The Priest: Aaron (8 page)

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 new 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.

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 owned 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.

The smell of roasting lamb filled the house, along with the bitter herbs Miriam had cut and put on the table. Aaron cut into the lamb. “It is finished.” Miriam added oil to the ground flour and patted out thin cakes of bread that she laid over a round pan and set over some coals she had raked to one side.

Night was heavy upon them. Death was coming.

The men rose, girding their loins and tucking their cloaks into their belts. They put their sandals on again and stood at the table, staffs in hand, and the family ate of the lamb, the bitter herbs, and unleavened bread.

A scream rent the air. Aaron’s skin crawled. Miriam stared at Moses, her dark eyes wide. No one spoke as they ate. Another scream was heard, closer this time, and then wailing in the distance. Outside someone cried out in anguish to Osiris. Aaron shut his eyes tightly, for he knew Osiris was nothing but an idol made by men’s hands, his myth crafted by men’s imaginings. Osiris had no substance, no power, other than the fictitious power men and women had given him over the centuries. Tonight, they would learn what men design cannot bring salvation. Salvation is in the Lord, the God of all creation.

The screams and wailing increased. Aaron knew by the sounds when the Angel of Death had passed over the house. He felt a rising joy, a thanksgiving that swelled his heart to bursting. The Lord was trustworthy! The Lord had spared His people Israel! The Lord was destroying His enemies.

Someone pounded on the door. “In the name of Pharaoh, open the door!”

Aaron looked to Moses and at his nod rose to open the door. Soldiers stood outside, and they bowed low when Aaron and Moses came through the door. “Pharaoh has sent us to bring you to him.” As they went out, the soldiers fell in around them.

“Pharaoh’s son is dead.” The soldier to Moses’ right spoke softly.

Another spoke to Aaron. “He was the first in the palace to die, and then others fell, many others.”

“My son.” A soldier wept behind them. “My son . . .”

All of Thebes was wailing, for every house suffered loss.

“Hurry! We must hurry before all Egypt dies.”

They had barely crossed the threshold when Aaron heard Pharaoh’s anguished cry. “Leave us! Go away, all of you!” He hunched on his throne. “Go and serve the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, and be gone. Go, but give me a blessing as you leave.”

Aaron stood in the flickering torchlight, hardly able to believe he had heard Pharaoh relent. Was it over? Was it really over? Or would they get no farther than the streets of Thebes and find out Pharaoh had changed his mind again?

Moses turned away without a word. “Go!” one of the guards urged Aaron. “Go quickly, or we will all die!”

As they hurried through the streets, Aaron shouted, “Israel! Israel! Your day of deliverance is at hand!”

Egyptians rushed from their houses, crying out to the Hebrews. “Hurry! Hurry! Go before Great Pharaoh changes his mind and we all die!” Some gave them donkeys and added gifts of goodwill as they helped to strap possessions to the animals’ backs. Others gave portions of what little they had left from the plagues. “Take whatever you want and get out of Egypt! Hurry! Hurry before another plague falls upon us and we are no more!”

Aaron laughed in exultation, so full of emotion he couldn’t think of anything but rushing, rushing. Miriam and his sons and their families caught up to him and Moses at the front of the congregation. The noise was deafening. People called out praises to the Lord and Moses and Aaron. Large flocks of bleating sheep and goats swirled alongside the mass of population. Herds of cattle followed so that the people would not choke in their dust. Six hundred thousand men left on foot as the sun came up, and headed for Succoth, accompanied by their wives and children.

Women carried their kneading bowls on their shoulders, while balancing a child on their hips and calling out to other children to stay close and keep up with the family. They had had no time to prepare food for the journey.

Aaron heard the cacophony of voices and tasted the dust stirred by over a million slaves hurrying away from Pharaoh’s city. More joined them along the way. The tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Zebulon, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Nephtali, and Benjamin followed Moses and Aaron’s tribe of Levi. Representatives of the half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh traveled close to Moses, carrying with them the bones of their ancestor Joseph, who had once saved Egypt from famine. The elders of each tribe had made standards so that their relatives might gather together and march in divisions out of Egypt, every man armed for battle. And behind them and alongside came Egyptians who fled the desolation of their homeland and sought the provision and protection of the Lord God of Israel, the true God over all creation.

As the sun rose, Aaron watched the rising of a pillar of cloud. The Lord Himself was shielding them from the burning heat and leading them out of bondage, away from suffering and despair. Oh, life was going to be good! In a week, they would reach the Promised Land of milk and honey. In a week, they could pitch their tents and stretch out on their mats and revel in their freedom.

Men and women wept with joyful abandon. “Praise the Lord! We are free—free at last!”

“No son of mine will ever make another brick for Pharaoh!”

“Let him make his own bricks!”

People laughed. Women warbled in joy. Men shouted.

“I should have made more unleavened cakes! We have so little grain!”

“How far are we going today? The children are already tired.”

Aaron turned, face hot at the sound of his own relatives grumbling. Would they rather have stayed behind? “This is the end of your captivity! Rejoice! We have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb! Praise the Lord!”

“We do, Father! We do, but the children are exhausted. . . .”

Moses raised his staff. “Remember this day! Tell your sons and daughters of what the Lord did for you when He brought you out of Egypt! Remember that you consecrated to the Lord every firstborn male, the offspring of every womb among Israel, whether man or beast, for the Lord made death pass over us! Commemorate this day! Never forget it was the Lord who with a mighty hand brought you out of Egypt!”

Because Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let God’s people go, the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and beast. Therefore, every first male offspring of every womb belonged to the Lord, and every firstborn son would be redeemed by the blood of a lamb.

“Praise the Lord!” Aaron raised his staff. He would not listen to the few grumblers among his people. He would not let them spoil this moment, this day. He would not listen to those who looked back over their shoulders like Lot’s wife. He had dreamed all his life of what it would be like to live as a free man. And now he would know freedom firsthand. He wept in thanksgiving.
“Praise the Lord!”
A resounding shout came from men and women around him, spreading back until the praise rose thunderous to the heavens. The women sang.

Moses did not stop as the sun began its descent, for a pillar of fire appeared, leading them to Succoth, where they rested before moving on. They camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.

Korah and a delegation of other Levite elders came to Moses. “Why are you leading us south when there are two other routes to Canaan that are shorter? We could go by way of the sea.”

Moses shook his head. “That would take the people through Philistine country.”

“We are many and armed for battle. What about the way of Shur to southern Canaan?”

Moses stood firm. “We are armed, but untrained and untried. We go where the Angel of the Lord leads us. The Lord has said if the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

“We will never return to Egypt!” Korah lifted his chin. “You should have more confidence in us, Moses. We have craved freedom as much as you. More so.”

Aaron’s head came up. He knew Korah was alluding to Moses having lived forty years in the corridors of palaces and another forty among the free men of Midian. Others came, asking for Moses’ attention. He rose to see what the problem was. Problems were already mounting.

“Aaron.” Korah turned to him. “You understand us better than Moses. You should have some say about which road we travel.”

Aaron saw through their flattery. “It is God’s choice, Korah. God made Moses our leader. He is above us. He walks before us.” Did they not see the Man who walked ahead of Moses, leading the way? Close enough to follow, but not close enough to see His face. Or could the people see Him?

“Yes.” Korah was quick to agree. “We accept Moses as God’s prophet. But Aaron, so are you. Think of the children. Think of our wives. Speak to your brother. Why should we go the long way rather than the short? The Philistines will have heard about the plagues. They will be in fear of us just as the Egyptians are now.”