The Strength Of His Hand Part 29

Hezekiah stared, not understanding.

"Listen-you're the king of Judah," Eliakim explained. "Since Sennacherib only sent an envoy to represent him, you should do the same. Send me out there to represent you."

"But won't that anger them?" General Benjamin asked.

"It'll probably infuriate them," Eliakim said with a faint smile. "But it'll also let them know that if Sennacherib wants an audience with King Hezekiah, he'll have to come in person."

"You are asking for trouble," Shebna said.

"We're already in trouble," Eliakim replied, gesturing to the troops in the valley. "But King Hezekiah deserves the a.s.syrians' respect, and I'm going to make sure that he gets it."

Hezekiah admired Eliakim's ingenuity; his loyalty humbled him. "Very well, Eliakim. Take Shebna and Joah with you. Go find out what Sennacherib's man has to say."

__________.

The house seemed strangely quiet to Jerusha, the streets ominously still once the rumbling of horses and marching soldiers finally ceased. As the morning wore on, she began to wonder what was going on outside the city walls. Had King Hezekiah decided to surrender? Would the a.s.syrians lay siege to the city? The unknown seemed much more frightening to her than simply facing her fears, and when she could no longer stand the wait, she decided to go to the wall. She would show Eliakim that she was strong, that she had faith in him and in G.o.d. She wanted to face the a.s.syrians fearlessly, the way he did. Maybe then she could stop shivering.

After Tirza fell asleep for her morning nap, Jerusha sent Jerimoth into the garden with one of the servants. Then she left the house and walked through the deserted streets to the wall.

Hundreds of people packed the ledge on top as Jerusha climbed the stairs. She remembered the day she came up here with Eliakim to inspect these defenses, but she never dreamed the horrible day would arrive when the a.s.syrians would surround Jerusalem. The people seemed oddly quiet, the atmosphere so tense she could scarcely catch her breath. Everyone gazed down into the valley, but Jerusha couldn't get close enough to see.

"Excuse me, I just got here-may I see?"

A Judean soldier turned to face her. "Shhh. The king has ordered the people on the walls to remain silent."

"But what's happening down there?"

"We're waiting for King Hezekiah to come out. The a.s.syrians have summoned him to appear."

"May I please see? Just for a minute?" The soldier stepped aside to let her through. Jerusha peered over the wall and instantly, all the horrible years she had tried so hard to forget came rushing back. a.s.syrian soldiers swarmed everywhere-hundreds of thousands of them-spreading out across the valley as far as she could see, with horses and chariots and tents too numerous to count. A gruesome fence of impaled bodies stood before the city gates.

It was a scene so familiar to her, yet so horribly different. Now she was one of the a.s.syrians' helpless victims, trapped inside the besieged city with no hope of escaping the coming holocaust. She had fallen into their trap, and this time she had so much more to lose. She knew too well the terrible slaughter that would take place when Jerusalem finally fell-important men like Eliakim would be tortured and flayed alive; tiny children like Tirza and Jerimoth would scream in vain for their parents until they starved to death. Yet she saw no way to save the people she loved from what would soon come. She stood frozen with terror, gripping the wall to steady her shaking legs. The world spun dizzily.

Then, as her eyes swept the horrible panorama before her, she saw him. She would have recognized Iddina's arrogant, catlike stance if he'd stood among millions of a.s.syrians. But Iddina stood alone, twenty feet in front of the city gate.

It couldn't be him. It was impossible that Iddina was the a.s.syrians' Rabshekah. But it was him. He had found her.

A scream rose from Jerusha's throat before she could stop it.

"Shhhhh!" The soldier clapped his hand over her mouth and began to pull her toward the stairs.

"Look! Here comes King Hezekiah," someone said, and the soldier turned back to see, dragging Jerusha with him.

The city gate swung open a crack. Three figures emerged from the stronghold. But the one in front, walking forward to meet Iddina, wasn't King Hezekiah. Jerusha recognized the tall, slim body, the tousled black hair, and high forehead. It was Eliakim.

He looked vulnerable and defenseless as he walked toward Iddina, a gentle, scholarly man facing a vicious animal who could snap his neck with his bare hands. Jerusha tried to scream, to warn Eliakim to go back, but all the air had rushed from her lungs as if she had been punched. She couldn't draw a breath. Something broke inside her, and water gushed from her womb and ran down her legs. Then the world turned black as Jerusha fainted in the soldier's arms.

__________.

"G.o.d of Abraham, help me," Eliakim breathed. He walked through the city gate into the open area beyond the walls with Shebna and Joah following behind. The sight of the impaled men was even more horrifying up close, the agony etched on their faces overwhelming. He remembered the foolish fantasy he had once had of wielding a sword at the city gates to defend Jerusha from the a.s.syrians, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

By the time he reached the Rabshekah, Eliakim's legs felt as if they might give way any minute. The cruelty and viciousness he glimpsed in the a.s.syrian's eye made his heart pound crazily as if trying to escape from his chest. Never before had he stood so close to a man so savage, so dangerous. It unnerved him. He hoped his voice would be steady when he spoke. The Rabshekah's voice roared like a lion's.

"Are you King Hezekiah?"

"No."

"Then who are you?"

"I am Eliakim ben Hilkiah."

"Where's King Hezekiah?"

"In his palace. I'm his spokesman."

The a.s.syrian sputtered for words. "Doesn't he know who I am?"

"Yes. He knows you are Emperor Sennacherib's spokesman, just as I am King Hezekiah's spokesman."

Iddina's dark face flushed with speechless rage, and Eliakim knew he had won the first round. He suppressed a smile.

"I refuse to accept surrender from you! Hezekiah must appear before me in person!"

"King Hezekiah has no intention of surrendering."

"What?" The a.s.syrian charged forward, his face so terrifying that for a moment Eliakim feared the man would tear him limb from limb. Eliakim wanted to back away, but he was too paralyzed to move. Iddina halted a few feet from him and suddenly broke into chilling, mirthless laughter.

"King Hezekiah isn't going to surrender?"

"That's right."

"Is the man insane? Either he surrenders peacefully or we'll tear the city apart!"

"You'll have to take it by force."

"Very well. He'll get his wish. And when we finally break through these walls, you're mine, Eliakim ben Hilkiah! I want the pleasure of slowly slicing you into pieces myself!"

Fear chased through Eliakim. Iddina's ferocious face was inches from his own. In the background the screams of the tortured men seemed to grow louder.

"Give this message to King Hezekiah," Iddina shouted. "The great king of a.s.syria says, 'No one can save you from my power! You need more than mere promises of help before you rebel against me. But which of your allies will give you more than words? Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, you will find her to be a stick that breaks beneath your weight and pierces your hand. The Egyptian Pharaoh is totally unreliable!' And if you say, 'We're trusting the Lord to rescue us'-just remember that He is the very one whose hilltop altars you've destroyed. For you require everyone to worship at the altar in Jerusalem!"

Iddina's knowledge of Judean affairs staggered Eliakim. How had the a.s.syrians learned all of this? And how did they know to use this propaganda to erode morale? Iddina's proud, mocking voice carried clearly to the top of the wall.

"I'll tell you what: make a bet with my master, the king of a.s.syria! If you have two thousand men left who can ride horses, we'll furnish the horses! And with an army as small as yours, you are no threat to even the least lieutenant in charge of the smallest contingent of my master's army. Even if Egypt supplies you with horses and chariots, it will do no good. And do you think we have come here on our own? No! Yahweh sent us and told us, 'Go and destroy this nation!' "

Eliakim shuddered. That was exactly what Isaiah and Micah had been telling the people-that the a.s.syrians were the rod of Yahweh's judgment. He glanced behind him at the men crowded on top of the wall and knew that he had to silence the Rabshekah before he convinced the people to revolt.

"Speak in Aramaic," Eliakim said, changing to that language. "We understand it quite well."

"Yes, do not use Hebrew," Shebna added. "The people standing on the walls will hear you."

"Has my master sent me to speak only to you and to your master?" Iddina said, laughing. "Hasn't he sent me to the people on the walls, too? For they are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine!"

The a.s.syrian was shouting now, his voice haughty and arrogant. He no longer addressed his words to Eliakim but talked directly to the men on the wall.

"Listen to the great king of a.s.syria! Don't let King Hezekiah fool you. He will never be able to save you from my power. Don't let him fool you into trusting in Yahweh to rescue you. Don't listen to King Hezekiah. Surrender! You can live in peace here in your own land until I take you to another land just like this one-with plentiful crops, grain, wine, olive trees, and honey. All of this instead of death!"

His voice was smooth and persuasive, and his soothing tone said Trust me. Eliakim didn't dare turn around again to see the effect of Iddina's speech-he feared it was devastating. Surprisingly, the men on the wall remained silent, as King Hezekiah had commanded.

"Don't listen to King Hezekiah when he tries to persuade you that Yahweh will deliver you," Iddina continued. "Have any of the G.o.ds of the other nations ever delivered their people from the king of a.s.syria? What happened to the G.o.ds of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they rescue Samaria? What G.o.ds have ever been able to save any nation from my power? So what makes you think Yahweh can save Jerusalem?"

Iddina's blasphemy sent shivers of rage through Eliakim. This a.s.syrian had compared Yahweh to worthless idols! Eliakim grabbed the front of his robe and tore it. Iddina gave him a final look of utter contempt and strode away.

Eliakim stood rooted in place. "'Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us,' " he quoted softly. " 'We have endured much ridicule from the proud, much contempt from the arrogant.' " Finally Joah touched his shoulder and motioned for them to go.

None of them spoke as they climbed the hill to the palace. Eliakim kept his gaze straight ahead as he walked, avoiding the eyes of the townspeople watching him pa.s.s. He didn't want to see their faces and witness the demoralizing effect of the Rabshekah's words.

"What happened?" King Hezekiah asked when they reached the throne room.

"I told him you wouldn't surrender, Your Majesty. He tried to convince the people to rebel against you, and he offered peaceful deportation in place of famine and war. He said the Egyptians aren't coming to save us."

"Why are your robes torn?"

"He blasphemed G.o.d. He compared Yahweh to the worthless G.o.ds of our neighbors and said He wasn't able to deliver us."

Hezekiah closed his eyes and tore the front of his robes too. " 'O Lord, you have seen this; be not silent... . Awake, and rise to my defense! ... Do not let them gloat over me. Do not let them think, "Aha, just what we wanted!" or say, "We have swallowed him up." ' "

An atmosphere of deep hopelessness engulfed them all, and Eliakim prayed that the king wouldn't change his mind and decide to surrender. Shebna finally broke the tense silence. "What are you going to do, Your Majesty?"

"You and Eliakim gather the chief priests and go find Isaiah. I want you to deliver a message to him from me. Joah and I will go to the Temple and pray."

Everyone, including King Hezekiah, changed into sackcloth, and Eliakim led Shebna and the priests down the hill to find the prophet's house. The overwhelming events left Eliakim dazed. The siege had happened so quickly that he was still reeling from the shock of it. But at the same time it seemed as if weeks had pa.s.sed since he had eaten breakfast with his family that morning. He glanced at his house as they hurried past his street, hoping that Jerusha had listened to his advice and stayed home.

"Do you know where Isaiah lives?" Shebna asked as they wove through the maze of streets.

"Yes. I've been there before."

By the time all of the chief priests had jammed behind him into the rabbi's tiny house, Eliakim could barely move. Isaiah gestured to a wooden stool.

"Please sit down, Lord Eliakim."

Eliakim dropped down on the stool, grateful to rest his trembling legs and catch his breath. "Rabbi, the king asked me to give you this message." He held out the rolled square of parchment, but Isaiah shook his head.

"Read it to me."

Eliakim unrolled the page and read it aloud. "'This is a day of trouble and frustration and blasphemy; it is a serious time, as when a woman is in heavy labor trying to give birth and the child does not come. But perhaps the Lord your G.o.d heard the blasphemy of the king of a.s.syria's representative as he scoffed at the living G.o.d. Surely G.o.d won't let him get away with this. Surely G.o.d will rebuke him for those words. Oh, Isaiah, pray for those of us who are left!' "

The prophet stared silently at the floor for several minutes without speaking. Eliakim slowly rolled up the parchment and laid it on the table. The room was suffocating with so many men crowded inside it, and the scratchy sackcloth robe made Eliakim squirm with discomfort. "'O Lord, be gracious to us,' " Isaiah prayed softly. " 'We long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.' " Eliakim saw that in spite of the one hundred thousand enemy troops surrounding their city, this great man of G.o.d was at peace.

"Why do you say ... 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my G.o.d'? " Isaiah asked. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting G.o.d, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his under- standing no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

The prophet's words nourished Eliakim's hope. He felt Isaiah's peace begin to flood through him, as well, and he smiled faintly.

Isaiah continued speaking, his voice confident. "Tell your master, 'This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard-those words with which the underlings of the king of a.s.syria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "

Eliakim felt limp with relief. G.o.d had spoken through His prophet; they had nothing to fear. He knew that Isaiah's prophecy would come to pa.s.s.

__________.

Hezekiah knelt on the royal dais at the Temple with his forehead pressed to the ground, trying to calm himself enough to pray. G.o.d was merciful. He had answered Hezekiah's desperate prayers before, allowing him to live. Now he prayed for his nation's life, for his people, young and old, whose lives would all be lost unless Yahweh intervened.

Once again he stood helpless before an overwhelming enemy, and he remembered Yahweh's promise to him, long ago: "When you pa.s.s through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pa.s.s through the rivers, they will not sweep over you." He closed his eyes and cried out to G.o.d in prayer using the words of his ancestor David.

" 'Save me, O G.o.d, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my G.o.d. Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

"'You know my folly, O G.o.d; my guilt is not hidden from you. May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the Lord Almighty; may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O G.o.d of Israel... .

"'But I pray to you, O Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O G.o.d, answer me with your sure salvation. Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters. Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.

"'Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble. Come near and rescue me; redeem me because of my foes... .

"'Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them. May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents... . I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O G.o.d, protect me.' "

When Hezekiah finally lifted his head and looked around, Eliakim had returned. Hezekiah dreaded to ask the question.

"What did Rabbi Isaiah say?"

"It was good news, Your Majesty. Yahweh said not to be afraid of the a.s.syrians. He is going to cause them to return to a.s.syria, where Emperor Sennacherib will be slain."

"Do you think that means the Egyptians will come to drive them back?"

Eliakim shrugged. "I don't know. What else could it mean?"

Hezekiah closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the ground in prayer once more. " 'I will praise G.o.d's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving... . The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them, for G.o.d will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it; the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.' "

When he finished praying, Hezekiah stood and began walking back to the palace with Eliakim. But as they pa.s.sed the Women's Court, he heard the sound of women wailing as if in deep sorrow and mourning. It sent shivers through Hezekiah. He stopped to listen. The women of Jerusalem were weeping and praying for their families and for their lives.

"Is the entire city this fearful?" he asked Eliakim.

"Yes, my lord. Morale is very low. The Rabshekah's words, the sight of such a powerful army outside our gates-they have everyone terrified. General Benjamin had to put some of his own soldiers under guard after they threatened mutiny."

"Then it's up to us to convince them that G.o.d is able to deliver us. Come on."

He stepped up to the gate of the Women's Court, and the wailing stopped abruptly when the startled women realized who he was. "Listen," King Hezekiah said. "You don't have to be afraid. I know the King of a.s.syria has a vast army with him, but there is a greater power with us than with him. He only has the arm of the flesh. But we have the arm of the Lord our G.o.d to help us. He will fight our battles for us."

"But the a.s.syrian leader spoke the truth," one of the women cried. "No one has ever escaped from them!"

"What will happen to our children?" another wept.