Ray Bentley - The Threshing Floor

Book 2 of The Elijah Chronicles

By
Ray Bentley
and
Bodie Thoene

Research by Brock Thoene

2019

The Threshing Floor
Copyright 2019 by Rayburn J. Bentley

All Rights Reserved. No part of The Threshing Floor may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any meansby electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwisein any form without permission. Brief passages (500 words or less) may be quoted by a reviewer in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, website, or broadcast.

Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws.

Cataloging-in-publication data on file with the Library of Congress

Scripture taken from the New King James Version Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover Design by Tyler Novak and Zach Andrews for raybentley.com
Interior Design by NewTypePublishing.com

Produced by www.raybentley.com
ISBN: 978-1-949709-74-2

Printed in the United States

Dedicated to Dorothy Jean Bentley

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body
and to be present with the Lord.

II Corinthians 5:8

Dead Jews littered the cobbled lanes of Nurembergs Jewish Quarter.

Sides of buildings desecrated by graffiti: Tod fr Juden.

DEATH TO JEWS

Electricity to the Sephardic Synagogue cut off.

And the Nazi Brown Shirts were still coming.

Candles illuminated the prayer books of two hundred swaying Jews who prayed the final, desperate prayers for deliverance from the book of Daniel.

O Hashem, as befits Your abundant benevolence, let Your wrathful fury turn back from Your city Yerushalayim, Your Holy Mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Yerushalayim and Your people have become a mockery among all who are around us.

Moonlight and the ominous glow of burning Jewish buildings shone through the four-hundred-year-old stained glass windows. Above the heads of the doomed congregation were scenes depicting the seven days of creation, the fall of man, and the great flood that had lifted up Noahs Ark. Color and light wordlessly told the stories portrayed in the Torah.

Seventeen-year-old David ben Elijah, son and heir of the Chief Rabbi, craned his neck upwards to ponder the image of Father Abraham offering his only son, Isaac, to God. The ram God had provided for sacrifice struggled in the thicket.

David knew well that Abrahams faith was so great he would have sacrificed his only son in obedience to the command of the Lord. And yet the ordeal had only been a trial to test Abrahams great faith.

He wondered as the sounds of shattering windows and the roaring of Hitler Youth and Storm Troopers drew near, was this terrible night of destruction and persecution also meant to test the faith of the Jews of Germany?

Save us, O Lord!

Until this night, David could not have imagined anything more fierce than the wrath of God. But this was Nuremberg, the terrible gathering place of tens of thousands of Nazis. They congregated here with burning torches to proclaim their adoration of their Fuhrer! There was no field large enough to hold all the marching hordes who came to hear the speeches of the party leaders. This was the city where the laws against the Jews had first been passed.

Now Hitler had taken note of the Great Synagogue and the Jewish Quarter of the city. He had studied the city map and the Jewish boundary. With a sweep of his hand, he had condemned the ancient Jewish section to destruction. Because Hitler willed the extinction of all Jews in Germany, the Great Synagogue of Nuremberg was to be destroyed tonight.

Save us, Lord! We call upon you, O Adonai! For the sake of your Name!

David watched his father lead the prayers of the congregants. Again, we are destined to wander in the wilderness. Tears streamed down his fathers lined cheeks. Unless we have a miracle.

Ascribe unto the Eternal, glory and might!

Davids father went to the Ark where the Holy Torah scrolls were kept and opened the doors for the last time. Reverently the Word of God was removed, unwrapped from its covering, cradled like a baby, kissed, and passed from man to man.

The groaning tracks of the demolition equipment could be heard outside. From the gallery, a university student snapped photographs of the mob hurtling down the lane.

David gathered the scroll into his arms. It was said this scroll was over seven hundred years old. The pain of Davids grief nearly dropped him to his knees. Ascribe unto the Eternal, the honor due unto His Name. He kissed the scroll and passed it on.

The voice of the Lord resounds above the waters!

Outside the synagogue, a bulldozer, a tank, and a crane with a wrecking ball rumbled into place.

Tear it down! Tear it down!

Not one stone left upon another!

Juden swine! Out! Out!

Inside the synagogue, Davids father shouted over the din. The voice of the Eternal thunders above the mighty waters. The voice of the Eternal in strength.

Destroy the Jews! Bring it down on their heads! Down with their Temple!

The voice of the Eternal doth shatter the cedars of Lebanon!

A bullet smashed through a stained-glass window. The colorful scene burst into a thousand shards. Gleaming shrapnel rained down on the heads of the men in their silk prayer shawls.

Gleeful voices shouted, Blow them up! Kill them all! Burn them!

Davids father touched his arm. Faded blue eyes searched the face of the young man. Its time. You are my only son, David. The last. You know what you must do.

I wont leave you, Father, David cried.

You must go! The old man commanded calmly. It is arranged.

Others turned to gaze upon the parting of father and son.

The young man with a camera descended from the gallery and slipped a roll of film into Davids pocket. I got them all. Hitlers friend, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, is down there right in the middle of SS officers. I got all their faces on film. Take care of this, David. Deliver it to the BBC. One day the world will see what they have done. Our Testimony.

The President of the Congregation spoke, David, you are the last. We are counting on you to survive.

How can I leave you?

David looked up at the window of Abraham raising his knife to slay Isaac. This was true faith, yet Davids father would not permit David to stay and fight and die for the sake of the Name.

My son. My only son. You must live, the Rabbi said. You will be our witness.

Papa! Davids tears overflowed.

The old Rabbi stooped to pick up a palm-sized fragment of glass from the ruined window, studied it a moment, and wrapped it in a kerchief. He passed it to his son. Keep this and know, as long as there shall be a remnant, like this piece of glass, Israel lives. My son, remember who you are, and where you come from! You must live! The way of escape is provided. We prepared for this moment. Turn your face to Yerushalayim. For the sake of your people, Israel. For the sake of the covenant! Dont look back!

What was the image on the shard?

David embraced his father in a final farewell, and then passed through ranks of hands reaching out to touch him in blessing as he left them. Remember us... remember us... remember us...

Descending to the dark synagogue basement, David made his way through a long tunnel, emerging into a tailors shop two blocks away. It had all been arranged.