Garden of Madness (41 page)
I wish I could have explored all the wonderful events of the book of Daniel in
Garden of Madness,
but the story takes place in only a small window of that great book. Scholars and historians are never in complete agreement as to dates, but I offer these widely accepted dates in a sort of timeline for you, to help you place my story in the context of well-known biblical events:
The beginnings of Babylon can be found in Genesis 11, when man first began to build a tower to reach for the divine, and God confused their languages in judgment for their pride. That tower remained unfinished for years, but was most likely taken up again to become Etemenanki, the House of the Platform of Heaven and Earth, around which the capital city of the Babylonian empire flourished.
The empire became a world power around 1650 BC, during the reign of Hammurabi. Nebuchadnezzar ruled the “Neo-Babylonian Empire” some one thousand years later, in about 605 BC, right after the first siege against Jerusalem. The first deportation of captives from Israel to Babylon occurred at this time, and included Daniel and his three friends (whose Babylonian names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). Daniel was a “youth” at this time, and Nebuchadnezzar was about twenty-five years old. About two years later, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a huge statue and Daniel, still a very young man, interpreted the king’s dream with prophecies that would stretch hundreds of years into the future. Daniel became the king’s chief advisor.
About eight years later, in 597 BC, another round of captives was brought, including King Jeconiah (sometimes called Jehoiachin). Then in 586 BC, Jerusalem fell completely to Babylon, the Temple was destroyed, and another deportation of Jews occurred. It was probably about this time that Nebuchadnezzar built his own statue and required everyone to worship it. Another fifteen or so years passed and Nebuchadnezzar dreamed again, this time of a huge tree, cut down and stripped. Daniel sorrowfully interpreted this dream as a prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar’s coming madness, and entreated him to humble himself before the Most High God. One year later, while the king was admiring his great city from his palace roof, the prophecy was fulfilled.
Garden of Madness
is set seven years after this, in the year 563 BC, about forty years after the beginning of the captivity and one year before the death of Nebuchadnezzar.
In e-mails from readers during the writing of this story, a few questions arose that I chose not to address specifically in the story, but will do so here.
Was Daniel made a eunuch when he came to Babylon?
The answer is that we do not know, but it is likely. Those in service in the palace often were.
Where was Daniel when his three friends were refusing to bow to the king’s statue?
Another mystery. We must assume from the rest of Daniel’s life that he did not submit. Perhaps he was not required to.
What was the status of the exiles while in Babylon?
For the most part they lived fairly comfortable lives, much like the rest of the common citizens, though with fewer rights. They worked on behalf of the city, so in some ways could be considered “slaves,” but they were able to build their own houses and gardens, to marry and have families.
What were the Hanging Gardens like? How were they built, watered, and maintained?
As I mentioned in the Author’s Note, we have very little information about the Hanging Gardens. I was deliberately vague within the story for this reason. But we are told that the Gardens consisted of seven tiers, and that they were watered by some sort of hydraulic system that brought water up from the Euphrates to the topmost level. Considering the wealth, beauty, and magnitude of the rest of the city, we can assume they were astounding!
The kingship did not experience much peace after Nebuchadnezzar’s death. His son Amel-Marduk took the throne for only two years. (His name is sometimes translated Evil-Merodach in the Bible, simply meaning “man of Marduk.”) Amel was assassinated by Nebuchadnezzar’s son-in-law, Nergal-shar-usur (Nergal in my story), who held the throne for four years, died of natural causes, and left the kingship to his very young son, Labashi. Labashi reigned for nine months before being murdered, and the priests chose Nebuchadnezzar’s other son-in-law, Nabonidus, as king. He ruled for some seventeen years. His son Belshazzar became co-regent with him and was on the throne when Babylon fell.
Daniel’s story did not end, of course, at the death of Nebuchadnezzar in 562 BC. He went on to be an integral part of Babylonian politics for another thirty years, until the empire fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC, and Daniel became an advisor to the Median king Cyrus, and then the Persian king Darius. It was during this time that jealous advisors orchestrated Daniel’s sentence to the lions’ den. Daniel’s dreams and visions of the end times, found in Daniel 7 through 11, seem to stretch from the time of Belshazzar’s co-regency until perhaps the time of his own death.
All of this is fascinating to those of us who enjoy history, and who love the tales found in the book of Daniel. But we love them for a reason. There is more at work here than scheming politics, and even more than dreams and visions and miracles. There is truth for our own lives, as we line up our own personal stories with the One True Story. We have been accustomed to seeing Babylon as evil, and certainly it was filled with darkness. But we must remember that for most of us, we are Tiamat—children of chaos who have been welcomed and grafted into God’s family, out of the darkness. Even before Jesus walked the earth, God was calling all nations to Himself, and using Israel as a blessing to those nations.
And what of Daniel and his three friends, who managed to remain unpolluted in the midst of all this spiritual darkness? How did they do it? We have scant details, but we can infer from their positions of prominence within the kingdom that they were faithful in a way that was not antagonistic, not condemning, not hate-filled. That a pagan king would keep a Jewish advisor close for forty years and then finally bow his knee to the Most High God at the end of his life speaks volumes about Daniel’s witness within that dark city. Centuries before Jesus’ words in Mark 12, Daniel had already learned what it meant to love God and to love others.
May we all be grateful for our inclusion in the family of God through Christ, and may we be found faithful to love and bless those in the dark world around us.
Since I began writing about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, I’ve been looking forward to exploring the Hanging Gardens. It’s been an enjoyable task, writing Tia’s story, and I’m grateful to each of the people who have been part of the process.
To my new fiction family at Thomas Nelson—I’m so excited to begin this journey with you! To Allen Arnold, Ami McConnell, Jodi Hughes, and the rest of the team who work hard to bring quality fiction to the world, thank you for allowing me to be part of that work. Thank you to Julee Schwarzburg for your editing, both excellent and encouraging.
Steve Laube, your persistence and guidance as an agent are so appreciated, as is your friendship.
Thank you to friends and family who have weathered the ups and downs of this book with me.
A special thank-you to my readers, whose input into this book was invaluable. So many of you participated in my website request for ideas and thoughts, and it was great fun weaving your suggestions through the book. I hope you’ll find everything you are eager to experience within its pages!
As always, my husband and children stood alongside the writing, propping up my sagging confidence, listening to my rambling thoughts, and assuring me of their unconditional love. Ron, Rachel, Sarah, Jake, and Noah—we’ve finished another one together! I love you all.
1. What were your first thoughts about Tiamat? What three words come to mind when you think of her character early in the story? How do you relate to her desire to make a difference and change her world?
2. Who did you first think murdered Kaldu? Why? Did you think Shealtiel’s death was also a murder?
3. The tension between Tia and her mother was apparent from the start. What was your reaction to that relationship? Have you experienced similar tension with a parent? Were you able to resolve the problem?
4. What was your first impression of Pedaiah? How do people in the story react to his determination to remain unpolluted? What causes his heart to change, leading him to love all people as Yahweh does? In what ways do you struggle with the concept found in Romans 2, “living in the world but not being of the world”?
5. When Tia met Pedaiah in the city, why did he take her on a detour instead of directly to Daniel’s house? Did you share his frustration with her at the end of the excursion?
6. What did you think happened to Tia when she awoke in the Gardens covered in blood with no memory of how she got there? Did you think she had gone mad, like her father?
7. At what point do you first see a change in Tia’s thinking? What did you feel when Daniel and Pedaiah visited her and prayed over her after her lost night?
8. Secrecy is a major theme throughout this story. Has someone kept a secret from you that changed your life when it was revealed? Do you think secrets are ever worthwhile?
9.
Garden of Madness
surrounds the madness of the great king Nebuchadnezzar, whom God punished for his pride and arrogance (Daniel 4). Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way that God is sovereign. Do you struggle with pride or being obedient to a sovereign God? Has sin ever cost you something as it did Nebuchadnezzar?
10. Discuss Nebuchadnezzar’s journey to humility and the sins that brought the Israelites to captivity in Babylon. What can you learn from their mistakes?
11. This story takes place in the Old Testament. In what ways do the characters allude to the New Covenant? How do you now think of the Jews in the centuries before Christ? Do you think they considered that non-Jews would one day be accepted by God?
12. Tia and Pedaiah face many obstacles to their relationship throughout the book from his apparent disdain of her to their ethnic, social, and religious differences. How do you see these issues reconciled? Do you believe two people can build a good relationship amid such differences? How?
13. The author portrays Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel as close friends. Do you think that could have been the case? Do you have a friend like Daniel who tells you truth, even when you don’t want to hear it?
14. In what ways has this book edified you in your own journey of faith?
