Race to the Red Sea

It was an awe inspiring sight, galloping across the sandy peninsula at sunset, but Joshua had no time to reflect. The dust cloud of Pharaoh's mighty army rose ominously in the sky above the narrow ravine that wound its way along an ancient riverbed towards the ocean.

A mile in front, two million Hebrew slaves were trapped along the shores of the Red Sea. Joshua marveled at the wet sand between them, its pale luminescence clung to the last rays of sunlight. Such a shame, he thought, the beach would be red with blood by morning.

But whose blood?

Pharaoh led six hundred of his finest chariots in hot pursuit - his steely eyes blazed with unbridled rage. The gold rimmed wheels of his magnificently crafted vehicle barely touched the ground as he mercilessly whipped his horse to breakneck speeds. Further behind, fifty thousand horseman armed with spears heralded the true might of Egypt’s army; two hundred thousand foot soldiers jogging in tight formation through the canyon walls.

Pharaoh’s apocalyptic force amounted to well over a quarter of a million, some fifty men abreast stretching back for miles.

All that separated the Egyptians from the Hebrews was a narrow pass between two steep rocky hills some thousand feet high. The pass led out to a flat wide peninsula, semi circle in shape and three miles in diameter, jutting out in to the Red Sea. It was a flat broad area, with steep mountains jutting down to the water in the south. A narrow coastal road to the north was fiercely guarded by a garrison of Egyptian soldiers, permanently stationed to protect the trade routes.

After six days pursuing the Hebrews across the barren wilderness, Pharaoh finally had them cornered, or so it seemed.

Joshua turned back round and spotted another rider coming into to view a quarter mile in front. The other Hebrew signalman struggled to hold his speed on an older horse. Joshua smiled and raced ahead to catch up with him.

“Caleb,” Joshua laughed, “I feel sorry for your horse.”

“I’m all muscle,” he shouted. “You should be grateful I let you have the fast one.”

“Fast ‘cause my work’s dangerous,” Joshua replied overtaking him.

Caleb grunted in friendly rivalry and slapped his horses’ reins. “Well at least I know how to use a sword.”

Caleb glanced back at the sight of Pharaoh’s army flooding out of the narrow pass onto the peninsula. Archers in the chariots were drawing their bows to attack.

“Good Lord!” shouted Caleb. “Are we ready for this?”

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The trap is set

Darkness.

All that man fears is revealed in darkness.

Ever since he was a child, Joshua feared the dark. He knew darkness itself had no real power, but rather those things that couldn’t be seen.

Running up the rocky hillside, Joshua raced against the darkness. Breathless, thirsty, tired and sore – every muscle in his athletic frame felt his age; forty hard years. Over the dusty barren landscape, the light was fading fast - both literally and metaphorically. Far on the horizon in the next valley to the west, the vast dust cloud of the Egyptian army blazed an ominous red in the fading light of day. The trap was set, but the bait had to be warned.

Scrambling over loose rocks and stones to the top of the hill, the sight of his own bloodied hands and knees reminded Joshua of what darkness can bring.

Darkness makes it hard to see friend from foe, and slave from master. Even life from death. Joshua knew of a darkness so great that a man could forget what he looked like. He could forget who he was, or worse still, who God was.

But the memory of light can be carried - like the smouldering coals Joshua unraveled from the bark envelope he carried in his satchel. Some hasty twigs and leaves, carefully laid around the coals would do the trick.

Joshua crouched down on his knees, a useful position for both prayer and blowing tiny glowing embers to life.

“God, I'm no use to you dead. Please, I've done this a thousand times.”

He fumbled around rearranging the twigs, took another deep breath and blew into the fragile nest of coals. The embers glowed in anticipation, but nothing took hold. His cradle of leaves and twigs lay dormant.

Sounds of murderous shouting echoed in the valley below.

He hastily blew again to resuscitate the tiny coals, like his life depended on it. All the while memories of those years of suffering flooded his mind - the hunger, sleep deprivation, and excruciating pain from the lash of his Egyptian master. Suffocating darkness can extinguish all hope. But not this time. Although Joshua had been captive all his life, he knew where he was going. It was written on his soul.

The voices were louder now. Four, maybe five of Pharoah's scouts - they knew his position.

He blew again, this time something caught alight. And then again, deeper and longer than before. The flicker turned into a flame; a flame into a fire; and then a fire into a pillar of smoke that could be seen for miles as it reached high to catch the golden rays of sunset.

Joshua paused to reflect in this brief moment of grace. Sadly, some men never see the light. Some see it from a distance, but prefer to hide their sin under the hideous cloak of darkness. Worse still, others know the light for a while, but are drawn back, where the darkness consumes them forever in the anguish of what they once knew.

SWOOSH! An arrow struck the rock behind him. Time to leave.

The Egyptians were coming, and so was nightfall. Joshua waited only for enough time to see another signal fire echo his message from the next hilltop. Moses would see that one.

Stoking the flames one last time, he scrambled back down to where his faithful horse was nervously waiting.

"The beach my friend," he whispered in its ear, "now or never."