The Priest: Aaron (7 page)

As soon as God removed the flies, Pharaoh sent soldiers to Goshen and ordered the Hebrews back to work. The Egyptians knew Pharaoh’s edict would bring more trouble upon them. Dread of the God of the Hebrews had filled them. They bowed their heads in respect when Aaron and Moses passed by. And no one dared abuse the slaves. People from the villages brought gifts to Goshen and asked the Hebrews to pray for mercy on them.

And still, Pharaoh did not let the Hebrews go.

Aaron no longer yearned to see the Egyptians suffer because of Pharaoh’s stubbornness. He just wanted to be free! He stood beside his brother. “What next?”

“God is sending a plague on their livestock.”

Aaron knew fear ran rampant among his people. Some said he should have left his brother in Midian. Frustrated and frightened, they wanted answers when none were to be had. Moses was in constant prayer, so it was left to Aaron to try to calm the elders and send them back to calm the people. “What will we sacrifice when we go into the desert to worship the Lord?” Would the plague fall on them? Was their lack of faith in God any less sinful than bowing down to idols?

But Moses continued to reassure him. “Nothing that belongs to the sons of Israel shall die, Aaron. The Lord set a time for the plague to start. Pharaoh and all his counselors will know the plague is of the Lord God.”

Buzzards circled the villages and came down to tear at the bloated flesh of dead sheep, cattle, camels, and goats rotting in the hot sun. In Goshen, the herds of cattle, flocks of sheep and goats, and the many camels, donkeys, and mules remained healthy.

Aaron heard the Voice again and bowed his face to the ground. When the Lord stopped speaking, he rose and ran to Moses. Moses confirmed the words and they went into the city, took handfuls of soot from a furnace, and tossed it into the air within sight of Pharaoh’s seat of power. The dust cloud grew and spread like gray fingers over the land. Everywhere it touched, Egyptians suffered an outbreak of boils. Even their animals were afflicted. Within a few days, the city streets were empty of merchants and buyers. All were afflicted, from the lowly servant to the highest official.

No word came from Pharaoh. No soldiers came to order the Hebrews back to work.

The Lord spoke to Moses again. “Tomorrow morning, we stand again before Pharaoh.”

Dressed in splendor, Pharaoh appeared, two servants supporting him. Only a few counselors and magicians were present, all pale, their faces taut with pain. When Raamses tried to sit, he groaned and cursed. Two servants came forward quickly with cushions. Raamses clutched the arms of his chair and eased himself down. “What do you want now, Moses?”

“The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so they can worship Me. If you don’t, I will send a plague that will really speak to you and your officials and all the Egyptian people. I will prove to you that there is no other God like Me in all the earth. I could have killed you all by now. I could have attacked you with a plague that would have wiped you from the face of the earth. But I have let you live for this reason—that you might see My power and that My fame might spread throughout the earth. But you are still lording it over My people, and you refuse to let them go. So tomorrow at this time I will send a hailstorm worse than any in all of Egypt’s history. Quick! Order your livestock and servants to come in from the fields. Every person or animal left outside will die beneath the hail.’”

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.”