Naomi

by Mrs. J. B. Webb

Even Zadok's self-command was failing, and the natural tenderness of his heart was ready to triumph over the lofty calmness that usually distinguished his manner and deportment. His wife and Claudia, Deborah, and all the other attendants wept aloud from sympathy and anxiety, while Amaziah bent his eyes on Naomi, and waited in almost breathless expectation of her reply to the appeal of Zadok. She had raised her face, and shaken back her clustering hair from her pale brow and weeping eyes, while Salome's words of kindness were whispered in her ear, and she had sought to interrupt her mother when she spoke of forgetting the faith she had so lately learned. But when Zadok addressed her she paused in deep reverence, and waited in silence until he called for her reply. Then she rose from her knees, and stood erect and self-possessed. Her mother's promise that she should return to the Jewish faith had startled her, and recalled her to a sense of her duty, and a confident reliance on the aid she had implored to keep her firm and unshaken under every temptation and trial. Her countenance was as pale as death, and the beating of her heart was almost audible, yet she spoke firmly.

"My father, you have commanded me to renounce the faith which I have embraced because I feel that it is true. Sooner could I gaze up at the noonday sun, and say that it gives no light, than I can behold the character of Jesus of Nazareth, and say that the glory of the Godhead shines not therein. My soul was dark, my heart was hard, my spirit was proud and unhumbled, and therefore I knew not peace; when many months ago I met an aged disciple of Jesus Christ, and she told me of his power and his love, and the words that he spake, and the miracles that he wrought. She told me how he left his Father's throne on high, and lived with sinful men, in poverty and affliction on earth, to teach them how they ought to live. And she told me how at length he died, a sacrifice for sin and an atonement for us sinners; and having borne his Father's wrath, and drained the cup of sorrow that was mixed for us, how he rose triumphant from the grave, and ascended again to his God and our God, there to plead his death for our forgiveness, and to prepare mansions of everlasting peace and joy for all who truly love and serve him. When I heard all this, my father, I felt my heart was changed. Could I be too grateful to him who had done so much for me? Could I feel proud and self-righteous when the Son of God had died to wash away my guilt? Could I any longer put my trust in the blood of calves and goats to wash away my sin, when the blood of the Messiah had been shed as a perfect oblation and satisfaction? I received the Lord Jesus as my God and Saviour, and he has given rest unto my soul. Never, never will I forsake Him who gave himself for me!—never will I renounce that name whereby alone I hope to be saved!"

Naomi had gathered courage as she continued, and ere she concluded her reply the colour had returned to her cheek, her eyes had recovered their wonted brightness, and her hands were clasped in an attitude of firmness and devotion. She was astonished at her own boldness, and still more at the forbearance with which her father listened to the end. Zadok, and all who heard her, were struck and impressed by the earnestness and solemnity of her manner, and could not repress the admiration that was excited by the zeal and the firmness she displayed. Amaziah rejoiced with thankfulness at this evident proof that she was sustained by the grace of God, and he felt proud in being the relative and the instructor of the devoted creature who stood before him. At length Zadok spoke:

"Would to God, Naomi, that all this warmth of feeling, and this firmness of spirit, were directed in the way of truth and reason. Alas! I can now only deplore that the powers of your soul have been so misled. My heart is wounded within me, and I am unable to answer you as I ought to do. Go to your chamber, and remain there until I either visit you to-morrow, or call for you to listen to the teaching of Rabbi Joazer. If you return to your duty and your religion all shall be forgiven; but if the delusions of the evil spirit cannot be removed, and you still refuse to acknowledge yourself a true daughter of Abraham, then, O my God! enable me to act according to the spirit of thy holy laws, and be the first to bring to judgment the idolatrous member of my house, though my heart-strings break in the effort!"

Zadok hurried from the room, and shutting himself up in his private apartment, passed the night in prayer for the soul of his child. None of the family retired to rest, for Salome and Claudia would not leave Naomi, on whom they hoped their persuasions would have some effect, and incline her more readily to obey the wishes of her father. Amaziah also remained with his niece, to strengthen and support her, for her spirits sank after the violent effort she had made; and he also entertained a hope, that while he defended the cause of his niece, his arguments might have some good influence in weakening the prejudices of Salome and Claudia. Had Zadok been aware of the discussion that was carried on for several hours that night, he would have put a stop to it, nor have suffered his wife to listen to the doctrines and the narratives so eloquently set forth by his zealous brother. Salome's naturally mild and amiable disposition had always prevented her from manifesting the same hatred and contempt for the Nazarenes that was felt by her husband and her son. The malignant violence of Javan had ever inspired her with fear and horror; and even Zadok appeared to her to cherish sentiments at variance with true religion and charity. The character also of Jesus, of whom in her childhood she had heard innumerable stories of love and mercy, had to a certain degree impressed her heart; and though she looked upon his assumption of Divinity as unfounded and blasphemous, and ascribed his miracles to the agency of evil spirits, according to the belief of all her mistaken people, yet she could not withhold her admiration from the holiness, and purity, and self-devotion of his life, and that of his followers and disciples.

The enthusiasm and determination of Amaziah and her daughter also greatly influenced her mind, and she respected a firmness which she felt herself incapable of sharing. She knew not then the all-powerful effect of the Christian faith in giving courage and boldness to the weakest believer; she knew not how the contemplation of the Redeemer's love could inspire such a corresponding feeling of gratitude and devotion, as to banish all weakness and all regard for personal suffering, and make death in its most terrible form less to be dreaded than one act of unfaithfulness to Him. Had Zadok been a Christian, Salome would have found no difficulty in receiving the same doctrines: but she looked up to him as a model of wisdom, and judgment, and piety; and when she heard him laugh to scorn the "wild delusions of the Nazarenes," she was convinced that he must have good reason for the contempt he expressed, and that it was the weakness of her own mind that inclined her to favour a system to which her husband was so averse. Had she looked simply to the word of God, and studied it attentively, with prayer for the guidance of his Spirit, and cast aside all human dependence, doubtless her mind would have been speedily enlightened, and she would have been spared much of the sorrow, and doubt, and anxiety by which she was eventually tried and afflicted.

Claudia had not so many prejudices to overcome. She had been brought up in the belief of the existence of a multitude of deities, and if required no great effort for her to admit the God of Israel to a share of her worship, when she was instructed by Naomi in the wonders he had performed, and the manifestations he had made of his power and goodness to his peculiar people. But her friend had found it much more difficult to persuade her that all the divinities to whom she had from her childhood been taught to pay adoration were but senseless images, helpless and powerless. Time and reflection, the perusal of the Scriptures, and the prayers of Naomi, had by degrees eradicated the errors of her youth; and the letter which she had received from her brother, declaring his renunciation of all the gods of the heathen, had gone far to convince her that they were unworthy of her worship. During the period of Naomi's absence from Jerusalem, her time had been passed in perfect retirement. The state of the city had made it necessary for females to remain as secluded as possible, and Salome and Deborah had both taken advantage of this season of comparative inactivity to improve the good impressions already made by Naomi's instructions.

At the period of which we are now speaking, Claudia was therefore in belief a Jew. Naomi had not ventured to confide to her the change which was worked in her own sentiments, for she feared that it might weaken Claudia's newly-acquired faith in the one true God of heaven and earth, if she knew that her young teacher paid divine worship to Jesus of Nazareth. Naomi waited until she could be satisfied that her pupil had a right understanding of the nature of Jehovah, as revealed by himself; and then she anticipated with delight the task of displaying to her mind the light of the Gospel, and showing her how the same God who reigns over the universe had manifested himself to the world in the person of his Son—and this for the salvation and redemption of guilty, fallen man!

The conversation of Amaziah on the night of her return to her home, deprived her of the privilege of being the first to declare Jesus Christ to her friend as the Messiah, the Lord; but she saw with joy the evident impression that was made by her uncle's arguments both on her mother and Claudia, and earnestly she prayed that the good seed then sown, might, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, spring up and come to perfection, and bear good fruit; and that it might be her blessed privilege to help forward two beings so dear to her in the way of eternal salvation.