~/*\~ Paige ~/*\~
“Have you repented of your sins, dedicated yourself to Jehovah, and accepted his way of salvation through Jesus Christ?” The Speaker called.
“Yes!” Mirah answered proudly. Sitting beside her, Paige jumped a little at the chorus. There were far more people getting baptized today than she’d expected. Mirah wasn’t the only exception to the ‘timeline’ of believers being returned. There were some children that hadn’t been baptized yet when they made it through The Day, thanks to the influence of their parents. Other children who had been spared were now old enough. Paige had occupied herself with looking after one Returnee, and had almost missed how much time had passed.
“Do you understand that your baptism identifies you as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in association with Jehovah’s organization?” The Speaker asked, a big smile on his face.
“Yes!” Mirah said again, and there was a round of applause from the rest of the audience. The applause went on enough to almost drown out the next words of the Speaker. Mirah turned to Paige and the two women embraced. In what felt like seconds, the attendants started gesturing for the candidates to follow. Paige looked up at Mirah. “You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“I think I can handle it.” Mirah promised with a smile.
Paige smiled back, pleased. They were talking about more than just the walk to the changing rooms. As the candidates filed out to prepare for the ceremony, the whole audience applauded. It was a sentiment shared around the world, as more people joined the united family.
As the song was announced, and everyone joined in singing praise, Paige felt a strange wave of feeling go through her; watching Mirah walk away. It was something she’d never felt before.
~/*\~
The pool was deep enough for baptism. Family and friends gathered around it, to take pictures or get a clear view as their favored candidate came in. Despite her best efforts, Paige couldn’t get that close through the crowd. She felt a presence behind her and turned to see Nate. “Hi.”
He nodded to her. “How are you feeling?”
“It’s a weirdly maternal moment.” Paige admitted. “I’ve never had kids, but I can’t imagine it feels much different from this.” She glanced at Nate. “How does that make sense? She’s older than I am.”
“Because you had to teach her so much.” Nate offered. “How to use appliances and devices, how to read and write. You took her to her first meeting, comforted her through every emotional breakdown… I was a schoolteacher, Paige. I know that feeling, watching the kids learn how to figure things out all by themselves.” He squeezed her hand. “I know you feel like you were on rollerskates the whole time. But I tell you the truth, Paige: You’ve done a great job with her.”
“That Gold Letter made more difference than a hundred studies with me.” Paige said, glancing down at their joined hands, not pulling away. “It gave her something important to shoot for. Something that mattered far more to her than herself.” Paige craned her neck, looking to see if Mirah was lined up yet. “She still has a while longer before her daughter- There she is!”
Nate stepped closer, trying to see past the crowd. Mirah was indeed in line, and the two of them watched as the line moved, one person after another stepping into the large pool.
“I remember you told me once that the teacher learns as much as the student.” She commented. “I’ve made some breakthroughs of my own, Nate.”
Nate looked over at her. “Oh, yes?”
Paige nodded slowly. “Maybe… maybe we could talk about that later on?”
“I’d like that.” Nate smiled and gave her fingers a squeeze, and they said nothing more; watching Mirah stepped down into the water.
~/*\~
Nate hosted a dinner that night. He had built a more permanent home on the landshare, and it was larger than the temporary housing Mirah and Paige shared. Martine and Nate spent the day before the convention gathering food and preparing meals for their guests, which included several in the Congregation. Mirah had been making friends of her own. And if Paige had been sitting closer to Nate than usual, nobody commented on it.
While everyone celebrated Mirah’s choice, there was a knock on the front door. Nate had turned to answer it, not disturbing the party. Paige went along, watching from the hallway as Nate answered the door, and was given a delivery. It was a letter, in a Blue Envelope. Another Return Notice, addressed to Nate. Nate was surprised, thanked the postman, and turned to see Paige there. Glancing back at the party, he gestured for Paige to join him outside. “This is Mirah’s night. Let’s not make it about the next Return just yet.”
“Agreed.” Paige came out and shut the door quietly, muting the sounds of the party. “It’s blue.” She observed. “I thought those letters were Gold colored.”
“I heard someone at the Convention say there were a few different types of Return Notices.” Nate confided. “The idea is they must be different ‘categories’ of returnees. From what I hear, the Blue ones are still years away from Returning. It’s pretty clear the Gold Letters are people who followed Jehovah in their previous lives. Blue, for people who don’t.”
“If the Return is dated as years away, we probably get all the Gold Letters first, and all the faithful ones get their early reward.” Paige nodded. “Then why send out Blue Letters at all? This soon, I mean?”
“No idea. Like most things we don’t understand, it’ll probably make sense with hindsight.” Nate smiled and opened the Blue Letter. When he saw the name, his legs went out from under him.
(Author’s Note: Again, I’m breaking my own rules for purposes of storytelling. The Color Coded Letters in the Paradise stories I’ve written are all my own invention, with ‘Gold’ for followers of Jehovah being raised first, and Blue or Green for people who were not accepting, or blatantly opposed. The compromise for this plot is that the Blue letter came early, but announced someone who wouldn’t be Returned until after all the faithful ones. Since the order of the Returning is speculation on my part, it’s acceptable to bend the rules.)
Paige caught him as he weaved by reflex, shocked at his reaction. “Nate? What is it?” He was holding out the letter to her, in a shaking hand. Paige took it and read the name. “Y-your brother?”
Nate was in shock. “He signed the Renouncement, Paige. He did it on live television. I saw him do it!”
Paige’s brain was going a million miles an hour. “It was the last thing we saw. Would he have changed his mind after…”
“Could he change his mind after?” Nate was spinning, trying to catch his breath. “I mean, would it make a difference? I always thought that signing the Renouncement was a ‘once and for all’ decision.” A hand flashed up to cover his mouth as he remembered. “Ohgod. Oh, God forgive me. I actually told him that. I got on the phone and I begged him not to sign it. I told him there was no coming back from that.”
Paige frowned. “Did the Branch say it was ‘once and for all’? Obviously, JW’s couldn’t have signed it, but…” Her face suddenly paled, and she swayed on her feet. “Oh. Oh!”
He noticed, suddenly more concerned for her than he was for himself. “What? What is it?”
~/*\~
They’d both run to Alvin. He’d left the party early, fatigued from the Convention, where he’d given talks. There were many Elders in the world they could have turned to. More than they currently needed, but the Returning was starting to accelerate as the world filled up with people who were ready to train the Resurrected. Even so, the idea of going to anyone else never occurred to them. Alvin had been with them during the end of the old world, and the start of this one.
Alvin opened his door to his two dear friends, and they suddenly both started talking over each other frantically, throwing questions and explanations over each other without noticeably pausing to take a breath.
Nonplussed, Alvin let it continue for a few minutes before he raised his hands and let out a whistle to cut them off. “Okay. I think it’s good when people are enthusiastic, but now we can exercise a little patience and take all that from the top.” He said lightly.
Nate held up the Letter. “My brother is getting Resurrected.”
Alvin’s jaw dropped.
~/*\~
Ten minutes later, they were in Alvin’s living room, clutching warm drinks as their world seemed to change shape around them. Alvin had made some calls, and gotten some answers.
“The Society has always said ‘it’s up to Jehovah and Jesus to make judgments about people’.” Alvin said finally, settling in to sit with them. “A lot of us thought the rules were different once Tribulation started…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “But then, why would they?”
(Author’s Note: This is almost a complete reversal of a major plot point in ‘You Will Know’, and a major change from my other writings on the subject. There is a good reason for this, but it takes longer than a paragraph to explain, so I have shifted this explanation to the Afterword.)
Nate held up the letter. “This Letter is dated years from now. We don’t normally get notices that far in advance, do we?”
“No.” Alvin nodded. “You got the notice early so that you and your mother can be aware that your brother will return in time. To cause the least amount of suffering and sadness possible.”
“That was kind.” Nate nodded, still a little stunned. “What about Del? The whole reason he was in your house instead of across the country with his family was because he was trying to get to his mother before it was ‘too late’. Does this mean she’s coming back too?”
“I don’t know. And to be honest, that’s the only unsettling part in this story.” Alvin admitted. “It should be wonderful news. More people make it into Paradise than we thought.”
“But now we’re left to wonder about people again.” Paige nodded. “I remember hearing about people who were… well, surprising. People who made it through A-Day when most of their local congregation thought they wouldn’t. I always thought it was a sign of how forgiving Jehovah could be. But now it seems like the door was quite a bit further open than we expected. And I wonder how far that might go.”
Alvin looked over. “Keep going.”
Paige licked her lips, trying to find words for half-formed thoughts. “I’ve read stories about people who helped smuggle Witnesses out of dangerous situations, without ever becoming brothers themselves. But Jesus once said ‘if you did it for them, then you did it for me’. I wonder if those acts of help are enough.”
“My mother didn’t think so.” Nate put in. “She talked about this a lot with me when I was inactive. She told me: ‘Whoever the kindest, most moral person alive was during Noah’s Day? It wouldn’t save them if they didn’t get on the Ark’.” He tapped the Blue Letter. “But now I’m seeing this, and I’m remembering that verse about people fleeing to the Ark after the door was shut.”
“So it turns out Noah isn’t a perfect metaphor for us.” Alvin said sagely. “There are a million stories about A-Day. It’s a fact that different Regions got different instructions on how to survive. I’ve heard that some of the Halls were surrounded by people trying to get in, even with the military cordon. Some got in, some were blocked somehow.”
“Why were they blocked?”
“I don’t know. Nobody outside was thinking straight. Opposed relatives were trying to drag their kids out of the Hall, kicking and screaming. Apostates were trying to claim bounties, posing as Brothers… It was total anarchy right at the end. Mercifully, Jehovah kept it all straight; because we certainly couldn’t.”
“I met a sister once, who was quite pleased at the idea that the start of Tribulation was the Point of No Return for everyone else.” Paige put in. “She thought that if people came in after that, then that was essentially ‘cheating’. Acting by what they saw on TV, instead of walking by faith.”
“Having proof first was rarely a deal-breaker with God.” Alvin offered. “Jesus healed everyone who came to him. He raised people who had never heard his name from the dead. He never said ‘Believe in me, and then I’ll heal you’.” Alvin scoffed. “That was how televangelists worked. Plenty of Egyptians decided to join the Exodus after they saw the Plagues.”
“But then why wouldn’t everyone have made it?” Paige asked weakly. “All the signs and miracles we saw during that time…”
“Signs and miracles have never been what convinced people. They got people’s attention, and they gave hope to people who were already inclined to look for God.” Alvin shook his head. “Turning water into wine is… well, it’s a magic trick. I remember reading about Egyptian Priests trying to recreate some of the Plagues too. Jesus performed miracles in front of the Scribes and Pharisees, and they decided to execute him in response.” He spread his hands wide. “We all know that most people at the End wouldn’t have changed their thinking, no matter how much proof they had. They simply refused delivery on the facts. Political, economic, scientific, legal. Almost nobody was willing to admit they were just wrong. Not in those days.”
“For that matter, not everyone Jesus healed became believers.” Nate added. “But they still became healthy, and now they get Resurrections, don’t they?”
Long silence.
Alvin reached over and drew his Bible closer, flipping through the pages. When he found what he was looking for, he started to read. “For the Kingdom of the heavens is like the master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After he had agreed with the workers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out also about the third hour, he saw others standing unemployed in the marketplace; and to those he said, ‘You too go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is fair.’ So off they went. Again he went out about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did likewise. Finally, about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day unemployed?’ They replied, ‘Because nobody has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into the vineyard.’”
Nate was already nodding, seeing where this was going.
“When evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his man in charge, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last and ending with the first.’” Alvin continued to read the parable. “When the 11th-hour men came, they each received a denarius. So when the first came, they assumed that they would receive more, but they too were paid at the rate of a denarius. On receiving it, they began to complain against the master of the house and said, ‘These last men put in one hour’s work; still you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat!’ But he said in reply to one of them, ‘Fellow, I do you no wrong. You agreed with me for a denarius, did you not? Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last one the same as to you. Do I not have the right to do what I want with my own things? Or is your eye envious because I am good?’ In this way, the last ones will be first, and the first ones last.”
Nate looked up and smiled. “I thought that was about people who came into the Truth just before it all went down. Now I’m thinking it has a whole other meaning.”
“The ‘last ones’ first. The last ones, in this case, are some of the first in Paradise.” Paige shook her head. “Some people are going to be upset about this, Alvin. Before I became a sister, I never had much respect for scoundrels who repented on their deathbed either.”
Alvin chuckled. “I’ve met plenty of people who left the Truth and then came back. Not one of them wished they could have gotten ‘more sinning done’ first.” He gestured at the Blue Letter. “Nate, if your brother saw the light at the last minute, it doesn’t change the fact that once he’s here, he has to make the same changes he would have had to make if it happened back there and back then. His story is just getting started.”
“That’s true of all of us, isn’t it?” Paige sighed hard.
“Remember: God’s instructions aren’t just about survival. They’re about safety, security… even joy. God wants happy followers. If Ryder changed his mind when you did, Nate? He would have had the hope and comfort you had during the Last Days. If he’d changed his mind during the ‘Secure In Peace’ Campaign, he would have waited it out with us. We have no idea what he went through out there. But it must have changed his mind eventually.”
“Whatever he ended up deciding, he apparently got a second chance.” Nate commented. “We don’t know how he died. Maybe…”
“Maybe.” Paige agreed, as though that explained everything. “We’ve all heard horror stories about what was going on outside our ‘Interior Rooms’ Following instructions got us through with a minimum of grief.”
Nate almost smiled. “Ryder always did tend to make it harder on himself.”
“So did Red.” Paige murmured, looking away from him.
Alvin’s head tilted, noting her expression. “One of us should call Del. He’ll want to know it’s possible.”
“Will he?” Nate asked. “I get the impression that his mother and the rest of her cult nailed their colors to the mast…” He shook his head, cutting himself off. “No. Sooner or later he’ll find out about this. Better it comes from one of us.” He let out a breath. “But we might be waiting hundreds of years before we can be sure about everyone else we know.”
“You should call him now, get his take on this.” Alvin suggested. Nate didn’t think anything of it, pulling out his phone. Alvin made a gesture to Paige, and they collected the cups and saucers, taking them into the kitchen.
Once they were alone, Alvin spoke to her quietly. “Now, tell me what you’re thinking.” It wasn’t a question. “This is good news. It means thousands, maybe millions of people we thought we lost still have hope. So why do you look scared?”
Paige glanced at the door to make sure they were alone and spoke quietly. “My husband never would have turned me in. He didn’t like that I was a witness, and he didn’t like that I decided to get Baptized once the ‘Secure In Peace’ Campaign started. But he never would have turned me over to the authorities. His family had… history, on that subject. I had to flee our home before it… We weren’t together. I have no idea how he reacted when…” She shook her head, uncertainty paralyzing her. “When what? Did they arrest him for not giving me up? Did he fight them? Did he defend me? Defend Jehovah? Did they kill him before…” She covered her mouth, nearly retching. “He could really come back. If he changed his mind, he could really come back. All this time, I thought it was a certainty, and as hard as it was to live with, it was at least an ending.” She looked back at the kitchen door. “I lost my husband. I grieved, I mourned, and I was ready to move on. I was this close.” Her face twisted. “But if there’s a chance Red’s going to come back…”
“Your feelings for Nate are not a mystery, sister. I think it’s fair to say the feeling is mutual on his part. I am deeply unqualified to give you advice on what to do about that.” Alvin said softly. “All I can say is, the vows are very specific about ‘till death do we part’. You’ve fulfilled your vows to Red. If he comes back, is it going to make your feelings for Nate change? Or just make you feel guilty?”
Paige looked sick. “I was so close to letting go of… everything. The family I couldn’t save, the friends I couldn’t convince… I was almost over it completely. The future just seemed so clear, and now it’s all cloudy again.”
Alvin sighed and squeezed her shoulder sympathetically. “It works out.” He promised her. “We may not know how, but we know it will. If nothing else, we’re the only generation in history that never have to experience our own death. Not even once.”
~/*\~
The numbers in their area were growing too large for a regular meeting. The Halls they used were constantly in use as one Congregation after another rotated through. When there was a global announcement, people were cycled in and out constantly, the recorded talk playing on a loop.
“There are a lot of things that have taken us by surprise. At least some of us have been taken by surprise by the reality of entering Paradise.” The Speaker said warmly. “Some of what we found, we were expecting. In fact, we got here by holding onto the dream of this place. Some of the day-to-day life has taken us by surprise. Nothing wrong with that. After all, we know that ‘Jehovah’ is more than just a name, it’s a statement of ability. ‘He Causes To Become’.”
There was a rumble of agreement.
“He has turned us into proclaimers, survivors, victors, builders, farmers, architects, and so much more.” The Speaker continued. “Not that long ago, we had to trust Jehovah’s judgment on everything. On timing. On the future. Here and now, the work is just getting started, and once again we have to trust in God and His plans for the earth. Some of us have been truly surprised at who ‘made it’ here, and who is now being Returned. But the rules have not changed. We have to ask ourselves: Will we trust in Jehovah’s decision? In His judgment of the people who have gone before? Even the people gone by His own hand?”
There was a loud silence in the audience. Everyone had been surprised by something they found in Paradise.
“Patience was not limited to the Old World.” The Speaker continued. For instance, we knew we probably wouldn’t get our reunions on the first day. We knew we wouldn’t achieve true perfection until the first Thousand Years were passed. But consider the purpose of these first Thousand Years: Our mandate now is to restore everything that Satan ruined. Not just in the world, but in ourselves.” He paused to let that sink in. “To that end, we have to confront ourselves. The parts of ourselves that Satan attacked. The parts of ourselves that were not worthy of Paradise. Because we are here too. Jehovah has proven Himself to be even more merciful and welcoming than we thought. Consider the people who have rejected the message, even been judged already, and now we find that some of them are getting yet another chance. How merciful can Jehovah be?”
There was a round of applause at that.
“Jehovah has provided so many things, in so many ways. Consider the sheer variety of blessings that we’ve already seen, and consider what will be required to turn this world, and all its people, into the kind of Paradise that never turned against Jehovah. This is going to take a lot of work, and a lot of new thinking. But we have been patient before. We can do it again, because Jehovah continues to be many different things to us. So ask yourself, now that you know some of the people who have made it here, and some of the unexpected surprises of who will Return… will you trust Jehovah’s judgment?”
~/*\~ Leahe ~/*\~
“There will be a festival to Jehovah tomorrow at the Altar. Everyone is invited to celebrate their devotion to our God.” The announcement went out. “Bring food and wine! This is to be a celebration greater than the day we spent singing praises at the Red Sea.”
Leahe looked around the Camp, feeling dazed. What is happening? She thought in disbelief.
Most people were not planning to attend. Thousands were excited, glad to have a party. A party was not something they ever had in Egypt. Even the Passover was a night of horrors, even if those horrors had spared them, and granted their people freedom. This was purely to celebrate. They’d finally been given choices, and some were commemorating the moment by choosing to dance, drink, and be joyful.
She noticed several people were gathered around Takarut, having heated discussions. Takarut seemed to be part of those conversations, but none of the people surrounding him were talking to him directly. They were having arguments with each other, and it almost seemed like they wanted Takarut to take sides.
What’s that about? She wondered, but she was in no state to stop and ask. She kept walking around as the announcement spread, faster than her feet could carry her.
She found herself near the tent, where Deror was waiting, trembling.
“It’s happening.” Deror murmured, almost seeming relieved that the waiting was over. “He’s going to kill us all.”
Leahe didn’t even know for sure which ‘he’ the man was talking about. Despite herself, she reached out to rest a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay.” She promised, wishing she believed it.
~/*\~
The next day seemed to come in the blink of an eye. There was still little food beyond the Manna, but there was wine, there was music. People were dressed up and moving to the Altar. Some had gathered the scarce wilderness wildflowers and woven them together to lay in wreaths around the Calf.
Ashura came out of her tent. Leahe wondered idly when the Egyptian Priestess moved her tent so close to her father’s. The other woman was flawless, her face painted, dressed in the same silks she wore when dancing in the Temple of Ptah.
Tzioni emerged from his tent, ready for the festival. His eyes went straight to Ashura, and didn’t move away.
Leahe made one last try. “Moses will be displeased.”
“I'm fine if he is.” Ashura said simply. “He’d have to come back for that.”
She headed off towards the altar. Tzioni’s eyes were glued to her curves until she was completely out of sight. “Look, Leahe.” He said to his daughter finally. “Unity is more important at this point. We have the people, we have the Law. What we don’t have is consensus. If only until Moses comes back; if this works, then it’ll be worth it. Like in Egypt, the only way to get them all facing the same way is to give them something to look at.”
My father will follow Ashura’s hips all the way back to Egypt if he doesn’t snap out of it. Leahe thought bleakly, and turned away from the whole thing. “Moses hasn’t been gone that long, father. If we can’t last so short a time without him, then we’re no better than Pharaoh's court of sycophants. We’re supposed to be united under Jehovah’s rule. The First Law he gave us was to not do this.”
“But the people aren’t following Jehovah unitedly. Not yet. They’re following Moses, and he isn’t here.” Tzioni countered. “Obviously, the goal is to make sure that all of this is unnecessary, but today’s festival is all about getting people united behind our God. A god they can see.” He gave her a hard look. “And I’ll remind you, daughter; that the Law has a few things to say about how you should respect me.”
Satau emerged from his tent with the wineskins. “Found’em!” He called cheerfully, and he noticed the look on Leahe’s face. “Leahe, I know you’re unsure about this. But your people are going to be unsure about a whole lot of things. It’s a fact of being so new at self-governance. If Moses disapproves, we’ll stop. But in the meantime, Aaron is on board, so how transgressive can it be?”
~/*\~
“Eliada, what are you doing?” Ohad-Ittai demanded in disbelief.
“There’s a festival to Jehovah, led by Aaron.” Eliada said, as though it was obvious. “Why wouldn’t I go?”
“Because it’s the exact opposite of the Laws we were given and agreed to, just a few weeks ago?” Ohad-Ittai retorted.
“The law that Moses gave us.” Eliada nodded. “That’s why we have to go! You, especially.” He pointed out at the festival. “That party is a change in leadership. Moses gave us his laws, and then took off. While he’s away, you can finally convince the others!”
“Convince them?” Ohad-Ittai was in disbelief.
Eliada nodded eagerly. “You can finally do what you always wanted to do. Lead our new nation back to Egypt, as victorious conquerors. We even have a book of laws that we can put the populace under, with us as their masters. Just like you always planned!”
Ohad-Ittai found himself backing away, horrified. “What? Moses gave us the Law from Jehovah God!”
“Yeah, but Moses appointed others over the people.” Eliada nodded, holding a hand out eagerly. “Come on! We have to make sure you’re seen at this Festival, or people won’t follow you at all.”
~/*\~
There were more people there than Leahe had expected. At the foot of the holy Mountain, the image was the centre of a party that had been gathering momentum for a long time. Leahe listened as people went to join the festival. Most of them just wanted a party. Since leaving Egypt, it had been a harder life than most expected their freedom to be.
Leahe went to her tent and prayed hard.
“Jehovah God,” She prayed desperately. “I don’t know what to do. He isn’t just my father, he’s my Elder as well. Your servant, meant to take the lead in all our dealings with You. He’s meant to tell me if I’m doing the wrong thing. And he’s my father…” She shook her head. “Should I go out and join him? Maybe he’s right? Maybe I’m missing the point entirely. I don’t want to turn out like Deror, full of bitterness, unable to enjoy anything… But this doesn’t feel right.” She looked up at the sky, beseechingly. “Please, tell me what to do? Amen.”
“Amen.” Another voice said with her, and she jumped up, spinning around.
Takarut was at her Tent flap. He had a large vellum scroll under his arm. “If you want me to leave…”
Leahe waved him in with her good hand, grateful for the company.
“I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping. Especially on your prayers. I apologize.” He said right off. “But I was passing by, and I saw you come in here… You looked upset.”
“You didn’t want to go join the party? Satau and Ashura are there.” She sniffed, feeling caught out.
“Satau and I had a huge argument about it last night when the Idol was being made.” Takarut admitted. “I know all the reasons. Satau was raised with that thinking. He’s seen first hand how people set aside their own agendas when there’s worship to the gods expected of us. He's the son of a High Priest, after all.”
“And you?”
“I was thinking about it until I saw the shape the image was taking.” He admitted. “When I saw the young Bull, I realized what it was. They recreated an Egyptian Idol and called it Jehovah. The whole point of the Plagues was that all our gods were nothing.” He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “Satau was raised with the idea of hundreds of gods. He knows Jehovah is supreme among them, but…”
“But it isn’t the same as rejecting all other gods as ‘non-existent’.” Leahe nodded. I wonder how many people are having that problem? Aloud she suddenly thought of something. “What was that, by the way? You seemed to be in the middle of a pretty large forum.”
“I’m a Scribe.” Takarut offered. “When Moses came and gave us The Law, I wrote it down as he spoke.” He hefted the scroll under his arm. “It was my job description, back in the day, keeping the record of ‘holy proclamations’ from the throne.”
Leahe nodded, looking sick to her stomach. “So there were people who wanted you to tell them what Moses said.”
“It didn’t work out as well as I’d have liked. The fact that I was Egyptian worked against me because nobody who wanted to go to the party was about to let my word overrule them.” He let out a breath. “Pharaoh had the same problem, as I recall. You can make all the wise appeals you want, but people are still going to do what they want to do.”
“So it seems.” Leahe sank into herself, rubbing her arm.
Takarut tried to comfort her. “Moses isn’t back yet. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be lenient, given that we’re all so new at making these decisions. Maybe this is our last chance to be crazy and irresponsible?”
“Then why aren’t you at the party?” She retorted. “I’m stuck. If Jehovah laughs it off once Moses comes back, then it means The Law that he gave us is… optional. But on the other hand, if He does punish this, what’s going to happen to us? To my father?” She started crying. “Either way… I thought the most I ever lost was my arm.”
And then Takarut was holding her tightly. She let him, feeling numb. After a few minutes, she heard the sound, and turned back to the tentflap, where Ohad-Ittai was waiting. “I’m sorry.” He said quietly, muted. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“No. I should go.” Takarut admitted. “It’s inappropriate, for me to be here with Leahe.”
“For either of you, really.” She drawled. “Of course, my father may not be the best measure of ‘inappropriate’ today…”
“Actually, I came because I was hoping to talk to Takarut.” Ohad-Ittai admitted. The Egyptian was openly surprised at that, and he hurried to explain. “I hear that you have a pretty accurate record of what Moses said to us, the last time he was in Camp. The first time he came down the mountain and gave us the Law? Moses wrote it down. I know some copies have been made…”
Takarut unrolled the scroll for him immediately. “Which part in particular are you looking for?”
“I just wanted to make sure I didn’t suddenly remember it wrong.” Ohad-Ittai admitted with biting scorn. A feeling that they could both empathize with. “Hard to believe this was only a few weeks ago.”
Heavy silence. Leahe served them Manna, with little else to do, and they ate mechanically. They may have been long used to the taste, but right now, they were barely tasting anything, so caught up in their thoughts.
“Freedom is choice.” Ohad-Ittai said finally. “Back in Egypt, we had no choices. Weeks ago, we chose to put ourselves under Jehovah’s authority… and the people out there praying to a statue are playing with their lives. We would have given anything to get away from Egypt, and we seem to have brought it with us.” He looked to Takarut. “No offence.”
“None taken.” Takarut said quietly. “For the first time, I think we’re totally in agreement, in fact.”
~/*\~
Ashura was happier than she had been in weeks. Her Priestess robe was meant to be beautiful, to be enticing. It was part of her service to the gods, to bring beauty and enchantment to the Temples. After weeks of a slow march through the desert, she finally had a chance to be stunning again.
Her day got even better when she saw the image, gleaming brightly in the torchlight. It was a form she recognized instantly. The Apis Bull was the most highly regarded of all Egypt’s idols. Seeing a young, beautiful Calf, made of pure, shining gold, Ashura felt right at home for the first time since the Plagues had begun. It was right that it be a calf, to symbolize the newborn nation. Perhaps when they got to their Promised Land, they would update the image to be a fully grown Bull. Perhaps they would even introduce other icons from Egypt.
(Author’s Note: The Apis Bull Image isn’t mentioned in the Bible Record. It’s the result of my own research from secular sources, regarding Idol Worship in Egypt. There’s no reason given in scripture for why the golden idol was shaped like a calf. This is my own supposition, but it made sense to me because we know there was some influence of Egyptian worship in Israel, even after this time.)
Perhaps she could even push Tzioni into becoming a patron High Priest himself, under Aaron’s authority; the way she always wanted for Khnem to be under Jambres.
“Where is Aaron, by the way?” Ashura looked around. “He unveiled the image, and then he took off. I haven’t seen him since.”
“Oh, I see.” Tzioni said, having drunk just enough to sound amused by the whole thing. “You’re hoping Moses’ number two is here to watch you dance?”
“Tzioni!” She joshed him, topping up his cup with wine. “He’s older than you.”
“Really? That ancient?” Tzioni returned.
Ashura bent forward and gave him a promising, lingering kiss on the lips. “I’m a respectable priestess to Jehovah now, sir.” She teased him. “You want me, you’re going to have to be pretty persuasive.”
And then the music started up and she whirled away from him, throwing her body into a dance she learned in Egypt, offering tribute to the Golden Idol.
(Author’s Note: Aaron was not punished with death for his role in the incident. He wasn’t a willing participant in idolatry; he merely caved to peer pressure. The 3/15 2004 WT says: ‘Later, he apparently joined fellow Levites in taking a stand for God and against those who resisted Moses. After the guilty were slain, Moses reminded the people that they had sinned greatly, indicating that others besides Aaron also received Jehovah’s mercy.’)
~/*\~
“It almost sounds like a warzone, doesn’t it?” Takarut commented to Leahe, back at the tents. “All the trumpets and shouting…”
“Yeah.” Leahe said, exhausted. “There are thousands of people celebrating around that Calf. Does that mean millions of others aren’t?”
“We aren’t.” Ohad-Ittai offered.
(Author’s Note: There are no specifics given about how many were worshiping the Calf. When Moses punished the action, there were three thousand slain, but that’s in a camp of people that could have been anywhere from 1.5 to 3 million strong. It’s likely that the execution was of the ringleaders, and not the people who were fooled. That part is my own interpretation.
Even so, they all had heard Jehovah’s instructions from Moses. The first of which was to avoid exactly this sort of thing. We know from Scripture that there was still Egyptian influence in Israel after they left. Aaron agreed to make them a god. I had Satau be the reason for the calf shape, given his history. They could have picked any form. They picked one close to a major Egyptian idol. Making that form the result of an Egyptian trying to earnestly help the situation is my own invention.)
As if to answer them, the sounds of celebration suddenly went silent. All of them sat upright, suddenly alert.
There was the faintest sound of someone shouting. It was distant enough that they couldn’t make it out, but whoever was yelling, he was clearly enraged.
“That’s Moses’ voice.” Leahe commented.
“The Party is over.” Ohad-Ittai said darkly.
~/*\~~/*\~~/*\~
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