
When Amos told him that he contemplated journeying to Gilgal the next
week, and intended to visit the desert to hear him, he at once asked
permission to be of his company, saying:
"I will accompany you with a squadron of horse, as the roads are not
safe; for no longer ago than yesterday we received a rumor that the
celebrated robber chief, Barabbas, at the head of a large band, has
made his appearance again on the hills between Ephraim and Jericho."
It is therefore decided, dear father, that we leave early next week for
Jericho and Gilgal. On my return I shall not fail to write you without
delay. Till then withhold your judgment, and have confidence in mine.
With holy aspirations for the coming of the kingdom of David and the
restoration of his throne in Zion, I remain, with filial love, your
daughter,
Adina.