A Story of God and All of Us - By Roma Downey Page 0,27

one another, remembering the past.

"Have you come to beg forgiveness?" says an expectant Pharaoh. He has waited years to hear an apology.

The palace guards step forward. If Moses shows disrespect, a simple snap of Pharaoh's finger will see Moses and Aaron thrown to the ground. If Moses tries to approach Pharaoh, he will be killed.

Instead he stands his guard and speaks. "God saved me," Moses explains.

"For a purpose."

All around the court, the mood has darkened, for it is clear that Moses is not talking about an Egyptian god but the God of Abraham--a god the Egyptians do not know or worship.

"And what purpose would that be?" the Pharaoh says with a bemused expression.

"To demand that you release his people from slavery."

"Demand?" Rameses says, absentmindedly running one index finger down his fight scar. He steps down from his throne and approaches his adoptive nephew. The two men stand eye to eye, a Pharaoh and a Hebrew. In any other situation, Moses would have been instantly struck down and killed for daring to look in Pharaoh's eyes. But there is a deep history between these two men, and this is no ordinary moment.

Moses does not back down. "Let my people go."

"You always were a fighter, but you never knew when you were beaten."

Moses weighs his words before responding. "That's because you never beat me. If you defy God, you will receive a punishment more severe than anything I could have ever imagined inflicting upon you."

"I have a good mind to slam my fist hard into your face, Moses," Rameses hisses, "but I will not revisit our childish matches where you always played unfairly. You kill an upstanding Egyptian, escape a fugitive, and 68

return, after all these years, to threaten me? Tell me, dear Moses, is it your invisible god who's going to punish me ? The one who abandons his people? The one who runs from his responsibility, his past... his family?"

Rameses beckons to the guards. "Show them who god is!"

The guards, large and imposing men, wrap their fists around the necks of Moses and Aaron, then shove them to the hard stone floor. Pharaoh's son watches as Moses and Aaron are beaten. The sights and sounds are

shocking to the young boy. Rameses is showing his son, by example, the way of the Pharaoh: take no half measures when dealing with insurrection.

"I am god!" Rameses shouts in their wake. "I. Am. God."

"No, Rameses," Moses cries out, "you are not God! You are just a man. And you will set my people free, so that they may worship with me in the desert!"

A hard kick in the head silences Moses, but his words echo around the throne room like a portent of doom.

A week later, Moses walks along the banks of the Nile with Ira, sister Miriam, and brother Aaron at his side. He knows that his first real test is upon him.

He has made the Pharaoh angry, but God has protected him, ensuring that Pharaoh will not kill him. He must now convince the Hebrews that God is with them. The Hebrews are a people of faith, but they feel that God has deserted them. Unless God sends a sign, Moses knows, these people will not allow him to speak on their behalf, for fear of the punishment that is sure to follow.

"Moses. You've made Pharaoh angry," Ira warns. "He'll punish us. Don't make it worse."

Moses pauses and looks to the sky. He is lost in his own world for a brief moment, studying a flock of geese flying low and straight above the Nile.

"God has spoken to me," Moses answers, conviction in his tone. "He will make Pharaoh free us--by force, if necessary." Moses turns to Aaron. "We are His agents now, you and I. Are you ready?"

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Aaron nods. "That is why He has brought our family together again."

Miriam moves closer to her brothers. "What should we do?"

"We must trust in God. You will see. He will show us the way to go," Moses responds. He finds his way down through the reeds toward the river's edge.

His hands touch the rushes and he hesitates a moment. God is talking to him, and Moses knows what to do next. Moses draws himself up, raises his arms to heaven, and points his staff to the sky. Then he turns to Aaron and slowly lowers his staff until it points at his brother. "Put your staff to the water," Moses commands him.

Aaron is mystified. He hasn't heard God's voice, and Moses appears to be