Hebrew Heroes: A Tale Founded on Jewish History

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  THE PASSOVER FEAST.

  Very different was the celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread inthe days of Antiochus Epiphanes from what it had been in the palmytimes when the children of Israel were swayed by their own nativekings. There was now no mighty gathering together of the people fromDan to Beersheba; herdsmen driving their lowing cattle, shepherdsleading their bleating flocks from the slopes of Carmel, and thepastures beneath the snow-capt heights of Lebanon. Fishermen left nottheir nets by the shores of the inland lakes, nor their boats drawn upon the coast by the sea, to go up, as their fathers had gone, toworship the Lord in Zion. There were no pilgrims from Sharon's plainsor the mountains of Gilead. Jerusalem was not crowded with joyfulworshippers, and her streets made almost impassable by the droves andflocks collected for sacrifice, as when Josiah held hisnever-to-be-forgotten Passover Feast. There were no loud bursts ofjoyful music, as when the singers, the sons of Asaph, ranged in theirappointed places, led the chorus of glad thanksgiving. Groups ofHebrews, by twos and threes, stealthily made their way, as if bound onsome secret and dangerous errand, to the few houses in which the ownerswere bold enough or pious enough to prepare the Paschal feast.

  Amongst these dwellings was that of the elder Salathiel, a man who, indespite of threatened persecution, still dared to worship God accordingto the law as given through Moses. In an upper room in his house allwas set ready for the celebration of the feast, in order as seemly ascircumstances would permit. The Paschal lamb had been roasted whole ina circular pit in the ground; it had been roasted transfixed on twospits thrust through it, one lengthwise and one transversely, so as toform a cross. The wild and bitter herbs, with which it was to beeaten, had been carefully washed and prepared. On the table had beenplaced plates containing unleavened bread, and four cups filled withred wine mingled with water.

  There had been difficulty in gathering together on this occasion, inthe house of Salathiel, even the ten individuals that formed thesmallest number deemed by the Hebrews sufficient for the duecelebration of the feast. Three of the persons present were females,two of them belonging to Salathiel's own family. The third was Zarah,who, closely shrouded in her large linen veil, came under the escort ofAbishai her uncle. The guests arrived late, having had to change theircourse more than once, from the suspicion that they were dogged bySyrian spies.

  Greetings, in that upper chamber, were interchanged in low tones;whispered conversation was held as to the recent events, the tidings ofwhich had thrilled like an electric shock through the heart ofJerusalem. The victories of Judas Maccabeus were in every mind and onevery tongue. Glad prophecies were circulated amongst the guests thatthe next Passover would not be held in secret, and kept with maimedrites like the present; but that ere the circling year brought roundthe holy season again, the sanctuary would be cleansed, the city free,and that white-robed priests and Levites would gather together in theopen face of day, where the smoke of sacrifice should rise from thealtar of God's Temple.

  Zarah was the most silent and sad of those who met in the house ofSalathiel. Many thoughts were flowing through her mind, which shewould not have dared to put into words.

  "Is it sinful to desire that the blessings of the covenant were not soexclusive?" Thus mused the young Hebrew maid. "Is it sinful to wishthat the wall of partition could be broken down, and that Jews andGentiles, descended from one common Father, and created by one mercifulGod, could meet to break bread and drink wine in loving communiontogether? And, if my mother Hadassah reads Scripture aright, may notsuch a time be approaching? Precious and goodly is the goldenseven-branched candlestick of the Temple; but is not the Sun ofRighteousness to arise with healing on His wings (Mal. iv. 2), and willthe candlestick then be needed? The candles illumine but one chosenspot; the sun shines from the east to the west, the glory and light ofthe world! Can God care only for the children of Abraham? Lycidas hastold us of far-distant isles in the West, where the poor savages aresunk in darkest idolatry, where they actually offer human sacrifices totheir huge wicker-idols. Yet might not God in His loving-kindness havemercy even on such wretches as these? Would it be quite impossiblethat Britons should receive the light of His Word, even as they receivethe light of His sunshine? I would fain cling to this hope; I trustthat the hope is not presumptuous. And if even these savage islandersbe not quite beyond reach of the mercy of the Great Father, will notthat mercy embrace the Greeks, the brave, the noble, the gifted? Butmy thoughts wander upon dangerous ground. Can there be salvation forany that may not partake of the Paschal lamb? Is not exclusion fromthis feast exclusion from pardoning grace? Oh that there could be aLamb whose blood could take away the sins of all the world--a Sacrificeof such priceless worth, that not in Jerusalem alone, but through allthe earth, there might be forgiveness, and hope, and salvation for allwho in faith partake of its merits!"

  The solemn feast now commenced. The bread was blessed by Salathiel,broken, and then distributed around. The first cupful of wine wassilently shared; but when the second was passed around, the lesserHallel, being the 113th and 114th psalms, were chanted in low subduedtones.

  Suddenly, in the midst of a verse, every voice was silenced at once,every head turned to listen. The clank of a weapon that had fallen onthe paved courtyard below, was to the startled assembly above what theblood-hound's bay is to the deer.

  "The Syrians have found us; we are betrayed!" ejaculated Abishai,starting up and drawing his sword.

  "Fly! fly!" was echoed from mouth to mouth. The apartment in which theHebrews were assembled had two doors--one communicating by a staircasewith the courtyard below, the other, on the opposite side of the room,leading to the roof, which was near enough to other dwellings to afforda tolerable chance of escape to those who should make their way overthem under cover of the dusk. It was partly on account of thisadvantage presented by Salathiel's house that it had been chosen as thescene of the Paschal Feast. The second door, through which escapemight thus be effected, had been prudently left wide open, and at thefirst alarm there was a general rush made towards it.

  Terror so often has the effect of confusing the mind, that theimpressions made by passing events, though painfully vivid incolouring, are not distinct in their outlines. Zarah could have givenno clear account of the scene which followed, which was to her like ahorrible dream. The instinct to make her escape was strong; but as sheattempted to fly, the maiden's veil caught in something, she knew notwhat--it was three or four seconds--they seemed as many hours--beforeshe could extricate it. Zarah heard thundering noises at the one door,rushing sounds of flight at the other; then there was a bursting openof the frail barrier which divided her from the enemy, and Zarah feltrather than saw that the place was filled with soldiers! One sight wasindelibly stamped on her brain--it was that of Abishai all streamingwith blood, his eyes glaring and glazed, his teeth clenched, as hehissed out the word "apostate!" in the last pangs of death. Zarah knewthat it was death.

  Then rude hands were laid on herself; and the terrified girl felt asthe gazelle feels under the claws of the tiger! She was too muchalarmed to have breath even to utter a scream.

  "Hold! harm not the girl!" cried a voice which sounded to Zarahstrangely familiar, though she knew not where she could possibly haveheard it before; and she saw a tall officer in Syrian dress, the samewho has been introduced to the reader more than once under the name ofPollux, who appeared to be in command of the assailing party. Zarah,in her agony of terror, stretched out her hands for protection to onein whose features, even at that moment, she recognized the Hebrew type.But Zarah could not appeal for mercy save by that supplicating gesture;horror so overpowered her senses that she swooned away; and had thesteel then done its cruel work, she would have felt no pain. But thecommand of Antiochus had been rather to seize than to slay; and thesoldiers, by the order of Pollux, carried off as their only prisoner asenseless maiden, leaving the dead body of Abishai on the floor dyedwith his blood.