Till Shiloh Comes (45 page)

Asenath put her hand on his arm, and when he turned around, she put her arms behind his neck and studied his face. A question had been on her mind ever since Jacob's death, and now she took courage and spoke. “Husband, may I ask you a question?”

“You always do.” Joseph smiled, leaned down, and kissed her. “What's your question?”

“Are you disappointed that it was Judah and not you who was chosen by your father to take the place of the firstborn?”

“It was not Jacob who chose Judah. It was the Lord—and it is well.”

“Then you are not troubled by it?”

“I rejoice that God is bringing One to the world called Shiloh. That may not be the name men will know him by, but he will come one day, and when he does, the whole world will be changed.”

“You have told me about the medallion that Jacob passed on to Judah—with the lion on one side and a lamb on the other. What does it all mean?”

“I am not sure,” Joseph said quietly. “It somehow speaks of the Redeemer to come, but how can a man be like a lion and a lamb both? It is a great mystery that one could be as strong as the king of beasts and yet gentle as a lamb. But Shiloh will be like that when he comes.”

“And you truly don't mind that you are not the chosen one?”

“No, I do not mind,” Joseph said, smiling. “Judah can never have the one thing I have, even though he has received the blessing.”

“And what is that, my husband?”

“He can never have the fairest wife in all the world.”

Asenath smiled and put her head on his chest. The silver moonlight flooded them as they held each other, both thinking of the One who would come through Judah to redeem the earth.

Then looking up at the stars that dotted the heavens in a fiery display, Joseph's voice rang out clearly into the night: “O Creator of the Universe, who made all things … watch over us until Shiloh comes!”

GILBERT MORRIS spent ten years as a pastor before becoming Professor of English at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas and earning a Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas. A prolific writer, he has had over 25 scholarly articles and 200 poems published in various periodicals and over the past years has had more than 180 novels published. His family includes three grown children, and he and his wife live in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

BOOKS BY GILBERT MORRIS

T
HE
H
OUSE OF
W
INSLOW
S
ERIES

1. The Honorable Imposter

2. The Captive Bride

3. The Indentured Heart

4. The Gentle Rebel

5. The Saintly Buccaneer

6. The Holy Warrior

7. The Reluctant Bridegroom

8. The Last Confederate

9. The Dixie Widow

10. The Wounded Yankee

11. The Union Belle

12. The Final Adversary

13. The Crossed Sabres

14. The Valiant Gunman

15. The Gallant Outlaw

16. The Jeweled Spur

17. The Yukon Queen

18. The Rough Rider

19. The Iron Lady

20. The Silver Star

21. The Shadow Portrait

22. The White Hunter

23. The Flying Cavalier

24. The Glorious Prodigal

25. The Amazon Quest

26. The Golden Angel

27. The Heavenly Fugitive

28. The Fiery Ring

29. The Pilgrim Song

30. The Beloved Enemy

31. The Shining Badge

32. The Royal Handmaid

33. The Silent Harp

34. The Virtuous Woman

35. The Gypsy Moon

36. The Unlikely Allies

37. The High Calling

38. The Hesitant Hero

39. The Widow's Choice

40. The White Knight

C
HENEY
D
UVALL,
M.D.
*

1. The Stars for a Light

2. Shadow of the Mountains

3. A City Not Forsaken

4. Toward the Sunrising

5. Secret Place of Thunder

6. In the Twilight, in the Evening

7. Island of the Innocent

8. Driven With the Wind

C
HENEY AND
S
HILOH:
T
HE
I
NHERITANCE
*

1. Where Two Seas Met

2. The Moon by Night

3. There Is a Season

T
HE
S
PIRIT OF
A
PPALACHIA
**

1. Over the Misty Mountains

2. Beyond the Quiet Hills

3. Among the King's Soldiers

4. Beneath the Mockingbird's Wings

5. Around the River's Bend

L
IONS OF
J
UDAH

1. Heart of a Lion

2. No Woman So Fair

3. The Gate of Heaven

4. Till Shiloh Comes

5. By Way of the Wilderness

6. Daughter of Deliverance

*
with Lynn Morris
**
with Aaron McCarver