“A key?” Zane frowned. That wasn’t the answer he’d expected. “A key to what? A building?”
“No, nothing of the sort.” Roger glanced briefly at his wife. “It’s a key to Sheol.”
“Sheol?” Carmen asked. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
“It’s a Hebrew word. You might know it better by its Greek equivalent, Hades.”
“Hell?” Zane asked.
“That’s right,” Lawson said. “Your relic will supposedly open the gate to hell.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
A stunned silence fell over the group. A key to hell’s gate? Even though Zane doubted it truly opened a gate to the underworld, it might open the gate to a lost city. And if that was the case, the group was likely hoping to get there before anyone else and loot its treasures. The connection with the map was now becoming clearer. The map likely led to the gate.
Carmen broke the silence. “You’re one hundred percent sure that’s what this is?”
“In the world of archaeology, you never say you’re one hundred percent certain about anything.” Roger tapped his pipe on an ashtray. “I’m reasonably certain that’s what it is though. As I said, the drawings match the outline perfectly.”
A look of confusion spread over Amanda’s face. “I’ve never even heard of the existence of such a key.”
“I doubt the relic would appear in any textbook, and you certainly won’t find it on Google.” Roger used his thumb to pack his pipe with fresh tobacco. “And the only images have been circulated among a select group, people like me who have the resources to pay for it.”
“If it was being offered on the black market, how did it end up at the Vatican?” Amanda asked.
Roger struck a match then dangled the flame over the bowl of his pipe. “First of all, I don’t like the term ‘black market’ because it implies all the items are being traded illegally. Yes, some objects have indeed been obtained by questionable means, but there are others that are completely legal but are of questionable origin. In other words, items that have been rejected by museums, academia, and the like.”
“Except in this case, it was a relic that seems to have been taken from the U.S. government,” Amanda noted.
“Not necessarily, and that’s my point. The Americans did have it at one time, but the National Museum of Iraq is open once again, so it’s possible they transferred everything back once Baghdad became more stable.” Roger took a few puffs. “The bottom line is I have no idea what the chain of custody was before falling into the Vatican’s hands.”
“Do you think Father Cortesi knew what the relic was purported to be?” Carmen asked.
“One would assume so,” Roger replied. “But again, I haven’t talked to Luca in quite some time.”
Carmen looked at Roger. “So tell us more about the key. Are there people who actually believe hell is a physical place here on earth?”
“Not on the earth, in the earth,” Roger said through a cloud of smoke. “Literature and films often depict hell as a place under the earth’s crust. What you might not know is that there is a biblical basis for that.”
Zane looked at Amanda to see her reaction. As a Christian who took her faith seriously, she’d surely know whether or not this was true. She saw him watching her and spoke. “Some Bible scholars do believe that hell is physically located in the earth, at least for the time being.”
“What do you mean, at least for the time being?” Zane asked.
“Heaven and hell are a bit more complicated than most people think. Let’s go back to the first century. The place we call hell was known as Sheol in Hebrew and Hades in Greek. The Bible tells us that prior to the crucifixion of Christ, all of the dead were sent to Hades.” Seeing confused looks, Amanda explained. “Hades was divided into two sections or regions separated by a wide gulf. The Old Testament saints who died went to the region known as Abraham’s Bosom, while the wicked — unredeemed sinners — were sent to the region most people think of when they think of hell.”
“The bad place,” Zane said.
Amanda nodded. “Luke tells us it’s a place of agony and torment. Peter also tells us the fallen angels of Genesis chapter six are chained in a place of darkness, which I believe is also somewhere in Hades.”
“I’ve studied the Bible a bit, and I’ve never heard of the good region, the one you called Abraham’s Bosom,” Carmen said.
“It comes from the sixteenth chapter of Luke, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lived a life of luxury in a gated home and wore the finest of clothes. Lazarus, on the other hand, lived outside the rich man’s gate. He was so sick the dogs came and licked his sores.”
“I do remember that story,” Carmen said. “The rich man dies and goes to hell, while Lazarus goes to heaven.”
“Essentially, yes,” Amanda said. “Remember I said Hades is divided into two regions. The passage tells us that when the rich man went to Hades, he was able to look across the gulf and see Abraham on the other side. And guess who was next to him? Lazarus, the same man who had been lying at his gate. Luke tells us angels carried Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom, which is where the name comes from.”
Roger removed the pipe from his mouth and laughed. “I find the Bible fascinating, but it always seems to beat up on rich people. It’s as though the very state of having money puts you on God’s bad side.”
“Not at all,” Amanda said. “Remember Abraham himself was an extremely wealthy man, perhaps one of the wealthiest of his day. Job was also rich, as was Joseph of Arimathea, the man who put Christ’s body in his personal tomb. This parable implies this particular rich man relied on his wealth and the temporal comforts of life, while Lazarus relied on God. Faith in God — trusting in Him to forgive you and save you — is the Bible’s consistent teaching on salvation.”
“Earlier, you seemed to imply the location or the nature of hell changed at some point,” Zane said. “What did you mean?”
Amanda nodded. “Things changed after the crucifixion. Remember what Jesus told the thief on the cross: I tell you the truth. Today, you will be with me in paradise. There is some debate as to whether the word paradise referred to Abraham’s bosom — the place I was just talking about — or whether it referred to the heaven we typically think of today. I’m in the latter camp. We know Jesus later ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, so in order for the thief to be with him, he would also need to be there. That means heaven moved to the literal heavens after the resurrection.”
“But the unrighteous are still in Hades?”
“Yes, and some believe that’s actually located under the earth.”
Zane looked at Roger. “Here’s the million-dollar question. Where is this gate?”
“Let’s go back to the Bible. Some say it describes a cosmic battle between two opposing powers: good versus evil. The seed of the woman versus the serpent. Christ versus Satan. And while that may be true, the Bible also describes two opposing geographic locations. Holy ground and unholy ground.”
After getting a quizzical look from Zane, he explained. “Jerusalem has always been the Holy City, the place the God of the Bible lifted up above all others. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, the same ground upon which Jerusalem would later be built. Israel’s kings lived in Jerusalem. The faithful are told to pray for Jerusalem. Jerusalem is where the temple was built — more than once. Jerusalem is where God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, was buried. There is even a place for Jerusalem in the future, after the present age has long since passed. Revelation states that in eternity, a new Jerusalem will come down from heaven like a bride adorned for her husband.”