Song of Redemption (8 page)

“Shebna’s duties will be mostly administrative,” he told his grandfather. “I’m relying on you and the other Levites to make sure that every decision is in accordance with the Law.”

“Will you be going to Shebna for advice?”

“Well, yes. Sometimes.”

“How can Shebna make wise decisions without the Lord’s guidance?”

“Because he’s a brilliant man.”

“They’re the most dangerous kind. Man’s wisdom is foolishness in God’s eyes.”

Hezekiah sighed in frustration and rubbed his eyes. “Well, I had no choice. If there had been anyone else who was qualified, I never would have chosen Shebna. I didn’t want to appoint someone who was connected with Ahaz because—”

“But Shebna
is
connected with Ahaz. Your father hired him.”

“As a tutor, yes. But Shebna wasn’t part of my father’s government. I wanted to completely separate my reign from my father’s.”

“You’re wise to make that distinction.”

“But that doesn’t leave very many men to choose from, don’t you see? And the truth is, a lot of my advisors are no more religious or godly than Shebna is. They’re just better liars. At least I know where Shebna stands. He won’t pretend that his advice is godly wisdom.”

Zechariah stared at him gravely for a moment. His face looked drawn and tired. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then sighed and shook his head. “Let’s not argue about it anymore. We have work to do.” He began to unroll the scroll he had brought with him, scanning the tiny letters as if searching for something. Hezekiah closed the shutters again and sat down beside him, very aware that he hadn’t convinced Zechariah or won his approval of Shebna’s appointment.

“Ah, here it is,” Zechariah said. “This portion of the Torah was written for you. It contains Yahweh’s instructions to the kings of Israel. Of course, the king must follow all the laws of the Torah, but these words apply specifically to you, not the people.”

“I had no idea any rules or guidelines existed,” Hezekiah said.

“Read it aloud.” Zechariah pointed to the starting place.

“‘When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses—”’

“God chose the house of David,” Zechariah interrupted. “He promised that David’s throne would endure forever. And God chose you. That’s why He saved you from Molech. Never forget that.” He gestured for Hezekiah to continue.

“‘He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.’ ” Hezekiah looked up from the text. “Or worse still, an Egyptian?” he asked his grandfather. Zechariah didn’t reply. “Look—Shebna is the least of my problems,” Hezekiah said. “The emperor of Assyria is the real king of Judah. The wealth of our land is going straight into his own treasuries.”

“Yes, I agree. The Torah clearly says, ‘Do not place a foreigner over you,’ yet that is exactly what Ahaz did when he first sent the tribute to Assyria. But then, Ahaz made no pretense of following the Torah.”

Hezekiah stroked his beard thoughtfully. “I purposely raised this question of serving Assyria in the council meeting today because I wanted to see where everyone stood. But I’m beginning to see that it’s only a matter of time before it really will become a major issue. I don’t want to remain a vassal nation, but I don’t see how we can free ourselves from Assyria.”

“If you renew Judah’s covenant with God,” Zechariah said, “then God’s part of that covenant requires Him to deliver us from all our enemies.”

“Then you favor rebellion?” Hezekiah asked.

“I favor obedience to the Word of God, which says, ‘Do not place a foreigner over you.’ ”

Hezekiah exhaled. “I think I’m a long way from your level of faith. Assyria is the most powerful empire on earth. Maybe if we joined a military alliance with some of our neighboring nations we could rebel, but—” “No,” Zechariah said firmly. “There are no alliances in God’s plan, especially not with Egypt. Read the next part.”

“‘The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” ’ ”

“Alliances with other nations lead to bondage,” Zechariah explained. “Joseph started out as Pharaoh’s trusted advisor in Egypt, but later generations ended up as slaves. And wasn’t it Ahaz’s so-called alliance with Assyria that led to our present slavery?”

“Yes, but aren’t alliances with other nations necessary? Times have changed since this law was written.”

“No. Yahweh’s Word will still be valid one thousand years from now. You don’t need to trust in the fickleness of other nations. Put your trust in God.”

Hezekiah knew that his faith wasn’t very strong. Yahweh had saved him from Molech, but would that knowledge be enough if the powerful Assyrian armies marched against his tiny nation? “I’ll be honest,” he said. “This is too new for me. I’ve been taught to rely on the facts and on my own judgment and—”

“Then rely on your judgment and forget all this.” Zechariah scooped up the scroll with a sweep of his hand. “But don’t try to do both. It won’t work. Either your faith in God is absolute, or it’s worthless. There’s no way to compromise.”

Their eyes met and held. Then a slight smile flickered across Hezekiah’s face. “I have a lot to learn, don’t I? Come on—teach me.” He unrolled the scroll again and found his place. “‘He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.’ ” Hezekiah looked up in surprise. “But kings always have harems full of wives.”

“That’s because kings don’t always follow the laws of the Torah.”

“What do wives have to do with anything?”

“King Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and they led him to compromise his faith in God.”

“Wait a minute,” Hezekiah said. “I thought kings were supposed to have large harems to make sure they produce an heir to the throne.”

“God promised that there would always be an heir of David reigning on his throne. Does God need the help of a hundred women to fulfill that promise?”

Hezekiah smiled. “No, I guess He needs only one.”

“Marriage is a sacred covenant, much like Israel’s covenant with God. Our affections must stay pure toward one wife, just as Israel’s affections toward God must remain pure, not lusting after other gods. Do you have many concubines?”

“A few, and I’m not sure I want to get rid of—” “How many wives?”

“Only one—her name is Hephzibah.”

“Good. Do you love her?”

Hezekiah leaned back in his seat. “No. I hardly know her. My father arranged the marriage as a political payback. I’ve always thought of her as a present from Ahaz, so I guess I never showed much interest in her. I want to choose my own wife now that I’m king.”

“Does Hephzibah love Yahweh, or does she practice idolatry?”

Hezekiah frowned. “I don’t know what she believes. Why?”

“If you decide to be faithful to one wife, as the Torah commands, then Hephzibah would be the mother of your heir.”

“I really don’t know anything about her,” he admitted. But the thought that he might be stuck with the wife that Ahaz chose for him made him uneasy.

Hezekiah thought back to the day he married Hephzibah, and how young she had seemed. He remembered how she had trembled when he held her in his arms. He smiled to himself when he remembered her daring scheme to get a glimpse of him, fearing that he might resemble his father. Maybe he should give her another chance.

“I guess it isn’t her fault that she was a gift from Ahaz,” he murmured.

“It wasn’t until after my beloved wife died that I realized she was my most cherished treasure. Hold your wife close to you, son. Confide in her. Listen to her. Sometimes women see things more clearly than we do. If you win her loyalty and her love, you’ll be the happiest man alive. God gives us wives for more than offspring and physical pleasure. Ancient tradition says that Yahweh dwells amid married couples.”

Zechariah picked up a clay tablet and a writing tool. “You see, here’s the word for man—and the word for woman. All the letters are the same except for these two. And if you put those two letters together, they form the name of God. If you share a love for each other and for God, His presence will dwell in your midst.”

Hezekiah still wasn’t sure he wanted to dismiss all of his concubines, even if what Zechariah said was true. He turned back to Zechariah’s scroll and continued to read. “‘He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.’ Well, this won’t be hard to obey,” he said. “The royal treasuries are empty. I can only hope that this nation will prosper again someday.”

“It will, son, if you obey God. I promise you.”

“‘When he takes the throne of his kingdom,’ ” Hezekiah read, “‘he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law … it is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God… . Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.’ ”

Zechariah stopped him again. “Yahweh knows that a king’s three biggest temptations are power, pride, and pleasure,” he said. “When we begin reading the history of your forefathers, you’ll see how often one of these three contributed to their downfall. Yahweh requires you to write the words of His Law yourself so that you can study them. The king must have no doubt about what God demands of him.”

“Will you come every day and teach it to me as I copy it?”

“Yes, I’ll get you started. And there is a promise in this passage of Scripture—‘Then he and his descendants will reign a long time.’ ”

“My father and his father both died relatively young.”

“That’s no coincidence, son. It was Yahweh’s blessing that Ahaz died before he completely destroyed this country.”

“Sometimes I wonder if it isn’t too late already,” Hezekiah said. “Rabbi Isaiah doesn’t seem to think that the men of Judah will repent and turn back to God. And it all depends on the people, doesn’t it? I mean, I can do only so much as king, and if the people don’t respond, if they continue in their idolatry—” He stopped, remembering Isaiah’s vision of ruined cities and a desolate land.

“God has set before them life and death,” Zechariah said. “We can only pray that they choose life.”

Hezekiah noticed that the room had gradually grown darker in the last few minutes as the sun dropped below the western ridge of mountains. He could barely see to read the scroll. “Shall I call a servant to light the lamps?” he asked.

“No, it’s time for prayers.” Zechariah rolled up the scroll, then stood and covered his head with his prayer shawl. Hezekiah did the same. But before Zechariah closed his eyes to recite, he gave Hezekiah a somber, penetrating look. “When it comes to obeying the Law, you can’t pick and choose. If you decide to obey His Word, you must obey all of it.”

Hezekiah nodded and closed his eyes. But as soon as Zechariah began to recite, Hezekiah knew by the psalm that his grandfather had chosen that they were back where they had started: Zechariah still disagreed with the decision to appoint Shebna.

“ ‘Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.’ ”

That evening, drawn by curiosity, Hezekiah decided to visit Hephzibah. The realization that he knew nothing about her—and that he had ignored her since the week of their wedding—disconcerted him. He wondered how she would react to his sudden appearance after so much time. But when he saw Hephzibah again, he was the one who was astounded. She was a strikingly beautiful woman.

Hephzibah was dressed in white linen and adorned like a queen with golden earrings and bracelets. The fragrance of fine perfume and bath oil filled the room. Hephzibah’s long dark hair hung loose down her back in thick curls, and it looked so luxurious that he had an overwhelming urge to bury his hands in its softness.

Hephzibah gazed at him in astonishment when she first saw him standing in her doorway. He saw surprise in her eyes and many unspoken questions, but she quickly recovered and bowed low.

“Welcome, Your Majesty. Come in. Shall my servants bring you some refreshments?” Her voice shook, and she kept her head lowered as if awed by his presence.

“No, that’s not necessary. You may dismiss them.” Before Hephzibah could say a word, the servants all disappeared. “You look lovely,” he told her. “Your dress … your perfume …” He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Was this incredible stranger really his wife?

“Thank you,” she murmured. “Everything is for you.”

“But … but how did you know that I was coming tonight?”

“I didn’t.”

“You mean you go through this every night? Just in case?”

“Yes, my lord.”

For a moment Hezekiah glimpsed the absurdity of her situation, the hours of preparation and waiting just to cater to his whims. He suddenly felt awkward with her, as if it was their first time together. The discovery that such a beautiful woman had been waiting in vain for him every night stunned him.