The Harbinger (6 page)

“It’s hard to receive,” I replied.

“Could you receive it from another?”

“What do you mean?”

“Abraham Lincoln.”

“What does he have to do with…”

“Do you know how many lives were lost in the American Civil War?”

“I have no idea…thousands?”

“
Hundreds
of thousands. And Lincoln spoke of the calamity devastating the nation as the judgment of a righteous God—not on any individual but on the nation as a whole.”

“But it’s a hard…”

“Of course it is, as it was for Isaiah and Jeremiah and all the prophets and others who wept and cried out for their people. But if we fail to consider the possibility…if we avoid addressing the issue…do we not then become accountable for what follows?”

“For what follows? I don’t know. But even to say, ‘God allowed it to happen’…”

“It
happened
, Nouriel. Therefore it had to have been allowed to happen. That’s not the question. Rather, the only question is whether it was allowed to happen for no reason or whether there was, within it, a redemptive purpose.”

“On 9/11 people were asking, ‘Where was God?’”

“Where was God?” he said, as if surprised by the question. “We drove Him out of our schools, out of our government, out of our media, out of our culture, out of our public square. We drove Him out of our national life, and then we ask, ‘Where is God?’”

“Then He wasn’t there?”

“Still, He was there. He was there with those who lost their loved ones and is still there to heal the broken and comfort those who mourn. He was there with those who gave their lives so others could live, shadows of Him. And He was there, as well, with all the countless others who would have perished that day if not for the countless turns of details and events that saved them. And for those who perished…those who were with God in life are now with Him in eternity. For these, it was not a day of national calamity but of release. He was with them and
is
with them.”

“You said something about what happened in ancient Israel after the attack, that things began to return to normal.”

“I spoke of things
appearing
to return to normal. There’s a difference.”

“So was the hedge of protection back in place?”

“To a degree and for a time. But the danger was still there.”

“And what about America after 9/11?” I asked.

“In the months and years after 9/11 it appeared likewise as if things had returned to some state of normalcy. As time passed, as the initial shock wore off and the trauma lessened, there was a growing temptation to go on almost as if it had never happened, as if the nation were still somehow immune to destruction. So it was in the last days of ancient Israel. But it was all an illusion.”

There was a long silence after that…broken only by the sound of the seagulls. Then he continued as if there had been no break. “It was all a fatal illusion. So then…what of America?”

I didn’t answer him. I don’t believe he was expecting me to. After posing the question, he reached into his coat pocket to reveal another seal, which he placed into my hand.

“The Seal of the Second Harbinger,” he said.

“And what did it look like?” asked Ana.

“Overall, like the others…except for the images…”

“Which were…”

“…figures.”

“Of what?”

“Of men.”

“What kind of men?”

“I had no idea. I tried to get him to tell me by asking, ‘So what am I looking at?’”

“It’s not so hard,” he replied.

“Give me a clue…something.”

“Until next time, Nouriel.” And with that, he began to walk away.

“When…next time? Where?”

“The same time and place,” he said, again without stopping to look back.

“Here?”

“No.”

“Then where and when?”

“Wherever and whenever…just be sure to be there.”

“At least give me a clue to help me unlock the seal.”

“By the ruins of an ancient people.”

“Is that the clue,” I shouted after him, “or is that where we’re supposed to meet?”

“Ah, but that would require another clue,” he shouted back.

“
Another
clue. Then it
was
a clue about the Second Harbinger and not about where we’re supposed to meet,” I shouted back.

“Perhaps…and perhaps not,” he replied.

He wasn’t easy that way. But it was enough for me to begin searching for the meaning behind the Second Harbinger…a mystery to be found somewhere by the ruins of an ancient people.

Chapter 5

The Second Harbinger: The Terrorist

T
HE FIGURES ON
the seal, Nouriel…what did they look like?” she asked.

“Men with beards, in robes and with some sort of head coverings. Their beards were squarish and heavily stylized. Some were holding bows and arrows and aiming them upward, all very ancient looking and alien.”

“So how did you unlock the mystery?”

“By the ruins of an ancient people, that was the clue. The figures on the seal had to be the ancient people he referred to. That much seemed obvious. But which ancient people? Who were they?”

“So what did you do?”

“The Metropolitan Museum…It’s filled with artifacts of ancient peoples, and it’s enormous. So I figured that whoever these people were, if they were of any historical significance, their artifacts would be on display in that museum. I would go there with the seal, hoping to find a match.”

“And?”

“It was as impressive as I had hoped it would be, with artifacts from Egypt, Rome, Greece, Persia, Babylon…I started with the Egyptian wing on the first floor. But nothing matched. Then I searched through the Greek and Roman wing. But again, no matches. Then I made my way up the grand staircase and over to the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. That’s where I saw it. It was impossible to miss. It was gigantic.”

“What was gigantic?” she asked.

“Massive stone walls covered with reliefs of giant figures—warriors, priests, and a number of creatures, part-human…part-bird, composite creatures. I took out the seal and compared the figures to those on the wall. They were the same figures, the same squarish beards, the same clothing, and all in the same style of artwork and engraving. It was a match.”

“An exact match?”

“It wasn’t the same image,” he replied, “but it was the same people, the same civilization.”

“So who were they?”

“They were the ancient Assyrians.”

“And what did you make of it?”

“I didn’t have time to make anything of it. I was studying the images on the wall when I heard a voice from behind me.”

“Walls from the palace of Ashurnasirpal, king of Assyria.”

I had assumed it was someone who worked for the museum or some other expert. I continued staring upward at the ancient figures.

“From the city of Nimrud, ninth century
B.C.
,” the voice continued.

“Impressive,” I said, not being able to contribute anything more informative or substantial to the conversation.

“The ruins of an ancient people,” replied the voice.

“With that, I knew it was him.”

“And he knew you’d be there?”

“Either he knew I’d be there, or I was there and he happened to be there, or he was there and I happened to be there. I stopped trying to figure out how it worked. I turned around, and there was the prophet, standing in his long dark coat in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. If you didn’t know who he was, you wouldn’t have noticed. He blended in.”

“You go to museums?” I asked.

“Does that surprise you?” he answered. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. I just didn’t picture you…”

“I told you it would be by the ruins of an ancient people. How many ruins of ancient peoples are there in New York City outside of museums? So what have you discovered?”

“It’s the Assyrians. The ancient people are the Assyrians, and they have something to do with the Second Harbinger.”

“Good, Nouriel. Now let’s go deeper. What do you see?”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at them. How do they strike you?”

“Kind of stony.”

“And what do you think lies behind their stoniness?”

“I have no idea.”

And with that, and with an assurance one would expect from a museum tour guide, he began introducing me to the history of this ancient people. “They came from the mountainous regions of northern Mesopotamia. For centuries they lived in the shadows of stronger kingdoms. But at the dawn of the first millennium
B.C.
, they began their rise to world power. They began their conquest of the surrounding lands and people. The Assyrians would march into Babylon, Syria, Lebanon, Persia, and Egypt until, at the peak of their power, most of the ancient Middle East was under their rule. So what kind of people do you think they were?”

“Militaristic?”

“With the largest army ever to stand on Mesopotamian soil up to that time. They devised new technologies of warfare—the moveable tower, the battering ram. Their empire was a war machine built on the subjugation of other nations and kingdoms. They were among the most brutal people ever to have walked the earth. The very mention of their name inspired dread throughout the ancient world.”

“But why such dread?” I asked. “Other nations have been militaristic.”