Read Online By Way of the Wilderness by Gilbert Morris - Free Book Online Page B

seemed futile. How could he help his brothers by trampling out mud to make bricks? They needed a redeemer, and he was obviously not the one.
    Late in the afternoon one of the Hebrew overseers glanced at the tally and began to yell, “You are two hundred bricks under your quota! You want to get us all beaten to death?” He picked up a stick and began to strike the naked backs of the men. They covered their heads and accepted their punishment mutely.
    But once again Moses intervened. He grasped the wrist of the Hebrew, crushing it as the man screamed in pain. Moses said furiously, “Why are you hitting your brother?”
    The taskmaster wrenched his arm away. He looked around and saw several Egyptian guards coming and muttered under his breath, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
    Startled, Moses took a step backward and saw triumph in the overseer’s face. Without a word, Moses turned and fled. He did not stop running until he returned to the palace. He went at once to his old quarters, ignoring the cries of his former attendants, and bathed and put on fresh clothes. His jaw tensed as he moved through the palace toward his mother’s apartment. “Tell my mother I’m here,” he said to the attendant.
    â€œYes, master.”
    Moses waited until the servant stepped out and gestured; then he entered his mother’s apartment.
    She gave a glad cry and rushed to embrace him. “Moses, you’re here!”
    Moses stood absolutely still, not able to return the embrace, knowing what he had to say would crush her.
    Kali looked up, troubled, trembling as she saw his stern face. “What is it, my son?”
    â€œI must leave this place.”
    â€œTell me why,” Kali whispered. She listened in horror as he told her what had happened.
    His voice was thick with misery as he explained, “I can do no good for my people here. I am not an Egyptian. I must leave, Mother.”
    â€œBut where will you go?”
    â€œI do not know.” He suddenly threw his arms around her and held her tight. “Don’t be afraid. I will go find this god that the Hebrews talk about. I must know him, for I have no god.”
    Then Princess Kali wailed in grief, knowing that all was lost. She held him tightly, as if to keep him with her forever, but finally she pulled her head back and looked up. “When you find him, Moses, come and tell me where I can find him too.”
    Moses kissed her and left without another word. As he hurried out of the palace, he knew he was saying good-bye to the only life he had ever known. But somewhere out beyond the palace walls, beyond the magnificent streets and buildings of the Egyptian capital, he was certain he would find the god that the Hebrews worshiped.

Chapter 6
    After fleeing the city, Moses walked alone through a sandy wilderness that stretched away in all directions, not exactly sure where he was heading. As he made his way through the desert, he thought constantly of the idea of a God of righteousness. Though he did not understand Him, Moses now believed that—unlike the gods of Egypt—the God of the Hebrews was worthy of his allegiance and service. He had a hunger in his heart to know this unseen, silent God who seemed to have a hand on his life. He had no final objective or goal in mind except simply to leave Egypt. His mother had seen to it that he had plenty of food, supplies, and money, and he had studied a map and decided to head first for the oasis city of Kadesh-Barnea in Midian.
    Night was now almost upon him, so Moses made camp, ate a little of the food he had brought, then lay down and looked up at the stars. He remembered the story Zuriel had told him about his forefather Jacob. Jacob had been a fugitive, even as Moses was, and on his journey away from his home, a lone man, Jacob had dreamed a strange dream. In the dream, a ladder reached all the way to