9　摩西

猶太人民領(lǐng)袖摩西的故事

公元前2000年，閃族牧人中一支微不足道的小部落，離開(kāi)了舊日的家鄉(xiāng)，即幼發(fā)拉底河口的吾珥地區(qū)。他們想在巴比倫國(guó)王的領(lǐng)土上找到新牧場(chǎng)，卻被王家士兵趕走。他們向西前行，想尋找一塊未被占領(lǐng)的土地，在那里搭建自己的帳篷。

這支牧人部落被稱(chēng)為希伯來(lái)人，也就是我們所說(shuō)的猶太人。他們不停地游走，經(jīng)過(guò)多年枯燥的旅行，終于在埃及找到了棲身之所。他們和埃及人一起生活了500多年。當(dāng)收留他們的國(guó)家遭遇希克索斯的侵略時(shí)（正如我在埃及故事中所介紹的），他們作了外來(lái)侵略者的爪牙，所以他們能繼續(xù)留在牧場(chǎng)而不被侵犯。但是經(jīng)過(guò)長(zhǎng)期的爭(zhēng)取獨(dú)立的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，埃及人最終把希克索斯人趕出了尼羅河谷。從此猶太人遭遇了悲慘的境遇，他們淪為卑微的奴隸，必須去修建皇家大道和金字塔。他們想逃跑是不可能的，因?yàn)楦鱾€(gè)邊界都有埃及士兵把守。

這樣忍受了許多年后，一位叫摩西的猶太年輕人把他們從悲慘的命運(yùn)中解救了出來(lái)。摩西長(zhǎng)年住在沙漠，體會(huì)到遠(yuǎn)古祖先的質(zhì)樸美德：遠(yuǎn)離城市和城市的生活，

After many years of suffering they were saved from their miserable fate by a young Jew, called Moses, who for a long time had dwelt in the desert and there had learned to appreciate the simple virtues of his earliest ancestors, who had kept away from cities and city-life and had refused to let themselves be corrupted by the ease and the luxury of a foreign civilisation.

Moses decided to bring his people back to a love of the ways of the patriarchs. He succeeded in evading the Egyptian troops that were sent after him and led his fellow tribesmen into the heart of the plain at the foot of Mount Sinai.During his long and lonely life in the desert, he had learned to revere the strength of the great God of the Thunder and the Storm, who ruled the high heavens and upon whom the shepherds depended for life and light and breath. This God, one of the many divinities who were widely worshipped in western Asia, was called Jehovah, and through the teaching of Moses, he became the sole Master of the Hebrew race.

One day, Moses disappeared from the camp of the Jews. It was whispered that he had gone away carrying two tablets of rough-hewn stone. That afternoon, the top of the mountain was lost to sight. The darkness of a terrible storm hid it from the eye of man. But when Moses returned, behold!there stood engraved upon the tablets the words which Jehovah had spoken unto the people of Israel amidst

不受外來(lái)文明那種安逸奢華的侵蝕。

摩西決心帶領(lǐng)他的民眾回歸祖先的生活方式。他帶領(lǐng)猶太人成功地避開(kāi)了追來(lái)的埃及軍隊(duì)，把族人引到西奈山腳下平原的中心地帶。曾經(jīng)孤獨(dú)而漫長(zhǎng)的沙漠生活，使他明白了要敬畏雷雨之神的力量。因?yàn)檫@位神統(tǒng)治著上天，牧民每天的生活像陽(yáng)光和呼吸等重要事項(xiàng)都要依靠他。這位神是廣受西亞人敬仰的眾神之一，尊號(hào)為耶和華。經(jīng)過(guò)摩西的傳教，耶和華成為希伯來(lái)民族的唯一主宰。

一天，摩西從猶太人的營(yíng)地消失。大家私下議論

the crash of his thunder and the blinding flashes of his lightning. And from that moment, Jehovah was recognised by all the Jews as the Highest Master of their Fate, the only True God, who had taught them how to live holy lives when he bade them to follow the wise lessons of his Ten Commandments.

They followed Moses when he bade them continue their journey through the desert. They obeyed him when he told them what to eat and drink and what to avoid that they might keep well in the hot climate. And finally after many years of wandering they came to a land which seemed pleasant and prosperous. It was called Palestine, which means the country of the “Pilistu” the Philistines, a small tribe of Cretans who had settled along the coast after they had been driven away from their own island. Unfortunately, the mainland, Palestine, was already inhabited by another Semitic race, called the Canaanites. But the Jews forced their way into the valleys and built themselves cities and constructed a mighty temple in a town which they named Jerusalem, the Home of Peace.

As for Moses, he was no longer the leader of his people. He had been allowed to see the mountain ridges of Palestine from afar. Then be had closed his tired eyes for all time. He had worked faithfully and hard to please Jehovah. Not only had he guided his brethren out of foreign slavery into the free and independent life of a new home but he had also made the Jews the first of all nations to worship a single God.

說(shuō)，他離開(kāi)的時(shí)候帶走了兩塊粗鑿的石板。那天下午，一陣可怕的暴風(fēng)雨遮住了山頂。但是摩西回來(lái)的時(shí)候，看啊，石板上刻著什么？那是耶和華在電閃雷鳴之中對(duì)以色列子民說(shuō)的話。從那以后，耶和華被所有猶太人當(dāng)作生命中最高主宰和唯一的真神。耶和華教人們過(guò)圣潔的生活，命令他們遵從“十誡”的教誨。

摩西告訴人們繼續(xù)在沙漠中游走，他們聽(tīng)從了；摩西告訴人們吃什么、喝什么、避免什么，才能在炎熱的天氣里保持健康，他們也聽(tīng)從了。經(jīng)過(guò)長(zhǎng)年的流浪，他們終于來(lái)到一個(gè)看似美麗富饒的地方，那就是巴勒斯坦，意思是菲利斯坦人的國(guó)家。菲利斯坦人是來(lái)自克里特島的一支小部落，自從被趕出自己的島嶼后，就一直居住在海岸邊。不幸的是，巴勒斯坦大陸已經(jīng)有另一支叫迦南人的閃族部落居住。但是猶太人強(qiáng)行進(jìn)入谷地，在一個(gè)叫耶路撒冷（意思是“和平之家”）的小鎮(zhèn)建設(shè)自己的城市，還建了一座大神廟。

至于摩西，他不再是猶太人民的領(lǐng)袖。他只能在遙望巴勒斯坦山脈后永遠(yuǎn)閉上了眼睛。他一生忠實(shí)而盡心地供奉著耶和華。他不僅帶領(lǐng)同胞擺脫了外邦的奴役，過(guò)上獨(dú)立自由的新生活，而且讓猶太人成為第一個(gè)只崇拜唯一神的民族。