By Way of the Wilderness (15 page)

“No, no, no!” Pharaoh shouted. “
I
am god, and the god of these worthless slaves will not defeat me!”

****

And so the plagues continued. A terrible hail pounded the land, crushing all the crops and trees in the fields. After the hail came great swarms of locusts, blackening the sky and consuming what crops were left after the hail. The Egyptians' lives became more and more miserable as it seemed their whole world was covered by these hideous swarms.

But Pharaoh's heart remained hard, so God sent a terrifying darkness over the land, a darkness so thick one could almost feel it. As horrible as all the plagues had been to the Egyptians, it was the plague of darkness that frightened them the most. It was a direct challenge to their chief god, Ammon-ra, who, to the Egyptians, was the source of all light. According to their belief, Pharaoh was his son. The darkness was so great that no light at all existed in the land. People groped about like blind men in utter terror that the light might not ever return.

Even the pharaoh was paralyzed by it, staying in his chambers and holding himself, rocking back and forth like a small child. This son of Ammon-ra was helpless in the face of such total darkness. For three days Egypt remained in darkness until Pharaoh could stand the cries of his people no longer.

“Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.”

“Our livestock too must go with us,” Moses replied. “Not a hoof is to be left behind. Until we get there we will not know what animals are required to worship the Lord.”

“Get out of my sight!” Pharaoh bellowed at Moses. “Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die!”

Moses was silent for a moment, then said in a voice like distant, rumbling thunder, “Just as you say. I will never appear before you again.”

Then he and Aaron turned and left the pharaoh's throne room for the last time. As they exited the palace, Aaron turned to look at his brother and saw that Moses' face was set like flint. “What more dreadful thing can be done, brother?” Aaron asked. “It appears the pharaoh will never relent.”

Moses looked at Aaron with great sadness in his eyes, but with a smoldering fire behind them that his brother had come to recognize as the Spirit of God in him. Boldly, with no shred of doubt, he declared, “One more plague shall come upon the land, Aaron, and after this last plague, Pharaoh will know that the God of Abraham is the God of all the earth.
Then
he will let God's people go!”

While the Egyptians, from the most humble peasant to Pharaoh himself, felt as if they had been buried alive in a tomb of darkness, the Hebrews were enjoying the brightness of the noonday sun in their humble abodes in the land of Goshen. Unable to work during the plague, they enjoyed their first extended time off of their lives. They visited one another, shared meals, and began to believe that their deliverance was finally upon them.

It was during this period of relaxation that Aaron thought a great deal about the future of his people. He had often thought about the necessity of a priesthood for the Hebrews, a special group of men that would intercede for the people with God, and show them how to live their lives. Now it seemed to him that the day for creating such an institution had finally come.

Aaron was a pragmatic man—more so than his brother, whose thoughts were so focused on God that he never seemed to consider the practical, everyday needs of people. At least in Aaron's opinion. So he was troubled by the cost of creating such an institution for such a large number of people, and he wondered how this might be accomplished, as poor as they were. Aaron was familiar with the priesthood of the Egyptians, whose ceremonies, vestments, and temples were filled with gold and silver idols and decorations of all kinds, so he began to ponder. “We have nothing. How could we have a priesthood?”

A partial answer to his question came when, after the darkness had filled the Egyptians with terror, they began to show a different spirit toward the Hebrews. Where they had once treated them with contempt or, at best, indifference, now they began to transfer their fear of Moses to the entire race of slaves. Aaron seized on this as a door of opportunity. He was well acquainted with the wealth of the Egyptians, and he felt it was time to make provision for the days that were coming. He noticed how the Egyptians were now speaking quite respectfully of the great festival for which the Hebrews were preparing to journey into the wilderness. From this observation came Aaron's idea. He explained it to no one, but in his own mind his reasoning went something like this:
The Egyptians have kept our people slaves. They have reaped all the rewards of our labors for four hundred years. They owe us for our labor. We have created the wealth of Egypt, and now at least part of that wealth belongs to us. Now is the time to take it
.

As Aaron thought on these things, he realized that it would never do to take the wealth of Egypt by force. Instead he began to whisper advice among the people so that the Hebrews themselves began approaching the Egyptians. Aaron led the way by presenting himself to the house of Macu, a wealthy Egyptian with whom he had become friends, and bowed before him. “Oh, master,” he said, “you have heard of the great celebration that our people want to make.”

Macu began to quake. His gardens and fields and much of his home had been stripped bare by the succession of plagues, and now he greatly feared the Hebrews. “Yes, Aaron, I have heard.”

Aaron spread his hands apart in a futile gesture and shrugged. “But we have nothing to take with us. We are so poor. How shall we celebrate?”

“Oh, let me help you with that, Aaron,” Macu quickly offered. “What is it you need?”

Aaron did not hesitate. “We are just slaves and barely have any clothes. Can we worship our God in rags? If we could just borrow some of your rich-looking clothes and perhaps a jewel or two … a ring for my wife's nose, perhaps. And possibly you could spare some of your cattle for us to sacrifice to our God….”

“Of course, of course,” Macu said gladly. “I will see to all of it. It is my great privilege.”

When Aaron arrived at the slave camp later, he drew quite a crowd as he made his way toward home, his arms piled high with rich garments and gifts of gold and leading three fat cows. The news quickly spread all over the land, and the Egyptians found themselves facing the Hebrews, who asked to “borrow” things for the great festival.

It would never have happened without the encouragement of the plagues, but the Egyptians began plundering their own houses to give the Hebrews their personal possessions—golden rings and ornaments, richly sewn silk, furniture set with ivory, and household goods of all kinds.

When Moses got wind of what was going on, he was of a mind at first to put a stop to it. But then he considered that there was certainly some justice here. For hundreds of years the slaves had worked for no wages, so he prayed about what to do and received God's answer. He appeared before the elders and said, “God has spoken to me and here is what you are to tell the people: Let every man gather from the Egyptians articles of silver and gold and clothing.” The Egyptians gave no objections, and the Hebrew slaves found themselves acquiring a portion of the great wealth of Egypt.

****

The high priest, Jafari, was a shrewd businessman as well as being adept in knowing how to worship Egypt's thousands of gods. As a businessman, he owned much property and many possessions. When he saw what was happening in Egypt, he sent for Bezalel and told him, “I understand that your people are going to celebrate a great feast to your god.”

“That is true, sire,” Bezalel said. He had no idea whether it was true or not, but he would never disagree with the high priest. He himself could not see how the Hebrews could ever get out of Egypt.

“I also understand,” Jafari said, his eyes almost closing, “that our people have been providing you Hebrews with a few of the comforts and things you will need for sacrificing to your god.”

“It is as you say, master.”

“I would not want to be left behind in such a practice. After all, we must be understanding of other gods as well. Come. I will show you what I wish to do for your people.”

Jafari led Bezalel out into a special room that was piled high with gold and silver ornaments and precious artifacts. “All of this is for your people. I hope your god will accept it.”

“I am sure He will, master,” Bezalel said, his eyes wide and hardly able to breathe at the sight before him.

“Shall I have this loaded onto a cart for you to take to your leaders?” Jafari asked.

“That would be most kind of you, sir.”

Jafari's servants immediately brought a cart and began loading the rich collection onto it while Bezalel waited.

The high priest smiled benignly. “Come back as soon as the festival is over, Bezalel. I think we can do a little better for you in the future.”

“That is most kind,” Bezalel said with a servile bow. He could hardly wait to get away, but he did not want to appear ungrateful to his master.

As soon as the cart was loaded, he brought it directly to the home of Aaron. Moses and Miriam were with him, and Bezalel cried out, “Look, Mother! Look, Uncles! See what the high priest has given us!”

Moses, Aaron, and Miriam all stared at the cart, Aaron and Miriam in joyful awe, but Moses appearing indifferent.

“How did you convince him to give you all this, Bezalel?” Miriam asked.

“He was afraid. I could see it in his eyes. He tried to hide it, but he was quaking with fear.” Bezalel was enthusiastic about this amazing turn of events. He had never before in his life paid much attention to the God of Abraham, but he was learning more and more about this God who could send plagues, the likes of which Egypt had never seen or heard of, and who could make the proud Egyptians quake before their own slaves! He also knew and greatly appreciated the value of gold and silver. “Look at all this,” he cried. “Think of all the wonderful things I can make!”

“Gold is only yellow metal,” Moses said with a smile. “It is like butter, only you cannot spread it on bread.”

Bezalel stared at the great man. He could not understand him, but he agreed with him at once. “Yes, sire … but it
is
good to have it, isn't it?”

“Indeed it is,” Aaron said. “You have done well.” It was one of the first positive things Aaron had ever said to Bezalel, and the young man beamed at his praise.

“Our people will be leaving Egypt soon, Bezalel,” Moses said to the boy. “What are
you
going to do?”

The question caught Bezalel off guard. “Why, Uncle … I don't know.”

“You must not stay here,” Miriam spoke up. “You must come with your people.”

Bezalel felt her arm around his shoulders, and he looked at her, then at Moses. “Well, of course I will go with my people, Mother.”

Moses nodded his approval. “Come. It is time to give the people instructions about what is going to happen.”

****

Moses directed the elders to gather where he could meet with them all at once. He now stood on a small rise, addressing the assembly that had grown significantly since they had first met with him. Moses had insisted that all of the twelve tribes be represented, and he had added to their number Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun. As he stood before them, he could not help comparing the present meeting to his first meeting with the elders. Then he had seen nothing but doubt and fear. Now most of their faces were filled with hope. Of course, some of the older members, especially Korah and those closest to him, still appeared doubtful, but Moses paid no attention to this.

“Listen carefully to my instructions, my brothers!” Moses began. “We know what God has done for us here in the land of Egypt, so that our Redemption is upon us! Now we must do exactly as He says in order to accomplish His plans.”

The elders looked at one another and nodded their heads. Most of them no longer doubted the power of their God to deliver them, and they were ready and anxious to take this next step.

“Tell the whole community of Israel,” Moses proclaimed, “that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lambs needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover.”

Moses paused and a murmur ran round the assembly of elders as they took in this information. Then Moses continued, quoting the very words of God to His people:

“‘On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.'”

The elders stood in shocked silence at this pronouncement of doom upon the Egyptians. When they had had sufficient time to take in these harsh words of God and the promise of their own deliverance, Moses gave more specific instructions for the departure of the children of Israel. When he finally dismissed the elders, they immediately scattered to tell each of their tribes to begin making their preparations.