The Harbinger - Continued Reading... Have you become Interested?

Nuriel Kaplan has convinced the individual to whom he is pitching his book... and she is willing to listen...

“All right, Nouriel. Tell me about your mystery.” “It’s not my mystery. It’s much bigger than me. You have no idea how big, or what it involves.” 
“And what does it involve?” “Everything. It involves everything, and it explains everything…everything that’s happened, that’s happening, and everything that’s going to happen.” 
“What do you mean?”
 “Behind September 11…” “How could an ancient mystery possibly have anything to do with September 11?” 
“An ancient mystery behind everything from 9/11 to the economy…to the housing boom…to the war in Iraq…to the collapse of Wall Street. Everything in precise detail.”
And it’s not only a mystery, it’s a message, an alarm.”
“An alarm?” she asked. “An alarm of what?”
 “Of warning.” “To whom?”
 “America.”
“Why?”
“When you hear it,” he said, “you’ll understand why.” 

~~~

OK, how good are you at listening to information, say, in a lecture? I consider myself a good listener; you may not. You may be more into talking yourself and making your own decisions. Neither is wrong--my only thought is--how can you possibly know enough upon which to make informed decisions if you don't listen (or read...).

Nouriel was a good listener, but he was very impatient at first. Kinda like the woman to whom he was now trying to tell the story... But for Nouriel, he slowly began to understand that, for this, he was not going to be in control. He was going to have to accept the pace established or just not be able to participate. Somehow he knew he must...

You see, Nouriel had been approached by a man...who has not given him his name. Of course, I thought he could be an angel, a prophet from the far past, or even God... The book indicated he was middle-eastern looking... But..for this discussion, I thought of Morgan Freeman, in his movie playing God... This kind of look came to mind as I was reading... You know, like, I am talking to you...and I'm the great "I Am" so just listen, would you??!

Anyway, it was made quite clear that it didn't matter how the message was being given to Nouriel--he did accept that he'd been chosen, apparently-- but, rather, that

The Message 

was the important thing...

This is how it began...

He reached into his coat pocket, laid his closed hand down on the table, then opened it. In the middle of his palm was a small object of reddish, golden-brown clay, circular and about two inches in diameter. “It all began with this.” He handed it to her. She began examining it. The more she looked at it, the more intrigued she became. It was covered with what appeared to be ancient inscriptions. “It all began with this.” “And what is it?”
“It’s a seal,” he answered. “It’s the first seal.”

~~~

As you may know, seals were used in ancient times to authenticate normally an official document. [The seals used here are illustratively used only to split out each seal given.]

Kaplan was a journalist and explained that the writings was a form of ancient Hebrew. The seal was from Judah, important because it referred to ancient times when God spoke directly to Israel through various people or symbols, but they needed some type of authorization to be heard... Many prophets were persecuted...many others would listen... The first seal had been sent to him, but he didn't know the sender...until one day he met the man who had the same seal...for identity, of course...

“‘A seal,’ he said, ‘bears witness to a message that it’s authentic or that it’s of great importance.’
“‘But what would that have to do with me?’ I asked. ‘I don’t have anything to do with messages of great importance.’ 
“‘Maybe you do and just don’t know it.’
“‘You’re very mystical, you know.’
“‘Or maybe,’ he said, ‘you’re about to receive one.’
“‘What do you mean?’
“‘A message of great importance,’ he replied. His left hand had been resting on his lap for the entire length of the conversation…closed. That’s when he opened it. In the middle of his palm was a seal.” 

It was the same seal...

You know, I've never really been good with anything not related in "plain talk" but of course many ancient stories are in parable or other forms... This was no different... Nouriel was doing exactly what I would do--getting frustrated because this man kept turning the point of the conversation back to Nouriel, who, of course, like us, hadn't a clue what was going on...In fact, he was so frustrated that he decided to leave... but not before hearing that this was "the time..." telling Nouriel when he asked what he meant:

 “A good question, but he never answered it. 

Instead, he turned his gaze back to the distance ahead and continued speaking. ‘It’s the appointed time, but not for an ancient nation. 

It’s time for the word to be given…for the mystery to be revealed…for the message to go forth. It’s the appointed time—but not for an ancient nation.’”

 “This has nothing to do with me,”

“Then why were you given the seal?” he asked. 

“Who are you?” I countered. He didn’t answer that but just looked at me. It was a silence as intense as anything else that took place

~~~

Whew! Nuriel just turned and left him standing there! I truthfully don't know what I would have done... But there was no peace for Nuriel. What was he supposed to do? Was this real? Could it be? Who was that man? Should he listen to him? What if he wanted something from him that he couldn't give... He didn't think he even wanted to see him again... 

But then there was the seal he still held in his hand... And, in some ways, maybe he did want to know more...