by Brian Godawa
Cassandra pulled him up. His blurry-red eyes look determinedly down into hers. He said, “I am going to Jerusalem. I am going to find Alexander for you.”
“No,” said Cassandra. “You have already paid your debt.”
“Not to everyone,” he countered.
Thelonius stepped away from her. Cassandra could see that his mind was made up. He was going to jump into the furnace of fire, and she was not going to be able to stop him.
PART TWO
Armageddon
CHAPTER 32
Jerusalem
May, AD 70
And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon…
…and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
Apocalypse 16:16, 19-21
Simon and Aaron stood on the top of the hundred-foot-tall tower of Psephinus on the northwestern wall, which overlooked the earthworks being built by the Romans. The rampart had come to within a hundred feet of the wall. All the workers had withdrawn.
About three hundred yards from the city wall, Titus and Tiberius sat on their horses beside a line of a hundred catapults and ballistas, huge machines of ruthless Roman ingenuity built from wood and iron. Many of the siege engines were fitted to throw javelins and darts the size of a large man. These could penetrate wood or rip through a dozen soldiers with one fling from the ballista. Some of them were shaped like large crossbows mounted on a stand that took two or three men to operate—one to load the dart and two to crank back the lever that stretched the bow string.
But the crowning achievement was the twenty or so catapults that ejected huge stones, a hundred pounds each, at their targets. About the size of an elephant, these were triangle-shaped wooden levers mounted on wheels. Several soldiers cranked back the long arm connected to a spring mechanism. Several others then placed their heavy payload into the bucket at the end of the arm and painted the stone with whitewash. It looked like a large spoon ready to fling a payload of ice at the enemy.125
The catapult crews placed their stones and darts in place, drew back the spring mechanisms, and awaited the command of Titus.
Simon muttered to Aaron, “Get ready for a very large hailstorm.”
Moshe and Elihu watched from the battlement some way down the wall from Simon and Aaron. They could see what the rest could not: a line of almost seventy gods of the nations dressed in their heavenly armor. The gods stood in the unseen realm amidst the Romans, a parallel of worlds as if two wars were going to occur simultaneously, on earth as it was in heaven.
The gods were led by Apollyon, who stood beside his bodyguard Marduk on his war chariot, bridled to his four horses of hell. On his back Apollyon had Ba’al’s war hammer Driver, and in his hands he carried Chaser, Ba’al’s heavenly spear of lightning. Apparently something had happened to Ba’al and the other gods of Canaan because they were nowhere in sight.
And there were certainly no angels to defend Jerusalem because the shekinah presence of Yahweh had long since left “the great city.”126 Jerusalem had become Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt and was about to be judged as an enemy of God. The nation of Israel was an unfaithful harlot who rode the Beast of Rome and had been divorced by her husband Yahweh. Moshe and Elihu were the Two Witnesses required by Torah to declare her guilt before Yahweh and his divine council. And now Yahweh was going to stone that unfaithful harlot to death and marry a new bride.127
But this was also a battle of cosmic mountains: Mount Bashan, the mountain of the gods, against Mount Zion, the mountain of Yahweh, God of gods.128 But the earthly Jerusalem was not the heavenly Jerusalem. Mount Zion had been relocated with the new temple of God to the Remnant of Messiah, the body of Christ.129 The destruction of the earthly city and temple was to be the sign that the Son of Man was in heaven on the throne of David and the new Jerusalem was come down out of heaven. It would historically vindicate the new covenant inaugurated in Christ’s blood and consummated in his parousia. God was draining the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.130
Moshe said one word out loud that summed it all up: “Armageddon.”131
The Two Witnesses heard the trumpet call from Titus’s herald. Then the catapults released their payloads upon the city.
Simon was right. It was like a thunderstorm of hundred-pound hail stones that crushed everything in its wake. Rocks hit the wall, shaking it to its foundations, throwing soldiers on the parapet to the ground. Arrows pierced human targets and launched them fifty feet into the air with their force. Other stones struck deeper into the city, destroying houses, killing whole families. Whatever parts of the New City had been rebuilt from its previous destruction would eventually be reduced to rubble.
And the Romans were alternating, half loading and half launching, so that it created a constant stream of rocks and bolts pounding away at the fortification without rest.
Jacob’s quarrying of new stone for wall reinforcement had helped the strength of the Jewish bulwark, but only so much. Simon was not sure how long these walls would hold. He knew they would not hold forever.
A reminder of that slimy opportunist’s odd death. Simon would never have even learned of Jacob’s demise among thousands of casualties in the city if a passing soldier had not witnessed the Pharisee’s fall from the temple tower and recognized the battered corpse splattered on the pavement below. Had the man slipped? Been pushed? Or just given up in despair like so many others of the city’s citizens?
Either way he was no great loss to either the city or the Jewish cause.
Moshe and Elihu saw the gods of the nations in the heavenlies pounding away at the spiritual barrier as well. Their blows matched the blows of the catapults. As above, so below.
But they could also see the myriad of demons that infested the Roman forces. Turning, twisting clouds of shadows moved in and around the soldiers like a plague of locusts unseen by other humans. There were strange hybrid monsters with human heads and breastplates of iron, the noise of their wings like that of many chariots. In fact, the whole Land of Israel was polluted by these evil spirits. Hundreds of millions of them. The demonic spirit cast out by Jesus in his ministry had returned sevenfold. Their fury was as frightening as anything the Two Witnesses had ever seen. Without the heavenly host here to stop them, the end was near.132
At that moment, Moshe and Elihu caught the eyes of Apollyon. Eyes of flaming hatred. Though the god was commanding his forces a hundred yards away, the two prophets could see his ugly, long androgynous features and tattered, scraggly hair as though they stood directly in front of him. His voice spoke inside their heads.
I will have you soon. You will be mine. All this will be mine.
The Two Witnesses climbed down the wall and made their way back into the city. They were unafraid of the hailstorm of stone. Their time would not come until Yahweh allowed it.
CHAPTER 33
Alexander tended to the wounded as they were brought into the hippodrome. There were crushed arms, legs, and head wounds from the collapse of buildings hit by the catapult stones. Dozens of victims were wheeled in or carried by family members. Many others had died in the onslaught.
The Christian medical assistants brought the wounded citizens to beds, and the few doctors cared for them. Alexander headed up immediate surgery for some, stitching up gashes, setting broken limbs, cutting off others that were mangled beyond repair.
Screams of suffering from the wounded in surgery filled the stadium. Behind it all was the constant concussive sound in the distance of boulders demolishing buildings in the New City. Every crashing impact made Alexander cringe, wondering who might have been killed or wounded by the hit. For now, the hippodrome was too far for the catapults to reach with their devastating ammunition. But he knew that would change i
f the Romans broke through the outer wall and took over the New City.
This was one time when Jacob ben Mordecai might have made himself useful in helping with an evacuation plan. But Alexander hadn’t seen his nemesis in weeks and had heard rumors that he’d been among the siege’s casualties. It was hard for Alexander to muster up sorrow for the Judas except at the loss of any further rations and medical supplies the man might have provided.
“Please, doctor, save my father,” cried a boy behind him.
Alexander turned to see two men placing an unconscious man gently on a bed. Alexander examined him. The patient was husky and had the rough hands of a farmer. The doctor noticed that the man’s head was swelling and he was struggling to breathe. His larynx appeared to have been crushed.
“What happened, young man?”
The boy looked no older than ten. Noah’s age. He was dark-skinned with black hair and innocent eyes. He shook with fear. “The place we were staying in was hit by one of the flying rocks. Everything crashed in on us. My father was hit in the head and throat by the debris.”
The man did not have much chance of surviving.
He asked the boy, “What is your name?”
“Samuel.”
It was a popular enough name. But the irony was not lost on Alexander that it happened to be the name of his own son. He could not help but think of his sons and how they would grow up without their father. He was not going to let that happen to this one.
Alexander pointed to a waiting area. “Samuel, go over there and pray.” He could not allow the child to see what he was going to do. And he certainly was not going to tell him the great risk that it was.
The boy obeyed, and Alexander reached into his bag for tools. First importance: breathing. He needed to get air into the man’s lungs. He felt the larynx where it had been crushed. He felt several ridges below the larynx on the windpipe. He took a scalpel and cut through the throat, performing an emergency tracheotomy he had learned from reading Asclepiades. He slid in a wooden reed as a tube in the hole to keep the airway open.133
The man finally began to breathe. Now for the hard part. Alexander yelled out, “I need help over here now!”
“I’ll help, doctor.”
Alexander turned at the familiar voice to see Thelonius Severus with surgical gown on, ready to help him.
“How in the world did you…?”
“I’ll explain later. What do you need now?”
Alexander shook off his confusion and returned to the emergency at hand. “Hold him down. He’s comatose, but I have to drill into his head to relieve the pressure. He might have a seizure.”
Thelonius held him dutifully while Alexander pulled out a small hand drill created for this sort of task. He had heard of this remedy for swelling brains but had never done it before.
“Please, Jesus,” he prayed out loud, “Keep this father alive for his son.”
“Amen,” Thelonius said.
Alexander found the swelled area of the man’s head and first clipped away some hair so he could have straight access to the skull. He put the drill in place and began to crank it.
The sound of grinding skull did not even faze the doctor. He was only thinking of the boy and how he must not lose his father.
He had to go slow enough so that when he broke through, he would not harm the brain.
He felt a slight breakthrough and stopped when blood squirted out. He unwound the drill and let the opening drain, relieving pressure on the brain.
After the swelling went down, Alexander bandaged the man’s head and checked his pulse again. He was alive. He felt a sigh of relief.
Thelonius said, “Doctor.”
Alexander looked up, only to be surprised by the son Samuel standing there in tears. “Will he be all right?”
“For now,” said Alexander. He couldn’t lie to the boy. “But time will tell.” The boy quickly reached out and hugged Alexander tightly. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
He would be dead in a few days. Alexander felt a pang of deep loneliness come over him. He missed his children. He missed his wife. Saving these lives seemed so futile, knowing their ultimate fate at the hands of the Romans. But his calling was to relieve suffering, not figure out the secret plans of God.
Alexander had arranged for his two doctors and multiple assistants to work in shifts so that each of them would get rest. Without enough rest, they would be useless in helping the patients, even dangerous.
By nightfall, the steady stream of wounded had reached near a thousand. The relentless barrage of catapults continued, but many people had moved out of the range of the stones to protect themselves and their families. Alexander and Thelonius took a break together and ate some bread and figs for strength in the doctor’s tent.
“I took the tunnel we used to escape to Pella,” said Thelonius. “It leads outside the Roman perimeter.”
“Why did you come back, Thelonius? I thought you would be in Rome with your fiancé.”
“I have several things I must first redeem.”
“What do you mean?”
“To begin with, I have a letter for you from Cassandra.” Thelonius reached in his cloak, pulled out a crumpled parchment, and handed it to the doctor.
Alexander stared at the parchment. It was like a ray of hope in this dark pit of despair.
“Do you mind?” he asked.
“Please do,” said Thelonius.
Opening the letter, Alexander read it silently, tears building in his eyes.
Cassandra, to my dear beloved Alexander,
I have something to confess to you. I have tried many times to come to Jerusalem to see you, but the Holy Spirit has kept me here in Pella. I am sorry that I never told you because I was afraid you would not allow me to join you. Please forgive me.
I have finally learned in my stubbornness the lesson of his calling upon our family, that is to build the kingdom of God for the future. I am asking the Father to spare you for the sake of your family so that we will see you again in this life. But his will be done.
And should he choose a different course, I am content in Christ, knowing that whether in life or death we glorify him, and I believe that no matter what happens, we will share in the resurrection of glory to come.
I treasure our few short years together more than all that came before it. Thank you for loving me with such kindness and patience.
I have been faithfully praying for your labor and that of the Two Witnesses. Pray for us as we are finally convening a council to address the false teaching of the Ebionites.
I have asked Thelonius to deliver this letter to you. And now I want to ask you to do something very important to me. I want you to forgive Thelonius for what he is going to tell you. I have forgiven him, and I have entrusted him to you in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May the grace of our Lord watch over you, my husband, my lover, my friend.
All the emotions of love and gratitude that had welled up within Alexander were suddenly spinning out of control with the confusion of his wife’s last request.
I want you to forgive Thelonius for what he is going to tell you.
What did Thelonius do that required forgiveness? What had he done?
Alexander gazed at Thelonius with scrutiny. The Roman glanced away in shame before finding the courage to face the questioning doctor.
“I have a confession to make,” he said.
CHAPTER 34
The Roman catapults had been pounding away for two days at the walls and city. The stone was starting to disintegrate. If they kept it up, the Romans would break through in a day or so. But they were running out of large payloads and were flinging smaller rocks now, fifty pounds in weight and less.
Simon and his soldiers had been sheltering themselves at the base of the inside walls, fifteen feet thick, the safest place during the bombardment. There had been little they could do but wait.
Without warning, the barrage of pounding just stopped and the skies became clear of f
lying projectiles. The Jewish soldiers were surprised by the sudden silence. They had been under such constant noisy attack for the past two days that their eardrums felt assaulted. But the new quiet was foreboding. They looked at one another, wondering what was next.
Simon knew. He barked out a command, “Archers to the walls! Infantry behind them!”
The soldiers obeyed, gathering in their respected places on the battlement.
Aaron followed Simon to the top to see two large siege towers being wheeled to the walls on the rampart. They were over seventy feet tall, thirty feet higher than the city walls. The rolling towers were somewhat pyramid-like in shape to keep from easily toppling. The structures were covered with metal plates to protect against the flaming arrows that the Jews now launched at them to no avail.134
Simon saw that each tower was filled with hundreds of soldiers with hundreds of others pushing the structures forward. The Romans only needed to get within a hundred feet of the walls because each tower had a large drawbridge that would come down to close the gap and allow the legionaries to cross over to the walls and invade the city.
Simon and Aaron were near one of the towers as its drawbridge came down on the battlement. Simon noticed that the bridge had just barely caught the edge of the stone wall, a wall that had been crumbling beneath the weight of catapulted boulders.
It was a gift from God.
He turned to his new bodyguard, a huge six-foot-tall muscular bald Jewish warrior who carried a large sledgehammer. He shouted, “Simcha! Break the wall beneath it!”