Johann Quisumbing

An Adventure Story of Yeshua bar Yosef by JQuisumbing

A new moon was just rising in the east. A sliver of sunlight shining on the farside was just barely visible. This would be the second one since he had entered the wilderness. ‘Has it been that long?’, he was thinking. ‘Longer, in fact. About nine days longer before that first new moon.’  His stomach growled. Yeshua’s hunger pangs were keeping him up lately. It may be because he had been taking roundabout walks from his box canyon base camp to the south, west, and the north areas of this rugged wilderness. 

The longest circuit was back on week one, when he trekked as far as En Gedi, some 20 miles south. He did this long trip while he still had energy. En Gedi was a place of interest for him. It was there, according to Scriptures, that a young David was holed up hiding from an angered King Saul some 14 generations ago. Since he was a descendant and he was in the neighborhood anyway, he figured it may be worth visiting. But that place almost got himself into trouble. 

En Gedi was a well known wadi where caravans frequently stopped to replenish their water supply. Stopping there was tricky for him. For the Spirit of his Father had pressed upon him to be alone, not to approach anyone during the testing. And sure enough as he approached the wadi at night, he spied several campfires. It was very late in the evening, and there were no sounds coming from the camp. So, he quietly circled the camp until he found one of several shallow brooks that flowed out from a deep canyon. He followed it up until it converged onto where it branched off onto a wider stream. The flow was somewhat louder, the sound of which was bouncing off the canyon walls but it helped guide him upstream because it was pitch dark. It was when he heard the unmistakable sound of a waterfall that he knew he was at En Gedi’s fabled natural reservoir. Sensing it safe, he lit up his oil lamp and carefully crossed the stream to explore the south side of the deep pond. It was there, behind some tall grass and reed, was a nook in the canyon wall. Checking that there were no snakes and other critters, he laid down and fell fast asleep.

When he woke up, he had forgotten where he was. As he stood up to go to the pond to wash away the sleep, he froze. At the far end of the pool were women bathing. He didn’t hear them because of the sound of the nearby waterfall. He quickly dropped behind the tall grass. He chided himself for oversleeping, remembering that he wanted to be out of here before sunrise. He started to crawl away, but then he felt the desire to part the grass to take a better look. Afterall, they would not spot him. As he paused, his heart started to pound hard in his chest. 

He remembered when he was a young lad, he accidently saw his grown up cousin’s bare calf. He felt something strange. He talked to his abba Yosef about it. He was about to laugh, when his face turned a little serious. His abba turned to look toward his amma who was doing something or other inside the house. He then brought him to the top of the house where they could talk in private. His abba told him that what he felt was normal for all other boys, but he reminded him that he was no ordinary boy. He admitted that when it came to things of this nature, he did not know the Lord Adonai’s will. He did tell him, though, of what happens if one allows those desires to linger in one’s heart. He spoke of when King David saw Bathsheba taking a bath and of the bad consequences thereafter.¹  

Yeshua confronted the thoughts that said that there was no real harm to look. There may be no direct harm to the women but then, how could he face his Father in Heaven? Remembering what the Patriarch Yosef said as he refused the sexual fawnings of Potiphar’s wife, he whispered, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”²  His heart stopped beating hard. After which he crawled away until he was far enough to walk. 

He found a foot path that entered through a crevice in the canyon wall. The path started to climb and was strewn with large boulders that he had to climb over. Then, he found a cave that went pretty deep. As he explored it, he found a large protruding rock at the back of the cave, behind which was a deep enough depression for three crouching men. Yeshua wondered whether this was the cave that his forefather, David, was hiding in as King Saul entered to relieve himself. The men hiding with David wanted to kill the king, but he didn’t want to harm the Lord’s anointed.³ He stayed in that cave until the next day, then journeyed back north to his base camp. 

The other two roundabout journeys were short and uneventful except when he went up north to where his cousin Yohanen was still conducting baptism. He was hidden among thick brushes watching from across the Jordan River. Even though the river was wide, he could hear his cousin preaching, picking up snatches. He then noticed the approach of a delegation of dark robed Pharisees. He saw them gesturing to him while he was out on the water. Then he pointed to them. The only words that he picked up were ‘brood of vipers’. By their vehement reactions, he knew Yohanan was referring to them. He stifled his desire to grin. For he too had to contend with their inflated egos when he did carpentry work at the plush Jewish city of Sepphoris some five miles north from his village. Yet, regardless of their flagrant hypocrisies, he could not help but pity them. 

The sound of ranting pulled him back to the present. Some of the Pharisees were angrily shouting and shaking their fists at Yohanan but all he did was to turn away and called for the next person to be baptized. After being ignored for sometime, they started to move away. Yeshua noticed a couple of them whispering to each other then glancing back at his cousin. He felt concerned for him and wondered if maybe he should have a private talk with him. But then he knew with certainty that he will not. A tear ran down his face. His Father’s will will be done. He left the area and returned to his base camp.

The night had become colder on top of this ridge. He glanced up at the waning moon, closed his eyes to offer a prayer. Then he worked his way back down to the campsite. He stoked the fire then laid down. For thirty nine days, he had not heard a word from his Father in Heaven, but he felt His presence throughout the trial. His stomach growled again, reminding him that he was literally starving. But tomorrow is the final day. Tomorrow he will see what he will see. He fell asleep.

No sooner than he closed his eyes, he was awakened by a voice calling, “Son of Adonai, come forth. Thy time is nigh!”

Footnotes: [1] 2 Samuel 11; [2] Genesis 39:9; [3] 1 Samuel 24; 

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