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.
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.
11 SLAVE’S
GIFT
On the way to Bethlehem, Hathach thought, “Me—a foreigner—and Yahweh
still chose to deal with me! No matter what others say, This Yahweh will be MY
KING!” He felt in his clothes for the sack carrying the gold the merchants had
given him for the “diamonds” he had been able to gather.
Melzar was beside himself with happiness. “But I never dreamed that I
would see a great God get a lowly eunuch his mother’s smell—how gentle Yahweh
is!”
Beorn felt he had failed the group. He hadn’t gotten them to Bethlehem
before dark. But perhaps the innkeepers wouldn’t be too cross about travelers
wanting to stop in at night.
As the camel caravan plodded over the sand dunes, and they saw the
town of Bethlehem…the King Star shone brightly in the sky again.
It was Melzar--whose mother had given a love for astrology--who saw it
first. “Beorn, the Star! The Star!”
And Hathach, knew that stars, which were actually far, far away, had to be guided by a powerful God in the
Heavens for one to look to the human eye like a bright light moved across the
night sky then stopped over one house.
“Quick, Beorn,,” he said; “what were you reading in the sacred
writings when you saw the King Star from your window in Babylon?”
“I shall see him,
but not now: I shall behold him, but not near; there shall come a Star out of
Jacob” (Num.24:17)
“It is your God Yahweh Who has sent us His Messiah;” Hathach said. And
while his mouth kept moving, his eyes never once left the bright spot in the
sky. “ And as a sign for us mortals, He has sent a Star. ”
In one smooth move, he took out a big sack carrying what the merchants
had given him. “Yahweh is MY KING; and HE WILL HAVE ALL MY GOLD.” To an
open-mouthed Beorn, brief stories were told of how Hathach gathered gems in the
desert then sold them in Jerusalem.
“And Yahweh is MY KING!” Melzar shouted, not to be undone. And, as if
throwing the words out real hard, laughing and crying at the same time, he
said, “and HE WILL HAVE ALL MY FRANKINCENSE!”
No matter what his friends said, Melzar would not be talked out of it.
The God of the Universe Who loved, thought of, and even spoke of eunuchs in the
sacred writings--why, Melzar couldn’t give Him anything less.
The star led the foreigner, eunuch, slave-turned-prince to the very
house where their greatest hopes lived, smiling at Mary and Joseph as they
played with Him.
The wise men knocked at the home, hardly daring to believe they had
found the King, then they went in to see Him.
“Oh Mother! I have seen him! I have seen him!” Beorn cried out, but
then he began to really cry. He felt Hathach and Meltzar had gifts for the King
but he did not; he had nothing to give, there had been no time for him to get
anything. Then he noticed a lump in his things.
The time after he had saved that officer’s girl, the mother had given
him a small bottle, told him to keep it and sell it only when he really needed
money. It would bring in much, she had said. Beorn had forgotten about it until
now. What was it? He reached for it, held it up to the light.
Hathach, our scientist-mathematician, saw the shape of the container
Beorn had picked up and let out a gasp.
“Beorn!...Where did you get that? You have a vial of …MYRRH!”
Myrrh. When a tree is wounded, it “bleeds” a resin which is then used to make the base of many medicines. For a man who’s been wounded but wants to give every bit of his soul to Yahweh yet desperately needs His healing and freeing, could there have been a better gift to offer? (Myrrh. Expensive medicine, and Hathach may’ve known, as the Chinese do, myrrh can purge stagnant blood from the uterus so is ideal to give new mothers.)
“What is that you have in your hand…” (Ex.4:2) Beorn said under his breath.
“What?” Hathach asked. “I can’t hear you.”
“Nothing. It’s just that when we come before Yahweh and tell him we
can’t do something great, He often says, ‘I don’t want you to do something
great; just give me what you have in your hand.’ That’s what He said to a
prophet called Moses.””
“So, YAHWEH IS MY KING too, and I WILL GIVE HIM WHAT IS IN MY HAND:
MYRRH!”
Yahweh had given Beorn the gift he was to give back to Him…and Beorn didn’t even know it!
