The Harbinger (7 page)

“One word,” said the prophet. “
Terror
. The Assyrians made terror into a science. They systematized it, perfected it, and employed it as no other people or kingdom had ever done before. They burned cities to the ground, mutilated their prisoners, flayed alive those who rebelled against them, and nailed their skins to the wall for public display. The Assyrians were the masters of terror.”

“And what do they have to do with the mystery?”

“It was the dark shadow of Assyrian terror that loomed over the kingdom of Israel. This was the danger against which the prophets warned. And it was only the hedge of God’s protection that was keeping that danger at bay. But that was about to change. With the nation’s descent into apostasy, it was no longer safe.”

“It was the Assyrians,” I said. “They were the ones who caused the breach.”

“Correct,” he replied. “In 732
B.C.
, with the nation’s hedge of protection lifted, the Assyrians invaded the land of Israel.”

“So that must have made it all the more terrifying for the people of Israel…that it was the Assyrians.”

“Exactly. There couldn’t have been any clearer warning of the coming judgment than that. And when, years later, Israel’s final judgment came, the Assyrians would again be the means through which it would happen.”

“But you’re not saying that God was siding with the Assyrians?”

“Not in any way. This is the prophecy He gave concerning them:

“The Assyrians were the epitome of evil, and God was against them. The prophecy continued:

“The Lord would bring the Assyrians into judgment. Their empire would vanish from the earth. But, for a time, in the days of Israel’s apostasy, they would be allowed to breach its defenses and strike the land. If the Assyrian attack failed to awaken Israel from its spiritual stupor, then what could?”

It was then that he asked me for the seal. I placed it in his hand. He then began revealing its mystery. “The Second Harbinger,” he said as he held up the seal so I could see the figures engraved on its face. “An enemy strikes the land. The attack is plotted out by the merciless and executed by the brutal, designed to traumatize the nation, to inflict shock and fear…terror…the sign of the Assyrian. The Second Harbinger: the Terrorist.”

“The Assyrians were terrorists?” I asked.

“As much as any people have ever been. Terrorism is defined as:
the systematic application of terror, violence, and intimidation to achieve a specific end
. Terror as an applied science—this was the dark gift the Assyrians gave to the world.”

We began walking along the stone reliefs, continuing our conversation while gazing up at the ancient figures above our heads.

“From the temples of Nineveh to the beer halls of Weimar Germany…to the barren caves of Afghanistan…from Sennacherib to Osama bin Laden…it all goes back to ancient Assyria. The Assyrians are the fathers of terrorism, and those who mercilessly plotted out the calamity on 9/11 were their spiritual children, another link in the mystery joining America to ancient Israel. In both cases, the warning began with a manifestation of terrorism.”

“Did the 9/11 terrorists see themselves as modern-day Assyrians?”

“It doesn’t matter,” said the prophet. “That’s what they were. Remember the prophecy against Assyria: ‘
It is in his heart to destroy
.’”

“Osama bin Laden.”

“‘
And cut off not a few nations
.’”

“That was his intention.”

“But God would judge the Assyrians and their king.”

“Then all those responsible for 9/11 are under His judgment?”

“‘
I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria
,’” said the prophet. “Yes, they are under His judgment. And the Lord will send
leanness
or devastation among his warriors.”

“So the Assyrians are the spiritual fathers of al Qaeda.”

“Yes, and not only the spiritual,” he replied.

“And what does that mean?”

“The Assyrians were children of the Middle East, so too the terrorists of 9/11. The Assyrians were a Semitic people, so too the terrorists. The Assyrians spoke a language called
Akkadian
. The tongue is long extinct, but there is still spoken in the modern world one language considered to be the closest of all tongues to ancient Akkadian.”

“Which is…?”

“Arabic.”

“Arabic—the tongue of al Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorists.”

“Yes, and so when the leaders of al Qaeda plotted their attack on America, and as the terrorists communicated with each other on 9/11 to carry it out, they did so using words and speech patterns that mirrored those used by the Assyrian leaders and warriors as they planned and executed their attack on Israel two and half thousand years earlier in 732
B.C.
”

“Like an ancient drama replaying itself in the modern world.”

He didn’t reply. We continued walking along the stone reliefs. It was strange. As I stared up at the ancient stone figures, I began to feel a sense of loathing toward them on one hand and some kind of dread on the other.

“The Assyrian invasion,” said the prophet, “would ultimately draw ancient Israel into military conflict, war, and a final and tragic national drama. So too the attack of 9/11 would draw America into military conflict—a global battle against terrorism, encompassing a war in Afghanistan and another in Iraq. In the first war, the connection to 9/11 was clear. But in the second, it was not so clear. And yet there
was
a connection, but of a more mystical nature.”

“What do you mean?”

“In April 2003, American soldiers would enter the Iraqi city of Mosul. Mosul would become one of America’s major operational bases in the Iraqi war. Inside the city, near the junction of the Tigris and Khosr Rivers, there rest two mounds of earth. One is called
Kouyunjik
, the other
Nabi Yunus
. Hidden inside these mounds are the ruins of a once great civilization. The ruins are all that’s left of the ancient city called
Nineveh
. Nineveh was the capital, the final resting place, and the graveyard of the Assyrian Empire.”

“Assyria is
Iraq
?”

“It’s the same land.”

“The nation under judgment…is drawn into conflict with the land of Assyria…ancient Israel…now America.”

“And American troops were now walking the same earth on which the feet of Assyrian soldiers had once marched. And among those watching them pass by were those who could still claim to be the descendants of the ancient Assyrians.”

“Their actual flesh-and-blood descendants?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “And who knows but that the veins of the 9/11 terrorists did not also flow with the blood of the ancient Assyrians?”

“So ancient Israel, in its time of judgment, was drawn into war with Assyria, which is now Iraq.”

“Yes,” he answered.

“And now America was drawn into a war with the land of Assyria—Iraq.”

“But Israel would ultimately discover that the danger it faced could not be solved by the power of its weapons or the thickness of its walls. The real danger was not
outside
its gates but
within
them. When the nation turned from God, it lost its protective covering. Apart from a return to God there would be no safety. But by the time they realized it, it would be too late. The chance was lost.”

He stopped walking and pointed upward to the figure above him on the relief…a giant Assyrian archer.

“And now, the same sign that signaled the judgment of ancient Israel two and half thousand years before reappears in the modern world—no less dark and no less threatening—the sign of the Assyrian, the attack of the Terrorist.”

“And what does it mean for America?” I asked.

“That
is
the question,” he replied, “isn’t it?”

With those words I sensed that our meeting was drawing to a close. And I was right. He handed me the next seal—the seal of the Third Harbinger.

“And what was on it?” she asked.

“Shapes…unrecognizable shapes.”

“This one may be a bit more challenging for you,” said the prophet in a voice conveying both caution and sympathy.

“So help me out,” I replied.

“A word,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll need a word to decode it.”

“What kind of word?”

“The word that you need.”

“Do you enjoy being so mysterious?” I asked.

“It’s not a matter of enjoyment,” he explained. “It’s the nature of the job.”

“Do you realize you’ve never even given me your name?”

“Would that make a difference, Nouriel?”

“No, I guess not. But shouldn’t a journalist know who his source is?”

“And you don’t know who your source is?” he asked.

I didn’t answer. I suspected it was a loaded question. He resumed his studying of the ancient figures on the stone relief. I did likewise, but not for long. When I turned again to ask him for something more to go on, he was gone. I looked around in every direction, but there was no sign of him. I was alone again…just me and the Assyrians…in whose presence I was growing increasingly uncomfortable. I left the museum in search of the Third Harbinger. But it would be a search that would lead me to far more than I was expecting.

“What you do mean?” she asked.

“It would lead me to the key that would unlock the mystery of
all
the Harbingers.”

Chapter 6

The Oracle

I
COULDN’T MAKE ANY
sense of what was on the seal. It was some sort of composite shape…mostly rectangles…joined together in a chaotic jumble. I decided instead to focus on the clue.”

“On the word?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Pretty vague for a clue.”

“Yes, but it was the only other thing I had to go on. So where do you find words?”

“In a book?”

“And where do you find books?”

“In a library?”

“So my search took me to the library, the New York Public Library, the one with the two stone lions standing guard outside and millions of books and resource materials inside. I was there virtually every day for weeks, going on any lead I could think of, searching for anything that would match the puzzling image on the seal.

“And did you find something?”

“No. But one day I was searching through a book of symbols in the Main Reading Room, sitting on a wooden chair against one of the library’s long wooden tables by the light of a reading lamp, under a massive window and a chandelier. I took a break to look up from the page, and there he was.”

“The prophet?”

“Sitting on the other side of the table, directly across from me. Silent…just watching me. I had been so engrossed in the book I never saw him sit down.”