By Way of the Wilderness (13 page)

“I am not sure. I am not sure of very much, but I do know that God intends to demand an accounting for every injustice and every hardship that the Egyptians have laid upon our people.”

The elders began to stir. They whispered among themselves, and Moses could do nothing else but stand before them.

Finally, Dathan said, “It is not enough, Moses. We must have a sign that God has spoken to you. Any man can make a mistake about things like that.”

Moses was ready for this request, and now he threw his rod upon the ground. It turned into a hideous serpent, raising itself up and flicking its tongue at the assemblage. The elders cried out in fear, but then Moses reached down and picked up the snake by the tail and it became a rod again.

“The God of Abraham is with us again,” one of the elders cried out. “It is the time of the Redemption.”

Moses' heart grew warm as he saw that the assembly was convinced, but then Korah spoke up, his face stolid and stubborn. “The magicians of Pharaoh can do tricks like this. It will not get us free. You must have more than signs like this.”

Moses' anger began to stir, and for the first time Korah and the elders saw the fury reflected in his eyes. “Do not speak of signs. I speak of the power of the God of Abraham! All things are possible with God!”

“You are no speaker. You have told us that yourself. How can you expect to influence Pharaoh?”

“That is the question I asked of God, but He said that Aaron will speak for me.”

A crafty look came into Korah's eye. He glanced around at the assembly of elders and said loudly, “My counsel is that Moses and Aaron go alone before Pharaoh.”

A murmur of assent went through the crowd, and Moses knew that it was Korah's way of keeping clear of personal danger. He nodded and said quietly, “My brother and I will go stand before Pharaoh.”

“Then we will wait and see what happens,” Korah said, smiling. “This meeting is over.”

****

“O mighty Pharaoh, two representatives from the Hebrew slaves request audience.”

Pharaoh Amunhotep II was half reclining on a couch listening as musicians played soft, gentle music. He frowned and said, “What do they want?”

“They will not say, Pharaoh, but they insist on an audience.”

“Probably want some more time off from their work to tend their own gardens,” Pharaoh muttered. He was accustomed to such requests. “Send them in. They'll be a nuisance if I don't speak to them personally.”

Pharaoh sat up, pulled his linen robe around him, and prepared to receive the Hebrews. Amunhotep was not the pharaoh that Moses had known, for Amunhotep's father, Seti I, had died while Moses was living in Midian; neither was Egypt the same as it was. It was battered on all sides by rebellions, so Egypt was now more concerned with survival than expanding its territories.

Pharaoh Amunhotep, like his deteriorating kingdom, was not impressive. Years of rebellions had drained him so that the body which had once been young and strong was now weak and feeble. He wore the double crown of Egypt on his head to represent both kingdoms, as the law required, and when the two Hebrew men were ushered in, he waited until they bowed. “What is it you want?” he demanded.

Aaron began to speak, and Moses remained silent. “O mighty Pharaoh, you well know the history of the land. You will remember that our people did not come as captives but voluntarily at the invitation of Pharaoh himself and his servant Joseph. When they came, they brought with them their own God and refused to worship the gods of Egypt.” Pharaoh listened idly, not particularly interested. He had heard of Joseph, but he was not interested in twists of ancient history.

“I know that,” he said impatiently. “What is your request?”

“The Lord, the God of Israel,” Aaron said boldly, his voice steady, “has revealed himself to us. He has commanded us to appear before you, Mighty Pharaoh, and to say, ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.'”

Anger shot through Pharaoh. He was a proud man, and the very mention of an alien god was heresy to him. He cried out in a voice tight with fury, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

Aaron and Moses did not flinch. Aaron said firmly, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

Furious, the pharaoh jumped to his feet and shouted, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!”

Pharaoh dismissed the pair and as soon as they had left, he cried out, “Bring me the head taskmaster for the Hebrews.” He waited impatiently until the head taskmaster came, then gave these orders: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

****

Pharaoh's command brought a terrible hardship to the Hebrews. The straw had always been collected in the grain fields and brought to the mud pits. Now that this system was stopped, the Hebrews had to go into the fields themselves and gather straw as best they could. Desperate to gather enough straw, the oldest men and women, and even the youngest children had to help. The Hebrew overseers argued with the Egyptians: “We cannot squeeze more out of the Hebrew laborers.”

“If you don't, Pharaoh will punish you.”

“We cannot do it. It is impossible.”

The following days and weeks were a nightmare for the Hebrew laborers in the mud pit. The Hebrew overseers were stripped naked and beaten terribly for not driving the slaves hard enough, but they showed some degree of heroism in that they refused to surrender, insisting to the last that the pharaoh had asked for the impossible. They were whipped daily, and finally the highest Hebrew officials—Korah, Dathan, and Abiram—obtained an audience with Pharaoh.

Korah cried out, “O mighty Pharaoh, why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

Pharaoh said loudly, “Lazy, that's what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' “Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

****

The elders wasted no time in making their feelings known to Moses and Aaron. They summoned the brothers before the council, and words of bitterness poured from their lips. “May the Lord look upon you and judge you!” Korah screamed. “You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Moses was silent, and he turned at once and left. He found a quiet place and began to call out to God. “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

And then the same voice that Moses had heard speaking from the burning bush said,
“Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country. I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.'

“See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

Moses' heart had been brought low by the afflictions that had fallen on his people, yet now as God spoke, he suddenly realized that wonderful things lay ahead for his people, whom he loved dearly, and Moses knew that the time of the Redemption had come. He cried out for joy, “O Lord, mighty is your name and your will shall be done … !”

****

Rishef spoke abruptly to his slave Bezalel. He had sent for the young man and now stared at him. “Well, are you over your beating?” A sly smile crossed his lips. “You did not know that I knew the details of your foolishness?”

“I am ashamed, master,” Bezalel said, his head bowed. He was humiliated that his Egyptian master would hear of such things, but there was no defense he could make.

“I hope you learned a lesson.”

“Oh, indeed I have, master.”

“Very well. I'll say no more about it. I have a new task for you.”

“Yes, master?”

“The high priest, Jafari, requires your services. He has heard of your work. I must say he is very impressed.”

“I am pleased to hear it, sire.”

“You will go to the high priest and follow his commands exactly. Stay as long as you are required, then return here.”

“Yes, master.”

“And another thing. I've heard of this nonsense about the Hebrew slaves wanting to be set free. What do you know about that?”

“Nothing, sire.” Actually, Bezalel knew a great deal about it, for the Hebrews had spoken of little else. He himself had been spared the arduous labor of gathering straw and mixing mud, but many of his kinsmen were almost dead of fatigue. It would not do, however, to speak of such things to Rishef.

“Good,” Rishef replied. “See that it stays that way. Slaves should know their place.”

“Of course, master. I will go at once to the high priest.”

****

As Bezalel met with the high priest, he was frightened by the coldness of Jafari's gray eyes. They looked like stone.

“So you are Bezalel. I have seen your work in the home of Rishef. You do very good work indeed.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Do well here, and I will see that you are rewarded.”

“What is it you wish of me, O master?”

“I want you to make a golden statue of the goddess Hathor, the wife of Horus.”

For some reason the commandment stirred an unpleasantness in Bezalel. He was not particularly committed to the God of his ancestors, but the many gods of Egypt were frightening to him. He could not see the sense of bowing down to a piece of clay molded into a statue, or of gold either, for that matter. But there was no chance for him to refuse. He was at the mercy of Jafari, as was every other man and woman and child in Egypt. The high priest was second only to Pharaoh in power.

“I will do my best, master.”

“Good. Zara, take this young man to the workshop.”

“Yes, at once.”

A young woman came forward and motioned for Bezalel to follow her. He followed her out of the room and down a long corridor. She gave him a frank look, then said, “You are one of the Hebrews, aren't you?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“My name is Zara.”

Bezalel wondered about the woman. Was she a wife to Jafari, or could high priests even have wives? Was she simply a concubine, as he knew many of the priests had?

They made many turns, but finally they arrived at a large area that was obviously used for all sorts of work. Zara turned to him. “This is where you will labor. Let me know what materials you need, and I will get them for you.”

“Yes, mistress.”

Zara was studying him carefully. Suddenly a smile turned the corners of her full lips up. She came closer and looked up into his face, then leaned against him. “Not all of the Hebrews are as handsome as you,” she whispered. She saw confusion in his face, then laughed. She reached up, put her hand on his cheek, and whispered, “I will be interested in your work, so I will be back often.” She laughed at his expression, then turned, saying, “Come. I'll show you to your quarters.”

As Bezalel followed the woman, he felt a premonition.
She's like a fruit ripe for the taking, but a man would be a fool to tamper with the wife or concubine of the high priest of Egypt!
He made up his mind then and there not to have anything to do with her. But when she turned and smiled at him again, he felt his resolution slipping away.

Miriam stood over her brothers, listening as they talked. She had brought them an unimpressive meal of boiled barley and hard, crusty bread. Now she stood waiting, and finally Moses looked up and saw her. “What's troubling you, sister?”

“It's Bezalel,” Miriam said quickly.

“Has he been in another fight?”

“No, but …”

When Aaron saw that Miriam could not finish, he spoke up, for he and Miriam had talked about this before. “He's headed down the wrong path, Moses,” he said almost harshly. “In the first place, the high priest has him making idols.”