In Herod's Keep, page 5

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Fearing to go before Joseph, they sent a message to him, saying, ‘Before Jacob died, he called us before him and, in your absence, he enjoined upon you forgiveness of us. He said, “When I am gone, beg Joseph forgiveness for the wrong you did him.

Pray that he deliver you from punishment for the evil you committed against him. Do this and surely he will forgive you.” Therefore, we pray you spare us, for we are your servants.’

When Joseph read these words, he wept and called on his brothers to come to him in Pharaoh’s household. And when they came, they fell on their faces before him, pleading with him, ‘Spare us, brother; we are your servants.’

Joseph said, ‘When you cast me into the pit, I did not curse you or revile you. And though you conspired maliciously against me, God meant it for good and nothing whatsoever can thwart His purpose.

And when I was raised up to rule over the land, Pharaoh said to me, “Will you seek out your brothers who wronged you and your father? Will you hunt them down and impale them?” But I told him I would not.

And when you came to purchase grain from me, not knowing me, Pharaoh said to me, “Will you hang them on the gallows and crucify them? It is well within your power to destroy them.” But I said to him I would not.’

The brothers of Joseph said, ‘We fear that you have let us live for love of our father.’

Joseph said, ‘Had I laid hold of you all and crucified you and returned alone with Benjamin to our father, he would have declared, “This is manifest justice.”’

Now when the brothers of Joseph heard this, they realized their message had been for nothing and they feared him whom they wronged. They said to themselves, ‘Nothing will keep him from killing us.’

Joseph said, ‘The message you sent to me, you purposed to deceive me. Did you think me unaware? I was also there the very moment our father drew up his knees and took his last breath.

Nothing that you do is hidden from me. But in what you have done is a mystery you do not perceive. Pharaoh asked if I would requite evil with wrath. And indeed, your wrong against me was requited, but not with my wrath, if you but knew.

You thought you threw me down the well, but you did not know. You cast yourselves into that pit. When I was sold into slavery, you yourselves became bondsmen to the deed. Even then you did not know it and you returned home to our father.

But did you gloat? Or did you weep for what you had done? Did you laugh while our father mourned? Or did you mourn with him, doubly grieved by your bad consciences? I knew and did not disturb your ignorance and when you came to me, I hid from you, to discern your secret hearts.

And when you brought Benjamin to me, only then did I reveal myself to you. Not one of you said, “You should have shown yourself sooner to ease our consciences.” No, I let you linger in your guilt and ignorance that you might discover virtue and knowledge.

Therefore, when I revealed myself to you, at that moment you wept and begged me to forgive you, and I forgave you. There is no more punishment for you, except that you know how you dealt with me when you thought you had power over me. Now you know; the wrong you wrought against me was in truth a wrong against your very selves.’

After Joseph had said this, his brothers wept and embraced him. Joseph said, ‘Do not be afraid of me. Think no more about the evil you did me, for in your evil there were a hundred goods. Not a mote of your malice fell on me.

Indeed, through your jealousy, God caused me to be raised up to power over you and, through your perfidy, God brought about your salvation. Your evil did not fall on me, but only on yourselves. So do not fear me. I will look after you and your little ones. The fire of my anger will never burn you, except that the light of my mercy shines within.’”

Herod said, “But not all men suffer. If wealthy men know nothing of suffering and if year by year their wealth grows more rapidly than they can squander it, are these men blessed by your god?”

John said, “The Lord tests men according to their capacity. And some men he tests with affluence.

A dervish was living in seclusion in the mountains. He had turned his back on the face of the world, and had barred the doors of his heart against the whim of desire. His austerities and vows had made his name synonymous with piety.

The people who lived in nearby villages esteemed him and considered him a holy man and climbed sometimes to his retreat to offer a little food in exchange for a wealth of wisdom.

One day the nizam, who found himself in difficulty with a rebel warlord, went to the dervish, offered him bread and asked from him his blessing against his opponents, which the dervish freely gave.

And when the nizam met his foe in battle, he vanquished him utterly and his power and prestige were not merely restored, but much enhanced. Delighted by this turn of fortune, the nizam bestowed on the dervish unnumbered treasures of gold and jewels, a palace in the capital, and a hundred servants.

To the villagers’ surprise, the dervish left his seclusion in the mountains. He moved to the palace and accepted the generous pension offered by the nizam, all for the price of a single benediction.

The dervish put away his tattered robes, exchanging them for muslin and silk and golden threads. He abandoned the lifelong austerities to which he had bound himself by various oaths.

He gathered a harem of great beauties for himself and imported only the most expensive and exotic delicacies for his dinners. The dervish became haughty where before he was humble, and ill- tempered where before he was tolerant. His servants considered him a tyrant, and the women of his harem thought him a beast.

When the wife of the nizam heard of the change that had overcome the character of the famous dervish, she scolded her husband.

The nizam replied, saying, ‘I did nothing to change this man’s nature.’

His wife said, ‘You have corrupted him with wealth!’

The nizam answered, ‘You consider his corruption to be a change of character. But his character is no different than on the day I found him sitting in his cave. Wealth has not altered his nature; it has only altered his circumstances. Affluence does not change a man, it merely reveals him.’”

Herod said, “If your god is all-knowing, why does he need to test his creatures? If he must test them, then he cannot be all- knowing. If he knows their hearts, then by testing them he is merely cruel.”

John said, “In truth, God knows all and sees within us faults we hide even from ourselves. He reveals to us our true selves for our own sake.

Haman, owing to his hatred of Mordecai, wished to destroy the Jews. He said to King Ahasuerus, ‘There are a people among us who are wicked and whose ways are foreign. They refuse to bow down before the idols, but only to their foreign god. Condemn these people, and I will pay a fortune into your treasuries.’

Ahasuerus said, ‘Keep your money and spend it as you choose. Give me the decree in judgment against the Jews and I will seal it with my signet.’

The decree was written commanding that the Jews of Ahasuerus’ kingdom be slain and their properties confiscated. And the king read and understood the decree and sealed it with the imprint of his ring, commanding it be disseminated throughout his kingdom.

Haman was overjoyed and spent the money with which he had attempted to bribe his king on the construction of gallows for the execution of the Jews in the city, Mordecai chief among them.

When Ahasuerus’ wife, Esther, heard of the decree from Mordecai, her heart’s bloom withered and she wept. She was Jewish, though she had kept this knowledge from the king, her husband. ‘Haman has ensnared the king and is determined that my people should die. How will I live, then?