Fiction Friday - The Prophet

I read the Bible every year, and catch myself thinking about backstories to minor characters, or musing about particularities of a situation. I recently read about one of Isaiah's prophecies that struck a funny chord with me. I hope you like this story that was inspired by it.

Abigail walked her cousin up the lane into her house. "I'm so glad you came, Cerina. Judea must seem provincial after your move to Damascus. You'll have to tell me all about it."

"Nonsense," Cerina said. "I can see that a lot has changed here since I left. Like what do you do for entertainment these days?"

Abigail shook her head. "Not much lately, with the kids' school and - oh, you know, in this depressed economy - I've actually started working." Seeing her wealthier cousin's eyebrows go up she back pedaled. "Oh, nothing major, just a little sewing work when I have time. Every little bit helps. It can go on like this forever." There were entertainments for the wealthy, of course. She hoped Cerina wouldn't expect her to pay for something like that. 

An idea came to her. "Oh! While you're here we should go see the prophet!"

"Prophet? Like a seer?" Cerina had been to seers and mediums in Damascus. She never would have thought Abigail would open her mind to that.

"Well, sort of. Only..." Abigail hesitated. If she said he was a prophet of the Most High God, Cerina might think she was backward or old-fashioned. "You'll just have to see. Let's go today!"

As they were walking out toward Isaiah's usual hill, she said, "I hope he has good things to say today. He's always right."

There was only a small crowd when they arrived. "Oh good," Abigail said, "We can get nice and close." As they moved nearer, she noticed the crowd was in flux. People were coming and going, only lingering for a few minutes, not like his usual speeches.

Up at the front, Isaiah's son Shear-Jashub approached them and explained. "My father has been commanded by God to demonstrate symbolically what the Lord plans for Israel's enemies among other nations." He continued talking but the women were too stunned to hear him. Abigail blushed in embarrassment at the naked prophet sitting in the dust before them. Cerina's look of shock turned to amusement. "Great Prophet, indeed!" she smirked. 

Abigail caught Shear-Jashub's arm before he moved on to a group of newcomers. "Won't he say anything? Please. My cousin has come so far."

He looked at the two women, Cerina openly staring at Isaiah. He looked at Isaiah, then responded, "He may. It's not a vow of silence. He's not spoken much these months, but you may wait if you like."

Months? Seeing her cousin agape at what, to her, must look like a dirty pauper, Abigail grabbed her arm and tugged her away. "Let's visit the marketplace instead." 

***

A year later, Cerina returned to visit Abigail. "Is that Great Prophet still around?" she teased.

"Oh, that was such a failure!" Abigail could laugh about it now. "Of course he's still our local prophet, but I haven't tried to go back since that day."

"No? I'd've gone back every day. We must!"

"We must?" She didn't love revisiting the past.

"Of course!" Cerina looped her arm through her cousin's. "I believe you, you know. That he knows things." She began moving them to the front door. "And that young man explained it was just a kind of visual demonstration, whatever it was supposed to mean." Cerina was content to let greater minds decipher such mysteries. It had been an amusing day back then, but she wanted her cousin to have her chance to show off.

"Oh, okay," Abigail turned to pull the door shut behind them, thinking surely by now he'd be normal again.

The women bought some raisin cakes off a street-side vendor as they walked through town, chatting, laughing, nibbling their treat.

Almost no one was around when they arrived. Abigail felt a knot grow in her stomach. Isaiah's son approached them with no sign of recognition and walked the last hundred feet with them. He recited the same spiel about a visual demonstration.

"No! No!' Abigail hurried ahead. She began shouting at Isaiah, still naked, only much dirtier. "What kind of prophet are you? You're out of your mind! What is the point of this? Tell us something!"

Cerina pulled Abigail away with Shear-Jashub's help and he explained further. "Isaiah has been speaking the Lord's prophecies of warning, but many do not hear. They close their ears. Now he must show them. They will close their eyes. The prophecies will happen as the Lord has said. Let those who see and hear understand." He ushered them off the small hill with a blessing.

That evening, Abigail was quiet through the family dinner. Cerina quietly explained to Abigail's husband what happened. He turned to his wife and reminded her, "Isaiah is a great prophet. Remember the things he has said that have already come true in just the last few years? We cannot always understand these things."

A year later, when the Egyptian captives were led away naked, Abigail remembered Isaiah. She went to his usual hill and there he was, dressed as normal and prophesying that a virgin would give birth. "That'll be the day," she muttered as she left. "Then again..."

Reference: This story is based on a brief mention in the book of  Isaiah, chapter 20, verse 3. The culmination of Isaiah's "3-years of nudity" prophecy is told in  verses 4-6. I love this because Isaiah was a prolific Major Prophet. If you've heard Handel's Messiah, a lot of that comes from the book of Isaiah. As I read this tiny selection recently, I thought of Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and their portrayal of prophets. We have Isaiah's words, but what did the common people think of him?