P.O.Box (PART III)

Continued...

Joe slammed the brakes on the 504 sedan and screeched to a stop outside the prenatal ward driveway in Salem University Teaching Hospital. He was a merger of excitement, fear and confusion.

"Nurse!" He screamed as he scuttled out of the driver's seat, ran round the rear and pulled open the back door.

"Nurse!" He screamed again, this time more out of anger than apprehension. How come the emergency service took vacations when it was needed most? He had tried calling in but found the pair of terrible network and whipped batteries too complex to battle.

He opened the door and helped a groaning Mari out. He didn't even remember to shut the doors; Mari was experiencing grave birth pangs. She was due a week from today, so they were staggered when the baby gave the kicks. They felt it was his routine reality check kick, until the pangs arrived and they had to quickly borrow a neighbor's Peugeot.

"Nurse!"

***

Once again silence enveloped the throne room as rivulets of glory traced every space. This time around the throne room wasn't silence in pain, but in awe.

Elders, Principalities, Dominions, Powers, Mights, and Angels watched entranced as Elion and Jay communicated without words. The cloak of glory that covered the throne blazed like a million suns yet its intensity only poured oceans of love on all present. The Host of Heaven had never witnessed Elion and Jay separate physically, this was the first time.

The Host could hear everything that was being said between the two, but understanding was far from them. This was a highly confidential mission; the Host only knew what they were told. However, it was obvious that Jay was going to execute the relocation plan that Elion had initiated just four days ago after Ad'ahm lost his address.

Four days in Zion was four thousand years on earth.

***

Joe's consternation was a testament of his frayed emotion. He was composed by disposition but the apprehension he felt for Mari's safety and the baby's was tuned a notch higher when the receptionist told him he had to...

"Did you even think before you spat that statement?" Joe yelled at her and everyone in the lobby stared at him funny. "A woman is in labour and all you are worried about is government policy?"

"I'm sorry sir, but we run the risk of being shut down for having your child delivered in this hospital," the receptionist said calmly, she had her finger just under the table by the alarm button should this maniac go loco on her. "It's been in the news for about four weeks now."

Joe looked round at the faces in the lobby and waved at them, they all went about their businesses. Mari who was seated on a bench by the receptionist's desk, was panting as the agony shot up every neuron in her being. Joe looked at her and almost broke down in tears. This is the most he had been frustrated all his life.

When they arrived Salem University Teaching Hospital, they had been informed by the receptionist that Mari had to return to her local area of origin to birth her child. Why? Government policy. It didn't matter that Mari had done all her prenatal check-ups and monitoring in that same hospital. Deroh, that spineless dictator, had just signed a new bill into law, all Y'Israns had to put to birth in their local areas and his word was final.

So Joe had driven from Salem city to Little Town in ninety minutes. The journey usually took three hours. Now they were here and just learnt that they had to present a DNA test result before Mari could be taken into the labour room. And this was the only public-serviced hospital in Little Town. Joe couldn't afford the charges at any of the private hospitals in Little Town.

Little Town was largely a farming town - livestock farming. And most of the farms were owned by livestock exporters, so the cost of living in Little Town was paradoxically big.

Despite Joe's frustrations and rants, nobody would attend to them. It would take about three to four weeks before amniocentesis test results to be gotten. And that was one test result Joe wasn't ready to wait for. Even if the test was carried out, the child's paternity couldn't be determined.

The child's DNA was not earthly, so it could only be spiritually deciphered. Its DNA was written in a language understood only by spirit beings, but how would he explain this to the spiritually inept personnel here.

"Where's your M.D?" Joe turned to the receptionist.

To be Continued... Oh! Have a jolly Christmas

Image credit: Calvin Wray on fineartamerica.com

P.O.Box (PART II)

Continued from yesterday...

And so he did...Unknown to both of them the serpent had slithered away, genetically dispossessed by Luciff, who had seen Ad'ahm's only weakness, his love for his woman. A weakness that should have been strength; his love for her should have surged in him a will to fight for her and drive the serpent away.

Alas, Love. Alas, Love. Or was it just attraction?

Then lips married fruit and teeth violated the sacredness of softness. This was all the sign that Michael needed, for hardly does the teeth bite without the tongue tasting.

***

Michael was at the portal. His legion was. And their weapons descended to the rhythm of Elion's teardrop. A single teardrop rocked the cores of existence, the very forces that bound galaxies and universes threatened collapse at the weight of Elion's tear. The translucent stairwell shuddered as claymores and tower-sized swords gave life to its death - destroyed even before it could be used by who it was intended for.

Bits of translucence flew in all direction as a legion of purity unleashed anger blended with tears. How could Ad'ahm?

***

Elion's throne raged. The mini-lightning bolts gave way to streaks of intense fulguration. Existence had never known and will never know such depth of emotions as that moment when the lips of man bit exquisite flesh with innocent intent evilly expressed.

Man had failed Elion, he had only asked Ad'ahm not to taste of that fruit for a season. There was an appointed time when Ad'ahm would have received further instructions to taste of knowledge; when the fruits were ripe for knowledge.

There was only one portal for man to access Zion now; the portal that connected Hades and Zion. Now, man had to die to enter into life.

***

Elion's rage passed sooner than it had come. The deed was done and punishment was to be served in love. Ad'ahm lost his home, his address, and his mailbox. No more spiritual serenity and fulfilment; these had been traded in for a transient rush of hormones.

However, the epistle had not been concluded. Elion chased Ad'ahm out, but he had a relocation plan and a restoration plan. Eternity would be trapped in humanity, immortality in mortality, soon.

Part III drops tomorrow...

Image credit: agbeat.com

P.O.Box (PART I)

Substantial silence held the throne-tower spellbound as the Host of Zion awaited the decision of the eon. Elion's throne glowed fiercely as His heart radiated tongues of non-scalding flames of love. Mini-lightning bolts trickled through the row of the bowed elders, past the bank of shielded Seraphs and brilliant Cherubs, down the endless ranks of angels raptured in eternal worship.

With their eyelids welded and their beings melded into Elion's all seeing spirit, the Host of Zion beheld the woman and the serpent. She was perfect and It was perfect. But It had been enveloped by the corrupt essences of Luciff.

Gabriel had never seen Elion exude so much emotion at once; this was a blend of love and jealousy and anger and pain and love again. Elion was hurting. First from the loss of Luciff and a third of his host, second from the bridge of the law of possession by Luciff, and third -- the third had not happened -- yet.

Gabriel couldn't watch what everyone was gazing at, the ongoing transaction at Earth's gateway into Zion; that picturesque craftsmanship of nature and an opulent tapestry of beautiful emotions translated into the physical - a garden named Eden. Eden wasn't just a physical location; it was a realm of spiritual serenity and fulfilment. And just beyond the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was at the heart of Eden, stood the portal - a translucent flight of stairs that led up to the outskirts of Zion.

Ad'ahm didn't even know this portal existed. Ad'ahm had no inkling Zion was just a staircase away. He had never savoured from the tree of life and death, if he had, his spirit would have received a revelation of the portal. For Zion itself pulsated with Elion's life - and life calls unto life.

***

Michael stood at the portal with his legion; weapons drawn and glowing in glory. They had one mission only - sever the portal if Ad'ahm failed this temptation. They trembled as the weapons quaked to the surge of Elion's emotions.

***

The portal blazed fiercely in response to Elion's emotions. Gabriel had his spirit affixed on Elion's veins; those emotions swimming in there were strange to him. Indeed, the tangibility of Elion's hurt transcended the physical, it defied the gamut of realms - the whole universe, seen and unseen, could feel Elion's hurt. Not because he didn't have faith in man, but because Luciff envied man so much he would defy Elion.

The Serpent offered the fruit again. The swirl of It's neck and sultry skin knocked away every iota of resistance the woman had.

And the woman took it. She bit it.

"It's beautiful," she muttered in a medley of melodious sensations, the rush of emotions choked her with ecstasy. She turned to Ad'ahm. "You should take a bite," she whispered to him.

"You should," the Serpent echoed her supplication. The man, still entranced by the splendour that Elion had given him to wife, still asleep from the emotional slumber Elion had incited, received the fruit from the woman.

Elion's instructions rang loudly in his consciousness, "The day you taste of the tree of good and evil, you will die."  However, his enchantment to Eve's exquisiteness drowned his will and all he could hear was "it's beautiful."

To be continued...

Image credit: Courtesy GeshaR on fx.worth1000.com

P. O. Box (PREQUEL)

A lot of us are toiling in the wrong addresses,

filling bank tellers when we should be beautifying 

hearts - souldressers;

Standing on the pulpit when we should be 

giving orphans dresses,

forgoing the eternity of the hidden pen

for the transiency of the press list,

Being led by the pangs of

the mouth and belly

rather than by pants of

the Breath and yearnings

of our spirits.

No wonder our parcels arrive and

we never get them, yet blame God

for not meeting our needs.

Are you residing where God asked you to?

or are you just chasing paychecks

and paying checks?

Image credit: Calvin Wray on fineartamerica.com

IT'S AS SIMPLE AS THAT

God's not a liar. 

He neither has the DNA nor the capacity to. 

His word is TRUTH! 

Miracles and Mysteries aside, 

Thunderstorms and still seas aside, 

God's integrity is unveiled in the air we breathe daily! 

So if He says He loves humanity, 

despite the chaos and hate that battle His veracity, 

He DOES! 

He loves us so much, 

He literally went through hell for us. 

And whether we acknowledge it or not, 

He makes the sun shine on all of us! 

So, I believe whatever He says to me, 

because what I am today is a testament of His promises yesterday. 

So, I'll trust Him today for tomorrow! 

God's not a liar! 

I don't have to defend that statement! 

A lion needs no human to defend it! 

God's not a liar! 

He can defend that statement!

Image credit: www.northshorefamily.org

GOOD MUSIC

If I could sing, I'd bring back "good music" 

But I'm just a poet, so I can only hope 

 that the way my words are crafted can sing in your hearts... 

I remember when "good music" once moved the soul and spirit 

 Now our bodies only flail to the floggings of instruments called beats.

Nowadays everyone has a hit single yet not one soul has collided 

with the said single... Not a single occurrence!

Just bodies twisting to the contortions of punishers called producers. 

 Selah... Rewind that and put it on replay.

Music once used to be stored in CDs of emotions trapped in the soul

 Now track records are kept and broken on iTunes about who sold most 

So it's safe to say that record breakers are sellouts. 

 Record breakers... Hmmmm... Breaking banks and robbing souls 

of deserved nutrients 

Would I call them thieves? Na!

Are they? You answer that.

Music has been so compressed and oppressed that it's skinny, sickly, 

 mp3ed and unfit for consumption.

 It's no wonder gramophones are collector's items now. Da'Vinci paintings. 

Too expensive for billboards and ratings... even the Grammy's 

If you've got the heart for "good music" you'll listen 

and attest that I'm not just hating. 

Music used to bring freedom.

Now it's a trap, a dictator "wav"ing the wands of neuro-slavery.

 Now even parents need "parental advisory" to listen to music! 

 Caveat - Listeners Beware! 

The freedom of "good music" has been imprisoned 

 in the dungeons of cheque books and popularity

There used to be an airline on radio-waves

 that would fly humans to the ancient city of bliss... 

Now we just have locomotive engines,

 running on tracks to the distant lands of "body-aches" & "piss" 

If music once had eyes, it's blind now... 

Because I've noticed music can no longer find its way into our hearts.

If music once had ears, it's ear drums are torn now.

Because most punishers now have to beat the brass at full blast,

 just so they can croak for us.

As kids, we used to hear about artistes, 

now all my kids talk about are club activists.

Truthfully some old schoolists will outlive these "fast-food music" 

Made, just so the punishers and activists can eat! 

Easily eaten and quickly forgotten 

Half-baked protein, liable to leave you broken. 

Music used to have a voice, 

now we are so auto-tuned to the frogs blaring 

in our surround frequency and amplitude modulations 

that even Djs have them on replays. 

Feels like we've been hypnotized.

Feels like we are living a musical trance.

 Music has been crippled by so much beats, 

that I wonder if Dre sleeps soundly at night.

I went to the doctor cos I was having violent dreams 

and the prognosis was this 

- By the time my dreams would be manifested,

 "good-music" would be dead via the nuclear explosion of "micro-wav music" 

"At this rate our grand-kids would be musical stillborns".

 Those were his exact lyrics... 

But that's just a doctor's report. Whose report do you believe? 

All hope is not lost. "Good Music" is not dead. 

At least not yet... 

There is the conscious minority, who shed blood daily 

to preserve the ancient scrolls of musical notes.

These ones know The Source of Music...

  The Source that created the flap of Lucifer's wings to be music... 

The Source from whom music flows to eternity... 

Oh Ye music makers... Seek The Source! Tap into The Source... 

Drink from Him! 

Save Music from the impending doom.

 Lest the doctor's report sing true. 

The Future will hold you accountable!

Image courtesy of Jonathan Hoitinga

THE WAY I SEE IT

It's like a ball game.

Any ball game.

It's not about the other team, 

or the spectators, 

or the score board.

It's about you... 

How you choose to remember you!

When you shut your eyes 

and exit this day or this life

 in sleep or in eternal sleep 

would you slap yourself in the back and exhale deeply 

 knowing you played your heart out...?

 knowing you strained every muscle,

broke every bone,

and tore every ligament just to play the game... 

that's how I see the call!

 Like Paul 

No matter how beaten I am! 

No matter how many times I have fallen!

I'll get right back up and step on the tracks again...

Not because I want to impress anyone,

but because I want to remember 

that I fought a good fight 

 until the end!

That's how I see it.

NOT A SCAM

I am a theist... But I was once an atheist

A descendant of avowed atheists... Born blind, raised by the blind, and darkness outshone all hit songs on my playlist
no! Darkness was my playlist... my daydream, my payslip, my waybill
darkness... My playmate...
I was such an adept fellow of darkness that I was elected to sit on the bar
A waiter, serving darkness while darkness was serving me Satan
I was so delicious; dude didn't want to swallow me...
his biggest mistake, 'Cos Light found me while I was wallowing

If everything I've said so far has lost you... Please allow me

We all were born in sin before we knew sin
Imprisoned babies born in prison
And the only taste of freedom we knew were cold iron bars,
rippling barbed wires, and itching mental scars
our lives were infernal, our jail terms were eternal
it's no wonder true freedom broke the chains
at our feet but we couldn't take a step to change
it's hard to enjoy the softness of the bed when your soft body enjoys the hardness of the mat
put medicated glasses on the eyes of the blind and you have a medicated blind man

So when we heard about the prostitute...that the Pharisees couldn't accuse
because Jesus had offered them meat they couldn't chew...
they choked and we gawked like fools
We did not get it!
and then we heard Jesus tell the guy with the best record of bank jobs,
"guy, today you'll lounge with me in heaven"
we were like "kai, this is too good to be true"
and as they say, if something is too good to be true... it's not
or so we thought...

You see, our concept of freedom was so chained and manacled
that even when we beheld Jesus stretched on the cross and raised as a spectacle...
we only saw a convicted felon strained... a debacle
we didn't see the beginning of grace, the miracle...
we were too blind to see the truth probably because truth isn't a physical attribute
or probably because He didn't wear purple...
they say royalty doesn't roll with common people
I guess the joke was on us...
because common to us was Peter the waterside tout
but uncommon to him was Peter the first pope...
That's why he said "Upon this Petra I will build my church, my bride, my home"

He saw us whole while we were broken, battered and broke...
He saw us a race of giant folks even when we crawled as grime without hope
Oh! How much faith He saw in Thomas' doubting hope
He looked down on earth and saw a withering tree
and proclaimed with tears streaming down His cheeks
"I will pay with my life for these ones to be part of my family..."
And that right there is our grouse... How can a sovereign God love and die for irreverent humans?
We just can't comprehend it
or rather, they just can't comprehend... it cos like I said, Light found us
and blinded our blindness
So now we wear glasses...  and we behold with open faces the logic of what His grace is

This is it!
God conducted an exam for us, then he gave us pens and answer sheets
and when He said "Your time starts now"
we turned over the answer sheets to discover that all the answers had been filled in...
we didn't cheat, he cheated death for us
and when we submitted our papers he gave every one of us pay packs...
all-expense-paid vacations to Life...
It's the truth, whether you believe it or not
The say "truth is subjective" but I object this
no matter how much you deny the sun you feel it's heat...
and even if you deny the risen sun (son) three times... don't let it set!
Come home, grace is not a scam...

JIREH [PT V]

...Continued

The throne room was silent. No one spoke. The entire host of Zion observed the crazy man who was ready to follow YHWH to the arduous murder of his own son.

YHWH rose in awe. The 24 elders fell flat. Every angel in Zion followed suit. All beings hid their faces from the risen frame of YHWH. A liquid glowing orb, riddled with electrodes and lightning bolts rolled off the light of YHWH. YHWH wept in love for man. One man who was willing to give up the one thing that meant everything to him.

YHWH beheld Abraham raise his skean. Aimed at Isaac's neck. the man sobbed like a weaned baby, yet he brought the skean down with alarming speed. His eyes shut tight.

"STOP!" YHWH thundered and the force fields that held the universe together shuddered. Every creature in Zion cringed in reverence. No one had ever heard YHWH thunder like that. The waves on the oceans froze in mid air. Every swaying tree paused its sway. Every bird in flight ceased in its flight yet, none fell under the force of gravity. Existence stopped, for YHWH froze. Awed by the actions of one man.

*** 

Abraham heard the voice and he cringed in fear. Every nerve in his body rippled with an over-surge of YHWH's essence. Abraham felt his hand suspended in mid air, the skean an inch away from Isaac's sobbing neck

"OF A TRUTH I KNOW" YHWH continued "THAT YOU FEAR ME..." 

YHWH looked around at his counsel lying face flat

"BEHOLD MY FRIEND... ABRAHAM... NONE RESEMBLES HIM... NO NOT ONE" 

Then Uriel, the Lord's messenger appeared before Abraham

"Abraham lay no finger on Isaac..." Uriel said "Now, YHWH knows that a man can revere him to the extremes. For you didn't withhold your only son from Him. Now look" Abraham was too frozen to even look away from the glory of the angel. 

"Look" Uriel repeated. Abraham finally looked up at the same olive brush he had seen while on his knees... there a huge ram was caught by its horns between branches... 

"That is the token of sacrifice" Uriel continued 

"JIREH" was the only thing Abraham could utter... 

Then YHWH spoke from Zion "I swear by my Name... because you have not held back your only son from me. You will remain the most blessed Human in all existence. Your Generations shall remain beyond count and they shall be leaders in every field of endeavour they engage in. Because you have radically obeyed me, You are forever a father in Zion" 

Moments later after the "benediction", Abraham sobbed uncontrollably as he hugged his "resurrected" son. He knew Sarah would hear about this but he wasn't bothered about her hysteria. He had his son back from death... Sarah's words would be saved for another UNTOLD SCRIPT...

JIREH [PT IV]

Continued...

After 6 hours of the strenuous climb up the craggy and harsh 3rd hill of Mt Moriah, Abraham and his son finally reach the spot he had seen from the plains... indeed an altar had been erected, by whom? Abraham knew not... He untied the leather band around the log that he'd piled up on his faithful Ass... 

"Help me arrange the logs on the altar" Abraham told Isaac who appeared to be searching the cleared space for something. Isaac pressed pause on his search and went about the task his aged and wise father had just assigned him... 

"Dad?" Isaac quizzed as he piled logs "I don't see any sacrificial lambs... what are we offering as the burnt offering?" 

Abraham paused in mid-stride... How was he to explain YHWH's demand to a 13 year old whose only knowledge of YHWH was of a merciful and faithful God? A 13 year old whose only knowledge of his father was of a loving and dotting dad...? 

"YHWH will provide for Himself a sacrificial lamb" was the first thing that came to Abraham's lips... 

"He has already" the tempter hissed from out of nowhere "Young, fresh, plump, unblemished and spotless Isaac" 

Abraham ignored the voice and dumped the logs on the altar... 

Then he took out a piece of leather from under his undercoat... knelt on the biting rock... and beckoned on Isaac 

"Son" He started as Isaac stood before him "Do you trust me?" 

"Yes I do dad" Isaac responded with a sparkle in his eyes... Abraham almost backed down... he bit his lip holding back the tears that were welling up in his throat... 

"There are some things in life that we cannot explain logically" He continued with a tremble now apparent in his voice "Some requests that YHWH makes that we cannot fully grasp the import... but being that He is God, we must obey... always" 

"Always" Isaac repeated and Abraham's tear glands won the battle "Dad, why are you crying?" 

"Someday in eternity I will explain" Abraham said as he cried freely "Close your eyes son" 

Isaac obeyed and Abraham blindfolded him with the piece of leather in his hand... 

"YHWH has provided a sacrificial lamb son" Abraham muttered in between sobs "He has" 

Then he turned Isaac around and bound his wrists with another piece of leather he retrieved from his overcoat... 

"Dad" Isaac said with a shaky voice "I love you" 

And Abraham hugged him... wailing openly... He knew... Isaac knew that he was the sacrificial lamb... yet he didn't struggle... how could such an obedient son be slaughtered...? 

"My point exactly" the tempter hissed harder than ever.... "Who slaughters such an awesome obedient kid...? Only an insane father... instructions from YHWH or not" 

Abraham sobbed for a good 5 minutes... as he hugged Isaac, he saw an olive brush some distance away and wondered why an olive tree was budding high up this rocky terrain.... 

"Dad, YHWH is forever good" Isaac whispered in-between his sobs and Abraham fell flat on his face in pain... "Dad, do what you must" 

Abraham rose with the torment in his spirit, soul and body... he lifted Isaac and dropped him on the altar... 

"I love you son..." Abraham whispered amidst the sobs and glob dripping from his nostrils "but YHWH must be obeyed"

"Always" Isaac responded... "Always dad" 

Still sobbing, Abraham retrieved the skean he had rubbed every night since they left their home in Beersheba... 

Painstakingly... he rubbed the edge hard... the skean bit in... and he felt an artery release...

The final episode drops soon...

JIREH [PT III]

Continued...

Abraham opened his eyes abruptly... but his breathing wasn't hard... it was mellow and flooded with serenity... Sarah stirred in her sleep and mumbled calming words... even after 75 years; she still loved in her dreams... 

The dream he just had was difficult to explain, yet it had a soothing effect on him... 

He had seen a hand... mightier than any he had ever seen.... without aforethought, he had known that the hand was YHWH's... it had glowed in translucence yet it was solid, bold and fiery... electric currents had sparked off it as it descended from the skies... 

Abraham had been back at the open fields... there was a grain of millet in his hand... the fields where bare just like in the vision he had the previous day... and as the hand descended, it opened... Abraham instinctively dropped the grain of millet in the hand... before his eyes... the hand threw the grain of millet up and down rained millions of millet grains... 

As Abraham watched... the grains of millet germinated and sprouted... grew into mature stalks... a fruitful field rose before Abraham in a matter of seconds... 

Instinctively he knew... sacrificing Isaac was the right thing to do... 

*** 

For two days, Abraham, Isaac and their three servants had traversed the rugged terrains in the wilderness of Beersheba... finally they arrived the plains of Moriah in the wee hours of the evening... the three graduating rugged hills of Moriah peaked like monstrous spikes in the night skyline... To Abraham, the three hills, in their gait and dominion over all nature in Moria, represented the Almightiness of The Trinity... 

In the last two nights, the tempter had tormented his thoughts with fear, disdain, distrust, doubt and even retreat... yet, the dream he had the night before he departed his home kept him in perfect peace... As they set camp and Abraham set Isaac to sleep, he knew deep within him that the tempter would pay him a visit again... 

While the rest of his camp snored in the early hours of their third day on the journey to Moriah, Abraham walked over to the edge of the camp to worship YHWH despite the lump lodged in his throat... 

As he knelt, he felt the slithering creepiness of the tempter... 

"Hi Abe" the tempter whispered again "You know, your loins will not be stirred up again?" 

"Same was said of me at 100" Abraham replied 

"But you are 113 now" the tempter retorted 

"Wouldn't the same YHWH who did it at 100 do it at 200?" Abraham said calmly 

"The God you speak about set down natural laws... He wouldn't go against his word" the tempter hissed again 

Then the dream flashed before him again and he smiled... "Let it be known this day, that even if YHWH would not restore Isaac to me again... I will obey him still... for He who has promised is MORE than ABLE to redeem" 

And the tempter left Abraham alone for a while... 

At that instant a beam of the eastern sun tore through the nights cloak and lit up a spot on the third hill of Moriah... from where Abraham stood, he saw what he imagined to be an altar and knew deep within him that that was the altar YHWH wanted him to sacrifice Isaac on... 

He quickly walked back to the camp and woke his servants in haste... His haste was partly borne out of the trepidation of the task ahead... a little delay could lead to thought reversals and abdication from received mission... 

"Three of you will wait here" Abraham whispered to his chief servant, Mirah "I will go up Mt. Moriah with Isaac to offer burns sacrifices to YHWH... when we are done, we will meet you here" 

"Abe..?. Did you just say 'we will return'?" the tempter surfaced again "How will you return with the boy after slaughtering and burning him? Okay... I get it... You'll bring his ashes back with you... by the way, did you remember to bring his urn along?" 

Abraham bit his tongue in an effort not to respond... "Silence doesn't change the fact that you are about to commit cold murder" the tempter snickered as he spat more doubt at Abraham "worse off, you are about to lose the son you waited 25 days for... oh sorry, make that 25 gruelling, excruciating, heartrending years" 

Abraham walked over to his tent and woke Isaac as he muttered "YHWH is able to restore"

"Dad?" Isaac stirred 

"It's time son"

The Tale continues next week

JIREH [PT II]

Continued...

...Finally, Abraham said "Your will be done YHWH" 

The hardest words Abraham had spoken in his 113 years of existence... No words had chewed his heart and spirit harder than these... he bled from every pore of his soul as the words dripped out... he could imagine Sarah's reaction when he told her the instructions he had received from YHWH... sure hysteria... what would his servants think when they heard that he had sacrificed his son... 

Would they flee his home and service knowing this madman could sacrifice any of them...? Was it right for him to have sent Ishmael away...? He had told YHWH he would sacrifice Isaac... but could he follow through on his words...? Kill his own son? What kind of father did that? 

He lifted his face off the earth as he felt a tug on his left leg... It was Isaac... 

"Dad, why are you lying on your face?" he asked 

Abraham considered his son's face and a single tear rolled down his wrinkled lids... "YHWH was here" 

"Where dad?" an excited Isaac searched the surrounding earnestly for YHWH, having been told long exciting tales about YHWH's visits... Abraham considered the boys energy and sighed... if only he knew... 

*** 

In his palatial home, later that evening at dinner Abraham stared at his wife ad infinitum, but she was just a translucent glass through which he stared into eternity... Sarah stole glances at Abraham and made faces at Isaac as she served him huge chunks of lamb steak... 

"Dad had a visit from YHWH today" Isaac blurted and a startled Abraham came out of his reverie 

"You don't say?" Sarah retorted as she slipped into the drawn chair close to her husband of over 75 years... "Darling?" 

"Dad fell flat on his face and was weeping" Isaac continued... Abraham, who hadn't touched the heavy pouri serving, pushed back his seat and rose... 

"Darling?" Sarah called the second time 

"I need to take a walk" Abraham touched Sarah's graying hairs and swallowed hard... Sarah smiled weakly... the last time her husband looked this way was when YHWH asked him to leave his father's house... Even then, he had not been this distraught... Whatever YHWH had required of him was heavy?

 "Should I come with you darling?" Sarah asked 

"I'll be fine" Abraham smiled weakly... then he walked out... 

*** 

Later that night... 

Sarah lay awake awaiting the arrival of her husband... the sheets felt cold without him... the room felt heavy... she could feel the weight on him even in his absence... you don't spend the number of years they'd spent together and not share each other's burdens... 

The room door creaked open and a hunched Abraham dragged his frame in... he pulled off his overcoat and slipped into the soft livestock-fur bed pulling the tanned leather over his tired frame... He was aware that Sarah was wide awake awaiting his taciturn report... 

"I am leaving for Mt Moriah tomorrow" He said while looking away from her... He felt her turn round to face him... Please don't ask me what for 

"YHWH wants you to offer a sacrifice?" Sarah asked "So, why are you distraught?" 

The long silence bore many holes in Abraham's heart... what was he going to tell her...? How would he explain YHWH's instructions... the child she had waited for over 25 years to conceive... the same child she had been mocked for...? Abraham thought about the many days Sarah had cried on his shoulders over the issue of her infertility... matters had gotten worse when Hagar conceived and bore Ishmael... then there was no disputing the fact that Sarah was indeed barren... 

After enduring all that shame for gruelling years... how could he tell her that YHWH wanted that same son SLAUGHTERED? 

"Oh no" Sarah gasped and grabbed Abraham's toned arm "You are going with Isaac... isn't it? That's why you've been sulking all evening... you have been worrying about tearing him away from me for a week" 

She doesn't know the half of it... Abraham thought... 

"It's okay my King" Sarah continued as she snuggled closer to Abraham "You can go with him... I will learn to cope without him... He needs to learn about YHWH experientially... Yes My King" 

Another tear rolled down Abraham's cheek... thoughts of her hysteria when he returned without Isaac flooded his mind... Sarah snuggled closer, worsening the state of his wrecked heart....

The tale continues next week...