LETTERS OF REMESES OF DAMASCUS TO HIS FATHER, KING SESOSTRIS. (continued 3)

Pharaoh and his chariots, and horsemen, and host pursued, and came close upon the rear-guard of the Israelites, against whom they pressed with shouts of battle. The sea was faintly lighted, and the king and the Egyptians did not see the walls of water which inclosed them, as they rushed madly and blindly after their prey, urged on by the loud voice of Pharaoh. At length, when they were in the midst of the sea, the Lord, in the Pillar of Cloud, suddenly turned and displayed its side of dazzling light towards the astonished Egyptians! By its sunlike splendor, Pharaoh and his captains perceived their peril, and the nature of the dreadful road in which they were entangled. The walls of water on each side of them, say the Israelites who were in the rear and saw, moved and swelled, and hung above them in stupendous scrolls of living water, upheld only by the word of God! The vivid light of the shekinah blinded their eyes, and bewildered their horses, and troubled the whole host. All the horrors of his situation were presented to the mind of the king. With frantic shouts to his charioteers to turn back, he gave wild orders for his army to retreat, saying—

"Let us flee from the face of Israel! for the Lord their God fighteth for them against us!"

Then followed a scene of the most horrible confusion. The steady gaze upon them of the Angel of the Lord, in the cloud of fire, discomfited them! They turned to fly! Their chariot-wheels sunk in the deep clay which the wagons of the Hebrews had cut up, and came off! The king leaped from his car, and, mounting a horse held by his armor-bearer, attempted to escape, when the Lord said unto Moses, who now stood upon the Arabian side of the sea—

"Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."

Then Moses stretched forth his hand upon the sea, in the deep defile of which, cleaved by God for his own people, the Egyptian hosts, chariots, horse and foot, were struggling to retrace their course to the Egyptian shore, each man battling with his comrade for preference in advance. The whole scene, for several miles in the midst of the sea, was a spectacle of terror and despair such as no war, no battle, nothing under the skies, ever before presented. The shouts and cries of the Egyptians reached our ears upon the shore with appalling distinctness.

Now Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, out of the path through which the last of the Israelites were coming forth, when the billows that had been cloven by the rod of God, and made to stand in two walls like adamant, began to swell and heave, and all at once both edges of this sea-wall fell over like two mighty cataracts plunging and meeting, roaring and rushing together each into the chasm wherein the whole host of Pharaoh—his captains, chariots, and horsemen—with their faces towards Egypt, were struggling to escape from the snare that God, in His just vengeance, had laid for them. The returning waters covered the whole host of them before our eyes, and, while we looked, the wild sea rolled its huge waves, laden with death, above the abyss; and then subsiding, the great sea once more flowed calmly over the spot, and Pharaoh, who had been erecting for years a majestic pyramid to receive his embalmed body, was buried by the God whom he defied, beneath the chariots and horses in which he trusted for victory over the sons of God.

This spectacle of God's power and judgment filled all Israel with awe. Those who had murmured against Moses sought his presence, and prostrated themselves before him, acknowledging their fault, and asking him to entreat God to pardon their iniquity, declaring that henceforth they would receive the voice of Moses as the voice of God.

That day the Israelites encamped on the shore; and all night the waves cast upon the coast the dead bodies of Pharaoh's host, and chariots innumerable, with their stores of quivers of arrows, lances, swords, and spears; so that the men of Israel, to the number of one hundred thousand chosen out of each tribe, save that of Aaron were armed from the spoils of the dead soldiers and chariots. Was not this, also, the finger of God, O my father! The impression made upon the minds of the children of Israel, by this wonderful exhibition of the power of God,—of His goodness to them and His vengeance upon Pharaoh,—was such that they believed God, and feared Him, and professed themselves ready henceforth to be obedient to His voice.

When Moses and the children of Israel saw that their enemies were dead, they chanted a sublime hymn of praise and triumph to God upon the shore. Then came Miriam, the sister of Aaron, the aged prophetess of God, bearing a timbrel in her hand, and followed by an innumerable company of maidens and daughters of Israel, each with her timbrel in her hand, and singing songs of joy and triumph, while the virgins danced before the Lord.

Now, my dear father, I have brought my letters nearly to a close. I have recorded the most wonderful events earth ever saw, and displays of Divine power which man has never before witnessed. In contemplating these wonders, you will be impressed with the terrible majesty of God, and overwhelmed by His greatness. You will be struck with His unwavering devotion and care for His people whom He hath chosen, and with His unceasing vengeance upon His enemies, and such as oppress those whom He protects. You will be awed and humbled with a sublime perception of his limitless power in the heavens, on earth, and in the sea; and feel deeply your own insignificance as a mere worm of the dust in His sight; and you will cry with me, as I beheld all these manifestations of His glorious power—

"What is man that thou art mindful of him, O God, who fillest the heavens with the immensity of Thy presence, and in Thine own fulness art all in all?"

From the Sea of Arabia, Moses led the armies of Israel, for three encampments, into the wilderness towards Horeb. Here was no water but that which was bitter; and the people murmuring, Moses pacified them by a miracle. Thence they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water and seventy palm-trees, and here we encamped for some days. After certain further wanderings, we came to a wilderness, just one month after departing from Egypt, God, in all that time, taking not away the Pillar of Cloud by day nor the Pillar of Fire by night from before the people. Indeed, the whole journey was a miracle, and attended by miracles; for in this wilderness, Sinn, their provisions failed, and the people (who are a perverse and stiff-necked people, forgetful of favors past, and rebellious—as is perhaps natural to those who have been so long in bondage, and find themselves now free), murmured, and again blamed Moses for bringing them from their fare of flesh and bread in Egypt, to die of hunger in the wilderness. God, instead of raining fire upon them, mercifully and graciously rained bread from heaven to feed them, returning their want of faith in Him with loving-kindness and pardon. And not only did God send bread from heaven—which continues to fall every morning—but sent quails upon the camp; so that they covered the whole plain. The taste of this heavenly bread is like coriander-seed in wafers made with honey. It is white, is called by the people manna, and is in quantities sufficient for the whole of them. The camp thence moved forward and came into the vale of Horeb, where I had first beheld Moses standing by his flock. Here there was no water, and the people murmured in their thirst, and again blamed Moses for bringing them out of Egypt into that wilderness, not remembering the mighty deliverance at the Sea of Arabia, nor the manna, nor the quails. At the first obstacle or privation, they would ever cry out against Moses, who, one day, exclaimed to his God, in his perplexity—

"What shall I do to this people? They are almost ready to stone me!"

Then the Lord commanded him to take his rod and strike the rock in Horeb. He did so, and the water gushed forth in a mighty torrent, cool and clear, and ran like a river, winding through all the camp.

We are now encamped before Horeb. From this mountain God has given, amid thunders, and lightnings, and earthquakes, His laws to His people, by which they are to walk in order to please Him. They are ten in number: four relating to their duty to Him, and the remaining six to their duty to one another. It would be impossible, my dear father, for me to describe to you the awful aspect of Horeb, when God came down upon it, hidden from the eye of Israel in a thick cloud, with the thunders, and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet of God exceeding loud, so that all the camp trembled for dread and fear. Nor could I give you any idea of the aspect of the Mount of God, from which went up a smoke, as the smoke of a furnace, for seven days and nights, and how the voice of the trumpet waxed louder and louder, sounding long and with awful grandeur along the skies, calling Moses to come up into the mount to receive His laws, while the light of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire. In obedience to the terrible voice, Moses left Israel in the plain and ascended the mount. Aaron and others of the elders accompanied him so near, that they saw the pavement on which the God of Israel stood. It was, under His feet, as a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness.[2] He was absent forty days. When twenty days were passed and they saw him not, nor knew what had happened to him, the whole people murmured, became alarmed, believed that they would never see him again, and resolved to return to Egypt if they could find a leader. Aaron refused to go back with them; but at length they compelled him to consent, if in seven days Moses returned not. At the end of this period they called Aaron and shouted:

"Up! Choose us a captain to lead us back to Egypt."

But Aaron answered that he would not hearken to them, and bade them wait for Moses.

Then came a company of a thousand men, all armed, and said:

"Up! make us gods which shall go before us! As for this Moses, we wot not has become of him."

At length Aaron, no longer able to refuse, said—

"What god will ye have to lead you?"

"Apis! the god of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, whom we and our fathers worshipped in Egypt."

Then Aaron received from them the jewels of gold they had taken from the Egyptians, and cast them into a furnace, and made an image of the calf Serapis, and said, in grief, irony, and anger—

"This, and like this, is thy god, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!"

And erecting an altar before this image, these Israelites, not yet weaned from Egyptian idolatry, burned incense and sacrificed before it, and made a feast to the god, with music and dancing, as the Egyptians do. At length Moses reappeared, sent down from the mount by an indignant God, who beheld this extraordinary return to idolatry. When the holy prophet saw what was done, he sternly rebuked Aaron, who excused himself by pleading that he was compelled to yield, and that he did so to show them the folly of trusting to such an idol, after they had the knowledge of the true God. Moses took the calf they had made, and made Aaron burn it in the fire, and he ground it to powder, and made the idolatrous children of Israel drink of the bitter and nauseous draught. Again he rebuked Aaron, and called for all who were on the Lord's side, when several hundreds of the young men came and stood by him. He commanded them to slay all who had bowed the knee or danced before the calf; and in one hour three thousand men were slain by the sword, in expiation of their sin against God.

Now, my dear father, my last letter must be brought to a close. Moses informs me that the Lord, in punishment of this sin of Israel, will cause them to wander many years in the wilderness ere He bring them to the land promised to their fathers, and will subject them to be harassed by enemies on all sides, some of whom have already attacked them, but were discomfited by the courage of a Hebrew youth, called Joshua, who promises to become a mighty warrior and leader in Israel, and whom Moses loves as an own son.

In view, therefore, of this long abode of the children of Israel in the desert, I shall to-morrow join a caravan which will then pass to the northward, on its way into Syria from Egypt. It will be with profound regret that I shall bid adieu to Moses, to Aaron, to Miriam, and all the friends I have found among this wonderful people. Will not the world watch from afar the progress of this army of God, which has beheld the wonders by which He brought them out of Egypt? Doubtless, ere this you have heard, by ships of Egypt, of some of the mighty miracles which have devastated her cities and plains; and you will hear, ere this letter reaches you, of the destruction of the whole army of Egypt, with their king Pharaoh-Thothmeses, in the Arabian Sea.

Farewell, my dear father; in a few weeks I shall embrace you. We will then talk of the majesty, and power, and glory of the God of Israel, and learn to fear Him; to love, obey, and serve Him,—remembering His judgments upon Pharaoh, and also upon His chosen people Israel when they forgot Him; and, that as He dealt with nations, so will He deal with individuals! Obedience, with unquestioned submission in awe and love to this great and holy God, our august Creator, is the only path of peace and happiness for kings or subjects; and the only security for admission, after death, into His divine heaven above, "whither," saith His holy servant Moses, "all men will ultimately ascend, who faithfully serve Him on earth; while those who, like Pharaoh-Thothmeses, despise Him and His power, will be banished forever from His celestial presence into the shades below, doomed there to endure woes that know no termination, through the cycles of the everlasting ages."

Farewell, my dear father; may the Pillar of Cloud be our guide by day, and the Pillar of Fire by night, in the wilderness of this world! With prayer to God to bring me in safety to you, and to guard you in health until I see your face again,

I am your ever affectionate son,

Remeses, Prince of Damascus.