Pearl in the Sand (14 page)

S
almone dropped to his knees on a heap of charred masonry. The short sword he had wielded for long hours clattered to his side. He swallowed, his throat convulsing. The smell of death surrounded him, and he fought hard against a sudden urge to empty the meager contents of his stomach. A swarm of flies buzzed around him, drawn to the scent of blood drying on his clothes. He let them, too tired to swat them away. Peripherally, he became aware of a man striding toward him. Joshua. Salmone wished he would go away and leave him alone to make some kind of peace with his internal torment. But Joshua kept right on coming, his steps unwavering. He climbed Salmone’s heap and stood over him for a moment. A strong arm, brown from the sun, wrapped itself around Salmone’s rigid shoulders like a familiar blanket.

For a moment Salmone avoided that comfort, drawing deeper into himself. Then dropping his head, he allowed the tension to drain out of him. “I’ll never get used to the killing,” he whispered, his voice raw. With a trembling hand he rubbed the side of his face, leaving ash streaks on his cheek.

“God takes no pleasure in this either, my son,” Joshua said. “You know He hates iniquity the way a mother hates whatever pestilence harms her children. Like the days of Noah, the children of Adam can pile so much corruption upon corruption that their very being grows dangerous to all that breathes. So God’s holiness rises up. But I believe that like Noah’s flood, this part of our history is constrained to a season. This is only a short part of our story and is meant to reach an end. God has other plans for our people. He promised Abraham that all the nations of the world would be blessed through him. Through us. That is our ultimate destiny.”

Salmone groaned. “I wish for that season of blessing not to tarry. This is one job I can’t wait to be released from. Days like this are gut-wrenching. I suppose I sound ungrateful, given everything the Lord has done for us.”

“You sound weary.” Joshua straightened and surveyed the devastation around him. “We’ll be returning to the camp soon. The very ground of this city is cursed. We will not spend a single night on this soil.”

Salmone became aware that someone was running toward them. Hanani.

“My lord, I’ve been seeking for you everywhere.” He panted as he reached them, addressing Joshua first as was proper. Unaware of the storm of emotion Salmone had only just sheathed, he smiled lightly. “Glad you’re safe,” he said to his friend before turning his attention back to Joshua. “Now that you are done with the arrangements for the city, can you spare a few moments?”

“Yes, O renowned spy. How did events proceed with Rahab and her family? Did you see them to safety?”

“We did. In fact that is what I wished to speak about, my lord. She asks for permission to live with Israel. She and her family.”

Salmone snorted, but Joshua ignored him. “Does she now? Singular woman, this
zonah
of yours.”

Hanani flushed. “She definitely isn’t mine, and I don’t think
she’s even a
zonah
anymore. She said to tell you that she has given up that life. For the Lord.”

Joshua wiped his beard with a callused hand, pulling on the hairs at his chin. His nostrils flared with a big breath. “I am convinced she has been sent to us by God. Though she can’t know much about the Lord, she follows hard after Him. Since our wanderings began, we have taken less worthy outsiders into our midst. If she and her family give up their idols and agree to live according to our laws, then I believe I shall allow her to join us.”

Salmone, who had kept his comments to himself, exploded. “You can’t mean that!”

“Can’t I? And why would that be?”

Too roused to heed the dangerous light in Joshua’s eyes, Salmone said, “We have just put their whole people to death, in case you forgot. You think they’re going to live with us peacefully after that? We’ll have to sleep with one eye open for fear of being stabbed in the night by Jericho escapees seeking revenge.”

Joshua nodded. “A reasonable concern. Except that this woman herself helped with the destruction of her home by aiding our men. And her family helped right along by keeping quiet with her. If they were so concerned for Jericho, they would have tried to save it while they had the power. They will be harmless enough in our midst. Sorrowing, I dare say, but not vengeful.”

“And what about Rahab?”

Joshua bent his head to the side. “What about her?”

“She’s a
zonah
, whatever she claims about giving it up. She’s unclean.”

Joshua raised up a hand, palm up. “I think you and I had better have a walk together.” That was Joshua’s
commander
voice, brooking no disagreement. Salmone obeyed, his steps wooden.

Joshua said nothing until they entered a secluded grove just outside where Jericho’s walls once stood. Salmone chafed under the heavy silence, wondering how he had displeased the older man. Joshua came to an abrupt halt and turned to face him. “Such a heart
of pride you have been harboring, my young friend.”

Shocked, Salmone’s eyes bulged. “My lord?” The formal words of address almost choked him as they came out.

“It’s unpleasant, this business, I know. But I must speak with you forthrightly. Salmone, your judgment on this woman is erroneous.

“Not that I blame you, mind. I understand the root of your opinions; I know how you formed them. It’s part and parcel of the way you young ones grew up. Your generation has had a hard lesson to learn. Your parents’ and grandparents’ lack of faith and disobedience changed your lives. Instead of being born and raised in homes of your own, you’ve endured the hardships of a meandering existence. You have never known the routine of a stable home life. The one security you young ones have known has been the Lord. It has made you cling to God in a way your parents weren’t able to do. Perhaps your children’s generation won’t inherit your resolve either. Maybe that’s why God allowed you to become wanderers in the first place.

“But there is an underside to every strength, and yours is showing right now, Salmone. You have grown judgmental in your attempt at righteousness.”

“I’m merely stating the facts.”

“Ah yes. She’s
unclean
. Vile with sin. What an unfamiliar concept to the nation of Israel. Because our greatest leader Moses never killed a man in rage. And our high priest Aaron never fashioned an idol of gold. Your own spotless ancestor, Judah, certainly didn’t ignore the rights of the widow of his sons. And God forbid he should walk by a pretty girl he mistook for a prostitute and turn aside into her tent. What a sore torment Rahab would be to pure, unblemished Israel.”

Salmone ground his teeth. “Are you comparing an adulterous woman to Moses?”

“In a way. I think you have forgotten, my young friend, that the blood of the spotless lambs on Passover covers your own sins too.” Salmone turned red, and Joshua nodded. “Do you remember
my telling you about meeting with the commander of the army of the Lord? He told me that day that he was neither on our side nor the side of our enemy. It gave me a glimpse of the Lord’s heart. He is on the side of all who are on His side. And Rahab is on His side. Only your pride blinds you to that fact.

“Pride is the bane of the righteous. On the outside you may seem more upright than a woman with such a past, but God sees us from the inside. You’ve been so busy trying to keep the Commandments, trying to do everything right on the outside that you forgot your inner world can never bear the holy scrutiny of the Lord. And you have missed the self-righteousness that’s crept through your front door. You are mistaking condemnation for good judgment.

“Now I’m going to give you a new assignment to help you with your problem. I am putting Rahab and her family under the banner of the tribe of Judah. Specifically, I’m putting them under your charge.”

“But—”

“Stop. Don’t say another word unless it’s, ‘Yes, my lord’. I expect you to treat these people with respect. Help them settle in. Teach them our ways. Have I made myself understood?”

“Yes, my lord.” Salmone’s lips hardly moved as he spoke. He felt frozen within. Never had Joshua reprimanded him so completely. The man he admired most thought him self-righteous. Proud. Judgmental.
Over a Canaanite zonah
. He had fought hard to gain Joshua’s respect. The opinion of his mentor meant the world to him. And his criticism cut him to the core. His words snaked into his heart with bitter bile.

Resentment toward Rahab and her brood overflowed through him. His original objections against her were a matter of principle; he had had no personal vendetta against her. But after this encounter with Joshua a distinct dislike of her crept into his heart. He swiveled and strode back toward the heap that was once the city of Jericho. With narrowed eyes, he looked for Hanani. Joshua had given him
an assignment and he meant to discharge it with obedience. He also had every intention of forcing this Canaanite woman to show her true nature.

He found Hanani sitting down to a meal of date cakes and roasted grain. In his mind, Hanani was tainted by association. He had pushed Rahab forward, after all. Without preamble or his customary warmth, Salmone said, “Where did you take that woman? Joshua has placed her and her family under my leadership.”

Hanani swallowed his mouthful of date cake. “You mean Rahab? They’re about an hour outside our camp. We can stop by on the way home, if you want.”

“No. It will be deep in the night by the time we get there. Let them spend the night where they are. We’ll deal with them in the morning.”

“Uh, you don’t sound too happy about it.”

“Me unhappy? I’m positively jubilating. Just what I always wanted for my tribe—a Canaanite adulteress and her morally destitute kin. That ought to bring peace and tranquility to my people.”

“Salmone, I don’t think—”

“That’s right; you don’t,” he bit off and walked away.

He spent the next two hours checking on those under his charge, taking note of the wounded, hearing their tales of battle, making sure those needing help received adequate assistance. Shoving his churning feelings into a side pocket of his mind, he allowed his usual warmth to flow over his men, praising them for acts of valor and taking note of their experiences. He held a short meeting with the commanders who reported to him before allowing himself to make for home.

The moon had been aloft for hours by the time he trudged back. Just outside Israel’s camp, he stripped off his clothes, washing off the blood and sweat of battle until he was ceremonially clean. Then he dragged himself into the camp, drained and spent, beyond tired. What should have been a day of elation tasted bitter in his mouth. Knowing that messengers had already done the work of
bringing news for wives and mothers and sisters waiting at the camp, he made a straight line for his tent.

His younger sister Miriam, named for Moses’ famed sibling, almost threw him on the ground with the force of her body as she slammed against him in a fierce hug.

“Umph!” he mumbled, trying to catch his breath. “If the soldiers of Jericho fought the way you hug, we might not have won.”

She smacked him on the arm. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Salmone patted her head, forgetting that she was now a woman grown and not a child. “Safe and sound and bleary with exhaustion.”

“To bed with you, then. Tomorrow, you can tell me about the battle and the wall falling. Ezra described it, but he had to be brief. I bet your version is more exciting.”

“Bloodthirsty girl. Away before you give me nightmares.”

Salmone crawled into his pallet, stretching aching muscles, trying to unwind. He didn’t pray, not even to praise God for His miraculous intervention or his own safe return. He told himself he was too weary, but in a deeper recess of his mind he was aware that what kept him from God was not exhaustion, but anger. He felt angry about his unfair fight with Joshua. He felt angry about the burden of Rahab. And most of all he felt angry about the possibility that Joshua might just be right about him.

Morning dawned bright, and for Salmone, not cheerful. Miriam came in with breakfast and an elated smile. Everyone in Israel grinned this day. Their cheer irritated him. They didn’t have any unpleasant chores to mar the taste of victory on their lips. They didn’t have to deal with a Canaanite
zonah
.