Sons of Encouragement

by Francine Rivers

  Those in attendance whispered in alarm.

  Pharaoh gave a bitter laugh. “Hail? What is hail? You have lost your mind, Moses. You speak nonsense.”

  When Moses turned away, Aaron followed. He saw the anxiety in men’s faces. Pharaoh might not be afraid of the God of the Hebrews, but clearly others knew better. Several backed quickly between the pillars and headed for the doors, eager to see to their animals and protect their wealth.

  Moses held his staff toward the sky. Dark, angry clouds swirled, moving across the land away from Goshen. A cold wind blew. Aaron felt a strange heaviness building in his chest. The darkening skies rumbled. Streaks of fire came from heaven, striking the land west of Goshen. Shu, the Egyptian god of the air, separator of earth and sky, was powerless against the Lord God of Israel.

  Aaron sat outside all day and night listening and watching the hail and fire in the distance, awestruck by the power of God. He had never seen anything like it. Surely Pharaoh would relent now!

  Guards came again. Aaron saw the flattened and scorched fields of flax and barley. The land was in ruins.

  Pharaoh, thought to be descended from the union of Osiris and Isis, Horus himself in man’s form, looked cowed and cornered. Silence rang in the chamber, while the question pulsed: If Pharaoh was the supreme god of Egypt, why couldn’t he protect his realm from the invisible god of Hebrew slaves? How could it be that all the great and glorious gods of Egypt were no match against the unseen hand of one unseen god?

  “I finally admit my fault.” Pharaoh cast a sallow look at his advisors clustered near the dais. “The Lord is right, and my people and I are wrong. Please beg the Lord to end this terrifying thunder and hail. I will let you go at once.”

  Aaron felt no triumph. Pharaoh’s heart was not in his words. No doubt he had succumbed to pressure from his advisors. They still did not understand that it was God who was at war with them.

  Moses spoke boldly. “As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my hands and pray to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail will stop. This will prove to you that the earth belongs to the Lord. But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the Lord God as you should.”

  Pharaoh’s eyes gleamed. “Moses, my friend, how can you speak so to one you once called little cousin? How can you bring such heartache to the woman who lifted you from the river and reared you as a son of Egypt?”

  “God knows you better than I, Raamses.” Moses’ voice was quiet but steady. “And it is the Lord who has told me how you harden your heart against Him. It is you who brings judgment on Egypt. It is you who makes your people suffer!”

  Bold words that could bring a death edict. Aaron stepped closer to Moses, ready to protect him if any man should come close. Everyone moved back. Some lowered their heads just enough to show their respect to Moses, much to Pharaoh’s ire.

  Moses prayed, and the Lord lifted His hand. The thunder, hail, and fire stopped, but the quiet after the storm was even more frightening than the roaring winds. Nothing changed. Pharaoh wanted his bricks, and the Hebrew slaves were to make them.

  The people wailed, “Pharaoh’s sword is over our heads!”

  “Have you no eyes?” Aaron shouted. “Have you no ears? Look around you. Can you not all see how the Egyptians fear what the Lord will do next? More come to our people every day bringing gifts. They hold Moses in great respect.”

  “And what good does that do us if we are still slaves?”

  “The Lord will deliver us!” Moses said. “You must have faith!”

  “Faith? That’s all we’ve had for years. Faith! We want our freedom!”

  Aaron tried to keep people away from Moses. “Leave him alone. He must pray.”

  “We are worse off now than we were before he came!”

  “Cleanse your hearts! Pray with us!”

  “What good have you done us when we are called back to the mud pits?”

  Incensed, Aaron wanted to use his staff on them. They were like sheep, bleating in panic. “Have your gardens turned to ash? Are your animals sick? The Lord has made a distinction between us and Egypt!”

  “When will God get us out of here?”

  “When we know the Lord is God and there is no other!” Hadn’t they bowed down to Egyptian gods? They still turned this way and that! Aaron tried to pray. He tried to hear God’s voice again, but the jumble of his own thoughts crowded in like a council of discordant voices. When he saw a scarab amulet around his son Abihu’s neck, his blood ran cold. “Where did you get that thing?”

  “An Egyptian gave it to me. It’s valuable, Father. It’s made of lapis and gold.”

  “It’s an abomination! Take it off! And make certain there are no other idols in my house. Do you understand, Abihu? Not a scarab, nor a wooden Heket or the eye of Ra! If an Egyptian gives you something made of gold, melt it down!”

  God was sending another plague, and it would only be by His grace and mercy that He didn’t send it on Israel as well. Israel, so aptly named, “contender against God”!

  God was sending locusts this time. Still, Pharaoh would not listen. Even as Aaron walked with Moses from the great hall, he could hear the counselors crying out to Pharaoh, pleading, begging.

  “How long will you let these disasters go on?”

  “Please let the Israelites go to serve the Lord their God!”

  “Don’t you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”

  Aaron turned sharply when he heard running footsteps behind them. No one would take Moses! Planting his feet, he gripped his staff in both hands. The servant bowed low. “Please. Great Pharaoh wishes you to return.”

  “Great Pharaoh can take a flying leap into the Nile!”

  “Aaron.” Moses headed back.

  Tense with frustration, Aaron followed. Would Raamses ever listen? Should they go back and listen to another promise, knowing it would be broken before they stepped foot in Goshen? Hadn’t God already said He was hardening Pharaoh’s heart and the hearts of his servants?

  “All right, go and serve the Lord your God!”

  Moses turned away; Aaron fell into step beside him. They had not reached the door when Pharaoh shouted again. “But tell me, just whom do you want to take along?”

  Moses looked at Aaron, and Aaron turned. “Young and old, all of us will go. We will take our sons and daughters and our flocks and herds. We must all join together in a festival to the Lord.”

  Pharaoh’s face darkened. He pointed at Moses. “Thus I say to you, Moses: The Lord will certainly need to be with you if you try to take your little ones along! I can see through your wicked intentions. Never! Only the men may go and serve the Lord, for that is what you requested!” He motioned the guards. “Get them out of my palace!”

  Pharaoh’s servants came at them, shoving and pushing at them, shouting curses from their false gods. Aaron tried to swing his staff, but Moses held his arm back. They were both flung outside into the dust.

  All that day and night, the wind blew, and in the morning, locusts came with it. While Egyptians cried out to Wadjet, the cobra goddess, to protect her realm, locusts swarmed over all the land of Egypt, thousands upon thousands in ranks like an army devouring everything in its path. The ground was dark with creeping, leaping grasshoppers eating every plant, tree, and bush that the hail had left. The crops of wheat and spelt were consumed. The date palms were stripped bare. The reeds along the Nile were eaten down to the water.

  By the time Pharaoh’s soldiers summoned Moses and Aaron, it was too late. Every crop and source of food outside Goshen was gone.

  Shaken, Pharaoh greeted them. “I confess my sin against the Lord your God and against you. Forgive my sin only this once, and plead with the Lord your God to take away this terrible plague.”

  Moses prayed for God’s mercy, and the wind changed direction, blowing westward and driving the locusts away toward the Red Sea.

  The land and all upon it was still and silent. The Egyptians huddled in their houses, afraid of what ne
w catastrophe would come next if Pharaoh did not let the slaves go. Gifts appeared at Hebrew doorways. Gold amulets, jewelry, precious stones, incense, beautiful cloth, silver and bronze vessels were given to honor God’s people. “Pray for us in the hour of our need. Intercede for us.”

  “They still don’t understand!” Moses gripped his head covered by the prayer shawl. “They bow down to us, Aaron, while it is God who holds the power.”

  Even Miriam was afire with frustration. “Why doesn’t God kill Pharaoh and be done with it? The Lord has the power to reach inside that palace and crush Raamses!”

  Moses raised his head. “The Lord wants the entire world to know He is God and there is no other. All the gods of Egypt are false. They have no power to stand against the Lord our God.”

  “We know that!”

  “Miriam!” Aaron spoke sharply. Wasn’t Moses plagued enough? “Be patient. Wait on the Lord. He will deliver us.”

  When Moses stretched out his hand again, darkness came over Egypt. The sun was blotted out by an inky darkness heavier than night. Sitting outside Pharaoh’s palace, Aaron drew his robe around himself. Moses was silent beside him. They could both hear the priests crying out for Ra, the sun god, the father of the kings of Egypt, to drive his golden chariot across the sky and bring light again. Aaron gave a contemptuous laugh. Let these stubborn fools cry out to their false god. The sun would appear when God willed it—and not before.

  Moses rose abruptly. “We must gather the elders, Aaron. Quickly!” They hastened to Goshen, where Aaron sent out messengers. The elders came, asking questions, grumbling.

  “Be silent!” Aaron said. “Listen to Moses. He has the Word of the Lord!”

  “Prepare to leave Egypt. All of us, men and women alike, are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold. The Egyptians will give you whatever you ask of them, for the Lord has given us favor in their sight. The Lord says that this month will be the first month of the year for you. On the tenth day of this month, each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice. Take special care of these lambs until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then each family in the community must slaughter its lamb. . . .”

  Moses told them of the plague to come and what they must do to survive. They all left in silence, the fear of the Lord upon them.

  For three days, Aaron waited with Moses near the palace entrance, before they heard Pharaoh’s cry of fear and rage echo in the columned chambers. “Moses!”

  Moses put his hand on Aaron and they rose together and entered. Aaron did not falter in the darkness. He could see his way as though the Lord had given him the eyes of an owl. He could see Moses’ face, solemn and filled with compassion, and Pharaoh’s eyes darting this way and that, searching, blind.

  “I am here, Raamses,” Moses said.

  Pharaoh faced forward, leaning his head as though to hear what he could not see in the darkness that enfolded him. “Go and worship the Lord,” he said. “But let your flocks and herds stay here. You can even take your children with you.”

  “No,” Moses said, “we must take our flocks and herds for sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord our God. All our property must go with us; not a hoof can be left behind. We will have to choose our sacrifices for the Lord our God from among these animals. And we won’t know which sacrifices He will require until we get there.”

  Pharaoh cursed them. “Get out of here!” he shouted. “Don’t ever let me see you again! The day you do, you will die!”

  “Very well!” Moses shouted back. “I will never see you again!” His voice changed, deepened, resonated, and filled the chamber. “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will pass through Egypt. All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest slave. Even the firstborn of the animals will die.’”

  Aaron’s skin prickled and sweat broke out.

  “Moses!” Pharaoh roared as he spread his arms and swept his hands back and forth, trying to find his own way out of the darkness. “Do you think Osiris will not defend me? The gods will not let you touch my son!”

  Moses went on speaking. “‘Then a loud wail will be heard throughout the land of Egypt; there has never been such wailing before, and there never will be again. But among the Israelites it will be so peaceful that not even a dog will bark. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. All the officials of Egypt will come running to me, bowing low. “Please leave!” they will beg. “Hurry! And take all your followers with you.” Only then will I go!’” Face flushed with anger, Moses turned and strode from the great hall.

  Aaron caught up and walked beside him. He had never seen his brother so angry. God had spoken through him. It had been God’s voice Aaron heard in that immense hall.

  Moses prayed fervently under his breath, eyes blazing as he strode through the streets of the city heading toward Goshen. People drew back and ducked into their houses or shops.

  When they reached the edge of the city, Moses cried out. “Oh, Lord! Lord!!”

  Aaron’s eyes welled at the anguished cry. “Moses.” His throat closed.

  “Oh, Aaron, now we shall all see the destruction one man can bring upon a nation.” Tears ran down his face. “We shall all see!”

  Moses went down on his knees and wept.

  THREE

  The lamb struggled when Aaron held it firmly between his knees. He slit its throat and felt the small animal go limp as the bowl filled with its blood. The smell turned Aaron’s stomach. The lamb had been perfect, without a blemish, and only a year old. He skinned the lamb. “Pierce it through and roast its head, legs, and inner parts.”

  Nadab took the carcass. “Yes, Father.”

  Taking up the bowl, Aaron dipped sprigs of hyssop into the blood and painted the door lintel of his house. He dipped again and again until the top of the doorway was stained red, and then he began to do the same on the doorposts on either side of the entrance into his home. All over Goshen and into the city, each Hebrew family was doing the same. Egyptian neighbors watched, confused and disgusted, whispering.

  “They threw away all the yeast in their houses yesterday.”

  “And now they’re painting their doorframes with blood!”

  “What does it all mean?”

  Some had come to Aaron and asked what they could do to be grafted in among the Hebrews. “Circumcise every male in your household, and then you may be like one born among us.”

  Only a few took his words seriously and went through with it. Afraid for their lives, they moved their families in among the dwellings of the Hebrews, and listened to whatever Aaron and Moses had to say to the people.

  Aaron thought of what this night would hold for the rest of Egypt. In the beginning, he had wanted revenge. He had savored the thought of Egyptians suffering. Now he was filled with pity for those who still foolishly clung to their idols and bowed down before their empty gods. He longed to be away from this land of desolation. Finishing his task, he entered the house and closed the door securely. Piled in one corner were objects and jewelry of silver and gold that Miriam and his sons had collected from their Egyptian neighbors. All his life, Aaron had scratched out a meager living from the soil and his small flock of sheep and goats, and now his family had silver and gold to fill sacks! God had made the Egyptians look on Aaron and Moses and all the Hebrews with favor, and they had given whatever was asked for, even unto their wealth. Without question, the Egyptians had given up things they had prized only days before, hoping they could buy mercy from the Hebrew God.

  God’s mercy was not for sale. Nor could it be earned.

  On such a night as this, gold and silver did not matter, even to Aaron, who had once thought wealth could bring him solace and salvation from taskmasters and tyrants. Whatever he had done in the name of the Lord in the past did not count on this night. Had the Egyptians offered everything they o
wned to their gods tonight, they could not buy the lives of their firstborn sons. Had they smashed their idols, it would not have been enough. Pharaoh had brought this night upon Egypt, his pride the people’s bane.

  God, who established the heavens, set the price for life, and it was the blood of the lamb. The Angel of the Lord was coming, and he would pass over every house that had its lintels and doorposts painted with the lamb’s blood. The blood was a sign that those inside the house believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, believed enough to obey His command and trust His word. Only faith in the one true God would save them.

  Aaron looked at his firstborn son, Nadab, as he sat at the table with his brothers. Abihu sat alone, deep in thought, while Ithamar and Eleazar sat with their wives and small children. Little Phinehas turned the spitted lamb over the fire. When he tired, another took his place.

  “Grandfather—” Phinehas slipped onto the bench beside Aaron—“what does this night mean?”

  Aaron put his arm around the boy and looked at his sons, their wives, and the small children. “It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord. The Lord will come tonight at midnight and see the blood of the lamb on our door and pass over us. We will be spared, but the Lord will strike down the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner who is in the dungeon, to the firstborn of all the livestock as well.”

  The only sound in the house was the crackling fire and the pop and hiss of fat as it dropped onto the hot coals. Miriam ground wheat and barley to make bread without yeast. The hours wore by. No one spoke. Moses rose and closed the window openings, securing them as though for a sandstorm. Then he sat with the family and covered his head with his shawl.