The Sons of Isaac(46)

Isaac drew back as though he had been slapped. He frowned and shook his head when she tried to hand him the little image. “Where did this ugly thing come from?” he demanded.

“Rebekah’s mother gave it to me as we were leaving,” Deborah said.

“And you brought this from Haran?”

“Yes, my lord. It’s one of the small images from Ur made by your grandfather Terah. It is very powerful in matters that concern women.”

“From Ur?” Isaac said.

“My family in Haran kept favor with all the gods,” Rebekah said.

Isaac jumped to his feet in great agitation. “We must destroy it quickly before my father hears of it. He’ll not be pleased to know there’s such a thing in our camp.”

“No,” Rebekah cried, hiding it behind her back. “I’ll die childless without her. Even the shepherds and their wives know one must depend on a goddess to have children.”

Isaac frowned and pulled at his beard. His eyes were piercing and stern. “And who would you thank for a child gotten by such means?” Both Deborah and Rebekah shrank back, but Rebekah still kept the image behind her back, clutched firmly in her hand.

“It must be destroyed. Come, give it to me. I’ll have it done away with.” He held out his hand, but Rebekah clung to it with all the more determination.

“You are afraid of your father,” Rebekah cried, turning her face away so she would not have to see the look in his eyes. “This small image will do no harm and it is my only hope for a child.”

“So,” he said, “you are depending on a lifeless bit of molded clay instead of the living, creator God.” He struggled to understand this strange turn of events.

At that Rebekah brought her hand out where she could look at the small image more closely. It was, as he said, rather ugly but carefully molded of brown clay. “You must not think of destroying it,” she said. “It’s very old. The only thing I have that was made by my great-grandfather. It’s quite precious.”

“If you’re depending on this ugly clay image to give you a child, who knows what you’ll get. We can be sure it will not be the child Elohim has promised.”

Rebekah gave a startled cry. “How can you say such a thing? This is my last chance. I can’t give it up.” With that she sank down among the cushions and buried her face in her folded arms with the little image still clutched tightly in her hand.

Isaac squatted beside her and spoke gently. “Surely you can see that this lifeless bit of clay can’t give you a living child.”

Rebekah straightened up and held the image out where she could see it again. For a long moment she was silent, taking in its pinched face, slitted eyes, slightly rounded stomach, and the legs tightly pressed together. “If I give her to you, are you going to destroy her?”

“She must be destroyed. Even if my grandfather made her and she is very old.”

“Why can’t I keep her and you pray to Elohim for a child?”

“And if the child comes, who will you thank?”

Rebekah stared at the little image in her hand as though she were seeing it in a new light. “I would thank Elohim.”

“And the little image?”

There was a long silence. When she spoke it was so softly Isaac could hardly hear what she said. “I’d think the little goddess had somehow brought it about.”

“And what would you tell the other women?”

Tears came in Rebekah’s eyes. “I would probably loan them the little goddess if they could not get pregnant.”

“And the child? What would you tell the child?”

Rebekah began to sob softly as she studied the ugly little figurine. Her tears splashed on its pinched face, and she wiped them off with a corner of her mantle. She could not speak. She covered her face with one hand, and with the other held the image out to Isaac. “You can do with her as you please. I cannot bear to destroy her myself.”

Isaac took the little figure and stuffed it quickly into his belt. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll see that she is destroyed. Then I’ll make special entreaty of Elohim for our child.”

Rebekah turned and buried her face in the cushions and wept while Isaac motioned to Deborah to comfort her. “I’ll be back later, but now I must tend to this thing lest she change her mind.”

* * *

News leaked out about the small idol and Isaac’s entreaty for his wife. The whole camp waited and watched to see what would happen. They feared for Rebekah’s sanity and were divided as to what harm could have been done in letting her keep the small image. “It was made in Ur by old Terah. It undoubtedly held special powers,” some said.