Ebedmelech The Ethiopian, And Of The Death Of Jeremiah

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Title:     Ebedmelech The Ethiopian, And Of The Death Of Jeremiah
Author: Montague Rhodes James [More Titles by James]

When the time was come when it was ordained that Jerusalem should be laid waste by the king of the Chaldeans, God spake to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Depart out of this city, for I am about to destroy it for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." But Jeremiah answered, "Suffer me, I beseech thee, Lord, to speak a word." And He said, "Say on." And Jeremiah said, "Wilt Thou indeed deliver Thy chosen city into the hand of the Chaldeans, that their king may boast himself against it and say, 'I have prevailed against the Holy City of God'? Not so, Lord; but if it be Thy will to destroy it, overthrow it rather with Thine own hand." And He said, "Neither the king nor his power shall prevail to destroy it, unless I first open the gates thereof to him. Come therefore at the sixth hour of the night to the city wall, thou and Baruch the scribe, and I will show you what I will do." Jeremiah therefore rent his clothes and put ashes upon his head, and went and found Baruch in the temple; and when Baruch saw him he was dismayed, and cried out, "What is the matter?" And when Jeremiah had told him that which was proposed concerning the city, he also rent his clothes; and they remained both of them in the holy place all that day weeping.

But at the sixth hour of the night they went out and walked upon the city wall. And suddenly they heard the sound of a trumpet in heaven, and there came down angels bearing torches of fire in their hands, and alighted upon the four corners of the wall of the city. Then Jeremiah and Baruch perceived that the desolation of Jerusalem was indeed at hand; and Jeremiah cried out to the angels, "I beseech you, destroy not the city until I have spoken a word to the Most High." So the angels stayed their hand; and Jeremiah said, "Lord, now we know of a truth that the city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans; tell us, therefore, what wilt Thou that we shall do with the holy vessels of the temple?" And he answered, "Commit them to the earth, and say unto it, 'Hear, O earth, the voice of Him that separated thee from among the waters, and sealed thee with seven seals unto seven ages, even until the time wherein thou shalt be renewed in beauty: keep these vessels of the sanctuary until the coming of the Beloved.'" And Jeremiah continued and said, "I beseech Thee, show me what I shall do for Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, because he showed me great kindness and delivered me out of the pit wherein Zedekiah cast me; and I would not have him see the desolation of the city, for it would grieve him to the heart." The Lord said, "Send him to the vineyard of Agrippa which is on the other side of the hill, and I will shelter him until I bring back the people to the city. And as for thee, go thou with thy people to Babylon, and remain there to comfort them until they return hither. And let Baruch abide here until I send him word."

Then he commanded the angels, and they brake down the corners of the wall and loosened the foundations, and made weak the fastenings of the gates; and after that a great voice sounded out of the temple, saying, "Enter, ye enemies, and come in, ye adversaries; for He that kept the house hath departed from it." And the angels went up again into heaven. But Jeremiah and Baruch went into the temple, and took the vessels of the sanctuary and delivered them to the earth, as they were commanded; and forthwith the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up. And for the rest of that night they wept and lamented; and in the morning Jeremiah called for Ebedmelech and said to him, "Take a basket and go to the vineyard of Agrippa, and fetch me some figs, that I may give them to the sick and needy among the people; and the blessing of God go with thee." And Ebedmelech set forth.

On that same morning the host of the Chaldeans surrounded the city, and a trumpet sounded in heaven, and they came against the city; and the gates gave way before them, and the wall fell, and they entered the city and laid it desolate, and took the people captive. But Jeremiah took the keys of the temple, and went outside the city and threw them up towards the sun, saying, "O sun, I say unto thee, take these keys and keep them until God shall require them of thee; for we are not found worthy to keep them any longer." And they vanished out of his sight. Then he returned, and the Chaldeans took him prisoner and carried him away to Babylon. But Baruch fled, and took refuge in a tomb, and there he remained in great sorrow of heart.

Now Ebedmelech had gathered the figs, and filled his basket; and by the time he had finished, the day had become burning hot. So he sat him down under a tree to rest a little, and then laid his head on the basket of figs and fell into a slumber. And he slept for sixty-six years without waking.

And when the sixty-six years were over, and the time of deliverance of the children of Israel was near, Ebedmelech woke up, and said to himself, "I should have been glad to sleep a little longer, for my head is still heavy; I have not slept my sleep out." And he uncovered his basket and looked at the figs, and saw that they were oozing with juice; and said again, "Well, I should like to sleep yet a little, but I am afraid I may oversleep myself; and if I do, father Jeremiah will be disappointed; for if he had not been in haste for the figs, he would not have sent me out so early." So he rose and picked up his basket of figs and put it on his shoulder, and went back to Jerusalem. When he came near the city he could not recognise it, and when he had entered the gate he could not either find his own house or see any of his acquaintance. He said therefore within himself, "Some strange delusion has come upon me; I have missed my way in coming over the hills: it must be that I was not fully awake. This will be a wonderful thing to tell Jeremiah when I meet with him." And he went out of the city. But when he looked back upon it, he could see that it was indeed Jerusalem; and he said, "It is surely the city, yet there is something wrong." He went into the city the second time, but he could find none that knew him. And he said, "God preserve me! Verily a delusion has fallen upon me," and went outside the city and sat down with the basket of figs, saying, "Here will I sit until my eyes are opened, and I can discern the truth." After some time he saw an old man coming from the fields, and said to him, "Old man, what is this city, I pray you?" The old man said, "It is Jerusalem." Ebedmelech said, "Where are Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the scribe?" The old man answered, "You are certainly not of this city, that you inquire concerning these men. Jeremiah is in Babylon with the people that were carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar the king." Then Ebedmelech marvelled and said, "If you were not an aged man, whom it is not lawful to mock, I should have said you were mad. How many hours is it, think you, since Jeremiah sent me to the garden of Agrippa for some figs for the sick people, and I went and gathered them and slumbered for a little under a tree, and have just now brought them back; and here they are with the juice oozing from them, just as when I picked them; and you say the people and Jeremiah are gone to Babylon!" And he opened the basket and showed the figs. And when the old man saw them he said, "Verily, my son, God has had mercy on you. He has spared you from seeing the desolation of the city. Behold, to-day it is sixty-and-six years since the people were carried away. And, if you believe not me, look upon the trees and see that it is not the time of figs." Then Ebedmelech asked, "What then is this month, and what is the day?" And he answered, "It is the twelfth day of Nisan." And Ebedmelech believed, and gave thanks to God; and after that he gave the old man some of the figs, and bade him farewell, saying, "May God guide thee to the Jerusalem which is above." And he went to find Baruch.

And after a while he found him dwelling in a tomb; and they greeted one another, and rejoiced, and Ebedmelech told Baruch all that had happened to him, and Baruch marvelled and praised God. Then they consulted how they might send word to Jeremiah at Babylon; for they perceived that the time of the return of Israel was at hand. And it was revealed to them that on the morrow at dawn there should come a messenger whom they might send.

On the morrow, therefore, Baruch rose early and went out of the tomb, and saw an eagle sitting upon a rock hard by; and he called to it and it came, and spoke with a man's voice, saying, "I am sent hither to bear a message for thee." Baruch said, "Canst thou carry a letter to Babylon, to Jeremiah the prophet?" And the eagle said, "To that end am I sent." So they wrote a letter, and took fifteen of the figs from the basket and hung them on the eagle's neck; and Baruch blessed it, saying, "I say unto thee, O king of the birds, go in peace, and bring back an answer to me. Be not like the raven, which Noah sent out, and it returned no more to the ark; but be like the dove, which returned the third day with an answer of peace. And if the birds of the air come against thee, fight with them, and the power of God be with thee. Turn neither to the right hand nor to the left, but go straight as an arrow in the strength of the Most High."

Then the eagle flew and rested not till it came to Babylon; and there it perched upon a tree in a desert place outside the city, and waited until Jeremiah and some of the people passed by, carrying a dead man to burial. And it rose up and lighted upon the bier of the dead man, and he revived. And the eagle said to Jeremiah, "Gather the people together, and take the letter which is upon my neck, and read it in their ears." And he did so; and the people rejoiced, because the time of their deliverance was at hand. Then Jeremiah wrote a letter to Baruch, and put it upon the eagle's neck. And he blessed the eagle, and sent it away; but the figs he gave to the sick among the people. And the eagle returned to Jerusalem, and gave the letter to Baruch; and when he read it he wept, because Jeremiah had written in it all the afflictions which the people suffered at the hands of the Chaldeans.

Now when the time was fulfilled, the people were set free from Babylon, and returned to Jerusalem. And when they came back, they rejoiced and gave thanks for their deliverance for nine days. And on the tenth day Jeremiah stood up before all of them and sang a hymn of praise; and when he had ended it, he fell on the ground and became as one dead. When they saw that, Baruch and Ebed-melech lifted up their voices and wept, saying, "Our father Jeremiah, the priest of God, is departed from us!" And all the people ran together and saw Jeremiah lying as dead; and they rent their clothes and bewailed him, and then made ready to bury him. But there came a voice, saying, "Bury not the living." And at that they left off preparing a sepulchre for him, and waited, keeping watch about his body, till he should revive again.

And after three days the spirit of Jeremiah returned to him again, and he rose up and prophesied; and in his prophecy he said, "There shall be a Tree set up, which shall make the barren trees fruitful, and the proud and fruitful trees barren; and the snow shall be turned to blackness, and the sweet waters become bitter, and the scarlet shall be white as wool. Moreover, He shall bless the isles that they shall bear fruit by the word of His mouth; and He shall satisfy the hungry souls." And thereafter he began to speak to them of the coming of the Beloved into the world.

Now when the people heard it they were very angry and said, "He blasphemeth. These are the words that Isaiah spake, and they sawed him asunder with a saw of wood. Let us slay Jeremiah also, but him we will stone with stones." And Baruch and Ebedmelech cried out against them, "Do not this great wickedness!" But Jeremiah said, "Be silent, for they shall not kill me before I have delivered to you all that I have seen and heard. Fetch me a great stone." And when it was brought, Jeremiah prayed and said, "O Light of the Ages, cause this stone to appear in my likeness." And immediately the stone took upon it the likeness of Jeremiah, and the people began to stone it, believing that it was Jeremiah. And in the meantime he went on speaking to Baruch and Ebedmelech until he had committed to them all the mysteries which he had heard while he lay in a trance.

Then he arose and stood forth in the midst of the people, and the stone cried out with a loud voice, "O foolish people, why stone ye me, thinking that I am Jeremiah; and behold, he is in the midst of you!" And their eyes were opened, and they ran upon him and stoned him; and his ministry was accomplished.

But Baruch and Ebedmelech buried his body; and they took the stone and set it up over his grave, and wrote upon it, "This is the helper of Jeremiah."

[The end]
Montague Rhodes James's short story: Ebedmelech The Ethiopian, And Of The Death Of Jeremiah

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