The Harbinger (13 page)

“That they were reenacting the ancient prophecy? No. And yet they each ended up stepping into the ancient footsteps. It was a prophetic act, taking place according to the mystery.”

“So what does it all portend for America’s future?”

“If those who came to Ground Zero that day to issue their proclamations had realized what it all portended…they would have stayed home.”

He reached into his coat pocket and gave me the next seal.

“The seal of the Sixth Harbinger,” I said. “And this is…?”

“The image is clear enough,” he said, “as is the prophecy. This one shouldn’t be hard to uncover.”

“Still, some help would be appreciated.”

“The Sixth Harbinger appeared the same day as the first…and in the same place of the one that came after it.”

“Well, that really clears everything up,” I replied. “And to think I was worried you wouldn’t be specific enough this time.”

“Nouriel.”

“Yes?”

“Have a great rest of your vacation.” And with that, he left me there…standing at the edge of the mountain.

“I’m sure I will,” I answered in a raised voice.

“Try to get some rest,” he responded as he walked. “Rest is good.”

“And, of course, I’ll be sure to bring you back a souvenir,” I shouted.

“Just the seal, Nouriel. Just bring back the seal.” And with that he disappeared into the woods.

Chapter 10

The Sixth Harbinger: The Sycamore

H
E SAID THE
image was clear. So what was it?” she asked.

“A tree,” he replied.

“A tree as in the prophecy?”

“Yes…as in the very next words of the prophecy.”

“So the Harbingers were being revealed to you in the same order as they appeared in Isaiah 9:10.”

“In the exact same order,” he said. “The prophecy moves from the stone to the sycamore:

“So the tree on the seal, it was a sycamore?” she asked.

“That’s what I assumed.”

“And so where did it lead you?”

“I went deeper, as before, into the original language to find the Hebrew behind the word
sycamore
.”

“And you found…”

“
Shakam
. The word translated as
sycamore
is the Hebrew
shakam
. It’s also known as the
fig mulberry
tree.”

“How do you get sycamore from that?”

“The Greek word for
fig
is
sukos
, and for
mulberry
is
moros
. Put them together and you get
sukamoros
or…”

“Sycamore.”

“Its Latin name is the
ficus sycamorus
…a wide-spreading tree that reaches a height of about fifty feet. In biblical times they grew in Israel’s lowlands and along the roads and highways.”

“So you did your homework.”

“And I pursued it. I even took my quest to the New York Botanical Gardens…but it didn’t lead me any closer to the mystery of the Sixth Harbinger. In fact, it led me farther away. The more I learned about the sycamore, the farther I was from the answer.”

“Why?”

“What could the cutting down of a sycamore tree possibly have to do with America or 9/11? The ancient Assyrians may have been interested in cutting down sycamores, but not the terrorists of 9/11. They targeted cities, not forests or farmlands. How could the cutting down of a sycamore tree have anything to do with it? There was no connection. That was my first problem. But the second was fatal.”

“Which was…?”

“It doesn’t grow here, not in the American Northeast, not naturally. The ficus sycamorus is native to the Middle East and Africa. It doesn’t grow in climates with frost. The only way you could keep it alive in New York or in Washington DC is to keep it inside or wrapped up in blankets and plastic. And some people actually do that. But it’s a novelty. The sycamore of Isaiah 9:10 is alien to the American Northeast.”

“So 9/11 had nothing to do with trees, and the sycamore has nothing to do with the Northeast. So what did you do?”

“After a few more dead-ends, I gave up trying. I figured that, somehow, whatever I was supposed to know, I would end up knowing.”

“And did you end up knowing?”

“I ended up in Central Park, on the lake, in a rowboat. It’s something I do when I need to clear my mind. There’s a bridge there, a walking bridge, which stretches over the water in a long arch. If you’re in a rowboat you can pass underneath, which is what I did…twice—the first time going out, the second time coming back in. It was the second time, just as I was emerging from underneath, that I noticed a man on the bridge as I looked up. He was standing in the middle of the bridge with both hands resting on the railing and looking down…at me, I think, but I wasn’t sure.”

“The prophet?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t see him the first time you passed under the bridge?”

“I don’t even know if he was there when I first went through.”

“So what happened?”

“I stopped rowing and shouted up at him, ‘Is that you?’ I just wanted to make sure.”

“Who else could I be but me?” came the response.

“It’s definitely you,” I said softly.

“And how’s your search going, Nouriel?” he asked.

“How does it look like it’s going? I’m in a rowboat…on a lake…in Central Park. Not very well.”

“But you’re in a place of trees.”

“Is this the place of our next meeting?”

“I guess it is.”

“Then how do we meet?”

“Either you get out of the boat and join me on the bridge, or I get off the bridge and join you in the boat. I’d recommend the latter.”

So he came down from the bridge while I navigated the boat to the side to find a place from which he could get in—which he did. It was now me and the prophet…in a rowboat…on a lake…in Central Park. There were several other boats in the water that day, but from the moment he joined me, everything else faded into the background as the focus turned to an ancient mystery and the future of a nation. We could have been anywhere.

“And you continued rowing as you spoke?”

“Yes…as we spoke…and as I recorded.”

He was quiet for a time. We both were. As the boat neared the middle of the lake, the prophet broke the silence. “So, Nouriel, what have you found so far?”

“The Sixth Harbinger is the sycamore from Isaiah 9:10:

“And why do you think the sycamores would have been cut down?” he asked.

“It had to be the Assyrians in their invasion…part of devastating the land.”

“And why would a fallen sycamore be significant?”

“That’s as far as I got.”

“If the fallen bricks foreshadowed the nation’s future collapse, what did the fallen sycamore foreshadow?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s a sign of uprooting…the uprooting of a kingdom. Do you have the seal, Nouriel?”

I gave it to him. He held it up as he began to reveal its meaning.

“The Sixth Harbinger: The destruction isn’t limited to buildings. The enemy’s attack causes the sycamore to be cut down. The fallen sycamore is a sign of warning and, in the ignoring of the warning, becomes a prophecy of judgment. The Sixth Harbinger: the sign of uprooting—the Sycamore.”

“But what does it have to do with America? The agents of al Qaeda weren’t interested in sycamores. And the sycamore of Isaiah 9:10 grows in the Middle East and Africa, not anywhere near the events of 9/11.”

“That’s true,” he said.

“So I don’t see how anything could connect. The chances of…”

“The
chances of
don’t mean anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“In the last moments of the calamity, the North Tower began to collapse. In the midst of that collapse, it sent debris and wreckage through the air toward a plot of land at the border of Ground Zero. It was unlike the other properties surrounding Ground Zero in that it wasn’t covered with concrete, steel, or asphalt…but with soil and grass.”

I stopped rowing and let the boat glide. He paused for a moment, before continuing.

“The wreckage hurled by the falling tower struck an object.”

“An object? What kind of an object?”

“A tree.”

“No…”

“After the cloud of dust began to clear, police officers, rescue workers, and onlookers gazed at the little plot of land at the edge of Ground Zero. There in the middle of the ash and debris that covered the ground was a fallen tree. It would soon become a symbol of 9/11 and of Ground Zero. And it
was
a symbol…but one much more ancient than anyone there could have realized, and one carrying a message no one could have fathomed.”

“What tree was it?” I asked.

“The tree that was struck down,” he answered.

“What kind of tree was it?”

“It was a sycamore tree.”

“The tree at Ground Zero that was struck down on September 11…”

“…was a sycamore tree.”

“But how?” I asked.

“How could it?…They don’t grow here.”

“When the American leaders declared, ‘
We will rebuild
,’ the same words of Israel’s ancient vow, did they proclaim it in ancient Hebrew?”