“I want to take Mulek out of the palace, and keep him until the danger is over,” Zibiah told Jehoiada.  “You’re the keeper of the king’s sons.  When the Chaldeans come, and if they overthrow Jerusalem, they’ll destroy all the seed royal.”

“You love him, don’t you?” Jehoiada said to the woman.

“He’s my son,” Zibiah answered.  “When my baby died, I was asked to nurse him.  I took him to my own home.  I returned him here when he was three years old.  That was last year.  Since then I’ve had another baby, a girl, but Mulek is my child as well.  The Babylonian army will be here by next week.  If nothing happens, and the Chaldeans go home in peace, I’ll bring Mulek back.  But if they destroy Jerusalem and the king, as the prophets have said, then there will yet be one of the king’s sons still alive.”

“Your plan makes sense, but the king wouldn’t like it if he found out,” the man said.

“Zedekiah doesn’t need to know.  The palace and all Jerusalem are in a stir because of the approaching army.  The king doesn’t have time to worry about one of his babies.  He never sees nor asks about them anyway.  He only cares about his eldest, his heir.  The youth is 16.  All his care goes toward him.  I was entrusted with Mulek before.  What could be more natural than that I should take him for a visit to his old home?  I will keep him safe.”

“I know you will,” Jehoiada answered.  “Take the child and go.  If I’m still alive when the Babylonians leave, bring him back to me.  If we’re all killed, the child is yours to do with as you think best.  Come, we’ll get the child.”

Mulek and Zibiah were overjoyed to see one another.  Jehoiada let them out of the king’s house, and Zibiah returned through the streets to her home.  Jerusalem was in an uproar.  People scurried everywhere, and gathered in excited knots as they discussed the situation and prepared themselves against the approaching army.

“You were able to get Mulek!” Zibiah’s husband said with relief as she entered the house.

“Jehoiada didn’t want to let him go, but he believes the prophets, too.  He thinks Jerusalem is going to be destroyed.”

“Getting Mulek is all we had left to do.  The others are waiting.  Let’s get out of this place while we can.”

A small band of young couples, all believers in the words of the prophets, left Jerusalem that day.  They went against the tide.  Few were outward bound.  Most were hurrying toward the walled city where they hoped to find safety from the Babylonian army which was just days away.

Zibiah and her group headed north, the same direction from which the army was approaching, but bent their course to the west, toward the seacoast, so as to avoid meeting the army.  Their destination was Phoenicia.  They were leaving the country which they believed was about to be destroyed.

Zibiah’s husband and the other men of the group found employment with a Phoenician who was building a ship.

The presence of the Babylonian army in the region was of immense interest to everyone.  News of the army’s doings and of Jerusalem’s plight was eagerly sought.  Reports arrived daily.  The army had encamped around Jerusalem and enclosed it so that no one either went in or came out.  They seemed to be patient, and were apparently intent on starving the city into submission.  What would happen?  What would the army do once it had worked its will on Jerusalem?  Would it then set out to conquer the whole region?  Was Phoenicia in danger, too?

“What do you think, Israelite,” the Phoenician ship builder asked Zibiah’s husband one day.  What’s going to happen to Jerusalem, and what are the Babylonians going to do if they overthrow the Jews?”

“The prophets of the true God have prophesied for years that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed.  Few believe them, but I think the time has arrived.  I fully expect Jerusalem to fall, and once it goes down, Phoenicia and the neighboring countries will be next.”

“I think you’re right,” the Phoenician said.  “It’s been over a year since the Babylonians arrived at Jerusalem.  Zedekiah and the Jews can’t hold out much longer.  The farmers can’t farm, and the Babylonians have eaten everything in the whole country.  Judah is destroyed, and Phoenicia is next.”

“What are you going to do?”

“This ship is my answer.  My countrymen are the greatest seafarers in the world.  They’ve made some important discoveries.  About 10 years ago Pharaoh of Egypt hired a Phoenician fleet that left the Red Sea and three years later arrived here at Sidon!  They demonstrated that you can sail clear around Africa.  There are also reports of a big, uninhabited land far to the west.  I’m going to set sail for a better country.”

“Can we go, too?  I want to get as far away from kings and armies as possible.”

“I need a crew.  I like you people.  I believe as you do.  The ship is nearly complete.  I’m waiting to hear what happens to Jerusalem and Zedekiah.  If what I think is going to happen takes place, then I’m leaving.”

“We’ll be ready.”