Chapter 6
The Leper Messiah ~ continued from Chapter 6 | I Know the Path
The men sat down and listened.
“This is a gift, not an easy one and one that I cannot promise in the future,” he started hurriedly. “But I give this willingly to show you the love of The Rose. She wants a better life for all of us, a life where our children do not go hungry.” He picked up the fishing net.
“Where we can mend our sorrows and find a better way.”
“How will we live if we follow you?” Abe questioned.
“How do you live now?” came the reply. “How long can you continue this way?”
The men looked down in agreement as they took their portion of fish and went home to their families.
Arlemay and Abe were alone as the dusk fell and the waves beat along the coast.
The large leather bag that Mira had brought was taken out from under the nets.
“I can’t read any of this,” Arlemay laughed as he took out a portion of the scroll from its clay jar.
“What is it?” Abe looked at the delicate work and fine print on the scroll.
“Your Mira brought it to me today.”
“My wife Mira had this?”
“Yes, but it is in…. I don’t know what language,” he shook his head. “I read only Farsi.”
Arlemay wiped his nose and scratched his arm and leg. Abe looked at the scrolls. “Hebrew and Aramaic.”
He gave the scroll back to his friend. “I know Hebrew.”
“That’s why I came. So you could read the scrolls.”
Abe studied the writing for a long time before he spoke again.
“It’s hard to understand but it is a secret society that has written down ‘laws and codes.’”
He studied the scroll. “It is from a splinter group of priests who wrote down these codes.”
“Moreover, all who would join the ranks of the community must enter into a Covenant in the presence of The Rose to do according to all that she has commanded and not to turn away from Her through any fear or terror or through any trial to which they may be subjected through the domination of Belial. When they enter into that Covenant, the Kohen and the Levites are to pronounce a blessing upon The Rose of Yeshua and upon all that she does to make known Her truth; and all that enter the Covenant are to say after them, ‘So be it, Amen.’ Then the Kohen are to rehearse the bounteous acts of The Rose as revealed in all Her deeds of power, and they are to recite all Her tender mercies towards Yisrael; while the Levites are to rehearse the iniquities of the children of Yisrael and all the guilty transgressions and sins that they have committed through the domination of Belial. And all who enter the Covenant are to make confession after them saying, ‘We have acted perversely, we have transgressed, we have sinned, we have done wickedly, ourselves and our fathers before us, in that we have gone…’”
Arlemay enlisted Abe and they preached near the shores of Galilee. The men gave up what little life they had and left their fishing nets for the towns and villages of the area to spread the word of The Rose.
“Have you seen my Rose?” the stranger asked a woman on the outskirts of Hebron.
“Your little girl?” the woman questioned.
“Yes, she is only four years old,” the woman answered. “We are just passing through and I can’t find her.”
“No, but come with me.” The woman would serve her something to eat and drink in the dusty village.
The town square was small and had a marketplace where a person could buy fruits and vegetables. Men stood in doorways or sat drinking strong coffee. A few children ran through the square but were shooed away by an old man. The women hurriedly bought a few items and rushed home to small huts made of clay and brick, their doors left open to the sun and heat of the day.
“She is young but very powerful, her eyes,” Mira continued.
“Her eyes?” the woman asked.
“She is your daughter also and your sister. She is your soul,” Mira laughed.
Abe wandered into the taverns and workshops asking the same question to gain the attention they needed to talk about The Rose.
“Brother, she is your daughter and your sister, too,” he would begin as they sat down on a stool in a horse stable.
Arlemay stood outside a small stable, his long, tattered cloak flowing in the late afternoon breeze, his walking stick at his side. The people gathered after their workday.
“Brothers and sisters,” he said as he stroked his long beard. “The Rose is the fingerprint of God. Let her light touch you. Let her path be yours, for she is the way.”
He read from the scrolls:
“The Rose’s Light or Darkness, two spirits of man,” he called out.
“This is for the man who would bring others to the inner vision, so that he may understand and teach to all the children of light the real nature of men, touching the different varieties of their temperaments with the distinguishing traits thereof, touching their actions throughout their generations, and touching the reason why they are now visited with afflictions and now enjoy periods of well-being . All that is and ever was comes from The Rose of knowledge.”
“What about punishment?” one man yelled.
“Aye, what laws?” another said.
“Yes, yes,” Arlemay said. “We shall set up tribunals and have judges who give us the law, men who are like shepherds guiding us.”
He put up his hands. “They will be elected for a term and drawn from the Levi tribe, four men and six laymen.”
“What about our property?” another man called out.
“It is yours,” Arlemay said. “All you need to give is two days’ pay toward charity, orphans and those less fortunate than yourselves.”
He drank from a water bag. “We are the brothers of the towns not the brothers of the desert.”
The men nodded in approval.
“But,” Arlemay said. “For lying about the property and lying about anything else to benefit over another, you will have to atone for six months.”
Continue reading… Chapter 6 | The Crescent City
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