set captives free, turned the world upside down, changed the course of human history, and overcame all things. That,” said the Oracle, “is the ancestral possession of this faith. That is its inheritance and its Jubilean return. Each shall return. So too the faith. . . So too it must return to its own possession.”
“The best of times and the worst of times.”
“Yes,” said the Oracle, “the times when gray disappears, when the dark grows darker and the light shines all the brighter . . . And for those who choose to shine, it is the time of greatness.”
He was quiet after that, as was I, until I finally broke the silence.
“So is this the final piece of the puzzle?”
He paused before responding.
“There is one more,” he said.
“And which piece is that?”
“The piece around which every other revolves and falls into its place.”
“Which piece?”
“The last piece,” he said, “the mystery of the age.”
“And what was it?”
“It was that which all the Jubilees were leading up to . . . the mystery of the end.”
“And how was it shown to you?”
“Through a vision in which all the other visions came home.”
Chapter 60
THE LAST PIECE
I RETURNED TO the Oracle’s tent at midday. He was sitting on an ornately decorated cushion of gold and azure. He motioned for me to join him. So I did, taking my seat on a cushion of gold and crimson. He turned to his left to retrieve a small stool-like table of sand-colored stone. On its surface was a large assortment of colored glass pieces.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“A puzzle.”
“Of what?”
“Put it together,” he said, “and you’ll see.”
It took me most of an hour to put it all together. I expected that it would have the feel of a stained-glass window, but it more closely resembled an ancient mosaic.
“What do you see?” asked the Oracle.
“A sandal . . . as in the visions.”
“And so it is.”
“The last time we were together, you spoke of a missing piece around which all the other pieces revolve. Is it one of these pieces?”
“No,” he replied. “The missing piece is the puzzle itself . . . a puzzle of mysteries within mysteries.”
“The missing piece around which everything centers is a sandal?”
“What is it that the mystery centers on?”
“Return.”
“And what is the return based on?”
“On the departure, the loss.”
“And what does the departure center on?”
“On the land of Israel,” I replied, “and Jerusalem.”
“And when did the departure begin?”
“Two thousand years ago.”
“Yes, the departure of the Jewish people from the land and the city in AD 70. But that followed an earlier departure, that of the disciples, and the going out of the faith from the same land and city. Could there have been another?”
“Another departure?”
“Yes, before all the others, a departure from which all the other departures proceed and around which they all revolve. Could all the departures have begun with one? And if so, where would it have taken place?”
“From Jerusalem?”
“Yes,” he said, “it would have to have been a departure from Jerusalem. But it would have had to have taken place before that of the Jewish people and that of the disciples.”
“That’s what the sandal represents . . . that departure.”
“Yes.”
“The sandal belonged to whom?”
“The Messiah.”
“The missing piece is the sandal of the Messiah?”
“The missing piece is the Messiah. He’s the missing piece of everything . . . and the centerpiece. Everything revolves around him . . . the world, history, the counting of years, and the marking of every human event . . . The entire age revolves around the Messiah . . . and his departure.”
“When did it happen?”
“At the end of the gospel account, after the resurrection, he stands on the Mount of Olives with his disciples. After charging them to go forth to the world as his witnesses, he’s taken away . . . taken up into the heavenlies. The event will be known as the ascension.
“It was the first departure, that from which all the others begin. And what was it that He departed from? The land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Everything else will follow. If Messiah departs from Jerusalem . . . ”
“Then everything will depart from Jerusalem . . . the disciples, the faith, the church . . . ”
“And the Jewish people, the nation of Israel. Messiah is the King of Israel, and a nation must follow its king.”
“Even if it doesn’t follow its king?”
“It still follows. If the king departs, so too must the kingdom, so too must his