Naomi, or the last days of Jerusalem ... With illustrations

Preface

The signs of the present times point strongly towards the Holy Land and the once glorious city of Jerusalem ; and the eyes of many (both Jews and Gentiles) are turned thither in anxious ex pectation of the approaching fulfilment of those promises of favour and restoration which are so strikingly set forth in Scripture, with reference to that land and her scattered and degraded people. The threatened judgments have been awfully and literally accom plished, and shall not the promises of God be found to be equally sure ? It will be no hard matter for the same Almighty power which has turned her fruitful valleys into a desolate " wilderness " once more " to blossom as the rose ; " and the same hand that has scattered her inhabitants over the whole earth, and made them a mark for the scorn and reproach of the Gentile nations, can as easily gather them together and bring them again into their own land.

While contemplating the present fallen condition of the Jews and the desolate state of the land of Judea, we naturally recall their former splendour and unexampled prosperity, and the fearful rebellion against the laws of their long-suffering God and King which at length provoked Him to bring them down from their high estate and lay them grovelling in the dust. Believing that such considerations may be both interesting and useful to her young readers, the author has ventured (with a full sense of her own incompetence to do justice to the subject) to attempt a narrative of which the scene is chiefly laid in Jerusalem, and the period it embraces is one of the most eventful and calamitous that has ever been detailed in history. Perhaps it will be thought that the circumstances of horror and bloodshed which attended that period have been dwelt on with too much minuteness ; but let it be remembered that all the events related, and many others far more appalling, did actually take place when God avenged Y VI

PREFACE.

Himself on His rebellious people ; and we may derive instruction and warning from considering the chastisement of the Jews. With all its imperfections, this little work may, by the blessing of God, be the means of attracting the attention of the young and thoughtless to the wonderful fulfilment of the prophetic word of God, which has already been so awfully displayed in the destruc tion of Jerusalem and the subsequent dispersion of the Jews ; and thence it may lead them to look with greater faith and confidence for the no less certain accomplishment of those great events which are foretold, and " which are yet to come? Such a faith in the promises of God will act as a powerful stimulus in causing us all to use greater earnestness and sincerity in the important work of preparation for the second coming of our Lord, to execute judgment on His enemies, and to bless His faithful servants, — that awful period, which is the theme of all unfulfilled prophecy, and which was but faintly prefigured in the woes that befell the devoted and impenitent Jews, and the safety of the Christians who took refuge in Pella.

We know from the declaration of Christ Himself that a greater tribulation is yet to come on the earth ; and oh, may we be warned in time, and prepared to meet it ! Then shall we be among those blessed servants of our Lord for whom a surer refuge, a more glorious Pella, will be provided ; and though the flood may arise, and the stream beat vehemently against us, they will not be able to shake our souls, if they are built in faith on the Rock of Ages. The children of Israel are now a despised and humble race, but they are a perpetual memorial to the whole world of God's un sparing justice, and a standing miraculous proof of the truth of His word. Soon may we look for their restoration, and then they will be a splendid monument of His mercy and His faithfulness to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

Let us then be zealous in our humble efforts to awaken this interesting people, and call on them unceasingly to " arise from the dead, that Christ may give them light." Let us pray earnestly for their conversion and preparation to meet their expected Messiah ; thus shall we be exercising the highest duties of Christian charity, and (if we may so express it) " preparing the way of the Lord." December, 1840. CONTENTS

Chapter I. Naomi And Claudia

The sun was slowly sinking behind the lofty buildings which crowned the hill of Zion, and its departing beams were glowing on the marble walls and golden pinnacles of the Temple, when young Naomi and her friend Claudia came forth from the dwelling of Zadok the priest, and wandered down the lovely little stream of Siloe. They passed through the Water Gate, and entered a garden of luxuriant fruit-trees, which extended to the margin of the brook Kedron on the east, while its southern boundary was watered by Siloe's rippling waves, which flowed into the Kedron at that spot. Here the two maidens seated themselves, to enjoy the balmy freshness of an evening in an eastern clime, and to gaze upon the glorious city which lay before them, now hushed in silence as the day declined, and the clear blue vault of heaven that stretched without a cloud above their heads.

"Naomi," said Claudia, "how sweetly the peaceful silence of this quiet spot comes over my soul, after the noise and tumult of the day ! When my father sent me from the Roman camp, to take refuge with you in your Holy City, I hoped to have found safety and tranquillity, but instead of the calm cheerfulness which reigned within these walls in former years, when I spent so much of my happy childhood with you, I now find nothing but discord and rebellion ; and instead of the sweet sounds of the timbrel and pipe, I hear the din of war, the clashing of arms, and the trampling march of soldiers in their military exercises. My spirit sinks when I look forward to the scenes we may yet witness. Our legions will surely turn their march towards Jeru salem, when the conquest of the cities of Galilee is completed ; NAOMI ; OR, 12 and what can your troops, though brave, hope to do, when opposed to the soldiers of Vespasian ? or how will your gates and boasted walls be able to stand against the powerful engines of the Romans?"

"We fear them not, Claudia," replied the high-spirited young Jewess, and her bright black eyes flashed as she spoke, "we fear them not. Never shall our holy and beautiful city be given into the hands of those fierce and cruel idolaters. Forgive me, dear Claudia, but though they are your countrymen, and you have been brought up in their impious religion, I cannot forbear expressing my firm conviction that the God of our fathers will yet preserve us from these Gentiles, nor suffer the house where He has placed His name to be again trampled on and defiled by those who know Him not." " I forgive you, Naomi ; indeed, I love to see you when these proud thoughts fill your breast. You look like our majestic goddess Minerva, and only want a panoply of mail to personate her well. My heart is of a different mould to yours ; and I admire your spirit, though I cannot emulate it.

You should have been born a Roman, and you would have rivalled any of our heroines of old." " Better far to be a daughter of Israel," replied Naomi. " Better far to be one of God's own people, though now for our sins we are degraded and in sorrow, than to belong to that nation who are employed in the hand of Jehovah to chastise His chosen race ! Soon will He, for whom we wait in eager expectation, appear in the clouds in glory, and rescue His children from all those that oppress them. Then shall the people who worship stocks and stones be driven away before the brightness of His coming, and His own adopted children be exalted for ever ! " The colour mounted into the usually pale cheeks of Naomi, as she thus expressed her own enthusiastic feelings, while her eyes were fixed on the darkening sky above her, and her hands upraised, as if even then she awaited the sound of the trumpet, and the vision of the Messiah coming in the air.

The expectation of His immediate appearance was, at that period, very widely diffused and strongly felt by the Jews, and it is supposed that this vain hope had greatly encouraged them in their revolt, and obstinate resistance against the power of the Romans. They entertained a firm conviction that their great Deliverer would shortly be manifested to His people, and that although for a time their oppressors had been permitted to triumph over them, yet their destruction as a people would never take place ; and that in their hour of greatest extremity their King and Saviour would appear, to re-establish the throne of His father David, and to raise their nation to a glory and prosperity surpassing that of Solomon. Claudia was impressed by the vehemence of her friend's manner; but she regarded all her hopes as vain delusions, and, after a pause, she replied — " Naomi, your wild religion blinds and deceives you, and in these visionary expectations you forget the danger of the present time.

Instead of indulging in such idle dreams, your wisest course would be, to use all your influence in persuading your father to abandon this city while yet there is time, and throw himself on the clemency of Vespasian. Zadok's character stands high, both among the Romans and his own people, for wisdom, integrity, and courage ; and if he were to take so prudent a step, and recommend it to his countrymen, his example would probably be followed by many, if not all ; and oh ! Naomi, what bloodshed and misery would be averted ! Your nation would be restored to peace and security, and plenty would again be seen in those districts which our legions have already reduced to desolation. Had you witnessed all the horrors of war and massacre that I have done, I think even your courage would shrink from drawing such fearful calamities upon your beloved city.

My blood curdles when I remember the miseries of which I was an unwilling spec tator, while I accompanied my father in Vespasian's camp. Truly I believe the sight of suffering which she could not relieve, added to the fatigue and constant excitement of our military life, has tened the death of my dear mother. Would that the gods had permitted her and me to remain in Jerusalem when my father was called to join the army ! Then I should not thus early have had to weep over her grave ; but it was her fate, and I must submit." The tears rolled down the fair countenance of Claudia as she spoke of her beloved mother, and ineffectually sought consolation for her death in the cold maxims of philosophy which were all that the heathen system of religion could afford her. Naomi endeavoured, as she had often done before, to awaken in her dark mind the belief in one Almighty God, by whose superin tending Providence all events are governed ; but her friend was too firmly convinced of the truth of her own religion to be thus easily shaken, or induced to listen to the despised doctrines of a Jew ; she therefore hastily resumed the subject of the war, and, in spite of Naomi's indignant replies, continued to urge upon her the necessity of submission to the overwhelming and resistless power of Rome.

" Claudia," said Naomi at length, rising from her mossy seat, and extending her hand towards the lofty walls and towers of the city, now dark in the shades of evening ; " Claudia, I would rather, oh ! ten thousand times rather perish beneath those sacred walls, if it be the will of Jehovah that the spoiler should again possess them, than live to see my people once more subject to the Roman power. We have nobly shaken it off, and never till we are exterminated will we cease to resist their oppressions, and NAOMI ; OR, 14 assert our freedom. You wonder at my enthusiasm, as you call it ; but be assured the same spirit animates every son and every daughter of Israel : and when your proud legions advance beneath these impenetrable walls, they will be received with such a wel come as shall prove that in Jerusalem at least the soul of our fathers still survives."

" May the gods preserve us from beholding the conflict I " answered Claudia, with a shudder, as she rose to accompany her friend towards their home : " I should regret then that I had persuaded my father to send me here, after my poor mother's death, instead of to Cæsarea, as he proposed ; but my heart was with you, Naomi, and I felt that in your company, and that of your gentle mother, I should find comfort in my sorrow. My father's strong regard and high esteem for Zadok induced him to consent to my returning to your house, as your mother's letter so kindly proposed ; and at that time he had no idea that the war would continue so long, or spread from Galilee into Judea. Should Vespasian bring his army against Jerusalem — as my father's last letter seemed to announce — he will of course send for me, and place me at Cæsarea, with his friends who dwell there, and from thence I could easily embark for Rome, and join my brother Marcellus.

He has been residing in the capital with our uncle Sulpitius ever since we left Jerusalem two years ago ; and he writes me glowing descriptions of the splendour and magnificence of the imperial city. You know we were both so young when we came from our native land to Judea, that we had forgotten all her glory and beauty. Marcellus tells me that he is very soon to be enrolled among the emperor's troops, and then he will probably be sent into this country if the war is not con cluded. Now I shall rejoice to see my dear, kind brother again ; and you too, Naomi, will not you welcome him ? You were always the greatest friends ; and every letter he writes is full of inquiries and kind messages to you. But, alas ! I forget myself. If Marcellus comes to Judea, it will probably be as the enemy of your land and people ; and this cruel war will separate those who have been brought up together, and loved each other as brother and sister from childhood."

Naomi was saved the embarrassment of a reply by their reaching her father's house ; and she was glad of the circumstance, for the theme interested her feelings more than she wished Claudia to discover. Rufus the centurion had resided for many years at Jerusalem, holding a command in the imperial army, and his band composing part of the guards stationed in the city. Mutual obligations, and a respect for each other's character, had created a sincere friendship between him and Naomi's father Zadok, who, though he was a priest, and de votedly attached to the Jewish faith, was not blind to the generous and excellent qualities which distinguished the Roman soldier. Their families had constant intercourse, and their children grew up together in habits of familiar friendship. Naomi and Claudia regarded each other as sisters ; nor did the difference of their religion or the contrast in their dispositions ever cause a disagreement between them.

Marcellus was their constant companion, and their protector in their rambles among the verdant hills and luxurious meadows and gardens which surrounded the city ; and the mutual attachment which grew up between him and Naomi was remarked and smiled at by their parents while they were yet children. But as they advanced in years, it caused some uneasiness to Zadok and his amiable wife Salome, who could not allow themselves to contemplate the possibility of a union between their beloved daughter and an idolater. Nor was such an intention ever enter tained by Naomi : her soul was peculiarly susceptible to feelings of piety ; and she worshipped the God of her fathers with a sincerity and fervency of devotion which was not common in the days of degeneracy and hypocrisy in which she lived. Idolatry she regarded with unfeigned abhorrence ; and while she loved her Roman friends with all the natural warmth ot an affectionate heart, she grieved for their profane and impious creed, and many were the attempts she made to convince them of its folly.

Hitherto her efforts had been entirely unavailing, and she could gain no further concession from her young companions than an acknowledgment that Jehovah, the God of Israel, might certainly be a Deity j but they looked upon Him merely as one of that host of deities in whom their religion taught them to believe, and by no means superior to their own false gods. This being the case, Naomi would have preferred death to a connection with a Gentile idolater ; and she persuaded herself that her attachment to Marcellus was nothing more than friendship. When, however, Rufus and his family were called away from Jerusalem, and his son was sent to Rome to perfect his military education, she felt a void in her heart which convinced her that she had allowed too much of her happiness to depend on Mar cellus, and she resolutely determined to check every thought and extinguish every hope that was connected with him.

At the time of which we are now speaking he had been absent for two years ; and her praiseworthy efforts had been so far successful that she had recovered her spirits, and entered into all her duties and occupations with interest and animation. She was gifted with a strong mind, and a proud, independent spirit, which enabled her to command her feelings to a great degree ; and even, her mother, who was usually her confidante in all her joys and sorrows, believed that she had entirely forgotten the brave and amiable young Roman. The return of her friend Claudia, to seek protection in Zadok's NAOMI ; OR, 16 house, when the death of her own mother rendered it impossible for her to remain with Rufus in the camp, was a source of great delight to Naomi ; but it revived many recollections which she had long been endeavouring to banish from her mind, and she found herself listening with pleasure to Claudia's often-repeated praises of her brother, and the kind messages which his letters contained to herself : but she never spoke of him except as the friend of her childhood, whom, in all probability, she should never see again.

Perhaps the contrast between Marcellus and her own brother Javan had exalted the good qualities of the former in her eyes. Javan, even as a child, had manifested a cruel and unhumbled dis position ; and his domineering spirit had been the frequent cause of disputes between him and Marcellus, who invariably took the part ofthe oppressed, and defended those whom Javan would have annoyed or injured. The affection which Naomi entertained for Marcellus excited his jealousy and indignation ; and he often upbraided her with her friendship for idolaters, and used very opprobrious language to the young Roman himself, which, but for the interposition of their sisters, would have ended perhaps in fierce and fatal contests. As Javan arrived at years of manhood, this unamiable temper rather increased than lessened ; and it was greatly aggravated by the spirit of fanaticism which took possession of his soul, and rendered his religion a motive to fierce and arrogant conduct, instead of having the effect of softening his heart, and leading him to such holy and gentle and charitable dispositions as are most acceptable to the God of love and mercy.

His father Zadok was of the sect of the Pharisees, and was therefore a strict and rigid observer of the ceremonial law, — not only of every point which was enjoined by the lawgiver Moses, but also of all those customs which were derived from the traditions of the Elders. He did not, however, fall into the grievous error which was so severely rebuked by our blessed Saviour ; he did not, like so many of his self-righteous brethren, " wash merely the outside of the cup and platter, while inwardly their hearts were full of extortion and violence ; " neither did he " make broad his phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of his garments," merely " to be seen of men." It is true that such erroneous motives did to a certain degree influence his conduct, but he was nevertheless a man of sincere piety and devotion ; and his prayers in secret were not less frequent and regular than the public acts of worship which, according to the custom of the priests and Pharisees, he performed in the streets and market places.

Javan emulated, and even surpassed his excellent father in a scrupulous adherence to the minutest points of ceremorjy. He performed the many ablutions prescribed by law and tradition ; and even paid tithe of the mint and cummin, and other herbs, which grew almost spontaneously in his father's fertile garden : but unhappily he had none of the real piety which distinguished Zadok ; and the violence of his temper and haughtiness of his disposition were a source of constant sorrow to his gentle mother. Salome was of a spirit far different to that of any of the other members of her family : mild, timid, and dependent, she was guided in everything by her husband ; and as his office in the priesthood necessarily kept him much from home, she found herself unequal to controlling the spirits of either Javan or Naomi ; and her mistaken indulgence was the cause of much that was to be regretted in the character of each of her children.

The affectionate disposition of Naomi, and the natural candour and rectitude of her mind, preserved her from being as much injured as her wayward brother was, by the undue liberty which they enjoyed during their childhood and early youth. She was devotedly attached to her mother ; and from her she derived those lessons of piety and fervent charity, which were remarkable in her character, though the energy of her soul carried her far beyond Salome in enthusiastic feeling and active performance of duty. She was the pride and delight of both her parents : and pro bably the preference which they felt and could hardly conceal for her, produced an evil tendency in the heart of Javan, who, feeling that he was less beloved than his sister, instead of endeavouring to imitate her dutiful and affectionate behaviour, became sullen and morose, and shunned the society of his family.

Naomi made every effort to recover his affection, though with little success. She wove for him the broadest and most beautiful fringes, to adorn the borders of his festal garment according to the commandment of the Lord to Moses, and fixed upon the fringe a ribbon of the brightest blue.* And she employed the skill she had acquired from her father (and which she possessed in a far higher degree than the generality of Jewish females), in writing upon slips of white parchment choice sentences from the law, to compose the phylacteries that he wore on his forehead and on his wrist — a custom which the Jews derived from the direction to make the commandments of God "a sign upon their hand, and a memorial between their eyes."t Unhappily it had become perverted from its original meaning, and had sunk into a mere superstitious form ; and many, especially of the Pharisees, were contented to carry the law of the Lord upon their persons and their garments, while it entered not into their hearts.

When Javan came home in a sullen mood, Naomi would take her harp, and sing to him one of the songs of the royal Psalmist ; and her sweet voice had frequently the same effect on her brother * Numbers xv. 38. t Exodus xiii. 9. B NAOMI j OR, that the young shepherd's had on Saul — the evil spirit would de part from him. But it was not the psalm of penitence or praise that he loved best to hear ; it was the tone of exultation and triumph, or the prophecy of vengeance, that breathes forth in some of the inspired songs of David, which met with correspond ing emotions in the breast of the fiery young Jew, and recalled his spirit from its own passions and resentments, to a contemplation of the promised restoration and glory of his nation, and the signal punishment of all their foes. It was a frequent practice of Zadok, and several other of the most learned of his fraternity, to meet together for the express purpose of studying those parts ofthe Scriptures which so clearly set forth the future prosperity of the Jews and the reign of the Messiah ; and endeavouring to calculate from the various dates which refer to that blessed period, whether the appearance of their King and Saviour might be speedily looked for, according to the popular expectation.

At these meetings Javan always attended ; and his ardent and enthusiastic notions and wild con jectures called forth the smiles, and sometimes the reproofs, of the graver and more cool-headed rabbin, though they highly commended his zeal, and the industry with which he pursued the study of the Holy Scriptures. He was already a wonderful pro ficient in the sacred writings which compose the Old Testament, and had transcribed a large portion of them on the rolls of parch tnent employed at that time as a substitute for books. Zadok was possessed also of several rare and precious manuscripts, which contained the traditions of the Elders, and were regarded by the Scribes and Pharisees as of equal or even superior authority to the inspired Scriptures, and in any disputed case were appealed to in preference to the word of God Himself.

These were also carefully studied and highly reverenced by his bigoted son, who aspired one day to become an authorised and distinguished expounder of the oral or traditionary law, and to attain the highly desired title of Rabbi or teacher. Into this family, the character of whose members we have attempted to describe, Claudia, the heathen maiden, was removed from the camp of the Roman army, and domesticated as a daughter. It may perhaps excite surprise that her father, being himself an idolater, should permit her thus to associate with Jews ; but the fact was that Rufus was an idolater because he had been brought up as such, and not because he believed the worship of Jupiter or Mars to be more rational than that of Jehovah. His native military life had diverted his attention from such subjects ; and provided he acted uprightly in all the relations of life, according to the dictates of his own conscience and the laws of the empire, he did not hold it to be a matter of much importance to what divinity he paid the greatest adoration.

He did not wish his daughter to become a Jew ; nor did he think it probable that she would be inclined to embrace a religion which appeared to him so burdensome and ridiculous ; and therefore he did not oppose her urgent request to return to Jerusalem, on the death of her mother, and seek protection in a family whom he so highly respected and valued. SO NAOMI ; OR,

Chapter II. Magnificence Of The Temple

The day following that on which the conversation we have related took place, was one of great rejoicing in Jerusalem. The noise of military preparation ceased, and the tumults and conflicts which at that period so constantly disturbed the peace of the Holy City were for a short time suspended. It was the Feast of Pentecost, the day on which the first-fruits were presented as a burnt-offering to the Lord, and when the children of Israel celebrated the com pletion of their plentiful harvest, and "rejoiced before the Lord their God, with their sons and their daughters and their servants, and the Levites and the strangers that were within their gates." This was one of the three great national festivals which were observed every year by the Jews, according to the commandment of God, when all the men were enjoined to assemble from the towns and villages of Judea, and to appear before the Lord in His temple.

The disturbed state of the country, and the necessary absence of many ofthe Jews who had joined the rebel forces of Galilee, or were engaged in preparing for the expected attack of their own cities, rendered the assemblage less numerous than in the time of peace and security ; and yet the streets were thronged. The sound of musical instruments were heard in every quarter, and many were the troops of young men and maidens who were seen going up to the temple in the measured and graceful steps of their solemn dances, while they chanted hymns with their melodious voices, and accompanied their songs with the harp and the psaltery. Danger and dissension, and the discord of contending factions appeared to be forgotten, and to the eye of a stranger all was peace and joy. The heart of Naomi exulted while she joined in the dance with her young companions, and among all the youthful throng her step was the lightest and her voice the sweetest ; at least they appeared so, in the partial judgment of her mother and her friend, who followed in the concourse that moved towards the glorious and magnificent temple.