Moses, Man of the Mountain by Hurston Zora Neale

Author:Hurston, Zora Neale [Hurston, Zora Neale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Classics, Religion
ISBN: 9780062010568
Goodreads: 8839923
Publisher: Amistad
Published: 1939-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

Moses made no move to see Pharaoh for a whole month. Aaron and the council of the Elders of Israel were jubilant and urged Moses to press the issue but he would not be hurried. All Egypt was whispering and he pointed out that the Egyptian people would be begging Pharaoh to send them out before long. So let things rock on as they were for a while.

But he was not sleeping. He was coaching Joshua who was learning to read and write. Moses had placed him at the head of the boys’ military society, and nearly every night there were drills and marchings. Caleb, a few years older than Joshua, was heading the young men’s battalions, and Hur headed the older men. Moses was impressing upon them the necessity of military training and what he was doing with them was intensive. Their drill grounds were secret places and their hours of gathering changed often enough to be confusing to spies. Moses was particularly pleased with Joshua. Here was a person of action. No great talent for thinking, but a wizard in action. And his loyalty was so great that Moses would catch him studying his face trying to anticipate the wishes of Moses so he could hurry to do them. Moses was absolutely satisfied with him. Here was the perfect instrument to his hand. Give him time and growth, that was all. Israel, if it escaped Egypt, was going to have to do some fighting on its way to becoming a nation and here was hope. His eyes and ears served Moses well.

“Chief,” Joshua whispered to Moses one morning, “a lot of the old heads are complaining because you make ’em drill.”

“What do they say about it, Joshua?”

“They say they was under the impression that you had found some god who was going to save us. They didn’t know they had to join the army.”

“Don’t they know, Joshua, that God Himself can’t save people who won’t try to save themselves?”

“They say that Pharaoh’s army is too terrible for them to face. They’d rather stay in slavery if they got to stand up before those soldiers and get killed.”

“I know just how they feel, Joshua. I’ve been noticing things. And they don’t need to worry about Pharaoh and his army. I’ll take care of that part. But what is to become of them when we get out of Egypt? Do they think the world will be full of angels when they get out of here?”

“I reckon so. That’s the way they talk anyhow. A lot of them are real discouraged.”

“Pay ’em no mind and keep right on drilling and practicing with your spears and arrows. Somebody got to have some sense. I’m depending on you and Caleb to pull this thing off right.”

“Oh, we will keep our part moving along. I got six thousand boys fifteen to seventeen years old and all of them want to fight just as quick as they can. Caleb’s young men are all right too.

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