Kingdom Lost

Prince Jonathan has dared to marry Sarah without his parents knowing, and now he must go home and face his father. When Sarah insists that he take her with him, he doesnt know that she has dreamed that his father kills him. He begrudgingly agrees, thinking he will lock her in his room once they reach the palace and go meet his father alone. Upon their arrival however, Jonathan realizes that not only their lives are in danger but also their marriage. Uncertainty once again grips his heart and he offers Sarah a bill of divorcement before their marriage is confirmed before his fathers kingdom. The setting is ancient Israel somewhere between 1150-1050 BC. Jonathans home is a gloomy stone fortress, located in the former Canaanite City of Gibeah. Casemated walls and a grand staircase lead to what the servants fearfully call the Lions Den, his fathers large, second story audience room. It is in this room that Jonathan introduces his wife to his parents, and is the place where he would have died had Sarah not been with him. The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety beside you; and the LORD shall cover you all the day long, and he shall dwell between your shoulders. The words of the Benjamite blessing, spoken by Moses over five generations before, continues to drift through Jonathans thoughts. When his grandfather dies suddenly, and his fathers mind continues to deteriorates into madness, Jonathan is convinced the blessing was meant as a promise to him. When his father does not obey God concerning the battle with Amalek, the prophet Samuel puts a curse upon the entire house of Saul. As Samuel gazes sadly into Jonathans eyes, he promises him that, if he continues to hope, Shiloh will come to sheol (the grave) and get him. When Jonathan learns that a very dear friend of his has been killed in this battle because Saul commanded him to scale a city wall in order to test his God, this promise seems all that the young prince has left to believe in. Close to despairing, he comes to the realization that Shiloh is not an altar or a building that can be destroyed by his enemies, whoever they are, but an individual hope in his heart, like the eternal flame at the altar. Grandfather was right after all, he tells his mother. We must tell the next generation, and the next, and the next, until someday a worthy king shall come to deliver us.