I Appeal To Caesar!

drunkards; the numbed, awkward animals also stumble dumbly forward. All dream of the coming oasis and cool water. They are getting closer, but their minds are tortured with false visions of succulent fruit and the sound of flowing waters.

“How much longer can it be?”

These mental illusions bring them to the brink of sanity. The four skins of water carried on two of the donkeys are gone, completely used for drinking, washing out their eyes, and maintaining the animals.

Water . . . how they need water!

Saul, leading the procession on foot, must soon find relief, for not only does he feel the severity of their travel, his brain staggers with theological questions. He now sees images of Jews being beaten and chained, crying children, weeping mothers, and distraught fathers. His sickened, confused conscience almost reaches a state of delirium as his convictions wrestle with the merciless, barbaric behavior he has shown God’s people. * * * * * The small caravan approaches the outskirts of their destination, a great and beautiful oasis cradled between the descending foothills and fiery desert. Abruptly, Saul and his men realize, in spite of their dull stupors, although they have not yet come to the city, they have crossed over into a fruitful, cultivated area. Fruit trees and shade appear. Grass and flowers, vineyards and vegetables, wonderful gardens.