Francine Rivers Mark of the lion
It is written by a great writer
Mark of the Lion 01:
A VOICE IN THE WIND
by Francine Rivers
PART I:Jerusalem
Chapter 1
The city was silently bloating in the hot sun, rotting like the thousands
of bodies that lay where they had fallen in street battles. An
oppressive, hot wind blew from the southeast, carrying with it the
putrefying stench of decay. And outside the city walls, Death itself
waited in the persons of Titus, son of Vespasian, and sixty thousand
legionnaires who were anxious to gut the city ofGod .
Even before the Romans crossed theValleyofThorns and
camped on the Mount of Olives, warring factions withinJerusalem ’s
city walls had prepared the way for her destruction.
Jewish robbers, who now fled like rats before the Roman
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
legions, had recently fallen uponJerusalem and murdered her
prominent citizens, taking over the holy temple. Casting lots for
the priesthood, they turned a house of prayer into a marketplace
of tyranny.
Fast behind the robbers came rebels and zealots. Directed by
rival leaders—John, Simon, and Eleazar—the warring factions
raged within the three walls. Swollen with power and pride, they
slicedJerusalem into bloody pieces.
Breaking the Sabbath and the laws of God, Eleazar stormed
AntoniaTowerand murdered the Roman soldiers within it. Zealots
rampaged, murdering thousands more who attempted to
bring order back to a maddened city. Unlawful tribunals were set
up and the laws of man and God mocked as hundreds of innocent
men and women were murdered. Houses full of corn were
burned in the chaos. Famine soon followed.
In their despair, righteous Jews prayed fervently forRome to
come against the great city. For these Jews believed that then, and
only then, would the factions withinJerusalem unite in one cause:
freedom againstRome .
Romedid come and, their hated ensigns held high, their war
cry rang across all ofJudea . They tookGadara , Jotapata,Beersheba ,
Jericho,Caesarea . The mighty legions marched in the very
footsteps of devout pilgrims who came from every corner of the
the nation to worship and celebrate the high holy days of the
Feast of the Unleavened Bread—the Passover. Innocent tens of
thousands poured into the city and found themselves in the midst
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
of civil war. Zealots closed the gates, trapping them inside.Rome came on until the sound of destruction
echoed across the Valley
of Kidron against the walls ofJerusalem itself. Titus laid siege to the ancient, holy city, determined to end
Jewish rebellion once
and forever.
Josephus, the Jewish general of fallen Jotapata who had been
taken captive by the Romans, wept and cried out from atop the
first wall defeated by the legionnaires. With Titus’ permission, he
pleaded with his people to repent, warning them that God was
against them, that the prophecies of destruction were about to be
fulfilled. Those few who listened to him and managed to evade
the zealots in their escape reached the greedy Syrians—who dissected
them for the gold pieces they had supposedly swallowed
before deserting the city. Those who didn’t heed Josephus suffered
the full fury of the Roman war machine. Having cut down every
tree within miles, Titus built siege engines that hurled countless
javelins, stones, and even captives into the city.
From theUpper Market Place to the lower Acra and the Valley
of Cheesemongers between, the city writhed in revolt.
Inside the greattempleofGod , the rebel leader John melted
down the sacred golden vessels for himself. The righteous wept
forJerusalem , the bride of kings, the mother of prophets, the
home of the shepherd king David. Torn asunder by her own
people, she lay gutted and helpless, awaiting her death blow from
hated Gentile foreigners.
Anarchy destroyedZion , andRome stood ready to destroy
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
End of Document
182
