Ephraim – The twin fruit

Ephraim – The twin fruit

“Hey! My dear blacky, why don’t you tell us your story once again? Your story is like a pleasant poem and every time you say it, we never get bored of it. Go ahead and tell us your story once again. It will help us while away our time.”

Oh! My,how many times you all have listened to my story and I have no more patience to tell it once again. I am fed up dear friend.”

“Don’t say like that..... Our life behind us is always a sweet memory and they are always ever green and soothe the pain in our heart and life.....”

“Of course you are right..... In the tide of time, nothing lasts except memories..... Sweet memories.....It is in the heart one locks his evergreen memories and so do I...... as well as, all i have now, at this point of time is only those pleasant memories to cling on to......” (He took a deep sigh and began his story)

I am a young prince belonging to the province of Abyssinia (the modern Ethiopia). That is my motherland. It is a great country with abundant natural wealth. The land was filled with gold and diamonds glittering everywhere in the province. Rubies and emeralds were toys for our kids. So saying he closed his eyes and said:

The land of the scorching sun, which darkens the skin of everyone,

The land of Mother Nature, providing abundant wealth for generations of the future

Gold and silver sparkle everywhere, diamonds and rubies are our kid’s toys, I swear..... (Once again he takes a deep breath and continues) Our country was beloved to the sun god and hence all the inhabitants, including me, have a dark complexion. Our complexion gained us the name “the Ethiopian blacks”. This dark complexion also serves as a protection to us. Though the whole continent of Africa is filled with people of black complexion, no one else in the continent or in this whole world have a shining dark skin as that of the people of Ethiopia. That’s our credit of which we are actually proud of. The scorching sun gave us and all our animals’ enormous strength. Even the snakes and scorpions are highly venomous, which are a unique identity for our country. The frankincense trees give the best incense with fragrance that will captivate your mind and soul.

Queen Sheba belonged to our country. According to the law of our country, if the queen marries then she will lose the ruling authority, since her husband will become the king with the ruling powers. In such a situation, the queen once heard of the great king Solomon of Jerusalem and about his mind boggling wisdom through the foreign ambassadors. She was deeply attracted by his wisdom and went all the way to Jerusalem to meet him. Though King Solomon had many wives and concubines, he remained childless. On seeing queen Sheba, he welcomed her and in the course of her stay in Jerusalem, he married her. She became the first queen to bear a child for King Solomon.... the first prince of Israel and the heir to the throne of Jerusalem. Through the king and the queen rejoiced ver this, the other queens in Solomon’s palace were filled with jealousy and hated her. Now queen Sheba was deeply worried about this, since this hatred and jealousy could even put an end to the life of the baby in her womb and also to her. So queen Sheba returned to her own kingdom with the child in her womb. Now King Solomon became the king of our country according to the law and queen Sheba ruled in his name. Then she bore a son who was named Ipna Hakkim. When he was of right age, King Solomon invited him to his country and crowned him as the prince of Ethiopia. After this, Ipna Hakkim returned to his motherland. But when he returned, he stole the Ark of  the covenant box from the famous temple of Jerusalem, which is of high reverence for the Jews along with him. King Solomon was outraged when he came to know this. But since he loved his son deeply, for he was the first born son of Solomon, he did not take it back from Ipna hakkim. Instead he sent hundreds of priests from Jerusalem to Ethiopia to offer worship and sacrifice to the covenant box. Thus the Jews mingled with the people of Ethiopia. Thus they gave birth to a new race who were called as “Black Jews”

“Oh! What a long introduction.....Now go forward to your story Blacky.....We are not bothered much of the “Black Ethiopians” or the “Black Jews”..... We are much eager to listen to your story my dear Blacky pal....” so saying he giggled and patted him on his shoulders.

“Ok, ok.... listen carefully. I too was born in the royal family of Ethiopian kings. I was married to a beautiful wife and had loving children. Though I came from the Ethiopian race, I was very much interested to follow the Ten Commandments and I knew it by heart. Hence I never turned my sight on other women, nor did I drink alcohol. I became a great businessman through the great knowledge and wisdom god had given me. I exported gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, the tusks of elephants, perfumes, incense, rare herbs to other countries as well as I imported pearls, silk clothes, gold and silver ornaments from India, which we lack in our country. Through this import and export business I earned huge profits and became wealthy day by day. I offered job opportunities to all my relatives and well wishers and helped them as much as possible.

But there were people who were jealous of my status and hence plotted to make me fall. They also won in their plans and I slowly became addicted to alcohol which led me to the company of women. With the power of my money I actually bought beautiful women and made them my slaves to fulfil my ill pleasures. Yes my enemies won and I became a slave to sin. I lost everything I had, not only my wealth and money, I also lost my precious wife, children, relatives and well wishers.

“The greatest treasures are not silver or gold,

Nor jewels, nor works of art, for they can easily be sold

For worldly things will fade away, as the seasons come and go

But the treasure of true relationships, will never lose its glow”

It was too late when I really understood the value of true treasures and pleasures, the value of character and virtue. I lost everything and here is stand before you with just myself, with deep pain and agony, cast away by the society and all mankind.”

So saying he started to weep and sob and everyone around became silent and tried not to hurt him in any way. After some time, he wiped off his tears and turned to his friend beside him and said, “Hey you Whiteee, I have completed my story, now it is your turn...... come on and unbundle your story now.” “Sure my pal. Though you are black and I am white..... Though we come from differentbackgrounds and country, my story too is somewhat closely related to yours. I don’t belong to the royal princely family, but I was equal to them in terms of money and war practice. I excelled in sword fight and have always sent a wave of fear run through the nerves of my opponents. I was a merchant. I travelled far and wide the whole world. Sometimes I sailed in the seas and sometimes I travelled on land. I had my breakfast amidst the roaring waves and company of fishes. I had my lunch with millionaires in luxurious hotels. I had tea with merchants and dinner with princes. Fame and name, money and luxury were my companions always. I came to know of the various people, places, countries and climate. I learnt a lesson from everything. I was born in Phonesia (the present-day Lebanon). The people of my country are experts in coastal trade.Though they had numerous business options, the most important of them all and the highest income generating business were the dye factories. Yes, the dyes produced in my country are the best in the world. The mode of preparing the dye is very interesting as well as very mysterious. They prepare the dye from the pigments emitted by some of the aquatic animals and they add some special chemical to prepare the vibrant colourful dyes. These dyes are more colourful and attractive than a rainbow itself. They use these dyes to prepare colourful clothes which they sell all over the world and earn huge profit. But they never disclose the secret of the dye preparation. Even a father will be hesitant to disclose the secret to his own son. I tried my best to know the secret but failed. So, I started to see those beautiful clothes in far off countries and earned good money. But soon bad time started to play in my life. My wife’s brother once came to visit me and through him I became addicted to alcohol and slowly all the evil habits became my regular habits. Slowly I lost interest in trade and became a debtor. So, I was pushed out of the ship by my partners and lost all that I had. I don’t even know what happened to my wife and children. The years have passed since this incident happened and now, I stand in front of you just like one among you.”

“You are really lucky enough to have suffered only this much in my life. My story is actually worse than yours”, said another person who stood beside the white friend. “I did not even dream of such a pitiful state of mine in which I am living now. I too was a great merchant and I come from the city of Venice. I excelled in trade and earned huge money. But I too fell into the hands of evil friends and became a slave of bad habits which marked my downfall. I lost all I had including my health. I noticed that my skin developed white patches and it started to spread all over my body. It was so bad that it changed my very identity. So once when I came to the harbour of Lebanon, the coast captain caught me and put me in prison and did a complete medical check-up. The result said that I was diseased with leprosy. So, they exiled me from the city and burnt my whole ship along with its cargo in the sea. I roamed in many places and at last came to the outskirts of Samaria and met you people and started to dwell among you. My fate was so bad that I became a beggar in a single day. People who came to know of my disease chased me like a dog and did not even come near me. After all those bitter experiences I finally got settled among you friends.”

The above conversations did not take place in any round table conference and the people who were talking so long were no longer prince or business men. They were ten lepers who were exiled from the city and sat on the outskirts of Samaria. They shared their life experiences to while away their time and tried to console each other for the current pitiable state they were in. Also each of them discussed who they would live a better life if they get a chance to get rid of this chronic disease they were suffering from. These people lived in a cave after being driven and chased out by men and they suffered without food or water.

“They were Once kings and merchants, but now wanders,

Once millionaires but now mere beggars,

Once owners of fame and money but now in great agony,

Once great warriors and sailors but now just lepers,

Once men of joy and laughter but now down with disaster,

Once great heroes of the past but now discarded lowly outcasts!!!!!!!!!!”

Hunger and pain could not make them sleep though they tried to. So, they again and again sat up and started to talk among themselves to forget their pain and agony. One of local friend them spoke up and said, “what if we get a new life….Completely rid of this chronic disease….. I mean to say if God could have mercy on us and give us a new life??? What would you do???”

“Good joke dear friend… I appreciate your sense of humour. Do you know what leprosy is? It is a disease which will disfigure you, your body will be covered with sores and you will have to live and die in deep pain. Above all this leprosy is the curse of God and so there is no remedy from the side of men. No one could cure leprosy.”

The local friend replied, “I too know all this my dear friends. But what I mean to say is apart from this if a miracle happens and all of us are cured of our disease, then what would you all do?”

On hearing this, all the other nine lepers replied in one tone, “if what you say could happen and if we are given a chance to get back to our old health and wealth, they we will surely kill the person who ever was responsible for this state of ours.”

On hearing this,a local friend replied, “No friends, this is not the way we should live the other part of our life. Though this disease is considered to be the curse of god, we are in this condition is because of our own sins. Each one of us is responsible for our sins and the after effects. Let us forgive others and think that no one else should suffer this condition ever in their life.” This leper belonged to Samaria.

On hearing this, Whiteee said, “there is no use of being good always and to everyone. That is the only reason for this present state of ours. How much we would have helped others? How much of our wealth we would have shared with our friends and relatives? We were good to them and in return they have wronged us. The whole world is operating under one basic principle, ‘for one person to live the other person should die’. It is we who did not understand this concept and now suffer the cost of being good always. It is ok. If only what our dear friend said could happen, if God could come down and stand in front of us and cure us of this disease, then it would be a golden moment in our life. So, if this has to happen then god himself will come in search of us and deliver us from this state of ours.” And this statement of Whiteeee came true the very next day.

The very day next Jesus Christ came by the way where these ten lepers lived. When the people of the city came to know that Jesus has come to their city, they immediately crowded round him on the road. When the people saw Jesus and his disciples, they shouted out saying, “Jesus, the son of David, have mercy on us, speak to us.” When Jesus tried to move forward, a small boy came to Jesus from the crowd and offered him a pomegranate and said, “Dear Lord, I don’t have anything to offer you except this pomegranate. We are of low cast and you are of high reverence. Still I love you and request you to accept this humble offering of mine.”

On hearing this Jesus was moved with compassion and said, “Dear son, no one is great or small in the creation of God. God created everyone in his own image and likeness. It is mankind who formed various casts among them. God loves everyone alike. When god created this world, he found everything to be good. But when Adam and eve sinned by the plot of Satan, the situation completely changed. Sin and death came into this world. The relationship between mankind and god was disconnected. It is the work of Satan which separates people based on cast, religion, colour, money etc. Satan is as killer and liar from the beginning. Since people do not understand this, they think that God has hated them and parted them from him. But days are coming when all people will understand the love of God and become one children of the father. I have come to seek the lost and bring them back to the love of the Father. I am the saviour of this world. I have come the show the love of God for all mankind. How will you then understand the love of God. See this pomegranate. How will you know if it is sweet of sour? Only when you taste it. But only if you know to eat this fruit you will know the actual taste of it. If you eat the skin and say it is sour then you are wrong. For the hard skin is not to taste but to protect the fruit within. But only if you taste the actual fruit within you will know the sweetness of the fruit. Also, the soft layer covering the fruit also protects the fruit. Similarly, people too have not understood or tasted the love of god for they do not know how to taste his love. This is not your fault also. Satan has blindfolded you from knowing and understanding the love of God. So pray to god to give you the spirit who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him and his abundant love. Pray to God that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work in those who believe in him.

In the past Jews and Samaritans were like brothers, lovable and united but later discrimination came in and now they stand apart in terms of belief, money, colour, cast and so on. No one respects the other as a child of God. So understand that all of you, Jews or Samaritans are children of God. Get rid of anything which hinders from loving the other person as your own brother or sister. Remember the two great commandments which sum up all the Ten Commandments. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body and soul, and the second one which says, love your neighbour as you love yourself. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may become the sons and daughters of your father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike and gives rain to showers who do good and to those who do evil.  You must be perfect – just as your Father in heaven is perfect!”

As Jesus was preaching and walking, he reached the cave where the ten lepers were living. When the lepers knew that Jesus was near their cave, they came out of the cave and shouted aloud saying, “Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us.” On hearing this cry, Jesus stopped and looked at them and said, “What do you want?” The ten of them replied, “Cleanse us of our chronic disease and give us new life.” Jesus replied, “Go and show yourself to the priest in the temple and do the rituals for sanctification.” So saying Jesus blessed them. Immediately the ten lepers fled to the temple. But on their way they noticed that they were completely cured of their disease. They started to leap in joy and went their way. But they never thought of returning to Jesus who cured them of their disease and thank him. But one of them returned to Jesus and fell at his feet and thanked him for curing him of his disease. He praised Jesus in a loud voice, “Lord God of all creation, thank you for cleansing me of my disease and sin. Thank you for forgiving me and giving me a new life. Though i lay here as a lowly outcast, you came in search of me and restored my health. Praise be to god in heaven and earth. Praise be to the Father who sent you to this earth to redeem and save the lost and forsaken. Praise to the Holy Spirit. Praise be to virgin mother who brought you to his world.”

On hearing this, the people around him and the apostles of Jesus commanded him not to shout aloud. They said that he was a leper and should not stand near the Lord. But the Samaritan shouted even loudly and proclaimed the praise of God saying,” how could i keep my mouth shut when God has done such a great miracle in my life? Why should i not thank the Lord who showered his abundant mercy and love on me? I was rejected and cast away by all of you. None of were able to relieve me of this bondage of disease, shame and hunger. But my Lord has done this for me,”

“If you have received the blessing then keep it with you and praise God in your heart. Do not keep shouting here and disturb us,” said the people there and the disciples of Jesus. But the man who received the blessing replied, “That is impossible. I will shout even louder and sing his praise. I can’t keep my mouth shut anymore. It is not me who is speaking. The Holy Spirit in me speaks using my tongue.  So i will sing and praise the glory of my saviour. No one can stop me. My heart leaps like a deer in joy. Why do you people stand still.. Open your mouth and praise him.”

Now Jesus replied, “It’s enough dear friends. Your faith has healed you. Go in peace and sin no more. Live the rest of your life in the path Holy Spirit leads you.” The Samaritan thanked Jesus and walked a few steps. Then he turned back to Jesus and said, “Lord Jesus I have one more petition.” Jesus replied, “What is it dear friend? I have given you all I have and all that you want. What is it you need now?” The Samaritan fell down at the feet of Jesus and said, “Lord you have given me a new life, new body and mind. I can feel everything is new in my body. When I was a leper, the disease ate up my brain. But now i can feel a new brain operating in me, which makes me understand and feel what is right. I forgot almost everything of my past and even my name. So I request you to give me a new name.”

Jesus said, “I healed you in this city. What is the name of this city? Can you tell me?”

The man replied, “The name of this city is Ephraim.”

Jesus replied, “Then you too shall henceforth be called as Ephraim. The meaning of Ephraim is twin fruit. Now did you understand the meaning of your new name? God has given you double blessing and double life, a new life. There is nothing old in you. Everything is new in you and you yourself are a new person now. So this name well suits you. There were ten of you who were healed by me..... Only you returned to glorify God. Where are the other nine of them?”

The Samaritan replied, “Lord, the moment they found out that they were cured of their disease, they were so eager to return to their old life and have gone their way. In that excitement they have completely forgotten you, who gave them this new life.” On hearing this Jesus said, “These people praise me with their lips, but stay far away from me in their soul. They want blessings from me but not me.... i pity the other nine of them. All the efforts they take to recapture whatever they have lost will eventually lead them to even greater sin and their condition will become worse than what it was before”.  Jesus continued and said, “People pour out their hearts in the presence of the Lord to receive certain blessings or deliverance, but do not use them in an honest way. This is the reason the very blessing which they receive from God turns out be a curse on them. God treats all people alike. There is no differentiation in the sight of God. He sends rain on the good and bad alike. But it the people who receive the blessing use it in the wrong way and end up in trouble. God loves everyone. I did not expect thanks from them. But thanking a person who has given you a blessing is a virtue. Also only when you come back to thank him for all the blessings he has showered upon you, you become even closer to God. You will win his acceptance.”

After hearing this, the Samaritan fell down at the feet of Jesus and said, “Lord i have one more petition, kindly do grant me this also.”

Jesus replied, “What is it you want Ephraim?”

Ephraim replied with tears in his eyes, “My lord Jesus, i have understood true love from you. I have seen good and bad times. All kinds of people. I once had people who loved me, cared for me and wanted to be in my company. But it was when i was handsome and had enough of money to spend for them also. Once i lost my beauty and wealth, the once lovable people turned their backs on me. They pushed me out of the streets and left me as an orphan. I starved for a meal a day and there was no one to have pity on me to give it for me. I longed for the love and affection of someone who would really care for me when i was in pain and agony. But my friends turned to me and said, ‘he must have done a great sin and that is why god has punished him with this curse.’ Every day i lived in shame and disgrace. But it was only you who had pity on me. You came to me and healed me. You called me by a new name. You said that my sins are forgiven. You gave me a new body and soul. You gave me a new life. This world is behind money and money is the root cause for all evil. Satan works in three ways to win a soul, they are, alcohol, women and money. These three are there everywhere in this world. They lead man to sin and sickness. I am fed up of these Lord. Also they did not give me the joy and happiness and peace. I don’t have wife or children and I live alone. So kindly accept me as you disciple and permit me to follow you.”

Jesus looked at him with compassion and said, “Ephraim, i will not assure you a life full of roses if you follow me. It will be a path of thorns and trouble. If you want to follow me, you should forsake yourself, this world, carry your cross and come behind me. For all this in this world, great will be your reward in heaven. I will give you a place in my heavenly kingdom. Come follow me. Peter this man will henceforth join us in our journey.”

On hearing this Peter understood the love and affection Jesus had on Ephraim. So he said to him, “Look here Ephraim, Jesus would have allotted you a place in his kingdom, but here on this earth I am the first disciple of Jesus. I am the head for all of you. I have the top most priority to receive the love and affection of Jesus. Did you understand? Moreover Jesus has given me only the keys to heaven. So understand this clearly and act accordingly.”

Ephraim said, “i understand sir. I request you to have mercy on me and use your key to help me to keep my one foot alone inside the gates of heaven. I will be happy with that.”

Hearing their conversation Jesus said, “Whoever considers himself great will become low and whoever humbles himself will become great in the kingdom of God. Do you remember the time when we were in a house along with my mother and I told you that you will be the head of the church but have appointed my mother as the protector of all the churches in this world?            

Step down from the post of a head and place yourself in the place of my mother and you will understand that a mother will love all her children alike. In that way Ephraim deserves my love and affection just like how you do. I love every one of you alike. Do not be jealous of him.”

Peter immediately looked up to Jesus and said, “Lord please do not mistake me. You know me and my heart. There is nothing hidden from you. I accept him as my own brother.” So saying he put his hands around the hip of Ephraim and they walked along as good friends behind Jesus. Peter said to him, “come dear friend, join us and become the citizen of heaven.”

Dear Lord Jesus

Sent from above as foretold in the past

He came to this world to seek and find the lost

Extending his hand to lift mankind from the miry clay

Preaching the good news constantly everyday

Hearing to their cry and healing them all

Enlightening every soul, to help them listen to his call

Redeeming people from sin by dying on the cross

Dear Lord, you are the true shepherd who paid for our every loss.

Notes:

A small note on the Angara cave. Angara is a small mount located in the mountain range of Ajalon which is situated in the country of Jordan. Angara cave is a cave located on the mount of Angara. This cave is converted into a church. There is a small village at the foot of this mountain in which the great prophet Elisa was said to be born.

The church which was built in this place in memory of Prophet Elisa in 6 AD, is almost in ruins. Still the beautiful mosaic flooring and the tank which was used to give baptism is still in good condition and the words stating ‘Prophet Elisa pray for us’ is engraved there.

Also the great King David, sought refuge in this cave when he was chased by his son Absolom states a historical note of reference. It is also said that it is in this cave that Jesus and his disciples along with his mother once met and it was in this cave Jesus announced that Mother Mary will be the protector of all the churches in this world. There are many caves in this mountain range. Since Jesus used to stay in these caves, it is not a confirmed point that in which of these caves Jesus appointed his mother as the protector of all churches in this world. Still taking into consideration all the events which took place in this Angara cave, one could easily conclude that it is in this cave that Jesus should have appointed his mother as the protector of churches.

There is an important incident which adds to the above said conclusion. In the year 2010, 6^th May, one of the nuns along with the local people were cleaning the church. It was then they saw a strange sight. The face of the statue of mother Mary which was kept there came alive and her eyes opened and closed. Soon after this, tears of blood rolled down from her eyes along her cheeks. The people who saw this have testified also. Many medical reports and the testimony of many great priests confirm this incident to be true. This church is under the control of the priest of Jerusalem. The Roman Catholic Church has also confirmed this incident and has announced this church as one of the holy places to be visited. The church of Mary located in the Angara cave is called as ‘Mary of the Mount church’. This place could be reached by a travel of about one and half an hour towards north, from the capital city of Jordan.

The cave where the ten lepers stayed is now called as Saint George church. This church is under the control of ancient Greek Church committee. This cave church is located in Ephraim of Samaria, in a city called Purki. In recent times this small cave church is one of the best places of pilgrim visit. If you travel north of Jerusalem towards Samaria, you could reach this small city of Purki.