The Oracle Page 3

  “As the old man continued his chant, a second transformation took place, that of the landscape. The desert plain in which the multitude stood and the mountain on which the man stood remained the same. But everything else changed. The plain and the mountain were now encircled by an immense collage of diverse landscapes from all over the world—hills, farmland, tundras, seas and rivers, harbors, bridges, walls, villages and cities, ancient, medieval, and modern.

  “And then came the last change. The multitude began to scatter. Some fled in haste, grabbing their baggage and running as if to escape a calamity. Others left more slowly and as if in mourning. Each headed out to the land and age to which their garments corresponded. Soon, except for a small remnant of those who lagged behind or chose to stay, the plain was devoid of people.

  “The chanting ended. The old man now just gazed into the distance as the people wandered farther and farther away from the plain. Then the clouds began to move more and more rapidly across the sky as the day turned to night. And then it was day again and night in rapid succession. Time was accelerating, faster and faster, until days and nights blurred into weeks and years, decades and centuries, ages. And yet through it all the old man remained, standing unchanged on the mountaintop as everything changed around him. And then it all stopped, or resumed back to normal. I knew that many ages had passed since the time of the vision’s beginning.

  “The old man then ascended a rock that comprised the highest point of the mountain’s pinnacle. He reached into his robe and pulled out a ram’s horn. He set it to his mouth and blew. What came out of the horn was not in any way natural but something in between the sound of sirens and the sound of thunder and so powerful that it shook not only the mountain on which he stood but all the landscapes that surrounded it.

  “He then looked into the distance and spoke as if to the multitudes scattered in the nations.

  “‘And thus,’ he said, ‘you shall return.’

  “And the vision ended.”

  Chapter 6

  THE BEGINNING OF MYSTERIES

  THE NEXT MORNING I returned to the mountain to find the Oracle. He was there on its summit, sitting in the same place, on the rock. He didn’t see me as I approached him. His head was turned downward, and his eyes were closed as if in deep thought. Yet he knew I was there.”

  “You’ve had another revelation?” he said.

  “I have.”

  “I was expecting it.”

  He motioned for me to sit down, which I did.

  “Tell me.”

  “I was standing in front of the first of the seven doors. You were there, at my side. You gave me the key. I opened it.”

  “And what did you see?” he asked.

  So I told him of the old man, the multitudes, the scroll, and the chant. He was quiet for a moment.

  “What if there was a people,” he said, “brought into existence as a sign, as a witness to the existence of God and a vessel to bring about His purposes? If such a people were to exist, what do you think would become of them?”

  “I would think they would be different . . . they would stand out.”

  “What about the history of such a people?”

  “I would think it would be different from that of other peoples.”

  “If such a people were to exist,” said the Oracle, “they already do. They were the people you saw in your vision on the plain in the desert . . . the nation of Israel, the Jewish people . . . a people who stand out as different and whose history is unlike that of other peoples.”

  “But why were they in my vision?”

  “Because apparently the mystery begins with them.”

  “And who was the old man in the red robe?”

  “Only once was the entire nation of Israel in a desert as in your vision . . . in the days of their journeying from Egypt to Israel. The old man in the red robe would be Moses.”

  “And the scroll?”

  “That would be the scroll of Moses, the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.”

  “So Moses was reading from the books of Moses?”

  “He was reading from the scroll just as it has been read by the Jewish people in every age and land.”

  “And what exactly was he reading?”

  “His last words,” said the Oracle, “the last words he would ever speak to the nation, the words he gave them at the end of their journeying in the wilderness, just before he died.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because he was speaking to them from the end of the scroll. The scroll ends with his last words.”

  “And what did he tell them there?”

  “He told them exactly what would happen to them in the centuries and ages to come. He told them their future.”

  “But how could he have known that?”

  “It’s another one of the peculiarities about the nation of Israel. At the beginning of its existence, its future was foretold.”

  “Where?”

  “In the Scriptures, in the prophecies. Its history was foretold ages before it happened, from ancient times.”

  “But it’s impossible to foretell that.”

  “Yes,” said the Oracle, “to foretell the intricate courses of human events even days before they happen, much less thousands of years, would be impossible. There’s only one way it could be foretold . . . if the foretelling was from God. If God was real.”

  “So this would be recorded in the Bible.”

  “In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses’ last words.”

  “What exactly did the prophecy foretell?”

  “That the land of Israel would be invaded by an enemy people and that the Jewish people would be taken captive into the nations. They would be scattered ‘ from one end of the earth to the other.’ 1 They would be persecuted from one nation to the next. They would wander the earth.”

  “That’s what happened in my vision; they were scattered to the world. So did it come true?”

  “Yes, first when the armies of Babylon invaded the land, destroyed the Holy City of Jerusalem, and took the people captive into exile in Babylon. The exile would last seventy years, until the rise of the Persian king Cyrus, who would allow them to return to their land.”

  “But you said that the prophecy spoke of their being scattered ‘ from one end of the earth to the other.’”

  “Yes, that would be fulfilled in its entirety in the second exile. It would begin in the year AD 70. This time it would be the armies of Rome that would destroy Jerusalem and drive the people into exile not to one city or kingdom but to the ends of the earth, and not for seventy years but for ages. They would be persecuted from nation to nation and wander the earth as no people have ever wandered the earth.”

  “And how long did the second exile last?” I asked.

  “Into modern times.”

  “What about the ram’s horn that Moses sounded? He sounded it and said, ‘And thus you shall return.’ What did it mean?”

  “There’s only one place in the writings of Moses where the ram’s horn, or shofar, is connected to the words you shall return. It’s in the law of Jubilees.”

  “The law of Jubilees? I’ve never heard of it.”

  “That’s where the mystery begins. Apparently the Jubilean mysteries are to be revealed to you.”

  “I’ve heard the word before, but what exactly is a Jubilee?”

  “Imagine,” said the Oracle, “you lost your home, your land, the land of your family, your ancestral possession, your inheritance. In the year of Jubilee you get it all back. In the year of Jubilee that which was lost is restored. As it was written in the Jubilean ordinance:

  Each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. 2

  “In the year of Jubilee you come home. Your family comes home. Your separation from your land is ended. So the Jubilee is the year of return and restoration. The Jubilee is the restoring of that which was lost. The land is restored to its original owner, and the original owner to t
he land.”

  “And where is the law of Jubilees in the Bible?”

  “In the third book of Moses, the Book of Leviticus.”

  “And what’s the connection between the Jubilee and the ram’s horn?”

  “The ram’s horn, the shofar, the trumpet, was the sign of the Jubilee. It was the ram’s horn that ushered it in and proclaimed its coming throughout the land.”

  “And when exactly did the Jubilee come?”

  “Once every fifty years. The Jubilee is the fiftieth year.”

  “But what if you lost your land and didn’t survive to the fiftieth year?”

  “Then the land would be restored to your children. Then your children would return to it.”

  “So what does the Jubilee have to do with what I saw at the beginning of the vision, the multitudes in the desert and their scattering into the world?”

  “Everything,” he replied. “To whom was the Jubilee given?”

  “To Israel,” I said, “the Jewish people.”

  “And what does the Jubilee concern?”

  “Returning to your ancestral possession.”

  “And what is the Promised Land and Jerusalem to the Jewish people?”

  “Their ancestral possession?”

  “Yes. And for two thousand years, the Jewish people wandered the earth in exile from their land, from their ancestral possession. It’s the mystery of the Jubilee playing out before the world. As the age wore on, the connection between the Jewish people and the land appeared increasingly weaker, and the idea that there would ever be a return to the land more and more of an impossibility.”

  “But in the Jubilee,” I said, “the one who has lost his ancestral land returns to it.”

  “Yes,” said the Oracle. “So then what would the mystery ordain?”

  “That the Jewish people would return to their ancestral land.”

  “Yes, and that is exactly what was prophesied in the Scriptures . . . the Jewish people would return to the land.”

  “When was that first prophesied?”

  “By Moses in his last words to the people of Israel. After foretelling that they would be scattered to the ends of the earth, he said this:

  The LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.” 3

  “He said that how long ago?”

  “Thousands of years ago. It was all there at the beginning of their history. The return of the Jewish people to their ancient land would be the sign of the end times.”

  “But for that to happen,” I said, “for a nation to be destroyed, for its people to be scattered to the ends of the earth and then to return to their homeland and come back into history . . . that would be unprecedented.”

  “Yes,” said the Oracle, “it would go against all odds and would defy the laws of history. For the Jewish people to return to their ancient land would be the mystery of the Jubilee manifesting on a cosmic scale. And if this was to happen, it would mean the hand of God moving in the events of the modern world. It would mean that behind the events of the modern world was an ancient mystery.”

  “And so what happened?”

  “I believe that’s where your vision ended.”

  “But can’t you . . . ”

  “No,” he said, “but from what you’ve been shown, I’m sure there’s more for you to see.”

  “Another vision?”

  “I would think so.”

  “So I have to wait.”

  “Yes, but now the stage is set.”

  Chapter 7

  THE DESERT VISIONS

  A FEW DAYS had passed. It was midday. I was outside my tent, sitting on a rock. The sound around me began to fade away as it had in the previous visions. I didn’t notice it at first, because there wasn’t much sound to begin with. But soon enough it became obvious. I was back in the desert on the mountaintop with the old man.”

  “Moses.”

  “Yes. He had just sounded the ram’s horn and was still holding it in his left hand. The vision was beginning exactly where the last one had ended, except now standing by his side was a ram.”

  “Where was it before?”

  “I have no idea. But I believe its appearance was connected to the sounding of the horn. Strapped across the ram’s back were sheaves of grain and a cloth bag that hung down on both of its sides. Around its neck was a chain, from which hung a small white object, something of a pendant, on which was a symbol.”

  “Of what?”

  “The same symbol that was on the first of the seven doors. The old man . . . ”

  “Moses.”

  “Yes, he placed his hand on the ram’s head and whispered something into its ear. The ram then began descending the mountain into the desert below. I was led to follow it.”

  “In the previous vision the plain was surrounded by the landscapes of the world. Was that still the case?”

  “No. It was now all desert, as it was at the beginning. I followed the ram through plains and valleys, hills and ravines. And then in the midst of an immense valley the ram stopped and turned its gaze to the left. I turned as well. And I saw a vision.”

  “A vision within the vision?”

  “Visions within the vision. I saw several of them. The ram would turn its gaze to the right or left, and when I turned as well to see what he was looking at, I would see another vision. Each vision would represent one of the mysteries that was to be revealed.”

  “So this was the first.”

  “Yes.”

  “So what did you see?”

  THE JOURNEYER

  “I saw a man in a faraway land put on a hooded robe, take up a walking staff, and set out on a journey. I saw him arrive at a harbor, board a ship, and set off on a voyage across the sea. I then saw him disembark, journey inland, then return to the ship and sail off to the next land, one land after the other until finally he arrived at his destination.

  “It was a forbidding land. I saw him journey through it, through barren hills, barren valleys, deserts, and ruins. He seemed astonished by everything he was seeing. He kept a pen and writing pad to jot down notes throughout the journey. Finally he sat down on a rock, took out his pen and pad, and began writing. He wrote slowly in large letters—just one word. At that moment, I was taken back to the mountaintop where I had seen the man in the red robe, Moses. He was still there and now sitting on a rock. In his hand was a parchment, on which he had also written in large letters a word. It was the same word.”

  “What was it?”

  “Desolation.”

  THE INVISIBLE CITY

  “I continued walking behind the ram. It stopped again and turned now to the right. I did likewise. I saw a young man clothed in red military apparel. He appeared to me to be a soldier from the British Empire. I watched as a man in a white robe approached him and gave him an object. It was a measuring line. The soldier then appeared to be measuring structures that weren’t there or that were invisible: invisible walls, buildings, and towers. When he finished, the two of them walked away. But then the man in white stopped and turned around. The soldier did likewise. Then they saw it.”

  “Saw what?”

  “On the ground they had just left now stood a city, an ancient city with walls, buildings, and towers, all according to the dimensions the soldier had just measured out.”

  THE SYNAGOGUE SCROLL

  “I turned and saw again the man with the staff and hooded robe, the journeyer. He was now walking the narrow streets of an old city. He came to an ancient-looking synagogue of hewn stone. He went inside. He sat down with the worshippers, bearded men with their heads covered in white shawls. In the front of the synagogue, standing just behind a rolled-up scroll on a stone lectern, was a man with a long white beard and a shawl over his head. But the shawl was more ornate than those of the other men. I took him to be the rabbi. ‘Stand,’ he said to the congregation. Everyone rose to their feet. Then he motioned
to the journeyer to join him by the scroll. So he did. The rabbi then unrolled the scroll and asked the journeyer to read from it. So he did. ‘You are standing today, all of you,’ said the journeyer, ‘before the Lord your God.’ The rabbi then placed his right hand on the journeyer’s head. ‘And this day,’ he said, ‘it is fulfilled in your coming.’”

  THE SHAFT

  “I turned again and saw an ancient city filled with life and movement, men, women, and children walking its streets, going about their daily lives. Then suddenly everything froze and every person became as a statue. And then everything and everyone turned to stone. Then the entire city began to sink down into the sand until it disappeared. Time passed. I saw a man in a white robe with a giant pickax. He walked over to where the city had stood. He raised the ax and smashed it down on the sand. A shaft opened up in the ground. Out of the shaft came rays of light and then a rumbling. The city was rising up through the sand. I could now again see the people, still frozen in stone. But then the stone began to give way to the original colors and textures that were there at the beginning. And then everything unfroze. It was as if no time had elapsed, as if all was continuing on its course from the moment the city froze. And then the man in white spoke: ‘And that which was,’ he said, ‘shall be again.’”

  THE WOMAN IN THE VINEYARD

  “In the next vision I saw a barren vineyard of withered vines. In the midst of the vineyard was a woman imprisoned in a cage of dry branches. She had the appearance of one who had been beaten, abused, and scarred. She sat downcast on the ground of her cage. A man entered the vineyard. His clothing was more modern than that of the woman, outdoor clothing, what one might wear to go hiking or gardening. He approached the cage and opened it and gently helped the woman to her feet. He gave her water to drink. Slowly he led her through the vineyard. Her steps were halting at first, as if she had been crippled. But as she walked, she began changing, the dust coming off her robe until it was pure white, and the scars disappearing from her face until she was beautiful and radiant. The two kept walking until they came to a white canopy. They stepped inside. At that the vineyard was transformed. The vines began putting forth leaves and fruit. The vineyard was alive.”