Led By His Hand
A Journal of a girl during the early wanderings of the Hebrews
by Jana Marie Baldridge
Egypt, during the plague of darkness
For two days now, total darkness has covered the land of the Egyptians.
It seems strange that here, in the land of the Hebrews, the normal hours
for sunlight are still the same, while the Egyptians have seen nothing
but darkness: total darkness. A few torches burn in the palace and in the
long dark corridors, but that’s all.
My lady, whom I serve, is the wife to one of Pharaoh’s royal officials.
She has always been quite sickly and pale, and so I bring her meals to
her. I used to do almost every task for her, but now I only bring her meals
and leave. “Anna,” she said a week ago, as I brought her a large breakfast,
“I shall have no more need of you.”
“Not at all, my lady?” I had asked, surprised that an Egyptian would
prefer to do things by herself.
“No, I... I am hiring another servant; an Egyptian to replace you.”
She dismissed me, and I walked away; glad to be out from the service of
an Egyptian, but suspicious as to why she had hired an Egyptian instead
of another Hebrew.
Mother told me to forget all about it and to help her instead. Mother
worked in the kitchens and baked wonderful bread. “You have a curious mind,
Anna; too curious at times!” She told me.
But I dismissed the thought. All my friends who were fourteen as well
had curious minds!! It wasn’t until a few days ago that I found out from
a friend exactly why I had been removed from my position: the Mistress
hated the Hebrews from the beginning and when these plagues came, the mere
sight of me makes her shudder.
It seems strange that after nine plagues, Pharaoh’s heart is still
hard. Moses, a man who promised our deliverance soon, has gone to Pharaoh
along with his brother Aaron and asked Pharaoh to let us, the Hebrews,
go free. Pharaoh said “no” from the beginning and then Moses had to bring
horrible plagues upon the land: frogs, flies, and boils. The first couple
ones affected the Hebrews as well, but now, they only affect the Egyptians,
which makes them angrier.
Moses has even called away the plagues in answer to Pharaoh’s plea,
who promised to let us go free. But he changed his mind at the last minute.
And because of Moses, Pharaoh gave the men and boys more work to do in
the fields and building temples to their false gods. That is how I lost
my father and brother, Levi. Both were strong men, but continuous hard
work eventually killed them.
I must go. Mother just told me I need to come and help her in the kitchen.
I detest going into the “dark land” as my friend, Deborah, calls it. The
darkness is like hands that reach out around every corner to grab you.
I know the Lord is trying to teach the Egyptians that He is more powerful
than their false gods, but why like this?
Egypt, during the plague of the firstborn
So much wailing and screaming! All of Egypt is mourning for the firstborn
sons who are now dead. Moses warned us, as well as the Egyptians, that
God would send the death angel to strike down the firstborn sons in every
household, as well as the firstborn of the cattle. He said to place blood
over the door frame of our house, and when the death angel came, he would
pass over those houses that had blood on the door frames.
Mother and I went to Deborah’s house for tonight. Deborah’s father
has just killed a lamb, and is putting blood on the door frame. Moses told
us that tonight we would be set free, so we needed to be ready; with our
cloaks on and bags packed, for when Pharaoh told us to leave, leave we
would.
Oh my! A messenger just came and said that Pharaoh’s oldest son had
died and Pharaoh is angry. Perhaps now Pharaoh will relent and call Moses
to tell him that we may leave with our flocks and herds and everything!
Before, he said the people could go, but not the animals. When Moses refused,
Pharaoh hardened his heart.
Deborah’s mother and mine are making bread to eat now, and to take
along. Deborah and I both have our small bags packed with an extra dress
and I have my journal. Her mother is very afraid, because Deborah’s brother
, Seth, is the oldest boy of three and even though there is blood dripping
from the door frame outside, she is still fearful that Seth might die.
I wonder how our descendants will remember this day, when the Hebrews
who have been in slavery for four hundred years were waiting for Pharaoh
to tell us to leave Egypt?
Deborah’s father has just hurried into the house and said that Pharaoh
has relented and we are now free to leave! Moses is calling us all to hurry
and bring our belongings with us! We are free!
Camped near the Red Sea
What fun we all have had these past days! Although we are dusty and
some people are weary, it is a wonderful thought to know that we are free!
That day when Pharaoh told us to leave was amazing! I never knew that
six hundred thousand men plus women and children lived in Egypt! And including
their belongings, animals and camels, it was an amazing sight.
When Moses had gathered us together by tribes (us and Deborah’s family
being in the tribe of Levi), he told us to ask the Egyptians for articles
of gold and silver for us to take with us. Mother was surprised, for the
Egyptians would never think of doing something like that! However, when
she asked an Egyptian lady if she had any gold articles she would like
to give us, that lady showered us with gold earrings, bracelets, with valuable
stones in them and silver idols. All the while, the lady urged us to take
more; just as long as we hurried away from Egypt.
Deborah’s family returned with handfuls of necklaces and bracelets
as well. Deborah’s little sister was so wide eyed; she insisted on taking
every ring and putting it on her fingers. Seth returned with a barrel full
of gold idols from a lord.
“Seth!” Exclaimed his mother, “What in the world will you do with all
those idols? I detest even those small ones we have!”
Seth just smiled. “I don’t know either, Mother, but the man insisted
on giving it to me. Besides, maybe we can melt them into something useful
someday.”
All around us, people moved with excitement and animals kicked up dust
in their impatience. Suddenly, a voice called my name. I twisted around
and saw Mistress waving frantically to me.
I hurried over and called up to her, “What do you want?”
“Here!” A bundle was thrown down and landed at my feet. “Some pay for
your service,” she answered to my mute question of why I deserved it. I
quickly undid the knot and to my surprise, there lay her precious earrings
with the multicolored beads that I had admired one day. With them, was
a matching necklace and other colorful items.
“Don’t thank me,” she called again in a hurried voice, “Just go away
and never come back!”
I think the Egyptians were giving us their jewelry because they just
wanted us to go away. They were probably sick of all the plagues and would
give us anything to leave... now!
Moses finally gave the word to head out, and the wagons and animals
in the front began to move forward. Though we were close to the front of
the line, it was hard to see Moses in the front because of all the people.
Deborah pointed out the coffin that held Joseph’s bones. Mother told me
later that he made his brothers swear to take his bones back to Canaan
when they left.
A pillar of cloud was in the very front of the line and Deborah’s father
told us that it was the Lord and he was guiding us. We traveled for several
days until we reached the Red Sea. And that is where we are now. I don’t
know why Moses led us here; we can’t go anywhere except towards Egypt.
Seth made a joke that we could all swim across!
I’d better stop for now. It’s such a nice day out that I hate to waste
it by writing. Even though we are pretty much stuck here, it’s wonderful
not being slaves anymore and not having any work to do!
Right after crossing the Red Sea
What happened was a real miracle and even more exciting than knowing
that Pharaoh had let us go from Egypt. We crossed the Red Sea, and now
everyone is rejoicing because the Egyptians, who had come after us, drowned
in the sea.
Some children first saw it. They were running around behind the camp,
chasing each other. I was watching Deborah’s brothers and sister for her,
while she helped her mother. Suddenly, a little boy stopped and pointed
to a cloud of dust rising and coming towards us. When I looked closer,
it was the Egyptians coming towards us furiously with Pharaoh in the lead.
“Mother!” I yelled, running hard back to our tent. “The Egyptians...
they are coming back to get us!” I really didn’t have to tell her that,
for by all the confusion and screaming people, she was already scared.
The children screamed when they heard who was coming, and frantic mothers
ran to find their children to comfort them the best they could. But their
yells had spread quickly, and by now everyone knew that the dreaded Egyptians
were coming to take us back to Egypt.
Deborah’s mother was quickly packing up their tent, while Deborah held
her brothers and sister in the wagon. Seth hurried towards us, herding
their flocks from their grazing by the sea, to their wagon.
Everyone was filled with panic. Some men even went up to Moses and
Aaron and cried, “Didn’t we tell you in Egypt to leave us alone and let
us serve the Egyptians?”
Quite a few men agreed and began shouting at Moses for letting us be
trapped by the Red Sea. Moses’s expression didn’t change when he heard
this. He only went to the top of a mound of stone, and cried out, “Do not
be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will give
you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again-”
The crowd shouted in anger. Mother was even beginning to become mad.
I asked her what was wrong. I personally believed that the Lord would deliver
us; he did it in Egypt, why not now also?
“Anna, you just don’t understand!” Mother exclaimed to me, when I asked
her why she and Deborah’s mother were arguing. “Sarah seems to believe
that the Lord can deliver us from the Egyptians, but if she’d think about
the problem, she might remember that we have a large sea to cross and the
only way we can go is back towards the Egyptians!”
“You are right, Abigail,” Deborah’s mother answered, “I don’t understand
why you can’t remember how the Lord delivered us from Egypt and set us
free! He is the all powerful Lord and showed his power to the Egyptians
as well as us. Don’t you see that we will be delivered just as Moses told
us and-”
Her sentence was interrupted by Deborah’s little sister. She jumped
up and screamed, pointing to the sea. We all turned, as I think everyone
in the camp did, and gaped in amazement.
The pillar of cloud had moved from in front of the camp to the back
while we were talking and now, Moses stood with his arms upstretched and
the rod he carried stretched over the sea. A hard wind began to blow, and
Moses’s tunic flapped in the wind, his hair flying behind him and yet those
two arms still held that staff over the sea... and the waters parted.
They really did. A wall of water so high you couldn’t see the top,
rose up slowly from the north side, and so did the south side of water.
All night, the wind continued, making all the water on the sea bed become
totally dry.
In the morning, Moses then commanded the wagons and people in the front
to begin across the waters. Strangely enough, when our turn came, the animals
were not afraid to go across, as some of the people were. They walked across
as if it was a parade! It was so strange to look up and see nothing but
water. The sky fitted the sea color, and as little David put it, “It looks
like we’re enclosed by water!”
It seemed like forever until we reached the other side. The oxen pulled
the wagon up the bank and onto level ground next to the thousands of other
families who had yet to cross the sea. After another hour or so, everyone
was across and Moses made his way over the dry land, with the Egyptians
close at him for the Lord had moved the pillar of cloud.
Moses scrambled up the bank and onto the rocks that lay on the land.
The Egyptians were halfway across, but something seemed to have happened.
They were whipping their horses, but they wouldn’t move. Seth snickered
and pointed out that the wheels on their chariots had fallen off and they
were having difficulty crossing. Some of the horses refused to go any farther,
and merely stood still while the red faced Egyptians tugged and pulled
on their bridles.
Then Moses stretched out his hand. People gasped when the waters began
to close in on the Egyptians. Some saw the walls falling and tried to run
for land... but didn’t make it. The waters settled back into their places,
and once again the Red Sea became a normal flowing river.
No one spoke for a few minutes. Even Moses was still, clutching the
wooden staff. Everyone was taking in the fact that the Lord had indeed
delivered them and the Egyptians were forever gone.
Then Moses turned to us and began a song of praise to the Lord. All
the Hebrews joined in and sang loudly, “I will sing to the Lord for he
is highly exalted... Your right hand, O Lord, had shattered the enemy...
Who is like you- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working in wonders?”
Miriam, Moses’s sister, began to dance with a tambourine and some of the
women joined in.
I asked Mother if I could join, and she nodded. “Could you come too?”
I pleaded. Mother smiled. “I don’t see why not. Perhaps I was unwise in
doubting the Lord’s power, but now, I am not doubting any more!”
The dancing continued until evening, and I broke away to write about
what the Lord did. I am certain, I will never doubt his power and his love
for us!
The second day camped at Rephidim
What a hot day! We have no water to drink and our cattle, as well as
us, are so thirsty that we could drink for hours! We have food- at least
our stomachs aren’t totally empty. The Lord sent manna, a type of light
bread- for us to eat.
It is strange how it comes in the morning, and is like dew- it disappears
when the sun rises. We gather what we need for the day, and no more. That
is, except on the next to last day of the week. On the Sabbath the Lord
does not send manna, and therefore we gather twice as much as we would
need. Manna is white and tastes like wafers made with honey.
Little Adam, Deborah’s other brother of two, was happy to get a “treat”,
as he called manna. I think everyone is happy to get something else to
eat, besides what we usually have.
Some people, however, didn’t obey Moses’s orders to gather twice as
much before the Sabbath, and when they went to gather manna in the morning,
there was none and they went hungry that day.
Other people gather too much on the other days, and then in the morning,
the manna from yesterday is moldy and has bugs on it. Mother gathered a
little too much a week ago, and I have never smelled anything worse than
that! We suffered much humiliation that day, for not obeying Moses’s orders.
But, soon just about everyone was complaining that we needed meat.
I agreed, although not too loud. It was tiring to have just manna for breakfast,
manna for lunch, and manna for supper. (And manna if you snitched anything
in between meals.)
Moses said the Lord heard our cries, and every evening, quail would
come down and we were supposed to kill and eat those birds. At first, I
was a little doubtful. Has quail ever come into a camp and not fly away?
I was wrong. The quail did come every evening and they just sat there,
as if saying, “Here I am! Don’t I look like a tasty bird?” They really
do just sit there so still, that David and Adam can pick one up and bring
it to Seth, who then kills it and gives it to Deborah’s mother and my mother
to clean and cook.
Oh, Mother is calling me, so I must go. Everyone is hurrying to a group
of rocks, so Moses is probably about to make an announcement. I hope we
have water soon. I don’t know how much longer we- or I- can make it without
water.
Traveling through the Desert of Sin, towards Mount Sinai
Again, we are heading across scorching desert. But this time, we have
water and food- and a company of happy people.
As soon as I stopped the last time, I hurried over to Mother, who was
at the foot of the rock with all the other Hebrews. Moses stood on the
side of one of the rocks, looking quite distressed, and almost angry.
The men around the rocks, were crying out for water, and so were some
of the women. “Give us water to drink!” they cried in hoarse voices.
Moses shouted back, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the
Lord your God to the test?”
“What’s that mean?” David asked Deborah, tugging on her sleeve. Deborah
quickly bent down and explained. “Moses was saying why don’t we trust God
for water instead of complaining.”
David shrugged and turned back to Moses, who was now heading away from
us, and around the rocks. He raised his staff, and struck the rocks above
his head. Immediately, water flowed from the place he struck, and rushed
down the rocks, filling a large hollow place.
It seemed like everyone rushed to the water hole. I knew there would
be plenty, but that smell of fresh water nearly drove me crazy.
When my turn finally came, I literally stuck my whole head in the water,
and took big gulps of the cool, refreshing water. Standing back, I laughed.
It was wonderful to feel water running down my neck again. David jumped
in the now three foot deep pool and splashed his neighbors. All the other
children thought that was a good idea, and hurried to join him! Soon, all
the little children were splashing in the pool, and adults were filling
the empty jugs and containers.
A few days after, the Amalekites came and attacked us. Moses had told
Joshua to pick the best fighters and go and defeat the Amalekites. He said
he would go up on the mountains, and hold the staff of God in his hands.
Deborah’s father was picked as a fighter, and Seth went to watch closer
to the battle, but not too close. He asked Deborah and me to come along,
and our mothers agreed, as long as we stayed hidden, and stayed a safe
distance. We also promised to come back if the fighting came too close
to us.
It was an excellent view that Seth picked and we could see Joshua and
his army fighting the Amalekites, along with Moses, Aaron and Hur. It was
interesting that sometimes the Amalekites would beat the Israelites back,
and sometimes the opposite.
Then Deborah pointed out that Moses had his staff raised up, and when
the staff stayed up, the Israelites would begin to defeat the Amalekites.
But once, Moses was tired, and lowered his arms. Immediately, the Amalekites
began to defeat the Israelites. We all smiled when Aaron and Hur had to
hold Moses’s arms up so the Israelites would win.
In the end, the Israelites won, and not one man was harmed from our
army. In a few weeks, we were again on our way to Mount Sinai, and we are
now about a day’s journey away from it. I wonder what we’ll do next.
Mount Sinai, and since we are almost there, what will we do?
At Mount Sinai
Moses has been up on the mountain for two hours now, alone. I don’t
know how he can do it; the whole top of the mountain is engulfed in a cloud,
which Deborah’s father says is the Lord. If I were Moses, I would most
definitely be scared to go right into the presence of the Lord- and stay
there for awhile!
Before Moses went up the mountain, everyone of the Hebrews had to clean
themselves and wash their clothes. On the morning of the third day of the
week, there was thunder and lightning and a trumpet blast broke the stillness
of the people. If the Lord was trying to show the Israelites his power
again, I don’t think anyone doubted!
Moses led us to the foot of the mountain and we watched as a cloud
came down from the sky and settled on the mountain top. By now, the whole
mountain was covered with smoke and the trumpet blast grew louder and louder.
When the whole mountain trembled violently, everyone fell to the ground...except
Moses, who silently climbed the mountain.
Everyone stood up and watched as Moses was “swallowed” up by the cloud.
He hasn’t been seen for a couple hours. Aaron told the people to go back
to their tents and to finish out the day.
Deborah and I are sitting on the ground outside her tent, writing together,
for she has a journal also. Mother and Deborah’s mother sit inside, hemming
up the boy’s tunics. (Mother and I have become such a part of Deborah’s
family that we are considered as one family.) Mother helps with the sewing
and cooking and I am considered Deborah’s sister.”
It really seems like a normal day...except for the cloud on the mountain
and Moses in it. It seems silly to me, to worry about Moses, for he is
with the Lord; yet I am afraid that Moses has, or will run away and leave
us here in the desert.
I never knew how much we trusted Moses to obey the Lord, until he isn’t
here. Will Moses ever come back?
Seven weeks after Moses had gone on Mount Sinai
The only word for how the Israelites are acting now, is crazy; absolutely
crazy.
When Moses had been up the mountain for six weeks, the leaders of the
tribes (excluding the Levites) came to Aaron and said, “Make us a god who
will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, we don’t know what has happened
with him.”
As for our family, we were totally shocked that anyone could think
of having an idol, the same thing those Egyptians had worshipped greatly.
Deborah’s mother, or Aunt Sarah as I called her, was sure Aaron would refuse
to do such a thing.
But, I suppose some people don’t do what you expect, and Aaron did
just the opposite. He commanded the people to get their gold earrings,
bracelets and jewelry they received in Egypt, and bring them to him. The
people ran to grab whatever they could find, and one family even asked
us to give them our gold!
Mother and Deborah’s family went in the tent, like the other Levites,
trying to drown out the sound of people praising and worshipping that...idol
of gold that Aaron made.
Deborah, Seth and I wanted to get a closer look at exactly what the
people were doing, but mother refused. (I guess I can understand why; I
heard stories later that it was pretty wild after I left.)
But, when Aunt Sarah asked Deborah and me to gather fuel for the fire
to cook supper and sent Seth to check on the herds, we had to go in view
of where the people were worshipping the idol. (There really was no other
way.)
All I have to say, is that it was just as wild, or worse, than what
I heard. Deborah was so shocked, that she dropped the wood she was carrying.
Even Seth was astonished.
Ladies danced in front of the idol, which resembled the golden calf
the Egyptians worshipped and praised the calf, saying that it was he who
had brought them out of Egypt and would lead them on. Men drank and danced
also, giving platters of food to the calf, as if they expected it to eat.
Suddenly, Moses appeared in full view, about twenty feet above the
celebration. The people became quite still and the Levites came and stood
at the front of their tents. I gulped, wondering what was going to happen
to our friends.
Moses raised the tablets he had in his hands above his head, and smashed
them to pieces against the rocks below. Deborah and I gasped together and
Seth quickly hurried us back to our families. Moses walked slowly down
the mountain and to the entrance of the camp.
He turned around and called out, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to
me.” All the Levites came to Moses, including Deborah and her family and
Mother and I. Then Moses called the men of the Levites and told them to
kill his brother, friend and neighbor. Uncle Samuel strapped his sword
on his side and prepared to go back into the camp, when Seth stopped him.
“Father, could I come too?” he asked, seriously. Seth was three years
older than Deborah, and could be considered a man. Uncle Samuel paused,
and then nodded.
“Yes, you may come, Seth.” Seth strapped his father’s extra sword on
his side and followed him into the camp, leaving the women and children
with Moses and Aaron.
Now it is almost dark, and it is strange to hear only the sheep bleating
or children playing. The Levites totally destroyed the other people and
the idol. What will happen now? Will Moses go back up the mountain to receive
more tablets? Those were the questions Deborah asked me, and I wonder the
same.
Three weeks after destroying the other Israelites
I don’t have much time to write, for we’re busy today. Moses did receive
more tablets, with commandments on them for us, and also instructions on
building a tabernacle to worship the Lord in. Before we began building
the tabernacle, all the worship places I had even seen was the Egyptian
temples. But this...it’s even more beautiful than the Egyptian’s, I think.
The walls went up and decorating the inside was next. From what I’ve
heard, there are the gold and silver platters we received from the Egyptians.
The gold earrings, bracelets with precious stones in them and colorful
material that they gave us was all used for the tabernacle.
When the tabernacle was finished, the cloud from Mount Sinai filled
the tabernacle. Even Moses could not enter it!
The cloud of the Lord is now over the tabernacle by day, and fire is
in the cloud by night, in sight of all the Israelites. It’s wonderful knowing
that the Lord is always watching over us; protecting and loving us every
day. ~*~