1 HATHACH AND MELZAR

   Could there have been spiritual men in Babylon, many, many years ago…. Well, the land itself was completely pagan. The people didn’t talk about religion, except during holidays, of course. And there were so-called temples and halls where people went to keep up with traditions and rules which let up tension and created unity for all mankind…at least, they said that’s what they were there for.

  But one clear, starry night, there was a man in Babylon who sat up in bed staring out into the royal gardens. He thought he noticed something in the sky.

  Hathach came from a family of astronomy scholars. His first memories of taking night walks with his father, were when he would be shown the stars and told what they meant and the bearing they had on his life. As he got older, he would be shown how to line them up and find other stars according to the season.

  Hathach, the Chamberlain called the eunuch standing out in the hall: “I can’t sleep, Melzar. Please bring me some reading material.”

  The real reason the chamberlain called his servant was for their usual meeting. The two had a common passion—looking out at the night sky. Melzar loved star-gazing too. Because of the way his mother raised him, he was drawn to astrological signs. He and Hathach often spent hours together, looking up at the blinking lights others didn’t care about.

“You were saying you wanted what, sir?” twenty-year-old Melzar backed into the room, his eyes fixed on the sky.

“Melzar! Look this way when your master talks to you!”

“B-but that Star up there! Surely Hathach, you saw it! It is still there!

Hathach looked quickly out the window. Yes, his study of astronomy and Melzar’s nightly star gazing had told them a King was to be born in the region of Judea. The “King Star” had not gone away.

Hathach shook his head, trying to keep his mind on things at hand—star-gazing was fine, but he needed to deal with things right here in Babylon.

Hathach’s ancestor had served the king of Shushan. One night, when the king could not sleep, he had ordered past records read to him, and a Jew’s heroism was remembered and rewarded. Most people had not believed in this Jew’s God, whom they called Yahweh, but it was after this, they began noticing how this God seemed to care for His own. He had supposedly protected them from being slaughtered. Surely, that couldn’t happen here in Babylon!

Melzar resumed his “official” eunuch-to-master posture.

“I…yes; Melzar, can you go to the hall where all the records are kept and get me...’The Jews at Shushan’? I’ve been told about a God, called “Yahweh” and His people at Shushan; but it sounds far-fetched.

“Yahweh?” Melzar opened his mouth to say something, but shut it with, “I’ll go get it right away, sir,” and left.

“Right away” took much longer than expected, but Melzar returned with a scroll. Apologizing for being late, he handed it to Hathach.

“Melzar, you are interested in this too, I think?” Hathach had a smile on his lips. “interested enough to maybe do a little reading on the slow walk back to give the scroll to old Hathach?”　Excitedly, he took the scroll from Melzar and began reading.

Melzar seemed to let down his guard a little. “Can’t hide anything from you sir. These Jews…I am interested in this because…Hathach, would you believe my ancestor was once the eunuch responsible for four Jewish captives? Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego (Dan.1:11). They, like these Jews at Shushan, believed their God would take care of them.

“Did you pick up the name of the queen’s chamberlain at Shushan?”

Melzar responded with a broad grin, “Yes, of course I did! It was the same as yours: ‘Hathach’!” (Esther4:5)

Hathach’s eyes twinkled. “That was my ancestor.” He paused to let it sink in.  Our family moved here to Babylon since, but we’ve heard the story of ‘Esther and the Jews’ for generations. I wanted to read the record for myself.”

“Well, now you have it in hand—is this not a happy day.” Something about the way Melzar said it wasn’t right.

“Melzar? What is it?” Hathach caught it too.

   “Oh, I guess I’m happy for you. It’s just that Shushan was recorded and you can read about it. Me and the stories I’ve heard from my ancestors about this Yahweh God is about ‘fiery furnaces’ and ‘lions’ dens’, and there’s no way of confirming it…ever.”

Something in Hathach’s mind told him the “King’s Star” appearing in the sky was somehow tied in with this Yahweh God.

Without thinking it through, Hathach found himself saying, “Don’t worry, my young friend, before all this is done, I think we will have seen with our own eyes more of this Yahweh God than we could possibly imagine.”

They had to follow that “King Star” and find out more about this Yahweh God.

Hathach had been a dependable chamberlain for years. Surely, the prince would give him a pilgrimage now if he asked and let him take along his favorite eunuch.

But he had heard that Prince Beorn was a black man of the desert, a mysterious man, only in his forties. Would he be a cold, hard man? How would he be received? Hathach began to wish he had asked for his rest when the former prince had been on the throne. 

(“Melzar” is actually the title Head Eunuch, but since he is the only eunuch appearing in the story, it began to sound like a first name to the trio.) 

2 PRINCE BEORN

Prince Beorn is actually a former slave, brought east during the Revived Babylonian captivity. (Because of his mixed blood, he looks black but is actually half Jew.) He cleaned washrooms until one day, a fluke accident caused a high-ranking Babylonian officer’s cart to overturn near the cesspool where Beorn worked (he was on duty indoors). The officer’s daughter, thrown from the cart, ended up clean and unharmed on a boulder in the center of the pool. The only way out was for someone to wade through the muck and carry her on his shoulders, which Beorn did.

Of course, those clothes and shoes could never be used again—but he was given a new tunic, pants, shoes...

And after that Babylonian officer’s wife had Beorn showered, shampooed, manicured, given the fanciest clothes and cologne…that little girl went and gave Beorn the biggest hug. For people who knew the whole story, well, they couldn’t not cry.

There will always be the group of people who will not be able to get past skin-deep taboos. They saw the favors shown Beorn and could only whisper about the “Black Magic he must have to be able to make people treat him kindly”.

The Babylonian officer wanted to do something more for Beorn. He couldn’t send him back to his former menial duties…he had been cleaning toilets before! But there were prejudiced people in high-ranking offices to deal with, Beorn couldn’t be placed there, either. So, what ended up happening, was:

Beorn was given the title: “Minister of Wilderness Development and Preservation” and given dominion rights extending over The Wilderness of Sarafi. “After all, Beorn grew up in the Arabian desert so knew about where to find water, how the wind blew, how to treat desert animals, adapt to heat changes, etc….; of course, Beorn was the best man for the post.” his friends said. Altho’ he was “prince”, he had authority in that land only.

 Prince Beorn had heard from his mother how the God Yahweh is also the God Who sees. Even when other human beings do not see or understand, a God in Heaven, he had been taught, does. To the believing, trusting, searching…even to the sinner, this merciful Yahweh opened eyes to the water of life, she taught him, the way out even when there seemed no hope.

The older he got, the more Prince Beorn thought about this God.

One night when he couldn’t sleep (is this beginning to sound familiar?), he decided to read from something his mother used to read: the sacred writings. He had clumsily dropped the scroll on the floor, and when he bent over to pick it up, his eyes fell onto the words: “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Num. 24:17). He could hear his mother’s voice. She had talked about these words. The people here in far away Babylon did not know the One True God, but Yahweh had His eye on His own, she had said, and would one day send His own special chosen One to help them. That Star would be a sign in the sky that He was coming. There would be hope then.

Beorn straightened himself and looked out the window. Could it be? There was a star, a magnificent star…and it seemed to be moving!

Someone behind Beorn seemed to be clearing his throat.

“Your Highness, there is someone here to see you.”

At a time like this? The star!

Hathach stepped into the room, and almost at the same time was on his hands and knees. “Prince Beorn – Your Highness – your most humble servant has no right to ask this…”

“Yes, yes; get up; please get up;” Beorn, once a wilderness nomad himself, never really had use for royal formalities and disliked hierarchy. He waved it away and helped Hathach to his feet. “What is it?”

Actually, Hathach had a similar distaste for formality. He liked this new prince better right away.

 “My name is Hathach. My young eunuch and I, we were wondering if we…we might be given leave for a pilgrimage to the west…for an undetermined period of time.” This was harder to say than he had imagined, Hathach thought. But what he had started, he might as well finish.

 “I know it sounds preposterous. It is just that there have been things we have been hearing about a Yahweh God…” but Hathach could see Beorn had not the slightest interest in what he had to say; his gaze had not left the window the entire time he had been speaking!

   The prince muttered a short word softly, then pushed himself away from the window. Then he said it loudly, strongly: “Hope.

Hathach, you and Mel…zar, I think you said his name was, have full permission to go, only on one condition.” Hathach held his breath.

 “You take me with you!

Do you see the star behind me?

 “The regal star?” Hathach thought. Could the prince know about the King being born in Judea? Impossible! But he was undoubtedly pointing to it!

“It will lead us on our journey;” the Prince was saying. “Tell Melzar to get packed; get dressed; get his good-byes said; we head west in the morning. Meet me at the back gate of the city in eight hours—I will bring camels, supplies, and an explanation. Well, don’t just stand there Hathach; there’s much work to do, yes?”

 “Mysterious” was not strong enough a word to describe this man, Hathach thought, as he made his way down the hall. 

Chapters 3 & 4

3 STARTLING START

Hathach tapped at the city’s back gate. Had he been dreaming? Made a big mistake, maybe? The small door creaked open.

Outside were three camels, saddled, all loaded with small boxes and bags as well as being loosely strung together with slip knots. On one of the camels sat a servant, but the Prince hadn’t come. Well, it wasn’t quite eight hours yet.

Hathach and Melzar stepped through the door and closed it behind them.

“Is this Melzar?” the servant sitting on the camel asked. But it was the voice of the Prince!

“Y-yes,” Hathach replied. “Is that you behind the veil, Prince?”

“Ah. I wanted to be able to ride easy so dressed like this—but you know these nomad veils are musts for sand storms. Here, I brought two extras—maybe you can put them in with your things to use when you need them. And if you’re not expecting anyone else, let’s go as far as we can while it’s dark and cool. As we go, I’ll explain why we’re making this trip.”

Hathach had almost forgotten. Last night, after his visit to see the Prince, he had rushed home and got out the news to Melzar that the three of them would be heading west this morning. What had seemed like a reckless quest until yesterday was actually taking shape right before their eyes today. It seemed this Yahweh God would show Himself to them after all—He was helping them make this trip, not just having a prince give his permission for them to do it, it but he was riding along with them!

“Prince, before you tell us about your reason for making this trip, we must tell you what happened before it,” Hathach said, and told him about their star-gazing findings. “We can’t get away from the notion that a King is going to be born in Judea, and we must be there to witness it.”

“Yahweh sent that Star I saw in the window,” Prince Beorn told Melzar. “Just then, Hathach said he wanted to know about Yahweh God. It was as if Yahweh Himself looked down at me and said, ‘You dare not deny his request to seek Me!’ So I had no choice but to grant you permission, you see?”

“So…you saw a big, bright star that Yahweh sent…” and Melzar closed his lips. Hathach saw Melzar’s face and finished the sentence for him.

“Just exactly what does the star mean?”

“Messiah. The Messiah will be born. I will explain more later.

The wind has picked up, I’m afraid. Can you get those veils, Hathach? I think a sandstorm’s coming.”

Not a moment too soon. No sooner had they dug the hoods out of their things and clapped them on their heads, the trio was lost in a cloud of gravely darkness. Eerie, swirling, “bottomless” darkness. Hathach wondered how people survived sandstorms without veiled hoods. He was glad Prince Beorn had come along on this trip. It would not be the only time on this trip Hathach would have this thought.

That is, Hathach thought it was his trip that he had chosen Melzar for and Prince Beorn had come along; he had no idea this could be a trip planned by Yahweh God for which Beorn, Melzar, and Hathach, had been chosen.

As soon as the winds died down, Hathach and Melzar let out a hugh sigh of relief. Sky! They could see the…what? The prince was telling them to get back on their camels and move to higher ground. Hurry, he said; he would explain later.

“He always ‘explains later.’” Melzar thought, as they went up the side of a slope and reached a clump of palms at the top. They had just come out of a sandstorm, and the sky was beeooti…wait…a cloud was racing across the sky, and it was getting dark fast. The blowing sand of a few moments ago was replaced with roaring downpour of water.

“Take cover! Flash flood!” Prince Beorn’s deep voice sounded small.

The three men and their camels huddled as compact as they could under the trees, watching the water shooting past them. It came crashing through the channel where they had been standing just moments earlier, twisting, lifting boulders, uprooting trees in the way. But after the storm raged awhile, almost as suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. There were swirls of sand everywhere, and the gulley they had been in…well, it was no longer a “channel,” being pretty much filled up with mud and sand.

“I hope everybody likes rabbit stew; that seems to be what Yahweh has provided for dinner tonight.” Prince Beorn’s smiling voice said.

  Rabbit stew? Yahweh provided?

The Prince came walking down from the top of the hill where they had taken refuge during the storm, pulling something out from behind his back. He was holding two rabbits by their feet!

“My father taught me that after sandstorms, flash floods are very likely. Animals also know this, so the ones in the desert—who happen to be on lower ground when sandstorms hit—usually head for higher ground right afterwards. I never thought I could catch a “cape hare”, but Yahweh has blessed. ‘In the Mount of the LORD it shall be seen,’ (Gen.22:14) I was gathering herbs when I saw a hare, injured in the sandstorm, dying at the foot of a bush. Its mate would not run away, so I caught him too. We can have rabbit stew for dinner tonight, yes? Neither of you are allergic to rabbit, are you?” They shook their heads.

Prince Beorn was full of surprises.  

4 It Must Be the Rabbit Stew

Well, that evening, he asked not to be called “Prince” any more, just “Beorn.” The rest of the trip, it was decided to forget rank, position, all that; just go by “Beorn, Hathach, Melzar.”

While eating rabbit stew, Beorn was asked to tell about himself, and this is what he said:

Beorn’s father was a black Arab nomad, his mother a Jewish woman who taught him about Yahweh and read to him from the sacred writings of the prophets. Because Beorn is half black, many people think he is 100% black. He could probably fool people into believing he was an Egyptian. Beorn grew up learning many of the ways of the Nomad and life on The Wilderness of Paran. However, Beorn’s father died, and his mother returned to the land of her birth, Israel.

Here, Melzar interrupted Beorn. “That was too bad. If you hadn’t come up to Israel, but stayed down south, you wouldn’t have been brought all the way to Babylon as a slave, right? You would be free as a bird today in the wilderness you grew up loving. The Babylonian Kingdom extended quite a ways, but I don’t think anyone would’ve gone as far as Paran! I was starting to think this Yahweh God was great, but…it seems He let your father die then let you be exiled as slaves. I don’t know. Sounds like He handed you some pretty sad circumstances.”

“…Melzar, you say, ‘That’s too bad.’ But not my mother.

She said Yahweh always does good for His own, for reasons we may not even be aware of ourselves at the time. Later on, we’ll always look back—always—and marvel at how Yahweh arranged it all perfectly. For example—you know our relatives, the family down south that were ‘so lucky’ not to get taken to Babylon as slaves, like me? Well, we heard later, a band of thieves raided that area, raped and murdered Then they burned the farms to the ground. Mother and I escaped all that.

And Melzar, look; now I am a Prince. Is that really…so…bad?”

“Hmm.” Melzar had to rethink that one.

“Don’t think too hard, Melzar.” Beorn rolled his eyes at him, taking his empty plate off his hands; “What I’ve found out is that it’s not really that important that we get it all figured out anyway. The important thing is that we let Yahweh be in charge, that we keep coming back to Him.”

Beorn went on to say that when he was made prince, his mother had not been allowed to come along. So from that point on, mother and son had been separated.

By the time he became prince, she walked with a limp, Beorn remembered. On the day he was taken to his new post; she had hobbled over to her corner of the room; and reached for her treasure under the pillow: the sacred writings! He would not—he could not—take them from his mother. He had put his hands behind his back and shook his head desperately, but she had pressed them against his chest.

“Beorn, take them. Keep them,” his mother had said; “Yahweh will keep you. And wherever you go my darling son, you will be right here in your mother’s heart.”

And Beorn could not push her away.

“So you took the writings?” Melzar asked. Beorn nodded.

“One of the most precious things my mother gave me.” Beorn managed to say.

“One of?”

“Her name. Another precious gift. My mother’s name is to me…like a pearl I take out and look at from time to time to soothe my soul.”

“Her name?”

Hathach had been watching the two talk. Never before had he seen Melzar like this. He usually went halfway through a sentence, pressed his lips together, said no more; that was the extent of the young man’s effort to communicate. But with the prince--perhaps he had identified with some of the hardships Beorn had had to endure and felt safe with him; Melzar freely expressed himself and anything he was curious about.

“Yes. My mother’s name.” Beorn paused—the three men had been washing their bowls and began putting them back among their supplies. He shook his head and smiled at a memory, saying,. “Oh, she was strong.” They turned and leaned against the camels’ backs. All this time, Melzar waited.

“You will not laugh?” Beorn finally asked.

“I am not laughing now,” Melzar said.

“My mother’s name is Arla.”

“Pretty name, Arla,” Melzar said, sincerely.

“I know. Sounds pretty, but that’s all it is to most people. There is another story about why it is special. Will you listen?” Beorn didn’t move his head gazing at the stars; only his with his eyes he peered towards Melzar.

“I am listening.”

“Mother told me long ago in the writings of the prophets of a slave Hagar who was cast out in the desert with her son, given only a pitcher of water. They almost died, but Yahweh led them to a desert spring. The slave said, Beer-lahai-roi, which in my mother’s language means ‘Well of the Living God Who sees’.”

“Beer…?”

“To help me remember that story, whenever she told that story, my mother made a funny face, threw up her hands, and said, ‘Barla-hairoi!’ We pretended she was tongue-tied and I had to help her remember her name was ‘Arla’ and the place was ‘Beer-la’. We died laughing. Maybe it’s ridiculous, but…

It’s not a bit ridiculous, Melzar thought.

After that, whenever something happened I needed to remember that people don’t understand but Yahweh sees and does—and will provide a way out—it was like a password. I would say, “Arla”, and my mother would say, “Hairoi”. –when we moved to Negeb where not everybody around had the same color skin as me…when most of our belongings were stripped from us when we were brought to Babylon…that day after carrying that little girl on my shoulders over the cesspool…when I left for my post as prince, and Mother couldn’t come along, instead of ‘good-bye,’ we said ‘Arla,’ and ‘Hairoi’. People around thought we were saying goodbye in Hebrew.

Beorn pretended to chuckle; Melzar didn’t.

I like talking with you, Melzar,” Beorn coughed; “I don’t think I talked with anyone like this before.”

Then, tossing some bedrolls over to his companions, he advised, “Let’s get some sleep. We need to start off again early in the morning. Oh—and be sure to make your bedding off the ground where it’s cooler and safer from desert varmints.

Hathach said to himself, Beorn thinks he never talked so much before? If he only knew about Melzar! It must be the rabbit stew…. 

Chapters 5 & 6

5 First-Name Basis

But the rabbit in the pot came hopping out and sniffed at each of the three sleeping forms. When he came to Melzar’s face, the rabbit’s whiskers must’ve tickled a bit. Melzar muttered a “Stop that;” giggled; turned over…and fell off his perch.

“Ouch!”

Beorn was already up—“the rabbit” had disappeared—the human desert traveler was tying his things to his camel.

“Better wake Hathach. We need to get moving.”

“Right;” Melzar said, moving toward Hathach. He whispered, “Did you see the rabbit?”

“What rabbit?”

“Ra…never mind.”

Melzar and Hathach got on their camels and were moving, perhaps not quite as quickly as Beorn would’ve liked, but it had been, after all, only their first night. They would improve. That day, they made good time, wearing nomadic clothing—those veils—from the beginning. The only thing that slowed them down even a little was Hathach’s cries of: “Look! Look!”

Desert wildlife. Actually, it was not for himself, but Melzar. Hathach knew Melzar loved animals. The beautiful spotted Persian deer he couldn’t not show Melzar. And over there, by the canyon. That adorable sand cat. Hathach knew it could be a ferocious animal, would not stay anybody’s pet! But he had to have Melzar see the kitty anyway.

They did not take time this day to kill and cook but chewed on cured meat Hathach had brought and munched on raisins. What took surprising little time was the watering of the camels, for the amount they drank. Because Beorn knew how to travel in the desert going from watering hole to watering hole, there was always enough. But my, the amount of water those camels could drink! But of course the group dared not move onto the next stop until the camels had drunk to their full.

The three would dismount, lead their animals to the water, and…it seemed the camels forgot for a few minutes about their loads, their journey, their masters. All they could think of was “drink”. While a camel is filling up on water like that, it is doubtful even a strong man could pull him away from the spring. Melzar, Hathach, Beorn never once had to worry about someone running off with one of their camels.

“Treat your camel well, and he will serve you well,” Beorn once said to the two men, while patting his tan friend on the side of the neck. “A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.’ (Prov.12:10)

“It says that in the sacred writings?” Melzar was surprised. “I thought those writings were about the Yahweh God and man, not about animals!”

“The way a man treats animals says a lot about how he feels about God,” Beorn explained; “Yes, it is in there. My mother said the first job man was given when Yahweh made him was to give names to the animals.

Yahweh said, Okay, anything you like: ‘Spot’ or ‘Mr. President’ or ‘Ling-Ling’ or whatever name you want.”

Hathach interrupted. “Wait. You don’t mean ‘give animals names’, like: ‘You’re an elephant’, ‘You’re a tiger’, ‘I’ll call you a horse’, ‘You’ll be called hippopotamus’, etc…? You mean ‘name’, name?”

Beorn looked back at him. “All right. The next person you see walking his pet, Ask its name, and it’s close to 100% sure the owner will not say, ‘I just call him “dog” or say “come here, cat”.’ I think he will call him by a ‘name’ name. And when Yahweh looks at me, He doesn’t just love ‘that human being’, but He loves me, Beorn.”

People who can be cruel to animals show they have a cold relationship with God too. They don’t realize they can be on a first-name basis with Him.”

“First-name basis?”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not real clear on this. I wish my mother were here to tell you. She said it has to do with the Star leading us to Israel. Yahweh will send us special Help to be able to understand all truth. Including this first-name thing.” Beorn looked almost pained that he could not answer more clearly.

Hathach spoke up. “That’s good enough for old Hathach. Melzar, isn’t that good enough for you too? If any father tells his sons that he’s got a treat coming for them but he can’t tell them about it yet--they’ve just got to leave it up to him, don’t you think they should? Especially if that father always gave good surprises in the past, and if the son who knew him best already decided to believe him.

It seems to me Yahweh has already shown Himself trustworthy to Beorn and his mother who know Him far, far better than we do, Melzar. If they are willing to let Him care for the rest of their lives, can’t we believe Him too? Of course we can! We can, and we will do no less.

Beorn’s eyes showed both thankfulness for Hathach’s words as well as a bit of surprise. It sounded like this white-bearded man had thought through much for himself. Beorn wanted to hear more from him.

“Maybe another waterhole,” he thought; “it looks like the camels are done.”

6 Melzar Tames Tassie

Desert travel had become almost routine for the three from Babylon. No matter how hot it got during the day, they knew to stay covered up—their skin needed protection from the burning sun. And by midday—almost every day--the pounding heat and thirst would have them thinking they would die before they reached the next watering hole. But wasn’t that how it always felt?

After a while, the trio actually began expecting the feeling of doom between the springs…so when it came, it was no surprise. As Melzar put it, “It was like the sandstorm came, but I had my hood on and was ready.” Then it wasn’t so bad.

The accidents that are the hardest are the ones that come when you aren’t expecting them.

Melzar and the camels hadn’t expected a midnight visitor. He had been out having a little visit with his four-footed friend as he sometimes did after Beorn and Hathach started snoring. Melzar felt safe then to have short visits before crawling back to his place of sleep again. Teddy would never tell on him.

One night, while Melzar was leaning his back against his tan buddy, he noticed the camel started snarling and baring his teeth.

“Why, what’s wrong? Did I say something…to upset you?” Melzar looked where Teddy was glaring.

He froze. What was it?!

Teddy scrambled to his feet and stomped his hooves, rousing the other two camels from their slumber. Melzar, seeing everything come to life, rushed back to his bedroll and pretended to be asleep. The creature Melzar had seen slipped into the bushes.

Teddy and the other two camels were howling—growling—necks rocking back and forth.. The other two camels had not seen the intruder, only Teddy had; they were just acting like two excitable camels stirred from deep sleep!

  Beorn and Hathach were awake by this time.

“What on earth…” Beorn rubbed his eyes.

“Melzar, I think it was your Teddy that started all this. Maybe a bad nightmare? Can you get him to go back to sleep? Until you do, I don’t think any of us will.”

“Right away, sir.” Melzar tried to calm him down. “He’s gone Teddy,” he whispered. “Whatever it was, he won’t bother us.”

“Cush.” Melzar got Teddy to sit down again and gave him a big hug. “It’s okay, Teddy. You were protecting me from that thing, weren’t you? You’re the best. Thank you. Now go to sleep. Shhh. Good night, Teddy.”

Whew. Close call. Melzar slipped into his bedding, and, tired, fell fast asleep.

He did not see Hathach had not gone back to sleep but had wanted to speak with him.

He looked at Melzar’s sleeping face and smiled at it. Melzar had become to him like a grandson. “I guess it can wait until morning…” Hathach said, and went back to sleep.

The next morning, Hathach said he wanted to take Melzar falcon-hunting.  Melzar was getting rather tired of the doing the same thing day in and day out, so this sounded like a nice change to simply packing up and heading to the next watering hole.

They had seen Saker falcons in Babylon too. Hathach knew a way to catch them by getting their talons tangled in wire; there was no killing; and not a single feather of the bird’s coat was moved out of place during the “hunt”.

“Are you going to tell me what really happened last night?” Hathach asked, as they picked up the bird they had caught; “I told Beorn we were coming out falcon-hunting but did not say when we would be back at camp.”

“Well…” Melzar looked down at the ground, thinking. Hathach would not believe him, for sure.

“You do not have to tell me,” Hathach said, smoothing the feathers of the falcon; “and we can take this bird to camp right now, if you like. No pressure, Melzar.”

Whew, Melzar thought. So the two went back to camp.

And Beorn thought the two men just went falcon-hunting in the morning, leaving Beorn at home. He didn’t suspect anything, about the night before, right? Really?

But Melzar couldn’t tell Hathach he saw a kitty as big as a lion with a worried look…with lips like it wanted to whistle, but eyebrows that went straight up…and had tassles on the tips of its pointy ears! No, no, no; they would lock him up and throw away the key.

But Teddy had seen him too…hadn’t he? Melzar almost wished the animal would come back again another night and show himself.

  *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *  

Almost, not really. But the caracal didn’t know that. The next night, after Hathach and Beorn were fast asleep, Melzar got up and tip toed over to his desert pal.

The same way he’d talked with Beorn that first night—Melzar lay back against Teddy’s side, looking up at the night sky. He loved it when it was so peaceful and quiet like this.

“All those stars line up to form Aries the ram”…Melzar stroked Teddy’s neck…”and that King star. I am so glad you’re here, Teddy,” he said softly, still stroking him, “and will take me all the way to Judea …” But Teddy’s ears didn’t have soft tufts on the ends of them like the ones Melzar was feeling! Slowly, Melzar turned his head.

He was looking into the face of a mountain lion, the “kitty cat with tassels” that came the night before. Melzar knew the worst thing he could do was to scream.

That moment, he remembered what Beorn had said about a shepherd boy named David who had come face to face with a huge cat too—except for him, it wasn’t a mountain lion; it was a real big lion, mange and all—what did Beorn say? David prayed for Yahweh God to help him, and he ended up killing that lion and protecting his sheep. That story came to Melzar’s mind in a flash.

Melzar didn’t want to kill the mountain lion, but he prayed to this Yahweh God right away. “Help”, he prayed; “please!” And the strangest calm came over him.

“We’re headed out west, Kitty. You wanna come too?” And he found himself stroking it again. The cat didn’t seem to know how to respond at first—he hadn’t been spoken to like that or pet so much before—but to Melzar’s surprise, after a while, it curled up at his feet and started purring. It’s like a kitten, he thought, only much bigger.

The sound woke Teddy—yes, he had been asleep the whole time—and it took Melzar some doing to calm him down. Of course, by this time, everyone was awake, and they had to be told about the caracal.

“He’s my new friend,” Melzar said defensively. I’m calling him Tassie (because of the tassled ears). Tassie squeezed himself against Melzar’s body with a worried look, asking for protection. (Well, Tassie’s “worried” face only looks that way because of the caracal’s darker hairs near the eyes.)

“It’s okay; nothing’s going to happen to you. Everyone’s afraid of you, that’s all. Show them that you don’t mean any harm, and they won’t do anything to you either.”

Although Teddy and Melzar always had that bond between animal and rider, the loyalty Tassie felt towards Melzar grew as well, and she was always looking to see what Melzar needed. Tassie never left Melzar’s side, and after awhile, Melzar himself couldn’t think of traveling without Tassie.

Chapters 7 & 8

7  Secrets at Watering Holes

If you asked these men from Babylon about their journey out west, they probably would tell you about things that happened at several watering holes.

One Watering Hole: “Hathach’s Star”

Beorn had sensed in many different ways there was more to Hathach than met the eye. It was at these short rest stops Beorn was able to get to know Hathach a little better. He had told them that his ancestor had been a servant for the king of Shushan, and that he had heard about the protection of the Jews then.

However, it came out in one of the stops at the watering holes that that king’s wife, was named Esther—they had all known this—what they had not known was that her name meant “Star”. And she had been told, as Beorn and his family had been told, that Yahweh God would one day save His own people. His sign would be a star. And she was given that name at birth. Hathach was a mathematician, a scientist. Logic told him this had nothing to do with him.

Yet, there had been something inside him that said that there was one in a million chance that this Yahweh God really did exist; and perhaps He had sent a star as a sign; and for some reason, he let Hathach know about it so that they could be sent out on this journey? Was that not a possibility? At one watering hole, Hathach told his friends he had not been able to get away from these thoughts, and they had pushed him out on this journey. (You can talk freely about things at watering holes you wouldn’t dare talk about anywhere else.)

Melzar jumped in. “You mean when I mentioned Astrological signs pointed to a great King being born in Judea, you felt in your heart it was true?!” Tassie snuggled down quickly at Melzar’s side as if to say “let’s not get all excited. We’re in this together.”

“I had no way of proving it, Melzar.”

“But you felt it was true?” Tassie rubbed her face against his, saying, “I believe you; whatever it is.”

Beorn broke in. “That is why we must see the King with our own eyes. That will take care of everything.”

“My, those camels are fast. 15 minutes, and you’d think they drank up a tenth of the water in the world.”

Another Watering Hole: “Diamonds” & Stew

When it looked like it was the journey’s end and the trio could’ve turned into Jerusalem, Beorn looked at his two friends and asked, almost like a little boy, “A big favor…for me? It won’t do anything to help this trip…but I just want to see the wilderness where I grew up. Could we make a detour south for a week? No, even three days, two?”

Hathach and Melzar looked at each other and smiled.

They were this far from Babylon. If Beorn wanted to see his old backyard—and he’d gotten them through…how many sandstorms and terrible scrapes already?—they would by no means limit his time!

“Beorn, a week, two weeks, take all the time you want!”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Beorn almost cried, he was so happy. Tassie shook her tassels, and jumped over to Beorn’s side. “Thank you, Tassie!”

That desert was just as hot as Beorn remembered it. Hathach had studied about “Arabian Diamonds” on the desert floor that can be seen best at this time of day. There! And there! He saw them sparkling, glittering in the sun. Hathach gathered these rocks and put them in a small sack, amazed that something so beautiful could be just lying here for the taking.

Animal-lover Melzar, almost one with Teddy after his long ride from the east, had been on the hills of the place and delighted with the wildlife he found there. Tassie came flying to his side though, when he heard Melzar scream at the 2-foot-long lizard in the shadow.

Beorn came running; but threw his head back and laughed when he saw what Melzar had seen, then quickly apologized for making light of something that must’ve been frightening. Apparently, dhub stew is not an uncommon nomadic dish, which they had for supper.

“Chicken Stew…pretty good….you made this, Beorn?” Hathach said at supper. Beorn winked at Melzar.

“Yes, I made it” was all he said.

At bedtime, Hathach was told about the nomad “chicken” stew…what it had probably looked like before it had become stew. It was probably knowing that he had gathered a sackful of “Arabian Diamonds” that kept Hathach from getting in a bad mood, even when he found out about the giant lizard he’d been tricked into eating. 

8 Foreigner's Gift

 The last watering-hole of the journey, Beorn shuffled over to his two Babylonian friends, and although one was twenty years younger than he and the other twenty years older, he strangely felt he was addressing two brothers.

“I never dreamed I would hear myself say this,” Beorn said, and almost expected his own voice to sound awkward, but was surprised at how smoothly it came out, “but would you read this with me?”

Beorn had read from the sacred writings himself before. Most watering holes he did. He had spoken of them before. Many times. But Hathach and Melzar…would not laugh at anything in those writings, they would not treat them lightly; and something in Beorn told him Yahweh Himself said yes, let them have a look. This was the first time he had asked anyone to read along with him from the sacred writings.

“The prophets;’ sacred writings your mother let you keep? Oh, I would be so honored, Beorn! But I am just a eunuch. Would it not offend the great prophets to have a eunuch listen to their words?”

“”And I, Beorn—I am a foreigner. I respect, have high regard for this Yahweh God, but would there not be great wrath if I, a pagan, tried to read the writings of chosen holy men of your faith?

Instead of having the writings belittled, Melzar and Hathach had both expressed high regard for the words of Yahweh! Beorn felt a lump of joy building in his chest and throat, saying, “Something tells me Yahweh Who sees has heard and is not angry but pleased. Come--you must read with me today:”

Beorn explained to Melzar Isa. 56:3 said the eunuch didn’t have to think of himself as a dry tree; it also said to Hathach: even a foreigner could join himself to the LORD—they could together go in to Yahweh’s open arms to serve Him; He has promised to receive them and make His house a joyful house of prayer for all peoples! All this was clearly laid out in Isaiah 56:3-7, the portion Beorn was to read that day.

They once more read Isa. 56:3-7 then the verse following it:

“The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, yet will I gather others to him, beside those who are gathered to him.” (Isa.56:8)

There, the three men bowed their heads, humbly joining their minds and wills, asking Yahweh to accept their all and to show them the rest of the way…to their Hope, His promised Messiah. They did not understand it all, could only follow Him Who did. Would He not prove Himself to them?

Leaving that watering hole, Hathach asked Beorn for a special favor. He wanted to read that portion of the sacred writings they had read together—about the foreigner that joins himself to the Lord and about God gathering: this Yahweh God accepted him! He didn’t reject him as pagan but chose him…as Hathach himself had picked up those shining rocks off the desert floor!

By the time the wise men made camp that night, he had made up his mind: whatever gold those stones were worth, he would give no less to the One sent by this Yahweh God Who freely accepted this foreigner Hathach.

(The rocks Hathach found are called “Al-Qaysumah Diamonds”, of course not the same as diamonds mined from the center of the earth, actually semi-precious stones similar to Amethysts and Smokey Topaz, Citrine. But they’re still valuable so would be worth plenty to merchants passing through. Hathach’s research had told him the stones were on the desert floor, but his study did not tell him Al Qaysumah, where the quartz are most plentiful, is on the other side of the desert. It seems Yahweh stepped in and had sandstorms carry them his way.) 

Chapters 9 & 10

9 Don't Know Why

“Tomorrow we’ll be there. Can you believe it?” Beorn said, looking up at the stars the way he often did.

“I still don’t see why we have to go to the castle and ask directions,” Melzar complained; “why can’t we keep following the star?” He didn’t exactly like people.

“You want to tell him Hathach, or shall I?” Beorn said, still looking into the night sky.

“You do, Beorn; I’ve tried quite a few times, but he doesn’t seem to understand when I tell him. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”

“Oh…kay…” It looked like Beorn closed his eyes for a little bit. But when he spoke, it seemed in a completely different tone of voice.

“People can do the craziest things, don’t you think?”

“Wha-?” Melzar thought he was going to tell him about why they were going to the castle. But that’s okay. If Beorn wanted to tell a story, Melzar wanted to hear it. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you get real proud people together and find out they really can’t do the simplest things because of this stupid thing called “pride”! Sometimes, a simpleton, a fool can do more just because one ‘grand’ person isn’t willing to swallow his pride.”

“What do you mean?” Melzar asked, and even Tassie’s eyebrows seemed curled.

“Well,” again Beorn chuckled with the memory, like the time I carried that Babylonian officer’s daughter on my shoulder through the cesspool. “Okay, that’s an extreme example. But there are lots of things people won’t do for pride…and will let someone else do it. That wasn’t hard work, didn’t require any training or anything, but I GOT TO BECOME A PRINCE FOR IT! Some people won’t ask directions out of pride.”

“If it’ll look like I’m being proud for not wanting to go to the castle tomorrow to ask for directions, Beorn—and that’s not it at all—we can go, ok?”

“I never once thought you had that problem, Melzar, my friend.” Beorn continued, looking up at the sky as if there had been no interruption; “but people like that just do not know when to stop.”

Almost as if to himself, he added: “—but maybe it was conscience; they couldn’t help it?”

Then: “When they realized they had to reward me for a simple thing like walking through a few hundred feet of muck…well, they took it out on me by separating me from my mother, calling me “Prince,” and sending me to the Wilderness of Sarafi, calling it a “promotion” that I was supposed to thank them for thinking of and giving me.”

At this, Beorn began to cry. Loudly, unashamedly, bitterly. “Mother told me the sacred writings tell us ‘the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?’ I see the anger of my own heart and don’t know what to do with it. Mother says Yahweh will send Messiah who will take care of all this one day.”

Melzar knew pain. His experiences had been such it would be an understatement to say he found it difficult to talk about them. When he tried, he would begin to tremble, sometimes have difficulty breathing. So when he saw Beorn’s tears, he could not help but go over and try to comfort him any way he could.

Tassie somehow felt the same thing, and cuddled and snuggled, somehow trying to help this one he knew was in distress…try to imagine a huge mountain lion acting like a baby kitten purring in your face. Beorn couldn’t help smiling in spite of himself. Oh Tassie.

“Melzar,…Melzar, I don’t often hear you talk about your mother…the one who gave you the love for astrology…is that all you remember about her?...Of course, you don’t have to say any more than you want…”

Hathach wanted to hear too. Melzar rarely spoke about his family. As soon as he had been born, his father had been taken away and made the king’s eunuch, so he never knew his father. Like Arla and Beorn, it was a slave-and-son unit, but it hurt Melzar too much to talk about it; so he never did. At first, Hathach thought it was something he needed to talk about and tried to make him do so, but then he saw the almost suffocating effect it had on him, and changed his mind. The stories of shame the eunuch must endure; and stories of service the eunuch must render—Hathach heard these stories, and they were heartbreaking,

   Melzar, for some reason, could not remember details about his mother but remembered two things: as previously stated, the teachings of astrology. Somehow, Melzar remembered her voice talking about the astrological signs and the beauty of their meanings in our lives. The only other thing about his mother that Melzar could remember was, for some reason, her smell. She smelled pretty. Call this a tender mercy of God that a child could not remember his father’s aloofness but he could remember his mother’s smell!

To Melzar’s mind, that fragrance and a mother’s love were the same.

Melzar’s mother had been a housekeeper in the temple grounds where there was expensive incense burning all day, and this fragrance was what was in her clothes.

10  Eunuch's Gift

After months of desert travel, starting early was easy now for Melzar. As a matter of fact, he was far ahead of himself today, so… he asked Beorn, also up early, for a special favor. Beorn smiled and got out the sacred writings. Sitting down on the ground, they looked again at the section read at the watering hole:

Neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.” (Isa. 56:3)

Melzar read those words over and over. Here was something in the sacred writings written for eunuchs! Yahweh really saw him? How long did they spend staring at that one sentence?

Beorn never thought he was a proud person until this moment. But he had never been happy and amazed that there was one sentence in the sacred writings written to him! And it wasn’t just Melzar. Hathach had the same kind of reaction. Seeing Yahweh spoke to the foreigner…that had shocked him. Beorn never felt shocked Yahweh thought of him. A long time ago, Beorn’s mother said the more pride a person has, the more he can be hurt. I have felt much hurt, Beorn reason could it be because—he had not really seen his own heart before?

Hathach’s voice broke in on his thoughts: “I don’t want to be rude, but we need to get going. What do the sacred writings say about how to go on, Beorn?” The star they had been following had disappeared. The wise men had no choice but to go to the castle and ask. But Melzar….

When Beorn looked at him, Melzar shrugged, nodded and mounted his camel. Beorn smiled and mounted his camel too. “It seems we are going to the castle.”

  *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *  *   *   *  

They probably looked a little strange. Three Bedoins: 20, 40, 60 yrs. old (one of them black), on backs of camels…one animal looking like a mountain lion strung to the saddle of the third camel. (Although Tassie usually ran free, Beorn thought the caracal should look kept on the end of a rope, or the city people would be more scared of it. Melzar talked to Tassie, who understood.)

Melzar wanted to cry when he saw Tassie. How did she do it? When they put a rope around her neck, she didn’t put up a fight. In Babylon, Melzar, a slave, wanted to look like an equal when walking with his master; yet Tassie, who knew nothing but respect and freedom, was willing to look like a humbled, captured animal of the wild.

When they got to the castle, while Beorn and Hathach went inside, Melzar decided he would stay with the camels and with Tassie. Mostly, it was because he knew the kids in the street would want to see the animals. Melzar loved simple kids and furry friends.

“Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” Beorn and Hathach got down to business as soon as they were inside the castle. They told King Herod they saw “the King Star” in Babylon and came to worship him. Their study of astronomy and astrology showed a king was to be born in an area called Judea, but can the men of Herod’s hall tell them more?

Herod called his chief priests and scribes and demanded this information. Maybe Beorn knew as much of the sacred writings as some of the scribes King Herod called that day. But seeing his dark skin, they felt they knew more and spoke down to him. Beorn knew exactly what they were thinking; it was nothing new to him. But, they were agreed: writings of the prophets showed the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

“Hathach, tell Melzar to get ready to go to Bethlehem.” Beorn said, waving him towards the camels. And he was going to say a quick, courteous thank-you before leaving, but Herod was not looking at Beorn, but hurrying away toward the exotic caravan, curious to see how foreigners travel.

  “Mean Old Herod’s coming—run!” yelled the children playing with the animals, and they scattered. Herod was known and feared for his unfeeling ways. Even the camels, who rarely respond to others, twitched nervously under Herod’s shifty gaze.

  Only Tassie responded differently. She could sense that under the hard exterior was a man who had many health problems and needed a friend. She came up to the men, and of course, Herod’s initial response was to defend himself from a lion. It’s harmless, our pet, Hathach assured him. Well, it wasn’t just Hathach’s words that persuaded Herod.

Tassie walked past Hathach, and just then, Melzar and Beorn returned to the group to see her nuzzling up against Herod!

  “She…likes you Sir! Look at her!” Despite the long rope tied around her neck, she looked utterly content and began to purr in front of Herod, lay down asking for her belly to be scratched. Herod’s hardened face began to look like a marshmallow, and was there a faint glimmer in the eyes? Some of the youngest children came out of the shadows.

  “Look, I’ll give you all this,” Herod said, showing both hands full of ceremonial incense sticks; “for the cat.” Who’s the owner, he wanted to know. Beorn saw the temple priests’ dismay when Herod spoke. He could see this incense was not Herod’s to give away; he just happened to have it to authorize using it at his temple!

  But Beorn had heard about Herod. If he wanted something, he killed the owner and took what he wanted. The priests were careful to smile and nod approval when Herod glanced at them, but when he looked away, their faces changed.

  Ooh. Herod really wanted Tassie.

  Beorn looked over at Melzar and spoke as clearly as he could. “Frankincense is a very, very good offer, Naboth. Take it. You’ll never get a better deal.” Beorn was sweating on the inside, praying that Yahweh would help Melzar remember the story Beorn read from the sacred writings the other day, where a man named Naboth was killed for a vineyard the king wanted.

  Melzar opened his mouth to say something, but as he had done so often before, closed it, and gave the slightest nod before turning to the king. “I am the owner of the cat. Yes, the incense will do for the trade, with conditions.”

  “Conditions? You can’t give King Herod ‘conditions’!” Beorn thought, and froze. He knew Melzar was a dead man.

  But Melzar was watching Tassie play with Herod, and he was saying to the king:

  “Condition number one: play with Tassie every day, and when the children come to play, can you please let them play with her?

  Two: please never use Tassie as a work animal or have her enchained, enclosed, or whipped.

  Three: She clearly loves you, sir. Please promise to love and care for her, and she will be your friend for life. Those are the three conditions I would ask of you, sir.”

  Herod did not order his hooded men to drag Melzar away; he was in a jovial mood and seemed to answer everything Melzar said with, “Oh, of course!” Was Herod starting to change? He had a servant take all the sticks of Frankincense to Melzar, where he put them in Teddy’s shoulder harnesses.

All was ready. Herod pulled Beorn aside with a message for the visitors from the East: “Go to Bethlehem and search diligently for the young child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”

“Thank you for your precious time. It is our wish to find him also. We shall seek him earnestly.” Beorn bowed as the king returned to the castle, today with a large cat companion by his side.

  Beorn looked down the street where some oriental merchants were clip-clopping by. Hathach left their side and joined his two companions. Beorn didn’t know Hathach sold his Arabian Diamonds to them and came back loaded with gold. They had no time to lose. Beorn knew they had to get to Bethlehem, find the Christ, and get lodging by the time it got dark. He made one more stop at the temple to ask for more detailed directions, and the trio started off on their way.

  When they were far enough away from the city, Beorn looked over at Melzar and said, “That smell you remember your mother by? I think I know what it was. Beorn took a small stick, lit it, and took a whiff. “Is this it?” he asked, holding the stick out to Melzar.

  Melzar answered, “Yes!” by almost falling off his camel.

  “That,” Beorn said, “is Frankincense. Before we left Jerusalem today, I stopped by the temple to pay the priests for the Frankincense I knew Herod took from them, and they gave me this sample stick.

“You bought the Frankincense? Then all this is not mine, but yours!” Melzar said, and was about to give the incense Herod had given him to Beorn.

“No, no, no;” Beorn objected; “It was Tassie Herod wanted, so the trade was made with you. I just paid for the apology to the priests.” Melzar didn’t know what to think.

Beorn went on. “You see, my mother worked cleaning temples, and smell from Frankincense got into her clothes. I remember thinking of it as “mother’s smell”. When you told me you remembered your mother’s smell, I thought maybe it was the same thing.

 

Would Yahweh speak to eunuchs? He would—and had. Letting go of Tassie had nearly broken his heart, but through it, Yahweh had been leading him to the fragrance of yesteryear’s comfort, joy, love, security—the greatest delight his heart had ever known.