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.)
