goats and cattle, were also thinking of the
Messiah. In good weather and bad they were there, keeping an eye on
their sheep, and they had plenty of time to think. When the rain and
the snow were in their faces, the shepherds were thinking, _When will
he come?_ And when the hot sun climbed overhead, and the heat was
like a furnace, or when the east wind came and blew dust in their
faces, then too the shepherds thought, _When will he come and save
us?_

[Illustration]

Farmers, fishermen, shepherds--these were not the only people who were
thinking of the Messiah. Sometimes along the hot, lonely roads of
Palestine, where robbers and wild animals were hiding, a traveler
would have dreams. Or the dream might come to someone in sunny
Galilee, where camel caravans crossed with their loads of spices and
jewels and precious things from Far Eastern lands. But it was most
likely to come to a man when he was standing in the great, white,
gleaming Temple at Jerusalem, where all good Jews went to worship God.

And the dream would be that the sky opened, and a great light blazed
down from heaven. An army came marching down out of the sky, led by a
shining warrior whose face was bright as lightning. From his eyes shot
flames of fire. His arms and feet shone like polished brass or gold,
and when he spoke his voice was like the shouting of ten thousand men.
It was King Messiah! "Destroy the Romans!" he would cry. "Burn up
their armies! Let not a single one escape!" Fire would pour down from
the skies when he gave the order, and the Romans would melt away to
nothing, as though they had never been.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

Then the dream would fade away. The dreamer would just be trudging
along the dusty road, or watching the camel caravans go by, or
standing in the Temple with the crowds of unhappy people pushing all
around him.

It was just a dream. The Romans were still there. There was no Messiah
anywhere to be seen.

If only the King would come!

[Illustration]

2. A King Is Born

Nobody saw the lions in the daytime, for they were sleeping in their
caves. But at night they might come out to prowl around the rocky
hills, looking for a fat sheep to eat. After dark the hyenas and
jackals began to howl. Robbers might be somewhere in the darkness too.
In the night, when other folk were fast asleep, a good shepherd needed
to be awake and on the watch, to see that no harm came to his sheep
and lambs.

One