The Gate of Heaven

by Gilbert, Morris

  Reuben turned to face her. “I never thought of that,” he said. An odd expression flickered in his eyes, and suddenly he seemed embarrassed. Getting to his feet, he said, “I’ll carry that grain for you.”

  “Thank you for helping me. You’re always so thoughtful, Reuben.”

  “Why, of course my parents will love you. Why wouldn’t they?” Demetrius had been telling Dinah more about his home and family. Dinah had grown uncomfortable hearing about his parents and had said, “They might not like me.”

  The two had been standing on the outside edge of the camp when Demetrius had noticed Reuben helping Bilhah grind grain, and now he said, “That looks odd.”

  Dinah looked over and saw the big man kneeling awkwardly grinding grain. “He’s always been partial to Bilhah.”

  “She’s a sweet woman.”

  “Yes, she is.” Dinah felt uncomfortable, however, with Reuben’s obvious attraction to Bilhah. She was much too old for him, and she was their father’s concubine. “I wish Reuben would marry. I’m surprised he hasn’t already.”

  “I’ve wondered about that myself.”

  Dinah ran her hand over her hair and said, “If we marry and I go back with you to Minoa, will we live with your parents?”

  “No. I want to build a house right on the seashore. Every morning we’ll get up and there’ll be the sea, all fresh and beautiful, and at night we can sit out and watch it. Sometimes the moon rises and forms a silver track in the ocean, very broad close to you, but it narrows down as it reaches toward the horizon. It looks like a silver road leading right to the moon.”

  “It sounds so wonderful,” Dinah said wistfully. “But I’m not sure it will happen.”

  “Of course it will happen,” Demetrius said. He wanted take her in his arms, but he dared not do that here. He was aware that they had an audience wherever they went. “I’m going to talk to your father today.”

  “Oh, Demetrius, I don’t know what he will say! He’s very partial to me.”

  “And you think he might not want you to marry a foreigner?”

  “I don’t know what he’ll think.” She looked up at him anxiously. “Maybe…maybe we should wait awhile.”

  “No, we won’t,” he said firmly. “I’m going to marry you, and we’ll go to Minoa. We’ll have children. I’ll teach the boys to sail, and you can teach the girls to be as beautiful as you are.”

  Dinah laughed then and the fear left. Whatever this man set out to do, she knew he would do it. He wanted her and that was all that mattered.

  Jacob looked up to see Demetrius walking purposefully toward him. He had come out, as he often did, in the late afternoon to look over the flocks. Sometimes he grew tired of the hubbub and the talk about the camp, and it was out here in the open spaces that he felt comfortable. The sun was already dropping behind the low-lying hills in the west.

  “Master, could I speak with you?” Demetrius had come up and stood before Jacob. “I have something to say.”

  Jacob knew what was coming, but he let nothing show in his face. He had been so filled with joy and thanksgiving that Dinah had been rescued, and he had always felt that this young man had something in him most men of his age lacked. He had humor and could make people laugh, and he was an expert in working metals, which had been handy—but it was Demetrius’s hunger for God that drew Jacob.

  “Come. Let’s go sit down. My legs are tired.”

  “As you say, master.”

  The two men sat down on an outcropping of rock, and for a while neither man spoke. Jacob surveyed the sky and studied the thin moon that already lay askew in the south. He lifted his head and savored the dry, sweet odor of the country. A highly perceptive man, he could feel the life in the earth, could hear small animal feet scampering through the dry grass, could see a vulture several miles away making beautiful circles in the sky. He said, “You know, Demetrius, vultures are ugly creatures when you’re close to them, but when they’re up there like that, there’s nothing more beautiful.”

  Aware of Jacob’s love of wild things, Demetrius said, “You’re right. There’s only one thing more beautiful I’ve seen, and that’s the porpoises when they come up out of the water and make an arch.”

  “What’s a porpoise?”

  “A very large fishlike creature. They’re not actually fish because they don’t have gills. They breathe air. Sometimes they’ll follow a ship, a dozen of them. They’ll all come out of the water and arch over. They’re very friendly. Once I was swimming and one came right up and got in front of me, his head out of the water. I could have sworn he wanted to speak to me.”

  Jacob listened, questioning Demetrius more about the creatures of the sea. Finally Demetrius took a deep breath, and Jacob knew that he would now speak of the real matter he had come about.

  “I don’t know how you’ll take this, sir, but I must tell you that I love your daughter.”

  Jacob smiled. “I would be a blind man not to see what’s been going on. She has blossomed. It was you who saved her from Shechem, and then you found her in the desert.” He shook his head and said, “You know, I think she would have lost her mind after that terrible experience with that awful man if it hadn’t been for you.”

  “I care for her a great deal.”

  “And she cares for you.”

  Demetrius blinked with surprise. “Yes, she does. We love each other.” He hesitated and let the silence run on. Then he said firmly, “You probably will be shocked at this…and perhaps angry. But I want to marry Dinah.”

  Jacob remained totally still, and thoughts scampered through his head. He had prepared himself for this, however, and now he said, “You are not of our race, son.”

  “No, I’m a foreigner. I’m a slave here,” he said. “But back in my own home, I’m not without honor.” He went on to explain how his father was a counselor to the king and how he himself would inherit his father’s possessions and even some of his prestige.

  “It was a great tragedy when you were shipwrecked and sold into slavery, but I think the great God above brought you to us to save my daughter.”

  “I know I’m a slave—”

  “No, you are not a slave. I grant you your freedom from this day onward.”

  Demetrius could not have been more relieved! He had already been making plans to run away, to steal Dinah if necessary, but this wonderful old man had seen into the heart of each of them. He felt tears gather in his eyes, and he whispered, “You are good, sir. Very good indeed.”

  “I am but a servant of the Most High, but I have a little more wisdom now than I had when I was a young man, as you are. God had to run me down and break me before I would really listen to Him.”

  “One thing I must tell you,” Demetrius said. “I must know the God that you worship. I could never go back to worshiping an idol.”

  “That is good, my son,” Jacob said eagerly. “He is the only God, and there is happiness only in serving Him.”

  “I must go back to my parents. They think I am dead. I’ve been gone so long, and sailors lead a perilous life. Do you think, sir, that the great God will hear me even if I’m not in this land?”

  “He is the God of all lands. He is everywhere. You cannot find a place where He cannot come. If you were put into the deepest dungeon under the earth, God would be there.”

  Demetrius listened, as he always did when Jacob spoke of his God, and a resolution formed within him.

  “When I get back to my home, I will tell others of the true God. They will be very shocked, I’m afraid.”

  “You must grow accustomed to that. The worshipers of the true God are few. The worshipers of idols are many. But when those stone and clay idols have gone back to dust, the Strong One, the Eternal One, will still be God.”

  The two men spoke for hours, and finally Jacob said, “I will bless you, my son, and I will pray for you.”

  “You will give me your daughter, then?”

  “I can do nothing else, for I see the hand of God in all of t
his.”

  Dinah saw Jacob and Demetrius coming into the camp. They were moving straight toward her, and her heart was in her throat. She could not speak, but then she saw the expression on Demetrius’s smiling face, and she flew to her father. He took her in his arms and said, “Well, as always, you will have your own way.”

  “Oh, Father, I love him so!”

  “Then always do so. I have told him that he will have you with my good will.”

  Dinah lifted her head and saw that Demetrius was as happy as she was herself.

  Jacob stepped back and said, “Tomorrow I will announce to everyone that you are a free man, Demetrius. I will also announce your betrothal, but first, daughter, I must tell your mother.” He kissed Dinah and said, “A man has a daughter and learns to love her, but one day he must step aside, for she must find her own love. And I think you have found the one that God intended for you.”

  Jacob turned and moved quickly toward Leah’s tent while Demetrius stepped forward and put his arms around Dinah. “Your father is a great man. Not many would do what he has just done.”

  “I know,” Dinah whispered. She leaned back and said, “Now I will be your wife, and you will be my husband.”

  “Yes. And we will go to Minoa.”

  “When will we go?”

  “Not until after the wedding. Then we will go.”

  Rachel was not asleep when Jacob came to her tent. She was lying on her bed and said, “You’re late tonight.”

  “Something has happened.” Jacob came over and sat down beside her. He took her hand and studied her face. “You’re not well.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Jacob knew that this was her way of saying that she was having considerable pain. He hesitated, but finally said, “I have just agreed to give Dinah to Demetrius as his wife.” He waited for her to speak but saw that her face, tired and pale as it was, broke into a smile. “You’re not surprised!” he exclaimed.

  “No—nor will anyone else be too surprised.”

  “But it’s never happened before, that one of our people will give a daughter to a foreigner.”

  “Demetrius is different. He will be one of us. You’ve always told me how hungry he is for God.”

  “Yes, he is, and he’s agreed to be circumcised. And I’ve freed him this night. He’s no longer a slave. You know, back in his own country, he’s quite an important person.”

  Rachel lay there listening. She had had a hard pregnancy and knew that she was really too old to be having this child. She listened as Jacob told her more of the details about Demetrius and Dinah, and then finally he began to speak of the child that was to come.

  “He will be a fine boy just like his brother.”

  “Yes. I pray God that he will be.” Rachel suddenly shuddered with pain. She closed her eyes and whispered, “I’m very tired, Jacob.”

  Jacob sat there holding her hand. Ever since she had told him about her father’s gods, he could not stop thinking about the curse he had put on the one who had stolen them. He had begged God to take those words away and remove the curse, but he was not sure God would do such a thing. Now as he held Rachel’s hand, he felt a dark heaviness in his spirit. Up till now, he had been only happy about the child to come, for the child would be Rachel’s, but there was a fear growing in him that he could not ignore.

  Jacob’s face looked drawn, and Rachel, who had risen late, saw that he was troubled. “What is it, husband?” she asked. “Are you troubled about Dinah and Demetrius?”

  “No. I’m happy about that.” Turning to her, Jacob said quietly, “The Lord came to me last night while you were asleep.”

  Rachel grew very still. “What did He say?” She could tell that Jacob was troubled, and as always, she knew he would obey whatever God commanded.

  “He said we must leave this place and go up to Bethel. He told me I must make an altar to God in that place.”

  “Does He mean for you to go alone?” Rachel was disturbed because she was far along in her pregnancy and hated for him to leave her.

  “No. He told me that we must move there and make that our home.”

  Rachel’s heart sank. She was sickly and weak, and traveling would be an agony for her. She let none of this show in her face, however, saying only, “Then we must go.”

  “It will be hard on you. Perhaps we’d better wait.”

  Rachel shook her head. “No. When the Lord speaks, we must obey. You must tell the people this morning.”

  Except for the few who were left to watch over the flocks, all of Jacob’s people had been gathered together. He waited until they grew quiet, noting the curiosity on their faces. His sons were ranked before him, but he had already told them of his decision. There had been little argument, except from Simeon, who thought it best to stay in this place. Other than that, the other sons agreed.

  “We will be leaving this place,” Jacob announced. His voice at first was weak, but it grew stronger as he went on. “The Lord God has appeared to me and told me that we must move back close to my old homeland in Bethel.” He waited until the mutterings and whisperings had ceased. He saw surprise in faces, but no one seemed utterly disturbed. His next words, however, did bring a stronger reaction.

  “Some of you are harboring strange gods. I command you this day to bring all of those to me. Anyone who will not do so will be put out of the family, out of the camp. The bondservants will be sold.” He saw fear, surprise, and resentment among different faces, but he was firm.

  “We have a hard journey, and the true God must be obeyed. I will wait right here. Make your decision now. Either bring your idols and your false gods to me, or take the consequences.”

  Judah, who was standing next to Joseph, leaned over and whispered, “I’ve never seen him so immovable.”

  Joseph said, “He is doing the right thing, Judah.”

  “I believe he is, but some resent it.”

  Jacob put the last bit of dirt over the cavity he had dug. He stood looking down and said aloud with grim satisfaction, “There. That should have been done a long time ago.”

  The sun was falling in the west, and dark would be coming soon, but Jacob had felt an urgency to gather up all the false gods. When he had done so, Reuben loaded them onto a donkey. Jacob mounted the donkey and made his way out of the camp. Everyone stood silently watching him, but he said nothing.

  He traveled a long distance from the camp and finally stopped beside an oak. He labored hard to dig a hole with the implements he had brought, dumped in all the idols, then covered them up.

  He looked skyward and said, “O God, I have obeyed your voice. And now, Lord, we must leave this place as you have said. I pray you will go with us and before us and protect us.” He prayed for a long time and waited for the voice of God, but it did not come. Quickly he mounted the donkey and rode back. Now we will obey the voice of the Lord, he thought, and all will be well.

  Chapter 37

  Of all the preparations Jacob made for going to Bethel, he spent the most time working on the wagon that would carry Rachel. He and Demetrius tried to make it as comfortable for her as possible. On the floor of the back was the softest bed they could possibly contrive. It consisted of a pad of straw covered by a softer pad of feathers that had been saved over the past years. Demetrius had even designed a set of steps which Rachel could mount easily from the back.

  The day had come to leave, and Jacob was leading Rachel to the steps. He walked up them with her and helped her to lie down. “We will go very slowly,” he said. “The best driver will be driving this cart. He will avoid the bumps as much as possible.”

  “This is beautiful, Jacob. It’s like you to be so thoughtful.”

  Jacob leaned over and kissed her. “All will be well,” he said. “We will stop early, and when we get to the place where God is sending us, you will have this child.”

  Rachel, he saw, was deathly ill and in pain, but she tried to smile. He kissed her again and said, “Shall I ride beside you for a time?”<
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  “No. You need to be at the head of the people. They need to see you, husband. I will be all right.”

  Jacob kissed her yet again and said, “We will be joyous with this child, my beloved.”

  “Yes,” Rachel whispered, and it took all of her strength. “He will be the child we have dreamed of along with Joseph.”

  Dinah chewed on her lower lip, a sure sign that she was nervous. Turning to Demetrius, who was sitting beside the fire, she said, “I’m worried about Rachel.”

  “So am I.” Demetrius picked up a stick, held it in the flame until it caught, and then held it up before his eyes. He watched it burn for a time and then tossed it onto the fire. “I wish we could have waited until she had the child.”

  “That’s what Father wanted to do, but she insisted.”

  “It’s been a hard trip on everybody, but most of all on Rachel.”

  Indeed, the trip had been hard. They had passed through some dry, arid land, and water had been hard to find. The heat had been terrible, and the herders had been hard put to find enough water to keep the animals alive. They had lost several of them to wild dogs, despite their care.

  Demetrius looked up at the stars that glittered above them. “Do you remember the star lesson?”

  “Yes. There’s the Little Cup and the Big Cup, and right there is the star that never changes.”

  “That’s right. I will teach you many more when we get to my home.”

  “It seems impossible for us to be going there.”

  “It’s not. We will be there very soon.” He took her hand, and kissed it. “But all things seem slow to lovers.”

  She reached out and put her hand against his cheek. She could not speak, so full was her heart. She had been this way since they had become engaged, and she said, “I hope I always love you as much as I do now.”

  “Oh, much more!” He smiled and then took her hand and kissed it again.

  Jacob stood before the altar he had built. He was exhausted, but now the trip was over. Everything about it had been hard. Rachel’s condition had deteriorated so that Jacob walked in fear.