How Christmas Began #10

RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN (Matthew 2:18)

I am Rachel of Ramah and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. I am weeping with Leah, my sister of Bethlehem, mother of the Jews (Judah). Yes, we are crying because our daughters are crying for their children that were taken from us by the brutal hands of Esau’s son Herod. They were taken from us before they could become boys, teens and young men. They left nothing to remember them for, nor can we honor their names. They might as well never have been, nor caused us pain when they were born. You ask us, “Who or what has caused us such sorrow?” It happened because we kept our Christ Child and Christmas and our hope of redemption alive. We sacrificed our children so that “Jeshua” could complete His mission. You ask, “How can you weep when you no longer live?” But, we do live in the spirit and see what mortals do not. That is why we weep with the mothers whose hearts are being pierced by their losses.

Christmas is all about our Messiah and the Eternal King. He was born in peace and brought us great joy and hope. The angels sang at His birth, proclaiming peace on earth and good will to men. Shepherds and Sages bowed at His feet. A star sparkled brightly in the sky, pointing directly at Leah’s town. Bethlehem, the house of bread, was being raised to feed man with “Manna” from heaven. It was God returning to us in person and we delighted in His presence. Jeshua, our Deliverer had come and we anticipated that His heavenly army was on its way. At last, long last, Jeshua would reclaim the throne of David and our land from Rome.

Our joy was short. It all seemed like we had been dreaming. The evening before, we chanted “Immanuel, Immanuel” (God with us) and in the morning dead silence had fallen on Bethlehem and Ramah. Jeshua and His parents had left and so had the caravan from the East. Soon thundering hoofs were heard and men of violence were clashing their swords. “Gives us the baby king of the Jews,” they shouted, “Or we kill all your male children under two!” We begged and pleaded, but there was no mercy in their eyes but vengeance. Esau’s children were killing Jacob’s children to keep Herod, the Edomite on the throne. No male child under the age of two was left alive. Our children were sacrificed to save our Deliverer. It became the bloodiest day in our history.

Herod was not satisfied with Bethlehem, the house of David, son of Leah. He also laid his bloody hands on Ramah, the house of Saul, a Benjaminite, and the home of Samuel, the Seer that was close to God and the one that anointed my distant son Saul as the first king over Israel and his successor David son of Leah. Edomites, sons of Esau, killed our children. Herod, the Edomite imposter, was occupying ours son’s throne and ruled the land as he pleased. He imitated our true kings by building us a Temple and filled them with his priests and teachers. Traditions had replaced our laws that Moses gave us. He used our religion for his profiteering and his tax collectors to rob us blind. On top of it, Herod outfoxed Caesar by pretending to be his friend. But nothing was as evil as taking our children from us for his own selfish aspirations.

My sister Leah and I wept and mourned. We also prayed that God would spare our Messiah, and He did. The Baby King of the Jews was not among the dead. We mothers paid a heavy price to protect Jeshua. We were thankful that God’s Anointed did not fall into the hands of the evil king. We were soon to learn that Herod would meet his fate. His body gave out and worms had him for their meal. His sons continued in their father’s sins that would ultimately end our beloved state and with it the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. When Herod died, he had ordered that more of our people be killed so that the world may think we mothers were mourning for him. These were tears of joy for justice being done.

Thirty years passed and Jeshua came out of hiding. He offered a new kingdom to our people but they did not accept nor understand Him. They had no room for Him when He was born and no place for Him when He announced to them that He was their Deliverer. They apprehended Him and lead Him to a hill where they shamed Him by crucifying Him. Again, we mothers mourned and wept for our children, not because they were being killed but because they were doing the killing. Some mothers mourn for Him, but Jeshua told them to save their mourning for a time when their enemies would destroy our homeland and scatter us among the nations where we shall be hated and killed until the end of time. Jeshua merely reminded us of what our prophets predicted would happen to our children’s children. To the end of time, our people shall look for a wailing wall where they can complain to God for not sending them the long overdue Messiah.

A people, that are not our people, have seized our Jeshua and think they can hold Him captive. But, they, too, have begun to honor Him with their lips and not with their deeds. They attached His kingdom to their earthly domain instead to their hearts where Jeshua can reign. He is not after their fame and fortune, but after their eternal souls. Now their mothers have joined us in mourning; for, their children that are following another Herod and for those that are being killed for following Jeshua. How long will God wait to avenge the Herods for misleading or killing our children? We cannot stop mourning because our cradles are empty. There is no one that can comfort the hearts of us mothers! Where are peace and good will that the angels promised?