Stephen Part 27

"There are times when silence is more excellent than speech," said Stephen.

Ben Obed cursed the temple under his breath, then he grasped his companion by the arm. "At least I am not a hypocrite," he said violently. "I have been commanded to fetch thee before the Council of the Sanhedrim that thou mayest answer for thy heresies. And I am going to do my duty. Lay not the consequences of thine own despicable folly at my door."

"I had not expected this at thy hands," said Stephen with a look of full understanding. "I had rather that it had been another--but it matters not." There was a slight tremor in his voice as he spoke the last words.

Ben Obed laughed aloud. "Thou wouldst rather that it were another, for then mightest thou hope to escape; but it is not another, it is I, Ben Obed, and because thou hast cheated me out of the woman I love, I--hate thee."

Stephen was silent. The twain, followed by the ill-omened messenger, presently came to the temple enclosure. Without a word Ben Obed hurried his companion through the crowded courts, neither heeding the curious looks with which they were regarded, till at length they stood before the closed door of the great Chamber of Council, called also the "Hall of Squares."

Caleb with a detachment of temple police stood on guard. He was looking anxious and worn, but his eye brightened as it fell upon Stephen.

Motioning to the guard to close in around the prisoner, he himself listened at the closed door; presently he laid a cautious hand upon the fastening and with an air of deep solemnity introduced his head into the sacred apartment. Apparently receiving some signal from within, he immediately withdrew it. "Pa.s.s in," he said briskly, laying a compelling hand upon Stephen's shoulder.

There was an awful stillness in the great room as the two entered, followed by the lesser officers, who ranged themselves on either side of the accused man. Then a murmur ran about the circle. At the sound Stephen raised his eyes and looked calmly about him. These were the men who had slain his Lord; they would also slay him--he knew it--and yet the knowledge brought with it only a singular joy. "They hate me, because I am like him," he said within himself, and the glory of that thought became visible upon his face.

Jonathan, the High Priest, was speaking now; with an effort the prisoner compelled himself to listen. "Thou art arraigned before this sacred a.s.sembly and Senate of Israel on the charge of blasphemously speaking against Jehovah; against this most Holy Temple; and against the laws and inst.i.tutions of Moses and of the Prophets, ordained by Jehovah to speak his pleasure to the children of men. We shall hear these charges confirmed by witnesses, according to our laws which thou hast despised, but which thou shalt tread under foot no longer with impunity. Fetch the first witness.--Dost thou, Ezek, recognize in this man that Stephen who hath blasphemed G.o.d, the temple, and the law?"

"I do, most wors.h.i.+pful and High Priest of Jehovah. This is the man."

"Tell us now what thou hast heard him say."

"I have heard him say that the malefactor, Jesus of Nazareth, who of late died the accursed death, after having been duly and righteously convicted of his crimes before this most sacred Council--I have heard him declare, that this man was Jehovah made manifest in the flesh. And that therefore his precepts and commands are more binding than the precepts of Moses, who was a sinful man like unto ourselves."

"Hast thou heard him say aught concerning the temple?"

"I have heard him say that the Nazarene shall shortly return to destroy this place, so that not one stone shall remain upon another, and that all things which Moses commanded shall be done away. The Gentiles moreover and them that are alien shall see these things and rejoice, for that this Jesus shall hereafter come in the clouds of heaven and gather his elect from the uttermost parts of the earth. The Nazarenes have the intent moreover to possess the earth, and to overthrow all powers and governments and all G.o.ds that have ever ruled among men, to the end that they may establish the man Jesus upon the throne of power."

"Didst thou hear the man declare these things?"

"I did, most sacred High Priest."

"Enough!--Iddo Ben Obed, thou mayest stand forth. Dost thou know this man?"

"I do, my lord."

Stephen looked up at the sound of this voice, and a keen spasm of pain swept across his face.

"Look at him!" whispered Issachar to his neighbor. "He evidently fears this witness more than the other--though his testimony was sufficiently d.a.m.ning."

"And what hast thou to say concerning him?" continued the monotonous voice of the High Priest.

"He hath spoken blasphemously against Moses and against this holy place, even as hath already been said in your hearing, declaring that G.o.d regardeth neither this temple nor the holy city of Jerusalem, inasmuch as the Lord Jesus did in his lifetime p.r.o.nounce against them anathema; he also----"

"Hold! How is it that thou dost call the Nazarene Lord? Art thou also one of them?"

The witness turned pale. He cast a murderous look at Stephen. "No," he said fiercely. "I but repeat the word which these men make use of in their blasphemous harangues to the people; the words slipped from me unawares."

"Proceed."

"He hath declared that neither by laws of man's devising nor by temples of man's building can Jehovah be pleased. That all these things shall be brought to naught; but that the words of the Nazarene shall remain."

"Enough! There is no need for further testimony. Let the accused stand forth."

Stephen obeyed. And all that sat in the Council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE LIFTED VEIL.

Then said the High Priest, after the manner of the formal procedure, "Are these things so?"

And Stephen, looking about on the seventy men before whom he stood, the heads and leaders of that forlorn remnant of the chosen people, desolate because of their rebellion against the G.o.d who had borne with them so long and patiently, was moved to bring again the wonderful promises of Jehovah to their minds. So plain did it all appear to him, filled as he was with that spirit of light which the Lord had vouchsafed according to his word, and which he had also promised to pour out freely upon all men. A glorious hope was stirring in his breast as he looked from one to the other of the stern faces before him. Hatred indeed and stubborn self-satisfaction he saw written thereon, but what could stand before the all-powerful spirit of truth? What if it should be granted him to mightily convince these men; to see, perchance, some such glorious exhibition of G.o.d's grace as had been manifested at Pentecost.

"Men, brethren and fathers, hearken!" he began, and at the sound of that inspired voice every eye was fastened upon him. "The G.o.d of glory appeared unto our father Abraham and said unto him: 'Get thee out of thy land and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.' Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans and dwelt in Haran; and from thence, when his father was dead, G.o.d removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. He gave him no inheritance in it, not even so much as to set his foot upon; but he promised that he would give it to him and to the generations after him, when as yet he had no child.

"And G.o.d spake thus unto him, 'Thy children shall sojourn in a strange land, and they shall be enslaved and evil entreated for the s.p.a.ce of four hundred years. But the nation which hath persecuted them I will judge; I, Jehovah, have declared it. And after that shall thy children come forth out of bondage and they shall serve me in this place.' And he gave him the covenant of circ.u.mcision. And so Abraham after that Isaac was born, circ.u.mcised him on the eighth day. And to Isaac in due time was born Jacob; Jacob also had twelve sons, whom we call the patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph their brother, sold him into Egypt. Nevertheless G.o.d was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, King of Egypt, insomuch that Pharaoh made him governor over all the land.

"Now there came a mighty famine, which extended throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and the people were wasted by it. Our fathers also had no food, but Jacob, hearing that there was corn in Egypt, sent forth his sons to fetch some. And when that was consumed which they brought, they went again the second time; and Joseph made himself known unto his brethren, and he brought them into the presence of Pharaoh. After that, Joseph sent for Jacob his father, and for all his kindred, numbering in all three score and fifteen souls. They went therefore into the land of Egypt, and Jacob died there, and in due time the patriarchs, our fathers, also; and they were buried in Shechem, in the land which Abraham had bought for a burial place.

"But as the time of the promise drew nigh, which G.o.d had given unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied, till there arose another king over Egypt which knew not Joseph.

"The new king dealt deceitfully with our nation, wickedly compelling our fathers that they should cast out their babes to die. At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of G.o.d. Three months was he nourished in his father's house, and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter rescued him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he became mighty in word and deed.

"Now when he was well nigh forty years of age, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, smiting the Egyptian that he died--supposing that his brethren would understand how that G.o.d by his hand was giving them deliverance; but they understood not. And the day following he came again upon two of them at strife, and urged them to be at peace, saying:--

"'Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one another?'

"But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, 'Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wouldst thou kill me, as thou didst kill the Egyptian yesterday?'

"And Moses fled at this saying, and became an exile in the land of Midian. Here he took to himself a wife, and two sons were born to him.

And when forty years had pa.s.sed, an angel appeared to him as he wandered one day in the wilderness of Sinai; and the angel was as a burning flame of fire in a bush of the mountain--the bush burned, yet was not consumed. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight; and as he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord, saying:

"'I am the G.o.d of thy fathers, the G.o.d of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.'

"Then Moses trembled, and hid his face, and the Lord said unto him:

"'Loose the shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send thee into Egypt.'

"So it came to pa.s.s that this very Moses, whom the people of Israel had refused, saying, 'Who made thee a ruler and a judge?' G.o.d sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer, by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. And this man, Moses, led the Israelites forth, working great signs and wonders in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, for the s.p.a.ce of forty years.

"This is that Moses which said unto the children of Israel, 'A prophet shall G.o.d raise up unto you from among your brethren like unto me.'

This is that Moses that was with the people in the wilderness, with the angel which spake to him in the Mount of Sinai, who also received the law at the hands of the living G.o.d to give unto us. But our fathers refused him their obedience, and thrust him away from them, turning back in their hearts unto Egypt and saying unto Aaron:

"'Make us G.o.ds which shall go before us, for as for this Moses, which led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.' Then made they for themselves a golden calf, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.

"But G.o.d turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets: