<h2>The Stranger by the Golden Altar</h2><div class="chaptertitle">CHAPTER 3</div>
<div class='cap'>IN THE land of Palestine one city was loved by the
Jews above all other places. That was Jerusalem,
the largest city in the land in the province of Judea.
It was to the Jews everywhere, not only in Palestine
but over all the earth, wherever Jews lived, "the holy
city." From all parts of the land the people came at
least once in every year, and many families, three times
each year, to worship God in Jerusalem. At these great
feasts, as they were called, all the roads leading to Jerusalem
were thronged with travelers going up to Jerusalem
for worship. And the Jews in other lands, many hundreds
of miles away, even as far as Rome itself, tried
at least once in their lives to visit the city. They sang
about Jerusalem songs such as:</div>
<div class='poem'>
"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,<br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Let my right hand forget her cunning;</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">If I remember thee not,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">If I prefer not Jerusalem</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Above my chief joy."</span><br/></div>
<p>That which made Jerusalem a holy city was its
Temple, a magnificent building on Mount Moriah, just
across a valley from Mount Zion, where the larger part
of the city stood. The Temple they called "The House
of God," for in it the Jews believed their God made
his home. In front of this Temple stood an altar, which
was like a great box made of stone, hollow inside, and
covered with a metal grating. Upon <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'his'">this</ins> altar a fire
was kept burning night and day, and on the fire the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</SPAN></span>
priests who led in the worship of God, laid offerings of
sheep and oxen, which were burned as gifts to God;
while around the altar the people stood and prayed to
God as the offering, which they called "a sacrifice,"
was burning.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-040.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="294" alt="photo" /> <span class="caption">Looking up the Kedron Valley toward Mt. Moriah</span></div>
<p>Inside the Temple building were two rooms. The
room in front was called "the holy place," and in it
stood on one side a table covered with gold, on which
lay twelve loaves of bread as an offering to God; one
loaf for each
of the twelve
tribes of Israel.
On the
other side of
the room
stood a golden
lamp-stand,
with seven
branches,
called "the
golden candlestick."
At
the farther
end of the
room stood another altar, made of gold, smaller than
the great altar in front of the Temple. On this golden
altar the priest offered twice each day a bowl of incense,
which was made by mixing some sweet-smelling gums,
frankincense and myrrh, and burning them, so that they
formed a fragrant white cloud, filling the Holy Place.</p>
<p>Beyond the Holy Place was another room called
"The Holy of Holies." Into this room no one entered
except the high priest, and he on only one day in the
year; for this inner room was set apart for the dwelling-place
of God; and the Jews believed that in this room<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</SPAN></span>
the light of God was shining so brightly that no one
could endure it. In the first Temple built by King
Solomon, the Ark of the Covenant stood in the Holy
of Holies. This was a chest covered with gold, within
which lay the two stone tables on which the Ten Commandments
were written. But the Ark of the Covenant
had been lost, and in the time of which we are speaking,
nothing was in the Holy of Holies except a block of
marble.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-041.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="388" alt="photo" /> <span class="caption">The Mosque of Omar, now on the place where the Temple once stood</span></div>
<p>One day an old priest named Zacharias was offering
incense upon the golden altar in the Holy Place.
He had filled the bowl, which they called a censer, with
the frankincense and myrrh, and had placed in it some
coals of fire from the great altar in front of the Temple.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</SPAN></span>
He had come into the Holy Place, bringing his censer of
incense, which sent its white cloud into the air, and was
just about to lay it upon the altar, when he was startled
at suddenly seeing someone standing by the golden altar
on the right side.</p>
<p>Zacharias was surprised to see anyone in the room,
for he knew that no one but himself had a right to be
there. But he was still more surprised and filled with
fear when he looked at this stranger standing by the
altar. He seemed like a young man, and his face and
body and clothes were bright and shining like the sun,
so glorious that the old priest could not bear to look
upon him.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-042.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="321" alt="drawing" /> <span class="caption">High Priest, altar of incense, table for shew bread, and Ark of the Covenant</span></div>
<p>At once Zacharias knew that this glorious person
was an angel sent from God. He trembled with fear;
his knees shook, and he could scarcely keep from falling
on the floor. The angel spoke to him, gently and
kindly:<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"Zacharias, do not be frightened. You have
nothing to fear. I have come to you with good news.
God has heard the prayers that you and your good wife
Elizabeth have been sending up to heaven for these
many years. You shall have a son, and shall call his
name John. Your son when he becomes a man will
bring joy and gladness to many people; for he shall be
great in the sight of the Lord; and it shall be his work
to make his people ready for the coming of the King
for whom
they have
been looking
so long. You
must see that
your son
never drinks
any wine or
strong drink,
for he is to be
set apart for
God, to serve
God only, and
to speak the
word of God to the people, telling them that their King
and Saviour is at hand."</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-043.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="283" alt="drawing priest below huge candlestick" /> <span class="caption">The golden candlestick</span></div>
<p>The priest was so filled with surprise and fear that
he could scarcely believe what he heard.</p>
<p>"How can these wonderful words be true?" he said.
"I am an old man, and my wife is also old. We are too
old now to have children. How can I believe all this?"</p>
<p>The angel was not pleased when he saw that Zacharias
doubted his word, and he said:</p>
<p>"I am the angel Gabriel, that stands before God;
and I have been sent from God to speak to you and
to bring you this good news. Now, because you did<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</SPAN></span>
not believe God's word, you shall be stricken dumb,
and shall not be able to speak until my words come
true and your child is born."</p>
<p>And then the angel vanished out of sight as suddenly
as he had come, and Zacharias was left alone.</p>
<p>All this time a great crowd of people was standing
outside the Temple, worshipping God while the offering
was made. They wondered that Zacharias was
waiting so long in the Temple; and they wondered
more when he came out and they found that he could
not speak. He made signs to them, trying to show
them he had seen an angel, but he did not tell them
what the angel had said, for that was meant for himself
only and not for others.</p>
<p>Each priest stayed for one week in the Temple and
then went to his house; so after a few days Zacharias
left Jerusalem and returned to his house in the southern
part of the land, not far from the old city of Hebron,
the place where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the early
fathers of the Israelites, were buried.</p>
<p>How happy Elizabeth was when her husband, by
signs and by writing, told her of the angel and his
promise that she should be the mother of one who was
to bear the word of the Lord to the people. Such men,
to whom God spoke and who spoke for God, were called
"prophets." Many great prophets in past years had
spoken the word of God to the Israelites, men like Samuel
and Elijah and Isaiah. But more than four hundred
years had passed away since the voice of a prophet
had been heard in the land. Their promised son was
to rise up and speak once more God's will to his people.
Zacharias and Elizabeth might not live long enough to
hear his voice as a prophet, but they had God's promise,
and in that promise they were happy, waiting for their
child to come and grow up to his great work.</p>
<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</SPAN></span></p>
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