The Hammer: A Story of the Maccabean Times

by Alfred John Church

  CHAPTER XXI.

  THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.

  Jerusalem now began to assume an aspect very different from that which ithad borne for some years past. Thousands, who had been driven away by theterrors of the evil days, now hastened to return. Many of the lower class,constrained by the necessity of poverty, had always remained, enduringpersecution as best they could, and often, of course, escaping it by theirobscurity. Now the wealthier inhabitants began to flock back from theirhiding-places in the country and from foreign lands; the streets againbegan to be busy; the shopkeepers displayed the wares which there had beenno one to purchase, or which they had been afraid to show; the long-shutmarkets were reopened and thronged with purchasers.

  The priests alone, gathered as they were from their abodes scatteredthroughout Palestine, made a considerable addition to the population ofthe city. They were a numerous class, far beyond any requirements of theirsacrificial duties, and commonly remained at home, awaiting the rarelyrecurring occasion of services that called them to Jerusalem. But now awork was before them in which all could take part, for the Temple, havingbeen cleansed and having received such repair as could be done at once,was to be dedicated afresh.

  The first necessary work was the construction of a new altar of sacrifice.This work was to be of the primitive kind, in strict conformity to theLaw, and as unlike as possible to the elaborate erections of the alienworship, and it was to be done, from first to last, by the consecratedhands of the priests. They dug out of the earth of the valley roughstones. No tool of iron was to be used in raising them from their place;none was to be employed in hewing them into shape. It was the priestsagain who solemnly conveyed them into the Great Court of the Temple, whojoined them together with mortar, and covered them with whitewash.Meanwhile other preparations for a wholly renovated service were beingbusily carried on. Most of the furniture of the Temple had been carriedoff by a succession of plunderers; if any of the less valuable and lesseasily removed articles had been left these had suffered an irremediabledefilement. Everything therefore had to be replaced; and workmen were nowbusily employed in this work. The altar of incense, the candlestick withits seven branches, the table on which the loaves of the shew-bread wereto be placed, the mercy-seat with the overshadowing cherubim that was thechief feature of the Holy of Holies, and the various curtains that wereneeded for the separation of the various parts of the building, weremanufactured with all possible haste, some of the articles, from lack oftime and materials, being intended to serve their purpose only till theycould be more worthily replaced. Generally, however, it was time ratherthan means that was wanting, for in the late campaigns treasure almostenough to replace the spoliations of years had been taken from the Greeks,and this, after being duly purified and blessed, could be devoted to holyuses.

  And so came on the day that had been appointed for the Feast ofDedication. It was to be the 25th of the month Chisleu.(18) It was amemorable day, both for good and evil, in the annals of Jewish worship. Onthis day, ages before, Jerusalem, the newly-won capital of the nation, hadbeen finally chosen as the place where God should set His name; for onthis day David, as he made atonement in the day of pestilence, bought thethreshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite to be the future dwelling-place ofthe Presence of the Lord God of Israel. And on this day, again, five yearsago, the first idol sacrifice had been offered within the consecratedprecincts.

  In the early morning, before the sun had risen upon the earth, a spark wasobtained by striking stone against stone, the fire was rekindled on thealtar, the golden candlestick was lighted and the table of the shew-breadduly furnished with its twelve loaves.

  Meanwhile the rest of the people also had been busy in making preparationsfor the great celebration. Every family, even the poorest, was to keepfestival on the day that was to be a new beginning of the national life.The women and children were early afoot, gathering branches of palms andother "goodly trees"; none of them having busier hands than Ruth and hernieces. Even the little Daniel would take his part in the work, totteringalong by his mother's side with his arms full of boughs. When they hadgathered as great a burden as they could carry, Ruth gathered her littlecompany about her, and told them, just as the rising sun began to floodthe valley with its slanting rays, the story of the day--of the glory andthe shame which it had brought to Israel.

  And now, as the time of the morning sacrifice drew near, the whole peoplemoved in one great stream towards the Temple, and the Great Court wascrowded. On the walls of the fortress the heathen soldiers of the garrisonstood in throngs watching the solemnities of the day. Some of them, ofcourse, were ready with their mockery; but most looked on in respectfulsilence. Many of them had witnessed the prowess of these strange fanaticsin the field. They might be given over to a "senseless and tastelesssuperstition," but they could deal shrewd blows with their swords, andtherefore they were not to be despised. No truce had been arranged, butone was tacitly observed. The forbearance of the Greeks was partly due toa wholesome awe of the Jewish archers and slingers, partly to a curiositythat, as has been said, was not wholly unmixed with respect.

  Then came the solemn ritual of sacrifice. This ended, the wholecongregation of the people united in solemn supplication to the Lord Godof Israel. Usually it was the custom to stand during the office of prayer;sometimes the attitude of kneeling was used; now, as if to express theintensity of their feeling, they threw themselves flat upon their faces,and poured out their entreaty that evils such as they had endured in thepast might never again come upon them in the future. "O Lord,"--this wasthe burden of their prayer,--"if we sin against Thee any more, do Thouchasten us Thyself with Thine own hand, after the multitude of Thymercies. Make us suffer that which shall seem good to Thee here in our ownland, but scatter us no more among the heathen, and deliver us not againunto the nations that blaspheme Thy holy name."

  The prayer ended, came the great Psalm of Thanksgiving; and then thepeople dispersed to their houses to hold festival. Their mirth wasprolonged far into the night, which, indeed, was almost turned into daythroughout the streets of Jerusalem, so brilliant was the light thatstreamed from the lamps set in almost every window.

  For eight days the Feast of Dedication was continued. Each day theservices began with the customary morning sacrifice. At earliest dawn theMaster of the Temple summoned the priests who had been watching round thefire in the gate-house as they waited for his summons. Then they went outand fetched the lamb for the burnt-offering. The creature had already beenexamined on the previous day, and pronounced to be free from spot orblemish. This done, they went outside the court in which the great altarstood, and watched for the coming day. The Mount of Olives stood betweenthem and the East, and far behind it were the mountains of Moab. Here thefirst streaks of the morning light were to show themselves. Then thepriest whose turn it was to slay the victim of the day bathed in the greatlaver. Thus purified for the performance of his office, he stirred up theburning embers from under the ashes of the altar, and added fresh fuel.This done, he was joined by the other priests, and the morning sacrificewas offered. Then followed the special ceremonies of the festival, amongthem the prayer for deliverance from captivity, as already given, and thesinging of the great Thanksgiving. And every day the public services werefollowed by private rejoicings. No one could have believed that therejoicing city, gay with its brightly dressed throngs of merry-makers andresounding with the music of tabret and harp, was the desolate place solong trodden down by the heathen. There had been days in the past when themost hopeful could scarcely discern any light in the darkness. But nowthey could see the "silver lining of the cloud." In this very Temple, nowdedicated afresh with such joyous zeal, but a few years before, thepriests "had left the sacrifices when the game of the Discus called themforth." That deadly folly had been purged with blood. The brutal violenceof Antiochus had saved the nation from an imminent relapse intoheathenism.

  Among the many hearts that were gladdened by the
se rejoicings there wasone, as sorely burdened as any, that had found a complete deliverance fromthe troubles of the past. The unhappy Huldah, in proportion as her chargegained strength, and her work became less absorbing, had seemed to befalling back into her old condition. For the time her thoughts had beenconcentrated on the suffering Eglah; now they were free to be turned uponherself, her own troubles, her own dismal memories. Eglah did all shecould to keep her employed, and the girl's gentle and affectionate naturestill felt her influence. Yet it was evident that unless some remedy couldbe found the old madness would resume its sway.

  On the first day of the Dedication festival, the two were standingtogether in the Court of the Women. The priests, who were making a circuitof the whole building, sprinkling everywhere the blood of purification,came in due course to the spot. As they performed their office a drop fellupon the garment of Huldah, who had been joining in the prayers with anearnestness almost frenzied. The effect was marvellous. In a moment theexcitement passed away. Her eyes lost their wandering look, and, in a tonecalmer and more collected than any that she had ever before been known touse since the time of her trouble, she said, showing the crimson spot toEglah--"He has heard my prayer; He has sprinkled me with the blood ofcleansing." She stood silent and collected until the whole ritual wasfinished, and when the time for the hymn of thanksgiving came round joinedher voice with a quiet happiness to the voices of the congregation.

  When the people returned to their homes Huldah left the Temple in companywith Eglah. But it was evident that her strength was exhausted. She couldbarely totter along with all the help that Eglah and a neighbour couldgive her, and when she came to the house of Seraiah and Ruth, whichhappened to lie in her way, she sank almost unconscious to the ground.Providentially at that moment Ruth came up with her husband and the littleDaniel.

  "She seemed so much better in the Temple--was quite calm and peacefulagain--and now I am afraid that she is going to be very ill," said Eglah.

  Woman's wit suggested to Ruth a happy thought for dealing with thesufferer.

  "Leave her to me," she said. "She was happy here once, and here, if itplease the Lord, she will be happy again."

  Ruth and her husband carried her into the house, and laid her upon her bedin her old chamber. Once there she was able to swallow a little brothwhich had been hastily prepared, cast one grateful look of recognition ather old mistress, and then fell into a deep sleep. The next morning sheawoke, entirely restored to reason, and, though still somewhat weak, ableto go about the household tasks in which she had been once employed, andwhich she resumed at once without a question, and as if, indeed, they hadnever been interrupted for a day. The three years of misery were entirelyblotted out of her memory; nor did any spectre from the past ever comeback to trouble her.