waves of Jewish exiles returning to the land, the beginning of the restoration, and the founding of Zionism. But it would take another event to fulfill the mystery. That event would come just three years before the next Jubilee.”
“What event?”
“The First World War.”
“The dark clouds and trenches of my vision.”
“So then,” he said, “according to the mystery, which year would be the next year of Jubilee?”
“It would have to be the year 1917.”
“Then, according to the mystery, we would expect 1917 to be the year of return and restoration and the transference of the land.”
“And did it happen?” I asked.
“It happened,” said the Oracle, “at the exact appointed time and would come through war and through the gezerah.”
“The what?”
“The symbol on the second door and on the ram, it was the Hebrew letter gimmel and the first letter of the Hebrew word gezerah.”
“And what does it mean?”
“The decree.”
“So what was the next revelation?”
“That of a paper that would alter modern history.”
“And how was it revealed?”
“Through the mystery of the rider.”
Chapter 18
THE WORD OF KINGS
I RETURNED TO the oasis. There was no one there. I sat down on a rock by the water, waiting for almost an hour. Then I saw him in the distance making his way to the pool. He sat down beside me.”
“You do understand I have other things I need to attend to,” he said.
“Of course,” I replied, though I couldn’t imagine any of them.
“Then let’s begin.”
“The rider,” I said, “or riders . . . who were they, and what was the document they were carrying?”
“When we last spoke, what did we say would take place in the coming Jubilee, according to the mystery?”
“Those who had possession of the land would have to relinquish it. The land would have to return to those to whom it belonged.”
“And I’ve told you that all events would be woven together to bring about the appointed end ordained by the mystery.”
“You have.”
“On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was riding in a motorcade through the city of Sarajevo when he was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb nationalist. In response to the assassination, the Austro-Hungarian Empire began mobilizing for war against Serbia. Within a month the Russian Empire began mobilizing for war in support of Serbia. Germany in turn began mobilizing for war against Russia, as did the Austro-Hungarian Empire. France in turn entered into war on the side of Russia. In an attempt to defeat France, Germany invaded Belgium. Belgium in turn appealed to Britain. Britain in turn declared war against Germany. By August 1914 the First World War had begun.
“The Ottoman Empire was not openly allied with any of the European powers, though in August it had signed a secret treaty with Germany. But on October 29, 2014, Ottoman warships, acting under the orders of the newly appointed German admiral of the Ottoman navy, launched a surprise attack on Russian ports in the Black Sea. On November 2 Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire. On November 5, France did the same, as did Britain.
“So the two empires, the British and the Ottoman, were drawn into the conflict on opposite sides of the war. Each was destined to play a part in the fulfillment of prophecy. By the autumn of 1914 it was all in place.”
“And the Ottoman Empire,” I added, “was the possessor of the land. And if you remove any of those events . . . it doesn’t happen.”
“Yes.”
“So God was behind those events?”
“Man was behind those events. But God works all things together, the good and the evil, all the pieces of the puzzle, for the purpose of redemption. But there were other pieces in the mystery . . . smaller ones. One of them was born in the Russian Empire in 1874 to a Jewish family, the third of fifteen children. He had a passion for science and as a young man had moved to Germany to study chemistry. But he had a deeper passion, the dream that his people would one day return to their ancient homeland. And while still pursuing his studies, he attended the Second Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl.”
“What was his name?”
“His name was Chaim Weizmann. In 1904 he moved to Britain and was employed by the Chemistry Department of the University of Manchester. Not long after taking up that post, Weizmann’s path happened to cross with that of a renowned British politician and member of Parliament who at that time happened to be representing