Lost Time (Time Out) Page 12

  I awoke in a daze. As if by instinct, my hand quickly found its way to my head and I felt what I guessed to be a cloth bandage wrapped around it. Even through the bandage, I still felt the tender bump and gash left by the impact of my skull on the rock. Slowly sitting up, I took in my surroundings and realized I had been brought inside a tent. There wasn’t much decoration in the tent though, just the pallet that I now sat on and a few clay pots filled with water. Through the crack in the tent flap, I saw the orange glow of the sun setting behind the mountains in the distance. Where was I? Who had brought me here?

  A wave of weakness and dizziness compelled me to lie back down, and I was just about to do so when a huge man appeared in the tent entryway. He had to be at least six feet tall, with a very muscular build, the kind that you only get when you spend all of your time outdoors. His face was worn with age and long sleepless nights, but there was an energetic expression of happiness that turned up the corner of his mouth. Though his face seemed worn with stress and weariness, he appeared eminently pleased about something. His gaze softened as he entered the tent and found me struggling to remain upright.

  In two quick steps, he was beside my pallet, and he knelt down beside it and placed his right hand on my chest, softly pushing me back onto the pallet.

  “You must rest!” His tone was soft yet insistent. “It is only by the grace of God that you are alive. You need time to heal before you should even get out of bed.”

  I tried to speak, but my throat burned and every muscle in my body screamed in pain, even my tongue. Nothing came out. I cleared my throat, and then tried speaking again. “Thank you for saving my life,” I rasped. “But what exactly happened to me? Who are you? Where are we?”

  “You have too many questions, young man. Allow me to answer them one at a time.”

  The man spoke with quiet assurance. I laid back, watching him as he sat down, crossing his legs in front of him. “First, I have to say you must’ve been sent here by God himself. I personally witnessed you fall out of the sky in a flash of light. But, for a reason I don’t know, God decided to drop you right in the middle of the Jordan River. You surely would have drowned had it not been for the fact that we were crossing the river not far from the sandbar.”

  “We?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “To answer your second question, my name is Joshua. I’m the leader of the Israelites. I have been their leader since my beloved mentor, Moses, died. As for where we are, we are on the plains of Jericho. I have been instructed by the Lord to march upon the city with His assurance that it will be handed over to me. I have full confidence that He will keep His word, so I’m obeying Him and following His command.”

  “How long have I been unconscious for?”

  “You have been delirious for several weeks, possibly more. I apologize for not keeping track, but as you know, I do lead all of the Israelites.” He winked and smiled, and then grew serious once again. “If you will excuse me, I must go speak to the priests. I will send someone to bring you some water and broth. Please stay here and rest. Once you feel better, feel free to get up and come find me.”

  I didn’t bother waiting for the water and broth. Though still weak, I sat up again, waiting for the dizziness to pass before attempting to gain my footing. It was precarious at first, but I finally managed to stand on my own two feet without everything spinning around me too badly. I waited a few seconds after he had left the tent, and then followed him. Once I had gotten up and started moving around, the dizziness passed and though weak, I felt I would be alright. Ignoring the renewed pounding at the base of my skull, I allowed my curiosity to overtake my somewhat limited common sense and tried peeking out of the tent. Just outside the tent flap, I saw Joshua conversing with a group of several priests, or at least they looked like priests to me.

  “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it,” Joshua said to one of the men.

  The man was so ornately dressed that he had to be the head priest. I blinked, hanging onto the flap of the tent for balance as I watched Joshua suddenly turn around, making as if to re-enter the tent. I didn’t get out of his way fast enough as he strode toward me, though I did try to take several steps back.

  Joshua knocked me on my butt as he came through the entrance. “So you decided to ignore my suggestion and got up anyway?” he said with a chuckle.

  He leaned down, extending a hand to help me back to my feet. Trying to hide my grimace of pain, I reached up and allowed him to pull me to my feet.

  “Come, I have something to show you.”

  He motioned with his left hand to follow him out of the tent, so, without a word, I followed him as he left the tent. The setting sun cast the surrounding desert in a beautiful glow, and I heard the peaceful sound of quail and the distance caw of birds. It was only a short walk until we came to a ledge overlooking a valley below. Surprisingly tired after such a short jaunt, I stood on the ledge beside Joshua and stared in awe at the valley below, and the cluster of buildings in the middle of it. In the distance, I saw a city surrounded by a wall. Immediately below us in the valley, however, gathered a group of people that had to number in the thousands. Stepping forward, Joshua took a shofar, or ram’s horn, tied to his belt and blew into it. The deep sound that issued from the horn quickly quieted the crowd below. In just seconds, the crowd had grown silent and everyone’s faces gazed upward, waiting for Joshua to speak.

  “Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord. But do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” Joshua yelled in a commanding voice to the crowd below.

  You should’ve seen this sight! It couldn’t have been more than five minutes before all the Israelites had assembled and were ready to march. I joined Joshua at the front of the procession, and without a word, everyone began marching toward what I now knew was the city of Jericho.

  The city of Jericho was perched on the west bank of the Jordan river, most known as the city of palm trees, the destination of the Israelite masses following their release from bondage in Egypt. I tried to recall my history of the oldest city in the world. I tried to recall my Bible history as we marched. I knew that Joshua had already sent two spies into the city to determine its strengths and weaknesses. I knew that the king had learned about the presence of the two spies, and that a woman named Rahab had hidden them on the roof of her house while the city was searched. The spies had promised the woman that she and her family would be spared if she could distinguish her house from others so that Joshua’s soldiers would recognize it, that she and her family must stay inside their home during the battle, and that she promise to never betray or turn in the spies that she had sheltered. She agreed, and hung a red rope outside her window.

  During the entire march, the only thing I heard were the sounds of thousands of feet marching and the blast of the priests’ shofars or trumpets blowing a deep baritone melody. Sure, they weren’t that musical considering it was just a single note played over and over again, but their sound was inspiring nonetheless. Although each shofar only played a single note, there was still a large variety of sounds coming from them. This was most likely due to the subtle differences in shape between each of the ram horns the shofars were made out of. As I looked up at the walls encircling Jericho, I saw many people staring down at us, apparently wondering what we were doing. After all, we weren’t attacking, but merely marching around the city walls. They kept turning to each other and murmuring, as if they were trying to figure out what we were doing. No doubt there were severely puzzled by why we marched around the wall without making a single sound, other than blowing the shofar or even hinting an attack on their city. After an hour or so, we finished our march around the city, and without any noise returned to camp for the remainder of the day.

  Once we had gotten back to camp, I approached Joshua to ask him a question. “Joshua,” I said. “Why march aroun
d the city six times? Why not just march around it once for affect, then skip right to the end so the walls will fall down?”

  No sooner had I finished that sentence then I realized that I had mentioned the walls falling down when, as far as I knew, he hadn’t mentioned that to me or anyone else. I held my breath in anticipation of his puzzlement at how I had known what God told him. Fortunately for me, however, he didn’t notice my mistake.

  “My dear boy,” he said. “The marching isn’t the point of all of this. Attacking the city prematurely wouldn’t do any better than if we marched. The reason we’re doing it is because it’s what God commanded me to do. God told me to march around the city, so I’m trusting in Him without worrying about anything else. God said the walls would fall down, so I’ll do exactly what He says until He tells me otherwise. If there are only two things that you must learn during your life, it is that if you give your entire life to God, He’ll do amazing things with it that you couldn’t possibly fathom. The other is that apart from God, we can do absolutely nothing.”

  “But what if it doesn’t happen? I mean, what if God doesn’t make the city fall?” I asked.

  Joshua smiled. “Even if that happens, it will be God’s will. Do you think anything would happen on this earth unless God allowed it to happen? No matter if it’s the falling of a city or what you decide to eat for supper, God’s will is in everything. You may not know why, but God indeed has a plan for everything He has created.”

  Feeling spiritually refreshed from my conversation with Joshua, I excused myself and returned to my tent to rest. I still felt the effects of my trip down the Jordan River, so I was quite sure I wasn’t up to another six days of marching. I poked my head outside the tent to make sure no one was outside, and then I took out the T.O.M. device and skipped ahead six days.

  As I entered and then excited the portal, I quickly survey my surroundings and realized I was in the clear. No one had seen me. However, it had been only a matter of seconds after the portal closed before Joshua rushed into my tent, his eyes around the interior before resting on me. He gasped for breath and his brow furrowed in apparent frustration. It appeared he was upset with me.

  “Where have you been?” he demanded. “I’ve been searching the entire camp for you for the past six days! It’s as if you disappeared. I was concerned! That’s no longer important, though. I have found you. You must follow me quickly, for we only have minutes before we make the final march on Jericho, a march in which God will prove victorious!”

  I could tell by the excitement in his voice and the glint in his eyes that this was going to be a great sight to see, so I quickly followed him outside. What I saw before me was almost identical to the formation I had seen weeks ago, except for the fact that I now saw evidence of fatigue and frustration on almost everyone’s faces. Of course, it would be too much to expect all of them to have the great faith that Joshua did. When I looked at Joshua’s face, instead of seeing fatigue or frustration, I saw only fierce determination to accomplish the task at hand. Once again, he issued the command for everyone to assemble for the final march. Once again, I joined him at the front of the line and we marched toward what would very shortly cease to be the city of Jericho. The confidence of everyone could be felt in the air; it was almost tangible. Although they were all obviously clueless as to the exact plan Joshua had envisioned, I could tell they were hopeful and that they trusted in their leader.

  As soon as we neared the city walls, we began our usual march around the city. The guards no longer paid attention to the Israelites marching around the circumference of their city, thinking that they knew what we were up to. It wasn’t until we began another circle around the city for the second time that their interest in us was renewed. After all, the Israelites had only marched around the city once each day. One by one, the guards turned their gaze toward us as we continued marching around their beloved city. By the time we had circled the city for the seventh time, we had the attention of not only the guards, but also of the king and a majority of the citizens. Hundreds of faces peered down at us from the walls, their expressions varied. Some laughed while others frowned and still others shouted at us to go away and leave them alone. As we finished our final circle of the city, the priests blew their trumpets, and in unison, every single person that had been marching came to a halt.

  It was then that Joshua turned to address the Israelites. With a loud and commanding voice he yelled over the crowd. “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the sacred things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise, you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into the treasury.”

  After he finished his speech, he walked over and stood next to me once again. For a few brief seconds only silence followed his words, not only from the Israelites, but also from within the walls of Jericho. Then, with a deep breath, the priests blew their shofars as loud as they possibly could. If that sound wasn’t magnificent enough, it paled in comparison to the cheering and shouts that erupted from the throats of the Israelites. It started off as a low rumble, similar to the sound of a few stray rocks falling down a cliff right before a landslide. Then, like a landslide, the sound grew louder and louder until it became almost deafening.

  I looked up at the walls to see guards running around on the top, unsure of what to do. Their problems soon came to an end as the walls began to tremble and shake. The rumbling and vibration grew so intense that I felt as if I would grind my own teeth to dust because of it. Then, before my astonished eyes, stones started popping out of the wall and it began to buckle. The noise was similar to an earthquake now, and the shaking all but disintegrated the mortar used to hold the stones together. The stones fell out now with increasing speed, and then, with a crash, a huge section of wall collapsed, and then another. Due largely to the fact that the walls’ supports were no longer there, the walls came crashing down to the ground, along with the guards standing on top of them. As the walls came crashing down, they took out several houses and other buildings that had been built alongside the walls. I heard pain-filled screams coming from the victims on the other side of what was left of the walls.

  After the dust had settled, I scoped out the destruction of Jericho and stood in shock. I saw the bloody remains of the guards poking out of the rubble, and beyond that the horrified looks of the citizens of Jericho as they realized there were now completely defenseless against the armies of Israel. Then, with an ear-shattering war cry, the Israelites stormed over the rubble and charged into the city.

  I tried running into the city as well so I could see what was going on, but I felt someone firmly grasp my arm to prevent me from doing so. I turned around to find that it was none other than Joshua.

  “Come with me,” he said in a tone that told me I’d better not argue with him.

  He led me by the arm behind a nearby cluster of bushes. Once we had lost sight of the ruins of Jericho, Joshua looked me square in the eye and spoke.

  “You would be better off not to witness this. I can tell by the look on your face that you are relatively untouched by the travesties of war, and I would not want to deprive you of that blessing. Once your mind is corrupted with the horror of war, you have to live with those memories forever. War is never something that people want to participate in, but most often it is something we need to participate in. I must go and join the rest of them now, but I believe you would be better off if we parted ways. Don’t worry; I know that God will protect you wherever you choose to go.”

  After giving me a quick brotherly hug, he ran around the cluster of bushes and back to what was left of Jericho.

  I took this as my cue to move on. I pulled out the T.O.M. device. I couldn't
believe some of the horrors I had seen in my recent travels. I thought this was the kind of stuff that only happened in third-world countries, stuff that I would never have to witness, let alone actually participate in. I still didn't know the point of me seeing all this stuff, or why God was putting me through such mental torture. "God…” I sighed. “Why me?"

  The portal appeared, and I stepped through.

  Chapter 11

  I emerged from the portal and into a fierce sandstorm. Bits of grit and sand blasted into my face, causing me to yelp as I lifted my arms in attempt to shield my eyes from the sand battering my body. Through squinted eyes, I looked around for some type of shelter, but the only thing I saw was a lot of sand.

  Where was I? I didn’t want to risk wandering deep into a desert where I would surely die of starvation and thirst, but I couldn’t stay where I was – I’d be buried under a mound of sand in a matter of hours. Perhaps if I walked in one direction, I’d find some shelter or at least relief from the sandstorm. Of course staying on any particular path would be next to impossible, but if I didn’t find something in my first venture perhaps I could backtrack and try again, always being careful not to wander too far from my point of egress from the portal. I moved forward.

  After wandering around in the blinding sand and wind for what seemed like hours, although it was likely much less, I felt exhausted. Trying to remain upright with the sand howling and blasting at me took immense physical effort. I had sand in my mouth, my nostrils and under my eyelids. I feared I’d choke to death if I didn’t find shelter soon. Just when I felt ready to give up and just let the sandstorm overtake me, I saw what I thought appeared to be a solid structure. At least it didn’t move. With hope intact, I leaned into the wind and slowly made my way toward the structure, one laborious step at a time. I stopped every ten paces to check the location of the structure. I tried to run, but my muscles protested, burning with weariness. The third time I stopped and looked for the shelter, I groaned. Something was not right. Why was that structure, which I believed to be a house, swaying so much? It was a good thing I paused, since not a minute later, over the sounds of the whistling sandstorm, I heard the sound of wood shattering and beams cracking and breaking apart.