The Priest: Aaron (9 page)

Aaron shook his head. “The Lord leads. Moses does not take one step without the Lord directing him. If you do not understand that, you have only to raise your eyes to see the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.”

“Yes, but I’m sure if you asked the Lord, He would listen to you. Didn’t He call you into the wilderness to meet Moses at Mount Sinai? The Lord spoke to you before He spoke to your brother.”

Korah’s words troubled Aaron. Did the man mean to divide brothers? Aaron thought of what jealousy had wrought between Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his eleven brothers. No! He would not give in to such thinking. The Lord had called him to stand beside Moses, to walk with him, to uphold him. And so he would! “The Lord speaks through Moses, not me, and we will follow the Lord whatever way He leads us.”

“You are Amram’s firstborn son. The Lord continues to speak to you.”

“Only to confirm what He has already said to Moses!”

“Is it wrong to ask why we must go the more difficult way?”

Aaron rose, staff in hand. Most of these men were his relatives. “Should Moses or I tell the Lord which way we are to go? It is for the Lord to say where we go and how long and how far we travel. If you set yourself against Moses, you set yourself against God.”

Korah’s eyes darkened, but he raised his hands in capitulation. “I do not doubt Moses’ authority, or yours, Aaron. We have seen the signs and wonders. I was just asking . . .”

But even then, as the men turned away, Aaron knew there would be no end to the asking.

Aaron joined Moses on a rocky hill overlooking the stretch of land to the east. Others were nearby, just down the hill, watching, but respecting Moses’ need for solitude, waiting for Aaron to speak for him. Aaron realized Moses was becoming more accustomed to speaking Hebrew. “Soon you will have no need of me, my brother. Your words are clear and easily understood.”

“The Lord called
both
of us to this task, Aaron. Could I have crossed the desert and stood before Pharaoh had the Lord not sent you to me?”

Aaron put his hand on Moses’ arm. “You think too much of me.”

“The enemies of God will do all they can to divide us, Aaron.”

Perhaps the Lord had opened Moses’ eyes to the temptations Aaron faced. “I don’t want to follow in the ways of those who came before us.”

“What is worrying you?”

“That one day, you will have no need of me, that I will be useless.”

Moses was silent for so long, Aaron thought he did not intend to respond. Should he add to Moses’ burdens? Hadn’t the Lord called him to assist Moses, not to plague him with petty worries? How he longed to speak with Moses as they had when they were alone and crossed the wilderness together! The years of separation had fallen away. The imagined grievances dissolved. They were more than brothers. They were friends joined in one calling, servants of the Most High God. “I’m sorry, Moses. I will leave you alone. We can talk another time.”

“Stay with me, Brother.” He continued to look out over the people. “There are so many.”

Relieved to be needed, Aaron stepped closer and leaned on his staff. He had never been comfortable with long silences. “All these descended from Jacob’s sons. Sixty-six came into Egypt with Jacob, and Joseph’s family made seventy in all. And from those few came this great multitude. God has blessed us.”

Thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children traveled like a slow-moving sea into the desert. Clouds of dust rose from their feet and the hooves of their flocks and herds. Overhead was the heavy gray cloud canopy of protection, a shield from the burning heat of the sun. No wonder Pharaoh had feared the Hebrews! Look at them all! Had they joined with Egypt’s enemies, they could have become a great military threat within the borders of Egypt. But rather than rebel, they had bent their necks to the pharaohs’ will and served as slaves. They had not tried to break the chains of bondage, but had cried out to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to rescue them.

Egyptians traveled among the people. Most stayed on the outer edges of the mass of travelers. Aaron wished they had stayed behind in the Nile Delta or Etham. He didn’t trust them. Had they cast aside their idols and chosen to follow the Lord, or had they come along because Egypt was in ruins?

People waved. “Moses! Aaron!” Like children, they called. There was still jubilation. Maybe it was only Korah and his friends who questioned the route they traveled.

Moses began walking again. Aaron raised his staff and pointed in the direction he led. He did not ask why Moses headed south and then east into the heart of the Sinai. The gray cloud transformed into a swirling pillar of fire to light their way and keep them warm through the desert night. Aaron saw the Angel of the Lord walking ahead, leading Moses and the people deeper into the wilderness.

Why?

Was it right that he should even think such a question?

Moses did not make camp again, but continued traveling, resting for brief periods. Miriam and Aaron’s sons’ wives made enough flat bread to eat on the way while children slept using a stone for a pillow. Aaron sensed Moses’ urgency—an urgency he also felt, but did not understand. Canaan was north, not east. Where was the Lord leading them?

The mouth of a great wadi opened ahead. Aaron thought Moses might turn north or send men ahead to see where the canyon led. But Moses did not hesitate or turn to the right or the left. He walked straight into the canyon. Aaron stayed at his side, looking back only to make certain Miriam, his sons, and their wives and children followed.

High cliffs rose on either side, the cloud remaining overhead. The wadi narrowed. The people flowed like water into a river basin cut for them. The canyon twisted and turned like a snake through the jagged terrain, the floor flat and easily traveled.

After a long day, the canyon opened wide. Aaron saw rippling water and smelled the salt-sea air. Whatever waters had come through the wadi during the times of Noah’s flood had spilled a sandy pebbled beach wide enough for the multitude to encamp. But there was nowhere to go from here. “What do we do now, Moses?”

“We wait on the Lord.”

“But there is no place to go!”

Moses stood in the wind facing the sea. “We are to encamp here opposite Baal-zephon as the Lord said. And Pharaoh will pursue us, and the Lord will gain glory for Himself through Pharaoh and his army, and the Egyptians will know that the Lord is God and there is no other.”

Fear gripped Aaron. “Should we tell the others?”

“They will know soon enough.”

“Should we make battle lines? Should we have our weapons ready to defend ourselves?”

“I don’t know, Aaron. I only know that the Lord has led us here for His purpose.”

A cry rose from among the Israelites. Several men on camelback rode out onto the beach. Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops were coming up the canyon. Horns sounded in the distance. Aaron felt the rumble beneath his feet. An army that had never known defeat. Thousands of Hebrews wailed so loudly they drowned out the sound of the sea at their backs. People ran toward the sea and huddled in the wind.

Moses turned toward the deep waters and raised his arm, crying out to the Lord. The battle horns sounded again. Aaron shouted. “Come here to Moses!” His sons and their families and Miriam ran to them. “Stay close to us no matter what happens!” Aaron beckoned. “Do not be separated from us!” He took his grandson Phinehas up into his arms. “The Lord will come to our rescue!”

“Lord, help us!” Moses cried out.

Aaron closed his eyes and prayed for the Lord to hear.

“Moses!” the people cried out. “What have you done to us?”

Aaron handed Phinehas to Eleazar and stood between his brother and the people, staff in hand.

“Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt?”

“We should’ve stayed in Egypt!”

“Didn’t we tell you to leave us alone while we were still in Egypt?”

“You should’ve let us go on serving the Egyptians.”

“Why did you make us leave?”

“Our Egyptian slavery was far better than dying out here in the wilderness!”

Moses turned to them. “Don’t be afraid!”

“Don’t be afraid? Pharaoh’s army is coming! They’re going to slaughter us like sheep!”

Aaron chose to believe Moses. “Have you forgotten what the Lord did for us already? He smote Egypt with His mighty hand! Egypt is in ruins!”

“All the more reason for Pharaoh to want to destroy us!”

“Where can we go now with our backs to the sea?”

“They’re coming! They’re coming!”

Moses raised his staff. “Just stand where you are and watch the Lord rescue you. The Egyptians that you see today will never be seen again. The Lord Himself will fight for you. You won’t have to lift a finger in your defense!”

Aaron saw by Moses’ expression that the Lord had spoken to him. Moses turned and looked up. The shining Angel of the Lord, who had been leading them, rose and moved behind the multitude, blocking the entrance of the great wadi that opened out upon Pi-hahiroth. Raising his staff, Moses stretched out his arm over the sea. The wind roared from on high and came down from the east, slicing the water in two, rolling it back and up so that walls of water rose like the sheer cliffs of the wadi from which the Israelites had come. A pathway of dry land sloped down where the depths of the sea had been and straight across and up to land on the other side of
yam suph
, the Red Sea.

“Move on!” Moses called out.

Heart leaping, Aaron took up the cry. “Move on!” Raising his staff, he pointed it forward as he followed Moses into the great, deep walls of water on either side.

The strong east wind blew all night as thousands upon thousands of Israelites raced for the other side. When Aaron and his family reached the eastern shore, they stood on the bluff with Moses, watching the multitude come through the sea. Laughing and crying, Aaron watched the people come out of Egypt. Impenetrable darkness was over the rocky terrain of the canyon through which they had come, but on this side, the Lord provided light so the Israelites and those traveling with them could see their way through the Red Sea.

When the last few hundred Israelites were hurrying up the slope, the fiery barrier holding the Egyptians back lifted and spread like a shimmering cloud over land and sea. The way opened for Pharaoh to pursue. Battle horns blasted in the distance. Chariots spread across the beach, then narrowed into ranks. Drivers whipped their horses down into the pathway into the sea.

Aaron continued standing on the bluff, leaning into the wind. Below him, Israelites struggled against exhaustion, hunched beneath the weight of their possessions. “They must hurry! They must . . .” He felt Moses’ hand on his shoulder and drew back, submitting to the silent command to be calm.
“Don’t be afraid,”
Moses had said.
“Just stand where you are!”
But it was so hard when he could see the charioteers coming, and the horsemen and troops behind. There were thousands of them, armed and trained, in a race to kill those who belonged to the God who had destroyed Egypt, the God who had killed their firstborn sons. Hatred drove them.

As the Egyptians neared the slope upward from the sea, a horse went down, overturning the chariot behind him, crushing the driver beneath. The chariots behind veered off. Horses screamed and reared. Some shook their riders loose and galloped back. The troops broke ranks in confusion. Some were trampled beneath the hooves of riderless horses.

The last few Israelites scrambled onto the eastern shore. The people screamed in terror of the Egyptians. “Israel!” Moses’ voice boomed. He raised his hands. “Be still and know that the Lord is God!” He stretched out his hand and held his staff over the Red Sea. The east wind lifted. The waters spilled into the pathway, covering the panic-stricken Egyptians, the tumbling current drowning out their screams. A mighty flume of water rose skyward and then descended with a mighty splash.

The Red Sea rippled. All fell silent.

Aaron sank to the ground, staring at the azure water—tumultuous just seconds before, now tranquil. The waves lapped against the rocky shore and soft wind whispered.

Did they all feel as he did? Terror at seeing the power of the Lord visited upon the Egyptians, and exultation, for the enemy was no more! Egyptian soldiers washed up on the shore below him, hundreds facedown in the sand, their limbs gently lifting with the waves and resting again in the sand.

Aaron looked at his sons and daughters-in-law, his grandchildren gathered close around him. “Egypt boasted of its army and weapons, its many gods. But we will boast in the Lord our God.” All the nations would hear what the Lord had done. Who would dare come against the people God had chosen to be His own? Look to the heavens! The God who laid the foundations of the earth and scattered the stars across the heavens was protecting them! The God who could call forth plagues and part the sea was overshadowing them! “Who will dare stand against a God like ours? We will live in security! We will thrive in the land God is giving us! No one will stand against our God! We are free and no one will ever enslave us again!”