There was much crying for joy in Shimri’s home that evening. And Shimri knew that he had done the right thing. This was the best day of his life!
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See the Salvation of God
Alice Maddox
Mali was so tired, and so afraid! He had walked beside his family’s wagon for most of the night. He could tell that his mother was sorrowful, but he didn’t fully understand why. His little sister, Hannah, was asleep in the warm confines of the wagon, where Mali wished he could be. He didn’t fully understand why they had left Egypt, and he didn’t know where they were going. But he was glad to be gone, for the last weeks had seen many frightful sights. Huge plagues of frogs and lice and swarming insects nearly drove them mad. The waters of the Nile were red like blood and some Egyptians who tried to drink it, had died.
Then the man, Moses, had told the elders of the families of Israel that they were to kill a lamb and eat all of it. His father explained that they were to take some of the blood of the sacrifice and place it over the door of their home. While mother fixed the meal, father and Mali packed clothes, utensils, necessities for the animals and family. Finally the shout came out. “Stay inside your houses and do not venture out, lest you die!” This scared Mali, for he wondered how long people could live inside their houses. Surely one must go out to gather vegetables and kill a chicken for meal and gather eggs. But his father explained to him that tonight the death angel would pass over them when it came to kill all the firstborn of Egypt. Mali’s father Caleb, assured him that they would be safe as long as they obeyed God.
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Mali walked along, amongst the throng of Israelites, becoming almost too sleepy to care whether he took another step. It was the middle of the night – way past his usual bedtime. Finally Mali’s father, Caleb, laid his large, strong hand on Mali’s shoulder and said, “It is time for you to climb up into the wagon to sleep. Best to keep her warm, too.” The young boy tried to act as though he didn’t want to, but it wasn’t long before he was sound asleep next to his baby sister.
The next time Mali opened his eyes, the sun was shining brightly, and people were milling all around. Some people were murmuring and grumbling. He saw his father talking with some men. He went over to join the conversation. The tribal chief, Hashabiah, was saying, “We have walked all this way with our little ones and wives, and now we are to be slaughtered out here in the wilderness. We are trapped! We are dead in this spot, with no escape.”
Mali’s father, Caleb, spoke loudly, until he could be heard over the grumblings of the other men, “People of Goshen! Do not contend with the Eternal! He has not brought us out here to kill us at the hands of Pharaoh. He has given us Moses, this man of wisdom, to lead us to safety.”
“You are gone the way of the old horse-trader! How is it that you believe what cannot be possible?” said an older man.
“God has spoken to Moses,” Caleb said, “and he will guide us. Look no further. And do not look back upon the land of Egypt. Remember Lot’s wife!”
Throughout the day and into the evening, the men grumbled, the women cried, and Mali tried to understand. After evening meal, he played in the sand awhile with his friends Elymas and Zaccur. They were close friends, and shared many adventures and games together. But today, the three boys were watchful and taking notice of the elders amongst whose feet they played, for they were trying to be brave.
Zaccur whispered into Mali’s ear, “My Papa says we will all drown in the sea.”
Elymas saw him whisper, and leaned over to hear what was said. He stated emphatically, “Hashabiah says we will all be slaughtered! So I have a plan. You both and I will venture over to that mound and look down upon the Egyptian soldiers to see what they are planning. We will skirt around that big pillar of smoke.”
Zaccur and Mali decided it was a good plan, and they ran swiftly to the outskirts of the milling crowd and around behind some boulders. Up the side of the mound they went. They were great mountain climbers, scaling the heights. And then they were at the top.
Dust! Dust everywhere, and horses and horsemen running around, as if they had all gone mad. Soldiers were yelling at other soldiers, and commanders were waving their swords around trying to give orders to the unruly mob. The three boys stared in amazed silence.
Zaccur said, “Why don’t they get on their horses and come to invade our camp? Our men are saying that they will come to slaughter us, but they are all in disorder!”
Mali said, “My Papa says the pillar of smoke keeps them in confusion and terrified. They cannot go beyond it, and it scares their horses. The Egyptian army is nothing without their horses.”
Elymas suddenly turned and whispered loudly, “Watch! Our people are quieting down. Something happens. Let us go down to see.”
The boys found their way back to the camp. They looked for their fathers and finally found them at the edge of the water. The man Moses was speaking to the people. The boys went closer, crawling over the boulders, to hear him.
“Do not fear. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord your God.” said Moses and raised his arms and the waters of the sea began to churn! The people drew back, fearful of being dragged into the roiling surf. The boys crouched low over the top of the boulder and watched in amazement.
Long into the night, the three companions watched from their vantage point as the waters withdrew as if in agreement and began to heap up at either end of the sea. The wall of water grew and grew until the waters stood high. After the water parted the wind blew and blew, blowing through the canyon of water. They watched in amazement until at long last, the boys fell asleep. Even the strange and great sights of the night could not keep them awake as their eyes grew heavy.
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“Come! Wake, boys! It is time to go! Today we walk a new path. The path the Eternal opened before our eyes.” Mali’s father said as he shook the boys awake.
The three scrambled down from their ledge, and Mali’s friends ran off to find their families. They were very thankful that their families were near the front of the camp, for the boys marveled at the sight. Ahead of them the water stood straight up at both ends, as if held up by a wall – with a great valley of dry land between the two walls. Fish were all over the dry land between the walls. They were flopping and wiggling. The boys instantly and with one accord, ran gleefully into the path, and started picking up fish. Some of the women tried to stop the boys, but they were already running way ahead.
“What shall we do with the unclean creatures?” asked Zaccur. “Our people will not wish to step on dying fish all the way across!”
“Here,” shouted Mali, “Let us see if it is possible to toss them back into the wall of water.” As he said this, he grabbed a catfish and ran over to the wall, and tossed the fish toward the water. The big fish instantly swam away.
“Praise!” yelled Elymas, “You have found a good solution. We will keep all the clean fish, putting them into the wagons at the front of the troop of the Israelites, and all the unclean creatures we will throw back into the water.”
“Yes,” said Zaccur, “Just as if we were fishing on the edge of the Nile, and found ourselves with an angry eel!”
The boys were delighted! Mali picked up a very beautiful fish, the likes of which he had never seen before. It was golden orange with stripes of white and black. Its fins were barbed with sharp spines. Mali tried to discern whether the fish was clean or unclean. Then he remembered that the way to tell is to run your fingernail backward along the sides of the fish to see if scales came off. This amazing fish definitely had fins, but as Mali found, it had no scales. Still looking at the magnificent creature, he walked over to the wall of water holding it aloft in his arms. He pushed his hands and arms into the wall with the fish in his hands, and when the fish realized it was safe, it splashed mightily and swam away. Mali stood there for long moments, watching all the fish swim past on the other side of this invisible wall that divided the sea creatures from the troop of the
Israelites.
Soon other children and young adults were running around picking up fish and tossing the good ones into wagons and throwing the unclean back into the great water wall. A mother grabbed at the arm of her daughter, pulling her away from the water. Other small children were running along the wall, their arms in the water, feeling the fish that swam past. Others exclaimed at the immensity of the some of the fish, and the ugliness of others. A woman screamed loudly as a great, ugly fish swam near the wall. She was afraid that it would swim out at her.
As the last of the Israelites marched out of the riverbed and up the slope to the pasture beyond, Caleb was telling some of the people that they would eat fish today. The people thought he was crazy for a certainty and were too scared to do anything but run, for now they could see the entire Egyptian army coming toward them from the far side of the sea.
The man Moses, had walked along in front of the troop and was now at the edge of the path, standing on a large boulder. Behind him the women screamed and the children ran for cover. Many people scattered into the surrounding rocks and trees to hide from Pharaoh’s army.
Pharaoh and his army were riding hard and fast into the dry riverbed! Now what were the Israelites going to do? The people near the sea path cowed backwards, unable to move for the great crowd of Israelites behind them. Eventually the throng of people moved farther back from the sea. All the people watched in horror at the charging horses arrayed for battle and the chariots churning up huge mountains of dust, the riders and drivers had big, nasty smiles on their faces as they approached the Israelites.
When the entire army was in the midst of the riverbed, Moses raised his arms once again and cried out to the Eternal God, the Most High, to save them forever from the face of Pharaoh.
For a brief moment, Mali saw the Pharaoh’s eyes widen in terror as he realized the wall of water was coming down upon him. Then suddenly the water swirled, churned and swamped all the chariots, the horses and all the men of the army. The waters poured over the entire army! The great waves tossed back and forth, and a few of the soldiers tried to keep their heads above water. But it was useless.
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Finally the waters calmed down, and the army of Egypt floated dead on the water. Mali could scarcely believe his eyes. He realized this was the hand of the Most High that Moses spoke to. He looked over to where Moses had been standing, but saw that he was coming down off the boulder and marching over to the elders of the camp.
“We will move further from this deathbed, and make our camp, for the Eternal has shown us this day, His mighty work. His pillar of smoke is going before us. Follow it, and it will take us to the place where we will spend the night.”
All the people, in stunned silence, moved along following the pillar of smoke, and finally made camp late in the evening. The events of this day would long live in the minds of the people and their children. Moses, Caleb and the elders taught the people the meaning of their first experience keeping the Passover of God and the Days of Unleavened Bread which cleanses us from sin.
And there would be fish aplenty for supper that evening.
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Other Titles by Alice Busch
Mask - Mask is a fantasy about a troubled unfortunate - stir the pot with loneliness too profound to fathom… Then he finds the fulfillment of his dreams in a very special lady.
Poor Old Dog - It's a simpler time; Craig and Dara are typical kids, bickering at the breakfast table... Then the dog came home.
The book you have just read is the First Volume of my series, A Light Shines: Biblical Stories for Children. I hope soon, to publish more volumes of this Christian series for children and adults.
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