Children of Exodus - Son of a Magician

CHILDREN OF EXODUS

SON OF A MAGICIAN

A monolog for a teen-age boy

By Robert Allen

^“Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”  Exodus 7:11-12

            Wow!  What a day!  I had no idea when father invited me to go to work with him today what I would be experiencing.  And I don’t think he did either. 

            I guess I should tell you who I am and what my father does.  He works for the ruler of Egypt, the Pharaoh, as one of his magicians.  That’s what I want to be as well, which really isn’t that surprising, I guess.  Most of the young men here in Egypt follow in their father’s footsteps when it comes to training for a job.  For me that won’t happen for several years yet, but today father decided it was time I got a taste of what is in store for me in my chosen profession.  And what a taste it was.

            The magician’s league has a special room in the palace where they keep all of their scrolls and the tools of their trade.  Father said they have one of the finest libraries in all of Egypt.  They even have a copy of the famous “Book of the Dead” which I will be studying in detail when my schooling begins.  Over the door of the room I could see the words written in hieroglyphics.  "I am Isis the goddess, the possessor of magic.”

            A number of father’s fellow magicians were already there when we came in, and it was immediately obvious that something exciting was happening.

            “We have been summoned to appear before the Lord of the Two Lands, the High Priest of Every Temple,” one of the magicians announced.  “A challenge has been made to our authority.  I am advised by the priests of Isis that we would do well to bring the magic snakes.”

            That didn’t mean much to me, but I watched closely as father and the other men opened a cabinet and removed several large serpents.  At least they looked like snakes, but they were not flexible at all.  Instead they might have been carved out of wood, although they looked very real.  Hurriedly we made our way through the courtyard and into the presence of the Pharaoh, Lord of the Two Lands. 

            Two other men were already in the room.  They looked to me like they were shepherds, at least they carried wooden shepherd’s crooks in their hands.

            “Welcome, servants of Isis, queen of the Nile,” said a man standing beside the Pharaoh.  “You have been summoned to a contest of power.  These men claim to serve a more powerful god than the gods of Egypt.  The Lord of the Two Lands needs you to demonstrate the power of Thoth and Isis.  Are you prepared to vindicate the gods.”

            The magicians all answered as one, “Whatever the High Priest of Every Temple demands, we will do.”

            Then Pharaoh’s spokesman turned to the two men in shepherds’ robes.  “Very well,  Moses and Aaron, proceed.”

            Immediately the man he called Aaron raised his wooden staff in the air and threw it down to the ground, right in front of my feet.  Just like that it turned into a poisonous asp and began coiling and hissing.  I jumped back to get out of the way, but the magicians simply laughed and threw down their snakes as well.  Once they hit the ground, what had been stiff, unmoving sticks began to writhe and coil just like the serpent at my feet.

            “Well done,” shouted Pharaoh’s spokesman.  “The gods of Egypt have prevailed.”

            But before the words were completely out of his mouth our mouths dropped open in amazement.  Aaron’s serpent, which had been hissing at my robe, slithered over to where the magician’s snakes were coiling and began to swallow them, whole.  One after another the snake consumed the others until he alone remained in the center of the room.  In the silence that followed, Aaron walked calmly over to the asp, picked it up by the tail.  Once again it was nothing more than a wooden shepherd’s staff.

            “Remove yourselves from my presence.”  To my great amazement the Pharaoh did not even wait for his spokesman to speak for him.  Father grabbed my hand and the entire league of magicians fled from the anger of the king.  As we passed through the doorway we heard him shout even louder.  “This is not the final contest.  I will not let your people go.  The gods of upper and lower Egypt will not be mocked.”

            Father and his fellow magicians were very quiet when we arrived back in the league room.  But I think all of us knew one thing for certain.  The Pharaoh was right.  The contest was far from over.