Story Part Two

This is part two of a story based on Numbers 21:4-9.


Moses steps back, “I will go ask of the Lord what he would have me do.” The crowd hums with anxious murmurs as he step back into his tent. I watch as the crowd slowly disperses in twos and threes. To care for children….tend their animals… The sun sink lower in the sky. It is a fiery golden ball resting on the horizon surrounded by splashes of red and orange.
Moses reappears from his tent. His head is bowed. Then he raises his voice, “People of Israel! The Lord God is a just God. He rules in Heaven and he does not take lightly the complaints of his people. You have sinned against him and in rising against his servant you have risen against him.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” Yells Jeptha.
Moses fixes cold eyes on him, “Look to the hills for your judgment draws near.”
I turn my eyes to the east, where the setting sun is still bleeding out golden rays of light.
Tension hangs thick in the air, “What is it?” somebody whispers. I watch as something begins moving towards us. It looks like part of the desert has broken free and is sliding forward. Except it isn’t gold. Whatever is drawing near doesn’t have the color of sand. It is the brightest red, as if fashioned from fire itself. No, not it them. Thousands swarm towards them hissing angrily. Hissing. Fear wash over me as the realization hits. We back away frantically as the serpents slither towards us.
The serpents are all about the length of a man, with thick scales and forked tongues. Their black eyes are set in their heads like two shining orbs. Each of them has a hood at their head and heavy pouches of venom near their mouths. They start striking as people try to run away. Pandemonium reigns in the camp.
And then the screams start.

Short Story

I don't know how many of you were there on Sunday for my dad's sermon, but he talked a little bit about Numbers 21:4-9 about the serpents. Well, I had a little bit of an idea and I decided to write a short story about it. You might want to read the Numbers passage first. I'll be posting part of it everyday for a few days...

“We want something better!” A gruff looking man barks. His voice breaks free from the murmuring crowd of angry people.
“It isn’t enough!” hollers an older woman.
“We should have stayed in Egypt,” a young man cries bitterly, “At least we had enough to eat.”
I watch all this from my position crouched near a goatskin tent. Men and women are yelling angry insults at an old man with white hair. His skin is dark like old leather and his face weary but he stands tall before the complaining Israelites.
Another man steps forward, tall and muscled. His beard is tangled and his clothes are wrinkled and stained from weeks of travel. The crowd hushes as he speaks, “We’re tired of this manna, old man.” His voice is edged with menace. Then he leans closer and I can imagine the stench of his breath, bits of meat caught in his beard. “We’re tired of you, Moses.”
“You dare to address the Lord’s servant in this manner?” Moses’ voice rings out across the camp, gaining strength as he speaks. “You, Jeptha who swore to obey his commands, who heard him speak. I warn you Yahweh does not take this lightly.”
He’s giving you a chance to take it back! I want to scream. Say you’re sorry, beg Yahweh’s forgiveness. Because as much as I hate what Jeptha is doing I don’t want to see him get hurt. And I knew just what Yahweh can do. Because the man standing before Moses isn’t just any man.

He is my father.