Devil's Island by John Hagee Page B

would do with money.
    Abraham understood Tobias’s meaning: take the money and leave. “Find a way out,” Tobias had told him. Abraham wondered if there could possibly be a way out of the city now.
    Months earlier the two of them had talked about trying to leave Jerusalem, had even planned what they would do. “We could sail to Ephesus,” Tobias had suggested.
    â€œWhy Ephesus?” Abraham asked. He knew it was a large, important city—the third leading city in the Empire—but he had no idea why it would appeal to Tobias.
    â€œThere’s a thriving Christian community there, headed by the apostle John. He’s the last living member of the Twelve, you know. It was one of John’s disciples who led us to Christ several years ago.” Tobias had recounted for Abraham his and Rivka’s conversion, and they had talked at length about John and the church at Ephesus.
    â€œI have plenty of money for the trip,” Tobias had informed him. He had taken Abraham to a small room and revealed the place where he had hidden a small fortune in gold coins. Tobias’s usually cheerful demeanor turned completely serious. “If anything happens to me before we can leave,” he said, “I want you to use this to take Rivka and the baby to safety.”
    Something had happened to Tobias before they could leave, but by that time access in and out of the city had been completely closed. When the siege had started in earnest, just prior to Tobias’s capture by the revolutionaries, the Romans quickly built their own wall around the city, constructing a five-mile-long fence in just three days and sealing the fate of Jerusalem’s inhabitants.
    Abraham often wondered why he had stayed in Jerusalem through the war that was about to destroy its very foundations. In the early days he could have left at any time, before the danger of staying behind enemy lines became so great. Even after that, he could have managed to see Titus or perhaps Tiberius Alexander, the general’s chief adviser, and convince the authorities of his citizenship and loyalty to Rome. Had he done that, he could be home right now, dining at his father’s table, his belly stuffed with the finest food instead of racing rats for a few grains of corn or wheat.
    Perhaps that was one of the reasons he had stayed: to spite his father, to rebel against having his entire life planned for him. It had been his father’s dream for Abraham to study rhetoric and embark on a law career as a prelude to political advancement. True, he had been gifted at it, and he enjoyed the study of law. The practice of law, however, was a different matter. Cherished ideals, Abraham had discovered, easily bent to corruption and manipulation. The system worked for the wealthy and well-connected but not the plebeian, and Abraham had no desire whatsoever to become embroiled in the hierarchy of political power and intrigue for the rest of his life.
    Reluctant to return home and confront his father about the future, he had stayed in Jerusalem in spite of the risks. And once Tobias had been captured, Abraham could not bring himself to leave Rivka and the baby, knowing they would face starvation without someone to care for them. Ultimately, though, they had died in spite of his best efforts, and his failure to save them weighed heavily on him.
    Save yourself. Tobias’s words echoed in his mind. But how? Could he get out of the city before it fell to the might of Rome? And what would he do if he managed to get beyond the walls?
    Instantly he decided he wanted to pursue the course he and Tobias had originally discussed: sailing to Ephesus. It was as good a plan as any. He wanted to meet the last surviving apostle, someone who had actually walked and talked with Jesus of Nazareth. John had known Him personally, intimately, and Abraham wanted to see Jesus through John’s eyes.
    His plan would mean a daring escape through the impenetrable siege