In the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, I dedicate this work, "Song of the Stars", to His eternal glory. Amen.
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Of the Bush
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The sun slowly sank to the west behind a large range of mountains. The region was arid but with plenty of grass and small trees to sustain nomadic peoples and their flocks. To the north-east of the region a people was encamped, having claim to a major well. They were here to stay, for a few weeks or so until it was time to move on into better climates. The clouds drifting overhead were a rosy reddish-gold color from the setting sun; a light breeze blew from the east, cool and refreshing but dry.
In the shadow of the mountains a cluster of white forms moved, grazing away at the greenery that grew there. A solitary shepherd watched them, his hand never straying far from his sling; his son accompanied him, though playing with the lambs, and was hidden. Wolves had become problematic in this region and could snatch a sheep without the shepherd noticing, that was how cunning they were. His shepherd's rod was also held in ready, for not only was it good as a temporary spear against predators but served to keep the sheep in line; and the curved hook on the end can rescue the occasional ewe or ram that had strayed into a hard-to-reach place.
The man was clothed in one of the long desert robes that characterized the desert tribesman but that did not disguise the tail moving slowly from side to side. It was long and dark red, with a spot of white on the end. Sometimes one or two of the lambs would try to catch it in their teeth but the vulpes would always be one step ahead of them.
Ordinarily foxes, especially the fennec foxes naturally native to the deserts, are predators and sheep was one of their favorite meals, if they could get them. But circumstances of evolution had conspired to make a sapient being capable of reasoned thoughts, ideas, and able to fashion tools. Many others had evolved alongside the vulpine race, including but not limited to, dogs, cats, lizards, apes, and several others; but mammalian species topped the reptilian ones in being the "top" of the heap. The wilder animal kingdoms had soon learned to differentiate between the "humanoid" animals and their wild counterparts. As a group the "anthros", as they had come to call themselves as a whole, soon domesticated many of the wild, non-sapient animal species; and so it was not uncommon to see a Musk-Ox ploughing a field with two musk-oxen lashed to a plow, or a Camel trader leading a caravan of similar creatures, however odd that might look. Many anthro species preferred to flock together with birds of their own feather (sometimes literally with the feathered anthros), and it was only in the cities that one could see many anthropomorphic species working and living together; rarely did that same person see an interspecies tribe or clan, and if that was the case, with creatures that could interbreed, such as Lions and Tigers.
And that is why this vulpes, or a fox, took care of his flock of sheep without the latter creatures being alarmed that a potential predator was safeguarding them from—and this was the weirdest thing—its lesser intelligent counterparts.
Fox stood meditatively in the center of his flock, watching the lengthening shadows move further up the rocky walls, sometimes flicking his tail up into the air to avoid yet another sheep from making a grab at it. The east wind made its way to where his flock grazed, lightly ruffling his erect ears, which served to help cool him down. Then those ears turned when a distant sound impressed upon his hearing—the cry of a trapped lamb. Fox immediately glanced on over to where his son lay on the ground playing with one of the lambs.
"Gershom, stay here with the flock," he ordered, setting out briskly; "I'll be back before we leave for home."
"Yes, father," young Marcus replied, also hearing the lamb; "Call me if you need my help."
Fox nodded his acknowledgment and continued on his way toward the general location of the lamb. It was possible that the silly creature had wandered away from the rest of the flock, however unlikely that seemed, fallen into a crack and became stuck. It could not be one of the newborn lambs, for they were back at the Midianite camp with their mothers, where it was safe. No, it must be one of those teenager sheep. Those were prone to be adventurous and could wander off if not watched. With a fairly large flock, between one hundred and two hundred sheep, to care for, it was a little hard to keep track of them all. Shepherds had to be alert at all times to not only watch out for predators and to lead the flock to safe pasture, but to make sure the sheep did not stray. And this one which Fox went to rescue must have slipped away when he and his son's backs were turned, which was not often; this must have been a cunning sheep, which was rare for the non-sapient ungulates.
Fox soon left the plain behind and entered the Horeb mountains, a particularly desolate region where sand and rock was the norm instead of grass. What was that lamb thinking when it wandered off into the wild? Fox thought; surely it must know that there are wolves out there looking for an easy dinner. Then again sheep were not known for intelligence, even their sapient counterparts were a bit dim. He just had to accept the fact and go on.
The light of the sun had nearly disappeared when he'd left the plain; now it was totally non-existent. The sounds of his footsteps and the whistling of the wind were the only things to keep him company now that he'd left the flock and his son behind; but if all went well he would be back with the errant sheep in arm.
An hour passed, then another. Still another passed. Night had fallen long before. Fox's eyes, normally very good at seeing in the dark, thanks to his kind's native eyesight, could hardly penetrate the black veil layering over everything. His ears were now his only aid in locating the lamb, whose cries he could still hear. From the sound of it the little lamb was in one place, inside a rift in the rock. His spirits rose slightly at that; depending if the rift was deep enough the wolves would not be able to get at it.
He turned a corner and into a little depression between two high walls; the cries were louder now, it was close. He hastened towards them. The wind blew softly, yet with a hint of foreboding, as if something was not quite right; yet he could not smell anything amiss. He stopped, looking around; the lamb's cries had faded away, to be replaced with a whisper on the wind—it sounded like his name, though faint. He shook his head, gently chiding himself for imagining things. The rift must be very deep indeed, for the little creature appeared to be moving away.
He started onward again; only to stop when a little glint arrested his attention. He turned to see what it was. One of the scrubby bushes that appeared to be the only life in the mountains of Horeb was alit with something that looked like sparks—fire! He backed up, glancing from side to side. There were a lot more of the scrub bushes all around him. If that fire took hold, then his passage would be cut off! He weighed his options; go rescue the lamb, and possibly be trapped; or flee back to the plain. But then that fire did not appear to be big, yet. If he hurried then he could get out with the sheep.
He started to go once more when—suddenly, and quickly—the plant flared into a huge bonfire: and a voice thundered from within the flames: "Moses! Moses!"
Fox quickly backed up in surprise and collided with the rock wall behind him, and hid his face in his arms. "H—Here I am," he answered, trembling; he turned to hide himself from the flames. This is something that did not happen naturally, for voices did not come out of bushes; it was something preternatural, and to be feared.
"Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
Still shaking in shock at the strange appearance of the burning bush—one that did not burn into a crisp, furthermore—Fox did as he was told. "W—Who is it that speaks to me?" he asked.
"I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
Abraham…. Isaac…. Jacob…. those three names…. he dimly remembered them now; his mother once told him of these three patriarchs, of how Abraham came from a distant land in the east to an unknown place at the behest of a God which had no name, except "the Lord". Isaac, who was the father of Jacob, who was the father of the Twelve Hebrew Tribes; and whose son the patriarch Joseph which led the family into a distant land to escape a famine, many years ago, so long ago it was all but forgotten. That same land they abode in still, in bondage and slavery, serving a merciless race of people who tortured them night and day with labors; and from which he, Fox himself, had escaped because of a murder he had committed…. the killing of an Egyptian taskmaster whipping one of his people….
"I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;" the Voice spoke, as if reading his thoughts, "and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
"Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt."
Fox opened his eyes, which he had unconsciously closed as he covered his face, at these words: the peoples and nations which this Voice spoke of were many and powerful, not the least of which was Egypt. How was this possible? "L—Lord," he said, turning to face the fire, "Who am I, that I should go to the Pharaoh, and that I should bring the Hebrew people out of Egypt? to defy him" He was a simple shepherd—an outcast and an escaped murderer, moreover. How could he go up to Egypt, to the ruler Pharaoh himself, who the Egyptians called a god, and demand that a certain group of slaves be set free? That was insanity!
"Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain," the Voice answered.
"But—but when I say, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you', they will demand to know Your name. How will I convince them?" Indeed, Fox had every reason to be hesitant; it had been nearly forty years since he had last set foot in Egypt, the land of the pyramids and of the Nile, and then as a murderer. His own kindred would not know him, much less the Hebrew people. And even when he had been living among them he had been as a Prince of Pharaoh, in training to be the next ruler of Egypt. He had hardly watched the slave pits, of the labor-gangs, at work; he had been, for the most part, sheltered from the reality of his heritage. "They will despise me!"
At this the fire blazed up and outwards, till that the whole shrub would be consumed by the intensity of the heat (yet it did not burn up); and the Voice spoke:
"I AM WHO I AM;
"Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'I AM hath sent me unto you.'" The Voice continued; "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you:' this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
"Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey."' And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, 'The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'
"And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go."
Still the man called Fox was afraid, and he said, "But, they will not believe, even if I say all these things You have spoken to me; for they will say that I am mad, and that You have not appeared to me, that I am struck with the sun!" Indeed, how many times have the slaves cried out to the Lord now addressing him in this bush to deliver them from their bondage? How many times have they wept blood and tears, pleading with their God to free them from the hand of Egypt?
"What is that in thine hand?"
Fox jumped at the question. He held out his shepherd's rod and answered, "A shepherd's crook."
"Cast it on the ground."
Still wondering why the question, Fox did as he was told, and flung the stave to the ground before the bush. It clattered on the rock and lay still. For a moment nothing happened. He glanced at the bush, squinting hard against the light emanating from it; he could faintly see something inside, a shining humanoid figure, but one which he could not make out the features; or rather, he could only tell that it looked like a person, but was not a person in the sense of that word. He looked back down at his stave, and jumped.
A snake, one of the poisonous ones that frequented the mountains of Horeb, slithered about on the ground; and his stave was nowhere to be seen. Fox fled, backing away from the serpent as fast as he could, and hit the wall again. The serpent, sensing prey nearby, began to move toward him.
"Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail," the Voice commanded.
Nothing but total and utter trust in the word of the One speaking to him could have overcome Fox's terror now strangling him. He bent down, the serpent having reached him and now lay coiled, daring him to move. He put out a shaking hand—with sheer force of will he tried to still it—and reached out to it. To his surprise the serpent did not move to attack, but lay there, hissing, still daring him to touch it. Then his hand plunged and he grabbed it round about the tail—and to his complete and utter surprise, it was wood.
As he stood there, still trembling at what he had just done, the Voice spoke again, "Put now thine hand into thy bosom." It was an odd request, but Fox did as he was told.
When he pulled it out, he recoiled from the sight that was before him; a shriveled, white husk of a hand. Leprosy, that dreaded disease which ruined countless lives and tore apart many families; and made the one with it an outcast from their people. No one knew how to cure it, no one knew where it came from, and so it was deemed as divine anger against those afflicted with the disease. "Put thine hand into thy bosom again." In went the hand, and lo! it was returned to normal hue of color and form.
"And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign." the Voice predicted; "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land."
"Lord, I—I am not a good speaker, never have been," Fox replied, still shrinking away from the task, despite the two miraculous signs: "I am slow of speech, and my tongue has been flavored by the desert furthermore."
"Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." the Voice answered patiently.
"Lord, I pray that You would send another; I am not worthy of this."
What had happened next, Fox did not know, but there was a flash of something, like to that of lightning, and it passed away; and he knew the Lord was angry with his reluctance.
"Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother?" the Voice demanded, "I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
"And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs."
"My wife and—" Fox began, but the Lord had already anticipated his resistance.
"Thy wife Zipporah and thy son Gershom will accompany thee to the land of Egypt, and shalt join the Hebrews, even unto the Tribe of Levi, thy father's and thy brother's tribe, and they will go unto the land of milk and honey."
Fox bowed his head, defeated. "As the Lord lives, so shall Your servant do what You have said." As he spoke the fire faded, and the night returned; and all that was left of the encounter was an innocent bush, looking like nothing had touched it.
When he returned to the flock, Marcus ran to meet him calling, "Father, father, the lamb came back while you were in the mountains!"
"Good, good, my son," Fox mumbled; "Let us go home now." He was suddenly weary, as long forgotten memories long since buried came rushing back to him. He leaned heavily on his stave, feeling light-headed.
"Father, are you all right?" his son asked, concerned; he reached to take the elder's arm.
"Yes I am, Gershom," Fox replied, "let us go back to Jethro the priest."
Marcus nodded and began whistling to the flock. Soon they were on the plain, leaving the mountains of Horeb far behind. The stars of the night shone high above them, twinkling and sparkling in their radiance; a chill breeze blew from somewhere as the heat of the day left the desert. The moon also shone down, distant in the high welkin, adding to and emphasizing the stars' brilliance. It was a beautiful night; but for Fox peace was far from his mind as he contemplated what to say to his adoptive father, Jethro.
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A/N: "To boldly go where no one has ever gone before" is a promise, one that I'll be sticking to. Oneshots will be marked with asterisks (*), serials will be not.