Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim) Read Online Free
Author: Brian Godawa
had led them out of Egypt and through the desert, and they had had their bellies filled by heavenly manna and miraculous quail.
Now, they stood poised on the edge of Canaan that Yahweh himself had promised to give them, and these spoiled selfish juveniles were grumbling and complaining about how much better things were in Egypt. Even Moses’ sister, the prophetess Miriam, and his brother, the high priest Aaron, had challenged his leadership of the nation not many days earlier.
They had always been bitter and jealous that Moses had married Neferhetep, the dark Nubian Cushite woman in Egypt, after Zipporah had died. And they began a murmuring campaign, accusing Moses of being like Pharaoh in claiming God’s special authority. Did not Yahweh also speak through the prophetess and the high priest?
The band of twelve prophets, of which Miriam was a part, had also supported her and Aaron. In the shadow of Moses, the prophets were not as elevated in their status, but they were conduits through which Yahweh sometimes spoke.
In this case, he certainly did not.
For their rebellious spirit, Yahweh gave Miriam temporary leprosy and then healed it, which scared the Sheol out of them both and put them back in their place.
But that was not even the last of it. Being slaves for four hundred years in Egypt had corrupted the soul of the people. They had adopted many of the very gods that Yahweh had condemned and judged. It would be a long and arduous task to purge the idols engraved on the hearts of this nation. He wondered if it was even possible to do so.
Moses loved his people, but they wore his patience down.
They were encamped in the desert of Kadesh just south of their Promised Land. They had a fighting force of about six thousand men for a nation of close to seventy thousand people.
Moses had sent out an elite scouting force of twelve spies , one chief from each tribe, to search out the land and bring back a report. They had taken forty days to traverse the length of Canaan and reconnoiter any intelligence they could to help their military strategy. They were supposed to find out how many people were in the land, what their fighting strength was, and whether they dwelt in villages or strongholds, as well as the fertility and produce of the land itself.
T he spies had returned.
They stood before Moses and the elders and judges to give their report—more accurately; ten of the twelve spies were there. Joshua and Caleb had not yet returned because they were making a pilgrimage visit to the tomb of Abraham their ancestor in Machpelah. They were supposed to catch up with the others, but for some reason had been delayed.
For some reason.
Moses wore a veil over his face, as he always did after talking with Yahweh face to face. This was because something had happened to Moses’ body when he was on Mount Sinai. When he came down from the mountain carrying the tablets of law, his skin shone with bronze light much like the Bene Elohim, or Sons of God. It was as if being so close to the presence of Yahweh had transfigured his body to that of a Shining One. It was not a complete transformation because it would fade with time. But whenever he re-entered the presence, his skin would glow again so bright that the Israelites could barely look at him and were frightened. So Moses put a veil over his face to calm their fears. Whenever he would go into the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, he would remove the veil, and then he would stand before the congregation with shining face and tell all Israel what Yahweh had commanded, whereupon he would return the veil over his face.
Whenever his emotions ran strong, from joy or anger, the brightness would increase in intensity. He was so angry with these wretched ingrates currently that he kept the veil on to protect them from the blinding brilliance.
Ammiel from the tribe of Dan was the spokesman for the group. He was sweating nervously under Moses’ expectant gaze.
Moses could see a frightened
Now, they stood poised on the edge of Canaan that Yahweh himself had promised to give them, and these spoiled selfish juveniles were grumbling and complaining about how much better things were in Egypt. Even Moses’ sister, the prophetess Miriam, and his brother, the high priest Aaron, had challenged his leadership of the nation not many days earlier.
They had always been bitter and jealous that Moses had married Neferhetep, the dark Nubian Cushite woman in Egypt, after Zipporah had died. And they began a murmuring campaign, accusing Moses of being like Pharaoh in claiming God’s special authority. Did not Yahweh also speak through the prophetess and the high priest?
The band of twelve prophets, of which Miriam was a part, had also supported her and Aaron. In the shadow of Moses, the prophets were not as elevated in their status, but they were conduits through which Yahweh sometimes spoke.
In this case, he certainly did not.
For their rebellious spirit, Yahweh gave Miriam temporary leprosy and then healed it, which scared the Sheol out of them both and put them back in their place.
But that was not even the last of it. Being slaves for four hundred years in Egypt had corrupted the soul of the people. They had adopted many of the very gods that Yahweh had condemned and judged. It would be a long and arduous task to purge the idols engraved on the hearts of this nation. He wondered if it was even possible to do so.
Moses loved his people, but they wore his patience down.
They were encamped in the desert of Kadesh just south of their Promised Land. They had a fighting force of about six thousand men for a nation of close to seventy thousand people.
Moses had sent out an elite scouting force of twelve spies , one chief from each tribe, to search out the land and bring back a report. They had taken forty days to traverse the length of Canaan and reconnoiter any intelligence they could to help their military strategy. They were supposed to find out how many people were in the land, what their fighting strength was, and whether they dwelt in villages or strongholds, as well as the fertility and produce of the land itself.
T he spies had returned.
They stood before Moses and the elders and judges to give their report—more accurately; ten of the twelve spies were there. Joshua and Caleb had not yet returned because they were making a pilgrimage visit to the tomb of Abraham their ancestor in Machpelah. They were supposed to catch up with the others, but for some reason had been delayed.
For some reason.
Moses wore a veil over his face, as he always did after talking with Yahweh face to face. This was because something had happened to Moses’ body when he was on Mount Sinai. When he came down from the mountain carrying the tablets of law, his skin shone with bronze light much like the Bene Elohim, or Sons of God. It was as if being so close to the presence of Yahweh had transfigured his body to that of a Shining One. It was not a complete transformation because it would fade with time. But whenever he re-entered the presence, his skin would glow again so bright that the Israelites could barely look at him and were frightened. So Moses put a veil over his face to calm their fears. Whenever he would go into the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, he would remove the veil, and then he would stand before the congregation with shining face and tell all Israel what Yahweh had commanded, whereupon he would return the veil over his face.
Whenever his emotions ran strong, from joy or anger, the brightness would increase in intensity. He was so angry with these wretched ingrates currently that he kept the veil on to protect them from the blinding brilliance.
Ammiel from the tribe of Dan was the spokesman for the group. He was sweating nervously under Moses’ expectant gaze.
Moses could see a frightened
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