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by Erin Conrad and Donna Cohrs
Have you been playing along (on the DIG website) with the episodes? How is it going? Are you figuring out #DIGDecoded? Let us know how you’re doing!
Watching these three episodes, it’s hard to figure out – which are clues to the puzzle – and which are not? This week’s episode had lots of interesting little tidbits – the upside-down cow sign as Debbie and Fay drive Josh into town; Emma’s drawings and other papers; the Ambassador’s necklace…
It appears to me, even though Peter is seemingly dangerous to the FBI’s case, with his obsessions and digging around for answers, his boss Lynn is in love with him. What is with Peter, imagining Emma while making love to Lynn? I was under the impression that Emma reminded him of his dead daughter, but now I am confused. It astounds me how good Peter is at following the clues, although a lot of it has been by chance – if he hadn’t run into Emma, where would we be? But he’s putting the clues together – finding #XIX, the information about the high priest and the Holy of Holies and Ark of the Covenant (see below for more information) are leading him to some answers. His personal life is causing him issues – when he talks to his wife about their daughter, she finally tells him that she can’t have these conversations, that they affect her so badly she can’t get out of bed (although if she knew that he was fooling around with Lynn, I’m sure she wouldn’t have been so nice on the phone!). How much does his daughter’s (assumed) death contribute to his insistence on being involved with this case?
After Cohen and Peter leave the yeshiva, they return to Emma’s apartment so Peter can finally come clean and tell Cohen everything he’s learned. But they find that it’s been broken into – by a man they last saw as a guard at the school, who tells them he’s actually Shin Bet (Israeli Secret Service), and that he’s been undercover, because they “investigate every extremist in the city.” What is it about Rabbi Lev and the Institute that has attracted the attention of the Shin Bet? Do they know something about the activities going on?
It’s all confusing to say the least. Who are the entities behind the fulfillment of the prophecy and who wants to prevent it? Purely good and evil are at play, but who is who? I feel so sorry for Avram and the heifer, but the incident on the boat has hopefully taught him that “God helps those who help themselves.” He is clearly trying to do what is expected of him but he is in danger. What will his role be? Is he just the cow keeper? Is the heifer to be a sacrifice to further the prophecy? I really fear for Avram’s life – the people around him seem to be more concerned with their plans than the people involved.
Yussef Khalid and the American ambassador are working together- toward what? She allows him to escape when, after Peter tracks Khalid to the embassy, the Ambassador orders it cleared of all the guests at the dinner. The last stone for the breasplate has been found, and Khalid is sent to steal it from a collector, after changing his appearance. Who is behind Yussef? He’s obviously feeling guilty and conflicted after killing the collector’s guard that he “met” in the gay bar and stealing the key card. But after all that, it’s determined that the stone he stole is counterfeit. The archaeologist Margrove, Rabbi Lev from the Yeshiva, and the Ambassador are all working together – what’s their goal? Are they working in parallel with the group bringing the heifer to Jerusalem? You have to assume they’re just two arms of the same group, working toward one goal.
In New Mexico, Debbie and Fay meet with Billingham, who tells them, “Now that Joshua is a young man, it’s time he became accustomed to this world. I want you to take him into town. Buy him ice cream. Take him to to a video arcade. Allow him to experience the things that other kids his age get to experience.” Under protest, Fay brings Debbie with her, but in the car, tells her that the murder of Josh 1 was Debbie’s fault. “His blood is on your hands, not mine,” Fay says. She is a problem – I don’t like her and don’t trust her and I think Debbie doesn’t either. I still don’t understand what is going on here with the boys! Debbie has no doubt now that she’s dealing with people who are fanatics – and decides that she needs to get out. She escapes out a bathroom window and calls an old friend, who asks if she’s “using again” – what does she have in her past? What’s drawn her to this? But her troubles aren’t over – when Charlie refuses to help, she climbs back through the window and is confronted by Fay. Debbie’s a badass! She knocks Fay out, grabs Josh and runs, unfortunately to a cop who throws her right back into the fire. And Josh to Billingham – “I told you she would fail.”
I’m looking forward to seeing all of these threads come together- what is the prophecy? Where do Josh 2, the red heifer, #XIX, Peter’s daughter, the Ark, all intersect? Feel free to comment with your theory!
This week’s DIG history lesson: The Ark of the Covenant
Only once per year on Yom Kippur could man enter beyond the veil. The veil separated man from the holy of holies. It was behind this veil and in the 10 cubit squared room called the holy of holies that the most sacred piece of furniture in the whole tabernacle structure was found. This was the Ark of the Covenant which was mentioned first before all the other furniture in the tabernacle. The lid on top of the ark was traditionally known as the Mercy Seat which was considered a separate piece of furniture but one with the ark. The ark was right in the center of the camp and the glory cloud was seen above the mercy seat and above the back portion of the tabernacle.
Exod 25:10-22 And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
Inside the ark were 3 things: The 2 tables of the Law, a golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded. The Ark of the Covenant was where God’s justice and judgment toward sin was satisfied. It is referred to almost 200 times in the Old Testament.
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