Messiah's Message Read online

  Chapter 2 - Man Makes His Plans

  “Papa, from the highest heavens they come,” announced Eli. “The Warriors, the Watchers, and the Healers.”

  “Before the birth of time, you have remained steadfast. Loyal ones, Beloved stumbles in the darkness. They seek truth, but find it not. They have eyes to see it, but see it they do not. They have ears to hear it, but hear it they do not. They need your help to reach the Way of life everlasting.

  Eli, Jasmine, and the innumerable host of Holy Ones replied, “We will accomplish all that is written in the Books of Life, Oh Most High.”

  Before Micah knew anything about being a prophet, he grew up like any other active, imaginative young boy. When he was six, he wanted to be a fireman and drive fire trucks really fast. At seven, he dreamed of fighting pirates on the high seas, discovering buried treasure and rescuing fair maidens in distress. At eight, Micah wanted to be a pilot like his Uncle George, always flying around the world seeing new and exciting places. But no matter what Micah imagined he would be when he grew up, he was certain of one thing. He wanted to be just like his father.

  Mr. Tony Collins, Sr. was originally a carpenter. In his early years, he built everything from rocking horses to magnificent mansions. Some of Micah’s happiest childhood memories were working alongside his dad. Micah helped his dad build barns, back yard fences and repair leaky roofs. He helped his dad build the best tree fort a kid could ever want. And once, when the family needed a security guard to protect the chicken coop in the back yard, Micah got to use the chain saw to help carve a large, wooden grizzly bear.

  Micah’s mother used to tell him a story about a time when he was only five years old. “You scared us half to death!” she used to tell him. “Early one Saturday morning you went out into the garage and found one of your father’s hammers and a box of nails. You wanted to surprise him by building a bathroom shelf all by yourself. But as you were pulling the box of nails off the workbench, the box tipped over and fell onto the concrete floor. All of the sudden you found yourself barefoot in a sea of nails.”

  Micah loved hearing stories about his childhood. He grew up in a big, two-story house near the Des Moines River in Iowa. The Collins family had lived in Iowa for generations. Micah remembers miles of perfectly square corn fields, the endless chatter and smell of turkey farms, wintery blizzards and lots of thunder storms and scary tornados.

  When Micah was still very young, his father decided to start his own construction company. Over the years, Collins Enterprises, Inc., also known as ‘CEI’ grew from a successful local business into a highly profitable and well-respected international construction firm. CEI built schools, hospitals and churches throughout Mexico and Central America. Partnering with local firms throughout the Far East, they built hotels, shopping malls and fire stations. CEI had also erected theaters, museums and other civic centers in various European and Middle Eastern cities.

  With Micah’s love for building, it made perfect sense for him to pursue a career in construction management. When Micah graduated from college, his father hired him to be the Project Manager for a school being built in West Des Moines. Micah did an excellent job, finishing on time and under budget. The owners of the project were thrilled with his performance.

  Micah proved to be a gifted leader and shrewd businessman. He was a man of action and knew how to get the job done right the first time. It wasn’t long before his father offered him the job of Vice President of CEI.

  “You’ve earned the position,” his father said proudly.

  Micah married his high school sweetheart. Julie Madigan was the love of his life. She was a smart, talented, and gorgeous brunette with hazel eyes and the most beautiful singing voice Micah had ever heard. When Julie sang a hymn in church on Sunday mornings, Micah thought he was listening to the voice of an angel.

  When Micah was four years old, Julie’s family moved three doors down on Elm Street. Micah and Julie grew up together and easily became best friends. Some of the other boys used to tease Micah about hanging around a girl, but he never gave it much thought.

  As children, Micah and Julie climbed trees together, sold lemonade on street corners, built snow men at Christmas, and went swimming in the river during the summer. Micah even let Julie become an official member of his “Build or Bust” secret club and eat pizza in his tree fort.

  At the Fourth of July picnic the summer they both graduated from high school, Micah asked Julie to marry him.

  She said, “Yes! I thought you would never ask.”

  With fireworks bursting overhead, Micah kissed Julie for the first time. In that moment, he couldn’t tell the difference between the fireworks bursting overhead and the fireworks bursting inside his own heart.

  Micah always promised Julie when they got married, he would build her the house of her dreams. He kept his word. What else could a man in love, born with a hammer in his hand do? He built his bride a beautiful, two-story country home just six blocks east of her parents’ house. Micah looked forward to the day he could build a tree fort in the back yard with his own son.

  One sunny afternoon in April, Tony Collins called Micah into his office. “Son, CEI won a bid in Israel. Looks like we’ll be building a new children’s hospital in Jerusalem.”

  “Israel? Dad, that’s incredible! Who are you going to send to oversee the work?”

  “I was thinking about sending you,” replied his father. “This is an important project for CEI. I want the best talent we have and that means you, son. What do you say? Will you go?”

  Without hesitation Micah said, “Of course I’ll go. Who could turn down an opportunity to work in Israel, the land of God’s chosen people? And in Jerusalem…the holy city! Wow! What an honor it will be to build a children’s hospital for those folks, especially after all they have been through recently.”

  “Great! I knew you’d feel that way. Here’s a list of the companies already on board. Most of them are guys we have worked with in the past. We still need to hire a few more subcontractors, but Zuriel ben-Hadar, our Middle Eastern Division VP, will give you all those details. I already told him you were coming. Sorry, but I knew you couldn’t resist.”

  The two men chuckled. “You know me too well, dad,” laughed Micah.

  “Zuriel will meet you at the airport. He’s made all the arrangements,” said the senior Collins. Then in a more serious tone he added, “Micah, I have feeling your involvement on this job is critical the success of this project. I want your hands-on involvement in every aspect of the work until that hospital is finished. I know you will do an excellent job not only for CEI and our clients, but for the Lord as well. Call me if anything unusual develops or you run into any delays. I’ll be praying for you, son.”

  Julie was just as excited about the project as Micah. “I knew when I married an international builder there would be times of separation,” she reassured her husband. “Don’t worry about me. You know the family is just down the street. And besides, I’ve always wanted to see Israel. Maybe now is the perfect time for visit, hint, hint,” she laughed.

  Putting her arms around Micah’s neck and giving him a kiss, she said, “I love you so much. You go build that hospital for those children and for the glory of the Lord. And make sure you enjoy every minute of the experience!”

  The ten hour, transatlantic flight from New York to Tel Aviv was uneventful. During the overnight trip, Micah managed to get a few hours of sleep. By 8:00am the following morning, the Boeing 777 jet made its final descent to the Ben Gurion International Airport.

  From the window in his seat looking south towards the city of Jaffa, Micah couldn’t help thinking about the biblical story of Jonah.

  “Hard to imagine,” he thought. “From this very same ancient seaport, Jonah boarded that ship and later had his intimate encounter with a sea monster.” Micah laughed out loud as he wondered what kind of giant creatures might still lurk beneath those placid Mediterranean waters.

  Micah was standing next to the
baggage carousel waiting for his luggage to circle around when Zuriel spotted him. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Collins,” Zuriel said. “Your father’s told me some interesting stories about you.”

  “I’ll bet he has,” laughed Micah as the two men shook hands. “It is a pleasure to meet you too!”

  During the forty mile drive up to the capital city of Israel, Zuriel gave Micah a status report on the project. “We’ve already hired a local man named Peter Massad as the Project Manager. He and his company are managing the day-to-day operations of the project. I’ve arranged for you to spend the day tomorrow with Mr. Massad and meet his team of architects and engineers.”

  “Excavation of the underground parking garage should be completed in about three weeks,” continued Zuriel. “Once the grading and compacting are done, we’ll be ready to begin pouring the concrete. By the way, the owners decided to name the facility, the Rapha Children’s Hospital and Eye Clinic.”

  Zuriel added, “Oh, and one more thing. I’ve rented a flat for you near the construction site. The owners are just about finished with some minor renovations. They assured me the flat will be ready in a couple of weeks. Sorry about the delay. In the meantime, you will be staying at the King David Hotel. It’s a five-star resort hotel with world-class accommodations. I think you will be very comfortable there until your apartment is ready.”

  “Excellent! It’s going to be a pleasure working with someone as thorough as you, Zuriel,” Micah said confidently.

  The King David Hotel was even more impressive than Micah expected. The hotel had richly decorated rooms, beautiful garden terraces and some of the best middle-eastern food in all Israel. And the view of the old city walls, ancient domes, Mount Zion, and some of the newer parts of the city were absolutely spectacular.

  After dinner, Micah decided to go for a walk around a section of the old city wall near the hotel. He walked across the street and around the corner past the YMCA building. It was a beautiful slender tower constructed entirely of white Jerusalem limestone, like every other building in the city. The clock in the YMCA bell tower chimed 9:00pm.

  As Micah followed the tourist signs, he became more and more fascinated with the sights and sounds of the ancient city. He continued walking until he came to a rest station not far from the original East Gate in the old city wall. Looking westward out over the city he heard a man’s voice crying,

  “Oh, Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Eternal peace was within your reach, but you turned it down.”

  Micah looked everywhere but saw no one. The voice he heard was so mournful, Micah found himself emotionally moved to tears. Without truly understanding why, he sat overlooking the city in the middle of the night and wept without restraint or shame.

  Unseen companions stood on either side of Micah. Warriors of Light reverently bowed their heads and covered Micah with their shimmering wings. And a gathering of Watchers joined with the prophet as he entered into heaven’s ancient grief.