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Authors: Lynn Austin
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him, laboring to make sense of them. On one pile he placed the prophecies that had already been fulfilled: words of warning to King Ahaz; Eliakim’s rise to power; the destruction of the northern nation of Israel; the promise of deliverance from Sennacherib’s forces. The size of the pile and the startling accuracy of Isaiah’s predictions stunned him. He had never realized how truly powerful Isaiah was.
A second pile held oracles against other nations: Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Edom. Some of these predictions had already been fulfilled. Others, like the final destruction of the dreaded Assyrian Empire, had not.
On a third pile he placed prophecies that peered ahead into the distant future. These described the cataclysmic devastation of the earth itself and talked of a future kingdom in which the wolf would live with the lamb, and the lion would eat straw like the ox.
Ox —the soldiers hadn’t found Ox. Manasseh still called Joshua by his boyhood nickname, even though he had finally outgrown his adolescent clumsiness. The fact that Ox had gone into hiding, successfully eluding the king’s soldiers, proved that he was indeed part of Isaiah and Eliakim’s conspiracy. Manasseh didn’t want to believe that his trusted friend would betray him, too, but now that Ox had vanished, Manasseh had no choice.
He found only one prophecy that might foretell his own future. In it Isaiah warned King Hezekiah that some of his descendants would be carried off to Babylon at a future time. But it seemed unlikely that one of those descendants would be Manasseh. Babylon was no longer a major world power. The Assyrians had conquered the city several years ago and demolished it. Manasseh placed the scroll on a pile with a host of other confusing predictions that foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of his nation, not by the brutal Assyrians, but by the Babylonians.
Next Manasseh picked up a small scroll made of much finer parchment than all the others. As soon as he unrolled it, he recognized his father’s distinctive handwriting. Across the top Isaiah had written, A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery . The parchment contained a psalm, written by his father in the style of their famous ancestor, David.
Manasseh had never seen the poem before or even known such a psalm existed. Stunned, he began to read. He heard Hezekiah’s voice in the words, saw his expressions and gestures between each line. When Manasseh finished reading, his eyes were wet with tears. This priceless legacy from his father belonged to him, not to Isaiah. Why did the rabbi have it among his scrolls? How had he managed to steal it from the palace?
Manasseh laid it aside, determined to unravel Isaiah’s complicated conspiracy, and he began to reread all of the prophecies that might hint of intrigue. In some passages the rabbi spoke of deliberately causing confusion: “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving” and “Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples .” But what worried Manasseh the most were references to a mysterious servant— “my chosen one in whom I delight;” a child who would “reign on David’s throne” and be worshiped as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God.”
Who was this servant? When had they planned for this coup to take place? Manasseh remembered the day the blind woman had looked into Joshua’s palm. “The authority belongs to you, but he will be much more powerful.” Could their intended usurper be Joshua?
Manasseh still planned to offer Isaiah and Eliakim a fair trial, of course, allowing them the opportunity to present evidence in their defense. But before that took place, he needed to question the strange man he had found murmuring in the cemetery last night. Perhaps Zerah had additional proof to back up his accusations.
The guards brought Zerah to the king’s chambers with his wrists and ankles in shackles. He
A second pile held oracles against other nations: Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Edom. Some of these predictions had already been fulfilled. Others, like the final destruction of the dreaded Assyrian Empire, had not.
On a third pile he placed prophecies that peered ahead into the distant future. These described the cataclysmic devastation of the earth itself and talked of a future kingdom in which the wolf would live with the lamb, and the lion would eat straw like the ox.
Ox —the soldiers hadn’t found Ox. Manasseh still called Joshua by his boyhood nickname, even though he had finally outgrown his adolescent clumsiness. The fact that Ox had gone into hiding, successfully eluding the king’s soldiers, proved that he was indeed part of Isaiah and Eliakim’s conspiracy. Manasseh didn’t want to believe that his trusted friend would betray him, too, but now that Ox had vanished, Manasseh had no choice.
He found only one prophecy that might foretell his own future. In it Isaiah warned King Hezekiah that some of his descendants would be carried off to Babylon at a future time. But it seemed unlikely that one of those descendants would be Manasseh. Babylon was no longer a major world power. The Assyrians had conquered the city several years ago and demolished it. Manasseh placed the scroll on a pile with a host of other confusing predictions that foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of his nation, not by the brutal Assyrians, but by the Babylonians.
Next Manasseh picked up a small scroll made of much finer parchment than all the others. As soon as he unrolled it, he recognized his father’s distinctive handwriting. Across the top Isaiah had written, A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery . The parchment contained a psalm, written by his father in the style of their famous ancestor, David.
Manasseh had never seen the poem before or even known such a psalm existed. Stunned, he began to read. He heard Hezekiah’s voice in the words, saw his expressions and gestures between each line. When Manasseh finished reading, his eyes were wet with tears. This priceless legacy from his father belonged to him, not to Isaiah. Why did the rabbi have it among his scrolls? How had he managed to steal it from the palace?
Manasseh laid it aside, determined to unravel Isaiah’s complicated conspiracy, and he began to reread all of the prophecies that might hint of intrigue. In some passages the rabbi spoke of deliberately causing confusion: “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving” and “Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples .” But what worried Manasseh the most were references to a mysterious servant— “my chosen one in whom I delight;” a child who would “reign on David’s throne” and be worshiped as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God.”
Who was this servant? When had they planned for this coup to take place? Manasseh remembered the day the blind woman had looked into Joshua’s palm. “The authority belongs to you, but he will be much more powerful.” Could their intended usurper be Joshua?
Manasseh still planned to offer Isaiah and Eliakim a fair trial, of course, allowing them the opportunity to present evidence in their defense. But before that took place, he needed to question the strange man he had found murmuring in the cemetery last night. Perhaps Zerah had additional proof to back up his accusations.
The guards brought Zerah to the king’s chambers with his wrists and ankles in shackles. He
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