Amram, his name was a strong one, Judah thought to himself as he lifted Amram onto his shoulders. There was a sense of urgency however to the way he picked Amram up. They had been down in the lower areas of the mountain of Masada when the report had come back, the Romans were coming, and they were arriving fast and furiously. The tenth Legion, those accursed of God, the same Legion that had brought the first Caesar to power over Rome. And now they came to take their freedom away once again. For a moment, the hope Judah had flickered. Perhaps the Messiah would come and deliver them now the last remnants of the resistance, the Sicarii.
Judah spat out the side of his mouth, of course, his wife already believed the Messiah had come. Impossible, that man Jesus Christ, he could not have been the Messiah… his thoughts trailed off as Amram tugged his hair and said. “Why do we have to be here? I want to go back home! I don’t like Masada!”
“Be quiet child! I didn’t teach to you to speak like that! Be strong in this trial, none of us want to be here. We are here because of the Romans! They took everything from us and oppressed us! We belong to Yahweh, and he gave us this land not the Romans. Always remember that my child.”
His son fell quiet leaving Judah to his thoughts. Despite all he said, was Yahweh still watching them? They had struggled so much, first being driven out of Caesarea where it all began, and then they were driven from Jerusalem, and finally there was no one left except for them. As they reached the top of the snake path, Judah turned around to look, and sure enough he saw, the Tenth Legion, Legio X Fretensis could be seen in the distance. He balled up his fists and looked towards the Dead Sea. Why God, why was Israel like the Dead Sea?
His people suffered endlessly; did He just watch them laughing? They were his chosen, yet they kept being driven from place to place like sheep to the slaughter.
Eliezer Ben-yair’s voice caught him off guard. “You look troubled my friend.”
Judah let down Amram and said, “Go to your mother now,” before turning to Eliezer. “My brother, I question myself at times like these. Much like in our defence of Jerusalem which failed as if Yahweh himself, were fighting against us, I wonder. Do we do his will? Is this bloodshed meaningful, or are we just throwing away our lives?”
Eliezer drew close and laid his hand on Judah’s shoulders. “We have come far together as the Sicarii. One last fight and one glorious end; will you deprive us of at least a final glory and honour for our God Yahweh? Would you rather run from the Romans and flee for the rest of your life, or die here and leave a reminder forever for our race spurring them onto freedom?”
“Sicarii, how many of our own fellow Jew have we killed with our own daggers or by our mistakes?”
Eliezer spat. “Those we killed with our own dagger deserved to be killed, traitorous scum. Those by our mistakes, Yahweh is in control; he sees all and controls all for us his chosen race.”
“And yet, we are here.” Judah and Eliezer fell silent and looked out again over the approach swarm of soldiers. He’d faced them again and again and lost so many times even over the walls of the Holy City of Jerusalem. Would this time be different or the same?
He found his wife latter that day caring for their children, and for a moment, he simply stood there and watched her. She had been a faithful support of him over these last eight years of constant warfare and moving from place to place in danger of life and limb. He couldn’t say the same about himself; oh how he had fallen since he had chosen to join the Sicarii to serve as a dagger man. His name inspired fear, sometimes even in his wife. Yet, she remained faithful to him save for that one thing, that one thing, that many of his friends told him he should put her off for doing; becoming a follower of that man called Christus. Judah slowly wiped the sweat off his face from the heat of the desert and wondered, was that man Jesus Christ the Messiah? He hadn’t delivered them that was for sure, but his wife said that the Messiah wasn’t meant to deliver them from Roman. All his doubts surged again into his mind as he started walking towards his wife again.
She was working in one of the fields that had been marked out a top Masada for continual food growth. This was going to be a long and deadly siege; the Romans would never wait at the bottom of the cliff for them to starve. If they wanted to survive it comfortably, fresh food would be need as time dragged on. Of course, the stores of food kept here by Herod the Great and later Roman governors and kings would serve them providing for months of food, but that would still not be enough. Judah’s mind calmed down as he reminded himself of all the things going for them as he proceeded to hug his wife from behind who leaned into him.
His mind buzzed with thought that he was not worthy of her in the slightest. Her voice cut off his train of thoughts. “Stop worrying, Yahweh will provide a way, whether we perish or live, his will be done.”
“Amen,” he said quietly and abruptly.
His wife turned to look at him. “You are worried aren’t you. You know what do, go to the synagogue you yourself prepared and search his word. Perhaps now he will speak to you and reveal himself.”
Three months later….
The Romans, for one thing, were very industrious. In three months, they built a full wall around the Masada to keep the them from escaping and then began to build a massive ramp up the sides of the mountain. It was spectacular how devoted they were to the extinction of the Jewish Resistance. However, now the work was done despite the constant harassment by the Sicarii. Judah wiped blood of his face from one of his compatriots who had been killed by a catapult’s shot and readied his sling for another shot trying to kill the Romans attempting to destroy the gate with the siege ramp, that carried a massive battering ram. The gate wouldn’t last much longer but it was already too late for them to storm the fortress without being forced to fight at night which was no good for them. Tomorrow would be the last day before the fortress was stormed.
As soon as the Romans retreated for the night, the Zealots fell to building a secondary wall of wood and dirt. As he worked, Judah pondered the situation wishing for a way out; could he turn to Messiah? But was it too late…? The Messiah, had he spit upon the Messiah? The next day would be a long one as they fought, and the last day.
The sun rose the next day and the Romans attacked again with the battering ram, but they were unable to break through. For a moment, their spirits rose, but then the Romans made a mad dash for the gate, while the defender, Judah himself include rained as much fire down as they could. Despite their efforts the enemy made it to the gate and piled up wood before setting fire to the gate. What no one expect and brought cheers all along the wall, was the fire began to blow back against the attacker setting the battering ram alight. For a moment the cloud over Judah evaporate, and he was more confident in Yahweh. That moment was shattered when the fire began to blow back and finally consumed the gate, until it was finally in cinders by the night. The Romans retreated, waiting for the next morning to strike the final blow against those who had fought so long..
The Sicarii gathered for one final meeting in the Synagogue. Eliezer stood to speak clearing his voice and launching into his normal persuasive speeches although now his voice was much more laden with emotion than it had ever been. "Since we, long ago, my generous friends, resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice. And let us not at this time bring a reproach upon ourselves for self-contradiction, while we formerly would not undergo slavery, though it were then without danger, but must now, together with slavery, choose such punishments also as are intolerable; I mean this, upon the supposition that the Romans once reduce us under their power while we are alive. We were the very first that revolted from them, and we are the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God hath granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom…”
Judah realized what Eliezer was talking about… suicide. He stood quietly from his seat in the back and slipped out. He had now made his choice. No longer could he hold to this farce of his faith, Judaism. He knew it; deep in him he had always known. Jesus was the Messiah. Now, he had to save his family from this fate of death; whether they wanted or not they would be killed in this fanatical suicide attempt.
His pace quickened as his heart beat faster and faster. No more looking for a false Messiah; it was time to get it right. A tear trickled down his face knowing he had brought his family… himself to this self-destructive point. He burst into his house and grabbed his wife’s hand. “Hurry, we must go. Eliezer plans to have everyone commit suicide; I know him well enough he will have his way…” He paused and considered for a moment. “I recognize that Christ is the Messiah.”
A single tear fell down her face and she squeezed his hand. Judah pulled her close and kissed her for his last time. “Now go, you know where. I will ensure no one find you…. I love you,” the last statement came whispered out of his mouth.
His wife smiled and began to round up the children. Judah took his weapons and armed himself one last time. His wife shook her head slowly, and he sighed. “Old habits die hard.”
Judah unsheathed his sword and finally his dagger and placed them on the table.. He was a Sicarii, a Dagger-man, no longer.
Bibliography
Andrew, director. The Siege of Masada: What Really Happened? YouTube, YouTube, 8 Aug. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVvn2IUFleo.
Invicta, director. The Siege of Masada (73 AD) - Last Stand of the Great Jewish Revolt. YouTube, YouTube, 2 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=11iPrDv8aBE&t=858s.
TENNEY, MERRILL C. NEW TESTAMENT SURVEY. W B EERDMANS PUB CO, 2017.
Flavius Josephus. The Wars of the Jews; or the History of the Destruction of Jerusalem. London, Ward, Lock, 1880.
Bruce, F F. New Testament History. New York, Galilee Book, 1991.