A Story of God and All of Us - By Roma Downey Page 0,30

The sound of grief is unmistakable. "Why?"

he cries. "Why should lowly Israelite slaves have life... when my son is dead?"

The captain of the guards grabs Moses and Aaron by the hair and lifts their heads. Rameses is walking toward them, the limp and lifeless body of his son draped across his arms. "Is your God satisfied now?"

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Moses and Aaron say nothing.

"I asked you a question."

Moses says nothing. He takes no joy in the death of a child. He only looks at Rameses with sadness, as if to remind him that all of this could have been prevented. If Rameses had only listened.

Rameses lays his son on the floor. "Take your people and your flocks and go! Leave my land. And take your wretched God with you!"

Moses and Aaron say nothing, eager to get out of the throne room as fast as possible. "Thank God," Aaron whispers once they are finally out of the throne room.

"Yes," Moses replies. "We must."

It is time to leave captivity and travel to the Promised Land. Three million Hebrew men, women, and children are in captivity. The Egyptian people are so eager to see them leave immediately that they freely give gifts of silver, gold, and cloth to encourage them to be on their way. Everywhere in the Israelite settlement, carts are being loaded. People are packing their life's possessions onto donkeys.

Amid the preparations for departure, people can't help but celebrate. The Hebrews seem to have permanent smiles on their faces, and they

spontaneously sing and chant songs of joy. When it comes time to depart, Moses is carried through the city streets on the shoulders of men who were once wary of his presence. The impossible promise Moses made is coming true.

"Put me down!" Moses tells the group of men carrying him through a packed street. Children are running and jumping to get a better view of their new hero.

Aaron is one of the men carrying Moses. "No, brother. We won't put you

down yet--we're carrying you all the way to the Promised Land."

It all seems so simple to the Hebrews: they are leaving a land that has held them hostage for centuries and heading toward a new home where milk and honey are theirs for the taking. God has appeared to Moses

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and told him the specific route he must follow to reach this Promised Land.

Only Moses, the most unlikely believer among them--raised as an Egyptian, exiled into the desert for decades, and only late in life finding a relationship with God--sees the broader importance of their journey: the Hebrews are fulfilling Abraham's covenant with God. "We are going to live in the Promised Land," he marvels, "with descendants as numerous as stars...."

As the Israelites travel east out of Egypt, Rameses is having second thoughts. He stands in his throne room, where his son's body lies in state.

Incense burns from ornate bowls. A cotton sheet covers the child's torso.

"My son," says a grief-stricken Rameses, placing a hand gently on the boy's forehead. He can't help but notice that the body is cold to the touch, and that the skin, which had been deeply tanned from hours playing in the hot Egyptian sun, is now ghostly pale. "How could slaves do this?" Rameses mumbles, his broken heart hardening into resolve. He takes his son's dead hand in his own, and crouches down. "I vow to you," he promises his son,

"here and now, that I will bring the Israelites back and make them build you the greatest tomb the world has ever known." The toy chariot has been placed next to the boy, so that once he is mummified the toy will travel with him into the afterlife. "And I also vow that the body of Moses will be buried beneath that tomb's foundation, crushed through all eternity by the weight of your death."

Rameses pivots to his left, to where the captain of the guard stands watching along the wall. "We will bring them back," Rameses orders. "I will lead the way, Commander. The Hebrews want freedom? They're free to choose: crawl back to me as slaves--or die."

Pharaoh takes one last loving look at his son. What a beautiful boy. His heart fills with rage at losing the life that could have been.

"Get my chariot!" he roars. "We leave immediately."

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The line of Hebrews refugees extends to the horizon. Theirs is not an orderly exodus. The sound of bleating sheep commingles with complaints about blisters, sunburn, and thirst. Moses leads the way, deep in thought, as always. Miriam, Aaron, and