The Gate of Heaven Read Online Free PDF Page A

gave them each a drink from his water flask, which was filled with a sweet herbal concoction he liked to make by brewing wild flowers and honey. In the heat of the day, it tasted cool and refreshing. He turned to Abraham and said, “Now, Father, why don’t you tell us more about our family.”
    The four sat down under the sparse shade of a scrub tree and shared the drink from the goat-skin flask. Abraham looked down at the two boys seated at his feet. “What do you want to hear?” he asked.
    â€œTell us about Noah and the flood,” Jacob piped up. He never tired of hearing the old stories of his family, even though he had memorized most of them.
    â€œAll right. I’ll tell you about Noah,” Abraham began.
    Jacob sat in rapt attention while his grandfather related the story—Abraham having learned it from his own grandfather Nahor—of the godly patriarch whose family had been spared from the worldwide destruction. The boy was full of questions. “How did they get all the animals on the ark? Did they go out and catch them?”
    â€œNo,” Abraham patiently explained. “God himself brought them.”
    â€œWhy didn’t the larger animals eat the smaller ones?”
    â€œI never asked my grandfather about that,” Abraham said, smiling. “I expect they kept them separated.”
    While Jacob and Isaac listened with interest, Esau fidgeted and drew in the dirt with a stick. He liked to hear stories of battles, not family genealogies—unlike Jacob, who could recite the family tree all the way back to Adam.
    When Abraham had finished, Jacob said, “Show us the lion again, Grandfather.”
    Abraham smiled and pulled out the gold medallion he wore on a leather cord around his neck. He held it out for the boys to see, and Jacob ran his fingers over the carved surface. “What does the lion mean?”
    â€œI don’t know, my boy.”
    Jacob turned the medallion over and studied the other side. “This lamb looks so real! What does it mean?”
    â€œI don’t know that either, Jacob.”
    Isaac and his sons had heard the story of the medallion many times before, but they listened again as Abraham explained. “When my grandfather gave this to me, he said it had been passed down from our ancestors, possibly all the way from Adam.”
    â€œWho will get it when you die?” Esau asked bluntly.
    â€œI don’t know, Esau. My father told me that someday God himself will reveal the next person I’m to give this to—and that it will be someone in our family.”
    Esau frowned. “I don’t like things I don’t understand.”
    Jacob, however, was anxious to hear more. “Tell us what you think it might mean, Grandfather.”
    Abraham fell silent, then said thoughtfully, “I think it means that God is doing something wonderful for the whole world through our family.”
    â€œLike what?” Jacob demanded, his eyes bright with anticipation.
    Abraham studied the faces of his son and grandsons before answering. “I believe that God is going to send a man into the world who will bring peace and joy to every person on earth.”
    â€œI don’t see how one man could do that,” Esau muttered, his lower lip protruding.
    â€œHe won’t be just any man, Esau. He will be very special. Even our first ancestor, Adam, had a word from God about this man. Do you remember how God told him that the seed of a woman would crush the serpent’s head?”
    â€œYes, but I don’t get it,” Esau grumbled.
    Jacob turned to his brother and explained. “The serpent is the enemy, Esau. Don’t you remember?”
    Esau shrugged, tired of a discussion that centered on unexplained mysteries and riddles. What did he care what would happen in the future anyway? He was anxious to get back to his new bow and arrow.
    â€œBut what’s the lion for, Grandfather—and the lamb?”