Solomon's Sorrow

XXV
Solomon's Sorrow

1. THE WOODEN PIECES

IN JERUSALEM, Solomon couldn't understand the sudden panic within himself.
When Zadok found him in a depressed state, he asked:
"What's the matter?"
"Do you remember when Makeda, the queen of Ethiopia, was here?"
"Yes."
"Well, when I slept with her, I had a vision. It seemed as I were standing in the chamber of Jerusalem and the sun came down from heaven into the land of Judah and lighted it up with great splendor and it stayed here for a short time and then it moved on and lighted on Ethiopia and it didn't return to Judah."
"Why didn't you tell me this before that you'd seen a vision of this kind? You make my knees tremble. What if your sons have stolen the Ark?"
Solomon was shocked by Zadok's question.
"When you took off the covering, didn't you check to make certain the Ark was there?"
"No, I didn't," came the reply. "It had three coverings on it and I took off the outtermost and put the covering you gave me on it."
Solomon was like a crazed man.
"Go to the Temple and examine it," he yelled, his voice crackling with anticipation.
Zadok took the keys and entered into the sanctuary and proceeded to cautiously walk in the darkness of the Holy of Holies.
He found nothing except the wooden boards that Azariah had fastened together to resemble the sides of the pedestal of the Ark.
It was gone.

Zadok collapsed in terror.
Benaiah found him there. He thought he was dead and frantically felt his pulse. He lifted him to a table and tried to revive him.
Slowly, Zadok came out of his faint and staggered to his feet.
Looking at the place where the Ark should have been, Zadok started screaming and wailing at the Temple doors.
Solomon, in the nearby king's quarters, now knew his most frightening nightmare had become true.
Army commander Benaiah was ordered to assemble the troops and set out after the thieves, who had taken the greatest treasure on earth, an object on which no monetary value could ever be placed.
Solomon told Benaiah to seize his son and bring him back to Jerusalem and kill the other men in his company.
"As the Lord God of Israel lives, they're men of death and not of life. They deserve to die because they''ve robbed the Temple."