The Deliverer (12 page)
It was as if Pharaoh and his finance men were waking from a shared nightmare.
“What have we done? We have let the Israelites go. Who’s going to work?”
Who’s going to work?
Can you believe it? Never mind all the dead bodies—get that assembly line going!
Meanwhile, Moses was doing his best to get the masses of people organized and facing the same direction. Knowing God was sure to give Moses new orders, I hurried over to join him. Satan would have my head if I missed anything. When God told Moses which path to take out of Egypt, it should have been his first clue that in spite of what Moses had told Ramses, this was not going to be a weekend outing. Never having been out of town before, the ex-slaves were unaware they were about to travel the longest possible way when a much shorter route was available. Moses (who
had
been out of town before) tried to point out to God that this was the long way home.
“You must take the people this way. The Philistines are waiting for them. If the people are attacked, they will turn around and try to run back to Egypt. You won’t be able to stop them. You can’t let them leave Egypt along a straight path.”
That’s why for three days they simply wandered around in circles, having no idea they weren’t really going anywhere. The reason no one noticed how many times they passed by the same rock was because their attention was fixed on the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, which God had set in front of them to lead them on.
It wasn’t till the third day when God revealed His strategy.
“Tell the Israelites to turn around and make camp at Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. Camp on the shore of the sea opposite Baal Zephon.”
“Are You sure, Lord?” Moses asked, not thinking about how utterly ridiculous the question was, although I might well have asked it myself because God couldn’t have picked a more dangerous campsite. It was occupied territory.
Baal Zephon was one of Egypt’s favorite gods and one of the few idols still standing after the calamity with the plagues that had toppled most of the others. I knew for sure the demon residing in the idol was still very much at home there. It was hard to see how thumbing one’s nose at an entrenched principality was a good idea, considering the Israelites were skittish enough without more provocation. Why stir up a skirmish if you didn’t have to? Moses couldn’t see the logic either.
“Are You sure, Lord?” Moses asked the same ridiculous question again.
Thinking back to how it had been with Abraham and Noah when God told them to go somewhere they had never been, and never mind about taking along a map, I knew how God’s marching orders usually didn’t come with a lot of explanation. I wasn’t expecting God to answer Moses at all, much less share His whole strategy, but that’s just what He did.
“Pharaoh will think you’re lost and confused. When he’s told of your location and sees you are surrounded by the wilderness, he’ll think you’re vulnerable to an attack.”
That was when Moses first realized that some of Pharaoh’s spies had been following them the whole time. Right then I put one and one together and was sure Moses had to be doing the same math. Pharaoh was going to chase them, and God was the One who set it up that way. Moses must have figured it out, but being the man of few words he was, he said nothing.
The spies were about to hightail it back to Egypt to tell Ramses the slaves had been wandering aimlessly through the desert for three days and were now hopelessly lost, at least that’s the way it looked to someone who hadn’t heard God tell Moses to take the loop. From his nervous look, I was sure Moses had figured out the danger they were in. That’s when God chimed in to confirm Moses’s worst fear.
“Then I’ll make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn again, and he’ll chase after you.”
“Now, there’s a good idea,” Moses answered.
Moses didn’t actually say it, but I knew he was thinking it. Or maybe it was me who was thinking it. Whichever one of us was thinking it, this would have been a dandy time for Moses to ask the Lord why He was planning such a thing. Knowing Moses wasn’t much of a conversationalist and would likely never get around to holding up his end of the dialogue, God decided to tell him why without being asked.
“I’ll use Pharaoh and his army to put My glory on display. Then the Egyptians will realize that I am God.”
Moses shook his head in confusion, not understanding this line of thinking at all, but I did. It was just like I said when I tried to tell Satan it wasn’t just about the Hebrews anymore. God wanted the Egyptians to be saved. Why else would He care whether they knew He was God or not? Satan would want to know all about this right away, so I began flapping my way back to the second heaven to give him the update.
He wasn’t all that impressed with the news.
“So, let me see if I have this right,” Satan began. “God caused all the hoopla with the plagues just to get Ramses to let the slaves go, who would then wander around lost in the wilderness for three days to provoke Pharaoh to chase after them again to take them back to Egypt, and somehow along the way the Egyptians figure out who God is. Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Yes, yes, that’s it. Just like I’ve been saying. It’s more than the Hebrews.”
I don’t know why Satan never took my warnings seriously. In all the centuries I’d been assigned to watch and report what happened on the earth, I was rarely wrong when it came to predicting what God was going to do with you ill-conceived humans. Still, Satan always sent someone else to verify what I told him.
“Go find out what’s really happening.” He dispatched Bezel back to Pharaoh’s court to check it out. I was dismissed, so I decided to follow the demon, if for no other reason than to satisfy myself that I was right. By the time we got to the throne room, the spies were already telling Ramses and the magistrates about the pitiful state of affairs with the runaway slaves.
“They’ve wandered in circles for three days, Your Majesty. They’re lost. They don’t even realize they’ve set up camp under the watchful eye of Baal Zephon. We can easily overtake them.”
He listened, but Ramses didn’t see the situation the same as the spies saw it.
“Why should we do that? Moses said they would be back in three days. They’re not lost; they’re just coming back to Egypt. That was always the plan.”
The spies were not about to correct Pharaoh, so they stood silently, looking at the floor, each hoping the other would say something. When neither said a word, Bezel, who had been observing the whole thing, positioned himself beside the throne and whispered into Pharaoh’s ear.
“Pay attention to the spies. You’re getting sentimental. They know Moses has no intention of returning with the slaves. Why do you think they carried out all the gold and silver when they left? You’re looking a little naïve here in front of your men.”
Maybe he was addled from having to deal with the frogs, the gnats, the blood, the hail, and the deaths, but I do believe that was the first moment Pharaoh really figured out what had happened. Just as his magistrates had tried to tell him, the entire workforce had taken a hike. Of course, they weren’t coming back. I watched the color drain from his face as he realized the situation he was now in. He jumped to his feet, startling the two soldiers who stepped back in fear when they saw the anger in Ramses’ eyes.
“What have we done? The slaves are not coming back. There will be no one to do the work.”
Can you believe he was just now figuring that out?
W
E HAVE TO
go get them,” Ramses said in a state of panic and in full command of the obvious.
“Yes, yes.” The soldiers were relieved it hadn’t been necessary to point out Pharaoh’s failure to grasp the situation. “It will be easy. They’re trapped with their backs to the sea.”
“Get my chariot,” Ramses commanded. “Bring six hundred of the best charioteers. The slaves will not escape.”
It was amazing how quickly the Egyptian soldiers mobilized. In less than an hour, six hundred war chariots were zooming toward Moses’s camp with Pharaoh himself leading the charge.
Meanwhile, back at the campfire, only Moses knew that things were about to get ugly. The ex-slaves still hadn’t figured out that they literally were between the devil and the deep blue sea. They went right on congratulating themselves over having escaped Egypt and the brick pits, as if any of them had a single thing to do with it. It wasn’t until one of the women noticed the cloud of dust appearing over the horizon that they realized company was coming.
“What is it?”
“Can you see anything?”
Before anyone could venture an answer, the unmistakable rumble of chariot wheels thundered toward them.
“It’s the Egyptians! They’re after us.” They cried out to each other and to God. God didn’t say anything, so they quickly turned on Moses.
“Weren’t the cemeteries large enough in Egypt so that you had to take us out here in the wilderness to die?”
“Why have you done this to us? Why did you take us out of Egypt?”
“Back in Egypt, didn’t we tell you this would happen?”
“Didn’t we tell you, ‘Leave us alone here in Egypt—we’re better off as slaves in Egypt than as corpses in the wilderness’?”
Of course, not one of them had ever said anything of the sort. They were all too happy to gather the booty and leave town.
Moses tried to calm them down. “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm, and watch God do His work of salvation for you. Take a good look at the Egyptians today, for you’re never going to see them again. God will fight the battle for you.”
Moses sounded surer than he looked. He turned from the people and ran a few yards away, where he began calling out to God.
“God, please. It’s time for You to do something.”
“No, it’s time for
you
to do something. Why cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to get moving. Hold your staff high, and stretch your hand out over the sea. Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through the sea on dry ground.”
Split the sea? Moses looked like he might faint. “Meanwhile, I’ll make sure the Egyptians keep up their stubborn chase. I’ll use Pharaoh and his entire army, his chariots and horsemen, to put My glory on display so that the Egyptians will realize that I am God.”
“The Egyptians don’t need any encouragement,” Moses muttered under his breath as he hurried to try to get the Israelites moving again. I could hear him, so I was pretty sure God could as well.
As much as God seemed to me to be enjoying what was going on, He must have taken one look at Moses’s face and realized his last nerve was about to unravel. God ordered the angel who had been leading the camp of Israel to shift and get behind the people. Then the pillar of cloud that had been in front also shifted to the rear. The cloud was now between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, enshrouding one camp in darkness and flooding the other with light. Pharaoh’s army screeched to a halt when the horses reared up with fear and neighed at the site of the angel. Several chariots almost overturned from the panic of the strong steeds as they attempted to run away. Let me tell you, the soldiers weren’t all that gung ho to try to get around that angel either. The army was at a standstill, and it stayed that way all through the night.
Meanwhile, Moses was leading the racing Hebrews toward the sea. When he got to the edge, he paused and looked around to see if God was anywhere about. Not seeing Him, Moses cried out again in that loud whisper.
“Now what, God?”
“Do what I told you. Stretch out your staff, and split the sea.”
“Right, OK. I’m about to do that very thing.” Moses had no conviction in his voice whatsoever.
He didn’t dare look back at the people to see if they were watching. He knew they were. Every eye that wasn’t fixed on the stalled Egyptian army was on Moses. He lifted his shaky arms and extended his staff out over the foreboding water before him.
Glancing toward heaven one more time, he muttered to himself, “I hope this works.”
I was nervous just watching the whole thing.
Moses took a deep breath and stretched out his hand as far as he could reach over the sea, and right on cue, God, with a terrific east wind, made the waters split. It was magnificent. The sea stood up, forming two walls of water on either side of the dry land that now lay where mud had been before. I was so excited I wanted to clap, but I wisely restrained the impulse.
“Run! Run!” Moses shouted to the people. “Cross while you can.”
Well, you can just imagine how the people were temporarily paralyzed with sheer terror, not knowing which was worse—the soldiers behind them or the towering sea walls in front of them. Moses couldn’t get them going, but God could. He recalled the angel and released the army to race toward the hordes of people.
“Run! Run!” I shouted at the people, getting caught up in the drama before I realized what I was doing and stuffed my claw into my mouth.
And run they did. The Israelites hurried through the sea on a narrow path of dry ground with the walls of water to the right and to the left.
The Egyptians came after them in full pursuit, every horse and chariot and driver of Pharaoh racing into the middle of the sea. God looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud on the Egyptian army and threw them into a panic. The chariots were too many to stay on the slim trail of dry ground, so they were forced into the mud, which clogged the wheels of their chariots until every last one of them was stuck in the miry clay.
Then the Egyptians began yelling at each other: “Turn around! Retreat! Run from Israel! Their God is fighting on their side against us!”
The soldiers beat the horses with their whips, but the frightened animals could not dislodge the wheels from the thick mud. Some of them abandoned their chariots and tried to run back to the sea’s edge, but they sunk to their knees in the mire. The glory that had been Egypt’s military elite was hopelessly trapped between the lofty walls of water on either side.