Warrior Prophets Prologue 2
Shadow of the Father
“With all due respect, Joshua,” Salmoon looked down, “you go too far.”
“I felt it, I tell you,” Joshua pressed. “Boaz has your father’s blood.”
“His blood? As opposed to mine? Forty years later, and you still don’t let me forget. Must I always carry the shame?”
“You are a great man in your own right, Salmoon. But you must admit that your father, Prince Nachshon, was unique. He was a hero, a natural warrior and an inspiration for our people. He was the right man at the right time. His jumping into the sea was an act of the highest faith. He led the way. God parted the waters right then because of him. We witnessed the end of Egyptian hegemony and he was the catalyst. You can’t hope to duplicate such history. No one can.”
“But I have not reached even a fraction of his accomplishments. I am known merely as Salmoon, the failed son of Nachshon the Daring. My own life, my own accomplishments in battle are not even worthy of mention. Now you wish to push my son into the arena at such a tender age. I will have no part in such a travesty.”
Boaz hid quietly behind his family’s tent. Joshua had approached their tent in the camp of Judah to talk with his father. With his typical gruff voice, his father had ordered Boaz out of the tent. Joshua, the new leader ofIsrael, smiled at the departing Boaz and sat down on the simple woolen rug in the small canvas tent. Boaz scampered away loudly, only to quickly turn around and silently return, sitting now very quietly just outside the tent. Boaz’s mother, Rina, was out spinning woolen threads with her work companions.
“What do you fear, Salmoon?” Joshua asked. “Is the shadow of your dead father so long that you cannot escape his reputation? You are a great man, revered and admired by your tribe. You are a captain of a thousand. I saw you as you smote the Midianites, and the Amorites before them. You are a natural leader of men.”
“Perhaps, but not great enough. It is Caleb, Prince Caleb, my brother-in-law, who has inherited my father’s mantle. He is the leader ofJudah. He is the one that receives all the acclaim. Is it not he, together with Pinhas the Priest, that you have sent on a secret mission?”
“How did you know?” Joshua asked, surprised. A light breeze from the Jordan River ruffled the sides of the tent on the Moabite plain. He saw a distinct shadow by the edge of the tent floor.
“Though my sister is quiet, I can perceive when her husband is not in their tent. Her face has an anxiousness, a worry, that is transparent. Pinhas’ absence from his duties in the Tabernacle has been more obvious.”
“Who else knows?”
“I have not discussed it with a soul, though anyone with eyes in their head must have noticed the unexplained absence of two such prominent men.”
“I don’t know that all are as perceptive as you, Salmoon. I preferred to send Caleb, as besides me, he is the only survivor of the disaster of the twelve spies, the only other person that knows the land of Canaan first hand. I sent Pinhas with him as he can be quite useful when there is trouble. But it doesn’t matter. My main intention was to send them discretely, unlike the committee my Master sent four decades ago. However, you are not the only one in your family with perceptive skills.”
Joshua pounced suddenly to the side of the tent. His arm shot outside the tent and pulled back a squirming Boaz by the scruff of the neck.
“Boaz!” Salmoon yelled sternly. “What is the meaning of this? You eavesdrop on the conversation of your elders? Is this how I raised you?”
“You were talking about me and Uncle Caleb. I couldn’t help it.”
“Don’t talk back, child.”
“You did ask him a question, Salmoon,” Joshua added as he released his grip on Boaz.
“I am embarrassed by this behavior, Joshua. Please don’t encourage him.”
“Does he not have the right to hear discussion of his own fate?”
“There is nothing to discuss.” Salmoon stood up, straightening his woolen tunic. “Joshua, I am honored by your attention, but there is nothing further for you to seek from our family.”
“Would it be acceptable for me to converse on this matter with Boaz?”
“I cannot stop you from speaking to whomever you wish. But he is a willful child, with little regard for authority, of which you’ve just seen a small example. If you seek a warrior from him, you shall have to wait many years. Good day.”
Salmoon bowed to the still-seated Joshua, signaling he wished to end the conversation. Joshua stood up and bowed back.
“Thank you, Salmoon, for your time and hospitality.”
Joshua exited the tent and smiled at Boaz for the second time that day.
Boaz tip-toed quietly through the sleeping camp. He waited three tents away from Joshua’s tent in the camp of Ephraim. Joshua’s tent was the closest tent to the central Levite camp surrounding the Tabernacle.
For the third night, Joshua waited until two hours after nightfall and walked quietly and purposefully outside the camp towards the Jordan River.
It took Joshua half an hour to cross the remainder of the Moabite plain and reach a gentle slope on the eastern bank of theJordan River. The spring night air was pleasant, with a cool breeze blowing from the river. Boaz realized he was alee from Joshua and recalled that to be downwind was a good thing when tracking someone or something, though he had never tracked anything before in his ten years of existence. Boaz kept his distance, making sure Joshua was in sight, yet not close enough that he would be noticed. He thanked the darkness of the night and the intermittent clouds that blocked the sliver of moon. His young eyes had adjusted well to the darkness. Boaz saw Joshua stop under a large willow tree, its sad leaves still lush from the winter rains. Joshua paced under the tree, constantly looking across theJordanto the sleeping city ofJerichoin the distance. Joshua finally stopped his pacing and sat down on a large rock. Boaz crawled on all four to reach Joshua’s willow. He felt as if it was taking an excruciatingly long time to reach the large willow, but he dared not risk Joshua noticing him.
Two robed men ascended from the Jordan Riverand approached Joshua in the dark. Boaz recognized them. He could make out the large bearded figures of his uncle Caleb and Pinhas the Priest.
“Are you well?” Joshua asked them.
“We are well. We were delayed,” Caleb answered. “The Canaanites have patrols up and down the river. One of them must have spotted our crossing and alerted the city. They sent troops after us as soon as we enteredJericho.”
“You were not caught,” Joshua stated.
“We were not. Rahav saved us,” Pinhas added. “Your information was accurate. Her house is built into the wall of the city. She was most helpful. She hid us in her house and misled the troops. She bid us wait three days in the mountains, until the search party would give up, and that then it would be safe to cross the river. It was as she said. She is fully committed to our side.”
“An amazing woman,” Caleb continued. “What an aura! It is incredible that such a beacon lives in the cesspool ofJericho.”
“She pressed us to make a pact with her,” Pinhas interjected.
“What pact?” Joshua asked.
“She sued for the safety of her entire extended family. Parents, siblings, all her father’s home. We agreed. But only if they remain within the walls of her house. We bid her place a scarlet cord outside her window. It can be seen from outside the city.”
Joshua placed his hand on his flowing beard and paced again. Boaz stirred restlessly on the ground behind the tree. The three men looked at each other wordlessly.
“Curious. Committed to our side and her family. Intelligent. Faithful. Her aura, you say?”
“Yes,” Caleb said. “Almost blinding.”
“Very well. You were correct to trust her and make a pact with her. Her house shall stand, though all around her shall fall. Rahav and her family will not be able to stay inJericho, but I presume she understands that.”
“She does,” Pinhas answered. “She knows we come to destroy the city and conquerCanaan.”
“What of their army?”
“Numerous, but fearful,” Caleb stated. “News of our rapid destruction of Og and Sichon has shocked them. They have heard of our vengeance against the Midianites and the execution of Bilaam the Sorcerer.” Caleb looked at Pinhas meaningfully.
“They recall now also the stories of the Exodus,” Pinhas added. “The plagues of Egypt. The splitting of the Sea. They tremble in fear and should we just step across the river they will scurry as mice.”
Leaves rustled as Boaz tried to get comfortable on the rock-strewn ground.
The three men froze for a moment. Joshua smiled. Caleb and Pinhas looked to him for guidance.
“You may come out now, Boaz,” Joshua declared.
Boaz, confused, did not move. How did he discover me, again! Boaz thought. I was so quiet.
“It seems your father’s admonition has not curtailed your eavesdropping. Come out now and spare me the effort of having to drag you out.”
“I’m sorry, Joshua,” Boaz got up from behind the tree and brushed the pebbles and dust off his simple woolen tunic. “Hello, Uncle Caleb, Priest Pinhas.” Boaz nodded at the men. “I was curious as to where Joshua was going every night. I suspected it would be important and connected to the secret mission.”
“It is exciting for you?” Joshua asked.
“Yes! It is very exciting. I can’t wait to see the Canaanites defeated.”
“Do you wish to join us?” Joshua asked.
“Join what? Me? You’re joking. I’m just a kid. My father would never allow anything of the sort anyway. I can help perhaps with the supplies, but what do you mean?”
“Your curiosity may yet get you into trouble, young Boaz. Stay in your father’s tent. It is safer. We shall wait and see if there is a role for you. Go back to the camp now. There are things I would like to discuss in private.”
“Yes, sir,” Boaz bowed and ran off. Thank God they were not upset, Boaz thought. If I’m lucky, they won’t even mention it to my father.
Boaz imagined what it would be like to fight in the battles. To fight like his father, a captain of thousand. Like his grandfather, Prince Nachshon the Daring, who had jumped in the sea and fought side by side with Joshua against the hordes of Amalek all those years ago. Lost in his thoughts, Boaz stubbed his toe against a small rock in the dark.
“Ow!” he called out to the night.
I’m just going to slip back into my tent. Time enough for battle when I grow up, he thought mistakenly.
* * * * * *
Biblical Sources:
Joshua Chapter 2
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two spies secretly, saying: ‘Go view the land, and Jericho.’ And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahav, and lay there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying: ‘Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the land.’ 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahav, saying: ‘Bring forth the men that have come to you, that have entered into your house; for they have come to search out all the land.’ 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said: ‘Yes, the men came to me, but I knew not whence they were; 5 and it came to pass about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out; whither the men went I know not; pursue after them quickly; for you shall overtake them!’ 6 But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had spread out upon the roof. 7 And the men pursued after them the way to the Jordan unto the fords; and as soon as they that pursued after them were gone out, the gate was shut. 8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 9 and she said unto the men: ‘I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, unto Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house–and give me a true token– 13 and save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.’ 14 And the men said unto her: ‘Our life for yours, if you tell not this our business; and it shall be, when the Lord gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.’ 15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was upon the side of the wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16 And she said unto them: ‘Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light upon you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers return; and afterward go your way.’ 17 And the men said unto her: ‘We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by; and you shall gather unto you into the house your father, and your mother, and your brethren, and all your father’s household. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless; and whosoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20 But if you utter this business, then we will be guiltless of your oath which you have made us swear.’ 21 And she said: ‘According unto your words, so be it.’ And she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window. 22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned; and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. 23 Then the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had befallen them. 24 And they said unto Joshua: ‘Truly the Lord has delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us.’
