Master Of The Magi Book 1: Master of The Magi, #1

By Morris Fairview

Taken captive from his home in 605 B.C. by the Babylonian army Daniel, only a tenager, and his friends are thrown into a world they have never seen.

Shackled together they travel for months across the desert to the city of Babylon. How will they fit in? How will they survive?

Forced to learn a new culture they are put to the test to see if they are worthy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Morris Fairview
• Release date: Dec 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386326656

Book preview

Master of the Magi:

Book 1

Morris Fairview

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2017

COPYRIGHT © 2014 BY Morris Fairview

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2017

I AM A Witness Books

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Dedication

To my lovely wife, you believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

Thank you. Without your support and patience, I would have never achieved my dream.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Journey

Chapter 2: The Entrance

Chapter 3: The Appearance

Chapter 4: The Dream

Chapter 5: The Answer

Chapter 6: The Image

Chapter 7: The Fall

Chapter 8: The Sabbath

Appendix 1

Notes

References

Glossary

Preface

Book 1 covers the life of Daniel through the conclusion of Chapter 4 of the Book of Daniel. The intent of this book is dual. While it is a story and can be read as a straight novel, I included footnotes and I truly hope you have a chance to explore them. The footnotes are designed for the reader to use this also as a book of study into the Book of Daniel and its references back to the Biblical scripture.

As the reader I want you to be able to get lost into the story and understand the extraordinary life of Daniel.

Introduction

ttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Nuremberg_chronicles_f_63v_1.png

Destruction of Jerusalem under the Babylonian rule.

Illustration from the Nuremberg Chronicles Public Domain

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Tissot_The_Flight_of_the_Prisoners.jpg

The Fight of the Prisoners, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot

Jewish Museum, New York, N.Y. Public Domain

Chapter 1: The Journey

Departing Jerusalem , 605. B.C.

Shhh! Stop talking they will hear you, Azariah whispers.

They can’t hear us, Mishael replies, how much farther do you think? This desert sun is hot.

I don’t know. Now stop—Just walk.

We have been walking for more than three new moons and I am afraid of what will happen to us.

Stop talking! Azariah stops walking for a moment and stares at Mishael, which jerks the four of us to a halt because we are tied together. 

Mishael ignores Azariah and turns his head toward me, Daniel, what do you think? he asks but I don’t reply. Daniel, Daniel!

Shhh, Azariah again directs toward Mishael. I know Azariah is as scared as Mishael and is also waiting for me to answer. We walk.

I can hear them talking but I really don’t want to respond. If I don’t respond Mishael will not stop asking. I decide to answer. We have been walking for almost fourteen weeks...it won’t be long until we arrive at the Chaldean capital city. 

I look around at the rocky landscape and all I see are people, but I feel so alone. That’s a baby crying.

"Wait, she is hurt!" A man yells from behind me. I glance back out of the corner of my eye.

Pick her up! Keep moving! A soldier shoves the man to the hard packed ground when he tries to help the lady to her feet.

I hear your voices, I hear your cries, but what can I do? I lift up my head and look behind me, a sea of people, a wave of humanity stretches behind me to the horizon. There are over 3,000 men and women. These are my people in bonds, captive, traveling from Jerusalem to Babylon, the capital of the Chaldean empire.

This rope is burning my wrist. I say to Hananiah, who walks next to me.

I know, and the sun is relentless in waves of heat. Sweat drips from his face to the cracked earth, which swallows up all moisture in an instant.

I take four, twenty, about eighty more steps, Hananiah, You hear that?

What? I don’t hear anything, Daniel.

Exactly, no voices, no cries. It’s only the scuffling of thousands of pairs of feet walking across the dust and dirt. Everyone at the moment is silent as the caravan of captives journey around the edge of the desert. Hananiah coughs twice. Cover your mouth and nose with your tallit to protect yourself from breathing the dusty air. It’s midday and the sun is high in the sky, mocking our pain and agony. A cloud, a rainfall, anything would bring relief. My own voice sounds so foreign to my ears, even my thoughts seem to be of another person. Each step carries me farther and farther from my family, from my king, from the Temple, from my home.

Home. What will be home? Will I ever see Jerusalem again? Will I ever see the splendor of the temple where I worshiped daily before the God of my fathers? Yahweh! There it is— I regroup. What are you thinking Daniel? You can do this; you’re almost there. Barely audible I whisper, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, I know You are the only living and true God. I must and I do trust You. Just as You gave Joshua courage when he entered the land you promised to Abraham, give me courage as I leave it.[1]

Around my friends and me is a vast abyss void of delight to the eye. Hues of brown, tan and very little green is all I can see. Chariots and soldiers leading us into captivity— and maybe some even to death—surround the 3000 men, women and children taken from our home in Jerusalem. Those closest to me are part of the royal family of Judah. We were being taught in all the ways of writing, art, music, knowledge and the Book of the Law[2] when we were taken captive by Ashpenaz, master of eunuchs, the head court servant for King Nebuchadnezzar[3]. With me are Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah.[4] The four of us have known each other as far as our memories stretch. I am the oldest by one year at fifteen.

Daniel, what does Nebuchadnezzar plan to do with us? Azariah must have found courage to speak. Is he going to kill us.

I look at him and give him a slight grin of assurance. No, if he was going to kill us we would already be dead. He is probably going to use us to work on the city. We will be slaves.

What about Jerusalem? Why didn’t he destroy it?

I think he is doing the same as he did with the captives from Carchemish. He takes people from conquered lands and incorporates them into his empire. Jerusalem will become a vassal kingdom for Nebuchadnezzar.

Azariah is silent for about 20 paces. Who all are with us? 

Hananiah interjects, According to Ashpenaz, he was commanded by King Nebuchadnezzar to take the finest in treasures along with the smartest and healthiest men of royal heritage to learn the ways of the Chaldean empire and serve the king.[5]

We are part of those men, I say.

Ashpenaz is like a tree trunk. Mishael says looking