The Walk of The Israelites

Chapter 5

Note from Author: Chapter 5 is based off of Exodus 7

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Chapter five

Traveling back to our tent, I heard God's voice.

"Pharaoh will not listen," God said. "Go in the morning, to Pharaoh at the Nile's side. Take the staff that turned into my snake, and say to him at the water, that the Lord commands you to release my people. But sense you have not listened, I will show you that I am the Lord, God almighty. Moses, you will then strike the waters, and the Nile will turn to blood. All the fish shall die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink from it."

I sighed. This was it; this is where we see the true power of God, when the Egyptians are going to start to fear us, instead of the Lord.

"Then tell Aaron," he continued, take the staff, and stretch it over the land. All the rivers, all the ponds, every drop of water, will turn to blood."

I nodded, yet again to the Lord’s command, and told Aaron.  He smiled, put his hand on my shoulder, raised his eyebrows opening full his dark brown eyes to me and replied, "You ready, brother?"  "God's will awaits."

I mirrored his smile and nodded my head, feeling delighted for my brother’s presence as my beard waved in the gentle breeze.” Yes, I am."

We walked to where we were staying and into our large tent we made years ago out of sheep skin. It had a single wooden rod in the middle, holding the weight of the whole covering. The pole was just over five cubits tall. This was about average for a family as large as ours.

There were five wooden spikes, about a cubit long each, driven into the ends of the tent keeping our shelter fastened soundly into the ground. Aaron and I walked in and soon went to sleep. At least, he did. I heard him snore in his little section of the tent. 

 I tossed and turned with nightmares to keep me company.  I kept dreaming of confronting Pharaoh, trying to turn the waters to blood, but again and again nothing happened; all they did was laugh at me. After trying and trying the water turned into an evil snake and bit my neck.

I woke with a start; sweat covering my forehead and the back of my neck at the realistic nightmare.

"Moses?" my wife called out to me, "You alright?"

I smiled, or was it a grimace, and nodded my head. "Yes, I am. Go back to sleep."

She went back to sleep. After a few minutes of breathing in the cold, night air, so did I.

"Moses!" Aaron called to me, waking me up. "Moses!"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes with my hand. I had always believed that a man should wake with the sun, not before it.

"Come on, little brother." He said with a bright and happy smile on his lips. "I got everything ready. It's time to go do the Lord's work."

I slowly stood up, blinking rapidly, using my hand to block the rays of the just now rising sun. "I doubt the Lord would have minded if he we had waited just another five minutes."

He laughed at me. I gave him a look and grabbed the staff that had become famous throughout the land. We both, after taking a small bit of unleavened bread with us, walked to the Nile. When we arrived we could see Pharaoh's boat on the river.

The boat was a little less than twenty cubits long, made of strong and sturdy wood. The sides were covered in a very thin gold paint, so it wouldn't sink. On the back of the boat was a good sized covering trimmed in golden fringe, so the passengers could be out of the sun. Both of the poles that held up the shade were also golden, with many types of gems embedded in the wood.

It was yet another of Pharaoh's riches he had uptained from the backs of the Israelites... God's people. My people.  I had to take into my lungs a deep breath to cool the heated blood flowing through my veins.

Pharaoh was sitting in his royal chair, adorned with riches, under the shade.  A servant was serving him a handsome breakfast of fruit and a roll of bread. My stomach rumbled in jealous rebellion as that was breakfast enough to make anyone's mouth water. Also two other people were sitting on the bow of the ship talking to each other while Pharaoh’s young son was peering over the edge of the boat across the water at me.  

I saw the boy point at me across the waters as the ship stirred with action.  Next, the small crew, at the king of Egypt's command; started to row the small boat closer to shore, although it was still too far away to be heard across the waters without yelling. 

"Moses!" I heard Ramses call to me, faintly. "Do you have to bother me at all hours of the day?"

"Until you let my people go!" I yelled back, still somewhat heated.

I saw his lips move, I thanked God I didn't hear what he said. He then called out, "Leave me alone, you sons of snakes!"

"Let our people go!" my brother called out before I could.

"Never!" he cried back, his fist shaking in the air, with a wide golden bracelet clamped on his forearm.

With that I took the staff, waded into the water until I was ankle deep, and brought the staff so it was just higher than the water. I gently taped it into the frigid morning water. The second it touched the bottom, thick, red blood slowly flowed from where it had touch the river's bottom.

As Pharaoh, his son, and everyone else on the boat saw the blood spread they stared in amazement, then in disgust and horror.

"What have you done now, Moses?!" Pharaoh screamed at me. "Why have you turned my Nile red?”

"It is not m-my doing." I called back.  "I-it's God's!" Under my breath so only Aaron and I could hear, I said, "and it's not your N-Nile it's God's… you haven't s-seen anything y-yet."

I saw Pharaoh's hand dip over the edge of his boat. He peered at the blood as it covered his hand in the morning sun’s light.

"How have you done this, Moses?" he called out to me.

"Lord's work. Not m-mine." I replied.

"Then tell this Lord to stop! He is being a nuisance", he bellowed.

I saw him turn and shout at the two men standing around on his craft. They scrambled around the boat until they found a bowl used for holding fruit. They filled it near the brim with clean water that had not yet been turned into blood and placed it on the table that they were having breakfast on. I saw the two people's lips moving and their hands float over the bowl.

Pharaoh looked inside the bowl and put his fingers in then he pulled them out and laughed a deep, full laugh.

"Is that all your god can do?" He asked over the bloody water, with a big smile of what he considered a clear victory across his face. "My gods can do the same. Now leave me be."

I again stepped on dry land and together Aaron and I walked away. No sense telling him again if he refuses to listen. What would be the point of wasting the breath the Lord has given us on those who refuse to listen?

We walked back to where we were staying and we rested for an entire week. A whole seven days we did nothing except waited on the Lord; nothing more nothing less.