A Story of God and All of Us Young Reade - By Roma Downey Page 0,12

"Show them who god is!"

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The guards shove Moses and Aaron to the hard stone floor.

"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 week later, Moses walks along the banks of the Nile with Miriam and Aaron by his side. He knows that his first real test is upon him. He has made the Pharaoh angry, but God has protected 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.

"God has spoken to me," Moses says. "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?"

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

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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 drops the tip of his staff in the Nile, barely touching the surface. But from that simple point of contact, the water starts to radiate red. The waters of the Nile, the greatest river on earth, flowing thousands upon thousands of miles, have turned to blood.

Moses gazes at the river, not at all surprised by what has just happened.

Joshua comes to the bank and looks across, not sure what he is seeing. Is this real?

"God is with us," Moses assures him.

"So surely, Pharaoh will now let us go. Right? He can see for himself what God can do."

"It won't be that easy. This is just the first plague, Joshua. God is sending ten to change Pharaoh's mind."

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The next attack soon follows.

Pharaoh's son is one of the first in the palace to notice. He is playing on the floor of his bedroom with his toy chariot when a frog hops past. Then another, and another, all croaking, until a tide of frogs fills the palace.

Terrified, the boy climbs onto his bed to escape.

In the throne room, Moses is once again standing before Rameses, repeating God's command that his people be set free. And though the Pharaoh can clearly hear the screams of his son above the croaking, he refuses to back down. "I will not free my slaves," Rameses says, as he

stands up and sweeps out of the throne room, followed by his court.

Moses merely shakes his head, for he knows the many trials the Egyptians are about to face. And he knows that with every refusal by Pharaoh, there will come another, more destructive plague.

Next comes the death of all Egypt's livestock--cows, sheep, and goats, the source of their meat and milk. The Egyptian people begin to starve. And still Rameses refuses.

Then the people of Egypt are attacked once again. Hideous boils break out over their skin, as the Israelites are left untouched. And still Rameses refuses to see the truth. A plague of locusts descends, plucking the fields clean of every crop, every bit of grain, and every last 46

morsel of food in the land. Plague after plague visits Egypt, and with each plague, Pharaoh grows more stubborn.

God then finally does to Egypt what Pharaoh once did to Moses' people: he sends his Angel of Death to kill every firstborn son throughout the land. But to ensure that the Angel of Death won't pay a visit to their homes and families as well, God instructs Moses how to spare the Hebrews from God's vengeance.

"God's word is clear--the blood of a firstborn lamb is his chosen sign," Moses lectures. "It is the sign that you are chosen people. Every single house must be marked with blood. Every one!"

Moses looks into the faces of his people, many of whom are holding their children