"I just wish you could have met John and Cohen," Rhoda responded.
"I did meet them," Decker replied, "on the streets of Jerusalem."
"That's not what I meant. If you could have really gotten to know them, then you'd know that they were kind, generous men." It was obvious to Rhoda she was failing miserably to make her point. Quickly she turned to an example to strengthen her case. "You knew that Tom was blind for several months before God instructed Rabbi Cohen to heal him?" she asked.
"Tom mentioned that," Decker answered.
"But you didn't believe him?"
"I had no reason to disbelieve him. Cohen was a very powerful man, but I'm not so sure that he did it for Tom's benefit. I think he used Tom for his own purposes; that he convinced him of this Avenger of Blood story in order to get him to kill Christopher. After all, if Tom had remained blind, he would not have been able to shoot Christopher, and Tom would still be alive today."
Rhoda looked at Decker and Decker at Rhoda. Both could see that neither was going to convince the other. Even though they disagreed, however, Decker found Rhoda not at all disagreeable. She was, in fact, quite pleasant to be with. He could easily see how Tom could love her. Ultimately, they each resolved to let the matter pass. As for Decker, at least he had gotten an answer to what Tom's note had meant. There was one other thing he hoped Rhoda might be able to explain.
"Just before he died," Decker said, "Tom's last words to me were, 'He was going to leave me.' Does that mean anything to you?"
Rhoda shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know."
When Decker arrived back at the cabin he was greeted at the door.
"Welcome back, Mr. Hawthorne."
"Jailer, I thought you were gone," Decker responded.
The jailer shook his head. "Nah," he said. "I can't leave. I run this place. Besides, I still haven't perfected my manna manicotti recipe for you, but I'm working on it. I hope to have it done before you leave."
Decker was still far from certain that Rosen was really going to let him go, but it was beginning to seem as if everyone else believed it. "I'd like that," he said.
"There's just one thing, Mr. Hawthorne," the jailer said. "Now that you're free to come and go as you like, would it be all right if you didn't call me 'jailer' any more? My name is Charlie."
"Sure, Charlie," Decker said.
CHAPTER TEN
Rescue
June 6,4 N.A. (2026 A.D.)
For the first night since he had arrived in Petra, Decker really slept well. In the morning he was greeted by a knock on the door, followed by the friendly voice of his young namesake.
"Mr. Hawthorne," came Decker Donafin's voice from the other side of the door.
"Wake up, Mr. Hawthorne. My mom says breakfast will be ready soon. If we're late Tom will eat everything."
"Well, we can't have that," Decker answered as he sat up. "Run back to the tent to protect our share and I'll be there as quick as I can."
"My mom said I could wait here for you."
"Oh . . . well, okay. I'll be just a few minutes."
Decker quickly brushed his teeth, ran a washcloth over his face and got dressed. There was little choice of what to wear; all he had was what he had been wearing the night he was kidnapped and some well-worn but clean clothes that had been provided by the KDT. Soon he and Decker Donafm were on their way. It was about three quarters of a mile to the tent and they had gone nearly half that distance before Decker realized that something was missing.
"Decker," he asked the younger, "why is there no manna this morning?"
Decker Donafin looked at the elder in surprise that he should have to ask. "It's the Sabbath, Mr. Hawthorne. The manna doesn't fall on the Sabbath; that's why we gather twice as much on Friday. It will be back tomorrow."
Rhoda and Rachael had prepared a breakfast of fruit and manna pancakes. The manna was becoming a little monotonous but the company more than made up for it. After breakfast Rhoda and the children went to a worship service at one edge of the camp. Decker was invited to attend but he declined, opting to wander about on his own until later, when Rhoda and young Decker had offered to give him a proper tour of Petra's ancient ruins.
When the Donafins returned, Rhoda packed a picnic lunch and her doctor's bag and they headed out. Their plan was to start with the Broken Pediment Tomb, the Renaissance Tomb, the Triclinium, and the Roman Soldier Tomb. From there they would visit the facades of the wadi Farasa and work their way around the rest of the southern end of the city. Along the way, Rhoda explained, she would be making a few stops to visit some patients. Decker and Decker could continue on whenever she stopped and she would catch up with them.
Rhoda's plan brought up a question which had not previously occurred to Decker. "There's something I don't understand," he said. "Why do you need doctors here? I thought the KDT had the power to heal. Why don't people just go to the KDT when they're sick or injured?"
"It is God who has the power to heal, not the KDT," Rhoda answered. "Sometimes God chooses to have a member of the KDT act as his agent to heal someone, but it's not up to us to decide when that will be."
"So if you're sick you just have to hope Yahweh's in a good mood. And if he's not, then you call a doctor." Decker was not looking for an argument but he couldn't help himself.
"No," Rhoda smiled, taking Decker's remarks more as a joke than as a challenge to her beliefs. "It's not a question of God's mood. It's what his will is for the life of the individual. God never intended to do everything for us. He has given us feet to walk and a brain to think and hands to work. Yahweh is a creative god, and as his children, it is in our nature to create. When we work, whether it is as a farmer or a builder or as a doctor, we are participating in God's creation. A farmer takes the land and the seed and the rain that God has created and produces a harvest to feed his family. A builder takes the resources God has created and builds a home. As a doctor, I study the workings of the human body that God has created and when an injury occurs or when the body is invaded by some disease, then I do what I can to repair it. Work has always been a part of God's plan," she said. "Adam and Eve were told to tend the Garden of Eden, and we will continue to work even after Jesus returns and sets up his kingdom."
They stopped to rest for a moment on the ledge in front of the Broken Pediment Tomb. Before them on the plain of Petra tents stretched for mile after mile, broken only by groves of fruit trees, small play areas for the children, meeting areas, latrines, etc.
"Tell me about Petra," Decker asked as he took in the sight.
"I guess you know," Rhoda replied after a moment, "that the name Petra comes from the Greek word petros, which means rock. The origin of that name for this place is obvious enough." Decker nodded and Rhoda continued. "Originally, Petra and the area around it were inhabited by the Edomites, the descendants of Abraham's grandson Esau, who was also called Edom. Later, sometime around the third or fourth century B.C., Petra was settled by the Nabataeans, who were wealthy nomadic Bedouins who traded between Arabia and the Mediterranean.
The city served as their capitol for 400 years. At one point more than 250,000 Nabataeans lived here. Petra provided them with security and an abundant water supply and became the crossroads of the trade routes linking Syria to the Red Sea and India to the Gulf and the Mediterranean.
"In the first century, Petra became a part of the Roman province of Syria. Over time the Roman influence brought the decline of Nabataean culture, and as the trade routes changed to favor Rome, Petra went into gradual decline. By the time of the Crusades, the city was an uninhabited ruin. If you can make the climb, you can see the remains of three forts the Crusaders built when they occupied Petra in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. After they left, the city was totally uninhabited. Soon its location was entirely forgotten and it survived only as legend — a sort of Arabian version of Troy," she said, referring to the legendary city of Homer '$ Iliad.
"Then in 1812 a Swiss explorer, who had disguised hims
elf as an Arab Muslim on pilgrimage in order to be allowed into Mecca, came across Petra on his journey and reported his discovery to the world. After that, literally hundreds of archaeological expeditions and tens of thousands of tourists poured into Petra."
"What about now?" Decker said, making a sweeping motion across the panorama with his hand. "Tell me about Petra today."
"Oh," she said, adjusting her temporal perspective. "Well, the Bible says in the book of Revelation that God would prepare a place in the wilderness for Israel to escape from Satan in the last half of the Tribulation. Before the Rapture, many believed that the place would be Petra. A few, including Rabbi Cohen and Scott Rosen's parents, even began to raise money to purchase defensive weaponry for the city. After a while, though, they realized that God intended to defend Petra himself and that their efforts would not be needed, so they spent the
money they had raised for seeds and farm tools. God promised to provide a refuge in the wilderness for us, and he said he would provide us with an ample supply of water," Rhoda paused and pointed out the Am Musa, the waterway which provided most of the water to Petra, "and trees, and of course you've seen the manna every morning for us to eat. But God never promised to give us variety; that part we've provided for ourselves with our gardens. Of course, it's God who makes the seeds grow. We do our part and he does the rest. The gardens give us something to do, too," she added. "It can get a little monotonous around here after a while."
"You said God intended to defend Petra himself. Defend it from what?" Decker asked.
"From Christopher, of course."
Decker shook his head in disbelief. "And why should Yahweh need to defend Petra from Christopher? Has Christopher ever done anything to threaten Petra?"
"Not yet, but he will. And he would have long ago were it not for the angels of God that surround Petra."
"The KDT really has you convinced that Christopher is going to send troops against you?" Decker said, both in amazement and disgust.
"It's not just what the KDT say," Rhoda answered. "It's what the Bible says."
Decker sighed and continued looking over the camp. "Are all the people here Christians, followers of the KDT?" he asked.
"No, most of the people here are not believers in Yeshua, though they will be soon. They are Jews who have come here because they found the KDT to be a not-so-evil ally, and because Petra offers refuge from the greater enemy: Christopher and the United Nations."
"So just exactly how long do you and they plan on staying here?" Decker asked.
"Not much longer. In September Christopher will bring the armies of the world against us here. Then Yeshua will return to destroy him."
"I assure you," Decker said, no longer willing to just let the matter pass, "that Christopher has no intention of sending troops to Petra."
"That will change soon."
"And what if it doesn't?" Decker asked as an idea suddenly occurred to him.
"It will," Rhoda said confidently.
"But what if it doesn't?" Decker insisted.
"But it will. There's no question about it."
No words left his mouth but it was clear he was unwilling to settle for Rhoda's answer.
"Well, then I guess," Rhoda said reluctantly, "and this is just being hypothetical: if Christopher does not march on Petra then we will have been wrong."
"And then you'll leave Petra?"
"It won't happen, but yes. I suppose many would leave Petra," Rhoda conceded grudgingly.
"Well, then, I hope you'll come see me in Babylon in October," Decker said.
"If we see each other in October, it won't be in Babylon," Rhoda replied. "It will be in Jerusalem."
"Why Jerusalem?"
"Where else would you expect Yeshua to establish his kingdom?"
"Oh, you mean if I convert."
"Of course."
"So you think there's still hope for me?" Decker laughed.
"There's always hope, Mr. Hawthorne. Scott Rosen says that you're a pretty tough customer, but then so was Tom. Of course, Tom never slugged anybody."
"I will admit Rosen tells a convincing story," Decker said. "He really knows his subject. But there are two things that neither he nor you, nor anyone else can explain away or justify, no matter how you might try. The first is the death and destruction caused by John and Cohen, and the second is the murder of innocent men and women by the fundamentalists at the communion clinics."
"I can assure you, those responsible for what happened at the clinics are not the fundamentalists," Rhoda responded. "Yes, originally Christians did try to peacefully block the entrances and try to talk people out of receiving the mark, but they certainly have not been responsible for the violence and the killings."
"What else am I supposed to believe?" Decker asked.
"That Christopher and the U.N. are doing it to create hysteria and hatred of Christians and of Yahweh," Rhoda answered emphatically. "Of course, you probably think that because you're a man of the world and I'm secluded out here in Petra, you must be right and I must be wrong."
"The thought had occurred to me," Decker responded. The admission was not a confession but an attempt to drive home the obvious truth in the observation. After all, how much could anyone in Rhoda's position, living in the middle of the desert, know about what was really happening in the rest of the world? "And then of course, there are the eyewitnesses," he added.
"True," Rhoda acknowledged. "But if Christopher can come up with the people to do the bombings and killings, then surely he can also come up with witnesses."
"I suppose," Decker said, his words granting the hypothetical possibility but his voice making it clear that he did not for one moment believe the proposition.
"But even if the eyewitnesses are not officially being put up to it by the U.N., then certainly they are unofficially" she offered.
"What do you mean?"
"Have you listened to what the news media says about the fundamentalists? They make it sound like they're subhuman. Some of the people who claim to be 'eyewitnesses' probably feel like they're doing the world a big favor to help get rid of the Christians. It's a regular witch hunt out there."
"I admit that some have let their emotions get away from them," Decker granted.
"What they say about the fundamentalists sounds remarkably like what the Nazis said about the Jews in World War II," Rhoda responded.
"You can't blame Christopher or the United Nations for what the media says," Decker answered.
"No, but I would think that anyone as caring as you claim Christopher is would make some attempt to dispute the impression that the media is giving about the fundamentalists. He wouldn't stand for charges like that against any other minority, would he? Why should he ignore it when it's the fundamentalists?"
Decker wanted to respond but he wasn't sure he had an answer. Perhaps Rhoda had a point.
"Judaism and Christianity are the only two religions that can be proved based on material evidence, yet they are the only ones whose followers are being persecuted."
"Yeah, well, I've heard all this from Rosen. But how can you really prove anything?" he asked, diverting the conversation away from Rhoda's point. "How can you be 100 percent certain we're even having this conversation? Maybe you're just dreaming."
"The real question is not whether one can be 100 percent sure of something," Rhoda answered. "The real question is this: Is there sufficient evidence that it would make it absurd to believe anything else? There is enough evidence that Jesus was the Messiah to convince even the most hardened skeptic if he would take the time to examine it and not discount it out of hand. With Christianity, the question is not 'can you believe?' but I you believe?'"
Decker shook his head in frustration. "Rhoda, there's just no need for any of this. Christopher offered to accept the KDT and I'm sure he would be willing to reissue that offer if they would just give up their narrow-minded claim to exclusive truth and stop saying that everybody who disagrees with them is going to hell.
Then they and all of you would be allowed to take the communion. You can even venerate Jesus if you want. Christopher is very open minded to different beliefs; he doesn't care if someone is Buddhist or Hindu or Sikh or Muslim or any other religion. Millions of people from the mainstream Christian denominations have taken the communion."
"No Christian can take the communion or the mark. Anyone who has is a Christian in name only and is eternally lost."
"Rhoda," Decker said, exasperated, "that's exactly the narrow-minded attitude that's the cause of the whole problem. Why can't you just acknowledge that someone else might have some piece of the truth that you and the KDT don't have?"
"I know that our beliefs must sound narrow-minded, Mr. Hawthorne, but it's really just the opposite, because the one truth, the one way to God that we believe in is entirely unrestricted, completely free, totally accessible and available to everyone. God is no farther from any of us than our willingness to call upon him. I ask you," she said, drawing on the words Saul Cohen once used when speaking to her husband, "would it be narrow-minded to say that there is only one thing that everyone must breathe in order to live? I know you'll say, 'air is available to everyone.' But, Mr. Hawthorne, so is God. The Bible says that God has placed knowledge of himself inside each of us. That includes Jews and Gentiles, Hindus and Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, atheists, agnostics, and pagans. This isn't some kind of a treasure hunt, where the prize goes only to the lucky or the shrewd, or a game show where you're forced to choose blindly between the god behind door number one, door number two, or door number three. Inside each of us, we already know which is the right door. God calls to us and tells us what he is like, who he is, and where to find him. We may not know his name but we know his nature, we know his call, and we can witness his power throughout the universe. But it's up to each of us individually to decide whether we will answer God's call.
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