The Gate of Heaven (50 page)

Demetrius listened, as he always did when Jacob spoke of his God, and a resolution formed within him.

“When I get back to my home, I will tell others of the true God. They will be very shocked, I'm afraid.”

“You must grow accustomed to that. The worshipers of the true God are few. The worshipers of idols are many. But when those stone and clay idols have gone back to dust, the Strong One, the Eternal One, will still be God.”

The two men spoke for hours, and finally Jacob said, “I will bless you, my son, and I will pray for you.”

“You will give me your daughter, then?”

“I can do nothing else, for I see the hand of God in all of this.”

Dinah saw Jacob and Demetrius coming into the camp. They were moving straight toward her, and her heart was in her throat. She could not speak, but then she saw the expression on Demetrius's smiling face, and she flew to her father. He took her in his arms and said, “Well, as always, you will have your own way.”

“Oh, Father, I love him so!”

“Then always do so. I have told him that he will have you with my good will.”

Dinah lifted her head and saw that Demetrius was as happy as she was herself.

Jacob stepped back and said, “Tomorrow I will announce to everyone that you are a free man, Demetrius. I will also announce your betrothal, but first, daughter, I must tell your mother.” He kissed Dinah and said, “A man has a daughter and learns to love her, but one day he must step aside, for she must find her own love. And I think you have found the one that God intended for you.”

Jacob turned and moved quickly toward Leah's tent while Demetrius stepped forward and put his arms around Dinah. “Your father is a great man. Not many would do what he has just done.”

“I know,” Dinah whispered. She leaned back and said, “Now I will be your wife, and you will be my husband.”

“Yes. And we will go to Minoa.”

“When will we go?”

“Not until after the wedding. Then we will go.”

Rachel was not asleep when Jacob came to her tent. She was lying on her bed and said, “You're late tonight.”

“Something has happened.” Jacob came over and sat down beside her. He took her hand and studied her face. “You're not well.”

“I'll be fine.”

Jacob knew that this was her way of saying that she was having considerable pain. He hesitated, but finally said, “I have just agreed to give Dinah to Demetrius as his wife.” He waited for her to speak but saw that her face, tired and pale as it was, broke into a smile. “You're not surprised!” he exclaimed.

“No—nor will anyone else be too surprised.”

“But it's never happened before, that one of our people will give a daughter to a foreigner.”

“Demetrius is different. He will be one of us. You've always told me how hungry he is for God.”

“Yes, he is, and he's agreed to be circumcised. And I've freed him this night. He's no longer a slave. You know, back in his own country, he's quite an important person.”

Rachel lay there listening. She had had a hard pregnancy and knew that she was really too old to be having this child. She listened as Jacob told her more of the details about Demetrius and Dinah, and then finally he began to speak of the child that was to come.

“He will be a fine boy just like his brother.”

“Yes. I pray God that he will be.” Rachel suddenly shuddered with pain. She closed her eyes and whispered, “I'm very tired, Jacob.”

Jacob sat there holding her hand. Ever since she had told him about her father's gods, he could not stop thinking about the curse he had put on the one who had stolen them. He had begged God to take those words away and remove the curse, but he was not sure God would do such a thing. Now as he held Rachel's hand, he felt a dark heaviness in his spirit. Up till now, he had been only happy about the child to come, for the child would be Rachel's, but there was a fear growing in him that he could not ignore.

Jacob's face looked drawn, and Rachel, who had risen late, saw that he was troubled. “What is it, husband?” she asked. “Are you troubled about Dinah and Demetrius?”

“No. I'm happy about that.” Turning to her, Jacob said quietly, “The Lord came to me last night while you were asleep.”

Rachel grew very still. “What did He say?” She could tell that Jacob was troubled, and as always, she knew he would obey whatever God commanded.

“He said we must leave this place and go up to Bethel. He told me I must make an altar to God in that place.”

“Does He mean for you to go alone?” Rachel was disturbed because she was far along in her pregnancy and hated for him to leave her.

“No. He told me that we must move there and make that our home.”

Rachel's heart sank. She was sickly and weak, and traveling would be an agony for her. She let none of this show in her face, however, saying only, “Then we must go.”

“It will be hard on you. Perhaps we'd better wait.”

Rachel shook her head. “No. When the Lord speaks, we must obey. You must tell the people this morning.”

Except for the few who were left to watch over the flocks, all of Jacob's people had been gathered together. He waited until they grew quiet, noting the curiosity on their faces. His sons were ranked before him, but he had already told them of his decision. There had been little argument, except from Simeon, who thought it best to stay in this place. Other than that, the other sons agreed.

“We will be leaving this place,” Jacob announced. His voice at first was weak, but it grew stronger as he went on. “The Lord God has appeared to me and told me that we must move back close to my old homeland in Bethel.” He waited until the mutterings and whisperings had ceased. He saw surprise in faces, but no one seemed utterly disturbed. His next words, however, did bring a stronger reaction.

“Some of you are harboring strange gods. I command you this day to bring all of those to me. Anyone who will not do so will be put out of the family, out of the camp. The bondservants will be sold.” He saw fear, surprise, and resentment among different faces, but he was firm.

“We have a hard journey, and the true God must be obeyed. I will wait right here. Make your decision now. Either bring your idols and your false gods to me, or take the consequences.”

Judah, who was standing next to Joseph, leaned over and whispered, “I've never seen him so immovable.”

Joseph said, “He is doing the right thing, Judah.”

“I believe he is, but some resent it.”

Jacob put the last bit of dirt over the cavity he had dug. He stood looking down and said aloud with grim satisfaction, “There. That should have been done a long time ago.”

The sun was falling in the west, and dark would be coming soon, but Jacob had felt an urgency to gather up all the false gods. When he had done so, Reuben loaded them onto a donkey. Jacob mounted the donkey and made his way out of the camp. Everyone stood silently watching him, but he said nothing.

He traveled a long distance from the camp and finally stopped beside an oak. He labored hard to dig a hole with the implements he had brought, dumped in all the idols, then covered them up.

He looked skyward and said, “O God, I have obeyed your voice. And now, Lord, we must leave this place as you have said. I pray you will go with us and before us and protect us.” He prayed for a long time and waited for the voice of God, but it did not come. Quickly he mounted the donkey and rode back.
Now we will obey the voice of the Lord,
he thought,
and all will be well
.

Of all the preparations Jacob made for going to Bethel, he spent the most time working on the wagon that would carry Rachel. He and Demetrius tried to make it as comfortable for her as possible. On the floor of the back was the softest bed they could possibly contrive. It consisted of a pad of straw covered by a softer pad of feathers that had been saved over the past years. Demetrius had even designed a set of steps which Rachel could mount easily from the back.

The day had come to leave, and Jacob was leading Rachel to the steps. He walked up them with her and helped her to lie down. “We will go very slowly,” he said. “The best driver will be driving this cart. He will avoid the bumps as much as possible.”

“This is beautiful, Jacob. It's like you to be so thoughtful.”

Jacob leaned over and kissed her. “All will be well,” he said. “We will stop early, and when we get to the place where God is sending us, you will have this child.”

Rachel, he saw, was deathly ill and in pain, but she tried to smile. He kissed her again and said, “Shall I ride beside you for a time?”

“No. You need to be at the head of the people. They need to see you, husband. I will be all right.”

Jacob kissed her yet again and said, “We will be joyous with this child, my beloved.”

“Yes,” Rachel whispered, and it took all of her strength. “He will be the child we have dreamed of along with Joseph.”