THE RESCUE OF REBECCA
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them
praise his name in the dance.
Let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
PSALM cxlix.
It was but two days to the great Jewish festival of Pentecost, and
Jerusalem was already thronged with pilgrims. They came pouring in through
all the great thoroughfares,—from Damascus to the northward, which entered
near Golgotha; from the seaports to the west and northwest, through the
defiles of the hill‐country of Mount Ephraim, and from the south,
approaching through the valley of Kedron; also along the lesser byways—a
great host. They journeyed in families, parties, and festal bands, singing
songs and praises, and bringing offerings. The air was stirred with a
thrill of national pride and exaltation. Even the great overshadowing
cloud of the Roman dominion could not dampen the ardor nor repress the
spirit of the harvest festival commonly known as the Feast of Weeks.
The Hebrew had an unbounded faith in the future and permanent redemption
of the Lord’s people, and his ideal of restoration and final triumph was
ever before him. However galling the shackles, their loosening had been
decreed, and was expected. Even the pilgrims of the more distant countries
of the Dispersion were in no wise behind in their ardor as they gathered
at the sacred city, “whither the tribes go up.” Each loyal heart swelled
with pride as the great Temple came into view, where the God of Israel
found his special dwelling‐place in the Holy of Holies, from which he
radiated his glory.
During the great Hebrew festivals every son of Israel who lived in the
Holy City hospitably opened his house to the pilgrims; and as the climate
was warm during the month Sivan, thousands slept upon roofs, and also
encamped in and around the city. Many pitched tents within the limits of a
“Sabbath day’s journey” outside the walls.
Among the great throng was a little party of four from the distant seaport
of Tarsus. The aged priest Abdiel, with Benoni and his wife and Rebecca,
came not only to attend the festival, but for a longer sojourn. Their
arrival was a few days later than that of Saulus, he having been charged
to make provision for their necessities. They were to abide at the
Sheepmarket.
The little Tarsian group approached by the road from Cæsarea, and coming
upon the elevation beyond the walls to the northwest, beheld the City of
David spread out before them. The roof of the Temple, which crowned
Moriah, overlaid with beaten gold, glittered in the warm Judean sunshine;
and as the eyes of Abdiel rested upon it, he fell on his knees, and
stretched out his hands toward heaven.
“The God of Israel be praised! Long aforetime the eyes of thy servant
rested upon thy Holy Hill, and now, once more, behold the Glory of the
Whole Earth is spread before me.”
He then arose, and looking up to heaven, repeated from the Psalms of
David,—
“In Salem also is his tabernacle,
And his dwelling‐place in Zion.
My covenant will I not break,
Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Once have I sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie unto David;
His seed shall endure forever,
And his throne as the sun before me.”
He ceased, and again fastened his gaze upon the Holy Hill. But anon a
tremor shook his frame, his eyes became fixed, and he was as one in a deep
trance. His countenance changed, his lips seemed moved by some mysterious
power, and a message which was like a prophecy came out of his mouth. Even
the voice was not that of Abdiel.
“Behold, little ones are born already whose eyes shall see Jerusalem as a
heap of ruins. Sons of Israel will arise against each other, and strife
and famine among thy people ravage thee within, while Roman cohorts invest
thee from without. Battering rams will cause thy bulwarks to crumble; thy
palaces shall be sacked, thy towers crushed, and thy Temple destroyed by
fire. Pestilence, famine, and war shall bring thee to utter desolation,
until thou lie in heaps. Thy glory shall vanish, thy name become a
reproach and a hissing, and the Gentiles shall level thy ruins and dwell
upon them.”
Again the frame of Abdiel was shaken, and he came to himself.
“Behold, O Benoni, I have seen an exceeding calamitous vision!”
“O Rabbi Abdiel! we have heard thee prophesy evil concerning the Holy
City!”
“I wot not that I had spoken; but oh, the vision! Here where Jerusalem
lieth stretched out before me, lo! I beheld a mighty battle. Famine,
sword, and fire prevailed, and then anon I saw but an ash‐heap!”
“Behold, O Rabbi Abdiel, peradventure a lying spirit hath possessed thee,
and used thy lips!”
The venerable priest marvelled.
The day of the great and most joyous of the Jewish festivals opened bright
but sultry. The early morning sun was pouring his warm beams over Mount
Olivet, and gilding tower and roof, as Serenus wended his way toward a
large upper chamber which was just below the westerly slope of the Holy
Hill. This was where the disciples of the prophet of Nazareth were wont to
gather, day by day, before the third hour. It was his first visit, and he
was unknown to the followers of the Nazarene. From his youth in
Alexandria, where he had been instructed by the great teacher Philo, he
had been free in spirit from the traditions of the elders. He had learned
somewhat of the Greek philosophy, and also dwelt for a season among the
devoted Jewish sects of the Essenes and Therapeutæ. Being of a singularly
pure and religious nature, he found the best in each, and attained to much
wisdom and discernment, even before he came to Jerusalem. While a Jew by
birth, and yet an observer of the more simple forms of the Hebrew worship,
he had gradually found them burdensome, until his free declarations
concerning the Spirit of Truth made it expedient even for the tolerant
Gamaliel to part with him. He had long accounted the kingdom of God as a
spiritual kingdom, having no connection with the government of the Jewish
nation. He felt that its seat was within, and that its coming would be
without observation.
Serenus had lived the Sermon on the Mount before its audible delivery.
During the public life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, he had continued
with Gamaliel, but had watched intently the spirit and teaching of the
newly arisen prophet. While not aforetime casting in his lot with his
immediate followers, he was in perfect accord with his work and mission.
Day by day he had lived in the hope that the sonship which had expression
in the great prophet might find knowledge and favor of the Rabbis and all
the people. His own life and teaching with Gamaliel were to the end of the
hastening of peace and righteousness, and the reign on earth of love and
good will. Before the Nazarene had appeared, he felt within himself the
eternal Christly spirit, or that divine mind and will which was so soon to
have new and perfected incarnation. But when the scribes and elders
persecuted and slew the Man in whom the Word was articulated, he must
needs forego all conformity to them, avow the Truth, and peradventure
suffer persecution himself.
Serenus found the large upper chamber well filled, and those who had
gathered were speaking words of gladness and praise. Their faces shone
with the spirit of love, and there was perfect accord and unity. Men and
women prophesied, each one as moved by inspiration; and there were also
times of silence, when all were possessed with a spiritual ecstasy which
no tongue could interpret. All were stirred to open themselves to the Holy
Spirit, and it filled and overflowed them. Love was so eloquent in every
countenance that all, whatever their native language, heard and understood
its voice in their own souls. Each one praised and magnified God for his
heavenly vision, and all felt that these were the first fruits of a new
spiritual dominion. Every one offered his unbounded service to his
neighbor, and mighty works of ministry and healing attested the power of
the spirit which was in them. Their joy knew no measure. Those who had
been slow of speech waxed eloquent, the weak grew strong, the fearful
became bold, and the unlearned spoke words of wisdom. Serenus marvelled
and rejoiced as he heard their utterances.
“Glory to God for he is our strength!”
“Peace and good will to all on earth!”
“We give free course to the same spirit which filled Jesus of Nazareth!”
“The goodness of the Lord enlargeth our heart!”
“The chains of captives fall off and they go free!”
“Our eyes behold thy salvation!”
“The way of life is made plain before us!”
“Our countenances shine with the glory of thy presence!”
“The day of the Lord hath dawned!”
“Signs and wonders are multiplied!”
“Behold our sons and daughters shall prophesy!”
“A great light hath been kindled in our souls!”
“The Spirit of Truth is in our midst!”
“Our love aboundeth toward all men!”
Such were a few of the manifold testimonies.
The soul of Serenus was aflame with praise and gladness. Looking about
him, he perceived that nearly all who had gathered were unlearned, and of
no reputation; such as had contempt of the Pharisees and doctors of the
Law. Whence this wonderful wisdom! Oh, joyful demonstration! Behold the
tabernacle of God is now within the hearts of men!
O breath of God! breathed by his children now,
Free course his spirit hath; their souls aspire.
With life and love their hearts thou dost endow,
Baptized e’en now with warmth of heavenly fire.
Serenus was inspired to mingle his wisdom with that of this spiritual
love‐feast, and he addressed the assembly:—
“Brethren, it is good to be here; for lo, the power of God filleth this
place. But peradventure ye persuade yourselves that God hath become more
willing than he was wont, and therefore hath repented him of the past, and
now poureth out his Spirit more abundantly. Nay! His Spirit hath always
been poured out, for it filleth all things; but now, with one accord, ye
have opened yourselves to it. Behold God hath not changed, for he hath
everlasting perfection, and abideth everywhere. He is not like unto men,
giving or withholding his favor by times and seasons, but is everlasting
fulness, now and through all time, to all who discover him and find his
kingdom within. Behold the same mind which filled the Nazarene to the
uttermost dwelleth unmanifested in all; but they wot not of its presence,
for they look without, expecting it to come with observation. While Jesus
was with you after the flesh, behold your eyes were holden by his bodily
presence, but now ye see how the Spirit of the Messiah aboundeth unto all.
God dwelleth not in oblations and circumcisions and ordinances, nay, even
not in yonder Temple more than in all the earth, for his presence is
everywhere. Behold, whether Jew or Gentile, Parthian, Mede, or Elamite, be
ye renewed in the inner man, for there is where God speaketh. As ye put on
the Christly mind, which was incarnated in Jesus, ye have salvation within
you. His blood, being interpreted, betokens his inmost eternal quality;
and this is Spirit, and this is life. Till now ye knew not that ye had
Christ in you, waiting for your outworking. But now ye have opened your
vision, and therefore abound in faith, and show forth God’s power as it
becometh his children. I salute every one of you in love.”
As Serenus concluded, many gathered about him, and grasped him by the
hand, and blessed and saluted him.
The news of the unwonted fervor of the assembly soon became noised abroad;
and many who were curious hastily gathered, and marvelled at what they
saw. Many false reports went out concerning it, until one Peter, a
disciple, formerly weak, but now of great boldness, lifted up his voice
and made explanation, showing that according to prophecy all these things
should come to pass.
After Serenus went out, he joined the great throng, and went up to the
Jewish Pentecost at the Temple. He desired once more to behold the great
national festival of his own people, to which the pilgrims from all the
scattered tribes had come up.
The tramp of a multitude of feet resounded through the outer courts. The
strange costumes of Jews and proselytes from Mesopotamia and Cappadocia,
from Pontus, Egypt, and Arabia, mingled in picturesque color and design
with the less conspicuous habiliments of the denizens of the Holy City.
There was a great confusion of tongues and dialects, and the tables of the
money‐changers were loaded with piles of strange coins from many
countries. The dues of the Temple, and the price of lambs, goats, and
bullocks, must needs be paid for in the sacred money of Judea. There were
great pens containing lambs of the first year, selected by the priests as
being without blemish, and rams and he‐goats, approved as sound, to be
sold for sacrifices, the large profit going to the priests, as pertaining
to their office. The bleating and lowing of the herds that were crowded
into the great Temple market—soon to suffer religious martyrdom—was
mingled with the vast babel of other sounds and voices. The marble
pavement was littered with refuse, and would soon be stained with blood,
poured out by the priests in conformity to the ceremonial law. The blare
of silver trumpets, and the reverberation of patriotic and religious
anthems, which were sung as ordained by the Levites, also formed a part of
the great chorus. All the broad spaces on Mount Moriah swarmed with
humanity, and the sweltering, brassy air vibrated with clamor and motion.
The Gate Beautiful, which led from the court of the Gentiles to that of
the Women, was flung wide open, and its fair proportions awakened the
pride of every Hebrew. Farther on, and leading into the court of Israel,
was the still more celebrated Gate of Nicanor, made of polished Corinthian
brass, which was so brilliant in the bright sunshine as to dazzle every
beholder.
At length the ceremonies began. The priests, dressed in long white robes,
moved with unsandalled feet to and fro in long processions with military
precision, and finally ranged themselves in a great semicircle, each with
two leavened loaves and a peace offering, and waved them before the Lord.
The animals were slain in great numbers, and placed upon the altars for
the appointed sacrifices, the fires were lighted, and the smoke of incense
ascended toward heaven, until the fierce rays of the sun were almost shut
out by the great cloud that hung over the Holy Hill. At length the silver
trumpets blew a great blast as a signal for silence. The High Priest,
flanked by his subordinates, advanced upon an elevated gallery in the
sight of the vast multitude, stretched forth his hands toward heaven with
fingers mystically dispread, and blessed the people in the name of the God
of Israel. The heart of every Hebrew swelled with pride as the great
festal service was celebrated, and even Roman centurions looked on with
interest.
Serenus was deeply moved as he silently viewed the mighty concourse, and
witnessed the elaborate ritual which in the past concerned him, and had
been wrapped about his whole life. He then thanked God that the fetters
which had held him even lightly were now broken, and that the light of
truth had shone into his soul, and destroyed a yoke of bondage which long
had been galling.
Serenus secured a position somewhat elevated above the heads of the
people, just inside of the Beautiful Gate; and from it he made a wide
survey of the imposing ceremonies of the Feast of Weeks. He marvelled how
this favored people, the descendants of Abraham and possessors of a rich
spiritual heritage, had disregarded the warnings of old, and permitted
their worship to degenerate into outward legality and form. The simple
ordinances, which once were only the tokens of a pure inner faith, had
become an unceasing round of cumbersome and dead observances. The life of
the Jewish system had withered, and the cup of bitterness of the Chosen
People was fast filling up. But what could he or the little band of the
upper chamber do, to clothe with flesh and life the dry bones of the dead
religious faith of a dispersed race? Such were a few of his musings when
he beheld the great throng, as they surged in and out before him.
But suddenly the air grew thick, and a heavier cloud than that of the
sacrificial smoke overshadowed the temple courts. It was growing late in
the afternoon, and a sudden tempest was at hand, following the great heat.
Anon a blinding flash of lightning and peal of thunder that shook the very
foundations of the Temple. A darkness fell like that of night, which was
made thicker by contrast with the flashes which now seemed like fiery
serpents, shooting through and around the Temple, and leaping athwart the
heavens. A panic seized the great throng, and there was a mad rush to
escape. Cries of anguish rent the air, as many were trampled down by the
affrighted mass. Many were crushed by the pressure of the crowd behind,
and all semblance of order was lost in the great struggle for life. Men,
women, and children were pressed against the platform upon which Serenus
was seated, and even those who were able to keep upright were borne
helplessly along. There was a chorus of groans almost below his feet. He
fell upon his breast, and found that by reaching down to the utmost, he
was able to grasp the hands of some who were borne upon the shoulders of
others. In this way he was able to rescue not a few, by lifting them to
the level of the platform where he was. By the light of a vivid flash, he
saw in the drifting current an elderly man, upon whose shoulders there was
a young woman, whose drooping form and pale face showed that she had
swooned. The man who carried her aloft had a glimpse of Serenus above him,
and cried out as he was swept along,—
“Take her! Oh, save her! save her!”
By a supreme effort, Serenus was able to grasp her arm, and lift her to
his own level, while he who had made the entreaty was quickly lost to
sight in the irresistible moving tide and thick darkness. Serenus laid her
tenderly down; and another woman, whom he before had lifted by his strong
grasp, assisted in ministration. The face of the prostrate form was of the
Jewish type, but her features were regular and beautiful. Her long black
hair hung in wild confusion, as if to symbolize the disorderly scene
through which she had passed. Her costume betokened refinement and social
standing. Around her white neck there was a network of delicate gold
chains interspersed with small precious stones. The folds of her white
loose‐fitting robe, of soft texture, were gathered by a girdle woven of
golden threads, from which hung pendants of small pearls.
After a vigorous fanning and a little interval of rest, she gasped, opened
her eyes, and slowly came to herself.
“O my father! where art thou? O Saulus!”
Serenus marvelled.
“Is Saulus thy friend? Pray, who art thou?”
“I am Rebecca, the daughter of Benoni of Tarsus.”