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Egyptian face profile Memoirs of Moses
Part 9
To the Promised Land again

Yahweh led us to the east of the Dead Sea towards the land of Edom. There I sent envoys to the King asking if we could peacefully cross their land, and promising to pay for all we obtained from them, even the water if necessary. This right of passage was refused and the Edomite army was mustered to prevent us. Yahweh then led us south of Edom, and, skirting the tip of the Red Sea, into the eastern desert to a mountain caller Hor, not far from the hidden city of Petra.
At Hor Yahweh told me that Aaron was to die, and I had to transfer the Priesthood to his son, Eleazor. So we went up the mountain to a position where everyone could see us and Aaron handed the priestly robes over to his son. Then Aaron simply lay down, closed his eyes and died. It was awesome, we felt as if we had witnessed his soul leaving his body, though of course we saw nothing of that. Aaron was 123 years old, and I was approaching 120. I felt that it was my turn next!
After 30 days mourning we moved north and reached the river Arnon. This was the boundary of the Amorite kingdom and, as before, we sent envoys to ask for passage. Again we were refused but before we knew it the Amorites attacked us. However, as we fought back, they turned and fled. We chased them and won a great victory that day, which did great things for the morale of our fighting men.
We took possession of the Amorite land, which stretched from the River Arnon to the River Jabbock with the River Jordan as its western boundary. To the east is the desert. As we were consolidating our position, another army appeared and attacked. It was the Gileadites who were coming to assist their friends; but too late. We beat them too and captured their land as well. Yahweh was being very good to us.
In Gilead we found a wide fertile plain beside the Jordan opposite Jericho, and camped there so as to strengthen our cattle and ourselves. From there we prepared the army for any attack by the next tribe, the Moabites. It was only afterwards that I learned the details of this next remarkable story.
The king of Moab went to the king of Midian and asked him to call his friend, the prophet Balaam, to prophesy doom over us so we could be defeated. Yahweh tried to stop Balaam going, even to the extent of making his donkey speak to him, but the silly man kept on. Then, when he opened his mouth to prophesy, Yahweh gave him words of blessing for us! Five times He did this. Balak, the king of Moab was furious.
Then Balaam stopped prophesying and conceived a plan in his own mind. "Send a lot of attractive young women to the Israelites to seduce their soldiers and persuade them to marry the girls - on condition they worshipped the girls' gods". The plan worked.
I called all the people into an assembly to judge these young soldiers, but one of the men, Zimri by name, opposed me, calling me an old despot. The people went quiet. Perhaps they remembered what had happened to others who had opposed me. However, Phineas, Eleazer's son, stuck a spear through Zimri and another through Zimri's Midianite wife. Other innocent men then attacked and killed the other wayward soldiers. Rebellion is a dreadful thing and must be dealt with. It was particularly crucial to us at this point as we approached our goal of the Promised Land. We had lost our opportunity once before because of rebellion against Yahweh.
After that incident I had no alternative but to attack the Midianites, much as I disliked doing so because of my life with their old priest 40 years before. So I mustered the army, appointing Phineas as commander - and we attacked and beat them. A rich prize was that wonderful, secret city of Petra. We also destroyed the Moabites.
We returned to the plain of the Jordan to prepare to enter the Promised Land. There, some of the tribes, Gad, Ruben and half of Manasseh, asked if they could be the ones who occupied the lands we had just captured east of the Jordan. I agreed to this provided their soldiers assisted the remaining tribes to take the Promised Land. They agreed, and their families began to settle the land while the soldiers stayed with us.
So at last we again had the opportunity to gain our goal. But first Yahweh had to deal with me. You remember I said He had decreed that I should not cross the Jordan, but would die first. So I had to prepare for that.
To be published...
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	Memoirs of Moses Part 9 To the Promised Land again
Yahweh led us to the east of the Dead Sea towards the land of Edom. There I sent envoys to the King asking if we could peacefully cross their land, and promising to pay for all we obtained from them, even the water if necessary. This right of passage was refused and the Edomite army was mustered to prevent us. Yahweh then led us south of Edom, and, skirting the tip of the Red Sea, into the eastern desert to a mountain caller Hor, not far from the hidden city of Petra. At Hor Yahweh told me that Aaron was to die, and I had to transfer the Priesthood to his son, Eleazor. So we went up the mountain to a position where everyone could see us and Aaron handed the priestly robes over to his son. Then Aaron simply lay down, closed his eyes and died. It was awesome, we felt as if we had witnessed his soul leaving his body, though of course we saw nothing of that. Aaron was 123 years old, and I was approaching 120. I felt that it was my turn next! After 30 days mourning we moved north and reached the river Arnon. This was the boundary of the Amorite kingdom and, as before, we sent envoys to ask for passage. Again we were refused but before we knew it the Amorites attacked us. However, as we fought back, they turned and fled. We chased them and won a great victory that day, which did great things for the morale of our fighting men. We took possession of the Amorite land, which stretched from the River Arnon to the River Jabbock with the River Jordan as its western boundary. To the east is the desert. As we were consolidating our position, another army appeared and attacked. It was the Gileadites who were coming to assist their friends; but too late. We beat them too and captured their land as well. Yahweh was being very good to us. In Gilead we found a wide fertile plain beside the Jordan opposite Jericho, and camped there so as to strengthen our cattle and ourselves. From there we prepared the army for any attack by the next tribe, the Moabites. It was only afterwards that I learned the details of this next remarkable story. The king of Moab went to the king of Midian and asked him to call his friend, the prophet Balaam, to prophesy doom over us so we could be defeated. Yahweh tried to stop Balaam going, even to the extent of making his donkey speak to him, but the silly man kept on. Then, when he opened his mouth to prophesy, Yahweh gave him words of blessing for us! Five times He did this. Balak, the king of Moab was furious. Then Balaam stopped prophesying and conceived a plan in his own mind. "Send a lot of attractive young women to the Israelites to seduce their soldiers and persuade them to marry the girls - on condition they worshipped the girls' gods". The plan worked. I called all the people into an assembly to judge these young soldiers, but one of the men, Zimri by name, opposed me, calling me an old despot. The people went quiet. Perhaps they remembered what had happened to others who had opposed me. However, Phineas, Eleazer's son, stuck a spear through Zimri and another through Zimri's Midianite wife. Other innocent men then attacked and killed the other wayward soldiers. Rebellion is a dreadful thing and must be dealt with. It was particularly crucial to us at this point as we approached our goal of the Promised Land. We had lost our opportunity once before because of rebellion against Yahweh. After that incident I had no alternative but to attack the Midianites, much as I disliked doing so because of my life with their old priest 40 years before. So I mustered the army, appointing Phineas as commander - and we attacked and beat them. A rich prize was that wonderful, secret city of Petra. We also destroyed the Moabites. We returned to the plain of the Jordan to prepare to enter the Promised Land. There, some of the tribes, Gad, Ruben and half of Manasseh, asked if they could be the ones who occupied the lands we had just captured east of the Jordan. I agreed to this provided their soldiers assisted the remaining tribes to take the Promised Land. They agreed, and their families began to settle the land while the soldiers stayed with us. So at last we again had the opportunity to gain our goal. But first Yahweh had to deal with me. You remember I said He had decreed that I should not cross the Jordan, but would die first. So I had to prepare for that. To be published... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *