CHILDREN OF
EXODUS
Servant Girl
A monologue for a young girl
By Robert Allen
“The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and
Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the
people.”
Exodus 11:3
Can I tell you a secret? I don’t know if I can trust you or not, but I
just have to tell someone. It is so
exciting. I know you can’t see it, but I
am wearing a beautiful necklace. It was
given to me by the woman I have served these past six months. You have probably heard of her. She is the wife of the Pharoah.
I knew it. I can tell on your face that you think I
stole it. Well, I didn’t. Not at all.
She gave it to me. In fact, she
insisted that I take it. I know it is
hard to believe, but just listen to me and I will tell you how it happened.
Like I said, I have been waiting on
the wife of the Pharaoh for the past six months. I am just one of many who work for her, there
is so much to be done in the palace. My
job is to carry a large fan made out of ostrich feathers. The Great Royal Wife despises the desert
heat and must always have someone nearby to provide her with the relief of a
gentle wind. It is not an easy job, but
with several of us keeping our fans moving she finds it possible to endure even
the hottest afternoons here in Egypt.
The last few weeks have been
particularly difficult. Her husband,
the Lord of the Two Lands, has been upset over the demands being made by Moses
and Aaron to let our people go out into the wilderness to worship. Yes, I am a Hebrew. Didn’t I tell you that? The Great Royal Wife knew it when she gave me
my job. Almost all of the slaves here in
the palace are Hebrews. That’s one of
the reasons the Pharoah won’t let us leave.
Who would provide the constant care which his wife desires if we were
not here to cater to her every desire? I
can’t imagine any of those lazy Egyptians princesses following her around all
day with an ostrich feather fan.
But the main reason my job has been
difficult is simply because the Great Royal Wife knows that we are
Hebrews. Every time Moses and Aaron
strike another deal with her husband in an attempt to free us from slavery she
blames it on us. As if we could do
anything about the frogs or the boils or the locust. What she doesn’t realize is that if we would
just stay home from work none of those things would bother us. None of the plagues have had any effect on
the places where we live. But we could
never just stay home. After all we are
slaves.
So I just keep showing up for work
and waving my fan. But I had better get
back to my story. I know you are still
wondering about the necklace.
I really did want to stay home from
work this morning. I had already heard
what happened in the palace last night.
The oldest son of the Great Royal Wife died in his sleep. I felt so sorry for her because I knew she
truly loved him. But I also knew that
Moses and Aaron had warned the Pharoah about the death angel. In a way it was their own fault for not
listening to the voice of God. But of
course I could never say that to her.
And I was absolutely certain that she was going to blame this latest
event on me and the rest of the Hebrew slaves.
We are all scared to face her this morning.
I guess that’s the reason why we were
also so surprised when we entered her throne room. Her eyes were lined with the black kohl she
so strongly favors, but we could still tell that she had been crying. One by one we were called before the throne
where she handed each of us a necklace or bracelet or amulet out of her
treasure chest. And then through her
tears she said words which I will never forget.
“Go!
All of you. You have done far too
much damage to be retained. Go and serve
your God. I never want to see any of you
again.”
And so we left. Unhindered by the guards. Each carrying a royal treasure.
I am on my way home. But I just had to tell someone. It is so exciting. Tonight we pack and tomorrow we leave. We are following Moses. Following him to the Promised Land. Pharoah, and Pharoah’s wife have let God’s
people go.
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