The Harbinger (14 page)

“No, of course not,” I replied.

“And why not?” he asked.

“Because American leaders don’t speak ancient Hebrew, and who would have understood it?”

“Exactly. In each case, the ancient and the modern, the leaders speak in the tongue of their people and nation. The Harbinger is translated into the context of the nation in which it appears and to the people to whom it is directed. So too with the sign of the Sycamore. It was a translation.”

“A translation…how?”

“The tree matches the nation…the land. The tree of Isaiah 9:10 was endemic to Israel. So the tree of 9/11 was endemic to America.”

“But you said it was a sycamore.”

“It’s classified under the genus
platanus
. But it’s known by its common English name…
sycamore
. It
was
a sycamore.”

“But…”

“Yes, you were right, Nouriel. The
Middle Eastern
sycamore doesn’t naturally grow in the American Northeast. But there exists a version of the sycamore that does—the English sycamore.”

“The English sycamore…a translation of the Harbinger.”

“And it was the English sycamore that happened to be growing on the little plot of land at the border of Ground Zero.”

“And it was named
sycamore
because…”

“Because it was named after the Middle Eastern sycamore.”

“So the tree that was struck down on 9/11 was named after the tree of Isaiah 9:10?”

“Yes. The ancient Middle Eastern Harbinger was translated into Western form…into an American tree bearing the same name of the Middle Eastern tree of Israel’s judgment.”

“And it just happened to be standing there on the corner of Ground Zero on 9/11.”

“Just as with everything else,” he said, “it just happened to be.”

“But the Assyrians intended to cut down the sycamore tree—the terrorists of 9/11 didn’t.”

“The terrorists had no idea of Isaiah 9:10, no idea of the Harbingers, no idea of the sycamore tree growing at the corner of Ground Zero, and no idea that their attack would cause it to fall or that its fall was connected to an ancient prophecy. They had no idea…but still it happened.”

“And what happened after it fell?” I asked.

“It became the focal point of interest and attention. It was transformed into a symbol.”

“Just as with the Harbingers before it.”

“The Harbingers are, among other things, symbols. So the Sycamore became a symbol of 9/11. It was labeled
the Sycamore of Ground Zero
. Articles were written about it. It was placed on public display. Crowds gathered around to see it. But they had no idea of the message it carried or how far-reaching that message was. Nor did they take note of the small object entwined in its roots.”

“Which was…”

“A brick,” he replied. “
The bricks have fallen…and the sycamores have been cut down
.”

“The whole thing is…I can’t even put it into words…everything replaying itself…everything following the details of an ancient prophecy…now even inanimate objects…the Tower…the Stone…the Tree…and with nobody orchestrating it.”

“With nobody orchestrating it because it had to happen. The Harbingers manifested because they
had
to manifest…as signs…as prophetic messages.”

“And what message does the sign of the Sycamore hold for America?” I asked.

“It’s a sign of a fall…of a cutting down…an uprooting…an end. When it appeared in ancient Israel, it prophesied the nation’s downfall and the end of its kingdom.”

“And now it reappears for America. So does that mean that there has to be an…”

“It’s a warning,” said the prophet. “It all depends if the warning is heeded.”

“And if it’s not heeded…?”

“If a tree falls to the ground and no one hears it…does it make a sound?”

“Does it?” I asked.

“In the case of the Sycamore, it makes two.”

“Two?”

“For those who hear it, the sound of warning and the call to redemption.”

“And for those who don’t?”

“The sound of judgment.”

We were silent for a time. Then he reached into his coat pocket and handed me the next seal. I examined it without saying anything, placed it in my pocket, then resumed rowing to bring the boat back in to the dock. “And what clue do you have for me concerning the Seventh Harbinger?” I asked as we neared the dock.

“It’s as clear as the one before it,” he replied, “and closely joined.”

“Closely joined to the Sycamore.”

“Yes.”

“It’s another image of a tree…but different.”

“Correct.”

“There are two trees in the prophecy,” I said. “So the Seventh Harbinger has to be the second tree.”

“You see, Nouriel, it’s not so hard. You’ve already figured out all that and without even spending weeks searching for the answer. And we haven’t even reached the dock.”

“Then why do we need weeks or months before the next meeting?”

“For you to work on it.”

“Why don’t we just keep going…here? It’s a place of trees. The setting works.”

He thought for a moment, then responded. “Why not then?”

“Then we’ll do it here?”

“Why not?” he repeated.

I never expected him to agree to the suggestion. It threw me. It threw me enough to question him. “So a prophet can change the plan…the appointed plan?”

“Who said the plan was changed?”

“But I was the one who came up with the idea.”

“And how do you know that your coming up with the idea to change the plan wasn’t the appointed plan in the first place?”

“If it was a change of plan…then it wasn’t appointed.”

“And if it was appointed,” he replied, “then it wasn’t a change of plan.”

“So you’re saying you planned to continue here all along…before I mentioned it?”

“Whether I planned it or whether it happened because it was planned without my planning it makes no difference.”

“I think you’re just saying all this.”

“And you’re free to think that,” he replied.

“So I’m
free
to think that. I don’t
have
to think that.”

“But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t planned,” he added.

“How could it be both?” I asked.

“It takes two oars to make a boat go straight.”

“Meaning it’s both free will and predestination?”

“Meaning you need to use both oars and focus on keeping the boat straight, so we can make it back to dry land.”

Chapter 11

The Seventh Harbinger: The Erez Tree

S
HE ROSE FROM
her chair. “Nouriel, would you excuse me for a moment before we continue?”

“Of course,” he answered.

She walked over to her desk. “Is everyone gone?” she asked, speaking into the phone set.

“Yes,” replied the voice on the speaker, “Everyone’s gone, and I’ll be leaving soon.”

“You’ll make sure everything’s turned off?”

“I will.”

During the exchange, Nouriel gazed out to the city skyline. It was now early evening. The sun had set. The city was illumined by the deep blues and reds of twilight and the incandescent and fluorescent radiance of its buildings and street lamps.

“So…” she said, as she returned to the round table, “you were in the boat with the prophet…”

“We docked, got out of the boat, and began walking through the park. He led me to the fountain on the terrace, the one with the statue of the angel on top.”

“Do you know what that is, Nouriel?” he asked.

“An angel,” I replied.

“This is Bethesda Fountain, and that’s called the
Angel of the Waters
. It’s from the Gospel of John, the account of a crippled man who waited by the pools of Bethesda in Jerusalem to be healed. And do you know what
Bethesda
means?”

“No,” I replied.

“It comes from the Hebrew word
khesed
, which means
mercy
or
loving-kindness
.
Bethesda
means
the house of mercy
or
the place of loving-kindness
.
Khesed
…mercy…love. It’s God’s nature, His essence. Don’t forget that, through all this, don’t forget that. Judgment is His necessity, but His nature and essence—His heart—is love. He’s the one always calling out to the lost to be saved.”

We resumed our walk, passing by others in the park also walking or running or playing chess or just sitting on the park benches doing nothing in particular. We followed the walking path through a lush green landscape of trees and grass, rocks and bridges.

“So, Nouriel, if the Sycamore is the Sixth Harbinger, then the Seventh Harbinger…”

“Has to be the cedar. It’s what comes next:

“Correct.”

“So the tree on the seal is a cedar.”

“Yes, and what does it mean?”

“I have no idea.”

“Their sycamores are fallen. They vow to replace them. But instead of replacing them with other sycamores, they replace them with cedars. Why do you think they would do that?”

“It would have to be for the same reason they didn’t replace the fallen bricks with other bricks but with quarried stone. The goal wasn’t restoration but defiance. So I’d guess that the cedar was stronger than the sycamore, or as different from the sycamore…”

“…as quarried stones were from clay bricks. You’re right. The sycamore was a common tree. It was never seen as something of great value. Its grain was coarse, knotty, spongy, and not particularly strong. And though its wood could be used in construction, it was neither the most ideal nor most durable material to build with.”

“So it was kind of the clay brick of trees.”

“Exactly. And as the clay bricks were replaced by massive stones, the fallen sycamore would be replaced by the cedar.”

“So the cedar was stronger than the sycamore?”

“Much stronger, and much more highly valued. The sycamore grew in the low lands; the cedar grew on mountain heights. The sycamore was common; the cedar was exotic. Unlike the twisting sycamore, the cedar was straight, majestic, and towering. Its wood was smooth, durable, and perfectly suited for construction. The sycamore could reach a height of about fifty feet; but the cedar could grow to well over a hundred. That was the point. They would plant cedars in place of the fallen sycamores. And unlike the sycamore, the cedar would stand strong against any future attack…or so they hoped. One commentary puts it this way:

“The
wildest gales
would be what?” he asked.

“The nation’s coming day of judgment,” I replied.

“Yes. And on that day nothing would be spared—not the trees, not the stones, not the nation. And the kingdom would fall as quickly and violently as a cedar crashing down to the earth.”

“So it’s the same thing they did with the quarried stone…the same act in a different form. They laid the quarried stone in the place of fallen bricks. Now they plant the cedar in the place of the sycamore.”