By

Jennifer L. Armstrong



Prophet
by J ennifer L. Armstrong

2011

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3
Chapter One
f this is tea, please bring me coffee. If this is coffee, please bring me tea.
Its an Abraham Lincoln quote, but somehow I don't think
the waitress will be impressed by my knowledge of American
wit if I actually say it out loud. I continue to sip the bitter coffee
and think about the letter that I got in the mail yesterday. I could
have easily made the trip home in four hours, but here I am, an
hour outside of Toronto, drinking bad coffee and dreading the
moment I have to see my dad.
I hate the thought of my dad dying. He's always seemed so . . .
so capable, so independent. Too distinguished for something as
sordid as death. Somehow I feel like if God is good, he'll just
overlook my dad when it comes to death.
I suppose for some people the letter would have been thrilling.
All it said was, Jenna, I've deposited 3 million dollars for you in a bank
account I set up for you. Then it gave the bank information. Dad
signed it, talk to you later, Dad.
It isn't a deathbed will, or anything, but what else can I make
of it except that my father is dying? I know my stepmother will
I
Prophet
4
get everything else the house, the properties around the world,
the three or four SUVs. Obviously my dad wants to make sure
I've got an inheritance after he's gone. But I don't want him to be
gone.

Of course, he's not gone yet.
I tell myself this on that last hour of the journey home. And
whatever terminal illness he has, we can fight this. Dad's got
money, for crying out loud. Probably enough money to find a
cure for cancer. What's the good of money if it can't save you in
the end? I'm not going to let him just take this passively. He's
going to fight it. And if he doesn't have the strength to fight it,
I'll fight it for him.
I'll get home, though, and find Dad calm. He'll probably be
sitting in the library, in his favourite leather chair by the fire. He'll
be reading a book when I go in. He'll smile. Then he'll take off
his glasses and put them and the book on the Chippendale end
table beside him. Marta, our maid, will bring us in some tea. Or
maybe lemonade. Ten years ago, there would have been chocolate
chip cookies on the tray too. But now there might be some
digestive biscuits or a few small sandwiches.
And it's hard to fight in that kind of environment. No matter
what he has, Dad will be stoical. Dignified to the end.
For the moment, I almost start to cry. I'm on a highway, grey
concrete everywhere, cheap billboards advertising things that
don't matter when you've got someone you love dying. Cars and
trucks zipping along beside me. Going somewhere. Death for
every single one of them, but for now, life. Grey roads. Grey
skies. OK. Not grey skies. Blue skies with white clouds. Sunny.
Deceptively cheerful considering that death is at the end of it all
for each of us. Somehow, the thought of my dad dying is worse
than the thought of me dying.
I turn onto the ramp that will take me to greener roads. But I
still have to make my way through the busy streets that line the
highway, past apartment buildings, shopping centres, fast food
places. Crowds of people. People waiting for buses. It's Toronto,
so there are people of every nationality. The most multicultural
city in the world. You can go to neighbourhoods where all the
signs are Hindi, others where it's all Arabic. Our Chinatown is
like being in China. Then there's the Jewish neighbourhood. My
Chapter One
5
favourite. Not that I'm religious. But Mom and I used to take
walks down Bathurst Street and buy bagels and go shopping at
holiday times for treats. Not that we ever did the holidays up big.
Mom was a Jew who married a Gentile and was content to have
an enormous Christmas tree in the foyer of our house every year.
But we lighted the candles at Hanukkah and I always got presents
for both holidays.
And that's the big problem with losing Dad. I've already gone
through this with Mom. Three years ago. I was twenty at the
time, still in university and looking forward to facing the world.
And my mom had to go and die on me. Turns out she knew she
had cancer for a while and for some crazy reason, decided not to
fight it. Don't know why. Afraid of losing her hair? I dunno. But
that's why I'm not going to let Dad go that easily.
There's only one issue I have with Dad.
The second wife. A year after Mom died, he remarried. Not
one of those floozy blondes half his age, but still a blow to me.
There was no shortage of woman hurling themselves at him after
Mom was gone. Toni was someone he knew from the Golf &
Country club. Just always there. A few years younger than him.
Slim. Dyed red hair. Quiet. Presentable in every way. No great
friend to me, but in all fairness, I never gave her a chance. I
wonder how she's taking all of this? Dad's terminal illness.
I almost stop for another coffee.
Now I'm only ten minutes from home. The streets are still
crowded with cars and people, but as soon as I make a left turn
down a residential road, I will be in a different world. A peaceful
world. Tree-lined streets. Big stone houses. And then I'll be
home. I resist the urge for one more stop and make my turn.
There are a few more turns before I'm on my own street. Up
ahead will be eight large houses, all made of stone and looking
solid. Mine will be the biggest. The wide circular driveway with a
fountain in the centre will have two cars parked outside, one dark
Cadillac to take my dad wherever he wants to go, another flashier
SUV for my stepmother. Nothing much changes around here.
Which is why I'm shocked when I make that final turn and see
my house.
Our property is circled by police tape, the bright yellow kind
that says police line do not cross over and over again. In the
case of our property, it probably says it hyper-thousands of
Prophet
6
times.
My jaw drops and I brake right on the road.
This is not what I expected.
I slowly ease my foot off the brake and cautiously drive closer.
The driveway is blocked, so I have to park on the street. Never
did that before. With such long driveways, the roads here are
always empty of parked cars. But not today. There are two police
cars on the street and a few more unfamiliar ones on the
driveway.
I grab my purse off the passenger seat and get out.
A policewoman notices me and comes over.
She asks if I live here.
I nod and then clarify that I don't actually live here anymore.
I'm visiting my dad.
Are you Jenna Banks?
Jenna Brauner-Banks, I correct her. I kept Mom's maiden
name.
But the look on her face makes me feel moronic for caring
about such a stupid thing as a name. Her face has a look of
sympathy, deep sympathy. And that can only mean one thing . . .
Dad! I say, starting to move toward the house. But the
policewoman blocks my way.
Jenna, she says. I am so sorry.
I try to go around her. It's an irrational instinct. But I've got to
get in there.
Jenna, she says again. I'm sorry. But your father is dead.
Oh, my God. I sink onto the grass in front of our house.
Like everything around here, it's golf-course quality and for one
crazy moment I think, why should grass be alive and my father be
dead?
The policewoman sits down on the curb to be at my level. She
puts her arm around my shoulder although I barely notice.
I knew my dad was dying. But this is just too abrupt. Too
unexpected. It's not the scenario I played out in my mind. This is
real.
I don't cry though. For one thing, I want facts.
I look the policewoman in the eye.
What happened? I ask. And why is it being treated like a
crime scene?
She doesn't answer right away. She takes a deep breath first.
Chapter One
7
What made you come visit your Dad today, Jenna? she asks.
I received a letter from him, yesterday, I say. It gave me the
impression he might by dying. Or at least, that something was
going on that he hadn't told me about. I came home to talk about
whatever it was. But why is there police tape everywhere?
I'm afraid your father was murdered, says the policewoman.
I gasp.
I know this is going to be hard on you, she continues. But
a lot of people are going to want to talk to you.
Now? I say. Silly question. Of course, now.
Yes, she says, standing up. I think you should come inside.
Dutifully and numbly, I follow her.
I'm expecting to see Toni at the door, sobbing, but there's no
sign of her. There are no servants either. Marta would normally
answer the door. There might be a younger girl dusting
somewhere. There should be a cook in the kitchen and a
gardener out back, but the only people here today are some
police officers, a couple of them in plainclothes.
The policewoman brings me forward and introduces me as
Jenna Brauner-Banks. God bless her for remembering. She really
didn't have to.
Then some people are telling me how awfully sorry they are,
but they have to ask me a few questions.
I'm looking around, bewildered.
I think the policewoman can read my mind.
Your dad died sometime in the night, Jenna. The ambulance
came for him early this morning.
I don't understand, I say. My legs are weak. It's hard to stand
like this.
It's an open and shut case, says one of the men in
plainclothes. I'm sorry, Jenna. We believe it was his wife that did
it.
Toni? I say, shocked. The woman is mildly annoying but not
homicidal.
We have a few antique chairs in the foyer, more for show than
for sitting on. Dad was passionate about early Canadiana and I
think these chairs were from a dining-room table set that
belonged to an early Governor of Upper Canada. But the
policewoman leads me to one of them. I think this is the first
time I've sat on it.
Prophet
8
She crouches down to my level.
Was Toni your mother? she asks.
I shake my head.
Mom died a few years ago, I say. Cancer.
The policewoman nods, like, they kind of suspected Toni
wasn't my mother.
We are joined by the two plainclothes men, the investigators, I
guess. I barely look at them. They drag over some of the chairs,
as if they're just plastic ones for patio use.
The policewoman is given a seat and now she's across from
me.
You said your father sent you a letter, she says. Can you tell
us more about that?
Theres not much to say. All it said was that he'd put three
million dollars in an account for me. And he signed it. I figured
I'd better come home and see what was going on.
Would three million dollars represent the bulk of your
father's wealth? asks one of the investigators.
God, no! I look at him scornfully. Is the man blind? The
house alone is worth five million, maybe more, the way house
prices are rising in Toronto. A fraction of it.
So the rest would go to your stepmother?
I shrug.
I don't know. That's why I came home. Not to discuss
money. I don't really care about the money. To talk about what
was on my dad's mind.
The policewoman nods sympathetically.
But what happened to my dad? I say.
The policewoman glances at one of the men. He nods slightly.
He died very quickly, Jenna. We think he and your
stepmother might have had an argument in the library. Close to
the fireplace.
I nod. It's hard to imagine my father having an argument with
anyone. But if Toni wanted to talk to him, it would definitely be
by the fireplace in the library. It's June now, so there wouldn't be
a fire, but it's still his favourite place to sit.
She struck him with the poker. It seemed to be quick and
unexpected. There are no signs that it was a struggle.
I grimace.
That sounds so like Dad. Dad wouldn't wrestle with Toni and
Chapter One
9
he certainly wouldn't be expecting her to hit him with a poker.
At that point, realizing what she'd done, continues the
policewoman, she got in her car and drove.
Come to think of it, I didn't see Toni's SUV in the driveway
It's hard to say whether she had a destination in mind. She
was just driving north on the 404. But she was so distraught, she
lost control of the vehicle and ended up in a ditch. She passed
out.
One of the investigators carries on the story.
She had blood on her hands. The hospital called us because it
didn't match with her blood type. In fact, she had no signs of
injury apart from the head injury that caused her to blackout. The
hospital thought it was suspicious.
And then she confessed? I ask.
The investigator shakes his head.
No. She hasn't said a word. But circumstantial evidence all
points to her.
I nod, dazed.
But an idea is forming in my mind.
What if Toni didn't do it? What if she just went into the
library and found my dad, having been struck by a poker,
bleeding, and she clutched him, getting blood on her hands?
I just can't imagine skinny little Toni picking up a poker and
whacking my Dad in cold-blood. I can't even imagine them
having an argument. Dad is not the arguing type.
Something is wrong here. It just doesn't feel right. Why would
Toni kill Dad? It wouldn't be for money. I only got three million,
barely a dent in Dad's assets. If Dad was dying, she'd be getting it
all soon.
But what if Dad wasn't dying after all? I sort of jumped to
conclusions there. That's something I'll have to consider.
Maybe he sent me the three million dollars to keep it out of
someone's hands. Dad's made his money by investing in new
buildings - skyscrapers and condominiums mostly, but he's never
really told me all the details of his business life. I don't know. It's
all too confusing.
Can I have a look around? I ask.
The policewoman shakes her head.
I'm afraid this whole house is a crime scene right now. You'll
be able to come back here when the investigation is over.
Prophet
10
Well, it's not really my house, I say. It's Toni's.
That's all up in the air, says the policewoman. Your father's
estates will be handled by his lawyers until we get this all sorted
out.
I nod.
It really means very little to me. I have my inheritance. And
quite honestly, I'd rather have my dad than those three million
dollars.

11
Chapter Two
oni has been transferred from the hospital to prison. All
evidence is against her.
The investigation is over and I've been staying in the
house for the last week. I could go back to New York City. But
it's not really home. I just lingered on there after Columbia
because I'd made friends and I'd fallen into a routine. But now
that I'm back in Toronto, I realize the halfhearted relationships
I'd formed aren't worth going back for. And I can work on my
book anywhere.
Everything is in limbo. I'm leaving all the legalities to the
lawyers, although one of them is coming over to talk to me later
today. Apparently, Dad made some important changes to his will
and had recently launched on some new investment that the
lawyer wants to discuss with me.
After that, I'm only planning on staying in the house long
enough to figure out what to do next.
All that's left for me now is to go through the place and take
what's important to me. Not the furniture or Toni's jewelry or
T
Prophet
12
anything ridiculous like that. Dad gave me all of Mom's jewelry
when she died and it's in a safety deposit box in a bank here in
Toronto, the same one that has my three million.
Now I'm just looking for stuff that meant something to our
family. The three of us, Dad, Mom and me. Three people, not
assets. I'm looking for everything that was special to us.
Memories. The Monopoly game Dad and I used to play on the
occasional Sunday. The family menorah, imported from Israel.
Photos, of course. I already have all of the albums in a box.
Today I'm browsing the library. Dad didn't fill the library with
books that were just for show. He filled it with books he loved to
read. And he kept all the books he read to me when I was little.
All the Church Mice ones from when I was really young. George
and Martha. The Berenstain Bears. They all go in a box. Then
there's the stuff that we read together when I was older. I read
Nancy Drew on my own, but he didn't like giving up reading time
with me. So he bought the whole set of Hardy Boys novels and
read those aloud to me. Adventure stories were his favourite.
There would be classics too. The Swiss Family Robinson. Call of the
Wild. Gulliver's Travels. But Dad never read for pedantic reasons.
He wanted me to enjoy it as much as he did.
Tintin! I find the entire collection of Tintin stories on a
bottom shelf. I used to make Dad read those over and over to me
when I was younger, even after I learned how to read. Billions
of blue blistering barnacles! Dad and I would say if we stubbed
our toe or accidentally dropped something. Then we would laugh.
Captain Haddock was definitely my favourite childhood
character. On the rare occasion that Dad would get mad at
someone he would call them a bashi bazouk or an ectoplasm
and that would always make me giggle.
The Asterix collection is nearby. I think I started loving history
because of Asterix. Dad would have so much explaining to do
when we read Asterix, all the double meanings and the historical
references. But he always did it. No matter what was going on at
work, he was always at home from 8:00 to 9:00 to read to me
before bed.
And all I wanted was one more chance to talk to him.
That's how it's all kind of settled in my mind. I feel cheated
out of one more opportunity to sit by the fire and chat. I know
something strange is going on. I don't really like staying in this
Chapter Two
13
big house by myself. I haven't bought into the idea that Toni
murdered my dad and I'm kind of expecting someone to break in
and cosh me on the head too.
But my strongest feeling is that I missed out on one last time
with Dad. Something was on his mind and I wish I knew what it
was.
Our second-last conversation was kind of weird and that
contributes to my feeling of there being unsettled issues.
I came home for a visit six months ago.
He was in the library and much to my surprise, was reading a
Bible. He did what he always did. Smiled. Placed the book on the
table beside him. Took off his glasses and then put them on top
of the book.
He asked me how the drive was.
Fine.
He asked me if I had my snow tires.
I said yes.
So you're reading the Bible these days? I said.
He nodded.
It's worth a read. You might try it sometime.
I laughed.
I've read some of it, I said.
Not the new parts, he replied, smiling.
Oh, Dad, I said. Christian theology doesn't really interest
me.
My area of expertise is Israel, the history of the land of Israel,
specifically Palestine under the British mandate.
You know that before your mother died, she became a
Christian . . .
Mom was a Jew, I corrected him.
She called herself a Messianic Jew. Did she ever tell you
anything about her faith?
I shook my head. It was something I didn't understand about
my mother, that little twist at the end of her life. Zionism, I can
understand. We Jews need a homeland and thats a cause Id stand
behind any day. But believing in the teachings of a crucified rabbi
never appealed to me.
As far as I could gather, Dad was a lapsed Anglican and Mom
was a lapsed Jew so they never made an issue of religion.
And I didn't particularly want to make an issue of religion that
Prophet
14
day either.
Marta had brought in tea and we had talked about other
things. My book was coming along. Just a little more research and
then I could start actually writing it. Dad said that I would
definitely have to go to Israel if I were going to write a book
about the British mandate in Palestine.
We had discussed that. Dad and Mom had gone to Israel when
I was at Columbia. I'm not sure why, exactly. They usually
vacationed at resorts. The resorts varied skiing in Switzerland,
beaches in the Caribbean, but never anything too adventurous or
off the beaten track. Mom never took much interest in Zionism
and Dad never seemed into holy pilgrimages, so I'm not sure
what appeal Israel had for them. I became pro-Israel while at
Columbia, but in a more historical kind of way. Being half-
Jewish, I was mildly interested in the whole topic and it didn't
take much convincing to show me that historically the Jews
hadn't always been treated well in their adopted countries. With
Dad being English, I had become absorbed by the pre-State of
Israel days when Britain ruled the land. It seemed to blend my
two parents together and give me a place in history.
That last day with Dad, I had pointed out that there was very
little left of the British days in Palestine. Their mandate only
lasted the thirty or so years between World War 1 and World War
2. Since then, the State of Israel has changed the whole
landscape, metaphorically and literally. But he had insisted and I
had eventually agreed. In fact, the more I thought about it, the
more I liked the idea and was glad he suggested it.
We planned my trip out, in an easygoing kind of way. Dad said
I would definitely have to stay in the American Colony Hotel,
where he and Mom had spent a few nights. It went back to the
British mandate days. In fact, it went back further to the
Ottoman days when it had belonged to a Turkish pasha. Then
Dad got out the guidebook they had used and showed me the
route they took through the country. In fact, that guidebook is
one of the things I'm hoping to find in the library today.
In retrospect, maybe the money in my account is to make sure
I really do go to Israel. Thus far, all I've done is renew my
passport, but I would have done that anyway since I was
spending so much time in the U.S.
The guidebook could be anywhere. I scan the shelves. It's
Chapter Two
15
going to take me awhile to go through all these books. I don't
know if any of them belong to Toni. None of them are Mom's.
She preferred the television in her bedroom.
Canadian history. A lot of Canadian history. Dad read some
of it to me when I was younger. From back in the days when
Canada was a company. Dad got a real kick out of that. Much of
Canada used to belong to the Hudson Bay Company. Canada was
really a corporation run by a board of directors. But it wasn't just
fur traders. Dad read me stories of the natives, the early settlers,
the days when Canada was part of the proud British Empire.
Men who hunted tigers in India came to hunt moose in Canada.
Women travelled to this new country with crates of fine china. I
loved the mix of ruggedness and refinement, afternoon tea in the
wilderness.
Dad took a special interest in Toronto history. Lots of books
on the shelf about William Lyon Mackenzie, the first mayor of
Toronto who led the Upper Canada Rebellion against the elite
ruling class . . . and lost. Battles were fought in backyards. The
way Dad told the stories, I could almost imagine the farmers with
their pitchforks fighting the British soldiers in our backyard.
It seems Dad was taking an interest in theology. There's a
small collection of books about God. It makes me think that
maybe Dad did have a terminal illness. Or maybe Mom's death
triggered something in him. Or maybe it's just a part of getting
older, wondering what's going to happen in the life to come.
My eyes skim over the books about God. I even take one off
the shelf. Nothing too controversial. Just books with titles like
Understanding God and Every Man's Faith.
But then something changes. The topic is suddenly about the
return of Jesus. Dad was pretty good about organizing his books
by subject. These are definitely a more narrow focus. End times.
Understanding the book of Revelation. The soon-coming return
of Christ.
It's a weird and disturbing world.
I've never given Jesus much thought. Some guy on a cross,
some sort of thorny thing on his head. A bit of blood. A sad
look on his face. It never did anything for me. The whole idea
that my mom turned to Jesus near her death is completely foreign
to me, a part of my mother that I will never understand.
I'm about to turn my back on the whole topic, literally, and go
Prophet
16
to some other part of the library to try to find that guidebook.
But then a thought hits me.
Dad was reading these books. This idea that Jesus is coming
back soon is pretty popular. I mean, I don't go out of my way to
look for it, but I know a lot of crazy people out there think it's
true.
If Dad suddenly started thinking it was a valid belief, how
would it change him?
Would it affect his relationship with Toni? What did she think
about him suddenly reading all this stuff ?
I go and sit down in Dad's favourite chair and stare at the
empty fireplace. This is the spot where they found Dad, right by
the fireplace. But no woman is going to kill a man just because he
believes Jesus is coming back.
I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping well.
I glance at my watch. The lawyer's coming in an hour. I should
probably get up and see if there's anything in the kitchen to eat
before he comes.
All the servants are gone now and I'm on my own. Not that
I'm not used to that. I fed myself just fine in New York. It's just
that it's strange to go into our large kitchen and not see the cook
or not see Marta making tea. When I was little, I went in there a
lot for a snack. But the cook always made it up for me.
In the kitchen, I put the kettle on and make some tea. My
appetite has been lackadaisical but I manage to assemble and eat
a tuna-fish sandwich.
The doorbell is ringing when I pass back through the foyer.
Two men in suits at the door. I wasn't expecting more than
one.
Under the circumstances, our greetings are subdued. I lead
them into the dining room where they can lay out any papers
they want to on the table. Lawyers always seem to have papers to
sign.
We all take a seat and the spokesman starts. He's older, maybe
my dad's age, and he has a pretty good grip on my father's
financial and legal activities. Way better than I do.
He asks me gently how I'm doing.
I shrug.
OK, all things considered. I'll be glad when we get everything
sorted out, though. I figure the house belongs to Toni and I'd just
Chapter Two
17
as soon be in my own place than stay here.
This house was home when Dad and Mom were here, but
now its just a mausoleum to me.
Actually, your father made some recent changes to his estate,
the man says. The house does not belong to Toni Banks.
Really? I say, surprised. You mean, it has nothing to do
with her being in prison?
Nothing whatsoever, says the man. Your father's will
specified that she would receive three million dollars but unlike
your settlement, she would have to wait until he died to inherit
the money.
But with her being a murder suspect, she may never get it?
Exactly.
But what about all the other stuff ? I ask, waving my hand
around. This house is just one of the many buildings my dad
owns. He must be worth, oh, I don't know, twenty million . . .
Your father's estate, in total, is closer to thirty million dollars.
He had just finished selling all his assets when this unfortunate,
er situation, occurred.
Selling his assets? You mean everything?
The two men nod.
Everything, including this house, says the older man. That's
one of the important matters we must discuss with you. The new
owners take possession at the end of next month.
It's now the middle of June.
What?
Dad sold this house!
Will you be able to, er, adjust?
Adjust? I say blankly. Oh, I see what you mean. Yes, of
course. I don't want to stay here. I can easily find another place.
Of course, I have no idea where I'll go. But there are bigger
issues at the moment.
Where was Dad planning to live? I ask.
We really don't know what his next step was, says the lawyer,
taking refuge in the papers in front of him. The contents of the
house belong to you. Your dad specified that, although, I think it
was his plan to rent some storage space and leave it all there for
you.
Where was he planning on going?
He didn't share his intentions with us, although I gather he
Prophet
18
was putting all his money into a new venture, says the man. His
eyes return to his papers. His wife, Toni Banks, is entitled to all
her clothing, jewelry and personal effects, of course, but the
furniture, the books, all the movable assets are yours.
Where was Dad planning to go that he couldn't take the
furniture with him?
And what am I going to do with the Governor's chairs?

19
Chapter Three
n this neighbourhood, you don't just have a garage sale.
Thankfully, I have a month and a half to clean the house
out.
The first thing I do is pack up all of Toni's stuff and put it in
storage. I decide to deliver the key to her in prison and in a very
uncomfortable meeting over a large formica table and some
plastic chairs, hand it to her.
This is the first time I've seen her since Dad's death. We never
talked much, but today, there's stuff that has to be said.
I would hate her with every fibre in my body if I thought she
killed my father, but I don't think she did. She looks even thinner
and more pitiful in the prison uniform. Her grey roots are
starting to show.
How are you? I ask.
She shrugs. This must be a horrible experience for her, going
from living on an estate to living in prison.
Toni, I say, leaning forward. I don't think you did it. I don't
think you killed my dad.
I
Prophet
20
Her eyebrows go up.
And I also know you're not going to get your three million
unless we can figure out who did kill Dad. But Toni, you've got
to help me. Did anyone come to the house that day . . . ?
I lean back. Maybe if we can work this out I can give the
police some names. I'm sure they've questioned Toni, but they're
so sure she killed Dad they might have missed something.
Toni is just staring at me. Of course. She was probably
expecting me to come here with murder in my eyes. But what she
says next almost makes me fall off my chair.
Oh Jenna! she bursts out. Don't be so stupid! Of course I
killed him!
I am speechless.
What do you think happens to a woman when a man starts
talking about Jesus? Toni says, her eyes wild. I didn't even
know the man anymore! Suddenly, all he wanted to talk about
was Jesus! I didn't want to hear it!
I'm barely listening. I can hardly take it in. She really did do it!
But why? I manage to ask.
She shrugs.
He didn't want his money anymore. He wanted to get rid of
everything. He never came out and said it, but that's where it was
going. I could tell. I talked to my lawyer. There was nothing I
could do to stop it, as long as he was still alive. I lost my head.
I'm just staring at her. The bitch killed my dad! The skinny
little bitch killed my dad! For one moment, I really want to kill
her.
But then I try to make sense of it. I knew Dad was interested
in theology. I knew he was reading his Bible. But how does that
all lead to this? To murder?
My mind goes back to those books on his shelf. The ones
about Jesus returning. If my dad got it into his head that Jesus
could return any day, it would make sense that he might want to
get rid of everything. Give it to charity, or something.
Did he talk about Jesus returning? I ask.
Yeah, I think so. He was always talking about something to
do with Jesus. Finally, I just told him to shut up about it.
Toni's voice has lost all the refinement of the Golf & Country
Club. Ironically, this is the longest conversation we've had.
And it's going to end now.
Chapter Three
21
I stand up. I've delivered the key. I have nothing more to say to
this woman. A cold anger has begun to set in.
I hate this woman.
I hate this woman who took my father away from me. I don't
even look back as I exit the visiting room and go down the sterile
prison corridor, through the security gates and back out to my
car.
Turns out, there was no terminal illness. My dad would have
probably lived for another twenty years. OK, he would have been
a bit different from the man I grew up with. Less money.
I start the engine of my car.
He would have probably wanted to talk about Jesus with me. I
would have probably been a brat and told him I didn't want to
hear about it. But I would have never been like Toni and told him
to shut up about it.
I pull out of the parking lot. I'm two hours away from
Toronto so there's a drive back, time to think.
I pick up a coffee from a Tim Hortons drive-thru before
getting on the highway.
I think about my very last visit with Dad, three months ago. It
was a return home for his birthday. I brought him a book about
the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The cook prepared an
extra-special tea scones, strawberries, cream, sandwiches, and
pastries. Dad never wanted an acknowledgment of his birthday,
but we all did something special for him regardless.
Dad was reading his Bible again.
This time I played devil's advocate.
Mom always said Jesus was a false prophet, I said as I sat
down in the chair opposite him. There really was no need for a
fire since it was early spring, but there was one going in the grate
anyhow. Dad's excuse was always that the house was drafty.
He smiled.
Yes, she heard that as a girl. Her views changed.
But if he was a false prophet, why would her views change?
I asked.
Well, said Dad, sipping his tea. It had a lot to do with the
prophecies about his return. Her family told her that he had
believed he would return in the first-century, but Christians were
still waiting for it to happen.
Really? I said. I had no idea. And what do you think?
Prophet
22
Dad was silent for a moment.
It's a big topic, he said. And well worth discussing. I wish I
were more skilled at presenting the material I've been reading. I'd
love to share it with you.
But somehow the conversation changed to other topics that
day. To be honest, I really had no interest in hearing about it
anyhow.
Apart from spilling coffee on myself, the drive back to
Toronto is uneventful.
Dad's lawyers have given me the name of an agent who will be
able to help me sell some of the furniture. It's not the type of
stuff you just give to Goodwill.
Now that I know that Toni killed Dad, I'm not so scared to go
to bed at night. But it still leaves me aching, restless. I've lost my
Dad and things are unsettled.
I know I still want to work on my book. And I'm definitely
going to go to Israel.
But I want to know where all my dad's money went. Did he
just give it to charity? And what was he going to do with the rest
of his life? I need to know. Those years were taken from me, but
I have to know what he was planning to do with them.
The agent stops by the next morning, mostly to assess
everything. She'll try to find buyers before the month and a half
is up.
She's a slim, middle-aged woman wearing a pink Chanel suit
with matching pumps and is cool and professional.
I tell her to tour the house and look it all over. All that I'll be
keeping are the books in the library and the leather chairs by the
fireplace.
I don't know where I'll end up, but wherever it is, I want to be
surrounded by Dad's books.
Today, I'm concentrating my efforts on finding that
guidebook. Of course, I could just go online and buy another
one, but I want Dad's guidebook when I go to Israel. I want the
one that he and I looked at that day, the one where his fingers
traced the map and showed me the route he and Mom took when
they were there.
The agent occasionally interrupts me with a question about
some item of furniture. I help her out as best I can. Yes, I believe
it's a Canadian piece. We've owned it for about ten years. I think
Chapter Three
23
Dad bought it at an auction in . . . wherever. Even to my own
ears, I don't sound very helpful.
Finding the guidebook is anticlimactic. It is, after all, just a
guidebook.
This house isn't exactly the kind of place where cardboard
boxes are just lying around. I need to find a box for the
guidebook and all the other books that I'll be keeping with me.
Though the bulk of them will go into storage, I'd like to have a
small collection for now . . . I dunno why. Maybe just to hold on
to Dad for a bit longer. I want to have an idea of what he was
thinking in his last days.
In that spirit, I add his Bible to a small wooden chest I find on
one of the shelves. When I was little, I thought this chest had
something to do with pirates and gold. In fact, I think Dad
encouraged it, especially when he read me stories like Treasure
Island. When I really look at it, it seems to be more along the lines
of something for tea and tea paraphernalia. Probably goes back
to the days of Empire and the British in India. An English
woman coming to settle in Canada probably brought it with her
and Dad got it at an auction. The main thing is, it's sturdy.
Now that I have the guidebook, I scan the shelves for what
else to add to my chest. I hesitate over the children's books, but
those are old memories. Something to store away and retrieve
later. I'm interested in now.
I head over to Dad's theology section.
Not being up on these matters, I don't really know what books
to put in the wooden chest. Thankfully, it's not a huge collection.
The agent startles me by appearing in the doorway. She's excited,
but obviously trying to suppress it. She has discovered that Dad
has an antique Ashfar carpet in his bedroom. Casually, she tells
me she might have a buyer for this item already. I nod and say I'll
be there in a moment.
Quickly, I toss some books into the chest and close it. These
will go with me to Israel. The rest will have to be packed up until
I get back and find a permanent home.
A permanent home.
I follow the agent out into the foyer and up the winding
staircase. I hate the idea of a permanent home. This place wasn't
really my home. Dad and Mom were what made it home. And
now I've lost that.
Prophet
24
The Persian carpet that excites the agent is just on the floor in
my Dad's bedroom. He was never one of those people who
thought carpets should be treated with reverence.
If the man who made it in 1792 thought it should be walked
on, then I think it should be walked on too, he said to me once.
Still, I don't think any of us actually did walk on it. It was on
the side of the room that was by the outside wall, not by the
door.
The agent is on her knees, reverently examining the carpet.
She talks about having to get some storage wrap for it.
Sure, I say.
She doesn't really need me. I give her my permission to sell the
item immediately and leave her to gloat over her find.

25
Chapter Four
srael is a country that lives on fast forward. In Jerusalem, the
streets are crowded with honking cars. In Canada, drivers use
their horns for emergencies. Here, it's just another form of
communication. Communication is a big part of Jerusalem.
There are Jews from all over the world living here, but everyone's
connecting in Hebrew. My Hebrew is limited to short
expressions, like rayguh! which means hold it! and is good
for catching buses. You can still get by in English if you have to,
but the store signs are all in Hebrew. The streets bustle with
tourists and natives. The tourists mill around and dawdle over
postcard stands, but the natives move with purpose. And the
Israelis have panache. Their fashion is an eclectic mix of North
American and Eastern, with an added European flair. Honestly,
there's no other place in the world like it.
And it's exactly what I need right now.
For one thing, death is a part of life. With everyone's son or
daughter in the army and husband in the Army Reserves, the idea
of death has to be dealt with.
I
Prophet
26
So I'm an orphan? So what? You read the headline of the
Jerusalem Times. One mother just lost three children in some
kind of a school bus explosion. Some incident between the
Jewish settlers and the Arabs made another woman a widow. And
that's not even getting into the people who lost their entire
families in the Holocaust.
The Holocaust was something my mother never talked about.
Why should she? Her family had been in Canada the whole time
and had been entirely unaffected by it.
But I take a tour of Yad Vashem, the museum devoted to the
Holocaust, and realize that when Israel became a nation in 1948,
many of its new citizens were just like me, the only one left of
their family.
And it gives me a feeling that I've come home.
I'm staying in Katamon, on Rehov Kaf Tet b'November,
named for the date when the United Nations partitioned
Palestine and granted the Jews the right to a homeland. Katamon
is an Arab neighborhood with a lot of history, particularly during
the time of the mandate. I discover quickly that if you want good
coffee, visit the Arab sections of Jerusalem. That's my British
blood in me. The British loved the Arabs and found the Jews
annoying. It was hard to have a mandate over people who were
better-educated than the average British soldier, as many of the
Jews were. And, of course, the Jews chaffed under British
tutelage. Not that the Arabs loved it. But the British retained a
benevolent goodwill toward the Arabs right up to the end of
their days in Palestine that only marginally had anything to do
with their oil reserves. The Jews came from Europe and the
Arabs came from the desert. And the desert was the one that
tended to cast a spell on the overworked English administrators.
A night of Bedouin hospitality in a tent with a meal of roasted
sheep was akin to an evening spent with the patriarch Abraham.
The British had grown up on Bible stories and the camels, the
Arab shepherds, the veiled women, the black goat-hair tents and
the lavish hospitality were all like a living Bible to them.
But most of that's changed.
The Israelis have adopted a lot of Eastern customs,
particularly with Arabic-style food, but it's hard to find that
desert Arab anymore. And it's almost as hard to find any trace of
the British presence, although it's a well-known fact that Ronald
Chapter Four
27
Storrs, the first military governor after the British took Jerusalem
in World War 1, passed a lot of laws to preserve the beauty of
Jerusalem. Only white stones on the buildings, no corrugated
iron, beautiful tiled street signs in the Old City, that sort of thing.
I'm out looking for what's left of the British administration in
Palestine. But I'm also wandering through the streets of
Jerusalem, looking for, well, myself.
Losing Dad was like losing an anchor. The ship is now
bobbing on a huge ocean. It's a little disconcerting.
New Jerusalem is fascinating to me because it's all been built
up since the late nineteenth-century. Before that, there was only
the Old City on the hill. There is still a greenbelt around the walls
of the Old City, but it is surrounded by a modern metropolis.
I have a guidebook from the days of the British and I'm using
it to try to navigate around and see what buildings are still here.
The ones I find, I photograph for my book. I take a whole
morning to look over St. George's Cathedral, the Anglican
church that the British attended while they ruled this land.
Interestingly, the Arab Christians weren't welcome here, so the
camaraderie only went so far. The Arab Christians had their own
churches that the British rarely visited.
I spend an afternoon at the King David Hotel, which was built
during the British Mandate and very quickly became a centre of
British social life. During World War II, the bar in the King
David Hotel was frequented by journalists, spies, British
administrators, politicians and kings-in-exile.
When the British turned a wing of the hotel into their central
offices, the Irgun blew it up in 1946. In all, 91 people died in the
explosion and after that, the British seemed to lose their heart for
ruling Palestine.
I also visit the American Colony Hotel, which is in eastern
Jerusalem where there is a greater Arab presence. When the State
of Israel was established, the Arabs held onto East Jerusalem. It
wasn't until the Six-Day War that the Israelis were able to take it
too.
Working on my book is therapeutic. It's been something I've
been doing for years, so it's a familiar world among old friends. I
can honestly say, I know some of the British High
Commissioners of Palestine better than I do any living person.
Jerusalem under British mandate would be enough to fill a book.
Prophet
28
I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should just focus on Jerusalem.
There's enough material here.
But there comes a point when there just isn't anything more
for me to do in Jerusalem. I've been here a month and it's time to
check out the rest of the country.
But I don't really want to move on. Jerusalem feels like home.
Still, I'm here in Israel, so it has to be done. I'll probably head
for Haifa. Next to Jerusalem, Haifa was a hubbub of British
activity, their port on the Mediterranean.
I decide to take one last walk through the Old City before I
grab an afternoon bus to Haifa. Ive photographed everything
connected with the British, so I just wander.
Not being religious, it's not my intent to deliberately go by the
Western Wall. Sticking pieces of paper in a secondary wall of
what was once Herod's Temple doesn't seem to me to be an
effective way of communicating with a Higher Being. But I end
up passing by the holy site.
Still, the whole area was a point of contention during the
British Mandate days, so perhaps it is important to my research. I
decide to snap a quick photo of it to include in the book,
particularly to contrast it with the way it was when the British
captured Jerusalem in 1917. Then it was just a narrow
passageway. Some of the Arabs took great glee in passing by with
their donkeys when the Jews were praying.
Since 1967, the whole area around the wall was bulldozed into
a wide, paved expanse. Old maps show how whole Arab
neighborhoods disappeared in order to accommodate the new
plaza.
As usual, the wall is lined with men praying on one side,
women on the other, separated by a screen. They are mostly the
conservative Jews, the ones with the black coats and hats. Many
men have prayer shawls. But there are also the more casually-
dressed Israelis just praying in their everyday wear of white shirts
and casual pants. It makes a nice mix.
I raise my camera to take the photo.
Oops! Sorry! A smiling young man walks in front of my
shot.
That's OK, I say, returning the smile and raising my camera
again. But he's still there. Uhhh . . . I don't know how to put
this, but you're in my way.
Chapter Four
29
Just taking a photo, huh? he says.
Yeah, I say.
He grins.
He's not an Israeli. For one thing, his English has no accent.
For another, there's a large milling group of tourists about ten
feet away that he obviously belongs to. Though when I look
more carefully at the group, I realize he must be the only one in it
under the age of fifty. No wonder he seems eager to connect.
You're a tourist too, huh? he says.
I nod.
He's not bad-looking. Tall with wavy brown hair, cut on the
short side. Cute grin. But young! Definitely too young! Late teens,
maybe. I'm 23. I have no desire to rob any cradle.
You too? I say.
He nods.
Have you prayed at the wall yet? I ask. All the tourists get a
kick out of praying at the wall.
That's next, he says.
C'mon, Zed! calls out a middle-aged man, who looks like
the leader of the group. He's not as tall as Zed, but solidly built.
His dark hair is graying. He's dressed casually in a white shirt and
dark slacks, but the ensemble looks expensive. On his pinky
finger, a gold ring flashes in the sun.
Zed gives me a look. Pleading, almost, before he turns and
follows the man. The whole group dutifully trails along behind
them both.
I stand and watch.
Yes, the middle-aged man is directing them to the wall for
prayer, ladies to the right, men to the left. Cautiously, the
members of the group move forward to the wall. It's hard to tell
whether it's reverence for the wall or just nervousness at being so
close to the praying Jews. I doubt the devout Jews like sharing the
wall with Christian tourists.
Zed moves forward too, but he turns and looks right at me
before giving his attention to the wall.
The kid needs something.
I dunno what.
I should just ignore it and get on with my life. Glancing at my
watch, I see that I have two hours to get back to my room, grab
my gear and take a taxi to the Egged bus station in the centre of
Prophet
30
Jerusalem. I've got to hurry if I'm going to make it.
But I stand, staring at the wall. My eyes are on Zed.
Maybe it's just because this is the first contact I've had with a
human being since I left Canada, not counting flight attendants
and hotel staff.
The middle-aged man looks kind of familiar. But I don't know
where I've seen him. He is definitely the leader of the group.
Many of his followers are crowded around him and he seems to
be dispensing either instruction or information.
I raise my camera for another shot. But the group of tourists
has ruined the whole atmosphere.
Zed looks aimless. He has said his prayer, or whatever it was
that ran through his mind while he stood in front of the huge
white stones. Again, he glances back at me. Then he hurriedly
starts feeling around in his pockets. He doesn't have what he's
looking for. An elderly lady in his group helps him. He asks her
for something and she rustles around in her purse, finally
producing a pen. Zed starts scribbling on something white he
found in a pocket. Under the watchful eye of the middle-aged
man, he heads for the wall and starts looking for a place to stick
it. Not an unusual thing at this particular wall. If you get close to
it, you can see how many other people have done the same thing.
Then the group is done their praying and ready to move on.
They come back toward me, the middle-aged man in the lead,
Zed dawdling behind. As they pass by me I hear the man saying,
. . . yesterday. But today we will visit the Garden tomb, which in
my opinion, is the more likely site of our Saviors burial.
I gather they went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
yesterday, which boasts of being the site where Jesus was both
crucified and buried.
I'm startled when someone grabs my hand. It's Zed. And he
lets go so quickly it takes me a moment to realize there's
something in my hand. It's the piece of paper. It didn't actually
end up in the wall. Zed doesn't look at me and I'm careful to wait
until the group is out of sight before I open it up.
King David Hotel. 7:00 p.m.
I just stare.
No one's ever done anything like this to me before. Is the kid
hitting on me? No, I decide. It was that look of pleading. The kid
needs help. Will I help him?
Chapter Four
31
Why not? I decide. It gives me an excuse to stay a bit longer in
Jerusalem, and besides, I really should get another photo or two
of the King David.

The simple stone exterior of the King David Hotel doesn't
prepare you for the luxury of the interior. The lobby of the King
David Hotel is famous. The hotel lives up to its name in that
royalty in the past, as well as royalty in the present, have stayed
here. When the hotel opened in 1931, the lobby was styled after
the Assyrians, the lounge was Hittite and the dining room was
Phoenician. Tall Sudanese waiters wearing white pantaloons and
red tarboosh would serve the English their afternoon tea.
That sense of history has been retained. I sit down in one of
the large elegant purple chairs in the lobby and look around
appreciatively. I'll have to discreetly snap a photo for my book. I
only took exterior shots when I was here the other day.
According to a clock behind the concierge, it is 6:57. I feel
slightly silly for showing up for this rendezvous.
7:00 comes and goes. At 7:15, when I'm starting to think that
I've been played for a sucker, but maybe I'll go have a cocktail in
the lounge first before I leave, the young man I saw at the wall
drops into the purple chair beside me.
Thank you! he says, slightly breathless.
You're welcome, I say. I can't help but grin.
He gulps.
I had a hard time convincing Dad I was sick enough to miss
his Bible-study, but not sick enough to need medical attention.
My eyes widen.
He tried to heal me, continues Zed. But obviously, not
being sick, I didn't heal. Then I was worried that the Holy Spirit
might strike me down for faking it.
My eyes get even wider.
But He didn't, Zed concludes, and here I am!
Here you are, I agree.
I'm Zed, he says, solemnly extending his hand.
Jenna, I say, shaking it.
Thanks for coming, he says.
I shrug.
Why exactly am I here? I say.
I dunno, says Zed. I was just hoping we could meet. Talk.
Prophet
32
You know . . .
I give him a bemused look.
I'm 23, I say. This is probably illegal.
I'm 18, he says. It would be illegal if I were 17. Of course,
if we were in Nebraska, it would be illegal. There you're not an
adult until you're 19.
Are you from Nebraska? I ask.
He shakes his head.
No, Texas. Well, not really. Dad's Bible college is in Texas. We
started off in Montana. I liked it better there.
Your dad has a Bible college?
Zed nods.
Biggest one in the country. He's Barrington Crane. Have you
heard of him?
Hmm, I say, thinking about this. I've seen him somewhere
before. Maybe on TV.
Yeah, he's on TV. God's Power.
I nod. That's probably it. Saw him when I was channel-surfing.
Are you Christian? asks Zed.
Uh, not really. Half-Jewish. My dad was a Christian though.
Why are you here?
To do research.
I wish I were here to do research. We're on the complete tour
of the Holy Land. Dad does it every two years. This is my first
time here.
Do you like it?
Zed shrugs.
I get it. Israel can be a really cool place to visit, but not if
you're in a group where the average age is 75.
At this point, I think we've gone about as far as we can go
with this. Zed's going to have to go back and play sick at some
point and I'm going to have to catch an early morning bus to
Haifa.
I guess it's good to see everything, says Zed, answering my
question. A lot of Christians come here.
I guess you're one of those evangelicals, eh? I say.
He nods.
American evangelicals think they're so original. But
evangelicals go back to nineteenth-century England. The
nineteenth-century evangelicals already did everything the
Chapter Four
33
twenty-first-century ones do, including trying to bring the Jews
back to Israel and get them all converted to Christianity. The Jews
weren't that interested then, either.
I share some of these thoughts with Zed.
Yeah, but here we are in Israel, says Zed, looking around.
They got back.
For political reasons. And propelled by fear of persecution.
The really religious Jews don't even recognize the State of Israel
because they believe the Messiah will create the New Israel.
Zed shrugs.
God can use people for His purposes.
You sound like Lord Shaftsbury, the original evangelical. He
felt that men in politics were used by God to bring the Jews back
to the land even if they didn't know it.
I didn't know that, Zed says.
They had a society for the sole purpose of converting Jews.
Thousands of Christians spending thousands of pounds joined.
They had missionaries in Palestine and England. I think they had
something like, maybe, 7 converts a year . . .
Zed laughs.
I like how everyone's so casual here, he says. You know,
shorts and sandals. It could reach 110 degrees back home and
Dad would still have the girls in dresses past their knees and the
guys in shirts and ties.
Well, your Dad sounds more like Theodor Herzl.
Who?
The father of modern Zionism. He expected all the delegates
to the Zionist Congress to wear frock coats and white ties.
Why?
I dunno. I think it had something to do with impressing on
them their importance as founders of the Jewish nation.
Do you talk about history all the time?
I laugh.
I dunno. Buy me a drink and find out. You do drink, don't
you?
Zed sighs.
Apart from being underage in Texas and coming from a strict
teetotaling family, yes I am open to the possibilities of having a
drink.
We could stay and have a drink in the lobby lounge, but Zed
Prophet
34
prefers the Oriental Bar where the chances of someone from his
dad's group seeing him are much less likely.
Many people are having an intimate dinner when we enter the
room, but we opt for two seats at the bar itself and order a bottle
of Israeli wine to share.
So what are you here to research? he asks, when we've
started on our first glass. I begin by telling him about the British
mandate and end by telling him about Dad.
That's the problem with not really talking to anyone for the
last month. A glass of wine and Im pouring out my heart to the
first 18-year-old kid that comes along.
But Zed turns out to be a good listener.
So your dad became a Christian before he died? he says.
I nod, pouring the wine for my second glass.
I have a small trunk of the books he was reading. I've been
meaning to start on them. I take them a sip. Maybe in Haifa. I
dunno. Your dad is a Bible teacher, I take it?
Zed nods.
What sort of things does he teach?
I probably wouldn't ask that question in broad daylight, but a
dim room and a bottle of wine and I actually would like to know
the answer.
Prophecy mostly, says Zed. He too is on his second glass.
Sometimes family stuff. People really like the marriage talks.
Prophecy? You mean, like Jesus returning? I ask, thinking
about Dad.
Exactly. The rapture and all that. It could happen any day.
I want to ask him more. How can anyone know that Jesus
could return any day?
But Zed looks at his watch and kind of gasps.
I've got to get back! he says. He gulps his wine and grabs my
hand.
Can I see you again? he asks.
I laugh. He's so earnest. It's probably the wine.
Sure, I say.
I'll stay sick and maybe we can do something in the morning
when everyone's out at The Temple Institute.
The Temple Institute. That's where some Jews have made all
the instruments and items necessary for a future temple. The
thought of igniting World War III doesn't frighten them. They're
Chapter Four
35
hoping that a Jewish temple will one day stand where the Dome
of the Rock currently sits.
Actually, I'm thinking of checking in here too. To do a bit of
research, you know . . .
Why did I say that? Definitely the wine.
That would be great! says Zed, squeezing my hand before
letting it go. I'm in 302 . . . He calls back before dashing out.
No doubt the consequences would be dire if Daddy finds him
wandering around in the hotel when he's supposed to be in bed
beyond healing.

Prophet
36


37
Chapter Five
ad doesn't know what to do, says Zed ruefully.
We're sharing a pot of tea in his room. I was
cautious. I gave the room a ring before rapping on the
door. The first time, Barrington answered and I hung up. The
second time, it was Zed.
He can't exactly tell the group I'm sick because he's known
for healing people.
Really? I say, reaching for a pastry.
It's actually kind of funny, says Zed. When he has a cold,
he has to pretend he doesn't. He tells his congregation to tell
their sicknesses to go back to hell from whence they came, so
theoretically, he can't go and get the flu, or anything like that.
I laugh.
Zed grins.
I feel bad, though, he admits. But I had to see you again.
I shake my head.
You're a silly boy, I say.
Of course, I'm pretty silly too. I'm all checked in to the King
D
Prophet
38
David Hotel just because some kid slipped me a piece of paper at
the Western Wall. I've been telling myself that staying at the King
David is just part of my research.
So tell me more about Jesus returning, I say. I think that
might have been the reason why my dad started giving away all
his money.
Zed doesn't answer right away and when I glance at him, his
face is serious.
What? I ask.
That's something that's always bothered me.
What's that?
The way we live, says Zed. My family has this huge house.
All the faculty at Dad's college do. They make their books
required reading for their courses at $21.95 a pop. I mean, I
believe Jesus is going to come back any day and if it were up to
me, I'd sell everything we had and use the money to get the
message out to the people who haven't heard it.
Ah, I say, taking a sip of tea. I see what you mean.
They may say they believe he's coming any day, but the way
they live says they dont.
I nod.
I think your dad was doing the right thing, says Zed.
Thanks, I say. It's a tribute to dad and I almost feel tears
come to my eyes.
You said your dad left you with some books to read?
I nod.
Well, it's more like he was reading them and I'd kind of like
to get a better idea of what was going on in his mind before he
died.
That makes sense, says Zed. Can I look at them?
Sure, I say, surprised. But then I realize, it makes sense. My
dad was living his faith and Zed would like to know what he was
reading.
I'm on the second floor of the hotel and after putting our
room service tray out in the hallway, we go down to my room.
I open the small tea chest and Zed starts going through these
books.
Have you really examined these? he asks, looking over at
me.
I shake my head.
Chapter Five
39
Zed returns his attention to the books, reading the back
covers.
These are very different, he says.
Different from what? I ask, moving closer to him.
Different from what my dad teaches.
What do you mean? I ask him.
He holds up one. On Earth as it is in Heaven: An Understanding
of the Kingdom of God.
OK, I say. So what does it mean?
He holds up another book. The Imminent Coming of Christ . . . In
the First-Century.
These seem to be saying that Jesus already returned, says
Zed.
What? I say.
Zed nods. He's skimming the back cover of another one.
It says here that the early church understood the return of
Christ to be one of establishing his kingdom on earth. And that
that happened in the first-century.
Do a lot of people believe that? I ask.
Zed shakes his head.
I don't think so, he says. I've never heard of it.
Zed is genuinely fascinated by my father's collection of books.
He's now sitting on my bed going through each of them and
flipping through the pages. I grab a book and sit down in a
comfortable chair. Now is as good a time as any to start going
through these things.
My book is called Revelation: A Historical Interpretation. But it's
hard for me to get into. I've never read the book of Revelation
and have no clue what all these beasts and stars and dragons have
to do with anything, although the author talks a lot about first-
century Rome and Jerusalem.
Do you know much about this book, Revelation? I ask Zed.
Sure, he says, looking up. My dad preaches from it all the
time.
Then you might get more out of it than me, I say, handing it
to him.
Thanks, he says, taking it. The kid can keep it. My dad's final
state of mind may end up being a mystery to me.
Listen, I say to Zed. I'm going to Haifa tomorrow so this
will be the last time I see you.
Prophet
40
I feel ridiculous saying it. We're strangers to one another. But
my words definitely have an effect on Zed.
That's too bad, he says with genuine regret.
Yeah, well, you'd better let your Dad heal you, I say,
grinning. It would be good for morale.
He laughs.
That's true.
So . . . I say. You guys are doing the full Holy Land tour?
He nods.
Yep, this is just the beginning.
I nod.
What about you? he asks.
Well, I say, putting the books back in the chest, although I
leave the Revelation one out in case Zed wants it. I'll catch a
morning bus to Haifa. It was an important centre of British
administration so I should be there awhile. After that, who
knows?
Zed looks thoughtful.
Then maybe we'll see each other again, he says.
Maybe, I say, noncommittal. Israel is a small country but it's
unlikely our paths will cross. They'll all be sailing the Sea of
Galilee and praying on the Mount of Temptation while I'm
photographing the buildings that were built during the British
administration. While I'm in Acre taking shots of the famous
prison, they'll be on Mount Carmel where Elijah called down fire
from heaven.
Can we have lunch? he asks.
Sure, I say, shutting up the trunk and putting it beside my
laptop and my small bag.
Here at the hotel? he says.
I smile. I ended up picking up the tab for that bottle of wine
last night.
Have you had a falafel since you've been here? I ask.
He shakes his head.
Well, we'll definitely have to do that, then, I say, as we head
out of my room.
We don't have to walk far down King David Street to get to a
falafel stand. In the days of the British, this road was called
Julian's Way.
Zed seems edgy about moving too far away from the hotel, so
Chapter Five
41
we head back eating our sandwiches.
It's hard to eat and talk. I would like to ask Zed some
questions, like, what exactly is it that my dad was thinking? And
how does it square with the rest of Christendom? But when we
get back to the lobby, Zed says he'd better return to his room.
They were doing The Temple Institute and then lunch. But the
afternoon was supposed to be free time so the group could visit
the Old City, buy souvenirs, that sort of thing. His dad may
return to check on him.
Won't he be happy to see that you're all healed? I say.
Yeah, he says.
We share an elevator. Before I get off at the second floor, I
give him a quick hug. He looks surprised, but pleased.
Take care of yourself, I say.
You too, he says.
And then the elevator door closes and I'm left alone in the
hallway.
I realize he forgot to take that book on Revelation.

I have a quick breakfast at the King David Hotel before
making my way to the central bus station. There is no sign of
Zed or his group in the lobby and I feel mildly disappointed. But
I have so much ahead of me I don't give it too much thought.
The early bus to Haifa is half-empty. My small trunk, laptop
and bag easily fit under the seat.
It's a bit early for my taste, so I pull out a pair of sunglasses
from my bag, put them on and lean back in my seat for a bit
more sleep. I don't mind if I miss a bit of scenery between here
and Haifa.
I'm vaguely aware that someone sits down beside me. How
annoying. There are plenty of other empty seats. Why did
someone have to bother with the one beside me? The bus starts
moving. I try to make myself more comfortable by leaning
against the window. It would probably help if I had a sweater, or
something, to lean against.
I open my eyes and lean down to get something suitable from
my bag.
Jenna! the person beside me says as I'm straightening up
with a grey turtleneck sweater in my hand.
Zed! I can hardly believe my eyes. The guy is sitting right
Prophet
42
beside me!
What are you doing here? I demand.
He shrugs.
Zed, I say. Does your dad know you're here?
C'mon Jenna, he says. I'm not a child.
Zed! You dad doesn't know!
He shrugs again.
What are you doing here?!
You need me, he says.
I do?!
Yes, he says, pointing to the trunk on the floor. You need
me. You don't know anything about prophecy, do you?
I shake my head.
Plus, he says. I wanted to know more about it myself. They
look like interesting books.
Then go to a bookstore! I say. I'm going to be charged
with kidnapping!
Zed grins.
We're passing through the busy streets of Jerusalem and I'm
just waiting for a police car to start driving alongside of us.
I left a note.
You left a note? I say. And what did you say in that note?
Zed shrugs.
I told Dad not to worry. I needed to do my own tour of the
Holy Land, sort of a spiritual journey, you know . . .
No. I don't know. Continue.
I said I knew what day we would be going back so not to
worry. I'd be at the airport.
And you think your dad is just going to accept this?
Zed looks out the window without taking in the busy street.
He has to. If I tell him the Holy Spirit led me, he can't argue.
It sounds blasphemous, but in a way, I think God did tell me to
go.
Now it's my turn to shrug. I'm sure not going to argue with
these people who like to talk to God.
Well, I say, you and I are not going to learn much in Haifa.
I have lots of photos to take and I don't know if I'll even have
time to look at the books.
Actually, he says. I found out something online last night.
Dad brought his laptop and I was Googling some of those book
Chapter Five
43
titles. Of course, I had to erase all my searches after so Dad
doesn't know that I was looking up heresy.
Won't he think you erased it all because you were going to
porn sites? I ask.
Oops! says Zed. I didn't think about that. Anyway, I found
out something interesting.
What's that?
One of the authors lives in Haifa.
Really?
Zed nods.
That's what made me think it was God's will that I should go
to Haifa. You said you were going by the morning bus and I
figured I should probably try to connect with you again . . .
OK, OK, I say, holding up a hand. I'm not going to argue
with God's will. But when the Mossad shows up to drag you back
to your tour group, I'm going to pretend I don't know you.
Zed nods like that's a reasonable arrangement.
So why can't you look up things on Google? I ask. I mean,
why do you have to hide it from your dad?
Well, says Zed. If you start getting interested in anything
that doesn't line up with what my dad teaches, then he'll say stuff
like, you're a pawn in the Devil's chess game.
My eyebrows go up for that.
I found out that there are a number of people who actually
believe that Jesus returned in the first-century.
Really? I say. How does that work?
Zed shakes his head.
I didn't have time to read too much about it, except that it's
called preterism. Then Dad came out of the shower.
I smile at the thought of a young man hunched over his
computer, hiding it from his dad that he's visiting theology sites.

Prophet
44


45
Chapter Six
ed seems more interested in my quest to understand
Dad's mind than I do at this point. Despite my initial
reluctance to leave Jerusalem, I was getting into the idea
of taking my vintage guidebook and finding anything left of the
British mandate in Haifa.
But as soon as the bus arrives at the depot, Zed is grabbing us
a taxi and giving the address of the author he found online. The
author's name is Graham Summers, not exactly an Israeli name,
or even a Jewish one, for that matter. I'm thinking Zed's haste
may be a fear that Daddy might show up at any moment to drag
him back to be with the group.
In Haifa, we are between the mountain and the sea. The
British used it as their port and it was a termination point for one
of the oil pipelines that came from Iraq. Consequently, oil-
storage and oil-related activities are still present today. But Mount
Carmel is a reminder of more ancient times when a lone prophet
battled the idolatry of his day. Elijah might be the reason tourists
first arrive in Haifa, but there are plenty of reasons to stay
Z
Prophet
46
sandy beaches, modern shopping centres, sidewalk cafs,
museums and more surprising relative harmony between Jews
and Arabs. The buses even run on the Sabbath here.
The taxi is taking us up the gentle slope of Mount Carmel
where the green mountain is a home for residential
neighborhoods, hotels and even higher up, the Technion and the
Haifa University.
Our author lives in an older neighborhood that lacks the
polish of the newer homes but is definitely more charming and
to my liking. I'm not sure about just showing up at this guy's
door, but I figure I have nothing to lose.
We step out of the taxi and to my pleasant surprise, Zed pays.
I hope he didn't empty out Daddy's wallet to pay for this little
expedition.
I follow Zed up a small stone path and let him rap the blue
front door.
A man in his late thirties, maybe early forties, answers. He's
wearing a white shirt and beige pants with sandals. His sandy
brown hair is turning grey.
Yes? he says, removing his glasses and smiling. Can I help
you?
At this moment, Zed freezes up. He had the moxie to get us
here but now his nerve fails him. It's up to me.
Dr. Summers? I say.
He nods.
Hi! I give him my best smile and hold out a hand to shake.
I'm Jenna Brauner-Banks and this is Zed . . . I momentarily
can't remember his last name. No matter. Dr. Summers is shaking
my hand. He glances at Zed and gives him a nod.
We're here because of your book, I say.
Which one?
Zed manages to recover long enough to say it's the one about
preterism.
Dr. Summers nods again.
I know it's a bit unusual for us to show up at your door like
this, I say. But the ideas you presented in the book are new to
both of us. Zed is a Christian. I'm not. But we're both interested
in what you have to stay.
Why are you interested? asks Dr. Summers, gently to me.
If you're not a Christian, I mean.
Chapter Six
47
Well . . . I take a deep breath. My father died recently and
he was a Christian. I found your book on his shelf and I'm just
trying to put the pieces together, figure out what he was thinking
before he died. I didn't have a chance to really talk to him . . .
Dr. Summers nods, like he understands and there's no need to
go into it further.
Would you like to come in? he asks.
We step into the hallway. The interior is dark and cool. The
tiled floor and wall-hangings put me in mind of the Arts and
Crafts Movement that the British developed while they were here.
They wanted to see the traditional Arab skills and industries
preserved.
We are led into a sitting room lined with shelves holding
books and artifacts. There are a couple of white lounge chairs
and a small matching sofa. Dr. Summers sits down on the sofa,
leaving the chairs for me and Zed.
There is a large window that provides a spectacular view of
the Mediterranean. I comment on this to Dr. Summers.
He smiles.
Yes, that view is the reason I leased this place.
I nod.
Is this your first time to Haifa? he asks.
Yes, it is, I say. Although I've read a lot about this area.
During the time of the British mandate.
His eyes widen.
That's my area of interest, he says. Though not my area of
expertise at this point. Are you a scholar?
I nod. An understanding passes between us.
I've always been interested in the British mandate, I say. My
father was English and my mother was Jewish, so it was a logical
outcome.
That makes sense, he says. I developed my preoccupation
after studying the British mandate in Iraq.
Do you find a lot of connection between the two? I ask. I
know very little about the British experience in Iraq.
Dr. Summers shakes his head.
As you know, they had King Faisal in Iraq. It was mostly a
struggle between the nationalists and the moderates. The
moderates were willing to cooperate with the British, the
nationalist wanted their independence right away.
Prophet
48
Faisal came to Haifa, didn't he? I say. His name is familiar.
Yes, says Dr. Summers. After the French exiled him from
Syria, he spent a brief time in Haifa staying with a British
missionary. Of course, when he was King of Iraq, he visited
Palestine several times. His father was buried on the Haram ash-
Sharif.
This is all on the periphery of my studies. King Faisal's father
was the Sharif of Mecca who raised an Arab revolt against the
Turks. Since the Turks had allied themselves with the Germans in
World War 1, this put the Arabs on the side of the British. T.E.
Lawrence was one of the British officers sent out to assist the
Arabs and his legend lives on as Lawrence of Arabia. It was at
this time that the British took Palestine. The Jews had been
promised a homeland and the Arabs had been promised their
independence. The conflicting promises have had repercussions
down to this day.
But you didn't come here to talk about the mandate,
continues Dr. Summers. You said you were interested in
prophecy?
Zed and I both nod.
Dr. Summers turns to Zed.
Are you familiar with the topic of prophecy?
Zed nods.
I've grown up with prophecy, he says. But until Jenna and I
had a chance to look through her father's books, I didn't realize
there were other ways of looking at it.
I blame the television evangelists for that one, says Dr.
Summers.
I bite my lip and look at Zed.
Zed looks down.
Barrington Crane is one of the biggest ones, he says, more
to himself than to either of us.
Is he the one you've been affected by?
He's Zed's father, I says.
Dr. Summers' eyes widen. The expression on his face tells me
hes repentant. Then Zed grins. And then we're all smiling at each
other and the moment has passed.
Our conversation meanders. Dr. Summers says that he used to
believe that the second coming of Christ could happen any day.
When he was younger, he came to Israel to tramp around it,
Chapter Six
49
much like the group that Zed's father is leading, stopping at all
the holy sites. He confesses that his worldview has changed much
since then.
For one thing, back in England, he started studying his history.
First it was just an interest in the forty years after Christ was
crucified. In other words, the days of the early church. That led
to an interest in the history of the Holy Land in general.
I had an extraordinary mentor in university who pointed out
to me that Jerusalem kills the prophets and is no home to
Christians who have come to the heavenly Jerusalem and Mount
Zion.
The heavenly Jerusalem? I ask.
Dr. Summers nods.
It's an idea developed by the apostle Paul in Galatians and by
the writer of Hebrews. The idea that we are children of a
heavenly Jerusalem, not an earthly one. The earthly one, at the
time of those writings, was in the hands of the Jews and
represented the law, the Old Covenant. As followers of Jesus, the
early believers were citizens of a heavenly Jerusalem. In other
words, the New Covenant.
Zed seems familiar with this although it's completely new to
me.
How can a person be any closer to Jesus here if Jesus is living
in the person? Dr. Summers continues. We are the temple of
God and yet we hike around this land in an effort to feel closer to
him. Dr Summers' voice relaxes. But I guess I dont blame
them. There is something special about this place. I dont know
what it is really, but I know I feel more at home here than I did in
London. For some reason, this place gives me the feeling of
having come home.
I nod. That's exactly the feeling I have.
He pauses to think and when he does his words come out
slowly. But my faith is built on reason, not feelings, so I have to
maintain that a trip to the Holy Land is a frivolous expenditure.
Better to give the money to widows and orphans. That's what
prompted me to write my book on preterism. The church has to
understand that our false theology has led to a neglect of the
more important aspects of our faith.
What do you mean? asks Zed.
Well, says Dr. Summers, turning to him. The evangelical
Prophet
50
church is so busy looking out for the Antichrist and other
characters in Revelation that sometimes they miss the plainer
teachers of the Bible. Prophecy is a huge distraction.
But shouldn't we be watching out for the Antichrist? asks
Zed, leaning forward.
According to John's first letter, many antichrists had already
risen in the first-century, says Dr. Summers. The spirit of
antichrist is anyone who opposes Christ. The Jews were obvious
candidates in the first-century since they were pretty vocal about
him not being their Christ, or Messiah.
Oh, says Zed. He looks deflated. I didn't realize there was
more than one. I thought there was just The Antichrist.
A lot of people do, says Dr. Summers, standing up. Would
you care for some coffee? Or perhaps lemonade?
We accept the offer of coffee. Dr. Summers leaves us alone.
It's interesting, I say, just to be sociable.
Zed agrees but he looks distracted.
What is it? I ask.
He doesn't answer right away.
Finally, when he does, he says, I guess I just always thought
Dad was right about prophecy, even if he didn't get other things
right. He never said anything about there being more than one
antichrist.
I'm sympathetically silent and Zed continues.
You know, he says. It's right what he says about the poor. I
read this scripture a few years ago. It said that pure religion is to
take care of the widows and the orphans in their affliction. I had
never heard that scripture mentioned at church. You see, Dad's
sermons are televised and it's always prophecy or how to be
healed or how God wants you to be prosperous.
Your dad looks prosperous, I say.
He is, says Zed, looking down. I follow his gaze and see his
eyes are on his wristwatch. Even I don't have one as swanky as
what is on his wrist. We are. But I don't think everyone in my
dad's church is.
Dr. Summers returns carrying an octagonal mother-of-pearl
inlaid tray with an Arabic brass coffeepot, some small matching
cups and a plate of almond biscuits. He puts it down on the table
between us and fills each cup with a splash of coffee. Turkish
coffee is a strong presweetened drink. I can tell drinking it is a
Chapter Six
51
new experience for Zed.
Dr. Summers resumes our conversation.
The writers of the New Testament definitely had
expectations, he says. There are numerous passages that speak
with a sense of imminent arrival, a soon-coming significant
event.
Zed nods.
That's why Dad says it could happen any day.
Dr. Summers smiles.
But if you think about it logically, it wasn't written to our
generation. It was written to the people in the first-century.
Zed looks intent and Dr. Summers has the good sense to
allow him a minute or two of thought.
I see what you mean, Zed says, nodding slowly. It makes us
pretty egotistic to think that it was written to us.
Dr Summers looks pleased.
Zed, he says. You're more than halfway there when you can
grasp that one. Many Bible instructors today only teach their
followers to read the Bible in a very personal way, and ignore that
it's also a historical book.
I think I know what you mean, says Zed. Daddy always
says that God is talking to you! Zed points vigorously at each of
us. We both laugh. That gesture and those words are familiar.
That's probably what I've seen Barrington Crane do on TV.
First and foremost, says Dr. Summers. The Bible was
written to its intended audience. Then, if we keep that in mind,
we can look at it from the perspective of what it offers us today.
I nod. As a historian, this is self-evident to me, but I guess it's
a bit radical for Zed.
An obvious example was the way Jesus repeatedly used the
expression, this generation, says Dr. Summers, reaching for an
almond cookie. I try one too. I love Middle Eastern sweets.
Over and over he talks to the people in front of him and says
things about 'this generation.'
Zed's eyes widen.
Dr. Summers nods.
You know where I'm going with this?
Yes, says Zed. Matthew 24. Jesus gives a whole list of
things that are going to happen before he returns.
Including his return, says Dr. Summers.
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52
Yes, says Zed. And he says, this generation will not pass away
until all these things happen.
I look at Zed and then Dr. Summers to try to figure out what
they're talking about.
Now, I think most Christians can accept the plain
understanding of what Jesus was saying when he talked about this
generation, in every other instance. But in Matthew 24, they have to
do some grammatical gymnastics. Suddenly, this generation doesn't
refer to the generation he's talking to.
My dad teaches that it's talking about the generation that
these things come upon, says Zed.
I'm bewildered. Dr. Summers notices.
The idea is that the generation that sees the initial signs of
his coming will live to see his actual coming, he explains.
OK, I say. I get it. Sort of.
I'm not a grammarian, says Dr. Summers. But if Jesus used
the expression, this generation, to the people he was talking to, then
I would presume he would use it in the same way in Matthew 24.
If it was supposed to be some future generation, I think the
phrase that generation would have been employed.
Zed is thinking about it.
Up until this moment, I have never heard anything that Jesus
said, except, maybe, love thy neighbour. So I don't really know
how to include myself in this conversation. I fear Im making a
poor impression on Dr. Summers.
Dr. Summers is watching me. I quickly turn my attention back
to my coffee. I feel as if he caught me. But then I realize, I
caught him. He's attractive, for an older man.
What people forget is that Jesus was a prophet, says Dr.
Summers. And by his own established rules back in the Old
Covenant, a prophet was to be stoned if his prophecies were
false. A famous prophecy by Isaiah is that a virgin would
conceive and have a son named Emmanuel. There had to be a
young woman at the time who had a son named Emmanuel in
order for Isaiah not to have been labeled a false prophet and in
order for his prophecy to have survived to this day.
I never thought about that, says Zed.
Dr. Summers puts down his coffee cup and goes over to the
bookshelf. He returns with a Bible.
The Emmanuel prophecy goes into great detail, he says,
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53
sitting down and opening up the Bible. It doesn't take him long
to find the page he wants. It says here that the child will eat
curds and honey when he knows how to choose between good
and evil. But before that happens, King Ahaz is told that the land
of the two kings he dreads will be deserted. It's referring to the
kings of Egypt and Assyria and everything Isaiah prophesied
happened within the time frame he laid out.
Dr. Summers puts down the Bible on the coffee table.
Jesus is held to the same standard, he says. He goes into
great detail about what is going to happen and he puts a time
frame on it. Accept it or ignore it but dont rewrite it. In essence,
youre making excuses for Jesus. The unspoken fear is that hes a
false prophet.
A false prophet. That's what my mom used to say about Jesus.
That's what her family believed, that Jesus was a false prophet.
But at some point, something changed for her.
I don't want to outstay our welcome, so after we've finished
our coffee, I thank Dr. Summers for his time and tell him that
we'll let him go.
He walks to the door with us and as we step out into the sun,
he says to me, Er, perhaps you would like to have tea with me
sometime . . .
I'm startled. Pleasantly startled.
Yes, I would love to! I say.
Where are you staying?
That has yet to be decided, I say. Why don't I give you my
cell number and you can call me?
He gets a pad of paper and makes note of my number.
We shake hands and then Zed and I are back out by the street.
We could make our way down the gentle slope and find a hotel
by the harbour. Or, equally as attractive, we could head higher up
and find a hotel on Mount Carmel.
I'm still debating this when Zed says, So the old guy asked
you out to tea? His tone is hostile. Is it possible he's jealous?
He's not old, I say, pulling my father's guidebook out of my
purse. Dr. Summers couldn't be much more than 40. Maybe even
younger.
Zed's reply is more of a grunt. The advantage of staying by
the harbour is that you get the beach and the promenade. The
advantage of the mountain is that you get the view. Both are
Prophet
54
tempting. I wish Dad had circled a hotel to make it easier to
decide.
Zed tries a different approach.
The guy can't be doing too well if he has to lease a house,
he says.
It's very hard to buy property in Israel, I say. And even
harder if you're a Gentile. Nearly impossible. You see, early in the
twentieth-century, the Jews bought up land from the Arabs and
that's how they gained a foothold in the country. So it's a policy
with them now not to sell the land to non-Jews. They know
where it can lead.
Zed rolls his eyes.
More history.
History is what made your dad rich, I say, absently, as I
return my focus to the guidebook. Maybe I should just toss a
coin.
My dad doesn't have anything to do with history, says Zed.
It's just the Bible with him.
I laugh.
The Bible is history, I say.
I glance up to the top of the mountain. A little higher up is
Carmel Centre, where my guidebook promises I'll find homes
and hotels. As tempting as the Mediterranean is, my heart says to
go higher.
I start walking.
Whether Zed plans to join me is really not important to me.
But he follows.
My guidebook says that we will pass the Bahai Gardens and
World Centre. I like gardens but the Bahai religion is of no
interest to me, so I set my focus on the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It'll
be pricey but I figure Zed can afford it.
Carmel Centre is a busy neighborhood. We pass small shops,
low-rise apartments, luxury hotels, an auditorium, a movie
theatre, and a couple of museums the Israel National Museum
of Science Technology and one devoted, strangely, to Japanese
art. Everywhere is green. The mountain is covered with trees
palm, cypress, olive.
The Crowne Plaza Hotel is just one of many hotels. We could
stay anywhere. But my decision is made for me when I discover
that the Crowne Plaza Hotel is right on the corner of the Allenby
Chapter Six
55
Garden. General Allenby was the English commander who took
Palestine in World War 1.
So many of the street names are evocative. Nearby is
Montefiore, no doubt for Moses Montefiore, a wealthy British
Jew who generously supported the early Zionists in Palestine,
including funding the first settlement.
Running parallel to the road that the hotel is on, is Henrietta
Szold. She was an American Jew who lived during the British
mandate and among many of her accomplishments; she rescued
30,000 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Europe.
I also notice a road called Megiddo. No doubt, this conjures
up images of Armageddon for people like Zed's father. But
Megiddo is just the name of a nearby hill created by ancient
settlements being built on top of one another.
The Crowne Plaza is made of the ubiquitous white stone that
I saw in Jerusalem and am know seeing everywhere in Haifa. Zed
and I pass through the white columns and inside to the lobby.
The lobby is in the centre of the hotel creating a courtyard effect,
enhanced by palm trees and arrangements of comfortable chairs
and couches. I go straight to the front desk and book myself a
single room, preferably overlooking the sea. Like they don't get
that request all the time.
Despite the large number of tourists milling about in the
lobby, I am handed a key to a room with what the front desk
clerk assures me is a panoramic view of the harbour.
I step back to see what Zed will do.
He hesitates.
If I check-in under my own name, Dad might find me.
I shake my head, but he's right. Even so, I hesitate. The reason
is crazy. It's Dr. Summers. The man is obviously a Christian and
as such, probably doesn't look with favour on unmarried people
sharing a room. But I'm being silly. Dr. Summers has nothing to
do with this connection between me and Zed.
OK, kid, I say. You can room with me. But you're paying
your share. I step back up to the counter to inquire about having
two in the room. I'm told that it's fine. There are two double
beds. We are handed a second key.
Despite that the Crowne Plaza has all the facilities of a luxury
hotel and I could go for a swim or take a stroll through the
Allenby Garden, I would prefer to go up to the room and skim
Prophet
56
through some of those books. Now that Dr. Summers might be
calling me, I could actually have someone to explain it all to me.


57
Chapter Seven
h, the Crowne Plaza, says Dr. Summers. That's a lovely
place to have tea. Mind if I join you there? My treat, of
course.
He called me as I was trying to figure out what to do with my
day. Zed and I shared a pot of coffee and some croissants from
room service, but I was torn between whether I should take a taxi
down to the harbour and start photographing or stay here and
read another book on the balcony.
Zed seems to have some kooky idea that if he ventures out of
his room, his father might find him. I pointed out to him that
breakfast comes with our room, but in order to actually eat it,
you have to go to the restaurant. But there was no reasoning with
the guy and I eventually just phoned for room service.
Dr. Summers' phone call makes the decision for me. I'll read
on the balcony. And I can take a few photos from there too. Now
the ships in the harbour belong to the Israeli navy, but seventy
years ago they belonged to the British navy.
I don't want to have tea with some old guy, grumbles Zed
A
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58
when I hang up.
You don't have to, I say. You're not invited.
I don't look for a reaction. I'm too busy going through my
small bag trying to find something to wear this afternoon. I have
one dress with me. Made of a fabric that doesn't wrinkle, it's
black and more suitable for an evening out, but it'll have to do. I
travel light. Maybe I'll dash out to one of the stores sometime
today and buy an Arabic scarf to go along with it, just to make it
a little more suitable for afternoon tea.
Zed hmphs and announces he's going for a swim. I say fine.
The kid has actually been good company. Last night, we both
read Dad's books until pretty late. Zed is taking it all in with great
interest and contrasting it with what his dad teaches. Not much
of it lines up, apparently.
The book I now pick up and take out to the balcony is about
symbolism and hyperbole in the Bible. I don't know if it directly
relates to prophecy, but it was one of Dad's books so I'm going
to give it a go.
As soon as I settle myself into a deck chair and start reading, I
think maybe I should read the Bible first. Although this isn't a
book for scholars, it assumes an understanding of the texts. Of
course, I'm relatively familiar with the Bible stories. Part of
understanding the British interest in Palestine is understanding
what a Bible-believing culture they were at the time that they
issued the Balfour Declaration. The average Briton could name
more Kings of Israel than he could Kings of England. It was the
days when scripture memorization took place in the schools and
everyone who was respectable went to church. The Balfour
Declaration, issued by Britain's Foreign Secretary, James Balfour,
said that Britain would look with favour upon a Jewish homeland
in Palestine. It was partly the result of an understanding of
prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures. The Christian Zionists
believed that the Jews had to return to their ancient home before
Jesus could return to earth. Helping them back even became
official British policy.
I skim this book trying to find anything I can get a grasp on.
There's a chapter about Revelation.
It tells me that as far as Revelation goes, you have to look at it,
not literally, but in terms of symbols. Revelation 4:10 is outside
of space and time. You cant have the elders continually throwing
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59
down their crowns at Gods feet. Are they running forward to
pick them up right afterward? No, its a symbol of worship and
of God being worthy of the worship.
That's interesting. Does Barrington Crane know this?
In Revelation 8:10 a great star falls on the earth. One third of
the rivers and waters become undrinkable. But if a great star fell
on the earth, everything would be destroyed.
Hmmm. Maybe Revelation will be the first book I read in the
New Testament.
Then the author talks about something called the mark of the
beast. Apparently, it's something some of the Christians think
will happen in the future. A mark that will be forced on everyone
in order to participate in world commerce.
The author says that, in fact, most people have already taken
the mark of the beast.
In Deuteronomy, 11:18, the Israelites are instructed to bind
God's laws on their hearts and minds; their hands and foreheads.
I recognize that scripture. It's the reason the Orthodox Jews wear
a tefillin when they pray, literally practicing this.
But the author says that the mark of the beast, which is
received on the hand or forehead and involves false worship, is
the same as not practicing God's laws. In Paul's letter to the
Colossians, chapter 3, verse 5, covetousness is considered
idolatry. Nowadays, people don't bow down to idols, but in their
greed for more, they have already taken the mark of the beast.
Interesting. I'll have to ask Zed what his father says about this
beast. The language in Revelation is certainly colourful.
I skim ahead. The second part of the book is about hyperbole
in the Bible.
It lists many examples.
Matthew 12:42. We know the Queen of Sheba was probably
from Ethiopia, maybe Yemen. But Jesus says she came from the
ends of the earth. You must understand the hyperbole of the
Bible. The author goes back to Revelation. Chapter 18, verse 24
talks about a city called Babylon. (This is long after ancient
Babylon has disappeared.) In Revelation, this Babylon can take
the credit for all who were slain on the earth, including prophets
and saints. No city could ever match that. But looking at it
figuratively, Babylon could be the system of the cosmos, or world,
that sets itself up against Gods laws, in essence, going right back
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60
to Adam eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil, because the result of that action was death.
OK, Adam and Eve I've heard of.
The author concludes the chapter by saying that everybody
who has died has done so because of sin. But the best candidate
for an earthly city here in this passage in Revelation is Jerusalem
because Jesus himself credits Jerusalem with the blood of all the
prophets and saints. The author tells me to look at Matthew
23:35, but my watch tells me I don't have the time. If I'm going
to buy that scarf, I have to do it now.
Passing through the lobby, it occurs to me that Zed may not
have brought his room key with him when he went swimming.
Oh well. The boy will have to learn that I'm not his nanny.
I stroll through the neighborhood of stores and restaurants,
looking for just the right place. There are plenty of shops with
postcards and souvenirs. I go into one that looks promising. Sure
enough, it has a wide selection of embroidered scarves. I select a
dramatic red one with blue and yellow flowers around the edge.
There are also some leather sandals. I grab a pair.
The smiling proprietor gives me my change.
Toda, I say. Thank you. It's about one of ten Hebrew words
that I know. I really need to work on that.
Sure enough, there is an irritated and dripping Zed waiting
outside the door when I return.
Sorry, I say, reaching into my purse and pulling out the
room key. Just wanted to pick up a few things.
I unlock the door and we go in the room.
Zed disappears into the bathroom to get dressed. I pull out
my black dress and lay it on the bed with the scarf. Yes, I think it
will work.
Want to go for lunch? says Zed, when he comes out.
Swimming makes me hungry.
Sorry, I say. I can't.
Zed scowls.
I don't know what his problem is. He's tall, he's good-looking,
he's well-dressed in a white shirt and khaki pants. He's American.
Any girl in Carmel Centre would be happy to have lunch with
him. He doesn't need me.
While Zed jams a wallet into his pocket, and as an
afterthought, the key, I shrug. I can't live the guy's life for him.
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61
Falafel, I say to him.
He looks at me as if I'm crazy.
Haifa is a great place to get falafel, I say.
This doesn't seem to cheer him.
You and I can go to dinner later, I add. There's a pub just
across the road.
Fine, he says, on his way out the door.
Once he's gone, I put on the dress and scarf. When the
sandals are on too, I grab my purse and am about to go
downstairs. The book about symbols and hyperbole is on the
dresser. I stick that into my purse in case the conversation needs
a lift.

Symbols are important because they help us understand the
substance, though the symbol is not the substance. Take marriage.
Marriage is a symbol of the relationship between Jesus Christ and
his church. We die to go be with Jesus, not with our earthly
spouse. Marriage is until death do us part and Jesus clearly said
there is no marriage in the kingdom. Someone who thinks that
theyre going to spend eternity with their spouse is mistaking the
symbol for the substance.
That's fascinating, I say, taking a sip of tea. The
conversation didn't need a lift. I just happened to be reading the
book when Dr. Summers came into the lounge and found me.
Turns out he has a lot of thoughts on the topic.
So many religious people think of dying as joining their loved
ones, I say.
Dr. Summers nods.
People have a tendency to make their own heaven. For that
matter, they have a tendency to make their own Saviour. If you
travel through the Bible Belt in the United States, you'll find a
Jesus that doesn't drink alcohol. In other circles, you'll find a
Jesus who doesn't overeat. And yet, the Bible says that Jesus was
regarded by some as being both a drunkard and a glutton.
I didn't know that, I say. I really must get around to reading
Dad's Bible.
Dr. Summers is still wearing a white shirt, but today he has on
black pants and black sneakers. It's quirky and it works,
particularly in Israel where anything goes. He already told me he
liked my scarf.
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62
The Bible is full of symbols, particularly the Old Testament,
continues Dr. Summers. God rested from his work on the
seventh day of creation, just as we now rest from our works
through Jesus Christ. The clean and unclean meats given to the
Israelites symbolize the Gentiles who initially were unclean but
later became clean in Gods eyes. Also, the clean and unclean
meats help to illustrate that the ugly words that come out of our
mouth are as repugnant to God as eating pork would have been
to a Jew. Jesus said that its not what goes into a man that defiles
him, but what comes out of him. He was talking about eating
with unclean hands, but I think a general principle can be
extracted from the statement.
I nod. I'm familiar with Jewish ritual law. It's interesting that
Jesus applied it to other areas.
Food is certainly important to Jewish culture, I say, reaching
for a sandwich.
Dr. Summers laughs.
True, and Jesus capitalized on it. You're familiar with the
manna in the wilderness?
Of course, I say. It was the sort of thing that my Jewish
grandparents tried to instill in me. Every year at Seder, mom's
father would go out of his way to make sure I understood all the
experiences surrounding the Jewish exodus from Egypt and the
receiving of the law at Mount Sinai. That God fed the Jews bread
from heaven was part of that whole narrative.
Well, Jesus pointed out to the Jews that he was the true bread
from heaven, says Dr. Summers.
I didn't realize that.
He took it even further when he went onto say that it was
necessary for his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
Now my eyebrows go up and I put the sandwich I was about
to bite into back down on my plate.
His actual words were, the person who feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise that person
up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true
drink.
I'm assuming that's more symbolism? I say. Or maybe a bit
of hyperbole?
Dr. Summers laughs.
You're right. But a lot of the people of his day got the
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63
symbol and the substance mixed up and decided they didn't want
to follow him anymore.
After theology, the conversation turns to Haifa.
Dr. Summers has been here only a year. He came to Haifa
when things fell to pieces in Baghdad. Under Saddam, he was
able to pursue his studies of the mandate period in Iraq. As soon
as the Americans started getting involved in Iraq, it wasn't safe
for Westerners anymore.
There are a lot of bad things you could say about Saddam,
says Dr. Summers, pouring himself another cup of tea. But I
will say this, while he was there, the middle-class could survive,
even thrive. Now, people's lives have just collapsed. The
Christians are hiding in their homes, terrified. Extreme Islamic
factions seem determined to wipe them out now that they have
the chance.
Saddam wasn't religious, was he?
Dr. Summers shakes his head.
Power was his religion. Which meant that he kept all the
factions in line. The monarchy under the British had a similar
philosophy, although under the first king, it was far less brutal.
King Faisal tried to balance all the factions in his country - Shia,
Sunni, Christian, Jewish - under a banner of Arab nationalism. It
worked, briefly.
After our tea, Dr. Summers suggests we walk around the
gardens. The Bahai Gardens are the most famous, but there are
public gardens as well.
Dr. Summers pays for our tea and then we head out into the
sun. He knows the area and we amble past shops selling
yarmulkes and menorahs and Seder plates. Dr. Summers pauses
at a spot with a clear view and points across the bay to Akko, the
Crusader town.
The garden that was our destination is as green as everything
else, shaded by trees, with benches sporadically arranged amid the
foliage.
Do most Christians realize that the Bible is full of
symbolism? I ask, thinking of Zed's father.
Dr. Summers nods.
They would have to. Particularly in Revelation where there
are all sorts of beasts and strange creatures. I think we can all
agree that they represent governments, world powers, that sort of
Prophet
64
thing. He glances at me. Being Jewish, you would have an
advantage over many Christians, he says.
What do you mean? I ask.
We're walking along a path where other people are also out
strolling.
Well, one example would be the Jewish holy days. The Jewish
holy days are permeated with meaning. I believe they represent
the life of Jesus.
Really? I say. I'm ashamed to admit to him that the Jewish
holy days played only a marginal part in my life.
The first day in the Jewish year is the Feast of Trumpets,
says Dr. Summers. It was a day when trumpets were blown and
its interesting that trumpets are associated with the second
coming of Jesus. God gave no reason for the trumpets to be
blown. It was simply to be a commemoration, but a
commemoration of what? I believe at the time the festival was
given to Israel that it was celebrating a future event.
Wow, I say. He knows more about it than me.
The Day of Atonement, the next festival, is about judgment.
A goat was chosen to carry the weight of Israels sins and of
course, it was Jesus who carried that weight. It was the one day
of the year when the priest went into the Holy of Holies, with a
heavy curtain separating him from the rest of the people. But
through Jesus, that veil was literally torn in two at the time of his
death.
What do you mean, literally?
When Jesus died, the curtain in the holy of holies ripped
from top to bottom.
I didn't realize that.
Dr. Summers nods.
Now, the Feast of Tabernacles represents the physical body
that he came in. As you know, the Jews build a temporary shelter
to live in for the festival. And John wrote in his gospel that the
Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.
OK, I can see that. We pause in front of an exotic
arrangement of flowers purple lilies, pink foxglove, white rose-
of-sharon.
Then we come to the spring holy days, says Dr. Summers.
Jesus died at the Passover. For centuries, the Israelites had been
offering lambs for the Passover. Jesus was, of course, the lamb of
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65
God.
I've heard that somewhere. We continue walking.
He rose from the dead during the Days of Unleavened
Bread, continues Dr. Summers. I have to chuckle that Jesus
rose during a time when the Jews were eating bread that hadnt
risen.
I smile.
Finally, Pentecost. Jesus promised the Comforter would come
and it came on the day that celebrated the harvest of the first-
fruits, just as the people who received the Holy Spirit that day
were the first-fruits of Gods great harvest.
Dr. Summers pauses.
I believe in terms of chronology, Jesus was born at the
beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles, lived his life, and then was
crucified at Passover. There is a gap between the Feast of
Tabernacles in the autumn and the Passover in the spring. There
is a gap of 50 days between Jesus rising from the dead and the
church receiving the Holy Spirit. Then there is another gap, the
summer, until Trumpets, which I believe, represented Jesus
coming and establishing his kingdom on earth. Proportionally,
the time frame would fit better with a first-century return than a
two-thousand year, or more, wait for that return. Atonement
would then represent the judgment in Matthew 28 where Jesus
separates the sheep from the goats. Of course, a goat bore the
sins of the people in the original Day of Atonement, so it would
fit that the goats would be found lacking and the sheep
acceptable. Only Jesus was able to bear the weight of sin.
Dr. Summers stops talking and takes a deep breath.
Well, thats my take on things.
I am so going to have to get around to reading Dad's Bible.

Prophet
66


67
Chapter Eight
r. Summers has been too kind, sharing all his theological
ideas with me, a stranger who just showed up on his
door. But I feel completely unworthy. I wasn't prepared
for this level of discussion. I need some time to read Dad's Bible
and some of the books in the trunk.
When he drops me off in the lobby, some of this must leak
out, my hesitation, my feeling that I'm in a little bit over my head.
He asks me out for dinner sometime and I say I would be
poor company since I don't know the Bible as well as he does. I
don't want him to think the problem is him. It isn't. Definitely
not.
He smiles and says we can make it an exchange of
information. He will tell me more about theology and I can tell
him about the British mandate in Palestine. I'm able to sweeten
the deal by telling him I have a guidebook to Palestine from the
1930's and am planning to tour Haifa with it, like I did in
Jerusalem. I get the feeling he will be willing to accompany me on
my tour.
D
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68
Meanwhile, what do I do with Zed?
He's waiting in the hotel room when I get back.
I seem to have arrived at that point in his life where he's
rebelling against everything he grew up with.
He reports that he had an uneventful time looking over the
Bahai Gardens and the extensive grounds of their world
headquarters.
Now we head out to the pub across the road from the hotel.
Inside, it's a surprising oasis of Irish culture. We take a table and
both order pints of beer and fish-and-chips.
So what do you think of Israel so far? I ask him while we
sip our beer and wait for our food.
Haifa's nice, he says. I could stay here awhile. And
Jerusalems a beautiful city. He must be thirsty from all his
walking because he's quaffing down his pint. What is it exactly?
I mean, I know its old . . .
You can thank the British, I say. When they first took on
the mandate, they made a law that all buildings had to have the
white stone on the outside. They banned things like corrugated
iron.
I have a feeling you could tell me a lot more about that
subject, says Zed, still working on getting to the bottom of his
pint.
A waiter arrives at our table with two plates of food and Zed
orders another beer. This drinking thing must be a new adventure
for him.
No matter that the fish was probably caught in the
Mediterranean, it's seasoned and battered like any pub in the U.K.
I wonder if Dr. Summers has been here or if he eschews these
imitations of home.
Just because Daddy does some teaching that I don't agree
with doesn't mean I want to give up my faith.
This disjointed statement must be the beer.
Well, I admire your commitment, I say, squeezing some
lemon juice onto my fish.
A horrible thought occurs to me. I can't share a room with
this guy! He's on his way to being drunk and Im pretty sure hes
interested in me. I'd be nave to think he's going to let me sleep in
peace.
Zed devours his food with the same intensity that he showed
Chapter Eight
69
his first pint. He takes his second pint a little slower.
I'll have to get a second room, I decide. In fact, from now on,
that's what I'm going to do.
After the food, we order coffee. I think it will help Zed sober
up a bit. But the waiter must have misunderstood me because
when the coffee arrives, it's not the black American-style
beverage; it's an Irish coffee complete with whiskey, sugar and
thick cream on top.
The coffee part of it gives me a lift, but the whiskey part of it
has the opposite effect on Zed. He's not used to drinking and
two pints combined with a generous shot of whiskey is making
him sleepy.
Once again, I'm picking up the tab here.
By the time we're back in the room, he's practically snoozing.
He passes out in his bed, barely taking the time to remove his
shoes.
I sigh as I look at him. He's a cute guy. But he's a kid.
And right now, the kid poses no threat to me. In fact, I predict
he'll have a headache in the morning.

We're in the Rozmarine Restaurant of the hotel, with a seat by
the window and a view of the bay. I'm glad Zed has gotten over
his paranoia.
Zed, we have to talk, I say.
He groans. He's not hung-over but is definitely suffering some
side-effects from last night.
Isn't it immoral for a Christian to be sharing a room with
someone like this? I ask. I've decided to appeal to his
conscience.
He exhales.
Yeah, I guess it is.
I mean, I know nothing's going on . . .
Yeah, I know. But Daddy's always quoting that scripture,
avoid the appearance of evil.
I didn't know about that one. If I had, I would have used it
sooner.
You can have this room, I say. In my name, if you like. But
I'm getting my own room.
But what about the books? he says. I really want to read
your books.
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70
Zed, you can get those books on Amazon. And it would be a
lot cheaper than hanging out in Haifa with me.
I'm not sure if he likes that suggestion, but he's going to have
to accept that I'm not here to facilitate his theological journey. I
have my own issues to deal with. I'm eager to eat, get back to the
room to my vintage guidebook and plan out a route for me and
the doctor to take.
Haifa is a blend of old and new and I want to take us past all
the places that were built at the time of the British. Of course,
many things were already standing when the British arrived.
The history of Haifa goes back to the days of the
Phoenicians. There are Greek remains, as well as Roman ruins.
As Dr. Summers pointed out, the Crusaders considered Haifa
important, although when Saladin drove them out, the city was
destroyed. It was rebuilt and later on, Napoleon captured it. But
Napoleon's foray into the Middle East was unsuccessful and
Haifa was taken over by the Egyptians. The German Templars
were the first European settlers, followed quickly by Zionists and
the Bahai. They were in the minority though. The city was mostly
Arab.
From 1516 onward, the Ottoman Empire theoretically ruled
Haifa and all Palestine. In October 1918, the Turks were driven
north by the British, never to return.
If I can't dazzle Dr. Summers with my theological knowledge,
I want to at least be able to talk intelligently about Haifa.
Zed surprises me when we get back to the room. He says that
I'm right, and that he won't be staying here.
He doesn't elaborate. He just starts tossing things into his
knapsack.
Uh, Zed . . . He is zipping the knapsack.
Yeah? He turns to me. With a quick gesture, the knapsack is
on his back.
What should I say? Keep in touch? It seems unlikely.
All the best, OK?
He nods.
And then he's out the door.
I just stare at the closed door.
But then I sigh and sit down with my vintage guidebook. I
skim the index for the entry about Haifa and then carefully turn
the pages.
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Rail travel was common during the mandate. Haifa was the
terminus of the main line of the Palestine Railways to Egypt, as
well as to the Trans-Jordan. A train ride would be romantic but
those days of travel are over.
A lot of new roads were created during the days of the
British, but I suspect the names have changed since then. The
British liked to name streets for things important to them, like
their king.
The guidebook tells me that residential Haifa is starting to
spread up the slopes of Mount Carmel. It's funny when you look
now and see the whole mountain covered.
I decide that I'd like to start with a look at the Turkish castle,
el-Borj, where the British set up their government and municipal
buildings. From there, I trace a tentative path.
That decided, I pick up the room phone to call Dr. Summers.
He says el-Borj sounds like a good place to start our tour and
that he'll be right over.
That gives me enough time to fluff up my hair a bit and take
one last look through my vintage guidebook before putting it in
my purse. I go down to the lobby and sit in one of the chairs by
the pine trees. The trees are wrapped in lights which makes them
a dramatic sight when they switch them on at night.
Dr. Summers comes through the glass doors and I get up to
join him. We awkwardly grin at each other. I almost want to grab
his arms and kiss him on both cheek, but he's English, not
Mediterranean.
The roads are busy and Dr. Summers asks me if I want to take
a taxi or just walk. I say, walk. I want to take it all in, and the truth
is, a long walk will prolong the time together.
Do you know anything about el-Borj? I ask him.
Only that el-Borj means 'the tower' in Arabic, he says. I
picked up a lot of Arabic when I was living in Iraq.
By the time we make it down Mount Carmel and into Haifa
proper, we've established that I should call him Dan, that he grew
up in a Bible-believing family but gave up his faith during his
university days only to regain it again when his fiance died when
he was 30. He laments that so many people need a tragedy to
bring them back to God.
I think about Dad dying. But before I have time to go any
further with this thought, Dan is grabbing my arm.
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72
Look! he says, pointing to a newsstand. There are about
seven different newspapers featured, six of them in Hebrew and
one in Arabic. One paper, in particular, is startling. On the front
page is a photo of Zed. It's a portrait shot, the type of thing you
see in a yearbook.
We hurry over to the newsstand.
What does it say? I ask Dan.
I don't know, he says. My Hebrew isn't as good as my
Arabic.
The older man behind the stand is helpful.
Says, son of . . . His accent is heavy and the next word has
stumped him.
Preacher? I ask.
He nods.
Missing, he concludes.
Dan and I look at one another.
Isn't the young man with you? Dan asks.
I shake my head as we purchase the newspaper. El-Borj is
temporarily forgotten and we go into a small Arabic coffeehouse
to discuss this new development.
He left this morning, I say.
Over coffee, I tell him the whole story about meeting Zed at
the Western Wall. Dan actually finds the whole thing amusing,
including how Barrington Crane was frustrated that he couldn't
heal his son.
It sounds like you got more than you bargained for, he says
when Im done.
I nod.
I was relieved to see him go, in a way. But in another way, I
was kind of worried about him, if you know what I mean?
Dan nods.
With his background, he says, he's bound to be an unusual
young man. But what I can't understand is, why is it being
reported that he's missing? You say that he left a note for his
father?
That's what he said.
I think, perhaps, that we should tell the police what we
know, says Dan.
I agree, I say.
Dan pays for the coffee and out on the street we have to ask a
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73
Jewish passerby if he knows where the nearest police station is.
He looks at us nervously and says he has no idea.
I doubt my vintage guidebook will be of much use at the
moment, I say.
Dan agrees.
Finally, we just ask a policewoman writing a ticket for a car
that's double-parked. In between arguing in Hebrew with the
irate car owner who has just come out of a store, she manages to
tell us it's a street over, at the intersection.
Dan takes charge and I really appreciate that. When we go into
the station, he tells the man at the front desk that we'd like to
report that we know the young American man who is missing.
He shows him the newspaper. The man nods and soon we're in
our own private room with an inspector.
Again, I tell my story.
The inspector is a middle-aged man with a gruff manner. The
fact that my story is slightly kooky doesn't seem to concern him.
Maybe it's not as funny when you translate it into Hebrew. The
germane part for him is that Zed was last seen leaving the
Crowne Plaza Hotel at around 9:45 a.m.
Any idea where he was heading?
I shake my head.
He didn't say.
Any plans to meet him again?
No.
The inspector gets my name and my cell-phone number and
the assurance that I'll be in Israel for at least another week. He
also takes down Dan Summers' cell-phone number..
I'm sorry I dragged you into this, I say, when we're back out
in the street.
Not at all, he says, taking my arm and turning me around.
Apparently I was going in the wrong direction. This livens up
my life a bit. That's never a bad thing.
Our tour ends up being quite extensive. Not only do we visit
el-Borj, we also do the Acre prison, famous for the Irgun
breakout in 1947, shortly before the British gave up the mandate.
The Acre prison held the Jewish terrorists that attacked the
British, as well as the Arab criminals of the day.
That reminds Dan that on another day we'll have to visit the
Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, something he's
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74
been meaning to do ever since moving here. It has all sorts of
mementos from the days when the Jews had to defy the British
blockade around Palestine. The blockade came as a result of the
Arabs getting miffed that Palestine was filling up with Jews. Since
Britain was facing a war with Hitler, she had to appease the Arabs
to protect her oil supply, particularly for the navy. Unfortunately,
this coincided with the outbreak of persecution against the Jews
in Europe. Needless to say, there are a lot of stories about this
period in history.
But for now, we're tired and hungry. We take a taxi back to the
Crowne Plaza and agree that the lobby lounge, with the palm
trees now lit, is the perfect place for a drink and a meal. While we
wait for the drink, Dan reads through my mandate-era
guidebook. He carefully puts it aside when the drinks and food
arrive.
The cocktail seems to make Dan more talkative. His passion is
theology. The conversation meanders. By the second cocktail, it's
really getting interesting.
Christians just take Western culture and Christianize it, says
Dan, reaching for an onion ring. Our meal is an eclectic mix of
finger foods. Much like they did with the pagan culture. You
know, like, Christmas which was a pagan holiday with Christs
birth slapped onto it. Personally, I say lets just be people of the
Book and have a pure Christian culture and see what happens.
Sounds reasonable, I say. Why don't Christians do it?
Because they'd rather be balanced. Balanced between their
faith and the world around them. But balance . . . Dan shakes
his head. I say, lets be imbalanced and follow our faith to its
inevitable outcome.
I laugh.
Isnt that kind of dangerous?
He smiles.
Well, the way I see it, the call for balance is usually really a call
to hold on to the flesh, to not have to give up everything.
Essentially, its trying to pick the good off of the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil. But were supposed to be eating
off of the Tree of Life, fixing our eyes on things above.
The Garden of Eden. OK, I know that one.
If were supposed to be fixing our eyes on things above, how
does the laundry get done? I ask, grinning.
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Dan has an answer.
The Bible says whatever you do, do it as if you were doing it
for the Master, that is, Jesus. Nothing should be done for human
recognition.
OK, I say. I can see that.
I wonder what my dad would think of Dan Summers. I think
he would like him.
But what about something like art? I ask. I mean,
obviously people express themselves in the hope that it will be
recognized by other people.
Dan actually snorts.
Art is one of the more obvious examples of what Im saying.
I think a lot of artistic struggle is mans struggle to experience
God, or at least, something beyond himself. But any artist who
dedicates himself to human recognition will fall short in his
ability to touch people. Art is one of the places where fixing our
eyes on things above can create something beautiful.
I've never heard anything like this, but it sounds intriguing.
You see, Jenna, says Dan, dipping some pita into hummus.
According to the Christian faith, one must die to oneself and
one's own desires. To live, you must lose your life. Die to yourself
so that Christ will live in you.
I think my dad might have been onto something like that
before he died, I say.
With Dan, I feel somehow connected to Dad.
When our meal is done and we're standing in the lobby by the
elevators, Dan says goodnight and that he'll give me a call
tomorrow, if that's OK.
Of course, I say as the elevator doors open and giving him
my brightest smile and a small wave as they close.
What a day! I lean back against the elevator wall.
I don't know what to make of it all. Do I need to make
anything of it? The elevator doors open on my floor and I step
out.
There's a man pacing the hallway.
Who paces the hallway of a hotel? Everyone should be in their
room. Pace in your own room, if you have to, I think.
Nervously, I realize the man seems to be centered on my door.
He walks ten steps one way and then turns back and walks ten
steps the other way. My door is about step five.
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76
I'm about to turn back in to the elevator and go down to the
front desk to report a lunatic in the hotel, when the man looks up
and right at me.
I don't know if he knows who I am, but in that moment, I
recognize him.
Barrington Crane!

77
Chapter Nine
here's my son? he demands.
I'm startled.
Your son?
You're that little harlot my son took up with, aren't you? he
says, coming menacingly closer.
I want to step back into the elevator but it's already gone. I
press the button. I also get out my room key, prepared to go in
either direction.
Should I go for reasonable or should I act as if I have no idea
what he's talking about?
Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about! he
says, reading my mind, now only six feet away from me. Did I
mention he's a stocky man, more than capable of brute force?
I frantically hit the elevator button again. I look down at the
key in my hand. I've heard somewhere that a good self-defensive
measure is to ram your keys in your attacker's eye.
Mercifully, the elevator door behind me opens. But Barrington
Crane could just as easily join me in it and I don't like the thought
W
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78
of being alone in an elevator with this man.
I step back into the elevator without looking . . . and find
myself in someone's arms.
Dan! My legs almost fail me. I'm so relieved.
Jenna! He looks at me and then he looks at Barrington.
Who's this? he asks.
Barrington Crane, I say weakly. He's looking for his son.
Dan gently pulls me out of the elevator and then turns to face
Barrington.
We don't know where your son is, Mr. Crane, he says. He
left the hotel this morning, on his own.
Barrington Crane stares at me, as if he doesn't quite believe it,
but doesn't know what to do next.
It's true, I add.
I have come all the way to Haifa and I will not leave without
that boy, he says. Why was he with you?
His tone is just as menacing, but he's no longer in control. He
needs information.
My impression was that Zed wanted to experience the Holy
Land, I say, carefully.
But he took off with you! says Barrington, making me feel
like I'm some sort of a man-trap.
That was just a coincidence, I say. We met in Jerusalem and
talked a bit of theology. I'm on a bit of a theological journey,
myself, so I could relate . . .
Zed is not on a theological journey, Barrington interrupts
me.
I'm starting to seriously feel sorry for Zed.
The essential point is that neither of us knows where Zed is
now, says Dan firmly. Still holding my arm, he takes the room
key from my hand and we step around the fuming Barrington
Crane. Dan unlocks the door and we are in my room, door
locked and dead-bolted.
Whew! I say, collapsing onto my bed.
Dan looks drained too and takes a seat at the table.
How did you know to come up here? I ask.
I didn't, he says. He holds something out to me that I hadn't
noticed. My vintage guidebook. We left this in the lounge. The
waiter stopped me as I was leaving and I wanted to bring it up to
you right away.
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79
Well, I say, still recovering. If I needed proof that there's a
God in heaven looking out for me, that was it.
Dan looks around my room.
I hate to be forward, but this might not be the safest place
for you.
I nod.
I'll have to switch hotels.
If you want . . . Dan sounds hesitant. You could stay at my
place. It has three bedrooms and I have an Arab lady come in
everyday to do the cooking and the housework. It's a very
respectable household.
I laugh.
Thanks Dan. Yes, I think I'd feel safer at your place. I don't
know how Barrington figured out I was here.
It would be unethical for the police to have told him, Dan
says. But who knows how many friends he has in this country?
If he's like the rest of them, he's probably a very vocal supporter
of Israel.
I quickly pack my small bag and Dan gallantly carries the
trunk. Cautiously, Dan goes first. But the hallway is empty. I still
have to check-out and if Barrington, or someone in his employ, is
in the lobby, then he'll notice me exit the hotel with Dan.
But Dan is prepared.
Eyes sparkling, he suggests we take a taxi rather than walk. I
see what he's getting at. The taxi is instructed to take us on a
leisurely tour of Haifa. It gives us plenty of opportunity to
determine that we are not being followed. It is close to midnight
by the time we are let off in front of Dan's house.
He shows me to my small bedroom and asks if I need
anything. I shake my head.
Thanks, Dan, I say. I'm fine.
He gives me a quick smile and says that Kareema usually has
his breakfast ready for him at about eight. He'll leave a note that
there will be a guest tomorrow.
She usually just picks up some fresh bread and serves it with
cucumbers and tomatoes, he says. And coffee, of course.
That sounds perfect, I say.
And then he's gone, to his room or some other part of the
house. I sit down on the narrow bed. Who would have thought a
crazy preacher's kid could have gotten all this rolling?
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80

Kareema is bursting with goodwill toward me.
I read a bit between the lines and gather that she thinks Dr.
Summers is too old to be single and that my presence in his
house is the answer to that particular problem. She and Dan
speak Arabic to one another and she looks my way and smiles a
lot.
After laying out the breakfast, she disappears to do some
cleaning somewhere.
Dan and I agree that we'll visit the Clandestine Immigration
Museum.
The bonus to visiting the museum is that Elijah's Cave is
across from it, says Dan.
I love how modern and ancient history mix in this place, I
say.
Of course, the cave hardly resembles the one Elijah lived in,
Dan says. They've built a chapel in there, ornate walls and
ceiling. You can't even tell it's a cave once you're inside.
Maybe we can give that a miss, then, I say.
Dan agrees as he finishes his coffee.
I can't help being slightly paranoid when we exit from the
house. But all the people on the street look harmless, as if they
have places to go and aren't interested in me or Dan. No
suspicious men lurking on the other side of the street, hired by
Barrington Crane to follow us.
But we're still startled to see Barrington Crane . . . on the front
page of The Jerusalem Post. A small store has all the newspapers on
display. We go inside and buy the English-language newspaper.
Despite it coming from Jerusalem, it's today's edition.
At least we can both understand it. We sit down on a white
stone bench and read the article.
Barrington Crane, long-time friend of Israel, on a tour here
with loyal supporters, is frantic with worry about the
disappearance of his son. Although foul play is not suspected at
this point, all police in Israel are on the look-out for Zed Crane.
Soldiers in the occupied territories are also on alert.
That's awful, says Dan, shaking his head. There's that hint
that the Arabs might have something to do with it, and of
course, we know Zed went off voluntarily.
Well, that's just it, I say, turning to Dan. He went off
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81
voluntarily. Why does this article make it sound like there's a
problem? The guy's an adult. He can do what he wants.
I think the problem might be Barrington, says Dan,
thoughtfully. He's taking this badly and rather than admit that
his son might need a little space to sort out his own faith, he's
acting like some evil outside influence has affected him.
Good point, I say, thinking back to Barrington's behavior in
the hallway last night.
Below Barrington's photo, there's a smaller one of Zed and a
request that anyone who sees him call a toll-free number.
Poor kid, I say, as we stand up and start walking again. It's
like he's a wanted criminal.
For two historians, the Clandestine Immigration and Naval
Museum is absorbing. The bright, modern museum is full of
exhibits about the Zionist struggle to bring in more Jews while
the British did their darndest to keep the number of immigrants
down to make the Arabs happy. The British weren't making
anyone happy though. So many Jews were already in the country
that the Arabs thought any figure set for immigration was too
high. And whatever number the British set was always drastically
too low for the Jews suffering under Hitler's anti-Semitism.
One part of the wing is dedicated to the history of the Israeli
navy, which really started at this time before Israel was even a
nation. One of the immigration ships has even been restored in
its entirety and we tour its decks. Among the exhibits on the ship
are displays about what life was like in the detention camps for
those who were caught.
By the time we're done looking, I've almost forgotten about
Zed and Barrington and Israel's search for the missing preacher's
son. That's why I almost drop my father's guidebook when I hear
a voice say, Jenna!
We just exited the museum and I'm noting that Dan is right
about Elijah's cave and how it's a tourist trap more than a holy
shrine.
But Zed is coming down the stairs that led up to the cave
entrance.
Zed! Without thinking about it, I grab Dan's arm. He pats
my hand comfortingly.
I stay where I am and let Zed cross the road to us. If
Barrington is anywhere watching, I don't want him to think I
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82
have any desire to get close to his son.
Dan doesn't bother with a greeting.
All of Israel is looking for you, he says.
Really? says Zed, looking surprised.
I nod, still holding on to Dan's arm.
Your dad visited me in the hallway of the hotel last night, I
say. He was pretty miffed.
Zed looks serious.
Your photo is on the cover of The Jerusalem Post, says Dan.
With a caption that says that anyone who spots you should call
the authorities.
The look on Zed's face tells me he wasn't faking surprise. This
is all news to him. Then he looks around, as if nervous that
someone might suddenly recognize him.
Are you going to call the number? he asks.
I look up at Dan.
No, he says, looking down at me and then at Zed. We
won't. But you should probably get things sorted out with your
father.
Zed doesn't say anything.
I kind of suspect that lying would go against his conscience
and by not saying anything, he's not promising anything.
There's an awkward silence.
Dan sighs.
We're going to lunch, he says. Do you want to join us?
Sure, says Zed, momentarily losing the somber expression.
We find a small falafel shop nearby. The place is packed with
Israelis, always a good sign that the food is going to be good. We
get three falafel sandwiches at the counter and find a small table
for two at the back of the restaurant. We have to borrow a chair
from a nearby table filled with Israeli soldiers.
Oops, says Dan to me, in a low voice. I don't think we
should have drawn attention to ourselves like that.
He's right. One of the soldiers is looking at us, or rather,
looking at Zed. I forgot that the army is on the lookout for him.
Zed has noticed the attention. He's like a deer caught in
headlights. Then he recovers and makes a decision. Abandoning
his falafel, he pushes his way through the crowded restaurant and
is out the door.
If the soldier had any doubts, he doesn't now. He and a
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83
comrade are in pursuit of Zed. The third one stays behind to
question us.
He switches to English when we tell him we don't understand
Hebrew.
Who was that man? he demands.
I open my mouth but it is Dan who answers.
He shrugs and bites into his falafel.
I dunno. Just some guy who wanted to share our table.
The soldier looks around. It's a reasonable explanation. There
isn't a chair to spare in this place. He shrugs and exits the
restaurant to catch up with the others.
Dan gives me a reassuring smile.
Don't want Barrington showing up on our doorstep, he says.
I know what he means. If it gets out that we connected with
Zed again, he'll think we're staying in touch with him.
I follow Dan's example and nonchalantly eat my falafel. When
Dan is finished his, he starts on Zed's. For a slim man, he can eat.
Then we stroll outside.
Zed and the soldiers are long gone.
Hope he got away, I say.
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85

Prophet
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87
Chapter Ten
e was pretty sure he had shaken off the soldiers.
Zed looked around. Of course, now he was
completely lost. Not that it mattered. He had no
particular place to go.
Jenna seemed stuck on the old guy, so hanging out with her
had lost its appeal. But it didn't diminish his desire to find out
more about prophecy. Those books in her trunk went against
everything his father taught. His dad was a multimillionaire
because of all the CDs and DVDs he cranked out on the topic
of the imminent coming of Christ. Was it possible his dad was
wrong?
Jenna had said that he could just order the books from
Amazon. A little hard considering he was on the run.
Apparently, his father was in Haifa. That wasn't surprising. His
dad had so many friends in the Israeli government. He was
always making generous donations to Israel a new museum
wing, restoration of some Biblical site, a research centre to study
the flora and fauna of the Holy Land.
H
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Of course, it was really his dad's supporters who funded these
projects. They were always highly-publicized and in addition to
their tithes, his dad's followers would earmark donations for the
various projects.
Well, if his father was in Haifa, he'd go back to Jerusalem. He
hated freeloading off of Jenna, but most of the cash he'd taken
from his father's wallet before leaving was still in his knapsack.
He didn't want to run out of money until it was time to meet his
dad's tour group at the airport.
He couldn't exactly ask anyone official-looking how to get to
the bus station. So he asked some old lady, who mercifully spoke
enough English to be able to tell him that he was only two blocks
away from the bus depot.
The bus depot was crowded enough to make him feel
anonymous. There were soldiers milling around but no one was
watching him as he purchased his one-way ticket back to
Jerusalem. In this country, the buses from city to city ran
frequently and he only had thirty minutes to wait until he could
board the next one to Jerusalem.
Maybe coming to Haifa had been a mistake. It hadn't really
accomplished anything.
The bus pulled out of the station and into the busy streets.
Zed surveyed the scene, almost expecting to see his father. Of
course, his father wouldn't just be out wandering in the streets.
Zed wondered what he had done with his tour group while he
had been in the hallway of Jenna's hotel. As far as he could
remember, Haifa wasn't actually on their travel itinerary. Nearby
Megiddo, yes.
Back in Texas, his father had instructed all his Bible students
to pray for half an hour a day and to study their Bibles through
his study program half an hour a day. (In addition to their other
academic assignments, of course.) Since taking off, Zed had done
neither.
But now he prayed.
Usually his prayers had been strained, long lists of people in
his dad's ministry in order to fill up the thirty minutes. In fact,
praying for all the people on the ministry team was something his
dad recommended.
But today it was more of an incoherent prayer part words,
part feelings. He had no books to read. He had no one talk to.
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89
But he wanted the truth.
After the prayer, he realized how hungry he was. He had left
that falafel sandwich back on the table. Even if he had had the
presence of mind to grab it, it wouldn't have survived a high-
speed chase through the streets of Haifa.
Back in Texas, a bus ride from one city to another could be an
all day (and night) trip. Here in Israel, Zed was back in Jerusalem
in two hours. Checking back in to the King David was out of the
question. His Dad's whole tour group could still be there for all
he knew.
Rejoining them before having some answers was unthinkable.
His brief contact with Jenna (and the books in her trunk) had
shaken the foundation of his life. His dad's whole ministry
centered on a soon-coming return of Christ. With no sense of
irony, his dad had always told him the ministry would be his
someday.
Since ordering books from Amazon wasn't an option, he
decided the first thing to do would be to find a bookstore,
preferably one that stocked English volumes. He stopped a
passing man in the bus station who looked like a student and
asked him if he could direct him to a bookstore. The man told
him there were several in the city centre before hurrying on. Zed
sighed. He wished he had Jenna's guidebook. He decided to set
out on foot and hope for the best.
The first stop was a falafel stand. He carried the sandwich
away and ate as he walked.
He was currently in new Jerusalem. He smiled at the
expression. If you said 'new Jerusalem' in his dad's church, you
would be talking about the heavenly city that would someday
come down to earth. Here, it just referred to the part of the city
that had been built up outside of the old walls.
The streets were crowded with pedestrians and cars. The white
stone buildings combined with the Hebrew signs and the exotic
mix of people stirred something in him. It was unlike America in
every way and yet his daddy had somehow built a bridge with this
country, connecting it with their mega-church in Texas, joining
the future prosperity of America with her willingness to support
Israel. Zed doubted that anyone on these busy streets had heard
of Barrington Crane.
He turned off the main road down a pedestrian-only street.
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90
The street was lined with outdoor cafs, souvenirs shops, falafel
restaurants, orange juice stands, jewelry and hand-crafted art
shops . . . and a bookstore.
A small bell tinkled as he entered but the young man at the
cash, wearing a kippah and reading a book, didn't look up.
Zed strolled down the aisles. It was a mix of new books and
old. Thankfully, there was English on a lot of the spines. He
found a large religious section and began to browse. Not
surprisingly, they were mostly volumes on Judaism. A smaller
collection of books about Islam. But there was one shelf for
Christian books. Mostly, they were old and general. A.W. Tozer, a
few by C.S. Lewis, a guide to following in the footsteps of Christ
in the Holy Land. He was ready to give up when he noticed a
cardboard box by the side of the shelf, shoved back against the
wall.
He bent down and read some of the titles. His heart lifted.
The whole box seemed to be devoted to prophecy! There
were older volumes, similar to the kind his father wrote, but
notable for the fact that the predictions of the return of Christ
had failed. He read the back covers of some of them. One
volume assured its readers that mankind would not live to see the
twenty-first-century. Another volume predicted that the year
2,000 marked 6,000 years since Creation and therefore, a
millennial reign of Christ would begin that year. It was based on
the seven-day week where God created in six days and rested on
the seventh.
But there were other works in the box. Ones more along the
line of the books Jenna's father had collected. An alternative
interpretation of Revelation. A historical overview of the church,
suggesting that everything Jesus predicted had taken place in his
lifetime or the lifetime of his speakers. He stood up with the
whole box and took it to the counter.
The man looked up from his reading and glanced at the
contents of the box. He shrugged, obviously not impressed with
its subject matter.
Twenty shekels, he said.
The equivalent of about six dollars.
Are you with the convention? he asked, as he took the
money.
What convention? Zed asked.
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The prophecy one, said the man, now closing the cash
register. Preterists, I think they call themselves.
Zed's eyes widened.
There's a preterist convention?
The man nodded.
Christians, he added.
Here in Jerusalem?
The man nodded again.
Where is it? Zed felt his heart now soar. It was like an
answer to prayer.
Over at the Ramada. Ruppin Bridge at Herzl Boulevard. I
wouldn't know about it except that my brother is a busboy in the
restaurant. The man seemed eager to disassociate himself from
the knowledge of such goings-on.
In fact, he returned all his attention to his book.
Back out on the street, Zed debated catching a taxi. But if he
wanted to afford a few nights at the Ramada, not to mention buy
the occasional meal, conserving his money was essential. So he
headed back out to a main road, now carrying his box.
Again, a guidebook would have been handy.
He stopped a few passersby to ask how to get to the Ramada.
One man thought it was somewhere near the Bloomfield Science
Museum. Another lady observed the books in his box, sized him
up for a Christian, sniffed and said it was close to the Bible Lands
Museum. A more neutral-minded man gave him directions to the
hotel in relation to the International Convention centre. That was
helpful and after a hot and tiring walk, he arrived in the lobby of
the Ramada Hotel.
When he checked-in, he told the lady at the counter he was
with the prophecy convention. She looked a little surprised that a
dusty, young man with a paper box would be an attendee for such
an event, but she didn't question it and merely handed him a
room key.
Er, where is the convention? he asked.
He was informed that although the hotel had ten meeting
rooms, one that even accommodated up to 1700 people, the
prophecy convention was being held in the smallest room.
He decided to wash up in his room before checking it out. It
was already close to dinner time and he figured they were
probably wrapping things up anyhow. Of course, he wasn't really
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an invited member of the conference so he had no idea how he
would gain admission to the talks themselves. There was the
added inconvenience that all of Israel was apparently on the
lookout for him.
As he splashed cold water on his face and ran fingers through
disheveled hair, an idea occurred to him. It was so simple and so
obvious. But it was also risky. Hugely risky. He exited the
bathroom and went over to the box, now on the bed.
The solution was in the box.
But there was a lot he had to do first.

93
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he falafel sandwich on the go ended up being his dinner.
There was a coffee-maker on the dresser. He made a pot
and started going through the books.
He had never preached a sermon in his life, but God knew,
he'd heard enough of them. No matter what anyone said about
Barrington Crane, they wouldn't deny that he could hold the
attention of an audience.
Zed didn't have time to go through every book. For that
matter, he didn't have time to go through everything in even one
book. But he was a student and had acquired the ability to skim
and select the important points.
It was about three o'clock in the morning when he rubbed his
tired eyes. The stimulating effect of the pot of coffee had worn
off at about two, or so, and he knew he would be in no condition
to face anyone if he didn't get some sleep.
Without getting out of his clothes, he fell into his bed and
slept for just over six hours.
It was startling to wake up in a strange room. For a moment,
T
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he could recall nothing. And then he remembered what he was
going to do today. He stumbled out of the bed and hurriedly dug
around in his knapsack for an outfit that would be halfway
presentable. Hopefully, the first meeting wouldn't start until 10.
It took only a few minutes to get ready.
And then he was out the door, with just the notepad that
contained all his research from the night before. Hopefully the
scrawlings would be legible.
Several of the larger meeting rooms were bustling with people.
Tables with coffee, tea and danish were set up at the back of
them. That boded well for the meeting that he was hurrying to.
He was famished.
At the end of the hallway was the smallest room. To his great
relief, the attendees were still milling around, not already sitting
and listening to anyone. With as much assurance as he could
manage, he walked in and went straight to the table set up with
the complimentary breakfast. A few of the people glanced at him
as he passed by. They were mostly older, although there were a
couple of men who looked in their late twenties. A few women
were mixed in. In all, there weren't more than twenty people.
As he was on his second danish, a grey-haired man looking far
more respectable than Zed came over to talk.
I haven't seen you here, he said, grasping his hand.
Zed swallowed the mouthful of danish as he shook his head
and the man's hand at the same time.
This is my first day here, he said.
Did you have a chance to register? The man was probing,
not wanting to be rude.
Again, Zed shook his head.
It was now or never. He would have to go through with his
plan or slink out of the room . . . and back to his daddy's tour
group.
My name is Zed Crane, he said, trying to sound
authoritative. At the same time, he raised his voice to project it
throughout the small room. My father is Barrington Crane.
Now he had their attention.
These people were scholars. They would never admit to
reading a book like the ones written by Barrington Crane, who
wrote not for academia, but for his television viewers. But still, it
was unlikely that anyone in this particular room hadn't at least
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heard of him.
I came here today because I'm looking for answers.
Instinctively, he moved to the centre of the room to address
them all. He was no longer just talking to the one man. My
father believes he has the answers.
Some people were exchanging glances.
In the last few days, he continued. I've come to doubt
everything . . . He paused for effect. Everything I've ever been
taught.
That stirred up the crowd a bit.
I've come here not only to share that journey with you, but to
learn from you.
One of the men stepped forward.
I read in The Jerusalem Post that you went missing, or
something . . . ?
Zed nodded.
I don't know why my dad did that. I left him a note and told
him I'd meet him at the Ben Gurion airport on the day of our
departure.
So you're saying your dad put out a report that you're missing
when he knew full well you went off voluntarily?
Zed nodded.
The possibility that his dad may not have gotten the note was
ruled out by the fact that he had confronted Jenna in the hallway.
If he hadn't found the note, it would have been the police
confronting her.
This gave them something to talk about. He could tell that
they were a bit edgy at harboring a missing person, but they
couldn't deny him a chance to continue on his theological
journey.
There was a spontaneous meeting among the scholars.
The grey-haired man smiled reassuringly at him before joining
the circle. Clearly, some people didn't like this idea, this kid
showing up unexpectedly and throwing everyone off. But another
voice, a clear voice, spoke up, But isn't this why we have these
conferences? To share ideas? To open our mind to other
possibilities . . . ?
There was some nodding.
In any case, after about five minutes it was decided that Zed
could be accommodated. Somehow. He would not be officially
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registered. He would simply be welcomed as a guest. And just as
he had hoped, they permitted him to give a small talk. If he
started now, they might still be able to carry on with their regular
schedule.
He took his place at the podium of the front room. His father
spoke to thousands of people every week, not to mention the
potential millions who watched at home on their televisions. This
was only twenty people and yet, his heart was pounding.
The first part of his message was easy. It was personal and
from the heart.
He had grown up believing Christ could return any day. He
had both anticipated and feared the Rapture. His father warned
his followers that some would be left behind to face a world
tribulation. The reason for them being left behind was that they
weren't prepared. The parable of the ten virgins was invoked.
Ten virgins had been sent out to meet the bridegroom. Jesus had
told the story in relation to his future coming, or so his father
said. Five were wise and brought extra oil for their lamps. Five
were foolish and only brought their lamps. The bridegroom took
his time coming and the oil ran low. At midnight, the cry went
out that the bridegroom was on his way. All the virgins trimmed
their lamps, except that the ones who didn't have extra oil had to
ask the ones who did, if they could spare some. The wise virgins
who had thought ahead told them to go buy themselves some
more. But while they were doing that, the bridegroom arrived
and the wise virgins joined the wedding party while the foolish
ones returned to find themselves locked out.
Zed had always been unclear about the meaning of the oil,
although his father had equated it with the Holy Spirit. Zed was
never sure about how you could run out of the Holy Spirit and
the whole story left him unsettled.
Some of the people in the audience smiled.
But since coming here, said Zed. I've been exposed to
some different ideas. It wasn't my plan. I was actually hitting on a
girl.
Some eyebrows went up.
I don't know why, really. I mean, she wasn't a Christian, but
there was just something I liked about her. In any case, I think
God had a different plan for me. She was on her own spiritual
journey and had a trunk of books. I had a chance to go through
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some of them before we went our separate ways.
The small audience was giving him their full attention.
Basically, these books were a different interpretation of the
return of Christ. They suggested that he actually returned in the
first-century.
Many of the people in the audience started nodding.
I never knew such an idea existed, said Zed. I mean, I
didn't even know there were alternatives to what my dad taught.
Now I do.
As he scanned the people in the room, he was gratified to see
he was among friends. They wouldn't have welcomed Barrington
Crane and that's why some of them had been wary. But now they
could see where he was going and they were on his side.
I'd like to share just a small bit of what I've learned and then
I hope in the next few days, you'll share with me what you've
learned in your years of studying.
More nodding.
I'll start with Peter's Pentecost sermon, said Zed. I don't
know why I didn't see this before. In that famous sermon, he
identified the days that he was living in as the last days.
The audience agreed with him.
When I got that under my belt, I could read his second letter
in a different context. Second Peter 3:3, for example. He talks
about the last days. My father always associated these things with
our day. Mockers coming, walking according to their lusts. He said
that that described America. But if Peter declared that the last
days were his days, then I have to accept that it must be a
description of the first-century.
His audience approved of this conclusion.
So now, instead of reading scriptures about the last days and
trying to fit it with things I see going on in the world, I look at
this as a preamble where Peter puts things in the context of his
time.
He looked down at his notes.
Peter then refers to God destroying the earth with a flood
and that in the future the heavens and earth will be destroyed by
fire. So it would seem like a similar thing to Noah's flood is going
to happen, except with fire instead of water. At that point, there's
the passage that also talks about a day is as a thousand years with
God. Prophecy teachers like my dad use that scripture to justify
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the length of time that Jesus' return is taking.
Zed surveyed his audience.
Last night, I saw that scripture in a different light. It's actually
in the context of salvation. God's patience is for the purpose of
salvation, so that all should reach repentance.
He couldn't believe he was doing it. These scholars were
watching him, listening.
Of course, that could have an application today. But if I had
to put this all in a first-century context, which is the more honest
way of looking at it, I'd say that Jerusalem and the temple being
destroyed by fire in 70 AD was the fulfillment of this. It wasn't
his own idea, but one put forth by one of the books in the box.
There was nodding from the members of the audience.
I saw something I didn't see before. Peter refers to not just
the earth, but the heavens being destroyed by fire. This goes
beyond the destruction of Noah's flood. Is it possible that it's
referring to a greater spiritual event than Noah's flood? Many
teachers, including my father, say that God only promised to
never again destroy the world with a flood so he wouldn't be
breaking his promise to destroy it with fire. But last night, I
checked out Genesis 8, starting in verse 21. It's a promise by God
never to destroy the whole earth again. He promises that he will
never destroy everybody again. So to me, Peter in referring us
back to Noah, would be aware of that promise too.
The audience was still with him.
I started to realize that the key to understanding some of
these things is to understand the timing of it. If you know when
it happened, you can determine how it happened.
Zed turned a page in his notes.
Jesus was clear about timing. Take Pentecost. The Holy Spirit
came upon people suddenly but Jesus had instructed his disciples
to wait in Jerusalem. It only took 10 days. Receiving the Holy
Spirit was a surprise. But they had gathered together for
Pentecost, a feast of God celebrating the firstfruits of the
harvest, so it all made sense in retrospect. And it wasn't dragged
out for hundreds of years.
Zed took a deep breath.
I'm still getting it all organized in my mind. But I'm putting
the pieces of the puzzle together. The New Covenant is God's
law written on our hearts. Pentecost is the day traditionally
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celebrated by the Jews as the day God gave the law on Mount
Sinai. But Pentecost is when the church received the Holy Spirit,
also described by Christ as him coming to make a home in us. He
is the living Word of God and that dovetails with the original day
when Israel received the law. Except that now the word of God is
in our heart. This is a present reality and a fulfillment of
Jeremiah's prophecy of the New Covenant. That idea also came
from one of the books, but it sounded right to Zed.
Of course, not everyone in this room was an evangelical
Christian, but they listened respectfully.
Peter says we are waiting for a new heavens and earth and
that's a phrase found in the book of Revelation. My
reinterpretation of Revelation now leads me to believe that the
new heavens and earth are the New Covenant. Again, from a
book. But it made sense.
Although, the idea was radical to him, he realized many people
in his audience had already come to this conclusion.
It's exciting to have a new way of looking at things, said
Zed. But my dad's college isn't a place to discuss new ideas. It's
more of a place to memorize what's already understood. I'd like
to go back there and discuss these scriptures, with a greater desire
to understand these words, but I'm not really expecting that to
happen.
He didn't want to end with this depressing thought so he
turned back to his notes.
I think the real Reformation was in the first-century as they
transitioned from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. I was
reading Hebrews 9 last night, starting in verse 9. It talks about
how gifts and sacrifices are offered that can't perfect the
conscience of the worshipper because they only deal with food
and drink and regulations that are imposed on the body until the
time of reformation. Now, I'm familiar with this sort of thing.
We have all sorts of rules at the college about healthy living and
healthy eating. But reading Hebrews, I can see that dealing with
food and drink and various washings and regulations for the
body are all indicators that someone is trying to earn their
salvation in an Old Covenant way.
It might have been an abrupt ending but his audience didn't
seem to mind. In fact, he was applauded as he sat down.
From that point, the conference resumed its regular schedule.
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The grey-haired man who had greeted Zed earlier thanked him
for his honest and encouraging presentation. He now introduced
the original first speaker for the day, Dr. Paul Leidbetter, who was
an expert on his namesake, the apostle Paul. He taught New
Testament Theology at the Maranatha Bible College in Michigan
City, Indiana. He was also the author of The Heavenly Jerusalem:
The Teachings of Paul and the Early Church
Dr. Leidbetter, a middle-aged man with wavy greying hair and
glasses, came to the podium. He was dressed casually in a tweed
jacket, white shirt and a pair of beige slacks. He gave everyone a
smile, his eyes stopping on Zed.
Young man, he said. I understand, to some extent, what
you're going through. I've been through something similar. By
the name of the college I teach at, you can imagine where we
stand with regard to eschatology.
Maranatha was Aramaic for, Our Lord, come! and was often
used in evangelical songs.
Zed nodded.
Ironically, said Dr. Leidbetter, pushing his glasses up on his
head. What the people who started that college didn't realize
was that another equally acceptable translation for maranatha is
'Our Lord is come!'
The audience returned his smile.
But my journey is a different story and not the one I plan to
discuss today. However, I will say to you, Zed, be encouraged.
There is a place for you in the Christian community.
Zed nodded his acknowledgment of this.
When I first started to change my views on eschatology, I
was certain I would lose my teaching position. And since
preterism is still the minority-view in evangelical Christendom, I
didn't anticipate being able to stay in the teaching world that I
love. But I'll say this, with time and prayer, I've been able to stay
in my teaching position without compromising my beliefs. But
enough about that.
Dr. Leidbetter had the mannerism of a teacher. He didn't stay
behind the podium for long.
Your talk was excellent, he said to Zed. You focused on
Peter. Now I'd like to look at some of the other authors of the
New Testament. The early church was living in a transitional
time. The writer of Hebrews says in 8:13 that by calling it a New
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Covenant, God made the first one obsolete and what was
obsolete and aging would soon disappear. That's why it is
referred to as the end of the ages. In 9:26, the writer of Hebrews
says that Christ appeared at the end of the ages to do away with
sin.
Zed was taking notes. None of the other listeners were, but he
had a lot of catching up to do.
The early church knew they were living in the end times,
continued Dr. Leidbetter. The writer of Hebrews starts his book
by saying that in these last days, God spoke to them through his
Son. They were encouraged in chapter ten to not give up meeting
with one another and all the more so as they saw the day
approaching. At the end of that chapter it says that he who is
coming would come in just a very little while.
Dr. Leidbetter was strolling the front of the small room.
Every writer makes a reference to the imminent coming of
Jesus. James says in his letter, chapter 5 as I recall, to be patient
and stand firm because the coming of Jesus is near. The Judge is
standing at the door. John says in his letter that they are living in
the last hour. Jude warns the church about certain men and
concludes that it was all prophesied by Jesus that there would be
scoffers in the last times.
Dr. Leidbetter paused in front of Zed who was scribbling as
much as he could get down.
And, of course, there's Peter on the Feast of Pentecost when
the church receives the Holy Spirit. Peter gives a sermon. He tells
the crowd that this is the fulfillment of the prophet Joel, who
quoted God as saying that in the last days he would pour out his
Spirit on all people. Later on, in Acts 3, he tells the Jews in the
temple that all the prophets from Samuel onward, all of them
had foretold these days. In other words, the events of the first-
century. Later, in his first epistle, Peter says in chapter one, that
Christ was chosen before the creation of the world, but was
revealed in these last times for your sake. In the fourth chapter it
says the end of all things is near. This is a lot to take in at first,
isn't it? he said, directly to Zed. Zed looked up from his
notebook and nodded.
If a Christian can accept that these days were the last days,
then the next step is to reinterpret what it means to live in the last
days.
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Dr. Leidbetter started strolling again.
We think of it in terms of some future event. The end of all
things, the material universe even.
Dr. Leidbetter turned to Zed.
But you were right when you equated the end of all things
with the end of the Old Covenant. In a Biblical context, I think
thats the only way to see it. No one lays it out more clearly than
Paul in Galatians when he compares Jerusalem below with the
Old Covenant and Jerusalem above with the New Covenant.
When you combine that with the imagery at the end of
Revelation of a new Jerusalem coming down to earth, you have a
beautiful picture of this monumental event. Up until this point,
if a man wants to be heard by God, he has to travel to the temple
in Jerusalem. But a citizen of the new Jerusalem is the temple
where God dwells. Perhaps the reason many people miss this is
because they never had to live under the Old Covenant.
There was nodding in the audience.
I don't know how I missed stuff like that. Without thinking,
Zed had said it out loud.
Dr. Leidbetter didn't seem to mind.
Oh, it's not too hard when you're constantly hearing the
message that Jesus is going to return any day now. It's easy to
miss what Paul was really trying to say. He was in front of Zed
and seemed to welcome his thoughts.
I think we've been taught to read those scriptures as if theyre
talking to us, said Zed. And it's never mentioned that the
scriptures were really talking to the early church.
Dr. Leidbetter's face lit up.
You're exactly right, Zed! It's a basic principle to read a
document keeping the intended audience in mind. We don't
always do that in the church today.
Zed shook his head.
And I go to a Bible college. We should be learning to read the
Bible that way.
Dr. Leidbetter nodded.
We miss a lot when we don't, he agreed. Here's a good one
to look at. He returned to his chair and retrieved a Bible from a
briefcase. Check out 1 Thessalonians 5:23. He handed his Bible
to Zed.
Zed turned some pages and then read aloud, May the God
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of peace himself sanctify you through and through. May your
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of
our Master, Jesus Christ. Zed stared down at the scripture,
taking it in. Our body, he repeated. There would be
Thessalonians who would still be in the flesh when Jesus
returned.
Now you're reading it like Paul intended, said Dr. Leidbetter,
smiling, taking his Bible back from Zed. Getting back to the
idea of the new Jerusalem being the New Covenant . . . He
turned some pages. Even in Isaiah, salvation is compared to a
city. It says in Isaiah 26 that Judah will sing a song about their
strong city, that Yahweh sets up salvation like walls and bulwarks.
Put this together with the idea of the new Jerusalem found in the
New Testament writings. Salvation is the new city. When Paul
talks about a new Jerusalem, he equates it with salvation. When
the new Jerusalem comes down in Revelation, it's God's
salvation.
He turned back to Zed.
You mentioned Peter's Pentecost message and the passage in
Joel. In Acts 15, some of the Jewish apostles were surprised to
hear that the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit without
having to keep the law of Moses first. But Peter stood up and
pointed out that the Jews couldn't even keep the law themselves
and so it was silly to expect the Gentiles to. When Paul and
Barnabas stood up and told about all the miracles that were
happening among the Gentiles, James announced that it was a
fulfillment of prophecy, specifically one of Joel's. James quotes
the part about God rebuilding the tent of David and restoring
the ruins so that the remnant of mankind would seek the Lord.
Dr. Leidbetter turned back to his Bible. Now, let's look at the
original prophecy. It's in Amos 9, starting around verse, oh, 11. In
addition to the part that Peter quoted, this restoration of Israel is
a day that is described as mountains dripping with wine. God is
going to plant them in the land and they will never be uprooted
again.
Dr. Leidbetter looked up.
Many people want to take this literally. But James has just
applied this prophecy to the conversion of the Gentiles. We have
to see the spiritual significance of these prophecies and not get
caught up in literal interpretations. Under the New Covenant,
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people won't be uprooted from their faith again. We don't go into
spiritual exile. We stay in the spiritual land he's given us.
It's figurative, said Zed slowly, nodding.
Exactly. Let's read again that beautiful passage in Isaiah, the
first verse of chapter 26. It says that there will be a song sung in
the land of Judah. They will sing, we have a strong city. He sets
up salvation as walls and bulwarks.
He turned and looked at Zed.
It was already there in the Old Testament, he said. The idea
of a city representing salvation. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:11
that the earlier scriptures about Israel were examples for the early
Christians. They were written down as a warning for them, upon
whom the fulfillment of the ages had come. It shouldn't surprise
us that we would find the idea of a city representing salvation,
only filled out and better understood, in the writings of the early
church.
He sat down to applause.
The next speaker gave Zed a chance to metaphorically catch
his breath since she didn't directly touch on scriptures related to
eschatology. She was Noa Halevi, a Messianic Jew and an author
of several books on Christian feminism, in addition to holding
preterist views. Zed had a feeling his dad wouldn't like her.
The title of her talk was Paradoxical Theology.
We humans are so obvious. God is subtle and far beyond us.
Take beauty, for example. We think the way to beauty is to focus
on our appearance. In fact, the way to beauty is to reject the
outward . . .
Zed's mind wandered to Jenna. Yes, she was older. But there
was something about her . . .
Dr. Halevi had her Bible out and was talking about a
translation error.
This is a version that boasts of being true to the original
Greek and yet, even the translators of this particular one werent
willing to accept that beauty is completely an inward matter.
Look here in 1 Peter 3:3, Peter is telling the women that their
adornment shouldnt be merely outward. Well, that merely is in
italics which means that it wasnt in the original Greek and the
more modern translations have reflected that. They just outright
say Do not let your adornment be outward. But I have a theory that
there was one particular man who had a fear that all Christian
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women would stop trying to look nice and stuck in that merely so
that women would have to focus on both their external and their
internal beauty, a burden Peter certainly didnt want to place on
women.
Some members of the audience chuckled.
Enemies of Christianity, indeed enemies of religion, often
accuse us of making it up as we go along. We are said to take our
own delusions and try to turn them into some sort of reality. I
believe in God, but who is he? Everybody says something
different.
While Noa Halevi discussed people's delusions, Zed's mind
went back to the girls at his dad's Bible college. The college
admissions were always carefully to balance the number of males
and females. Five hundred of each. You would think that out of
five hundred girls, he would have had a girlfriend by now. (Not
that his father allowed the students to have boyfriends and
girlfriends until their senior year. Up until then you were expected
to date widely. Not that everyone went along with that. But in any
case, it hadn't mattered to Zed who hadn't been able to connect
with anyone.) Maybe it was something about being Barrington
Crane's son.
People use God as the vehicle for promoting all of their own
ideas, Dr. Halevi was saying. The Israelites did it and Christians
continue to do it. The Israelites repeatedly killed or ignored the
prophets who had been sent to deliver God's word. It starts right
from the beginning of written history so the examples are almost
too numerous to record, but I'm thinking about a few specific
situations. When Jeremiah told Judah that it was God's will that
they surrender to Babylon he was considered a traitor and thrown
into an old well. He told people that they should go outside the
city and give themselves up to the Babylonians who were laying
siege to the city and that if they did, they would prosper living
with their enemies. At that point, most people wanted to fight
and to have God on their side when they fought . . .
Zed was used to theology lectures. Theology was all he really
knew. Of course, that was fine when it was a given that he would
someday make his living off of theology.
Yeshua was the prophesied Messiah of Israel but he didn't fit
their expectations of what the prophets had promised, so they
killed him after rejecting him. The religious people wanted a law
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fanatic like them who focused on all the external keepings of the
Law of Moses. Ritual purification rites, for example. But instead,
they got a teacher who said that it was what came out of a man's
mouth that defiled him, not eating with unwashed hands. Some
people wanted a strong military leader to overthrow the Romans
and instead they got a teacher who said regarding taxes to Rome
'give Caesar what you owe Caesar and give God what you owe
God.' The governing Jews were upset that so many of the people
were following him and that this might upset Rome since anyone
with the people's support was in danger of organizing rebellion.
One of the most ironic stories in the life of Yeshua is when he
resurrects Lazarus from the dead and the governing authorities
respond by plotting to kill Lazarus. In the end, only a very small
number of people accepted him for who he was. Everybody else
rejected him because he couldn't be used to promote their
various agendas.
Zed, whose mind had wandered back to Jenna, was startled
out of his daydream by the realization that Dr. Halevi seemed to
be concentrating on him.
In Christianity today, I see the same thing over and over
again. I've heard people use God to promote all sorts of pet
ideas. That God hates homosexuals, that God wants us to be
wealthy, that God wants us to vote conservative, that God wants
us to tell everyone about Jesus, that God wants us to send money
to a certain organization . . .
She was definitely talking about Barrington Crane, and those
like him.
The list would be longer except that I've dropped out of
Christendom for a while so all of the agendas are starting to fade
in my mind. What Christians believe and what the Bible says are
so different.
Dr. Halevi put forward the cheerful idea that had they lived in
the Middle Ages, everyone in this room would have been burned
at the stake for being a heretic. She discussed her own
background of exchanging the Old Covenant for the New
Covenant, only to discover that Christians had as many rules as
the Jews did.
I was struck by, why cant Christianity be a little more, fun?
Her audience laughed.
Why shouldnt it be fun? she continued. We have more to
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rejoice about than anybody else and the Bible actually commands
us to rejoice. Whats probably happening is everybody is so busy
keeping rules and judging the people who arent keeping the rules
that theyve become too uptight to rejoice in our salvation.
Uptight was a good word for it, thought Zed.
We certainly know from history that the pagans knew how to
have fun with all their festivals, continued Dr. Halevi. If the
pagans can have fun, why shouldnt the Christians? After all, we
have far more to celebrate than a god who is no god at all. Isaiah
said that God is preparing a lavish banquet for us, with the finest
foods and aged wine. And every year God wanted his people to
go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths. There, they
were supposed to spend their money on whatever their hearts
desired. God wanted a party in his presence!
It went without saying that wine and parties were banned at
his father's college.
And then, think about the story of the prodigal son. The
father celebrates the return of his son with a big feast, only to
have the austere older son come in and complain that he hasnt
even been allowed to have a goat for his friends. And the father
says to him, all that he has is his. It makes me think that maybe
the older brother wasnt taking advantage of all that was his and
thats why he begrudged his younger brother a welcome-home
party. I believe the same could be said for some Christians.
They're lured back to the world because theyre not taking
advantage of all that is theirs in Christ.
He was never included in it, of course, but Zed knew there
was a sordid side to his father's college. If a couple were caught
fornicating, it was always the male partner that got sent home. It
only happened once or twice a year, but that was just who was
caught.
So what do you suggest, Noa? called out one of the people
in the audience. A few streamers, a big cake with pink icing and
a banner that says Celebrate Jesus?
She laughed.
If thats what it takes. I was thinking more along the lines of
spiritual blessings, but a festive meal now and then is probably a
good idea too. Paul wrote to the Romans that whatever day we
celebrate, celebrate to the Lord.
There is nodding in the audience.
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I will conclude with one of the greatest paradoxes both
within and without Christendom. The pursuit of happiness. As
most of us can attest to, the more one pursues happiness, the
more elusive it is. Christianity has the answer, even if we don't
always practice it. Serving one another. Its a spirit thing. Serving
one another leads to blessings, but at a more basic level, we
humans are miserable when we focus on ourselves. It seems to be
built into us. Reaching out to others brings us the happiness we
desperately want.
With that, Noa Halevi took her seat amid applause.
The grey-haired man announced a one-hour break for lunch.
Before Zed could wonder what he would do with his one-
hour break, Dr. Leidbetter hurried up to him and invited him to
join him and another colleague for lunch in the hotel's restaurant.
His colleague was a younger man, with tousled blond hair and
the same easy smile as Dr. Leidbetter. They could have been
father and son, except that he was introduced as Dr. Michaels.
Call me Jerry, Dr. Michaels said, shaking Zed's hand. I'm so
glad you joined our little symposium.
They made their way down the hall and out to the main lobby.
The other members of the conference were in small groups, also
heading to the restaurant.
The three men were led to a table. Zed was in a bit of a daze,
not just from his late night, but from all the new ideas. Ice water
was placed in front of them and an order for fish and salad all
around was given to the waiter.
Are you a theologian? Zed asked Jerry, as they sipped their
water.
He shook his head.
I've studied it, of course. But I'm actually a biologist. I spoke
yesterday.
What does biology have to do with eschatology? Zed asked.
Jerry smiled.
Whatever your views on eschatology are, the plain fact-of-
the-matter is, with or without any future grand event, we are
running down.
What do you mean? Zed asked.
Well, said Jerry, leaning back in his chair. Evolution will tell
you that we're slowly improving. That natural selection and
beneficial mutations are gradually carrying us along in an upward
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direction.
Zed was certainly familiar with the whole creation versus
evolution debate.
I know. Apes-to-men and all that.
Well at Maranatha, we don't teach apes-to-men. We teach that
God created the world and made man in his own image. When
sin entered the world, God's perfect creation became imperfect.
Death came into the world.
Zed nodded.
But, I mean, that can be allegorical too, can't it? said Zed.
Jerry shook his head.
If it were just a myth, it would undermine the whole Bible. If
you say Adam and Eve weren't literal people and that God really
used evolution to make everything, then you're probably also
going to say that the world has been around for millions of
years.
Zed nodded.
Well, sure.
But, continued Jerry. That would put sin and death in the
picture long before man arrived on the scene. The fossil record
shows death and suffering, even disease. Hardly a perfect
creation. Yet, the Bible teaches that sin and death came into the
world because of Adam's sin.
Zed nodded slowly.
OK, I see why that wouldn't work.
It becomes even trickier when you add into the equation that
Jesus came to atone for the sin of the first Adam.
Yeah, I see what you mean. It all becomes a theological
mess.
Exactly. But only when you try to mix evolution into it.
When you take the Bible at its word, it's a simple, straightforward
teaching. But anyway, as I was saying, contrary to evolution, we
are not improving, we are actually running down.
What do you mean? Zed asked. It was assumed at his Dad's
college that God created the world and the universe. But
Barrington Crane was willing to accept that evolution might have
been the mechanism that God used to make the world. The
college didn't actually have any classes that covered the issue. It
was mentioned only in passing.
We pass on about a hundred genetic mistakes down to our
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children, said Jerry. It's not enough to make mutants, but over
thousands of years, it starts to add up. The simple fact of the
matter is, genetics show that man is going in the opposite
direction of evolution.
I never really thought about that, Zed said. But I always
thought that natural selection sort of chooses out the good and
that's why we get better . . . He wished he'd paid more attention
in high school biology.
Jerry nodded.
Natural selection, yes. Things do change. We see that all the
time in nature. But the changes do not mean an increase in
information. When we breed cattle, for example, or corn, or
whatever it is we want to improve, we never actually add
information. We just get rid of features we don't want.
But insects are always adapting to pesticides, said Zed.
It's not the kind of adaptation that adds new information,
Jerry said. The insects that survive do so because they're lacking
something, not because they developed a genuine new
mechanism for resistance.
I think I see where you're going with this, Zed said. What
you're saying is, everything is going in a slow, but steady,
downward direction. The material universe is eventually going to
run down entirely.
Exactly, said Jerry.
The waiter arrived with their food and placed the plates in
front of them. The next few minutes were devoted to eating,
although Zed's mind was racing. Millions of years versus
thousands of years.
Then where did all those fossils come from? he asked.
Noah's flood, said Jerry, smiling as sprinkled some pepper
on his fish. But that's a whole other story.
Zed got the feeling he'd be doing a lot more reading in the
future, and not the kind of books that were sold in his father's
college bookstore.


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Chapter Twelve
he afternoon was as full as the morning.
The first speaker after lunch was an expert on
Josephus. Zed knew the name, but very little else about
Josephus except that he was a Jewish historian. But the speaker
soon changed all that. He pointed out that people looked at the
Old Testament and said there were unfulfilled prophecies.
Therefore, Bible teachers looked to a future fulfillment. Not
surprisingly, he glanced at Zed at that point.
It is more accurate to say that they do not know how it was
fulfilled. Reading through some ancient history such as Josephus
will show you how some of these prophecies were fulfilled.
Zed nearly went through two pencils scribbling everything
down before he decided to just buy a copy of the Writings of
Josephus and read it through. What was especially fascinating
though, was Josephus's depiction of the fall of Jerusalem in 70
AD. Anyone who said that Jesus couldn't have returned in 70 AD,
hadn't read Josephus.
Josephus reported sightings of a heavenly army and the priests
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experiencing an earthquake in the inner court of the temple.
After that, a voice of a great multitude said, Let us remove
hence.
And it wasn't just Josephus. Another report of the same event
by the Roman historian Tacitus recorded that at that time a
lightning flash from the clouds lit the temple. The doors of the
holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to
declare that the gods were leaving it and in the same instant came
the rushing tumult of their departure.
It all sounded so much like the events Jesus prophesied in
Matthew 24 that Zed couldn't understand why this wasn't widely
known. It was certainly the first he'd heard of it.
The second and final speaker for the day was a Messianic Jew,
Dr. Isaac Mair, who had written a book called Day of Yahweh: A
New Approach to the Day of the Lord and End-time Prophecy.
You can't take Old Testament prophecies and apply them to
events still in the future. They were all specifically directed to or
talking about certain people or certain kings who lived at that
time.
It was possible that he modified his talk to accommodate Zed
because one of the first things he pointed out was that, Babylon
will never be rebuilt. It says in Jeremiah 25:12 that it will be
desolate forever. Also in Jeremiah 50:12. 51:26, 37, 43.
Barrington Crane was known for his predictions about a
future Babylon. Revelation had a city called Babylon and hence,
for a literal fulfillment, you needed a future rebuilding of
Babylon.
Dr. Mair pointed out that there was no literal Babylon at the
time that John received his Revelation. But there was a clue in the
New Testament as to what city it might refer to. At the end of his
first letter, Peter sent a greeting to the rest of the church from
where he was, Babylon. Some scholars said Peter was in
Jerusalem at the time, others said Rome. But in any case, it was
something to keep in mind when one read Revelation.
Then Dr. Mair seemed to resume his originally planned talk on
the Day of Yahweh, or as evangelical speakers referred to it, the
Day of the Lord.
Time and time again, the prophets refer to the Day of
Yahweh. You've heard prophecy teachers today speak about the
Day of the Lord. It's not one specific event. It's a way of
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referring to any pending battle. In Ezekiel it says the day of
Yahweh is near, a day of clouds and a time of doom for all
nations.
That sounded familiar to Zed. Very end-time.
But this is clearly talking about what's going to happen to
Egypt and Cush, continued Dr. Mair, and who's going to do it,
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. It's further down in the
chapter, verse 10, I believe.
Zed resumed writing in his notebook. There were so many
scriptures to check out on his own!
The expression 'the time of the end' is also misunderstood.
People have applied it to an end-of-the-material-world scenario.
But, Biblically-speaking, as we have discussed here, it might be
better understood as the end of the Old Covenant.
Of course, that didn't seem as dramatic, Zed thought. He
doubted his father would have as many followers as he did if he
talked about the end of the Old Covenant rather than the end of
the world. The speaker seemed to read his mind.
What people don't appreciate is just how dramatic it was to
shift from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. Again, we've
said it before here, but it's worth repeating. In Old Testament
days, if you wanted to be sure your prayers were heard, you had
to make a trip to Jerusalem to pray in the temple. Under the New
Covenant, Yahweh lives right in your heart. It's awesome to
comprehend. Dr. Mair's bright eyes conveyed his intensity as he
came out from behind the podium. To go from being a sinful
man to one made righteous by the blood of Christ is so
incredible that I think many people don't grasp this awesome
shift. They have heard all their lives that Jesus is eager to live in
their hearts and all they have to do is pray a simple prayer and
they're saved.
Zed nodded. That was the basic message of his dad's college.
It had always seemed trite with its repetitiveness.
Perhaps if we all had a chance to wander in the spiritual
wilderness, so to speak, continued Dr. Mair, to experience the
utter barrenness of man's life without the Spirit of God, we
would be like the Psalmist and long for Him as a man for water
in a dry land.
Zed agreed. Certainly, forcing Jesus on people like medicine
didn't make him seem very attractive.
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Let's look at this expression, 'the time of the end,' said Dr.
Mair, returning to the podium and his notes. At the end of
Daniel, he is told to close and seal his book up until the time of
the end. In the very last scripture, he is told he will rest and then
rise at the end of days to receive his inheritance. He looked up
to make sure his audience, Zed in particular, was still with him.
Now, let's look at the end of Revelation, last chapter, verse 10.
Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book because
the time is near.
He looked at Zed to see if he got it. Zed nodded slowly.
There are nearly two thousand years between us and
Revelation, continued Dr. Mair. There are about two thousand
five hundred years between us and Daniel. When you're talking
about such long time periods, it's crazy to say that one book
should be sealed because it's a long way off and one shouldn't be
because it's going to happen soon.
Barrington Cranes college taught whole classes on Daniel and
Revelation, but this point had never been made in either of them.
Yet, the only logical explanation was that the events in Daniel and
Revelation happened around the same time, in fact, within a few
years of Revelation's completion.
Dr. Mair referred to some notes on the podium.
Let's follow a thread, starting with a prophecy in Hosea,
followed by a prophecy by Yeshua and concluding with it again in
Revelation. In Hosea 10:8 it talks about how the high places of
idolatry will be destroyed in the future. At that time, the people
will say to the mountains, 'cover us!' and to the hills, 'fall on us!'
That sounded familiar.
It was repeated by Yeshua on the road to Gethsemane. Look
at Luke 23:30. The women of Jerusalem are weeping for him. He
tells them to weep for themselves and their children and then
quotes this very scripture. So that gives us a time-frame. This
prophecy will occur in their lifetime or the lifetime of their
children. Now we go to Revelation 6:16. Here it is again . . .
I get it! interrupted Zed. Same passage! It's going to
happen really soon when Revelation was written!
Exactly! Dr. Mair beamed. The interactive quality of the
lecture didn't seem to bother anyone.
The Old Covenant writings can teach us much about the
New Covenant, continued Dr. Mair. There is something I call
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'judgment talk' throughout the writings of the prophets. Let's
look at Amos. In chapter 5, verse 18 it's describing the day of
Yahweh, the day of the Lord, as people say. It's describing a day
when daytime will be like darkness. In chapter 8, again, Yahweh
says to Israel, 'I will make the sun go down at noon and darken
the earth in the middle of the day.' He looked up from his notes.
In chapter nine, Yahweh touches the earth and it melts. Yet
Amos was a prophet warning people about the approaching
Assyrians who would take them captive and destroy Israel.
Zed nodded. It sounded a lot like what Jesus said about the
time before his coming. The sun being darkened, the moon not
giving her light. Stars falling to earth, heavenly bodies shaken.
Zed put up his hand, like a student in class, and Dr. Mair waved
for him to ask his question.
But when Jesus talked like this, he talked about some kind of
judgment for the whole earth. This was just for Israel.
Obadiah talked about the day of Yahweh being near for all
nations, said Dr. Mair. And he was a prophet called to warn
Edom shortly before the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem. Edom
was one of the nations that shared a border with the Israelites.
And I think this gives us an idea of how we should understand
Jesus when he uses this kind of judgment talk. Be cautious about
taking it too literally. People nowadays are expecting a worldwide
catastrophe, but what they don't realize is, prophecy has a
language of its own. You see that again at the beginning of
Zephaniah. God says he's going to sweep away everything from
the earth. Your initial impression if you just read chapter one is
that the judgment is going to affect the whole planet. But chapter
two names the specific nations that this judgment is going to
come upon.
Dr. Mair was flipping through his Bible.
This kind of judgment talk is everywhere, he continued. In
Jeremiah four, Yahweh is talking about the Babylonian invasion
of Judah. Down in verse 23, the earth is described as formless
and empty. The light is gone out of the heavens. The mountains
quake. The hills sway. No people to be seen. In Jeremiah 25:15,
God sends Jeremiah to certain nations. They're all listed there,
from Judah to Egypt to the coastal cities, the Philistines, the kings
across the Jordan and the kings of Arabia. It's the first year of
the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. God sends
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Jeremiah out with a message to drink the cup of God's wrath.
Nebuchadnezzar is his servant and he's coming against all of the
inhabitants of the earth.
He glanced at Zed. Zed got it.
All of the inhabitants of the earth, repeated Dr. Mair. But
we already know what specific nations will be affected. It's said
more than once and yet, very clearly, it's not every single person
on earth, just the people Jeremiah went to. Nebuchadnezzar's
future conquests were described as reaching the farthest parts of
the earth. Now, we know he never conquered the natives of
North and South America. He never even made it as far as
Britain. But in the prophecy it is said that he was coming against
all the inhabitants of the earth.
So the Bible exaggerates? Zed couldn't stop himself.
Dr. Mair shook his head.
No, the Bible is perfectly consistent with itself. We make the
mistake of applying our own interpretations to it.
But then how should we interpret prophecy?
Well, I think it's a very Spirit-led process. The apostles did it
all the time, Matthew in particular. Look at Matthew 12. It has a
lengthy example of a passage from Isaiah and how it applied to
Jesus. Read it over sometime and I think you'll agree that
Matthew's application of this prophecy to Jesus may not have
been something that the Pharisees would have agreed with. In
fact, I love going through the Old Testament passages and
finding their connection to the New Testament passages, said
Dr Mair. Let's look at one more.
Zed noded.
Let's start in Joel 3:17. Dr. Mair started reading. So that you
shall know that I am Yahweh, your Elohim, who lives in Zion,
my holy mountain. And Yerushalayim shall be holy. Strangers
shall never again pass through it . . .
He read to the end of the book.
I've met so many people who take this literally and say this is
going to be a physical paradise.
Zed, nodded. My dad teaches that this is unfulfilled
prophecy. Some sort of future glorious Jerusalem.
Yes, but if you look at it and really think about it, there's no
way that you can have a city that strangers don't pass
through . . .
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. . . and mountains that drip with wine and hills that flow
with milk, Zed said.
Exactly. You see, God says here that it is Zion, His holy
mountain. This is the heavenly Mount Zion the writer of
Hebrews is talking about. The reason strangers don't pass
through it is because they're on the outside of it.
Isn't there something in Revelation about the new Jerusalem
and who is on the outside of it . . . ?
Yes! Revelation 22:15, Dr. Mair replied, leaning forward on
the podium. Outside of the new Jerusalem are the dogs and the
people who do black magic and the sexually immoral and the
murderers and the idolaters.
It was another instance of putting the pieces of the puzzle
together. The new Jerusalem wasn't a physical Jerusalem. It was
the New Covenant.
Dr. Mair wrapped up his talk with a recommendation that Zed
return to the Old Covenant and read all the scriptures that
seemed like unfulfilled prophecy and then evaluate them
according to his new understanding.
Afterward, Zed declined to join the other conference
attendees who were taking a walk over to the Holy Land Hotel to
look at their model of Jerusalem in the first-century, including
the temple.
He would have liked to have seen it, but there were just so
many scriptures he wanted to check out on his own.
He switched on the coffee-maker and settled on his bed. Just a
casual perusal of the Minor Prophets confirmed what Dr. Mair
had said.
The prophet Micah said, Yahweh is coming from his place
and will come down and tread the high places of the earth. The
mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split open, like wax
before the fire, like water rushing down . . .
On the next page, Nahum was talking about Nineveh but it
sounded just like what was going to happen to Jerusalem in
Matthew 24. It sounded like it encompassed the whole world but
it really only applied to one nation.
By the time the coffee was ready, Zed had moved on to Isaiah
34 - God slaughtering the whole world, mountains flowing with
blood, the sky rolling up like a scroll. God had a sword that was
covered in blood and the fat of animals. Soil turned into sulphur.
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The land burned with smoke going up forever.
It's just like he said! said Zed out loud, as he got off his bed
to pour himself a coffee. All the apocalyptic talk. You'd have to
say it never happened if you took it literally. But it did. It was all
about Edom. And Edom didn't exist anymore.
He sipped his coffee and continued to read.
It got even better.
The next chapter was clearly about the coming of the Messiah.
Blind eyes being opened. Deaf hearing. Lame man leaping like a
deer. It was all what Jesus did during his ministry. And it had the
same type of language, but positive this time. Waters breaking
forth in the wilderness. Hadn't Jesus said he was the living water
and the people who came to him could have living waters flowing
from them?
The chapter ended with the ransomed of God returning to
Zion with singing, joy on their heads. Sorrow and sighing fleeing
away. His dad always said this was something future. But he was
seeing it differently.
He had grown up being told what the Bible meant.
What was his father going to say when he returned home and
announced that he didn't agree with most of it?

119
Chapter Thirteen
ed got a better sleep that night and was refreshed for the
morning talks.
Breakfast didn't automatically come with his room, he
found out, so he was grateful for the coffee and danish that
accompanied the conference. Today was quite different from
yesterday. He was welcomed by several of the conference
attendees, although some still seemed wary of him. He hadn't
checked the newspapers, but he assumed he was still a missing
person.
The first speaker was an Englishman, Darcy Chapman. He
was a full-time author of thriller novels, but what most of his
fans didn't realize was that he had also written a theological work
entitled On Earth as it is in Heaven: An Understanding of the Kingdom
of God.
He immediately turned in a Bible to Daniel 2 and read about
the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had had, that Daniel had
subsequently interpreted for him. It was of a mighty image, a
head of gold, chest and arms of silver, thighs of bronze, legs of
Z
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iron and feet of iron and clay.
We're all familiar with this story, he said, looking up. Some
prophecy teachers today are still looking for a fulfillment of the
feet of iron and clay. Yet, in verse 34, the whole image was struck
by a stone not cut by human hands. It brought the whole statue
down and became a mountain that filled the whole earth.
Mr. Chapman turned in his Bible.
This matches with the spiritual reality that has existed since
the death of Jesus on the cross and his return to earth in 70 AD.
Isaiah 2:2 tells us that in the last days, the mountain of Yahweh's
temple will be established as the highest mountain. All nations
would go up to it.
Zed had heard that scripture applied to the future.
But, continued Mr. Chapman. The fall of the temple meant
that there was no more atonement for sin except through Jesus
himself. The Old Testament was nullified by the death of Jesus.
Paul stresses this point, that a contract ends with death. But the
temple falling was also essential to the New Testament. The
church is now the temple of God. Jesus said he and his father
would make their home with the believers. They would be the
new temple. That's how we have to interpret a scripture like
Isaiah 2:2.
Mr. Chapman came out from behind the podium.
Futurists make a big issue of a Jewish temple being rebuilt in
Jerusalem because in II Thessalonians it says that the man of sin
will stand up and declare himself God in the temple. He glanced
at Zed and raised his eyebrows as if soliciting comment.
My father's church supports that organization in Jerusalem
that has all the instruments made for the temple, Zed said.
Mr. Chapman nodded.
I've been there. The Temple Institute. The only problem is
you are not going to see a rebuilt temple. Even if a building is
erected on the Temple Mount, on the exact spot where the old
one was, it wouldn't be the temple. We are the temple now. The
temple was a structure that God inhabited. Anything built there
now would not have his presence. It would merely be a temple
replica. The man of sin standing up in the temple and declaring
himself God could only have happened before it fell in 70 AD.
Mr. Chapman looked at Zed for confirmation that he agreed.
But if we're the temple, said Zed, couldn't this man stand
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up in the church somewhere, like say, my dad's church, and
whatever he said would be broadcast to the whole world . . .
Mr. Chapman shook his head.
No, because the church as we call it, is not the temple. The
church contains a mix of people, some truly of God, some just
there because it's what their parents did or it brings them
comfort, but their hearts are still their own, not Christ's. The
temple that God makes his home in is every single believer all
around the world. They may go to a church, they may not. They
may be well-known, they may be tucked away in some corner of
the earth. But their common denominator is that Jesus and His
Father live in them. No man of sin could stand up in that
Temple.
Zed thought for a moment and then exhaled.
I see what you mean. It really is impossible. I mean, the
whole thing. It really did happen back then.
Mr. Chapman returned to the podium and flipped some pages
in his Bible.
Daniel 2:44. 'And in the days of those kings the God of
heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed . . .'
Mr Chapman looked up. This is the kingdom Christ talked
about when he said his kingdom was not of the world. This is the
kingdom he established.
He glanced at Zed for his reaction.
But most Bible teachers put the ten toes of this beast into
the future, said Zed.
I know, I know, nodded Mr. Chapman. First it was the
European Union, particularly when it reached a union of ten
countries. I don't know what they say it is today. I don't keep up
with it all, myself. I don't have to. It was a past event. You'll note
that in verse 43, it's not a united kingdom, it's a brittle one. It's
more in keeping with the state of Rome in the first-century.
Fragile alliances. To say that it refers to some future rise of Rome
is absurd. If it's a future event, how can the Bible ignore all the
world powers in the last two thousand years. Just think of the
British Empire. It covered more territory than Babylon, Greece
or Rome ever held. And yet, with a futurist interpretation, the
Bible skips over all that.
Yes, said Zed slowly. I see what you mean.
Let's look at Daniel 7:13, said Mr. Chapman, moving a few
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pages forward in his Bible. It talks about the Son of Man
approaching the Ancient of Days and being given power and
authority over all nations and men of every language worshipped
him. Mr. Chapman looked up. This had already happened by
the time Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians. In the first
chapter he says that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, far
above all rule and authority, power and dominion, in this age and
the age to come. You'll note in Daniel that his kingdom is an
everlasting one that won't be destroyed. This is our current
reality. We can see that by the fact that in Ephesians 2:6, we are
also raised up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly
realms. This indicates that it is not a physical matter as much as it
is a spiritual reality.
What about the physical resurrection? Zed asked.
Mr. Chapman nodded.
Well, I would have to say it happened.
Zed's eyebrows went up but he noticed that there were
members of the audience nodding.
If you look at 1 Corinthians 15:51, we find a change happens
at the last trumpet. Now, I know when the last trumpet occurred.
Revelation is clear about that. And I accept that Revelation is
about first-century events. So, I read in 1 Corinthians that in the
twinkling of an eye, their perishable bodies were changed to ones
that wouldn't perish in the grave. In other words, the dead
received life, an event not noted by those on earth because it
would be at this point that they would go straight to heaven. So
it's a big shift. No more sleep, no more waiting. From now on,
upon death believers join Jesus. In the Old Testament, death was
referred to as sleep. But Jesus said that if you believed in him you
had already passed from death to life.
OK, said Zed, slowly. I think I can see that. But what
about the judgment?
That's an excellent question. You see, you couldn't have the
judgment until the temple was gone and gone for good. As long
as it stood, a person could argue that he could have kept the law
by human effort. But once the temple fell, keeping the law was
no longer an option. Jesus was the only way to salvation. And
they had rejected him. Hence the judgment on the people of his
generation, the ones who had rejected him.
Zed nodded slowly. It was starting to come together, a
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complete picture. More pieces of the puzzle.
In the end, I think Paul has the most elegant description of
the kingdom of God, said Mr. Chapman. He said in Romans
14, that the kingdom of God wasn't a matter of eating and
drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Mr. Chapman returned to his seat amid applause. The
audience didn't seem to mind that most of the talk had addressed
Zed's questions.
This was the last day of the conference. To his great
disappointment, Zed had missed three days of the symposium.
There was only one more speaker today before everything
wrapped up.
The speaker seemed aware that special attention had to be
paid to Zed. He was a retired professor from a Bible Seminary in
Arizona, Mark Phillips who had authored The Imminent Coming of
Christ . . . In the First-Century.
Right from the start, he was talking to Zed.
What I like to do is to just sit down with people and take
them through the scriptures. No commentary. Just let the
scriptures speak for themselves. Where I start is in Matthew
when John the Baptist says to the Pharisees who come to the
spot where he's baptizing, 'You brood of vipers. Who warned
you to flee from the coming wrath?'
Zed nodded. Movies about the life of Jesus usually portrayed
a wild-looking John preaching against the Pharisees. But he had
always been so busy taking in the whole scene he had never
thought about what John actually said. The coming wrath. Jesus
hadn't come with wrath. But from the way John talked, there
would a coming wrath in the lifetime of the Pharisees.
Staying in Matthew . . . Professor Phillips moved a few
pages forward in his Bible. Jesus sends out the twelve. One of
the things he says is, 'Truly I say to you, you will not finish going
through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.'
Professor Phillips took a sip of water before continuing,
giving Zed time to think about this one.
Again, to his disciples, 'Truly I say to you, some who are
standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man
coming in his kingdom.' Still in Matthew, this time talking to the
teachers of the law and the Pharisees. 'And so upon you will
come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from
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the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of
Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.' The
professor looked up from his notes. That was Matthew 23. Now
we're going into Matthew 24. A gold mine of information about
end-time events. Keeping in mind what we just read, let's look at
what Jesus says about these events. He returned to his notes.
'Truly I say to you, this generation will certainly not pass away
until all these things have happened.'
He looked up at Zed for a reaction.
Zed nodded slowly.
I get it, he said. Jesus just told the Pharisees and teachers
that they would be the generation to experience all these things.
Precisely.
But why? Zed asked. I mean, that's not fair when you think
about it. One generation has to pay for all the mistakes of the
past?
I think it's because they were the generation that crucified the
son of God. All the other generations had killed the prophets,
but they were about to kill the ultimate prophet, the word of
God himself.
The professor continued to turn pages in his Bible.
The equivalent account in Luke, Luke 11:52, has an
important passage. Jesus said to the teachers of the law they had
taken away the key to knowledge. Not only did they not enter the
kingdom themselves, but they hindered others from entering.
OK, that I can understand. But what I don't understand,
said Zed, is how all those things that Jesus talked about were
fulfilled in the first-century. Like, famines and earthquakes and all
that.
Well, in that case, you have read the text carefully, said
Professor Phillips moving out from behind the podium. It
doesn't say there will be an increase in those events, just that they
will happen in various places. In fact, the book of Acts, chapter
11, I believe, mentions a severe famine that occurred during the
reign of Claudius. Other historical records, as well as archaeology,
confirm there were earthquakes throughout the Roman Empire
in the first-century. Colosse, Laodicea, Crete, Smyrna, Miletus,
just to name a few of the places.
That was news to Zed. His father had never mentioned that in
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his sermons.
Professor Phillips returned to the podium and his Bible.
There are many things in Matthew 24 that can only be
understood in a first-century context. The temple is still standing.
The people in Judea are told to flee to the mountains . . . Let's go
over to Luke 21 where we have the parallel version.
Professor Phillips quickly turned some pages.
Look at verse twelve. Definitely first-century. Jesus foretells
that his followers will be persecuted, delivered up to the
synagogues and prisons, brought before kings and governors. Of
course, there's persecution today. But no one is delivered up to
synagogues. That was a unique period in Christian history when
the Jewish leaders were in a position to persecute the early
church. For that matter, very few believers now appear before
kings and governors. This sounds more like the apostle Paul's
experiences. He was continually appearing before these types of
people.
But what about something like the gospel being preached in
all nations? Zed asked. That could only happen now, right?
Dr. Phillips shook his head. Even that was fulfilled in the
first-century. Look at Colossians, the first chapter. I think it's
verse 23. Paul says the gospel had been proclaimed to every
creature under heaven.
Wow, said Zed, making a quick note of the passage to check
later. I never heard that one in my daddy's church. He always
said we were part of the gospel being preached in all nations.
Jesus was very clear, said Professor Phillips. The events he
was speaking about would be happening in the lifetime of the
people he was talking to. When he was arrested at the end of his
life, he told the high priest that he would see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the
clouds of heaven. It's in Mark 14, if you want to look at it.
I've heard Dad say that the reason Jesus said that was because
the High Priest would be raised to judgment at the time of Jesus'
return, said Zed.
That doesn't fit with Jesus' own words, said the professor.
In John 12:31, Jesus says, 'Now is the time for judgment on this
world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out.'
Zed had his Bible out.
Now look at Luke 10:18, said Professor Phillips.
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Zed quickly went back a few pages.
Why don't you read it out loud?
I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, Zed read.
Wow. He looked up.
The professor nodded and said, The disciples were given
authority to overcome the power of the enemy. They go out
practicing this new authority. Jesus says the spirits submit to
them. As a result, Jesus saw something change in the spiritual
realm. Keep that idea in mind. People nowadays are looking for
signs. Outward signs. Jesus saw what was going on in the spirit
world as a result of the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus
said on more than one occasion that his kingdom was not of this
world. Of course, that's covered in the excellent On Earth as it is
in Heaven: An Understanding of the Kingdom of God. He smiled at
Darcy Chapman.
In Luke 24:44, after he's risen from the dead, Jesus says,
'these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that all things which were written about me in the Law of
Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' As we
wrap up the conference, I strongly recommend that you
reexamine the scriptures with a first-century mindset.
There was applause as he sat down.
Then Zed was asked if he had any final words he wanted to
say to the conference. It was unexpected, but he agreed. There
were a lot of thoughts swirling around in his mind as he stood up
and went to the front.
Thank you, he said. Thank you for welcoming me. Thank
you for teaching me. There's more to learn, of course, but you've
given me a great start.
There were nods from audience members.
It strikes me that fire was an appropriate judgment for the
first-century because we're talking about the destruction of
everything that was old Old Covenant, old ways, old
assumptions that one can become righteous by keeping the law.
Like we just heard, Jesus himself stressed the conclusion of it all
at the end of Luke when he said that everything written about
him in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must
be fulfilled.
He had no notes so he could only go by his heart.
But my Dad is always going to those passages in the
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prophets, you know, God saying to the Jews I will restore your
fortunes, I will gather you from all the nations where I have
driven you. And, of course, it's applied to the modern-day State
of Israel.
Nodding in the audience.
But you've shown me that you have to look at when those
passages were written. They were all written before the Jews had
returned from their captivity in Babylon. In that context, I would
have to understand those scriptures as a promise to restore the
Jews and even many of the Israelites to the land. It seems absurd
to me now that a prophet would talk about a return to the land
more than two thousand years in the future and not be referring
to the return that would be in seventy years.
Zed paused to pull his thoughts together.
But was it really fulfilled? He nodded to answer his own
question. I never saw it before, but rereading certain passages in
my Bible last night, specifically, Peter's sermon on Pentecost and
the day the church received the Holy Spirit, the writer of Acts
goes out of his way to mention all the different nations that are
represented on that day. They come from all over the civilized
world and yet they are all still Jews or Israelites.
Now it was Zed coming out from behind the podium and
walking the length of the room.
I never thought about that, he said. I mentioned the idea
that it's absurd that a prophet would talk about something more
than two thousand years in the future and ignore the event that is
in the near future. Unfortunately, Christians do that all the time
with the prophecy scriptures. Luke 21:20 talks about Jerusalem
being surrounded by armies. But of course, this has happened so
many times in the last two thousand years, hasn't it?
There was a murmur of agreement from the audience.
The Crusades, Saladin taking it back, things like that, eh?
said Zed.
One of the men in the audience spoke up.
The examples are endless. Jerusalem has been the most
fought-over city in history. Since David took it from the Jebusites,
it's been held by the Israelites, the Babylonians, the Persians, the
Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arab Muslims, the
Crusaders, the Arab Muslims again, the Mamluks, the Turks, the
British, and finally, the Jews. A lot of those transitions involved
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Jerusalem being surrounded by armies.
I see what you mean, said Zed. It's crazy to think that it's a
future event. Jesus' prophecy had to refer to the next time it
would happen otherwise there would be so many false alarms the
warning would be meaningless.
Some people in the audience chuckled.
It seemed like a good time to wrap it up. He thanked them
one more time for allowing him to join them and returned to his
seat.
I liked the way you put that, said Jerry, thumping him on the
back.
There was a light lunch laid-out on a table at the back, as
everyone said their good-byes.
Well, what did you think? asked Dr. Leidbetter, joining Zed
at the buffet and grinning.
It was great! said Zed. I just wish I'd had a chance to learn
a bit more. Like about Revelation, for example. Most of my dad's
ministry is centered around Revelation and that's where so much
of the end-time imagery comes from.
Dr. Leidbetter nodded.
I understand. We had a speaker on Revelation the first day.
You should have heard him . . . Dr. Leidbetter was scanning the
room. Where did he go?
Dr. Leidbetter asked Noa Halevi, who was passing by with a
plate of food, where Dr. Doyle had gone.
I think he had a plane to catch, she said.
C'mon! said Dr. Leidbetter to Zed, putting his plate back
down on the table. Let's see if we can catch him!
Zed wasn't sure about trying to talk to someone on his way to
the airport. But Dr. Leidbetter had grabbed his arm and they
were hurrying down the hallway.
There he is! said Dr. Leidbetter, pointing to a slim dark-
haired man getting onto an elevator.
Dr. Doyle! Wait! he called out.
When they were all on the elevator Dr. Leidbetter said, This
young man missed your talk and I'd love it if you could give him
a quick summary.
Dr. Doyle smiled.
I'm a bit pressed for time . . . Then he looked at Zed and
said, Well, I don't often get a chance like this. They all knew
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what he meant. Barrington Crane's son could end up on
television someday.
The elevator doors opened and Dr. Leidbetter and Zed
followed Dr. Doyle down the hallway to his room.
When it comes to Revelation, said Dr. Doyle, you may not
always know what's happening, but you can certainly know when
it's happening. Throughout the book the time references are
clear. Right in the very first scripture it says the purpose of
Revelation is to show the servants of Christ what must soon take
place. Verse three says the time is near. Down in verse seven, it
says Jesus is coming on the clouds and every eye will see him,
including the ones who pierced him.
Zed was trying to take it all in as Dr. Doyle unlocked his hotel
room door.
Revelation ends with the same strong message that the time
is near. Jesus says three times that he's coming soon. It's
preposterous to imagine that he really means he'll be coming in
the next two thousand years, or so.
Dr. Doyle was opening a drawer and tossing his clothing into a
small suitcase.
But my father will say those things in Revelation can't
possibly have happened, said Zed.
If you can accept the time frame for Revelation as having
been fulfilled in the first-century, it's relatively easy to find the
fulfillment in history, said Dr. Doyle, going into the bathroom
and coming out with a toothbrush. Rome persecuted the
Christians with ferocity. That's why the book was written. To
encourage the suffering church and point them to a spiritual
hope.
But what about the beast and all those kings . . .
All found in the first-century. Dr. Doyle shut the top of his
suitcase and zipped it up. Nero was considered a beast by even
his fellow Romans. The man used to actually dress up in animal
skins and torment people.
This was news to Zed.
What about the mark of the beast? he asked, as they all
headed out the door.
Well, first of all, what is the mark of the beast? They were
back in the hallway and by the elevator. Dr. Doyle pressed the
button by the doors. Its counterpart is found in Exodus 13,
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verses 9 and 16. Also Ezekiel 9:4. Zed tried to commit the
scriptures to memory as Dr. Doyle continued to rapidly speak.
In the days of Rome, each profession had a guild and each guild
was expected to make sacrifices to their guild's god. All business
contracts had to be signed in the name of the god. Anyone who
didnt couldn't be part of the guild. Hence, they weren't able to
buy or sell. It only got worse when Nero wanted them to worship
him too.
Dr. Doyle impatiently pressed the button for the elevator
again.
Zed would have to read some history. It went without saying
that this wasn't part of his father's college curriculum. The
elevator doors opened and they all stepped inside.
My dad has gone through Revelation verse-by-verse and tried
to tell everyone exactly what's going to happen in the future.
Dr. Doyle nodded.
That's how our end-time scenarios have come about. But if
you want to go verse-by-verse, you'd have a hard-time explaining
things like all the mountains disappearing in Revelation 6:14 and
then the people hiding in the mountains in verse 16. It's hard to
take that literally. Not to mention that the sky vanished in verse
14. Furthermore, in chapter 16, verse 20, it happens all over
again.
The elevator doors opened to the lobby and Dr. Doyle was
heading for the front desk to return his hotel key, with Zed
striding along beside him.
OK, OK, said Zed nodding. It can't be taken literally.
Some of it certainly can't. Dr. Doyle handed his key to the
man at the front desk and turned toward the glass doors. But I
would contradict myself if I said none of it could. For example,
there's a detailed description of Babylon that I'm inclined to take
literally. In Revelation, Babylon has cargoes of cinnamon and
spice, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots. That's why I would
say it's a first-century city.
Couldn't it just refer to merchandise in general? I mean, that
was just what they bought and sold back then.
Now they were outside.
Dr. Doyle was waving a taxi over.
I've heard people suggest that, yes. But look at it a little more
carefully when you have a chance. Try chapter 18, verse 20. This
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city has been visited by saints, apostles and prophets. If you go to
Acts 1, verse 21and 22, an apostle is someone who witnessed the
ministry of Jesus from the time he was baptized until the day he
was taken up to heaven. It's a limited number of people and they
aren't around anymore.
The taxi had pulled up.
I see what you mean, said Zed. It sounds like Jerusalem.
Dr. Doyle nodded.
Ben Gurion airport, he said to the driver. Dr. Doyle paused
by the taxi. That would be my guess although some scholars
have suggested Rome, with some good reasons. My personal
theory is that Babylon is Jerusalem and the Beast is Rome. There
was no city on earth that could commit the abominations of
Jerusalem. It was meant to be a holy city and yet the temple itself
where God had put his presence was turned into a place of
commerce. It had become so far removed from God that it didn't
even recognize His Word when it came.
Zed nodded.
The taxi driver was waiting impatiently. Zed saw him start the
meter.
You see, up until then, God had to be reached through his
temple in Jerusalem, yet the city was ruled by a corrupted king
and a self-righteous religious class. All this was an impediment to
people's access to God. This was an incredibly serious offence.
There is simply no parallel today. There are countries that actively
persecute Christians, of course, even going so far as to forbid
Christianity. But these countries never had a temple with God's
presence, as Judea did. Anyway, sorry I can't stay and talk longer,
said Dr. Doyle, climbing into the backseat of the taxi. I'd
encourage you to read the book of Revelation again.
Dr. Doyle rolled his window down to make one more point.
The time frame is clear. So I prefer to base my understanding
of the book on the clear scriptures rather than come up with
some shaky interpretations for the more esoteric passages.
That makes sense, said Zed. And thanks for taking the time
to talk.
Dr. Doyle gave them a small wave as his taxi pulled away from
the curb.
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133
Chapter Fourteen
ed had two choices. Try to scrounge and survive until it
was time to meet his dad and the tour group back at Ben
Gurion airport in two weeks. Or, turn himself in and try
to explain that he was never really a missing person, only a
person who needed some time for personal reflection in the Holy
Land. He felt silly just thinking about clarifying it to the police.
There was a third option.
Try to reconnect with Jenna.
But did he really want to?
Of course he did.
The sight of her standing there that day, by the Western Wall
was what had started all this for him. Something about her, she
was alone . . . but free. And beautiful. But at this point, her
beauty wasn't the issue. It was the freedom. Before he rejoined
his dad, he had to see her one more time.
Yes, he decided. He would return to Haifa and try to find her.
Then he'd turn himself in. The conference was over. Dr.
Leidbetter and Jerry had both given him their emails before
Z
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leaving for the airport. There was really nothing left for him to
do but read some books and study the Bible on his own.
It was a bit unnerving to know that the entire Israeli army and
police force were keeping an eye out for him.
The country was filled with uniformed men and women, he
couldn't help but noticing, now that he was out on the streets
again.
At first he was going to go straight to the bus depot, except
that he took a wrong turn and found himself in a residential
neighbourhood. This wasn't a tourist district since it didn't have
the usual souvenir shops. But it did have some clothing stores
and a few places to buy groceries. One particular display in a
secondhand clothing store caught his eye. It was army surplus
olive green t-shirts, khaki pants, even some commando-style
sneakers. It occurred to him that the Israelis wouldn't be keeping
their eyes open for one of their own. Once he stopped looking
like an American tourist, he could stop worrying about anyone
noticing him. He went into the store and used some of his
dwindling money to buy a basic outfit putting it all on in the
fitting room. His old clothes went into his knapsack. If the
proprietor of the store thought that that was strange, he showed
no sign as Zed paid for his new ensemble.
Now all he had to do was find a place to get a buzz cut. Just
beyond one of the grocery stores was a small barber and it took
only five minutes of the man's time to shear Zed's head. When
he looked in the mirror, he didn't recognize himself. Now he just
looked like an off-duty soldier.
There would be no more restaurants for him, so he stopped in
one of the small grocery stores and bought a box of crackers, a
few oranges and a large bottle of water. This would have to do
for breakfast and lunch until he made it to Haifa.
He followed the general flow of people back to the main road.
There was no doubt about it, Jerusalem felt different from
anything back in the States.
But with all he'd learned in the last few days, he was trying to
figure out when Jerusalem had taken on a holy status for the
Christians. For one thing, Jesus said it was the city that killed the
prophets. It killed Jesus, for crying out loud. And Jesus told the
woman at the well in Sychar that a time would come when people
wouldnt worship in Jerusalem. Theyd worship Him in spirit and
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in truth. Yet he'd watched his father's group, and others like it,
traipsing through this city, eyes wide, mouth half-open, as they
took it all in.
But even back in the States, a lot of people acted like a church
building was holy and the sanctuary was special. It was like they
thought they were in the temple without realizing they were the
temple.
Weve come to the new Jerusalem. Zed almost said it out
loud.
Paul told the Galatians that the physical Jerusalem was in
bondage, but their mother was the new Jerusalem.
The writer of Hebrews said that they had come to the
heavenly Mount Zion.
Jesus himself said that his kingdom wasnt of the world.
Zed was now on Jaffa Road, a busy thoroughfare that would
take him to the bus station. In the distance, he could see the
Egged buses pulling in and out of the multi-level depot.
How could anyone look around at all this and say it was holy?
It was just a city, like any other.
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139
Chapter Fifteen
s a Jew . . . I pause. OK. Half Jew. Obviously one of
the biggest flaws of Christianity is the oneness of God.
The Jews recite the Shema, you know, Hear Israel, the
Lord is God, the Lord is one . . .
We're in one of the cafs by the harbour. We've been traveling
all over the city with my two guidebooks and Dan's New
Testament. With these three items, we haven't run out of
anything to talk about.
Dan nods.
I hear you, Jenna. Christianity is supposed to be a completed
form of Judaism and yet it seems to have two Gods, three if you
count the Holy Spirit.
Exactly, I say. This theological point alone is enough to keep
me from even evaluating Christianity as a viable belief.
The whole trinity doctrine just shows how Christendom
doesnt understand God . . . Dan says.
I interrupt.
But the writers of the New Testament, I mean, surely they
A
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should have understood God if they were going to launch out on
this new religion.
Oh, the writers of the New Testament understood the
oneness of God just fine, says Dan. Take John, friend of Jesus.
He says that Jesus was the Word of God made flesh. And thats
really the heart of it. Jesus was one aspect of the Father, namely,
his words put in a bodily form. Jesus kept telling people his
words werent his own, but the Fathers. He said he didnt speak
anything apart from the Father. Paul understood this because he
gave Jesus credit for the creation, which we both know was God
speaking the world into existence.
So . . . I say slowly. No trinity?
No, says Dan. That was a man-made doctrine. I agree with
you 100%. God is one. Isaiah 9 talks about the son being born.
You know, the whole Handels Messiah thing. For to us a child is
born, to us a son is given. It says that his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace. Obviously, Jesus is the Father, specifically one aspect of
him, his words.
Got anymore scriptures to back that up? I ask him. Seeing
as, youre like, the only Christian on the planet who has come up
with this idea.
Of course, he says, pulling his slim New Testament out of a
shirt pocket. How about these . . . He flips through it. In
Matthew 4 Jesus quotes that man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. He
looks up. OK?
I nod.
Now, compare that to what he says in John 6, says Dan as
hes moving pages. Ill start with verse 57. Jesus is saying, as the
living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so
whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the
bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and
died. A reference to manna, Dan looks up briefly. Whoever
feeds on this bread will live forever. Skip down to 63. It is the
Spirit who gives life. The flesh is of no avail. The words that I
have spoken to you are spirit and life.
I think about this.
OK, I finally say. I think youve made a point. But I really
dont want to be a Christian and hang out with people who think
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God is three.
You could hang out with me, suggests Dan.
We both laugh.
OK, listen to this, says Dan, going back to his Bible. In the
book of Hebrews. Written to your people. It says in chapter 4
that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-
edged sword, penetrating and dividing the soul and spirit, the
joints and marrow, and completely understanding the thoughts
and intentions of the heart. And no person is hidden from his
sight, but all are unclothed and exposed to the eyes of the one to
whom we must give account.
He looks up.
Got that?
I nod. I hope so. It's a lot to take in.
OK, compare that to Revelation 19:15. Now were talking
about Jesus. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to
strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron.
I nod.
Jesus is the Word of God, I say.
Dan nods.
See, I think with the trinity doctrine, things get confusing. In
John 14 Jesus tells his disciples that if anyone loves him, that
person will keep his word and the Father will love him and that
Jesus and the Father will come to that person and make their
home with him. That makes sense when a person understands
that Jesus was Gods word in a human body. For the Father to be
in someone means that Jesus would automatically be in that
person too.
Well, what about the Holy Spirit. Dont Christians say thats
God too? And isnt the Holy Spirit supposed to be in
Christians?
1 John 5:6, says Dan.
He starts flipping through his Bible.
The one who came by water and blood is Jesus Christ. Not
just by the water but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is
the one who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. He looks up.
Did you catch that? The Spirit is the truth. Its not a person. Its
truth. And of course, that takes us to Jesus saying that his words
were spirit and truth. Now, lets talk about Paul.
Sure, Dan, lets talk about Paul.
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We grin at each other. Things have been getting a little flirty
between us the last few days.
Dan is back to his Bible.
In Colossians, the first chapter, Paul says he was given the job
to make the word of God fully known.
He looks at me.
You realize the implication of that? Its not just exegesis and
explanations of obscure passages. The word of God is Christ!
I'm nodding slowly. He's enthused by this and I'm catching a
bit of it.
Dan's eyes are back on his Bible.
Paul says that its a mystery hidden for ages and generations
and now revealed to the saints. Its Pauls job to make known how
great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this
mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now lets go
back to Jesus own words in John.
More Bible flipping as I sip my coffee.
John 5:39. Hes talking to the Pharisees and he says, 'you look
through the scriptures because you think that in them you have
eternal life and that it's them that bear witness about me . . .'
Dan looks up. Just before that he told them they didn't have his
word in them because they didn't believe the one the Father had
sent. You see, had the word of God been in them they would
have recognized the word in human form.
OK, Dan, I say. Youve convinced me. But aren't you, like,
the only person who knows this? I guess I'll just have to join your
cult when you start one.
He laughs.
Ill make you first in my harem. The world must be peopled
with my children so we can spread the truth to everyone . . .
Both of us start laughing. We're being silly, but it's gotten so
fun hanging out together.
And speaking of spreading the truth to the whole world,
says Dan, putting the Bible away and turning back to his coffee.
I wonder what's happening with Barrington Crane?
I nod.
I know, eh?
We've been keeping our eye on The Jerusalem Post but there
have been no further articles about Zed or his father.
It has to be hard growing up in a ministry empire like that,
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says Dan, shaking his head.
Well, at least his dad hasn't been caught with a hooker, or
anything, I say. Though I guess we're hypocritical if we expect
them to be better than everyone else.
Well, says Dan, slowly. Christians have to be held up to the
standard they preach. Otherwise, their lives are a demonstration
that sin is stronger than Christ.
We are momentarily distracted by the arrival of a group of
sailors from one of the oil tankers in the harbour.
Of course, Paul struggled with sin. But he didn't want to be
mastered by it. Dan continues, reaching for and biting into a
cookie And he said that were no longer slaves to sin but slaves
to righteousness. So anyone whos living in sin loves their sin
more than they love Christ.
Is this the sort of thing Dad was learning before he died?
It crosses my mind that maybe meeting Dan is God's way of
giving me that chance to understand Dad's faith.

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145
Chapter Sixteen
e return to Dan's place loaded down with dried fruits,
nuts, a huge bag of oranges, some dates, as well as a
variety of spices. Kareema had given us a list of things
to bring back. This means she'll be doing some baking, Dan tells
me.
Her cooking is so good, I'd be getting fat if we weren't
walking everywhere.
But when we arrive at Dan's house, I nearly drop the spices
and fruit.
It's Zed!
He's looking a little odd, like an Israeli soldier. That's why I
didn't notice him at first. He was sitting under a tree across the
road from the house.
What are you doing here? I ask as he crosses the road to us.
Dan shifts the bag of oranges to shake his hand.
Nice greeting, Zed says to me, grinning. I just came from
Jerusalem.
C'mon in, says Dan, waving him toward the house.
W
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Kareema is out back doing something in Dan's small garden,
so when we all go into the kitchen to put away her supplies, I put
on the kettle for some tea.
Are you hungry? I ask Zed.
He nods.
There's some pita bread left over on the counter. I find some
hummus in the refrigerator and soon Zed is scarfing it down.
Dan and I look at one another over his head. Has the kid run out
of money?
Have you contacted your dad? I ask, sitting down at the
table with him.
He shakes his head.
I'll do that next, he says, still eating.
Dan takes the seat across from him.
Good outfit, he says. Smart thinking.
Zed grins as he nods.
The kettle starts to whistle and I make the tea. In my opinion,
there is an awkward silence. But Zed is too busy eating to notice
and Dan is just watching him thoughtfully.
I bring the teapot over to the table and pour us all a cup.
Zed thanks me with a smile. I hope the kid didnt come back
because he has some kind of a thing for me.
I don't know why I'm resistant to the idea. The kid is cute and
we kind of connected in Jerusalem. I'm halfway to becoming a
Christian myself - Dan is pretty persuasive - so that obstacle may
not be there in the future. But I always figured Id meet someone
scholarly, maybe a bit older, and we would spend our life in quiet
library-like surroundings. In fact, someone like Dan. Zed would
probably want me to go bungee-jumping with him, albeit, off of
some Biblical cliff, such as the one that Jonathan and his armor-
bearer scaled when they were attacking the Philistines.
I watch him finishing off the hummus and gulping down the
tea. He was really hungry.
He didn't come here because he likes me, I realize. He came
here because he had no other place to go.

It is agreed that Zed will stay the night. Kareema doesn't mind
having another person to cook for. In fact, I think she enjoys the
way things are going around here. Now her cooking will be
appreciated by more people.
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She makes us a feast of chicken with a spicy yoghurt sauce,
roasted vegetables from the garden, and for dessert, a selection
of Arabic cookies made with some of the nuts and fruit we
brought back.
After dinner, Dan and I are in the sitting room enjoying a
lively discussion about the various British High Commissioners in
Palestine when we realize that Zed hasn't joined us. We go back
down the hallway and discover he's still in the kitchen, helping
Kareema with the dishes.
The Jews will be driven out of the land, she is saying. They
have made us servants in our own land when we used to be
masters in our house. Now we are their laborers. When the Jews
want some menial job done they say, call an Arab.
Zed is drying a plate.
Lots of countries have that two-tiered culture, he says. I
mean, in California everyone has Hispanic servants and they
dont have a revolt.
But that is different. They came to your country. The Jews
came to ours. You should think about history. The Europeans
came to Africa. It took time, but the Africans drove them out.
The British came to India. The Indians drove them out too. It
does not matter if it takes bloodshed. In both cases, the man
who belonged was treated as a servant, a slave even. But a man
must be master in his own house. So it does not matter how long
it takes, we will drive the Jews out. That we are their servants only
keeps the desire fresh in our hearts. Had they treated us as equals,
we might have forgotten that we were here first.
Dan smiles and takes my hand as we go back down the
hallway, leaving them to their talk.
Kareema will give him a lot to think about, he says.
I nod.
Some history from the other side is a good thing, I say. I
imagine he's heard it all from the perspective of the Israelis.
When Zed joins us, he has changed out of his IDF-style
outfit. After Kareema setting him straight about the Israeli
treatment of the Arabs, I doubt he'll be wearing that again.
Dan is in the middle of trying to convince me that God
chooses us, we don't choose him.
I dunno, I say. The predestination thing. Doesnt that make
God look pretty bad? I mean, he could save everybody, but he
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doesnt.
Dan leads forward in his chair as Zed takes a seat beside me
on the couch.
I think whats more important is whether its true or not. And
the Bible certainly talks about the elect. It also talks about some
people being vessels of destruction. God says hell have mercy
on who hell have mercy.
Yeah, but shouldnt there be some choice in it? I mean,
doesnt man have a right to choose . . . ?
Given the choice, man will choose not to turn to God. God
gives us the desire to turn to him.
And he just gives it to some people?
Exactly.
I dont think I like that God, I say, slowly. Maybe this is the
end of the road for me and Christianity. But Dan doesn't look
upset.
At least youre honest, he says, grinning. There are a lot of
Christians who go around talking like people have a choice to
choose God or not and they ignore the predestination scriptures.
They dont like God either. But they arent honest enough to
admit it, even to themselves.
What about the people who the missionaries dont get to? I
ask. I mean, the people who never even hear that there was a
guy named Jesus?
Zed has been quiet, but now he answers.
The Bible covers that, says Zed. Jesus said, 'woe to you
Chorazin and Bethsaida!' They were towns he had visited. But
they didnt recognize him as Messiah. He told them it would be
more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than
for them. Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities that he didnt visit.
Then he told the people of Capernaum that if the mighty works
he had done among them had been done in Sodom, it would
have still been standing. So its pretty obvious that God has a
handle on it all. Paul also tells the Corinthians to only judge the
people inside the church, not outside. He says God judges the
people outside.
Dan is nodding his agreement.
That might be why Jesus is always rebuking the religious
leaders of his day, Zed concludes.
Dan looks pleased.
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Exactly, says Dan. Christians should be concerned about
the state of the church more than the state of the world. Peter
said that judgment had begun on the house of God.
I still dont think Gods fair, I interrupt.
Fair? says Zed. Christians have received mercy. Fair would
be to receive death.
Death?
The wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life.
Zed grins at me. C'mon Jenna! Thats a billboard scripture.
Maybe in Texas, I think.
What if I want mercy, but God wont let me have mercy? I
say out loud.
Dan smiles.
If you want mercy, youre one of the elect. Anybody whos
not one of the elect doesnt even want mercy.
I'm learning a lot, says Zed, to Dan, not me.
Dan nods.
It's making me think, he continues. Maybe most of what
I've been taught isn't even true.
It's a possibility.
Zed leans back. It's funny, he says. When we were visiting
Hebron, our bus came under attack by some Palestinian kids with
stones. Nothing too crazy. Just a few stones hit the window. But it
really shook people up.
I can imagine, says Dan.
There was this one woman, Hilda or Helga, or something like
that, says Zed. She called out something along the lines of,
Let's pray! The devil has brought this obstacle and we'll pray our
way through it . . . Zed shakes his head at the memory. I think
Dad was a bit ticked that he didn't think of it first. But he was
too busy looking upset about the kids.
I can imagine. The great Barrington Crane's bus under attack
by some rock-throwing children.
Hilda told us all that the devil was shooting his fiery darts at
us, says Zed. It was so we couldn't visit Hebron and the burial
place of our precious forefather Abraham, the Father of
Promises. Everyone on that bus, including my dad, agreed. And
then there was this big prayer where we renounced the devil and
claimed protection and all that. A lot of people were praying in
tongues. It's sort of a holy thing, he explains to me. It's not
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English, more like babbling if you hear it.
I shake my head. What a world this kid has grown up in.
But on the bus here from Jerusalem, Zed continues. I was
reading my Bible. Amos 3. I read something I'd never seen
before. I mean, my whole life, anytime anything went wrong, the
devil got blamed. But in Amos 3, God takes credit for the bad
things that happen to us.
Zed looks at us, but he ends up focusing on Dan.
Did you know that? he asks.
Dan nods.
I didn't, says Zed. If one of the cameras that films the
church service broke, it got blamed on the devil. If my dad got a
toothache, we would pray against the devil who was trying to
stop him from preaching. My mom once lost her wallet and that
got blamed on the devil. And I'm glad I didn't know about Amos
3 because if I did and I'd told someone, they would have accused
me of being on the devil's side.
We smile.
The devil deceives people, says Zed. I can see that now.
The devil shoots fiery darts at our faith not at us literally.
According to Amos 4 God sends the physical things to get our
attention, so well return to him . . .
Zed sits there, thinking, and it's not the type of thing you want
to interrupt.
I'd love to be on his side. My dad's, I mean, he finally says.
But the thing is, there's this idea in the Bible that you know
people by their fruits. And the fruit of God's Spirit is love and
joy and peace and kindness and all that. Well, my dad doesn't
have any of that. My mom has put up with so much crap from
him while he stands up every week and is adored by his church
and by the whole college. He can preach a sermon, but I don't
think I ever remember him saying something nice to my mom.
There's not much Dan and I can say about this except to sit in
sympathetic silence.
Dan breaks it by asking what happened with the kids throwing
the rocks.
Zed grins.
Well, he says. I saw some dust being kicked up in the
distance. Other people noticed too and soon they were shouting
that it was the IDF and that we were saved. There was a lot of
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praise and thanks to God. It was a jeep-load of men and the kids
just scurried. I don't know if I was the only one to notice it, but
those men were not the IDF. They had black-and-white keffiyahs
around their neck and they were holding automatic weapons.
Dan chuckles.
But the IDF got the credit, Zed concludes.
I imagine they wanted to be saved by the IDF, not a jeep-load
of men who they would consider terrorists.
Zed nods.
There was talk on the bus one day about praying for Israel. I
think some people were actually planning to pray the Arabs right
out of here. The general idea was, why do they even want a
home? They can share with the Jews or they can go somewhere
else.
That's a common attitude, says Dan.
One guy said it was Arafat's fault for getting them all stirred
up.
Actually, I say. Palestinian nationalism goes back to
February 9, 1919 when six delegates of the newly formed
Congress of the Muslim-Christian Association renounced their
support for Syria and issued a statement that Palestine should
have a constitutional autonomous government . . .
My dad doesn't really care about stuff like that, says Zed.
All he cares about is that the land belonged to Abraham and his
descendants.
But the Arabs are his descendants too, I say.
But not according to the promises, says Zed. The promised
land went to Isaac, not Ishmael.
Dan nods.
No foreigners, no Arabs allowed. This land belongs to the
Jews.
Exactly, says Zed. But even at the time all this was taught
to me, I wondered about the Samaritan woman. You know, the
woman of Sychar that Jesus talked to? She wasnt a Jew.
Dan seems to be following this better than me.
That was two thousand years ago, Zed continues.
Samaritans were people brought in by the Assyrians after they
deported the Israelites. But remember how she referred to the
well as belonging to 'our ancestor Jacob'?
Dan nods.
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152
And Jesus didn't tell her that she had no right to make that
claim, says Zed. In fact, he told her something he hadn't told
anyone, Jew or otherwise. He told her who he was. Jesus
obviously had no problem with her living there.
Dan continues nodding.
You make an excellent point, Zed.
Now that I've talked to Kareema, I realize that there are a lot
of Christians among the Arabs here. Followers of Jesus. Actual
brothers and sisters in Christ. They have every right to the land.
Jesus doesn't mind.
I'm pretty impressed. The kid is different. He's grown up a bit
in the last few days.
Zed, I say.
He turns to me.
Don't take this the wrong way or let it go to your head or
anything . . .
He's looking at me, puzzled.
But I think you're really good at explaining the Bible and
making it interesting, I say. In fact, you'd probably make a good
preacher.
Zed snorts.
No, I mean a different kind of preacher. You know, someone
for the people who don't know much about Christianity or have
been turned off by it.
Zed laughs which isn't the response I expect. But I figure I
owe the kid something. He was pretty brave - laying it all out
about his parents.
You know my dad became a Christian before he died, I say.
So did my mom, actually. And I didn't give it a chance. I didn't
even want to hear about it. Too many TV preachers, I guess. I
didn't want to think my parents were dumb enough to fall for it.
I almost regret that as it slips out of my mouth. But Zed just
nods.
I know what you mean, he says. Now I do, anyway.

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Chapter Seventeen
f Zed ever liked me, it seems to be forgotten. In fact, it is
now he and Dan who do most of the talking.
Zed is obviously at a crossroads in his life. Everything he
has believed is now being rethought. I think it gives him a feeling
of having no sense of direction. He and Dan are discussing this
while Kareema serves us a breakfast of fresh bread, boiled eggs
and apricot jam.
Satan can use our negative impulses against us, Dan is
saying. For example, our desire to feel superior to others or our
fears. I dont think he can use our positive impulses against us,
like, love, a desire to serve God. But he can poison our desire to
serve God with our desire to feel superior to others and have us
judging people, thinking were doing so in righteousness . . .
Amen to that, says Zed. Thats my dads college
completely.
Whatever you end up believing about eschatology, the
foundation will be the same, says Dan, as Kareema pours him
more coffee. Faith working through love. The sermon on the
I
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mount.
I'm better at keeping rules, says Zed ruefully.
If our love for others is pure, we may fumble, we may fail,
but well be doing Gods work.
Thats probably really profound. Dan seems to be an outcast
of Christendom, but everything he's said to me has made sense.
Especially when I think about it for a bit.
Love everybody and let everything else take care of itself,
says Zed, grinning. It sounds right, but if I go back to my dads
college with that creed, it'll make me sound like a hippy.
This time it's me who helps Kareema with the dishes. Plus, I
want to learn how to make some of those fabulous Arabic
cookies. Kareema is kind enough to share some of her family
recipes with me, but I have to practically take an oath not to
divulge them to anyone. Two hours later, with a plate of freshly-
baked sesame-seed cookies and some rosewater tea, I join Dan
and Zed in the sunny sitting room.
But what about the promises to Abraham? The promises of
land? Zed is asking.
I think the land was just a foreshadowing. Take a look at
Hebrews 11:16 and then combine it with Hebrews 12:18 and
Galatians 4:26 . . .
Hold on, hold on, says Zed, reaching for the Bible on the
coffee table as I place the tray down on it. Hebrews 11:16?
Dan nods at Zed and smiles his thanks when I pour him some
tea.
'But as it is, Zed reads. They desire a better country, that is,
a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their
God, for he has prepared for them a city.' Zed looks up.
Hebrews 12:18, says Dan, reaching for a sesame cookie. I'm
watching for his reaction. He doesn't know I made them.
What do you think? I ask.
Excellent, he says. Kareema's specialty.
I smile to myself.
Zed has turned a page in the Bible and continues reading.
'For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing
fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest . . .'
Pick it up in verse 22, Dan says, reaching for another cookie.
'But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an uncountable
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number of angels . . .' Zed looks up. I think I'm beginning to
get your point. I learned a lot at the conference. But I still want
to get it straight in my mind. If I go back to Daddy's college, I
could just be overwhelmed by it all again.
Dan nods.
It's what you're used to, he says.
For example, what about the Jews returning to this land in
1948?
I can detect a hint of a smile on Dan's face.
What about it?
Well, you know, fulfillment of prophecy, and all that.
Is it?
OK, OK, says Zed, holding up his hands in an 'I surrender'
gesture. I'm not going to fall into the trap of saying that it's a
fulfillment of end-time prophecy because I've come to see that
the whole end-time thing is debatable. But you've got to admit, it
is a bit miraculous . . . The Israeli victories in 1948 and 1967 and
all that . . .
Dan stands up and goes over to one of his bookshelves.
A miracle it may be, he says. Though some of the officers
in the IDF would be able to tell you why these victories were
quite logical under the circumstances. He finds a couple of
books and puts them on the coffee table in front of Zed before
sitting down again. The books are histories of the wars of Israel
written by different generals. But I don't want to get into the
realm of speculation. It's what the Bible says that matters.
Throughout history, people have taken events in their lifetime
and applied them to prophecy. Rarely does it actually turn out to
be the fulfillment.
Fair enough, says Zed.
It defies reason, says Dan. Many Christians think that
there's this whole detailed outline of events that are going to
happen in their lifetime. I know you're thoroughly familiar with
the whole scenario.
Zed nods.
I'm not, I say.
Dan smiles.
Well, he explains. There's this idea that Europe will unite
into one superpower, in essence, the former Roman Empire.
Eventually there will be one world government under a dynamic,
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but evil, ruler - the Antichrist. A new temple will be built in
Jerusalem and the Antichrist will stand in it and declare himself
to be God. There are other elements, such as a mark everyone
will receive and need to have in order to buy or sell anything.
Zed is nodding vigorously.
But what seems absurd to me, says Dan, is that the Bible is
supposed to predict all this but has been silent about the last two
thousand years. Justinian, Charlemagne, Napoleon - all not
mentioned. Martin Luther and the Reformation. Things like the
British Empire and Hitler and the Holocaust not even referred
to. You'd think that something like six million Jews being
murdered would have at least a passing reference.
I think I see what you mean, says Zed, leaning forward.
Prophecy usually had an immediate application for the people
listening, like a warning that if people didn't change, Babylon
would come and put an end to Judah.
Exactly, says Dan. There were, of course, long-term
prophecies mixed in with the immediate prophecies. About the
coming of the Messiah, for instance. But even there, they didn't
take two thousand years to come to pass. And the prophecies in
Daniel represent an unbroken line of predictions.
That's something I've learned since coming here, says Zed.
I mean, my dad has a ten-part DVD series about Daniel and
there's so much speculation about the future in it. It doesn't just
teach that the prophecies go from the king of Babylon, to
predicting the rise of Persia, followed by Greece, followed by
Rome.
Exactly, says Dan. That's what I mean about the absurdity
of a two-thousand year silence.
Well, I'm glad Zed is getting a lot out of this. I've been reading
my Bible since I arrived here, but Dan and Zed have a lifetime
advantage over me.
Not that teachings about the Antichrist don't have an
application today, continues Dan. According to John, in his
epistle, an antichrist is anyone who denies that Jesus is the
Messiah. He clearly says it's someone who denies the Father and
the Son.
And there are people like that today, says Zed, looking
thoughtful.
But John also said that it was the last hour and not only is
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antichrist coming, but many had already come. The immediate
application, I believe, would have been to the Jews who denied
that God had a son who was the Messiah. John says no one who
denies the Son has the Father. In essence, the non-Messianic Jews
no longer have access to their God because as John says, whoever
confesses the Son, has the Father.
Why would that message be more important then than it is
now? asks Zed, leaning forward.
Well, at that time there was a temptation to go back to the
laws and Jewish customs that many of them had grown up with.
There was also an active movement within the early church to
turn the Gentile converts into practicing Jews. It was what the
Jews were comfortable with, but it was also a deterrent to
persecution by the Jews, which was pretty intense at the time.
I guess we don't have the same conditions now, says Zed.
At that time, part of the whole message was not to look to
the Jews for spiritual leadership, as some were doing. The Father
was now accessed through the Son, not through keeping the law.
I can see that, says Zed nodding. But what about the
prophecy that the Antichrist would stand up in the temple and
say he was God?
Actually, says Dan. You mean the man of sin. He's not
explicitly referred to as the Antichrist. But yes, he stands up in
the temple and declares himself to be God. Dan strokes his chin
as he thinks. The most obvious explanation is that since the
temple was still standing at that time, it happened then and no
one like Josephus, for example, recorded the event. Another
possibility is that since the body of Christ is the current temple,
we're talking about a church matter. Many reformers believed
that this was fulfilled by the Pope who, of course, is said to speak
on behalf of God. Finally, the most convoluted and least elegant
solution is that it is a future event and requires that a new temple
be erected before it can be fulfilled.
Zed laughs.
In any case, says Dan. A better understanding of history is
what the church needs today. In 1650, Dr. Thomas Fuller wrote
a rather lengthy-titled book, A Pisgah-sight of Palestine and the
Confines thereof with a Historie of the Old and New Testaments acted
Theron. In it he said that all the prophecies about the Jews
returning to the land were fulfilled in the return from the
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Babylonian captivity.
Wow, says Zed. Of course, history is taught at Dad's
college, but I guess we kind of pick and choose what we learn.
Ironically, history is an essential aspect off the study of
eschatology, says Dan. Take the English Puritans. They tried to
hasten the second coming by readmitting Jews to England to
fulfill the prophecy that they would be scattered in all the nations
before their return to the land of Israel. Going back even further,
Saint Patrick thought he was living in the end times because he
was literally taking the gospel to the ends of the earth when he
took it to Ireland.
That's fascinating, says Zed. I can see why he thought it,
standing at the edge of the known world.
Britain went through everything the Americans are going
through, Dan continues. Legislating morality isn't new. In 1653,
the English Parliament actually attempted to remake the
Constitution into a combination of Mosaic Law and the
teachings of Jesus. Cromwell felt he was leading the nation back
to God and many people liked the idea.
I've been teaching Dan everything I know about the British
mandate in Palestine, but he's miles ahead of me in his grasp of
the history of his faith and of this whole region.
But Ive read a couple of histories about Englands
relationship to the Holy Land. The British felt a connection to
the land because of their scriptures.
Ironically, or perhaps inevitably, I say, the Americans have
also ended up mediating in and ensnared in the Middle East, just
like the British did. Many Americans think they're unique, which
probably contributes to their sense of living in the end-time.
Zed nods.
I know what you're saying. We Americans think we're
important, the centre of things. I've heard preachers take
scriptures like Romans 1:18 and apply it to Americans.
All about the ungodly men who suppress the truth by their
unrighteousness? says Dan.
Yes, and I mean, they just ignore the fact that it was written
to Romans in the first-century. Zed grabs the Bible and quickly
flips through it. I mean, here in verse 21 it says, they knew God,
but they did not honor him as God or give any thanks to him.
They became vain in their thinking and their foolish hearts were
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blackened. Zed looks up. It's clearly talking about people who
lived at that time but preachers will look at verses like 26 and say
it describes homosexuals in America. I mean, why can't we apply
it to the Romans who it was written to?
I think it's because we feel more important if we can apply to
our time, says Dan. In fact, we don't want it just to apply to our
time, but to our country as well. So many North American
Christians talk about a future persecution of the church, part of
their end-days scenario. But what about all the Christians who are
being persecuted around the world right now? Persecution is an
everyday reality for many believers, but North Americans spend
time talking about hypothetical future persecution.
Zed nods.
I get up to return the tray to Kareema. When I come back,
Dan and Zed are discussing the idea of Zed turning himself in to
the police.
Ideally, wouldn't you like to just go straight to your father?
Dan asks.
Zed hesitates.
I won't exactly be welcomed back like the prodigal son.
The way he says that chills me. Is the kid going to face the
wrath of his father? What kind of man is his father behind
closed doors?
I want them to know I'm not a missing person, says Zed.
I'm still debating what to do as far as Dad goes.
Well, legally you're entitled to make your own decisions now,
says Dan. The age of majority is 18 in Israel, as well as in
America.
Zed is still looking hesitant, almost gloomy.
Tell you what, says Dan. Let's go with you to the police
station here and get everything sorted out. Then why don't the
three of us take a trip to Jerusalem? He looks at me for
approval. We've been talking about going there. There are a lot of
sites Dan wants to show me and, of course, he wants to go
through Jerusalem with my vintage guidebook.
Sure! I say, trying to sound cheerful. Zed really looks like
he'll be facing execution if he goes back home. You probably
didn't see it all while you were there.
I'm broke, he says flatly.
Dan and I look at one another. He knows about my three
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million dollars and I know that he's been highly successful with
his career as an author.
No problem, I say. I'm sure the Bible is loaded with
scriptures about sharing your money, and all that. C'mon kid!
Dan's right. Come clean with the police and don't worry about
your dad right now.
Zed seems relieved that we're making decisions for him and
mumbles a thank-you as we all stand up. Dan and I each take an
arm and hustle him out the door before he can change his mind.

Israeli bureaucracy is even more complicated than Canadian
bureaucracy, so it is two hours later and countless forms filled out
before we can call Zed a free man. Barrington Crane will be told
that his son is safe, but at least no one makes Zed stick around
long enough to actually have a reunion with his dad.
So now we're on a late-afternoon bus to Jerusalem.
I'm in a seat beside a female soldier. In front of me are Dan
and Zed. I'm wondering what the solider thinks of their
theological conversation.
. . . I mean, as a child I was always terrified of that 'great
tribulation'. My dad always taught his church that we'd be
raptured before it all, but I was always worried that Id be one of
the ones left behind.
For a child, that would be a terrifying thought.
I know, says Zed. I used to have nightmares about living
through the bad stuff.
Well, even in Revelation there are comforting scriptures. Not
just in terms of eschatology, but also if you want to understand
the compassionate nature of God.
I didn't notice anything that I found comforting, says Zed.
Even if I can't see it, Dan is obviously pulling the slim Bible
out of his shirt pocket. I can hear some pages rustle.
Revelation 2:22 says to repent and you'll be spared great
tribulation.
The female soldier has the window seat and she's now
snoozing against the glass. I guess conversations about the Bible
are pretty common in Israel.
Revelation 3:3 says to repent and it won't come upon you like
a thief in the night. Dan turns a page. And here's the big one.
Revelation 3:10. 'Because you have patiently kept my word, I will
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keep you from the hour of tribulation that will come upon the
whole world, to try all those that live on the earth.'
That's funny, says Zed. My Daddy didn't exactly elaborate
on those scriptures.
It's not always in a preacher's best interest to teach every
scripture. I hope you don't mind me saying it, but sometimes it's
better to have a fearful audience then to present them with the
freedom of God's word. A good teacher wants to set his
listener's free with God's truth.
Yeah, says Zed. But you set people free and then they don't
need you anymore.
Very perceptive, says Dan. Now look at this one. Through
the crack in the seats I can see him passing his Bible to Zed.
Verse 11 says, 'I'm coming soon.' To me, that's another indicator
that the event passed already. But nonetheless, I'm comforted by
God's heart, His desire to spare those who repent.
It's serious business, says Zed, his head down, still looking at
the Bible. What scares me is how there's this information out
there, but it's not getting taught to my dad's church. He looks
up. Like the mark of the beast. At the conference, I learned that
in Roman times, a guild had its own god.
That's right. Business was conducted under the patronage of
a Roman deity and business transactions were made in his or her
name. Since the Roman Emperor was also considered a god at
the time that Revelation was written, that meant that Christians
could not do business in the name of the Emperor. Without
being able to sign the necessary contracts, Christians were
excluded from buying. Since trade guilds also had a patron god,
Christians were excluded from making a living and selling
anything.
It's the sort of thing people should know about, says Zed.
But I'd never heard it.
I turn my attention to my dad's guidebook. I really think we
should stay at the American Colony Hotel, like Dad
recommended. The American Colony was a thriving community
when the British arrived in 1917.
I get out my vintage guidebook and select the places Dan and
I definitely have to visit. I get so caught up in planning our visit
that we're on the outskirts of Jerusalem by the time I put both
guidebooks away.
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Let's look at 2 Timothy, Dan is saying. They've been talking
the whole time. It's Paul's final letter. In verse 10 of chapter 1 he
refers to the appearing of Christ who eliminated death and
brought life and immortality. The Greek word is epiphaneia and it's
the same word that's used to describe the second coming. Dan
flips through some pages. Here in 1 Timothy 6:14 he's
encouraging the believers to keep the commandments until the
appearing of Christ. And back here in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 it says
that Jesus will reduce the lawless one to nothing by the
appearance of his coming. Dan glances at Zed. Do you see
what's happening here? Futurists say that the appearing is still
ahead of us. But Paul's second letter to Timothy says it has
already happened!
I can see Zed's eyebrows go up as he listens to Dan. He has
the window seat but I doubt he's even looked out at the scenery
this whole time. The soldier beside me yawns as she starts to
wake up.
2 Timothy 1:10, says Dan. We looked at that already. Now
we'll go to chapter 4. Verse 1 is subject to discussion. The King
James Version places his appearance in the future, along with the
judgment of the living and the dead. But the more recent
versions refer to the appearing in the context of an exhortation
to preach the gospel. Now, in verse 8 it explicitly puts the
appearing in the past tense. Again, it's the context of the
judgment and it's saying that there will be a crown of
righteousness for all who loved his appearing.
Of course, it could mean that by the time the judgment
happens, the appearing will be a past event.
Yes, agrees Dan. It's open to that interpretation. But I
think it's something to keep an open mind about. Which
appearing are we talking about if the word is the same? Which
coming are we talking about? Peter says in his second letter that
there will be scoffers who say, where is this coming that was
promised? And that everything is just carrying on as usual.
Futurists set that time of scoffers into a hypothetical end-time
that's still ahead of us. But it could just as easily, and more
probably, be referring to his first coming and the scoffers are the
people who never acknowledged it and think that life is just going
on as always.
I never thought about it that way, says Zed.
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The soldier beside me has pulled a brush out of her knapsack
and is running it through her long hair. Outside, the traffic is
getting denser as we move from the outskirts to the centre of the
city.
We also have to rethink our traditions, says Dan. For
example, the traditional belief is that Paul was beheaded during
Nero's reign in the mid 60's. But an honest scholar will tell you
that there's no certainty about it. All we really know is what Paul
tells us. In chapter two of his last letter here, he clearly says the
resurrection hasn't happened. He refers to two men who have
been teaching that it has happened.
Now, that's interesting, says Zed. What kind of
resurrection were the people expecting? I mean, if someone told
me the resurrection had happened, I would say, yeah, right,
wouldn't I have noticed?
Yes, that's exactly what I mean about really only knowing
what Paul tells us. Paul doesn't refute the idea of the resurrection
already happening with a description of how obvious the event
will be. He just rebukes the men for upsetting people's faith. In
fact, based on the description in chapter 3, we know that it's a
godless time in the church, or possibly among the non-believing
Jews. They're people who have the appearance of godliness but
love money and pleasure. In fact, Paul says in chapter 4 that a
time is coming when people will not tolerate solid doctrine but
will turn away from the truth and follow myths.
Dan seems to suddenly realize that we have arrived and he
shuts his Bible and puts it back in his pocket.
So, to sum up, he says. In Paul's final letter, we have an
appearing that's already happened and a resurrection that's still
coming.

It's dark when we arrive at the front of the American Colony
Hotel. All of us are traveling light (my trunk of books is back at
Dan's house) so we just walk from the bus depot to the hotel.
The lobby is an elegant stone interior. There are potted plants
and an open courtyard restaurant that makes it feel like a garden
with all the luxuries of interior living. Like its name suggests, it is
neither Arab nor Jewish and therefore a neutral place for the
many factions in Israel to meet, not to mention all the
international diplomats and UN representatives that pass
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through. The first direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis
happened here, culminating in the Oslo Peace Accord.
People are milling in the lobby, but the man at the front desk
gives us his full attention.
There's only one room left, one of the rooms that used to
belong to the pashas wives. At $405 a night, Im not surprised it
was one of the last to go.
Once we have our key, we hand our bags to one of the porters
to take to our room. The American Colony offers a
complimentary drink upon arrival and Im ready to relax.
Lets try the Cellar bar, I suggest. Its got a great
atmosphere.
As we head downstairs I say to Zed, You probably know a bit
about the history of this place.
Sorry, not a clue, he replies.
You do, you just dont know it. You know the guy who wrote
It Is Well With My Soul?
Zed nods.
Horatio Spafford. I learned about him at college. No, wait. It
was a sermon. I think he wrote that hymn after he heard the
news that his four daughters went down in a shipwreck.
I nod as we enter the dim coolness of the Cellar bar and select
a small round table with lounge chairs.
Only his wife survived. They had another daughter, Bertha,
and then a son, but the son died of scarlet fever.
A waiter comes over and we place our orders. Zed asks for a
Maccabee beer and Dan and I have the house cocktail, the
American Colony Delight.
They decided to move to Jerusalem. Be closer to God, or
whatever. Along with some other people, they started the
American Colony, as sort of a way to get back to the first-century
church. You know, communal living, helping the poor, that sort
of thing. I think by this time they had had another daughter.
I glance at Dan to see if he knows any of this and am gratified
that he's listening as if it's new to him.
I dont know all the details, I continue, but they outgrew
their facilities and bought this pashas house. I nod to indicate
our general surroundings. The hotel thing came about as a result
of Peter Ustinovs grandfather. I forget his name, but he was in
the Holy Land and needed a place to stay and was invited here.
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Then after a while, having Europeans stay here became a steady
thing.
Our drinks arrive.
Whats in it? asks Zed, nodding toward my drink.
Rum, I say. And orange juice. There's a lot of fresh orange
juice in Israel.
What makes it pink?
Grenadine, I guess. Didnt you have Shirley Temples as a
kid?
Zed laughs as he takes another deep drink of his beer.
Are you kidding? Avoid the appearance of evil, was one of
my Dads favourite sayings.
I shake my head. I'd forgotten about that one.
Anyway, I say. As far as the American Colony goes, they did
a lot of good here. Helped a lot of people. Ran hospitals, that
sort of thing. Bertha Vester Spafford got permission to turn the
Grand New Hotel, inside the Jaffa Gate, into a hospital during
World War I. She said it was neither grand nor new and quite
filthy, but they did their best. My favourite story about her is that
when the mayor of Jerusalem knew the British were coming in
1917, he came here and Bertha gave him a white bed sheet that
was used as the surrender flag when they first encountered the
British. I think the mayor of Jerusalem ended up surrendering to
the British seven times before he finally got the right person, but
thats another story.
Dan smiles.
Ill look forward to hearing it sometime.

Back in the room, it's a bit awkward. There are two double
beds, so obviously I'll get one to myself and Dan and Zed will
share. They're both Christian, after all. Segregation of the sexes.
I come out of the bathroom wearing what I always sleep in
a tank top and shorts.
Zed goes over to the air-conditioner and cranks it up to the
maximum setting.
What did you do that for? I demand. I'm going to freeze.
That's the point, he mutters. So you'll put on more
clothes.
Something like a snicker comes from Dan, who is sitting on
his bed going through my vintage guidebook.
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What do you care how much clothing I have on? I say.
He just stares at me and says, Believe me. It matters.
Dan is watching all this with amusement.
I think I get it. My outfit might inspire impure thoughts, or
something.
What is it with you guys? I say. Christians, I mean! I get
off my bed and go into the bathroom where there are some
complimentary bathrobes. I come out of the bathroom tying the
belt around my waist. Happy now?
Zed nods.
Is sex the worst sin with you evangelicals? I ask, still grumpy
as I climb into my bed. I suppose I'll have to remove the
bathrobe under the covers.
No, says Zed. Being the Antichrist is the worst sin. But sex
is next.
Now a definite guffaw comes from Dan.
At least I won't have to worry about being ravished in the
night.

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Chapter Eighteen
hat is it about Jerusalem? says Zed, looking around
the courtyard caf, while we have our breakfast. I
mean, have you ever noticed how many of the Old
Testament prophecies revolve around Jerusalem?
Dan nods as he sips his coffee. Our plates are piled with food,
a mix of east and west tomatoes and cucumbers sit beside
scrambled eggs, Arabic-style pastries alongside fried potatoes.
There is a complimentary buffet breakfast and we all woke up
starving.
Well, basically, back then, if you wanted to talk to God you
had to go up to the temple in Jerusalem. Solomon's prayer at the
inauguration of the temple included a request to God to hear the
prayers of the people there. It's nearly impossible for us to grasp
the significance of that now. We Christians are just so used to
praying anywhere and expecting God to be close by.
Zed nods.
There was a man at the conference here, a Dr. Leidbetter,
who pointed out something like that.
W
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Dan nods.
I think I've read his book. He really stressed that point. It was
Jesus who told his disciples that a time would come when those
who loved God would actually have Jesus and the Father living in
them. Up until then, only a select few, such as David, or the
prophets, had experienced God's Spirit. If you wanted an
assurance that God had heard your prayer, you had to go to the
tabernacle or the temple. Think of Hannah praying and asking
God for a son in the tabernacle.
That transition was a big deal, says Zed. I didn't realize that
until coming here. He starts working on his scrambled eggs.
It sure was, Dan agrees, adding some salt to his tomatoes.
That's why so many of the prophecies revolve around
Jerusalem. Jerusalem was where the temple was and where people
had to go to experience God's presence. But the New Covenant
held the promise of being God's temple. It was a massive
transformation. It was like having Jerusalem right inside of you.
Do you think Babylon in Revelation is Rome or Jerusalem?
Zed asks.
This conversation has left me mute. I still haven't read
Revelation. I'm really going to have to get around to that. But
Dan is entirely up for the conversation.
Revelation 16:6, he says, right away, nodding as he adds
some pepper to his potatoes. God's wrath is being poured down
on the people who have killed the saints and the prophets. Jesus
clearly linked Jerusalem to the city that kills the prophets in
Matthew 23. But there was another city at the time that was
linked with killing the saints and that city is Rome. Jerusalem is
compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. Rome is compared to
Babylon. That's really a key to understanding Revelation, I think.
Where is Rome linked to Babylon? Zed asks.
At the end of 1 Peter, Peter passes on a greeting from
Babylon.
Oh that's right, says Zed. I heard about that one at the
conference.
So you would agree that it's highly improbable that Peter was
in the ancient city of Babylon which had never been rebuilt?
Yes, definitely, says Zed.
Tradition places him in Rome at the time this letter was
written. Both he and Paul were said to be martyred in Rome. If
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you read the description of Babylon in Revelation 18, starting in,
I believe it's verse 11, it describes all of her merchandise,
including horses and chariots. That fits with Rome. In fact, I
would ask anyone who says Babylon is a future city, then where
are the horses and chariots? Where are the slaves? Where is the
ivory? Where are the cattle and the sheep? These are all
commodities of an ancient city.
I think you've read Dr. Doyle's book too, says Zed smiling.
Dr. Melvin Doyle? says Dan. Yes, I have. Did you meet
him too?
Yes, but he was in a hurry and we didn't really have time to
talk.
Well, he goes into both theories. The one in favour of
Babylon being Jerusalem and the one in favour of Rome being
Jerusalem.
Dan pauses in his eating to get out his New Testament. He
opens somewhere near the end.
In chapter 17, the city is compared to a prostitute. The kings
of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her. This is a
city that all the world leaders have intimate relations with.
Another identifying mark is that she kills Christians. Prophets
and saints have been killed there. In fact, this city gets credit for
all who were slain on earth. And this fits because Rome trampled
the earth with her conquests.
Isn't there something similar in Matthew 23? asked Zed.
Something about Jerusalem being told by Jesus that she's going
to pay for all the blood . . .
Dan nods as he puts his Bible down to continue eating.
But that's a different case. Jesus refers to the righteous blood
from Abel down to Zechariah. That's what they'll be paying for. I
believe Rome will be paying for all the rest, including the
prophets and saints killed in Rome.
Zed picks up Dan's Bible.
Chapter 18 focuses on her commerce, Dan continues. The
merchants of the earth have grown rich from her. All who had
ships at sea grew rich because of her. Shes a city of luxurious
living. Of all the cities in history, Rome is the obvious fit In fact,
there isn't a city on earth today that matches this description.
Well, says Zed, as he skims the chapter. That is comforting.
And fascinating. Of course, if there's a sudden reappearance of
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chariot-racing in some major city that persecutes Christians, you'll
have to rethink the whole thing . . .
Dan laughs.
Yes, when they start building that Circus Maximus, I'll be the
first to admit I was wrong.
After breakfast, I manage to persuade them to take a break
from theology and take a British mandate tour instead.
I slip on my sunglasses as we head out into the sunshine. We're
going to walk through Rehavia. It's a Jewish neighborhood that
was built during the mandate, noted for being a garden suburb.
Every lot was required to have a portion set aside for greenery.
The houses were generally built in a Bauhaus style which gives
the neighborhood a clean, European feeling. This neighborhood
was also home to the Jewish Agency a three-story building with
a large open courtyard that was often a centre for Jewish
gathering, most notably on Partition Night when the United
Nations granted the Jews the right to partition Palestine and
create a Jewish state. In March 1948, it was bombed by the Arabs,
but later rebuilt. It still functions today, handling immigration,
land development, as well as the donations that come in from the
Diaspora.
I open my mouth to point this all out to Dan and Zed, except
that they are back to their theology.
Jude is writing an urgent letter to the church, Dan is saying,
talking about the people who have crept in unnoticed, who are
not believers. He concludes that the reader must recall the
predictions of the apostles that in the last times there will be
scoffers following their own ungodly passions.
I get it! says Zed nodding enthusiastically. Jude believed
that those prophecies were fulfilled in his day!
I sigh and pull my camera out of my purse to snap a shot of
the Jewish Agency. I missed this the first time around.
Exactly. You always have to read the letter in the context of
its day. Second Timothy 3 is a chapter that's constantly being read
out of context and applied to today. It has a list of qualities
people will have in the last days. They'll be proud and arrogant
and lovers of money . . .
I know that one, says Zed. Daddy's always using it to prove
we live in the end-times. You know, America and all.
Exactly, says Dan. But if you look carefully you can't apply
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it to America today. These are men who appear to be godly, not
people in the world. At the end of the list it says they have the
appearance of godliness, but deny its power. It matches up with
the Jews of Jesus' day and the things he said in Matthew 23. Paul
tells Timothy to avoid such people. It was written to Timothy and
it was a practical warning with specific examples.
It's hard for me to understand why I didn't see this before,
says Zed, shaking his head. They are oblivious to Rehavia. It is
now an upscale Jewish neighborhood. By limiting stores and
shops to just the main streets, the neighborhood has maintained a
peacefulness not found in other parts of Jerusalem.
The important thing is to read the Bible through yourself,
says Dan. Don't let someone tell you what a scripture means.
Get out your Bible, read the whole thing in context. You've
probably been reading the Bible in bits and pieces, looking up
scriptures but not reading the entire chapter or book.
Zed nods.
Dad's ministry provides Bible studies for people to do on
different topics. You just look up different scriptures.
Well, that's a dangerous way to study your Bible if you're not
already familiar with it as a whole.
Since I covered so much ground my first visit, I want to check
out some of the more obscure sites this second time around. I
tell Dan and Zed, if they care, that we'll head over to the Israeli
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour. It is housed in a former
hotel built by the Supreme Muslim Council in 1928. The
Supreme Muslim Council was a response to the growing Zionism
in Palestine. The Zionists were very organized in presenting their
requests (some said demands) to the British. The Arabs found it
necessary to organize in a similar way. For its day, the Palace
Hotel was a marvel. Many of the rooms had their own
bathrooms. There were elevators and central heating.
Unfortunately the hotel could not compete with the King David
when it opened in 1931, but the British took it over for
administrative purposes and the building continued to be useful.
After that, and even though I did it my first time here, I
should probably show Dan the UN headquarters. It used to be
Government House for the British Administration, home to the
British High Commissioner. The natives took special glee in the
fact that it was built on the Hill of Evil Counsel. (Named for the
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tradition that it is the location where the High Priest Caiphas
recommended that one man, Jesus, be sacrificed for the nation,
rather than have the Romans come in and take their land to
thwart any revolution.)
So where do you think your dad's group is now? Dan asks,
as we leave the peace of Rehavia and start the trek to the
government district. The streets aren't crowded, but it's getting
hot. The trees in planters along the way are too scrawny to
provide shade. The modern Jerusalem isn't as picturesque as the
Old City, but the buildings retain a distinctive Israeli look
mostly white stone built in a simple elegant style that pays a
passing homage to the eastern setting.
Despite the heat, the Hassidic Jews are out in their black
outfits. The soldiers contribute a drab green to the general milieu.
Most people are in western dress. This isn't an area for tourists
though we might see some when we get closer to the Knesset.
I think they're supposed to be doing Galilee now, says Zed.
I read the itinerary before we left. They'll be having a boat ride
on the Sea of Galilee with a fish lunch afterward.
Are you sorry to miss that?
A little bit, says Zed. But maybe I'll see it sometime. He
looks around the streets. When we were here, Dad said that
someday armies would surround this city.
Dan nods.
He also talked a lot about the final judgment that was to
come on the earth.
Cheerful, I think, glancing at some of the people. Did anyone
overhear Barrington Crane while he told his fellow-Americans all
this?
Was he referring to Matthew 25? Dan asks. When Jesus
separates the sheep from the goats?
Probably, says Zed.
I think the final judgment of Matthew 25 is of all the people
killed in the cataclysmic event of the destruction of Jerusalem,
says Dan. The righteous are given a voice in Revelation. They're
told in Revelation 6 to wait until all who were going to be killed
had been killed as they themselves had been.
But how can you really be sure? Zed asks. I mean, I've
heard a lot of interesting things this week, but how can I really
know that all this stuff isn't going to happen in the future?
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I would never tell you that your Dad is wrong, says Dan. I
would just say study it and pray about it yourself. You may read it
differently then. Take Revelation 13:10. Some people are going to
be taken captive. Some people are going to die with a sword. And
it's hardly worth mentioning, but most major wars today are not
fought with swords. But carrying on, it's clear from Revelation
that there's going to be a lot of bloodshed. The church survived
because the Christian's heeded Jesus' warning that when you see
Jerusalem surrounded by armies, run!
Zed is listening intently.
You see, even those in Jerusalem were able to flee. Roman
armies were surrounding Jerusalem but were temporarily called
away to put down a rebellion, in Egypt, I think it was. I'd have to
check to be certain, but in any case, it gave the Christians a
chance to flee to Pella which was a Gentile town beyond the
Jordan. Otherwise, I doubt many of them would have survived
the scourge of the returning Roman army.
They destroyed Jerusalem and I presume they did a lot of
damage to the surrounding area?
Dan nods.
That's right. So the church carried on while the Jewish nation
fell to the sword and the Jews were taken captive. You see, at this
point, the church was being persecuted by both the Jews and the
Romans. Revelation, I believe, is about the fall of both of those
cities, though I'll grant you, Rome took a little longer to fall than
Jerusalem. But that's why it was a book of hope and
encouragement for the early church.
OK, says Zed, nodding. I can see that.
In addition, continues Dan. I think there's a radical shift in
theology. Previous to the judgment of Matthew 25 where Jesus
separates the goats from the sheep and sends some people to an
eternal fire and some to his everlasting kingdom, the dead simply
waited. Paul describes death as a sleep. But now eternal life
begins. No more waiting for the saints. Upon death, they will be
able to enter the kingdom. It's a marvelous time for the saints.
You've read, On Earth as it is in Heaven by Darcy Chapman,
says Zed, grinning.
Another one of your new friends? says Dan, chuckling.
Yes, I admit it. His book is on my shelf. Along with several of
his suspense novels, I should add. But when it comes to the
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Bible, I encourage you to read it for yourself. I wouldn't want you
to just accept my conclusions. Our convictions must rest on the
Holy Spirit guiding each of us into truth.
I agree with you there, says Zed. One of the men at the
conference said it would help if we knew more history. Like
Josephus.
True, says Dan. Josephus said that 'Vespasian and Titus, his
son, governed the habitable earth.' It would have been
understood at the time that all the inhabitants of the world were
the people of the Roman Empire.
I see what you mean, says Zed. Dad is always talking in
terms of the whole world being affected by these prophecies. But
the whole world in the first-century would have been the Roman
world.
Exactly.
I manage to draw Dan's attention to the building that houses
the Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour. He nods and
smiles, but he's also listening to Zed who's expanding on some
theory about the new Jerusalem being the New Covenant.
I sigh and pull out my camera to take a photo of the building.
The only problem is, I don't have a picture of it when it was the
Palace Hotel. Oh well.
So Revelation says that there are still evil-doers outside the
new Jerusalem, Zed is saying. This is a busy part of Jerusalem
with all the civil officials and visitors going in and coming out of
the buildings. But Revelation 21:8 says that they'll be thrown
into the lake of fire, or the second death. That means that the
new Jerusalem exists at a time before the second death.
Second death? I say. Isn't one death enough?
Well, Jenna, says Dan, answering for Zed. How it works in
Christian theology is that there is death and then judgment and
then anyone whose name is not written in God's book of life, or
in other words, who doesn't have Jesus as their saviour, is thrown
into the lake of fire. In the end, according to Revelation, death
itself will be thrown into that fire.
OK, OK, I say. I think I get it. I guess Dad's name is
written in God's book of life.
I always thought that the new Jerusalem came down at the
very end, continues Zed. It's, like, the final event.
Most people do, says Dan. But in fact, as you know, in
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Galatians, Paul equated the new Jerusalem with the New
Covenant. So taking that interpretation and applying it to
Revelation. . . .
I guess it's up to me to lead them. I get out Dad's guidebook
to pick the most direct route to the Hill of Evil Counsel.
Dan and Zed just continue standing and talking.
When the devil tries to destroy the beloved city, as it's called
in Revelation 20:9, I would suggest that it's not literal Jerusalem
he's trying to destroy, but the New Covenant. After all, we're
warned several times in the New Testament that we are engaged
in a spiritual battle and that spiritual forces are at work in the
unseen world.
You know, says Zed thoughtfully. I can really see that. It
fits.
A further fit in my mind is that in Revelation, physical
Jerusalem is referred to as Egypt and Sodom. So it's far more
likely that the beloved city of Revelation 20 is the new Jerusalem,
not the physical one here on earth.
I trace a route out on the map of Jerusalem and try to commit
the street names to memory before putting away my guidebook.
OK, follow me, I say.
It's kind of all out of order though, says Zed, barely
glancing at me.
Most prophecies were, says Dan. A study of the Old
Testament prophets will confirm that. An important thing to
keep in mind is that Revelation was written to the churches in the
first-century. Revelation was written to seven churches, listed at
the beginning of the book.
I kind of forgot about those churches, says Zed.
Each one of those seven churches is admonished to conquer.
Revelation 21:7 says that the new heavens and earth are a heritage
to those who conquer. In my mind, this is a clear link between
the people the book was written to and the subsequent events
described in the book.
Yeah, I guess that's more logical than to think that it had
nothing to do with the people who it was written to.
Dan nods and continues talking.
Revelation 21 compares the new Jerusalem to the bride of
Christ. So again, I don't think this is a literal city. If it were literal,
we're talking about something that is 1,380 miles in length, width
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and height. Like the rest of Revelation, I question how literal it
is.
It's a lot to think about, says Zed. I mean, it forces me to
rethink everything.
Rethink everything. In some ways, that's what I have to do too.
I mean, here I am in Jerusalem. And I've met Dan. But what
now?
I don't know what glories await us after death, Dan is saying
to Zed. And I'm fine with the idea of there being a literal city
like the one described in Revelation 21. But for purposes of
interpretation, I feel I must stick to Paul's explanation of the new
Jerusalem being the New Covenant.
If that's not literal, then there must be a lot of other things
that aren't literal in Revelation.
Oh yes, says Dan. Take that star in Revelation 8. I mean, if
a star really hit the earth, it would be decimated. So then I look at
Revelation 21 and it talks about each of the gates of the new
Jerusalem being made of a single pearl and I wonder if I'm
supposed to take it literally. I mean, the streets are supposed to be
made of solid gold and yet at the same time, are supposed to be
transparent as glass. Have you ever seen transparent gold?
Zed grins and shakes his head, no.
The Kidron Valley that we are passing through gets Dan
telling Zed about some of the sites here, mostly tombs, the
notable one being the Pillar of Absalom.
Zed tells him that when he passed through here with his dad,
Barrington told his group that this was the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
the Valley of Judgment. After some long battle where God
intervenes of behalf of Israel, the enemies of Israel would be
destroyed. It would take the Jewish people seven months to bury
all the bodies. Then the nations would be brought to the valley
and judged here.
It's a gruesome scenario and I'm semi-alarmed, semi-amused
that Barrington would convey all this to his busload of senior
citizens.
Dan and Zed have to take a break from talking as we hike up
the hill to the UN headquarters. It's all paved and tree-lined, but
the incline leaves one a bit breathless while at the same time,
providing a panoramic view of the Old City and all the new
development behind it.
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Although I came here the first time to snap a photo of the
former Government House, this is still a pilgrimage for me. This
is where the highest power lived during the British mandate. The
men who lived here are more real to me than the men who
govern this land today.
But Zed and Dan don't share my awe.
I've realized at some point that Dan is the kind of scholar who
is interested in nearly everything. He's the kind of person who
can bring together all sorts of seemingly unrelated events and
connect them in a way that brings new meaning to history. It's
made him an outsider in Christendom, but it's served him well as
a scholar.
I can't think the way he does. For me, the mandate is personal.
I can easily imagine my English father here. And I can even
imagine my Jewish mother here, a new kind of Jew who needs a
nation not a religion. Except that both my parents ended up with
religion in the end. I'm still working that one out in my mind.
Of course, the UN headquarters isn't just something you walk
into. But we can appreciate some of the grandeur of it from
outside. There is something palatial about this white stone
building with its elegant walkways and abundant gardens. Now
the UN flag flies on its roof, but at one time the Union Jack must
have stirred the hearts of all the British residents in Jerusalem.
The chance to rule Jerusalem was almost a sacred trust for the
British. As the first military governor, and then later civil
governor of Jerusalem, Ronald Storrs said, There are many
positions of greater authority and renown within and without the
British Empire, but in a sense I cannot explain, there is no
promotion after Jerusalem.
I feel teary and breathless at the thought of these practical and
capable men being so moved by their time in Jerusalem. It was
said that British soldiers didn't feel right swearing in Jerusalem.
I pull out my camera and once again, try to angle it in such a
way as to capture the dignity of this building.
To my mild annoyance, Dan isn't even looking at the building.
He has his small Bible out and is showing something to Zed.
Let's follow the sequence of Revelation 14. In verse 7 it says
that judgment has come and there's an admonition to worship
the creator. In verse 8 it says that Babylon is fallen. I think that
matches up with the statue in Daniel where the stone hits the feet
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and then becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth . . .
What? I say, turning to them. Who is Daniel? And why did
a stone hit a statue and become a mountain?
I thought you were Jewish, says Zed, nudging my arm.
Daniel's in the Old Testament.
I want to say something sarcastic but end up sighing instead.
Daniel was a prophet, explains Dan.
I nod. I know that much.
Daniel in the lion's den and all that, I say.
That's right. But he also had a lot of visions and most of
them have been applied to the future by the futurists. But I
believe that they were pertaining to the time of Christ because
Daniel is told to seal up the book until the last days. And Peter
and the other apostles clearly believed they were living in the last
days.
Zed nods.
In this case, it wasn't Daniel who had a dream, but King
Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel interpreted it. The king dreamed of a
statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, waist and
thighs of bronze and legs of iron. The feet are a mix of iron and
clay. Then a stone hit the statue in the feet, breaking it into
pieces. The stone became a mountain that filled the whole earth.
I'm just giving you the bare bones of it, you understand.
We turn and start heading away from the UN building. Going
down the hill will be easier than coming up.
So Daniel tells the king that the head of gold is him and his
kingdom, the Babylonians. The silver part is a coming kingdom,
the Persians. Then there will be the Greeks, and finally, the
Romans. That's when the stone strikes.
Except that some people say that the feet are a separate
Roman Empire in the near future, explains Zed.
I hold my head.
Dan laughs at my dismay.
But it's ridiculous to go from the Roman Empire of old to
one in the future and ignore all the empires in between, says
Zed. The British Empire was far bigger than the Roman Empire
and yet in the futurist scenario, it's not even mentioned in the
Bible.
Darcy Chapman's talk? Dan says, grinning and elbowing
him good-naturedly.
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Zed nods, smiling.
So you say the stone struck at the time of Rome? I say.
Dan nods.
That was the soon-coming kingdom of God that Jesus kept
talking about, he says. And I think the futurists are
underestimating the importance of what happened in the first-
century. The transition from the Old Testament to the New
Testament was huge. If you read through the book of Hebrews,
you'll see that in the heavenly realm, everything changed. And
we're instructed to fix our mind on things above, so we shouldn't
be looking for changes in the physical realm. We're part of a
spiritual kingdom now.
Zed nods.
That was a point made at the conference too. It's too bad you
weren't there.
Dan agrees.
So, says Zed. Getting back to Revelation 14. I think we
were saying Babylon had fallen.
Yes, says Dan. And that would line up with Rome. The
early church would have greatly appreciated the information that
Rome was going to fall. They were being persecuted by Rome
and at the time Revelation was written, Rome showed no signs of
weakness. Jerusalem is mentioned in Revelation, of course, but
she's compared to Sodom and Egypt, not Babylon. Check out
11:8 for that.
Dan is still holding his Bible and now he taps on it.
Now this is where it gets interesting.
If I had to walk and read like he's doing, I'd get nauseous.
We're told that Babylon has fallen, but then in the next verse,
verse 9, it warns believers about worshipping the beast and
receiving his mark. You see, Babylon continues in its physical
form even after it's fallen. The fact that it fell, is a spiritual reality.
The result is God's kingdom filling the whole world. And that's
all because of what Jesus did. Again, what Jesus did was largely
unappreciated by the world.
I think I'm beginning to follow you, says Zed. Life goes on
outwardly. Believers still have to endure and hold on to their
faith.
Exactly. But check out verse 13. There is now a blessing on
those who die. Death is no longer a desolate, holding place like it
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was in the Old Testament. Now it is a rest and a reward.
Something has changed in the spirit realm.
So where do you think we are now? asks Zed. I mean, is
everything finished? Is there anything left?
Dan glances down at his Bible.
My belief is that it's all been fulfilled. But you'll find some
teachers who say that it's only partly fulfilled and there are still
some things to come.
Everybody has different ideas, says Zed, thoughtfully.
Dan nods.
May we all continue to grow in grace and knowledge. The
Bible indicates that our unity should be through love, not
doctrinal understanding, so as long as we keep that in mind, we'll
all be OK.
Zed is silent. Something tells me Barrington Crane might not
go along with that philosophy.

181
Chapter Nineteen
e have an early dinner at a small Armenian restaurant
in the Old City.
While I focus on my lentil salad, Dan and Zed are
going through the Bible. Before Zed reappeared, I thought things
were warming up between me and Dan. But now I see it
differently. Unlike most men I've encountered, Dan's interest
doesn't mean he's interested in me personally. He'd show the
same attentiveness to me if I were 75-years-old and walked with a
cane. The effect this realization has on me is to make me more
attracted to him. Initially, I was hesitant about his interest. Not so
much about the fact that he's older than me, as much as it just
seemed too easy. He gave me his full attention right from the
start. But now all that attention is focused on Zed. And I
understand why. Zed needs him. Zed is going to go back to a life
where thinking for yourself is not celebrated, it's disapproved of.
Now Zed is holding Dan's Bible and talking.
1 Corinthians 15:24 talks about the end coming. The
kingdom will be delivered to God the Father after every other
W
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power has been destroyed. This matches up with the stone in
Daniel that hits the feet of the statue. Christ said in Matthew
28:18 that all authority had been given to him. The coming in 70
AD destroyed the temple and all the positions of authority and
power that went along with it. That destruction included the
priests and the teachers in the temple. So now we have one High
Priest and teacher, Jesus.
Zed looks to Dan for approval.
Dan nods.
Sounds right to me.
What about all the Old Testament prophecies about Israel
being restored to the land and it being a time of peace and
prosperity? I mean, that's a huge part of my dad's ministry.
Dan nods.
I know the passages you mean. But I can take you to one in
Ezekiel that lays it out clearly. He takes the Bible from Zed and
turns some pages. Ezekiel 11:17 is where God tells Israel that
although they've been scattered among the nations, he's going to
gather them up again and give them Israel. In verse 19 he says
they'll have one heart and a new spirit and that they'll be his
people and he'll be their God.
Dan looks up.
If we stop there, it could sound like something in the future
because not all of Israel today has one heart and a new spirit. But
look at verse 21. Dan points to the scripture. People are still
doing things that displease God. Going after false gods and such.
He says he's going to require that they pay for those deeds. You
see, I think that refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
The new spirit is Pentecost. Paul explicitly said in Romans 9 that
not all the descendants of Israel belong to Israel.
A plate of boeregs arrives for all of us. Boeregs are flaky
pastries filled with cheese and spinach. Dan did the ordering
since hes been to this restaurant on a previous visit to Jerusalem.
Without Paul, we wouldn't understand any of this, says Zed,
reaching for a pastry.
So true, says Dan. Paul's writings really clarified this new
way of life for the early believers. In Matthew 5:19 Jesus says that
whoever teaches the commandments will be great in the kingdom
but if anyone loosens them and teaches others to do so, he'll be
least in the kingdom. Yet Paul's whole ministry was one of
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relaxing the commandments of the law. In fact, in the letter to
the Galatians, chapter five, he strongly encourages people to
stand firm in their freedom in Christ. He basically says that if
they accept the Jewish ritual of circumcision, then they will be
obligated to keep the whole law. But by doing so, they would be
separated from the grace of Christ.
Zed is in the middle of reaching for another pastry, but he
pauses and looks at Dan.
That sounds contradictory, he says. I mean, when you line
it up with what Jesus said.
I can only conclude that Paul understood that all had been
accomplished, says Dan. You see, just before Jesus talked about
keeping the commandments, he said that not a dot from the law
would be removed until all had been accomplished. In fact, he
went so far as to describe it as heaven and earth passing away.
What does that mean, exactly? says Zed, leaning forward,
the pastry forgotten.
Well, says Dan, also leaning forward. The Greek word for
'accomplished' is 'to come into existence.' When Jesus tied that in
with heaven and earth passing away, he was talking about
something new coming into existence. Of course, it has to be
figurative rather than literal, but it doesn't diminish the power of
the point. The transition from Old Covenant to New Covenant
was unseen, but of eternal significance.
Zed nods.
Of course, the other possibility is that Paul will be considered
the least in God's kingdom, says Zed.
For some reason, Zed and Dan find that really funny. At least
when the kebabs come, they focus on their food. I had to eat
most of the boeregs myself.
But by the time desert and coffee are delivered to our table,
they're back at it.
We gloss over so many of the Old Testament prophecies,
says Zed. I can actually see the eyes of my dad's congregation
glaze over when he starts reading out of the Minor Prophets. I
think that's why it's so easy to convince people that it's all in the
future. They haven't taken the time to study history and see if it's
been fulfilled in the past.
Dan agrees.
People are lazy, except for the things that really inspire
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them.
They'd rather read a book about the Bible than read the Bible
itself, says Zed. That's why my dad's so rich.
Dan laughs.
People do like other people to do the work for them, he
says. The only thing is, is it true? If it is, great. If not, well . . .
Dan shrugs.
I know. And it's the truth that sets you free, so you've got to
get to the truth.
You were talking about Old Testament prophecies being
fulfilled in the past, I say. What sort of history do you have to
read to find out what happened to the people of ancient Israel?
Time I insert myself into this conversation. The custard and
fruit is good but I'm almost done. Besides, if there's one area of
history I've neglected, it's the study of ancient Israel. It always
seemed too . . . biblical.
Well, says Dan. The biggest one to read is Josephus. If you
only read one guy, he'd be the one.
I'm going to do that, says Zed.
I'll give you one instance of how useful it is to know
Josephus, says Dan. It's just something I ran across a while
back and it's a great example of how the prophecies of the Old
Testament can actually be linked to real events in the past. He
opens the Bible that is beside his coffee cup.
Before we get to Josephus, we should look at Zechariah
9 . . . Dan is flipping through pages. . . . starting in verse 13.
God talking. Judah is bent as my bow and Ephraim is the arrow.
The sons of Zion will be stirred up against the sons of Greece.
You will be wielded as a warrior's sword. Dan looks up. The
rest of the chapter talks about how God will appear over them
and it will be like lightning. God will sound the trumpet and will
come from the south like a whirlwind. It's a promise that God
will protect Israel. Now back to Josephus. Dan pushes away his
half-eaten custard and puts his elbows on the table.
Josephus describes something that rarely, if ever, gets
discussed in sermons. It's when Alexander the Great comes to
Jerusalem. And I dare say, it rarely gets mentioned because if we
delved too much into history we'd discover there wasn't much
left for the future.
Zed snickers.
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The Persian king, Darius, is defeated by Alexander which
opens up all of Israel to Alexander and his Greek army. At the
beginning of Zechariah 9 we're told that Yahweh is against
Damascus and that Tyre, though she is fortified and rich, will be
stripped of her wealth, lose her power on the sea, and suffer
from fire. Well, this is exactly what Alexander did. First, he took
Damascus. Then he besieged Tyre. At that time he also sent a
letter to the high priest in Jerusalem, asking him for supplies. The
high priest sent back a reply that he had an alliance with Darius
and as long as Darius was alive he would remain loyal to him.
I didn't know any of this, says Zed.
There's a lot of great stuff in Josephus, says Dan. In fact,
I'm only giving you the high points. There are a lot more details
to this story. Anyhow, Alexander was furious and threatened to
come against Jerusalem as soon as he was done with Tyre. That
took seven months. But before Jerusalem, he came to Gaza. And
Gaza is mentioned in Zechariah 9. Dan glances down at his
Bible. It says that Gaza will writhe in anguish, she'll be so afraid.
Alexander besieged Gaza which took another two months.
Meanwhile, the high priest in Jerusalem was terrified. Obviously,
if Alexander could take Tyre and Gaza, he could take Jerusalem.
But of course, though Zechariah predicted the fall of Tyre and
Gaza, God promised that he'd save Jerusalem.
Wow, says Zed.
Led by the high priest, the people of Jerusalem offered
sacrifices to God and in a dream, God told the high priest to
open the gate and go out with an entourage in white garments.
They were to meet the king and not to be afraid.
Zed leans forward in anticipation. Even I've stopped sipping
my coffee.
So the high priest and some of the citizens went out to meet
Alexander. Riding along with Alexander were some Phoenicians
and Chaldeans who fully expected that they would be able to
shortly plunder Jerusalem.
But that's not what happened? says Zed.
That's right, says Dan. When Alexander rode toward
Jerusalem, he saw the crowd in the distance, wearing their white
garments. The priests were in their fine linens and the high priest
was in his purple and scarlet robes with the gold mitre on his
head that had the name of God engraved on it. Much to their
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surprise, Alexander approached them alone, gave praise to the
name of God and then greeted the high priest. Naturally, his men
were surprised. One of them asked him why he was praising the
high priest when the whole world praised Alexander. Alexander
replied that he was praising God and that he'd seen this very high
priest in a dream back in Macedonia. Furthermore, in the dream
he'd been told to pass over the sea and conquer the Persians.
Wow, says Zed again. So God's hand was totally in all of
it.
Complete fulfillment of prophecy, Dan agrees, tapping his
Bible. And to make it even more interesting, the high priest
showed him the prophecies of Daniel and Alexander found
himself in there. He recognized himself as the conqueror of the
Persians.
And that's just one small chapter in a minor prophet, says
Zed, shaking his head.
Dan nods.
And I think the futurist is going to have a problem with this
because it calls for a conflict between the sons of Zion and the
sons of Greece, says Dan. I'll be the first to admit that I don't
pay much attention to the futurist teachings but I've never heard
that in any of their scenarios.
But what about all of that stuff at the end of Zechariah?
says Zed. My dad's always quoting from there. It's about some
battle in Jerusalem where God saves his people. That can't be in
the past. There wasn't any battle for Jerusalem until 70 AD, right?
And God didn't exactly protect the House of David.
Actually, it's possible to set that prophecy in the past too,
says Dan. Did you know about Herod and Mark Antony's siege
of Jerusalem in 37 BC?
Zed shakes his head.
Well, as you might know, the Romans took Palestine in 63 BC
under Pompey. It's a long story and well worth reading about, but
the main points are that at around that time the infamous Herod
was made a tetrarch of Galilee while his brother Phasael was the
tetrarch of Judaea. They were part of the ruling family at the
time and Rome didn't mind keeping the local rulers in power as
long as they submitted to Rome. Julius Caesar was assassinated in
44 BC and as a result, Mark Antony and Caesar's adopted son,
Octavian, fought against Brutus and Cassius who were, of
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course, part of the assassination plot. Mark Antony and Octavian
won and Mark Antony came to control the eastern parts of the
empire. Herod and Phasael were happy to be his friend.
I only know about some of this from movies and stuff. It
sounds like the kind of thing that should be taught in Bible
colleges.
Dan nods.
That's just one of the problems of having a preoccupation
with the future. There's less emphasis on the things of the past.
Anyhow, in 40 BC, the Parthians invaded Palestine and put
another prince on the throne in Jerusalem. Phasael ended up
dead but Herod escaped to Rome to tell the story. And that's why
he and Mark Antony were back in Jerusalem in 37 AD to lay
siege to Jerusalem.
Amazing, says Zed. I totally did not know that.
Thousands died but God did preserve Jerusalem, particularly
the House of David. As long as the Messiah still had to come,
God was protecting that line of David. Note the way it says in
Zechariah 12:12, 'I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of
staggering . . .' This is an imminent event for Jeremiah's listeners.
The promise in verse 8 is that on that day God will protect the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. Granted, thousands were massacred,
but many were saved. Certainly the house of David was. Right
after that it's all Messianic and easy to attribute to the time of
Christ which was the next big event on the calendar. Also note
the reference to idols in Zechariah 13:2. Dan turns his Bible
around so Zed can have a look. King Herod, though dedicated
enough to the Jewish faith, also built temples to the Roman and
Greek gods. I believe that Zechariah was more relevant then than
it is now.
Zed nods.
I can see that, he says.
But, unfortunately, this obsession with the future completely
ignores the history of the land we now call Israel. I think it's safe
to say that Revelation 14:20, which talks about how the blood
flowing was as high as a horse's bridle, could have easily been
fulfilled in the days that Rome took Jerusalem. Apparently, it was
just a frenzy of blood. The soldiers were out of control and out
for blood. But if that wasn't the fulfillment, there's another
instance in history that also fits.
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Really? When?
I presume you're familiar with the Crusades?
Not as much as I should be.
You're not the only one. But it's important reading for all
Christians. In many ways, what happened back then still has
consequences in the Middle East today. But I won't digress. The
important thing to know is that after taking Antioch, the
Crusaders marched south and after some effort, took Jerusalem.
When they breached its wall, they showed no mercy and
slaughtered all the Muslims and Jews in it. It was literally a ghost
town afterward. Only the Crusaders were still alive and many of
them decided to go home now that the object of conquering
Jerusalem had been achieved.
Sounds gruesome, says Zed.
I have been nodding vigorously. Dan didn't even mention the
fact that as the Crusaders moved across Europe on their way to
the Holy Land, they massacred whole villages of Jews just for
practice.
One of the things that bugs me so much about Christians is
that they trot all over Israel thinking that everyone should love
them and welcome them when they have these big ugly things in
their past.
One of the knights left a written record of what happened
on the Haram, or the Temple Mount, says Dan His name was
Raymond of Aguiles and he wrote something to the effect of, 'If
I tell the truth it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it
suffice to say this much, at least, that in the Temple and the
Porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and
bridle reins. Indeed, it was a just and splendid judgment of God
that this place should be filled with the blood of unbelievers
since it had suffered so long from their blasphemies.'
Zed is wide-eyed.
Now, is this a fulfillment of Revelation? says Dan. I don't
think so. I don't think that it was God's will that so-called
Christian Crusaders should go and slaughter the entire city of
Jerusalem, even if they weren't Christians. Jesus called us to love
our enemies and do good to everyone. But what is important is
that the Crusaders were familiar with these passages in Revelation
and probably some of the more educated ones saw themselves as
a fulfillment of some of the prophecies.
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Yeah, I can see that, says Zed nodding. Any time anything
big happens in history, people think it's in Revelation. I once
found some old prophecy magazines in a box in my parent's
basement that said that Hitler was the Antichrist and Mussolini
was the false prophet.
Dan laughs.
By now, the restaurant is starting to fill up with the dinner
crowd. I can tell the restaurant owners are eager to see us go so
they can have the table.
I'm familiar with those ideas, says Dan. And you're right.
That's exactly what people do.
I noticed the guy said something about the Porch of
Solomon. But I thought the temple never got rebuilt.
Good observation. No, it didn't. But the Muslims had built
their Mosque and Dome there and they were often called the
Porch of Solomon, or some other Biblical-sounding name,
linking it to the original temple. The Knights Templar, of course,
took their name from that spot. It was a place of enormous
interest to them, as well as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre . . .
But don't let me digress. Dan looks around and realizes we're
occupying a table that is needed by other people. He pulls out his
wallet to settle the bill. It's good history and I strongly
recommend you read some books on the topic of the First
Crusade, as well as all the subsequent ones.
I will, nods Zed as we all stand up.
Although I don't see the book of Revelation being fulfilled in
the Crusades, says Dan, as we're leaving. My observation is that
Revelation has happened over and over again to Jerusalem. More
than most, it's had earthquakes, sieges, diseases and massacres. To
say that it's all going to happen in the future is somewhat
childlike. It's already happened about twenty times since 70 AD
and if it happens one more time in the future, well . . . Dan
shrugs. The Crusaders thought it was the dawn of a new age
and that they were a part of it. In the end, they just faded into
history leaving a mess behind.

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191
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don't think it's possible that Dan and Zed can talk more
theology. I mean, how much can there be to say?
But a thought stops me from expressing this idea to Dan
or Zed. Dad might have enjoyed being with these two men and
hearing their thoughts.
A night stroll around old Jerusalem appeals to me. And Dan
and Zed are agreeable. Though Zed is ranting at the moment.
A pilgrimage to Jerusalem is absurd. This isn't the city of
Jesus. I mean, there we all were, some of the people in Dad's
group weeping at the Ecce Homo Arch, says Zed. It wasn't
even there in Jesus' day!
Of course, it's all new to him. For those of us who have
studied history, we already know that Jerusalem was completely
destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans and then rebuilt in 130 AD
by Emperor Hadrian as Aelia Capitolina.
I glance down at the street we're walking along. It was laid
down, Roman-style, 100 years after Jesus died.
And those walls over there . . . Zed waves a hand toward the
I
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walls of the Old City. Who did you say they were built by?
Dan smiles.
They were built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1536. And
don't feel bad about your dad's tour, Zed. The Christians aren't
the only ones. The Jews have their Western Wall which was just a
supporting wall. Not even of the Temple, mind you. Just of the
platform. Not even part of the original Solomonic design. Just a
tribute to King Herod's building motto that bigger is better.
I still feel silly about the way he dragged us all through here
telling us all this stuff like it mattered to us, today.
Eschatology has always mattered, to some extent, says Dan.
In the 360's, Emperor Julian, who had been raised a Christian
but wanted to return to the pagan roots of early Rome, decided
to rebuild the temple here in an attempt to appease the Jewish
god. Think if that happened today! Dan glances all around.
We're now in the Jewish district and approaching the plaza that
opens to the Western Wall. A rebuilt temple! Our modern
eschatology teaches that an antichrist will stand up in a rebuilt
Jewish temple and declare himself to be God. But the Christians
of the 360's weren't all excited that Jesus was about to return.
They were horrified. They got together to pray that God would
avert the plans of the Jews.
Why did it bother them so much? asks Zed.
Because they were viewing the fallen temple as a visible sign
that Judaism had fallen and that Christianity was the true
religion.
I've never heard about this rebuilding of the temple.
Well, it was pretty short-lived. An earthquake destroyed what
little had been built. According to one report, balls of fire
erupted from the earth, injuring workmen and destroying
building materials. Naturally, Christians saw this as being divine
judgment. Especially when Emperor Julian was killed in battle a
few weeks later.
I've never heard that story.
I'm not surprised. It's not well known nowadays. Back then,
rebuilding the temple was strictly a Jewish hope. They associated
it with the Messiah coming and rebuilding Jerusalem.
It makes me think of Paul's letter to the Galatians, says Zed.
About Jerusalem below being in bondage to the law, but we're
children of Sarah and of Jerusalem above.
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A good point, agrees Dan. Our obsession with events in
Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, reflect our poor understanding
of both the Bible and eschatology.
I give up on ever being a part of these conversations and just
enjoy the ambiance - the Jewish people strolling across the plaza,
some of them praying at the Wall, all of us appreciating the cool
night air that comes upon the city at night. There's no doubt in
my mind that I belong here. I just need to find a place for myself.
You can't get around the fact that the prophecies in the New
Testament are intended for the people they were written to. Take
something like what was going on in Thessalonica. Dan
continues talking. The church there was being persecuted. Paul
writes to them in chapter one . . . Dan pulls out his Bible. Here
in . . . verse six, that those who afflict them will be afflicted and
that the Thessalonians would receive relief. This is all in the
context of what we call the second coming of Christ.
He hands the Bible to Zed. We pause on the plaza.
Check out chapter two, he says. It's talking about that
infamous man of lawlessness. If you look at verse seven, it says
that the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. It's just being
restrained. It's hard for me to imagine that what was restraining it
from its full manifestation has been doing so for the last two
thousand years.
Yeah, I guess that would be kind of ridiculous, Zed agrees,
his eyes on the Bible. To write as if things were on the verge of
happening and then it takes them more than two thousand years
to actually happen.
They are completely oblivious to the evening crowd at the
wall.
Context is so important. 2 Timothy 4:8 talks about a crown
of righteousness for all those who loved his appearing. I think in
the context, this is talking about his first appearing as the Messiah
to Israel. But many today like to apply it to the future. Like you
said, they would say that Paul puts it in the past tense because in
the context he's talking about the future.
I blink. I can't wrap my mind around this.
Dan laughs. I think he notices the expression on my face.
That is, as if a person who has arrived at that future day of
reward is looking back on the appearing of Jesus as a past event.
Obviously a little more grammatically complicated, says
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Zed.
Yes, and logically complicated. I prefer the simple
interpretation that at this point, the appearing had happened.
And that's confirmed by chapter one, verse ten where Paul is
talking about the appearing of Christ obviously in the context of
what he did on the cross for us.
One thing I'm going to have to do, says Zed, is to look at
all the Old Testament prophecies about Christ and how they
were fulfilled.
Excellent idea, says Dan.
We're walking again now.
Zechariah 8 is a classic prophecy describing the peace of
Jerusalem used by some futurists to describe a Messianic
millennial kingdom on earth. But in light of the fact that all
prophecy in the Old Covenant is fulfilled, one has to read it and
understand that it's a spiritual peace brought about by Christ's
teachings and sacrifice. There are parts that fit literally, though. I
think they just confirm that it happened in the first-century and
are not intended for some future time. I'll show you . . .
How they can read the Bible and walk at the same time, I
don't know. Dan is moving his fingers down the page.
In verse seven, it talks about God bringing his people back
from the east and the west. Rather than apply that to modern day
Israel, I think it makes more sense to apply it to the return to
Jerusalem after their captivity in Babylon.
Zed nods.
Another example is verse 23 where ten men from different
nations grab hold of a Jew and say, we want to go with you
because we've heard that God is with you.
Dan glances at Zed.
Any ideas?
Zed is puzzled.
Well, theres one example in the gospel of John, explains
Dan. It occurs shortly before Jesus is arrested. Some Greeks
came to Philip and asked if they could meet Jesus. It sounds as if
even in that short time, word had spread beyond Israel that there
was a significant teacher in the land. And it's possible that there
were other similar incidents, not recorded, of foreigners wanting
to meet Jesus.
We stroll back to the American Colony Hotel. Grumbling, I
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head to the bathroom to take a shower, put on my sleepwear and
reemerge in my modest bathrobe. But tonight, Zed isn't
concerned about my attire. He and Dan are seated in wingback
chairs with their Bibles. Zed seems to be summing up his new
theology.
The land of Israel promised to Abraham was an allegory for
the New Covenant. Hebrews 11:10 says that Abraham was
waiting for a city that wasn't made by hands. The promise of land
to Abraham's descendants and their descendants, forever and
ever, was an allegory for eternal life. That the Old Covenant
contained allegory was clearly understood by the writers of the
New Covenant.
Dan nods and speaks.
Yes, and the idea of allegory is a fascinating study. Paul opens
up the possibilities of countless examples. Check out 1
Corinthians 9, verse 9. Zed turns in his Bible. Paul is talking
about not putting a muzzle on an ox when it's treading out the
grain. An ox that worked was allowed to share in the harvest. But
Paul basically said that it wasn't oxen that God was concerned
with. It was written entirely for our sake.
Really?
Zed is now reading it for himself.
Yes, the principle was that a person who spent all his time
preaching the gospel should be able to make a living doing so.
Zed sits back.
Why do you think God did that? You know, all that
foreshadowing . . . ?
Well, I think it just makes it all the more vivid for us. That
type of thing is found throughout the Bible. The festival days of
Israel all highlighted important events regarding their coming
Messiah. Paul said those days were shadows of things to come.
And even now, we continue to participate in shadows of things
to come. Marriage is the most obvious one. A physical reminder
of Christ's relationship with his church.
Zed nods.
The topic has slightly piqued my interest. If the rituals and
regulations of the Jewish scriptures actually foreshadow
something more significant, it would explain why they are so
involved and in my opinion, strange. The rituals of Judaism never
appealed to me. Too many and too complicated. But if they
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weren't just an end unto themselves and represented something
greater, maybe they're worth looking at again.
I climb into my bed, appreciating the cool white sheets. I
wriggle out of my bathrobe, but Zed doesn't appreciate my
efforts to keep myself covered. I used to have the attention of
both Zed and Dan. Now I feel like a third wheel.

The American Colony Hotel is known for its afternoon teas. I
mention to Dan that we should stay around the hotel today and
enjoy its amenities. He agrees. For the amount we're paying for
the room, we might as well enjoy everything the hotel has to
offer.
After breakfast, he and Zed want to explore Munther's
bookshop, across from the main entrance. It's a haven for history
lovers. After that, they want to visit the outdoor pool.
I was thinking more along the lines of checking out the sauna.
I'm pretty thrashed from yesterday's walk.
We agree to go our separate ways and meet up for tea in the
afternoon. Before the sauna, I upload my pictures to my laptop.
At this point in my life, my book is the only constant I have. Dan
has so many books under his belt, but he seems indifferent to his
success.
The sauna meets all my expectation and I skip lunch in
anticipation of the tea. Instead, I take advantage of the onsite
masseur.
I arrive for tea, in my one-and-only dress, relaxed and
refreshed. Dan and Zed are already there and Dan tells me that
they went ahead and ordered tea.
We aren't the only ones in the courtyard garden.
Zed admires the abundance and the diversity in this small
space.
Dad always talks about prophecy being fulfilled by the Jews
turning the deserts into fertile fields.
Dan nods.
It's a common interpretation of scriptures in Isaiah.
I suppose you have a spiritual way of interpreting the
prophecies about the wilderness becoming a fruitful field and all
that, says Zed grinning.
Dan smiles.
It's always context, he says. That scripture you just
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mentioned is in Isaiah 32, I think. Dan pulls out his Bible.
Let's see . . . ah, here we are. He hands the Bible to Zed.
Look at verse 15.
Zed takes the Bible and reads, . . . until the Spirit is poured
on us from high, and the desert becomes a fruitful field and the
fruitful field seems like a forest. Yep, he says, looking up.
That's the sort of thing that my dad likes to quote.
He hands the Bible back to Dan.
But you'll note how it's not linked to the Jewish return to the
land, it's linked to the Holy Spirit being poured down.
Zed's eyebrows go up.
It is, isn't it?
He takes the Bible back from Dan.
And look, in verse 17 it talks about the effects of
righteousness being peace. That's really about Jesus, isn't it?
Dan nods as Zed continues.
It sounds an awful lot like when he stood up on the last day
of the feast and said that if anyone came to him, rivers of living
waters would flow out of their hearts.
Especially when you look at other passages in Isaiah.
Dan leans forward and flips a few pages for Zed.
Look at Isaiah 44, starting in verse 3.
For I will pour water on a thirsty land and streams on the
dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your offspring and my
blessings on your descendants . . .
Zed looks up.
It makes a lot more sense when you connect it with what
Jesus said.
Dan nods his agreement.
Especially when you tie it in with passages like the one in
Psalm 63, where David says he earnestly seeks God. His soul
thirsts for God as in a dry land where there is no water.
Just then, a waiter arrives and puts down a large pot of tea and
an assortment of scones, tea sandwiches and pastries.
After he goes, I pour the tea. Dan and Zed just stare at the
flowing liquid.
Water is a frequent theme, says Dan, as I pass his cup to
him. Thirst being a way to express spiritual longing. Hence, the
idea of a desert becoming green represents God pouring His
Spirit on people. It's a metaphor that really only works in a dry,
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hot land.
I grew up in Canada, which is a land of lakes, so I guess the
metaphor might pass right by me, eh? I say.
Dan nods.
The three of us have never known true thirst. He glances at
his cup before taking a sip of tea. It's a desperation that causes a
man to drink any kind of foul water and be grateful to have it.
The desert Bedouin of Arabia would understand this kind of
language.
While we have our tea, Dan and Zed talk about their morning.
Dan has purchased, Our Jerusalem by Bertha Spafford Vester, a
classic work about the mandate period. I've got a copy back in a
box in storage.
Jenna has the advantage over me on this, says Dan, smiling.
All I know is that this hotel used to house the American Colony.
What's the rest of the story?
Well, I say, leaning forward. You already know that it
involved Horatio Spafford and his wife, Anna. By the time they
came here, the only children they had were two daughters.
I take a sip of my tea and reach for a scone.
Some say they came to wait for the second coming.
I didn't know that, says Zed.
From the sound of Bertha's book, though, I say. Mostly
they came for spiritual comfort. But they stayed because the
needs here were so great. Palestine was still under Ottoman rule
and wasn't allocated the resources to develop that the Turkish-
speaking areas were.
I spoon some strawberry jam onto a scone.
They did so much for Jerusalem. Nursed the sick, took in
orphans, helped the young women learn skills to take care of
their children . . .
I'm going to keep on listing the colony's many
accomplishments a photo service for the tourists, a general
store in the Old City . . . But then I notice the expression on
Zed's face.
Of course they were waiting for the second coming! he
bursts out. His eyes are lit up with realization. It says so in the
last stanza of the hymn. Much to my embarrassment, he begins
to hum.
And Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight. The
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clouds be rolled back as a scroll . . . It alleviates my
embarrassment slightly when Dan begins to sing softly along
with him. The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend.
Even so, it is well with my soul! They end their singing and a
waiter grins. I notice an older man and woman, nodding with
recognition and also smiling. I guess there's just something about
Jerusalem that causes people to break out into hymn-singing.
But they stayed because the need was great, says Zed. He
turns to me. Don't you get it?
I nod slowly.
It's my dad! he says. That's what's missing!
I nod again. But it's my dad that I'm thinking of. All those
books about eschatology. Dad giving all his money away. Is there
a connection?
They stayed because the need was great, Zed repeats. We're so
busy talking about the second coming that we forget about the
needs! I mean, here you have this group of people who came to
Jerusalem, what, like a hundred years ago?
Dan and I nod.
Well, we all know Jesus didn't come in their lifetime. But they
stayed because there were people to help.
Zed sits back, content with his epiphany.
But I'm still left with questions. First of all, how am I ever
going to figure out what Dad was thinking before he died? I've
been hoping that getting to know Dan better will help me
understand Dad's frame of mind, but Dan isn't exactly part of
mainstream Christianity. Do the books in my trunk represent my
dad's beliefs?
And that brings me to another thing that's been bothering me,
albeit, on a much smaller scale. Zed said he attended a
convention of what he calls preterists, here in Jerusalem. And the
reason we came to talk to Dan in Haifa in the first place is
because he wrote a similar-style book. From what I gather, these
preterists aren't very common in Christendom. So why wasn't
Dan, a published author, invited to their little symposium?
A shekel for your thoughts, says Dan to me. He's caught me.
Maybe he wasn't invited to the symposium because he's an
outcast even among that small group. I don't want to pry. But if
this is going to go any further, it's something I want to know.
Uh, I was just wondering why you weren't in Jerusalem with
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all the other scholars who think the second coming already
happened. I mean, you live so close to here and all . . .
My voice dwindles because I feel like maybe its not my
business. But Dan laughs.
I was invited, he says. In fact, I had every intention of
going. They even had a speaking slot for me on the second day.
Now I'm surprised.
But why didn't you go?
I would have, he says, still smiling. But then you two
showed up on my doorstep!

201
Chapter Twenty One
or the cover of my book, I'm thinking of using the
Roaring Lion sculpture at Tel Hai. It commemorates
Joseph Trumpeldor and the defenders of Tel Hai who
died in 1920. Although it's not a British lion, the story is
important to the mandate period.
Joseph Trumpeldor fought alongside the British in World War
1. He was one of the two men who convinced the British they
needed a Jewish Legion - comprised of Jews from Britain,
America and Europe - to serve in the campaign against the
Ottomans.
Later, Joseph Trumpeldor used his military experiences to
organize the Jewish defense against the Arabs who opposed their
settlements. When he died in a gun battle in one of the isolated
settlements, his final words were, Never mind. It is good to die
for our country. Needless to say, the spirit of Trumpeldor lived
on to inspire all like-minded Zionists and ultimately, it was that
willingness to die for their country that defeated the British in
Palestine.
F
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The monument to Trumpeldor is located at Kfar Giladi, a
kibbutz in northern Galilee.
Dan is familiar with both the story and the area. Tel Hai is
linked with the fall of King Faisal's kingdom in Syria. Tel Hai is
right on the border of Syria and the famous battle of 1920
occurred the same year that King Faisal lost his kingdom to the
French. The whole region was stirred up at the time. The Arabs
in the area weren't even fighting the Jews, they were resisting the
French mandate in Syria. The Arabs were suspicious of the new
European arrivals in the country, worried that they would side
with the French and support their mandate. The truth was,
Trumpeldor and most of the Jews at Tel Hai would have far
preferred British rule to French rule in the area, but that was
neither here nor there to the Arabs who were in the process of
losing their independence in Syria.
I'm now traveling north to Haifa with Dan and Zed and then
I'm going to keep going from there. There's a hotel at Kfar Giladi
and I think it's time I get away and be by myself again.
Zed, in the meantime, has another week before he's supposed
to be at the airport to fly back home with his dad. Dan invites
him to Haifa for the duration of his stay in Israel. It's doubtful
that I'll make it back down to see him again before he returns to
America. When we all disembark at the Haifa bus depot, I hug
him good-bye and we exchange email addresses. I promise Dan
I'll stop by his place before returning to Canada.
Then they're gone, into the crowds, and I'm left to make my
way to the bus that covers northern Galilee.
Again, I'm seated beside a soldier. A guy this time. After
establishing that my Hebrew is extremely limited, he switches to
English and introduces himself as Yossi. He's drop-dead
gorgeous but only slightly older than Zed and it's hard to take his
interest seriously. He knows very little about anything that's
happened in this country before he was born, but he
acknowledges with a grin that history brings in the tourists.
So what do you think of the tourists? I ask. I mean, those
Bible-believing ones from America and all?
He laughs.
Well, he says in his accented English. It is about the
economy.
I agree.
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What about politically? I ask. Israel gets a lot of support
from America.
He shrugs.
True. But it is our own people who generate support.
The Jews in America? I ask.
Yes. We need the support of the Zionists in America.
There are a lot of Christian Zionists, too, I say.
He shrugs again. The topic doesn't interest him. He asks me
where I'm headed and I say to visit the monument to Joseph
Trumpeldor. He's aware of Trumpeldor in the same way most
Canadians are aware of Isaac Brock. Yossi knows he has
something to do with early history and is important enough to
have high schools named after him.
I think about something Dan said to Zed. Zed was curious
about what Dan thought about the future of Israel.
As time goes on, Dan said, it will become a demographic
war. In other words, who can have more children the Jews or
the Arabs. I don't think the undoing of the Israelis will be an
apocalyptic end-time scenario. I don't even think it will be the
Arabs. It will be apathy. The desire for peace, not in the Biblical
sense, but in the western sense. Peace in order to pursue material
comfort.
Yossi beside me seems to fit this.
An American-style pursuit of happiness? Zed had asked.
Dan had smiled.
Yes. The sort of lifestyle the west takes for granted. Except
that this isn't the west. It's Jerusalem. And Jerusalem has always
been held by those who want it most. The Israel of 1948 and
1967, and even 1973, isn't the Israel of today. It's going to be
harder and harder to pass the values of 1948 and 1967 down to
future generations.
Jerusalem on earth has always been for those who are willing
to die for it, I had said to Zed at that point.
Christians have an erroneous idea that we're somehow
connected to the Israelis. But Philippians 3:3 says the real
circumcised are the people who have the spirit of God, who
glory in Christ. In Romans 2:29, Paul says being a Jew is now a
matter of the heart. It's not characterized by outward rituals such
as circumcision. Therefore, unless you're talking about Messianic
Jews, you can't quote a scripture like, 'I will bless those who bless
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you and I will curse those who curse you' and apply it to modern
Israel.
Zed had remarked how that declaration to Abraham was one
of his dad's favourite scriptures. But Dan had pointed out that,
When you take away the religious motivation to support Israel,
you're left with the political motivation, supporting a democracy
in the Middle East. But then you have to be honest about the
human rights issues. Is Israel really giving her Arab citizens the
same opportunities and civil rights as she does her Jewish
citizens?
It doesn't take long for me and Yossi to run out of things to
say and I'm left to look out the window. The region of Galilee
started with Mount Carmel. It's a rocky area, but fertile with
wildflowers and orchards and wineries. It's also where Jesus spent
most of his life. I remember Dad's finger mapping out the route
he and Mom took through this area.
Barrington Crane and his group are probably around here
somewhere. Zed mentioned that his Dad did a whole DVD series
in this region, standing in front of all the significant ruins and
sites and pontificating about their Saviour's life. The whole series
ended with a DVD devoted entirely to Megiddo and the pending
battle of Armageddon.
I smile to myself.
In 1925, during the mandate period, there was a certain Dr.
Musa in Jerusalem. He treated the sick, spoke perfect English . . .
and said he was the Messiah. It was revealed to him that
recognition would come after a great war. He was to announce
his presence to the kings of the world, then wait. He wrote to all
the kings who, not surprisingly, ignored him. So he took care of
the sick until the world accepted him in God's time. Tall,
dignified with a great bushy beard, he wore his Edwardian frock-
coat with the headdress of a Bokharan Jew, much to the
amusement of mandate officials. Jerusalem has always attracted
all sorts.
I stare out at the passing scenery.
This whole land has attracted all sorts.
Zeds only starting to learn all about it. His dads church seems
to think that the land was just waiting for the Jews to return. But
this land has always been held by someone. Zed seemed barely
aware that the Muslims controlled Jerusalem from 638 to 1967,
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interrupted only by the Crusader interlude. That's a huge amount
of time. That's longer than the time period between when David
captured it and the Jews lost it to Rome. The Ottoman Empire
alone lasted 400 years
But what did Dad think about all this? What did he think
when he looked out at this same scenery? And what did he think
about the prophecies made by the man who he called his
Saviour?

The Kfar Giladi Kibbutz hotel isn't the American Colony, but
it has all the essentials. The architecture is spare and modern and
there is a feeling of efficiency and progress. Nearby is the Tel Hai
Academic College and in addition to the hard-working
kibbutzniks, there are students working part-time harvesting
crops or caring for livestock.
It takes me five short minutes to snap the Roaring Lion
memorial from every angle, and then I am left to enjoy a meal
from the large dinner buffet in the dining hall and an after-dinner
coffee on the lawn.
The only thing that unsettles the tranquility is the knowledge
that we are right on the border and Hezbollah could fire rockets
from Lebanon that would land right here. One engaging older
gentleman who has lived on the kibbutz all his life tells me that in
past conflicts, IDF artillery gunners gathered here to defend the
northern border.
But tonight, it's peaceful.
A tour group is staying here, but they are not the evangelical-
type. They are naturalists from somewhere in Scandinavia, here
to study the flora and fauna. They seem to spend their days
hiking and are too tired to be up late.
I left my trunk of books at Dan's house, otherwise I might
attempt another go at them.
My basic grievance with the last few days is that I wasn't able
to keep up with Dan and Zed. I never felt it when I was alone
with Dan. He had a way of keeping it a two-way conversation.
But listening to Dan and Zed go at it, I felt like a complete
ignoramus.
Even when I close my eyes and lean back in my lounge chair, I
can still hear them.
. . . the gathering of the elect is the judgment of Matthew 26
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and is the same as Dan 7:13 . . . the Old Testament is the key to
understanding the New Testament . . . Isaiah 9. Definitely the
first coming, but look at the hyperbole . . .
But despite all the theology, Dan has retained a simple, almost
childlike, faith in Jesus. While we were strolling along the docks
of Haifa, he remarked that the only concept worth living and
dying for was that Jesus is Saviour. We had been visiting the
docks so I could photograph the port where the final British
troops had departed in May of 1948. I had asked him if that
meant he wouldnt be willing to stand behind his book about
eschatology, if the need to defend it arose. He had smiled and
said that it was his belief that Jesus did not want him to argue
with anyone over it.
I look at the coffee mug in my hand. I should have had a gin
and tonic. It would have soothed all the theology swimming
around in my mind.
A crazy thought pops into my head.
If Jesus were here, would he have a gin and tonic with me?
From what I gather from Dan, I think he would have.
There's a story in the gospels, one about Jesus first miracle at
a place called Cana, somewhere here in Galilee. It was a wedding
and they ran out of wine. Jesus' mother asked him if he could
help and he said his time hadn't come. But she told the servants
to do whatever he asked. There were large containers of water
for ritual purification on the site and he went over and told the
servants to fill up their serving jugs with the water. When they
poured it out to the guests, it became wine. And not just any
wine. The best wine. The steward of the feast stood up and said
people usually served their best wine at the beginning and saved
the inferior wine for when the guests had already had a lot to
drink. But these people had saved the best for last.
When Dan told me that story, something about it left me,
almost, I dunno . . . aching to get to know Jesus better. A saviour
who makes excellent wine.
Dan told me about a pastor who said that it couldn't have
been wine, it had to have been grape juice, because he couldn't
accept a saviour who would do a miracle that would lead to
people becoming drunk.
Dan didn't have to elaborate for me. I got the point. People
didn't want to accept Jesus for who he was, they wanted him to
Chapter Twenty One
207
be what they thought he was.
But I like that Jesus. The one who would change water to
wine.
That's it.
I put down my coffee mug. I don't have Dad's books, but I do
have his Bible. Maybe I don't need all the theology. Maybe I just
need Jesus to understand what Dad was thinking.

I'm a fast reader, but it takes me a full week to read the New
Testament. It's because I read it over a few times and really try to
take it in. Especially the stories about Jesus. And Dan is right.
You can't get around the fact that the writers of these books
thought the return of Jesus was going to happen soon, really
soon.
But that's neither here nor there, for the moment.
My dad found meaning in these writings. Before him, my
mom did. Now I'm finding out something in these books that I
never knew before. I need something. I don't even know what it
is. But it's sort of along the lines of I need a father, a mother . . .
and a saviour who would share a bottle of wine with me.
At first, I thought I needed Dan. Even sharing a bottle of
wine with Zed was better than being alone. But now I find, I like
being alone. I like drinking the wine from a nearby vineyard and
reading about the Son of God who lived around here.
Canada seems far away. I'm actually thinking of extending my
visitor visa. Only my mom was Jewish so I don't know if I can
make aliyah, but I don't really care. I don't feel like I need a
permanent address. Just a place to stay for a while.

I remain a second week at the kibbutz hotel and do all I can
on my laptop to finish up the book. Part of me doesn't want it to
end. The future is too wide after that. But I think about Dan. He
finishes one thing. He starts another. It's that simple. And he may
be able to help me with finding a publisher for this one.
So now I'm packing up and going back to Haifa. Zed should
be long gone and Dan will probably be interested to know that
I've decided to count myself among the Christians. I'm even
thinking of a Jordan River baptism, if I can find some qualified
person who does that sort of thing. Dan will know. It's all new to
me.
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208
There's no one to say good-bye to at the kibbutz. I've spent
most of the time in my room or reading on the lawn.

With Barrington Crane safely back in America, I don't
presume upon Dan's hospitality. I check in to a quiet hotel called
the Villa Carmel. It's near the Bahai Gardens and within walking
distance of Dan's place. If I knew his number, Id call first, but I
decide I'll just go over and if he's out, I can leave a message with
Kareema.
Much to my surprise, it's Zed who answers Dan's door.
Aren't you supposed to be in the States? I blurt out.
Nice greeting. He grins.
Sorry, I say, as he waves me in.
Yes, he says. I am. But I didn't go.
Obviously, I say. Is Dan here?
We're standing in the foyer.
He's out . . . with a friend.
Zed is watching me. It takes me a moment to get it. Dan has a
friend. A female friend. And Zed is interested in my reaction.
She's from England, he explains. I think they grew up on
the same street, or something.
I see, I say briskly. Well, I just stopped by for my trunk.
Your father's books, says Zed nodding. That's right. You
left them here, didn't you?
Uh-huh, I say.
They're in my room, says Zed, leading me down the hallway.
I guess my bedroom is now his.
We go into his room and sure enough, there's my small trunk
in the corner, exactly where I left it. I crouch down and pick it up.
Thanks, I say.
Do you need help carrying it? he asks.
I shake my head.
It's not that heavy and I don't need to go far.
But Zed takes the trunk from me.
I don't mind, he says.
Along the way back to the hotel, he tells me that he's assisting
Dan with a new book. It's going to be a history of futurist
eschatology, with a personal touch. Zed is burning all his boats
and giving a low-down on his father's ministry. He won't name
any names. And he won't even use his own name. Something
Chapter Twenty One
209
about not wanting to dishonor his dad.
But the book will give a frank and honest look at what an
emphasis on eschatology has done to the American church.
Sounds interesting. I'll look forward to reading it. I'm not
just being polite.
Zed carries the trunk right into my small room at the Villa
Carmel.
Well, I say, as he puts it down on my bed. Tell Dan I
stopped by and said hi. Maybe I'll swing by some time and the
three of us can do coffee, or something.
Zed is watching me.
You're not disappointed? he asks.
He doesn't have to elaborate.
I look at him. I've been keeping him at a distance. But now I
see him differently. We've been through a lot. He's a friend now.
I smile.
No, I'm not disappointed. I'm a Christian now.
Zed's jaw drops and then he gives me a grin and an awkward
pat on the back.
And it's enough, I say. I'm not looking for anything else
right now.
I'm glad to hear it, he says sincerely. I thought it might be a
bit of a blow. I noticed you guys kind of hit it off . . .
I shrug.
Yes and no.
Well c'mon then, says Zed. Let me buy you a falafel.
You have money now?
I have about five dollars left.
I shake my head and grin.
C'mon Zed, I say. I'll buy you a falafel.

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210


211
Epilogue
Two years later

an and Zed's book was a brilliant success. The brilliance
came from Dan, but Zed's inside knowledge of
evangelical Christianity gave the book an honesty that
made it irresistible not only to most of Christendom, but to
outsiders as well.
In addition to the eschatology, Zed's journey was a realization
that, as he put it, Sin isn't breaking a bunch of rules. Sin is just
someone wanting to have his or her way at all costs, not caring if
it hurts someone else.
The preaching gene is strong in Zed - although he's not like
his Dad, who is still on American television and still preaching
the same message. Zed doesn't capitalize on the fact that he's
Barrington Crane's son, but people still come to hear him speak.
He and Dan are invited to small Bible conferences and Dan tells
me that Zed has found things in the Bible to support their stand
that Dan didn't even realize was there.
D
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When one of the conferences is in Bethlehem, I attend. It's a
Messianic Jewish gathering.
Zed draws the small audience's attention to the book of
Joshua. In chapter 21, verse 43 it says that at that time, Yahweh
gave Israel all that he had sworn he would, in terms of the
promises of land. He also gave them peace on every side as he
had promised. Verse 45 says that every word of the promises that
he had made had come to pass. It's stressed again in Joshua 23:14
when Joshua says he is going to die, but the Israelites know that
all of the things that their God promised to them have come to
pass.
That's the power of Zed's speaking. He sticks to the Bible
verses and unlike his father, never speculates. Barrington likes to
talk of the future State of Israel that will go from the Nile River
to the Euphrates River. He gets it from Genesis 15:18 and he
likes to say that the boundaries of Israel were never that big so it
has to happen in the future. Evidently, he hasn't read his history.
From the book of Joshua, Zed takes the audience to the First
book of Kings where in chapter 8, verse 56, Solomon also says
that Yahweh has given the Israelites all that he promised. For
anyone who still has doubts, he takes them back to chapter 4,
verses 20 and 21 which say that during Solomon's reign, the
Israelites were as many as the sand by the sea. And it gives the
borders of Solomon's kingdom from the Euphrates to the land
of the Philistines to the border of Egypt. From that, Zed points
out that Egypt must have been on one side of the Nile and
Solomon's kingdom on the other side.
By this point, people are nodding. They're with him on this. If
anyone in the audience isn't fully convinced, he takes them to
Nehemiah 9:8 where it reiterates that God kept all his promises
to Abraham. Down in verse 23 it points out that the number of
Israelites was like the stars in heaven. So with just these
scriptures, Zed completely undermines his father's teaching that
there's more to come in the future.
But I doubt Barrington is having a change of heart. Zed still
keeps in touch with his mom via email, but his dad never writes
to him.
Sometimes an eager young student will show up at Dan's door
and Dan lets Zed sit him down at the kitchen table and go
through all the scriptures.
Epilogue
213
I'm there for one of those episodes, in the kitchen making tea.
Let's go to Zechariah 8, Zed says. Verse 3 talks about
Yahweh returning to Zion and living in Jerusalem and how
Jerusalem will be a faithful city and the holy mountain of God.
This is usually set in the future by so-called prophecy experts, but
let's look at John 5:39. Jesus is telling the religious leaders that
they search the scriptures thinking that they'll find eternal life, but
it's the scriptures that are a testimony to Jesus. Look at 1 Peter 1
starting in verse 10. The prophets, of course, wondered about
their prophecies. When would these things happen? The
prophecies were about the suffering of Christ followed by the
glory. Peter tells the church in the first-century that the prophets
were serving them with their prophecies. You see . . . Zed looks
at the young man across from him. It's quite simple, really. The
Old Testament and the prophets were either written for the
people who lived at the time, or else, were pointing to the coming
of the Messiah. If one reads them with that slant, one doesn't
have to push everything into the future.
The theology student gives this some thought.
Let's go back to Zechariah 8. Zed turns some pages in his
Bible. Now here in verse 4, it talks about old people in the
streets of Jerusalem and children playing. So many churches put
this into some utopian future, but if you look at it, it's just the
natural outcome of a time of peace and prosperity promised to
the remnant who had returned to Jerusalem after their
Babylonian exile.
The student nods slowly.
Now, lets discuss the one place where the second coming is
explicitly mentioned. Hebrews 9:27.
They both turn in their Bibles.
When I make it down to verse 27, I read that just like it is
appointed for men to die once and then comes the judgment,
since Christ was offered once to carry the sins of many, he will
appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who
are waiting for him with great anticipation. Zed turns to the
student. It explicitly mentions the second coming here, but it
says that he will appear not to deal with sin but to save those who
are waiting for him. That's nearly two thousand years ago. And
according to verse 28, the second coming doesn't involve a
judgment.
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214
Zed returns to his Bible.
But what does it involve? Look at 10:9. It says Christ
abolishes the first in order to establish the second.
The two covenants, says the student, nodding.
This interpretation was never taught at my dad's church.
And of course, why would it be? It blows apart the whole Left
Behind scenario of a future return and then a cataclysmic
judgment on the earth.
My head doesn't spin anymore. I've read the whole trunk of
books and a few more besides. But today I'm just here to enjoy
Kareema's sesame cookies and a visit with Dan and Emily, his
English fiance.
Dan is used to success, but Zed is still adjusting.
For one thing, success has brought Zed money and he insists,
it has also brought him to a new level of maturity. One that puts
me and him on an equal level. (My mandate book is selling more
modestly in smaller circles, but all in all, has been well-received.
Again, I can thank Dan for a bit of help there.)
Dan and Emily have their wedding outside in one of the
smaller Haifa gardens. The reception is back at Dan's house and
Zed, as the best man and me, as the maid of honour, play
significant and busy roles in the day's festivities.
But after the meal and late in the night, when most of the
guests are heading back to their hotel rooms (many of them
having come from as far as England), Zed and I are still dancing
under the starlight. Zed is nostalgic. As we sway to the music -
my head on his chest, his resting on my hair - he announces that
he's still just as crazy about me as that first time he saw me at the
Western Wall.
I laugh.
But I can't ignore the fact that he's become an indispensable
part of my life. We've spent a lot of time over the last two years
strolling through the parks of Haifa and drinking coffee in the
waterside cafs. We've even gotten pretty good at theological
conversations, although for the most part, we both agree that
Jesus is enough.
So tonight, when Dan is wrapping up his life in Haifa and
returning back to England, Zed and I agree that we'll do the
same, return to North America together.
Dan and his new bride effusively offer their congratulations
Epilogue
215
and Dan says he thought we were a good couple right from the
day we showed up at his doorstep with our questions about
eschatology.
Dad's trunk hasn't been opened in about a year. The day after
Dan's wedding, I open it up again, thinking that maybe I should
just give all the books to Zed as a kind of pre-wedding present.
After all, these books were part of what brought us together.
Zed does something I never did. He takes them all out of the
trunk and lines them up on the dresser of my room. He's like
that. Never mind that we're just going to have to pack them all up
again.
I'm sitting on the small bed of the room I've been renting
from a Jewish family for the last couple of years.
What's this? he asks, reaching into the trunk and pulling out
an envelope. It was on the bottom. He holds it out to me.
I dunno, I say, reaching for it. Like the base of the trunk, it
is a dull brown, which is probably why I never noticed it before.
Dad was probably using it as a bookmark. The envelope is
addressed to what was once my family home in Toronto. The
return address is from the Brauner Banks Children's Home in
Nairobi, Kenya. Inside is a letter. The letter is typed but it's
personal.
It's written to Dad.
It's from a lady named Martha and it says that his house is
completed. The rest of the property is coming along nicely. The
living quarters are complete, as is the school. The medical
facilities are almost finished. All that is left is the recreational
building and the playground. Martha says that they are in the
process of hiring qualified teachers and caregivers and that she
looks forward to his arrival.
I just stare at the letter.
There's more on the page. Dad has scrawled a scripture on the
bottom. I recognize his handwriting and it makes me ache to see
it again.
It's always bothered me that I didn't know why Dad sold our
house in Toronto and what he did with all his money. Maybe this
is the answer.
Zed has sat down beside me on the bed and is reading the
letter too.
Zed, I think this might be it . . .
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216
He nods and puts his arm around my shoulder.
But I can't be 100% sure . . .
I'm just staring at the letter.
Zed takes the letter from me and reads it over again, his arm
still around me.
I have a great idea, says Zed when hes done, pulling me
closer.
Oh yeah? What's that? I say, leaning against his chest.
How about we have a honeymoon in Nairobi? he says
grinning
I look up at him and then back down at the letter in my hand.
I think I'd like that very much.

We are given the full tour.
The Brauner Banks Children's Home houses 300 children,
mostly AIDS orphans. All of them are receiving medical
treatment and it is expected that even though some of them are
HIV-positive, they won't die prematurely like their parents did.
I'm impressed with the quality of education the children are
receiving. And the facilities are all top-notch.
Your father wanted everything to be the best for the
children, says Martha, the woman who administers the project.
I was so sad when the news of his death was conveyed to me.
Zed and I are staying in the home that was built for Dad to
live in. It is a small building that now houses any guests to the
facilities.
The children all wear clean white shirts and blue shorts or
pants or skirts. They look healthy and Zed has been joining them
for impromptu soccer games.
Did Dad do this because he thought Jesus was going to come
back sometime soon? I ask Martha one day when we're seated at
the table for two in the tiny, but cheerful, kitchen of the guest
house. She has brought us over a bowl of mango ice cream.
Since Zed is out playing one-on-one basketball with some of the
older boys, I invite her to share it with me.
Her laugh is merry.
I did not get that impression, no. He said he was a new
Christian and that he was convinced that Jesus gave him his
money to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and visit the sick.
Matthew 25, I say, nodding.
Epilogue
217
Yes, says Martha, who is also a Christian. Most of the
people who work here are believers.
I know this sounds crazy, I say, taking a spoonful of the
delicious sweet. But is it possible my father believed that Jesus
had already returned?
I expect her to look at me in horror. Zed and I have found
that very few Christians, especially the evangelical ones, believe
that the second coming is a past event.
But Martha gives this careful thought.
Your father said something to me once. He flew me over to
Toronto and we met in his home. Martha's eyes widen at the
memory. What a house!
I nod.
But he said to me that day that he had not taken Jesus
seriously for most of his life. His wife's family, who were Jewish,
had always said that Jesus was a false prophet.
I concur with this.
Then he said he had recently come to see that Jesus was a
true prophet and that all his prophecies had come to pass.
My eyes widen as Martha continues.
Your Dad personally flew over here with the cheque. He
wanted to be as much a part of this as he could. He designed all
this . . . Martha waves her hand in the direction of the buildings.
When he presented me with the cheque, there were many
officials present. He told them he was a Christian and that he
wanted to help the widows and orphans in their affliction. He
said that that was pure religion.
I lean back in my chair. This is what I've longed for. These
were the final thoughts of my father.
The ice cream now gone, Martha gives my hand a squeeze
before going back outside. She's a busy woman and has many
other things to do this afternoon.
When Zed returns, he finds me still at the kitchen table, now
studying the letter that Martha wrote to Dad. On the bottom is a
scripture written out by Dad. It's from the Psalms. Psalm 84:5.
What is it? Zed asks, pulling one of the wooden chairs over
to be right beside me.
I'm just staring down at the words in my father's handwriting.
Zed reads them over my shoulder.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, in whose heart
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218
are the highways to Zion.
I think I get it, I say. It's like a message from my Dad. And
even though he's gone, for this moment, he and I are on the
same wavelength. Zion is another word for Jerusalem and now
the highways to Zion are in our hearts.
Zed's arm is around my shoulders.
Maybe it's not something that most people believe, that the
old has passed away and that the new has come. But I look out
the window where I can see the colourful playground a slide
shaped like a giraffe, an elephant jungle gym, a swing-set with
zebra stripes. About fifty small children are all running around
laughing and playing.
And for now, it's enough.


THE END



Other novels by Jennifer L Armstrong

The society for the betterment of mankind
Revolution in C Minor
Pink gin
Somewhere between Longview and Miami
Last king of Damascus
The Unlikely Association of Meg and Harry
Death Among the Dinosaurs
A Good Man

The Kent famil y adventures

The Treasure of Tadmor
The Strange sketch of Sutton
The Hunt for the cave of Moravia
The Search for the sword of Goliath
The Buried gold of Shechem
The Cache of Baghdad
The Walls of Jerusalem
The Missionarys Diary

Non-fiction by Jennifer L. Armstrong

Dreaming in Arabic (A non-fiction narrative)