Chapter 680 Canaan's foster father

A few days later, on the banks of the Nile River in Egypt.

Under the guidance of several Jewish elders, Loen passed through a cave covered with weeds and entered a temple built in the belly of the mountain.

The temple was dark and dilapidated, with hundreds of statues of different shapes placed on low stone pedestals.

As no one had offered sacrifices or cleaned the table for a long time, the offerings on the table were pitifully few and the statues were covered with a thick layer of dust. The whole thing looked extremely desolate and dilapidated.

But as Loen stepped into the hall, the braziers around him suddenly lit up. The statues bathed in the light seemed to come alive, their stone eyes looking down at the tiny figure in the hall, and they asked arrogantly:

"Moses, have you repented?"

"Yes, sir. After this trial, I have understood my mission. From now on, I will obey the revelation of the gods and lead our compatriots out of the land of slavery, free them from hard labor, and return them to their homeland."

Lorne lowered his head and answered with a respectful and humble attitude.

The Canaanite gods nodded with satisfaction and immediately urged:

"Then gather people immediately and take us away from this damn place!"

Compared to the Canaanites who had just been enslaved, the lives of these foreign gods were the most difficult.

Because humans have a short life cycle and are widely available consumables, they can be appropriately transformed in terms of faith and culture, allowing them to be integrated into Egypt, become the subjects of the Egyptian gods, and provide faith and sacrifices to the Egyptian gods.

As a result, the Canaanites were treated favorably and prospered.

But there is only so much cake of faith. If you eat one more bite, others will have one less bite.

After leaving their homeland, the Canaanite gods lost their foundation and needed human faith even more to maintain their divine power and authority.

However, as the group of Egyptian gods multiplied and grew stronger, their internal divine power and priesthood were not enough to be divided even among their own people, so they would naturally not easily allow a group of foreign gods from Canaan to snatch their food.

Therefore, since coming to Egypt, the Canaanite gods have been constantly excluded and suppressed, their status has plummeted, and their divine power and authority have been constantly declining.

If this continues, all of them will become nourishment for the Egyptian gods, or they will be enslaved by them forever and will never be able to turn things around.

Realizing this terrible future, the unwilling Canaanite gods began to incite the Canaanites under their command to band together and create unrest.

Those Canaanites did not disappoint the gods' expectations. They fully utilized their racial talents of being troublemakers and backstabbers, and eventually became hated by everyone.

Now that they had turned against the Egyptians, they had no choice but to consider leaving Egypt and returning to Canaan.

And this outcome is exactly what the Canaanite gods want to see.

Next, as long as these Canaanites took the statues that embodied their divinity and godhood back to their homeland, they would be able to regain their divine power and authority and gain freedom.

However, Loen shook his head and said, extinguishing the fantasy of the Canaanite gods:

"I'm afraid that won't work. After all, the Egyptian gods are not just for show. If only humans return home, they may not care. But if the gods also join the escape, they will definitely not sit idly by."

Upon hearing this, the faces of the Canaanite gods turned gloomy.

This is indeed the case.

Compared to tiny humans, the goals of the gods are too big.

What’s more, so many Canaanite gods defected together.

Their origin god El had perished, and Prince Baal and Princess Anat had turned to dust. Without the interference of strong men within the tribe, such a big commotion could not have been hidden from the eyes of the Egyptian gods.

"But there is a solution."

"Hurry up and tell me!"

The Canaanite gods, who were somewhat depressed, suddenly brightened their eyes and looked at Loen in the audience.

Luo En pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice:

"You can work together to build a holy ark that isolates perception, and then make a covenant with humans, requiring them to keep silent about the names of the gods on their way to escape, and only believe in the only Father in Heaven - El! Going on business to build cities, getting rid of slavery, and returning to their homeland... all of this is in accordance with His will."

"What's the use of this?"

"On the day of departure, you can hide in the Holy Ark. With the triple protection of humans, the Holy Covenant, and the Holy Ark, you will most likely be able to return to your homeland safely."

After hearing this, the Canaanite gods were delighted.

Great idea!

Firstly, this would clear them of the suspicion of instigating the Canaanites to commit evil and rebel, and prevent them from being held accountable afterwards;

Secondly, with the cover of this triple guarantee, as long as they did not easily use the divine power and expose their whereabouts on the road, they could escape from Egypt without being noticed.

At most, El, the former god of origin of Canaan, would be burdened with some unwarranted infamy, and the fleeing Canaanites would suffer more.

But the gods have no psychological burden about this.

After all, it was all because of that incompetent old bull and the Canaanites with weak faith that they had fallen into this state.

However, what they did not know was that El was not only the title of "god" in Northwest Semitic, the lord of all gods, the ancestor of mankind and creation in the religions of the Canaanites and the Levant, but also another name for God.

In the Old Testament, names related to God such as El-Elohim (the Most High God) and El-Shaddai (the Almighty God) all come from the root El. The Hebrew words Elohim and Yahweh are also related to this.

In other words, as long as he made some changes to the contract and obtained the consent of all Canaanite gods, Loen could take away everything that originally belonged to El without anyone noticing.

Sure enough, dead people are more useful than living people.

Luo En smiled jokingly, and continued to pretend to share the worries of the gods, and reminded them seriously:

"However, the Egyptian gods may not care much about whether we humans stay or go, but for the Pharaohs in power, this is their property and they probably won't let it go easily."

"so?"

"I implore you to leave some of your divine power behind to bring down divine wrath in Egypt and create some chaos. I heard that the current Pharaoh Ramses II loves his people very much. If the divine disaster befalls ordinary Egyptians, he will most likely focus on disaster relief and protecting his subjects, thus relaxing his control over us. After all, the lives of the Egyptians themselves are more important than a group of slaves who cannot integrate into their native land. This way, I will have a chance to rescue my compatriots and take them back to their homeland."

"Attack the Egyptians directly? Isn't that too risky?"

The Canaanite gods were somewhat hesitant and were unwilling to easily turn against the Egyptian gods.

Luo En shook his head and said:

"On the contrary, the greater the commotion in Egypt, the more it proves that you are still in the Egyptian Age of Gods. By the time they have calmed down the disaster and recovered, we should have escorted the gods out of Egypt. When the influence of the Egyptian gods disappears, we will open the holy ark, restore your true bodies, offer sacrifices to you, and restore your original power. In just a moment, we can use your divine power to escape from this prison and return to our homeland!"

What a reverse thinking!

After hearing this well-reasoned analysis, the Canaanite gods felt that the plan was feasible and nodded in agreement.

Soon, under the guidance and inspiration of Lorn, the Canaanite gods finalized the Ten Commandments to restrain and guide the Canaanites:

“The first commandment is, You shall have no other gods before me (El).

The second commandment is: You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, El your God, am a jealous God. I visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but I show lovingkindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The third commandment is, You shall not take the name of El your God in vain, for El will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

The fourth commandment is to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to El your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days El made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; so El blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The fifth commandment is to honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which El your God gives you.

The sixth commandment is not to kill.

The seventh commandment is not to commit adultery.

The eighth commandment is not to steal.

The ninth commandment is not to bear false witness against your neighbor.

The tenth commandment is: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

After a brief review, the gods each engraved their own mark on the covenant and threw it to Lorne in the hall.

After all, they were just worshipping a dead god, and this was their former father.

As long as they can safely escape the pursuers, they will be freed from the Holy Ark, and the power of faith accumulated in it will become their nourishment.

After the formulation of the more critical [Holy Covenant], the style and requirements of the [Holy Ark] were quickly finalized after consultation among the gods:

1. Make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, one and a half cubits its width, and one and a half cubits its height.

2. Cover it with pure gold inside and out, make a gold border around it, and engrave the method of isolation in Hebrew.

3 You shall also cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, two on one side and two on the other side.

4. Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold…

After listing a number of requirements, the satisfied gods put away the arrogance and contempt on their faces and looked at Lorne in the hall with gentle eyes:

"Those guys in the sky are keeping a close eye on us, so it's not convenient for us to show up directly. Matters concerning the Holy Ark and the covenant with mortals are now entirely in your hands. You must complete them within seven days. We will have the elders of each tribe fully cooperate with you."

"Yes, sir!"

Loen nodded respectfully and walked out of the temple in the belly of the mountain.

The gods looked at the figure disappearing into the darkness with expressions of satisfaction and expectation.

This little guy named Moses is pretty good. He not only knows how to figure out the thoughts of those in higher positions, but can also come up with effective strategies. He is suitable for training and becoming the voice of the gods.

~~

Seven days later, the Holy Ark was completed.

Under the cover of night, tens of thousands of Canaanites gathered at the entrance of the temple in the mountain, set up the altar, and carried the holy ark onto it.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, streams of divine light entered the Holy Ark and were attached to the Holy Covenant.

Ten commandments formed from the will of the gods appeared in the air and were imprinted in everyone's eyes.

After all, we are still the chosen people favored by the gods.

The people who witnessed this miracle showed joy on their faces, knelt on the ground, crossed their hands on their chests, and devoutly offered the prayer taught to them by the Prophet Moses:

“Our Father in Heaven

May your name be sanctified.

May your kingdom come.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

May glory, majesty, power, authority, and victory all belong to you, from all eternity to now, and forever and ever!

Amen!

Their oath resounded through the sky and was also absorbed by the Holy Covenant and the Holy Ark, becoming a certificate of trust between man and God.

Finally, the flickering golden flames gathered into a walking stick and fell into Loen's hands.

That was the key to the Holy Ark and the shepherds' credentials.

From this moment on, he will lead this group of "Lambs" out of slavery in Egypt and return to the promised land - Canaan.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the person taking the oath abides by the covenant he or she has promised.

Whether God or man.

Loen recalled the Ten Commandments on the clay tablet, and a hint of sarcasm flashed in his eyes.

Then, he turned around, raised the scepter in his hand, and said thoughtfully:

"Our Savior has shown us the path of righteousness. Come, everyone, I will lead you home!"

"Holy, holy, holy is our Father El, King of kings, God of gods, Holy of saints, Holy is our Father El ...

The Canaanites cheered excitedly as if they saw the dawn of light in the darkness. They packed their bags, took their families, followed the shepherds who led the way, and officially set out on the journey back home.

At the same time, unknown disasters were spreading across Egypt.

At first, the water of the Nile River turned bloody, fish and shrimp died in large numbers, and the water was unsuitable for drinking and irrigation.

Then, frogs, lice, flies, locusts and other unclean creatures covered the entire land of Egypt. They entered houses, palaces and people, spreading plague and destroying crops and food.

Soon after, various disasters such as animal plague, hail, herpes, etc. came one after another, making the Egyptians miserable and unable to farm, build, and work.

A large number of Canaanites took this opportunity to break free from the control of the Egyptian supervisors, follow the guidance of the gods, and go to join the team of the prophet Moses.

As a result, the number of refugees increased, reaching hundreds of thousands.

But the large number of slaves fleeing finally attracted the attention of the Egyptians.

Just as they were preparing to organize an army to hunt down these fugitives, darkness fell unexpectedly. The Egyptians could not see each other and were in a panic. No one dared to leave their homeland and go in pursuit.

Affected by this, the power of the Hades serpent Apophis increased greatly and his temperament became more tyrannical.

After fighting with his arch-enemy for three days and three nights, the sun god Ra finally spread the sunlight back to the land of Egypt.

As news came from all over the world that the Canaanites were fleeing in large numbers, Pharaoh Ramses II was furious. He immediately assembled his army and ordered it to pursue.

At this moment, the Canaanite refugees also arrived at the edge of the Red Sea.

Seeing the pursuers approaching, the refugees trembled with fear, and their gazes, some obscure and some vague, were focused on the shepherd.

They were just accomplices, and this is the main culprit.

If they surrender now, they may not be punished.

If you capture him, you might get a reward.

Hearing the crowd's discussions becoming increasingly noisy, Loen shook his head, raised his cane and paddled lightly towards the sea.

Suddenly, the ten thousand meters of sea water seemed to be split apart by a pair of invisible hands, revealing the open riverbed.

Hundreds of thousands of Canaanites were shocked when they saw this scene. They suppressed their evil intentions and rushed to the bottom of the Red Sea, fleeing to the other side as quickly as possible.

Loen did not stop him. He watched the last person pass by coldly, then took a step forward and crossed the Red Sea.

Immediately, the surging sea water lost its support and fell down in unison, swallowing up thousands of Egyptian soldiers who had rushed there.

Looking at the turbulent sea and the cut-off pursuers, the Canaanites who escaped could not help but cheer excitedly, and even knelt on the ground and kissed the ground beneath their feet.

Lorne leaned on his cane and smiled as he persuaded the celebrating Canaanites:

"Everyone, this is only the Sinai Peninsula. It has not yet completely escaped from Egypt's control. If you want to truly return to your homeland, you still need to complete the rest of the journey."

Since this prophet seemed to be truly endowed with divine power and indeed led them to escape from the pursuers, everyone responded and followed the shepherd obediently.

I have to say that Father God [El] is merciful.

Considering that they were a large group of rabble with no combat experience, the Heavenly Father was considerate of their weakness, fearing that they would become discouraged when they first saw the enemy. Therefore, he predicted the danger in advance and led them to a detour, and then led them with the pillar of cloud during the day and the pillar of fire at night, so that they would have peace day and night.

But soon, new problems arose.

The refugees complained of hunger and thirst, and Lorne was quick to respond to their requests.

During the day, he struck the rocks with his staff to make water flow out, and at night he prayed to the gods, asking for a kind of food called mana for them.

Manna fell with the dew in the camp at night. It was small round things like hoarfrost. It looked like coriander seeds and was white like pearls. The Canaanites gathered the manna and ground it in millstones or pounded it in mortars. They boiled it in pots and made it into cakes. It tasted like new oil.

From that day on, the refugees lived a life with enough food and water.

But unfortunately, they lost their way in the wilderness.

No matter how far they travel during the day or how they change direction, when they wake up, they will be back to the starting point.

Moreover, the rising and setting of the sun and the moon were dozens of times faster than they had imagined, as if this was a time maze that they could never escape from.

Fortunately, they had enough water and food, so they didn't die of thirst or hunger.

From that day on, they wandered continuously in this strange wilderness, eating mana and drinking cold water for 40 years.

Finally, the wise man in the crowd understood the essence of the problem:

They had received God's favor and had escaped from Egypt, so they should not be greedy.

So the wise men gathered the refugees and confessed together to the Heavenly Father who had sheltered them.

As if the voices of their confession were heard, the stars in the sky descended, paving a path to the outside world.

The Canaanites were overjoyed and cheered as they rushed out of the cage set by the gods.

With this lesson learned, they finally became much more honest.

Three months later, tens of thousands of men, women, young and old from Canaan came to the foot of Mount Sinai, and the holy ark carried by the crowd shook violently.

Luo En's eyes flashed, and he ordered:

“Wait here. Do not move or do anything rash. I need to go to the mountain, set up an altar, and seek God.”

The Canaanites nodded and watched the prophet carry the holy ark alone and walk up the mountain top.

After a moment, Loen looked at the holy cabinet that was shaking on the altar and opened it with a smile.

Hundreds of phantoms of gods leaped out from it, preparing to condense into entities and show their majesty as gods.

But the next moment, the world was spinning.

They soon came to a glorious courtyard. Seventy-two marble pillars engraved with twisted divine patterns flickered, and under the interweaving light and shadow, the shadow of a temple built of fragrant wood and marble became clearer and clearer.

The outer walls are inlaid with wooden decorative paintings made of cypress, palm, mahogany and other tree species, the fences are decorated with gorgeous carvings and gilded patterns, and the 48 gilded bronze columns supporting the structure... every brick and tile in the temple is extremely luxurious.

Where is this?

Just as they were wondering, the ground shook violently, and thousands of purple-red flesh whiskers broke through the air and attacked them.

And this is the final background in their vision.

~~

Boom!

On the majestic Mount Sinai, smoke and fire were billowing, the mountain was shaking, and the power of the gods was manifested in thunder, lightning, and dense clouds.

An inexplicable fear flowed in the hearts of the Canaanites, and they left the foothills one after another and set up camp in the wilderness far away.

Time passed bit by bit. Forty days had passed since their prophet Moses climbed Mount Sinai. The Canaanites at the foot of the mountain had been waiting for a long time, not knowing what was happening up there, and they were becoming more and more impatient.

Since following this Father God, they seem to be controlled in every way and have not had a single happy day.

We were almost at Canaan anyway, so why should we obey the command of a dead god?

Thinking of this, the Canaanites forced Aaron, a descendant of God with divine blood, to make an idol for them to lead them on.

Aaron was forced to collect gold earrings from everyone and make a golden calf.

Meanwhile, on Mount Sinai.

Loen slowly opened his golden eyes and looked down with a cold gaze at the Canaanites who were getting farther and farther away in the wilderness.

It is indeed not good to punish without teaching.

But I've given you three chances, and you're still stubborn. So don't blame me.

After all, you were the first to breach the contract.

Loen raised his hand slightly, and the light gate behind him opened wide. Angels with curious looks swarmed out and pounced on the traitors in the wilderness.

The judgment from Doomsday has come!

(End of this chapter)