Caleb Vigilant (Chronicles of the Nephilim) (11 page)

It was true. She had lived a life so entrenched in depraved sexuality, that she
had no idea of how to reorient that sexuality with holiness. The only feelings that came to her in the throes of passion and desire were illicit feelings reinforced like a bad habit and ingrained into her soul. How could sensuality be spiritual? How could the erotic be holy? How could lust be love?

And then she felt this strong man in whose arms she felt safe, tremble.
But he spoke with a voice that was strong and true. “It is all right, Rahab. Do not fear. I will never divorce you. I will show you how to love. And I will start tonight. This is love.”

He
helped her to stand up. He pulled back the linen bed sheets. He lifted her and laid her in the bed, and pulled the sheets back over her.

Then he lay down beside her
, outside the sheets, and held her in his arms.

“Let me help you release yourself,” she said. It was her automatic response. She knew no other.

“No,” he said. “Sleep my dove. You are safe now. Sleep.”

She
sighed deeply and realized how drowsy she was. It was like a magic spell on her—a spell of peace and rest. And she soon discovered she had never slept before in her entire life until this very moment.

She drifted off into a
deep slumber.

Rahab awoke the next afternoon. It was late already, and Caleb was gone. She became anxious and looked around.

“Caleb? Caleb?”

Caleb stuck his head into the tent, “Just a moment.”

She felt like she had awakened from a year of sleep.

Caleb entered with a smile.

“Hello, sleepyhead,” he said.

“What time is it?”

“Late afternoon.”

“Late afternoon?”

“Yes,” he said, “You slept about eighteen hours.”

She plopped back into bed
exhausted by the thought of it, and called out, “I am starving.”

She heard servants come inside. T
hey were carrying trays of food: Pomegranates, dates, bread cakes and honey, fresh goat’s milk. They set them up for her to access from her bedroll.

Caleb jumped onto the
cushion next to her with a smile.

“Food for my queen.”

She gave him a wry smile, and hungrily grabbed a couple dates to munch on them. “You are too good to me, Caleb ben Jephunneh.”

“Yahweh has been
too good to me,” he said. “Although I will now have to change the name of my whip sword.” She knew which one he was talking about. She had seen him use it in Jericho. He was a master, wielding the strange flexible blade like a whip with frightening accuracy. And he had saved her life with it.

“What do you mean?” she said.

“My sword’s nickname is the same as yours—‘Rahab.’ That might be confusing.”

“You named your sword after me?”

“No, silly,” he said, “It was named by my ancestor, Lamech ben Methuselah, who was the father of Noah. He named it after the sea dragon of chaos. The sword was handed down to me through the family line.”

“I chose that name for the same reason,” she said.

“Now you really have me curious,” he said. “What was your birth name?”

“
I do not want to speak of my past, husband. It only brings back memories of pain.”

“
Then speak of it no more,” he said.

“Keep the name. I like it.
Just make sure you do not make love to it.”

They both smiled. But then she added, “
And if you ever betray me, I will be like your whip sword. I will bite like a cobra.”

Caleb was suddenly somber, “
Rahab, my precious garden, you have only known perversion and betrayal. And for that I do not blame you. I will earn your love.”

She looked into his deep blue eyes, as if she could see his soul.

She leaned over and kissed him.

“You already have.”

He was so grateful, just for the moment. But when he pulled away, she pulled his chin back and kissed him again.

But then she stopped. S
omething had intruded on her mind. She realized something had been missing.

“Where is Donatiya?”

“I do not know,” he said.

“She
was not with the servants. She should have been. She would have been.”

“I have not seen her anywhere,” he said.

She jumped up and began to get her clothes on. “Something is wrong, Caleb. Donatiya would not do this. I know her.”

He said,
“Check the tents. Get the family to help. I will mount my horse and scout the perimeter of the camp.”

•
• • • •

It was nightfall and they had still not found Donatiya. She had vanished. They spent the entire day
inquiring of neighbors, but no one had noticed anything strange.

Back at Caleb’
s tent, Rahab felt sick.

Caleb tried to comfort her. But Rahab could only think the worst. “I just know she was kidnapped. But who could have entered the camp unnoticed?”

Caleb said, “Is it possible she ran away?”

“
I thought she was content with us.”

“
I am sorry, Rahab. I have alerted the outer tribes. If she is spotted near camp, we will be notified.”

“What more can I do?” S
he looked at him with tearful eyes of dread. She knew the barbaric things that would be done to a young innocent girl by desert criminals and brigands—Amorites and Canaanites—once they got ahold of her.

He said,
“We have done all we can do for now.”

She said,
“I will never forgive myself.”

They both knew that if Donatiya had run away,
they would not find her because there was a hundred possible directions she could have gone.

S
he would not last two days in the hostile desert. She was gone and there was nothing more they could do about it.

At that moment, a servant announced a messenger from Joshua waited outside the tent. Caleb exited to find the messenger on a horse.

“The Commander wants to see both of you.”

Caleb
did not understand, “Rahab too?”

“Yes, sir.”

Caleb shook his head. Why Rahab? Had Joshua changed his mind on supporting Caleb now that he was married? This could not be good.

“Tell him we will follow you shortly.”

When Caleb and Rahab met in the war tent, Joshua was alone and seated pensively in his chair.

When they approached him, Joshua stared at Rahab with his troubled look.

Caleb said, “My Commander, we hurried over as soon as we could. We have spent the day in a frantic look for Rahab’s maidservant. She disappeared after last night, and we could not find her.”

Joshua turned to concern
, but still kept his eyes on Rahab. “I am sorry to hear that. I can see you are distraught, Rahab. I will not keep the both of you long.”

“
You cause us no inconvenience,” said Caleb.

Rahab added, “We are your servants, my lord.”

Joshua rubbed his hand around his face. “Yes, well, we are all servants of Yahweh. Unfortunately, I just happen to be one of his more rock headed servants.”

Caleb and Rahab were surprised at Joshua’s self-deprecation.

“I owe the both of you an apology. My temper and lack of wisdom was a display of foolishness and spiritual ignorance that are unworthy of my position as leader of this people.”

Caleb said, “Joshua, there is no need to…”

“No,” interrupted Joshua. “I do have need of confession and repentance. To you, my dear friend, and most trusted warrior of Yahweh, I was a proud and faithless man.”

He shifted his gaze to Rahab and a chill went down her spine. “And to you, precious woman of
Israel, I was a heartless hypocrite.”

“My lord,” she protested.
She could not believe it. He had called her a woman of Israel. It was another redemption for her to be called such an honor by the very leader of Israel himself.

But he continued, with his eyes set on her, “
It took the Spirit of Yahweh to chastise me, and I beg your forgiveness.”

Joshua kept his look on Rahab. She demurred, “
We are all sinners in need of atonement.”

Joshua would not release her with his eyes. “Do you forgive me, Rahab?”

She said with humility, “I do, my lord.”

Joshua looked at Caleb, “And you, Caleb?”

“All is forgiven, Joshua.”

Unfortunately, for Joshua, all was not confessed. For within his heart, he felt an irresistible attraction to Rahab.
At the wedding, he had seen her as he had never before. She was the incarnation of feminine beauty that he had lacked for so long. Caleb was right. When he lost his wife and children to the Canaanites, he had become a hardened man. He felt like he had no love in his soul left. But seeing Rahab resurrected those feelings. And now he felt more terrible for having them.

He
was not sure if he had called them here to confess or just as an excuse to see her again. He had been forgiven of his sin of pride, only to fill the hole with a new sin of covetousness.

The uncomfortable silence was punctuated by the sound of a ram’s horn. It was a military alert coming from the
north end of the camp.

Caleb said to Rahab, “Get back to the tent.
Quickly.”

Joshua and Caleb
sprinted out of the war tent to mount their horses and gallop to the sound of the horn.

Joshua and Caleb arrived at the north end of camp. It was not the discovery of Donatiya as Rahab had hoped. Donatiya was never to be found.

Instead, a
company of about a hundred Israelite warriors stood guard around what appeared to be a diplomatic coterie of foreign emissaries. There were four of them accompanied by twenty guards.

Joshua and Caleb strode up to them to look them over. They looked ragged and
weary. They wore Mesopotamian clothing, not Canaanite.

Joshua said, “Who are you? Where are you from?”

One of the diplomats stepped forward and bowed to Joshua. He said, “My lord, my name is Lidunnamu, We four are ambassadors for the four cities of the nation of Shukura on the Euphrates in Mesopotamia.”

“What is your intent?” said Joshua.

“Quite simply,” said Lidunnamu, “to make a treaty with you.”

“Indeed,” said Joshua. “And why?”

“We have travelled a great distance from the Land between the Rivers because we had heard of your infamy in the land of Canaan. We had heard report
s of what your god did in Egypt, and how he delivered you with great judgment upon Pharaoh. And a little while later, we heard how you overcame the Amorite kings, Sihon of Heshbon, and Og of Bashan. We are no fools, mighty Joshua. We seek alliance, not conflict. So our elders appointed this delegation, and laden us with many supplies to travel this great distance so as to covenant with you. We are your servants.”

And the
four diplomats all bowed.

But Joshua was skeptical. “Shukura?
I have never heard of that nation before.”

“It is near
the ruins of Mari, my lord,” said Lidunnamu.

“What do you offer us in return?” said Joshua.

“Unrestricted trade in Mesopotamia.”

That
was very tempting to Joshua.

“
We are on good economic terms with the Hittites and the Mittani. We traffic in gold, silver, fine fabrics, grains, beer. But also weapons.”

“I thought you said you seek alliance, not conflict,” said Joshua.

“We sell weapons for profit, my lord, we do not use them.”

Joshua gestured for Caleb to turn their backs to the envoy in counsel.
Their horses ambled a short distance away as the guards watched over the entourage.

Joshua said, “What say you, Caleb?”

Caleb said, “Their clothes are clearly not Canaanite. They are quite worn, as well as their sandals.”

“I noticed that too,” said Joshua. “
The sacks on their donkeys are empty and full of patches, as well as their wineskins. They appear to have come from the great distance they claim.”

“
They mentioned elders as their rulers, not kings,” said Caleb. “That is Mesopotamian not Canaanite. They are outside the boundaries of the Promise Land, so they are not under
herem
.”

Joshua said, “We could use all the allies we can get.
And weapons.”

Caleb said, “But we
do not know anything about them, Commander. I would recommend you consult the prophets or use the Urim and Thummim to inquire of Yahweh.”

Joshua sighed. “
I do not want to be running to Eleazer and the prophets for every minor decision like a child for his mother’s teat. Yahweh made me leader after all, not a juvenile.”

Caleb could see Joshua was not going to listen.

“I would be cautious,” said Caleb as his last advice.

Joshua turned back
and strode over to Lidunnamu, followed by Caleb. “We will covenant with your nation. But I will demand that our alliance be made known to the Hittites and Mittani for our sake.”

“Of
course,” said Lidunnamu.

Joshua said,
“Come with us to my tent and we will finalize negotiations. Tomorrow we will give you supplies for your return to Mesopotamia.”