SONGS OF PRAISE.
The last day of the feast of Tabernacles drew to a close. At the ninth hour, the evening sacrifice had been offered, while the courts of the temple were filled with the multitude of worshipers who had assembled to keep holy day. Those courts, ever beautiful, now appeared to the eye in unwonted beauty. Verdure waved from the walls, and branches of myrtle, palm, and pomegranate, overshadowed the throng beneath. The golden vine which surmounted the entrance of the sanctuary, glittered in the slanting rays of the sun, while the curling smoke of the censer yet wreathed around the holy place, and issued forth, in an odorous cloud, through the parted curtains which overhung the sacred threshold. While the eyes of some sought the holiest entrance, which no foot must pass save that of the High Priest when he made intercession for the sins of the people, others gazed on the remains of the sacrifice which yet hallowed the altar, and on the priests who were ranged on its sloping ascent, each bearing the sacred vessel of which he had the charge. A burst of harmony startled the throng, and sent a thrill of rapture through every frame. Loud and louder it pealed, till every echo of the lofty pile was awakened, and the music seemed to pervade the space, as if it were embodied in the perfume of the censer. All eyes were turned towards the Water-gate, every cheek was flushed, every voice was stilled, while the harmony gradually softened, and at length the silver trumpets alone were heard to make sweet melody. The folding doors of the Water-gate were flung apart, and the priest appeared who had descended to the stream of Siloah which waters the foot of Moriah. There he had filled his golden ewer, in remembrance of the gift of water to the thirsting followers of Moses, and in sign of thankfulness for the early and latter rains, and now offered the pure produce of the spring to be mingled with the wine of sacrifice. The music ceased for a moment, while the voice of the priest declared, “With joy we draw water from the wells of salvation,” and while the multitude echoed his words with a shout of rejoicing. Another burst of music succeeded, which almost drowned the chaunting of the Levites. When it had once more sunk into silence, the High Priest appeared on the summit of the ascent, clothed in the pontifical garments, and spread forth his hands to bless the people, while they bowed their faces to the ground.
The service of the temple was now over; but ere the hum of voices and the trampling of feet was heard, as the multitude departed to their tabernacles, a single voice arose, inviting such as thirsted to drink of living waters, purer than ever gushed from the spring of Siloah.
Until now, one spirit had pervaded the place and stirred up all hearts. The multitude had been as one man in the pride of having Abraham for their common father, in the hope that a son of David would arise as their Messiah, and in the glory of worshiping according to the law of Moses. But when this voice was uplifted, the spirit of peace fled away. Yet it was a voice of gentleness and love; a voice so unlike that of the scribes in their teachings, that many who had before felt it sink down into their hearts, breathed forth, while they bowed the head, “of a truth this is the Prophet.” Still there were hearts which those accents could not reach. Busy whispers, angry murmurs, were heard. In the presence of Jehovah, was his messenger scorned. While music and incense yet hung around the sacred walls, evil passions were aroused against the Lord’s Anointed.
The throng thickened around him as he spake, though the scribes uplifted their voices in the courts, inviting the people to hear the law expounded. They sat down in the high places, and unrolled the records of the law; but no man came unto them. The Levites stood on the fifteen steps and sang psalms; but no one regarded. The elders of the people, and some members of the Sanhedrim, repaired to the Court of the Women with torches in their hands, and performed sacred dances, as was their wont at the times of the feasts; but none gazed save the women who filled the galleries above. At length, the expounders of the law returned their scrolls to the attendants, and went out, one by one, grieved at their hearts that a teacher had arisen mightier than themselves; the Levites ceased their songs, and retired to the inner courts; and the members of the council withdrew to consult how they might destroy the false prophet whom they now left with the multitude.
Yet not governing the multitude did they leave him. There were many who heard him not: many who despised, many who rejected him. His brethren stood apart with other Galileans, and some who were of Jerusalem.
“Wherefore,” said one, “did this prophet, thy brother, not teach on the first day of the feast? Our people were gathered together even as now, and were not afterwards dispersed as they shall be this night. If his words are worthy to be received, wherefore should they not have sanctified the rites of the temple, as the prophets of Jehovah hallowed the worship of old?”
“Ask not of us,” said his brethren, “for we know not. Neither call him one of us, for we are not with him in this matter.”
“What did ye on the way? Men say that it is his custom to teach as he journeys: did ye gainsay his words?”
“He journeyed not with us, and herein, we judge, hath he proved himself false. We besought him to shew his doctrine to the world, if, as he saith, he is come to save the world. But he said he went not up yet to the feast, because his time was not fully come.”
“And would he have hindered others also?”
“Nay; for he said our time was always ready. He also went forth with us, and discoursed concerning our abode at Jerusalem: and when we turned aside from Jordan, he saluted us and tarried alone on its banks till we had lost sight of him. And now, behold him here!”
“Who hath told him that his hour is fully come?”
“Again we say we know not. Ask himself.”
“Knowest thou not,” said a priest unto one who asked him concerning Jesus—“knowest thou not that the Messiah shall suddenly come into his temple; not as a worshiper, like this man, but with the manifest glory of Jehovah? Often, when the temple-gates were closed, have I sought to know whether a spirit from on high was shut in among us. Often, when I have heard the footsteps of the guard, or their cry of ‘All is peace,’ in the night watches, I have listened for an answering voice from the depths of the sanctuary. When I have asked, ‘Is it light towards Hebron?’ I have watched for a heavenly messenger descending on the roof of the temple with the first beam of the morning. My dreams are often of the Holiest place, which mine eye hath not seen, and where my foot may never enter; and there hath my spirit beheld one descending from above in the glory of Jehovah, and issuing from the portal even as the morning sun from behind his curtain of clouds in the east. But of this man, no one knoweth when first he entered the temple. The Messiah cometh not thus.”
“Yet the day of the Lord is surely at hand,”
“I verily believe it; and though mine eyes wax dim, I yet trust to see the light which cometh to them that sit in darkness.”
“At least, draw nigh with me and hearken to the words of the Teacher, lest thou lose that for which thou hast waited so long.”
“May the wrath of Jehovah be upon me if I give ear unto the blasphemer who taketh his name in vain!” cried the priest, as he hastened away. His companion turned towards the voice which still spake, sometimes with authority declaring high truths, and sometimes answering the questions of those who stood around.
At the feet of Jesus sat Paltiel, who drank of the waters of life as if his soul thirsted with a thirst which could not be quenched. On the shoulder of Paltiel leaned Sadoc, his friend. Sadoc had come up to the feast with a longing desire to see again the hope of Israel. From the gates of Capernaum to the foot of Sion, he had looked around for the form which was sacred in his eyes; but he beheld it not during his journey. He had sought Jesus in the temple, in the city, and among the tabernacles, and sought in vain, till, as he bowed beneath the blessing of the High Priest, the voice he loved had touched his soul. Now, as the eye of the Prophet rested on him, he steadily met that gaze; and as words fraught with deep and holy meaning fell upon his ear, he was not satisfied with hearing, but sought to understand.
Intent to listen, he heeded not the confusion of moving feet, nor the murmur of many tongues, nor did he mark that some had entered from whom every one drew apart. But when the glance of the Teacher passed from him to some who stood behind, and when the discourse was changed and the Prophet darkly said unto certain of the throng, that his hour was not yet come, Sadoc turned and saw with sorrow and shame that men sent by the rulers were about to lay hands on the Holy One. He flung aside his robe, and prepared himself to resist. Paltiel also sprang upon his feet; but once again they met the eye of the Prophet as he repeated that his hour was not yet come. They believed and paused. The servants of the rulers paused also. They hearkened awhile, loosening hold of their staves. Sadoc also was again intent; and when the Teacher ceased after the evening shades had fallen, his disciples saw that none were near but such as bowed themselves before him. If there were adversaries, they had departed; and if the hour of impious violence was indeed to come, it was not when the finger of silence hushed the multitude within the sanctuary.
When the Teacher had gone forth to the Mount of Olives to repose himself in a tabernacle of a vineyard, the people dispersed themselves through the city, and none but the priests remained in the temple.
Sadoc and Paltiel went out with Ozias, at whose habitation they abode; and Phares, the son of Ozias, was with them also. They were thoughtful and mute, till they reached the tabernacle on the roof of the dwelling of Ozias. As they entered, the women of the household met them, and invited them to sit down and eat the last repast which should be spread in the tabernacle. The feast was rich, and the tabernacle was yet fair; the citrons hanging among the leafy boughs, and the carpets being bestrewn with flowers; yet was not the company mirthful. Songs of joy, and voices of mirth, were brought to their ears by the night breeze which passed over the bowers of the city; but in the tabernacle of Ozias, these sounds found no echo. There was no sorrow, for who would dare to mourn on the gayest day of the most joyful of the feasts? But deep thoughts were working in the bosoms of those who had even now left the temple, and the women were silent when they knew what was in the hearts of their friends. The last cup of wine was blessed by Ozias, and drunk in silence with deep joy; and when the company had arisen to receive the benediction of their host, Sadoc prayed in spirit that ere they should again be assembled beneath a roof of boughs, the people of Jehovah should have become children of his new kingdom; and he trusted that at the next feast of joy, a loftier song of thanksgiving should arise from the holy city, and the Messiah be enthroned in the midst, instead of reposing, as now, in a vineyard on the Mount of Olives. While thus dreaming of the future, he plucked from the wall of the tabernacle a tuft of the pomegranate, which he hid in his bosom as a memorial of the most blessed feast which he had yet attended.
The company left the tabernacle to enter it no more; and, as they stood beneath the stars, they looked around on the scene of festivity. Lamps were in every tabernacle. They shone brightly amid the bowers on the neighbouring housetops; they sent up their mingled radiance from the streets and porches, and glimmered on the mount of Olives and the neighbouring hills. As the night breeze blew chill, the lights were one by one extinguished. The women, the children and aged persons, withdrew to their couches, and the murmurs of the city sank into silence. The lights of heaven seemed to glow more brightly as the darkness drew over the earth. By midnight the lamp of Ozias was alone left burning. On his roof there were watchers who held discourse while others slept. Their voices were soft, so that the ripplings of Kedron were heard from beneath, while the yellow light from the deserted bower, gleaming on their thoughtful brows and moving lips, shewed that their communion was of the deep and lofty things which can best be spoken at dead of the night.
“It is said,” declared Ozias, “that he prepareth himself for enmity on the part of the people as well as their rulers. I fear, Sadoc, lest he should not be enthroned in the midst of our tabernacles, as thou dreamest.”
“That his doctrine will be gainsaid and himself persecuted, I fully believe,” replied Sadoc; “for when hath Israel received gladly a prophet from on high? But Jehovah shall surely establish his truth by this his greatest messenger.”
“Truly, we are a rebellious people,” said Paltiel. "When I think how Moses was troubled in spirit all the days of his life, how Elijah hungered in the desert, how Isaiah was tortured in body, and Jeremiah mourned in his heart, I weep and take up the words of lamentation, because Jerusalem hath grievously sinned. I cannot but fear lest the wrath of Jehovah should visit us to avenge his holy one.”
“Yet herein is his tender mercy shewn,” said Phares, “that he hath sent unto us one so great.”
“But what saith he if we receive him not? ‘Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of Hosts.’ If he be against us, who shall save us?”
“But the people may yet believe and be saved,” said Sadoc, “No man yet layeth hands on him, though the Pharisees seek to destroy him. He is mightier than other prophets, and all hearts may be subdued before him.”
“Nay, my friend,” replied Paltiel, “the hearts of our people are as a stony soil; the words of wisdom are to them as a stream which floweth on and passeth away, and leaveth them as barren as before. Our rulers have ever been the destroyers of the prophets, and Zion is their sepulchre. When they have lifted up their voices, the people have mocked; when they have wrought wonders, the spirit which is upon them hath been despised; when they have hungered, no man hath ministered unto them; when they have mourned, none hath regarded. If a man is holy, he is despised; if he offereth life, he findeth death; if he seeketh to bless the people, he is stoned by their hands. Thus it hath been, and thus it shall be, with this nation.”
"Nay, Paltiel,” said his friend, “now thou speakest too much evil of thy people. Rememberest thou not that Jehovah hath part with us in this matter; hath he not promised, and is not his promise sure?”
“As the pillars of the earth, and the sign of the rainbow in the cloud. But the word of Jesus is sure also, and he saith that Jerusalem, the murderess of the prophets, shall lift up her hand against him also.”
Sadoc was silent, but Ozias asked,
“Saith he this in wrath or in calmness?”
“The Holy One knoweth not wrath,” replied Paltiel, solemnly. "In the calmness of one who surely knows, but with the sorrow of one who mourns, he hath declared that he shall die by the hands of the people he came to save. Mine ears have heard this from him; mine eyes shall be upon him, while he yet liveth; and when he is departed, my heart shall be with him continually, while I pray for mercy on this people.”
“Rather pray for the outpouring of wrath,” cried Phares.
“The Teacher prayeth not so, and neither will I,” said Paltiel. “He mourneth not for himself, but for us and for our children.”
Paltiel stooped down, hiding bis face in his mantle, while all were silent.
“Then he feareth not to die,” said Ozias, at length.
“His love for his nation overcometh his fear,” replied Sadoc.
“Who would fear to die in the cause of Jehovah?” exclaimed Paltiel, proudly raising himself, and looking round on his companions. “Life is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun; but the favour of God is sweeter than life, and to gaze on his glory is better than to stand in the sunshine of noon. They are blessed who witness the prosperity of Jerusalem, the peace of her dwellings, and the pomp of her palaces; but he is also blessed who suffereth to redeem her. Jesus mourneth not for himself, and I mourn not for him, but for his followers, and yet more for such as despise and reject him.”
“Thy words are lofty, Paltiel,” said Ozias; “is thy courage also high? Couldst thou also die for the people?”
“Jehovah hath no such honour for one like me,” replied Paltiel, as he gazed towards the pinnacles of the temple. “There he abideth; let his voice he heard calling me from his holy place, and I will answer. On such as I, his spirit is not poured forth, else would I uplift my voice as the holy men of old, and none should make me afraid. It cannot be that one like myself should be needed to witness unto death in his cause: else should my blood flow at the foot of his altar as freely as the blood of the evening sacrifice: the joy of my spirit should overcome the pangs of the body, and men should account the day of my death better than the day of my birth.”
He ceased, and none answered, for voices were heard below, asking for him and Sadoc, the son of Imri. Men were sent by the rulers to bring them before the council, that they might tell somewhat concerning Jesus of Nazareth, Ozias feared for them, but dared not resist the orders of the Sanhedrim. Sadoc arose without delay, and went down to the gate. As Paltiel passed the entrance of the tabernacle, a gleam from the dying lamp shone on his countenance, and shewed that it was also lighted by fire from within.
Qzias and his son followed the two friends to the place where the council was sitting, which was in one of the apartments of the temple; but they were obliged to remain without while Paltiel and Sadoc were led before the rulers. The time wore away slowly, and when the cock crew, and no one came forth from the council-chamber, Ozias feared lest his guests should be indeed in peril, The guard had finished their nightly round, the watchman had announced the dawn, the temple gates were thrown open, and the altar was prepared for the sacrifice, before Paltiel and Sadoc were released. They spake lightly of their peril to their anxious friends. They had done nothing worthy of punishment, and the rulers could only warn them not to follow Jesus of Nazareth.
"What will ye therefore do?” inquired Ozias.
“That which we have done thus far,” replied Paltiel. “We shall listen again, that we may not do as Nicodemus saith the council hath done,—judge a man without having heard him.”
“But if they should perceive that ye heed not their warnings,—if ye should be brought before the council again!”
“Then again will we declare whatsoever we know of this Prophet; and they shall judge him and us. If they send us away as now, all is well: if they inflict punishment on us, all is well also, if our hearts condemn us not.”
“Behold!” cried Sadoc, “the Teacher entereth the temple. Let us go and warn him that spies are around him, and that many seek to ensnare him in his words.”
“He knoweth what is in men’s hearts before their tongues declare it,” answered Paltiel. “He discerneth spirits by his wisdom, and he hath power to save himself from the hands of violent men. Nevertheless, we will go unto him; for where should the disciple be but at the feet of his Lord?”
At eventide, the Prophet reposed on the Mount of Olives. His disciples were gathered around him, and their talk was of the sanctuary which arose before them, and which was one day to be destroyed. The valley of Kedron lay below them, and beyond arose the hill Moriah, crowned with the buildings of the temple. The wall of Solomon, whose height was five hundred feet, seemed the bulwark of an edifice which must endure for ever; and as the disciples gazed, they marvelled by what power the mighty mass should be overthrown, and whether the hand of man could so cast its stones abroad that not one should rest upon another. After a while, some one beheld a company moving along the valley at a distance. They were at first scarcely discerned among the willows which overhung the bed of the torrent, and the cedars, whose long shadows were cast over the pathway; but it was soon perceived that they were approaching the mount.
“They are way-faring men,” said one who reclined by Sadoc’s side. “There is dust on their raiment, and they are shod as for a journey.”
“I have seen such in the early part of the day,” said Phares, “approaching from Bethlehem; and I marvelled that they turned aside unto this valley.”
“Other such I also beheld coming from Gibeon, and yet more from the valley of Ajalon,” said another disciple. “I went down to the gate of Ephraim to meet them, and seek tidings from Gibeon: but the pilgrims came not, and one told me they had skirted the city unto the valley of Kedron. Who are they that thus gather together from the north and from the south?”
While they thus spake, music arose on the still air. The voices of the pilgrims were heard from afar, mingling in a song of greeting to Zion, and of praise to the King of the Holy City. The song swelled into a shout of triumph as they drew nearer; but when they beheld the company on the mount, and him who sat in the midst, the chorus sank into silence, and every head was bowed in obeisance.
Sadoc glanced over their numbers, and then looked upon the countenance of Jesus, and immediately knew that the seventy disciples had returned from bearing glad tidings unto the cities of Israel. At the voice of the Teacher they upraised themselves, and when he smiled they pressed forwards to the place where he was.
A tale of joy was on every tongue, a blessing swelled in every heart on that name which had given them power. One, of a mighty frame, like the giants of old, had trod on scorpions, and returned unharmed. One, meek in countenance and frail in form, had gone forth as among wolves, with trembling; but now approached gladly, as a lamb that seeketh the fold at night-fall. Some told how a great city had received the tidings of salvation, and how the wayfarer in the wilderness had hearkened and been converted. One from whom a demon had been cast out, sank down at the feet of Jesus, having followed even thus far the disciple who had restored him. When all had told how sin and sorrow had fled before their steps, and how the spirit of the Lord had wrought through them in all the land, the Teacher uplifted his voice to give to Jehovah the glory and the praise.
Then the psalm of thanksgiving burst forth once again, as the full moon shone on the mountain side. It was heard afar into the desert. The robbers who were coming forth to despoil the traveller, slunk back into their caves. The wild ass, while snuffing the night air, heard and turned to the sound. The stork fluttered among the cedar boughs, and the eagle flapped her wings over her nest in the high rock. The temple guard paused as they patrolled the walls, to listen to a holier song than Levites ever uttered. Sweet had been the melody of voices in the courts of the sanctuary, in honour of the God of the Hebrews; but now, within a loftier temple, lighted by the fires of the firmament, arose a richer harmony to glorify Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth.