3175 AM (585 BCE) – TISHA B’AV – 9TH OF AV — The Destroyer of Cities and the Remnant
Nebuzaradan, the destroyer of cities, looked at the crowd of thousands now before him.
“Greetings,” he began, with an air of expectation.
A man in the back, a man not of royal descent, but a man who was, nonetheless, a nobleman, stood. He was one of those who were too proud to acknowledge his sin before Adonai, and he was a man who had not left with the last two exiles. He came forward, slowly, and stood before Nebuzaradan.
Once at the head of everyone, and with as much respect as he could muster, he introduced himself, “Greetings, great General, I am Gedaliah. We were studying the Torah—uh, the words of Adonai—and we came across the story of when King David sinned and had a census done against the express command of Adonai. Adonai gave him three choices—seven years of famine, three months running from an enemy, or three days of a plague sent by Adonai.”
“What was his choice?” the General interrupted, somewhat interested and bemused by the story.
“Well,” Gedaliah continued with just the littlest bit of added confidence, “he said he would rather fall into the hand of Adonai, for His mercy is great. But let me not fall into the hands of men. So, he chose the pestilence.”
“Am I not a man?” the General asked with a tender smile.
“Uh, well,” Gedaliah continued again, “yes. But you are also the hands of Adonai, bringing judgment on Judah. I know you were given only one task—that of the end of Jerusalem—but, um, you are still His hands. We are already dead, so we put ourselves into those hands. We all acknowledge our failings before Adonai, and we all repent. We are ready to face judgment, and our Creator, if that is His desire.”
“Very well. Very well.” The General motioned to an aide. “Take these people and hold them in tents. Treat them well. Feed them… slowly. Help them recover. I have plans for them.”
“As you have said, it is already done,” the aide replied. With a snap of his fingers, several guards approached, and the guards ushered everyone out of sight. The General had already left to attend to other affairs.
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Zedekiah watched the whole surrender from the wall. Who was that stepping forward? He could not quite make out who it was. Was it Gedaliah? What was he doing? And is that Ishmael? What are they doing? “Traitors!” the King shouted over the walls, his voice barely reaching the ground. But the General heard it, or at least, he looked up and stared right at Zedekiah.
That’s when Zedekiah heard it. It was a horn, and not one of theirs. It was the Babylonians. They were attacking. The walls were overrun with siege towers, and the gates were opened nearly as fast. The speed of the well-rested and well-fed Babylonians was overwhelming. In minutes, Zedekiah was in their custody and was already being led down off the wall and back to the General.
Speechless, Zedekiah just stood with the General and silently watched. Nobody ran out of the city. Nobody was left alive who could. All were slaughtered. As the troops progressed, building after building was set ablaze. And then the unthinkable… the Palace… and then the Temple. Finally, even the walls were burned and pulled down.
The General called over to an aide, “Make a note. Orders from Nebuchadnezzar were fulfilled on the 9th of Av.”
The aide nodded and went into the General’s tent. Then the most supernatural experience occurred in Zedekiah’s life. Out of the smoke and ruin, several guards emerged. They had with them Zedekiah’s wife and children. They were saved! Zedekiah’s heart leapt with joy, until, one by one, they were slaughtered before him, and his eyes were gouged out.
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The General was preparing most of his army to leave. He planned to leave a contingent to keep the peace. He had resettled those led out of Jerusalem by Gedaliah into homes long abandoned. This was a good solution for the General, for he left a remnant for the sake of Judah; he left a loyal leader, Gedaliah, who would make reports to his contingent; and he obeyed Nebuchadnezzar by not bringing more than a handful of prisoners back on this final journey.
It was a win-win-win for all concerned.
Used with permission by the author. Find the author’s complete works online: Complete Works of Mack Samuels
