Chapter 28: Moses Is Not Honest
After returning from Kadesh, Hikigaya Hachiman never left Ramesses' palace.
Some approved, some did not.
Ramesses and his wife wholeheartedly approved. The disapproving ones were the priests of the Amun temple—they thought the palace was too low-class; someone as powerful as Hachiman should be in the temple.
By the Nineteenth Dynasty, the Amun temple was no longer just influential—it was nearly equal in power to the Pharaoh.
Due to Egypt's tradition of donating most wartime wealth to the temple, the Amun temple at this time had immense resources; its land and population almost rivaled the Pharaoh's.
Furthermore, the temple controlled most of Egypt's magicians and the practice of divination, interpretation of omens, and blessings, giving them strong influence in the palace. Many of Egypt's judges, who interpreted the law and served as arbitrators, were temple priests. By the mid-reign of Ramesses, almost ninety percent of judges were priests.
With such power, playing political games with the temple was always a key task for the Pharaoh. Conversely, no high priest who ever opposed the Pharaoh could avoid becoming a laughingstock within the temple.
Now, that political struggle was beginning to show signs.
Clearly, it was related to the fact that their common external enemies—the Hittites—were no longer a concern.
But they were in for a rude awakening. Compared with the Hittites, the upcoming Exodus would be the real challenge. Both Pharaoh and the temple would get figurative slaps in the face from Moses.
Moses was compassionate—he loved his people and sympathized with Egyptians who would suffer—but not all Egyptians earned his sympathy.
In fact, except for Ramesses and his family, Moses had little regard for Egyptians holding any public or religious office. To him, Egypt, with its idol worship and temple system, was nothing but a chaotic and evil faction.
Slaps in the face weren't enough—if possible, he would happily take a sword to them directly.
This was very Hebrew of him. Though the Hebrews appeared weak in Egypt, they were fundamentally a violent people—a fact fully demonstrated when they later conquered Canaan.
It was going to be quite a show.
Hachiman enjoyed watching drama. If he had nothing else to do, he would watch the entire thing unfold.
Unfortunately, he had a mission: to find that "God" through Moses, so he probably couldn't watch the full performance.
Still, after watching the opening act, he was confident.
Compared with the forthcoming drama, the quarrels between Pharaoh and the priests were insignificant.
So Hachiman outright refused the Amun temple's invitation to lodge there, insisting on staying in the palace. To prevent the priests from arguing, he unleashed a "prophecy" move.
"Egypt is about to undergo a great change, even more dangerous than the Hittites. You have energy to quarrel over trivial matters; better prepare yourselves."
At that time, prophecy carried immense prestige. Kings had specialists to interpret dreams. Once Hachiman made his move, Egypt's political scene immediately fell silent.
Everyone waited anxiously for the "great change" he had foretold.
Ramesses shamelessly tried to get Hachiman to give him insider spoilers, only to be rebuked.
What a joke! The "big master" hated spoilers more than anything.
Days passed. Moses had not appeared, and Egypt suffered no calamities.
No one dared to create trouble; if they tried, the Pharaoh and the High Priest together crushed them.
Hachiman was a god—the god who once ruled over the Lower Egyptians and Hyksos. He was the son of Ra, brother of Osiris, capable of drying up the Nile and turning land into desert, yet also protecting Egypt and enabling it to defeat foreign enemies.
By the time of the Kadesh battle, this was common knowledge among Egypt's elite.
Those unaware were outsiders—not rulers of Egypt—and could be crushed without concern. Even tens of thousands would not matter; the Pharaoh and High Priest would not bat an eye if necessary.
Of course, killing tens of thousands at once might test their composure; after all, in those days, a few thousand could fight a national war.
Hachiman never pretended for show; what needed to happen would happen.
When Moses appeared in Egypt, at first he did not alert the palace or the temple.
Following the divine guidance, his brother Aaron secretly met him in the wilderness and brought Moses and Zipporah home.
By the next day, all Hebrews knew Moses had returned. They admired him for securing back pay and bonuses for their kin, but the royal warrants also made them wary—not that Moses would be captured and executed, but that they might be implicated.
Such was mortal wisdom…
The elders' thoughts were slightly more complex—but do not misunderstand: their complexity contained no goodwill toward Moses.
Even when Moses mingled in the Egyptian court, they disliked him for bypassing them to distribute wages directly to the clans. They deemed him utterly disrespectful.
Thus, the elders convened a Hebrew clan representatives' assembly, planning to scold Moses and hand him over to the Egyptians for execution—possibly earning some reward in the process.
They did not know the saying, "When brothers unite, scolding is futile."
Whether God had granted Moses and Aaron eloquence was unknown, but the elders were utterly outmatched. What should have been a condemnation assembly became Moses' personal speech.
Compared to the Moses of later biblical texts, who authored at least the first four books of the Old Testament, these elders were completely powerless.
Clearly, Moses was not honest—he even lied in front of God…
After the assembly, the elders' authority was shattered. The power shifted to the black-bearded prophet Moses. Representatives of the clans were completely brainwashed by him.
Hachiman watched the entire performance.
He was pleased with his judgment. When he first traveled here, he suspected this bearded man was more than just a coincidence of name. Now he confirmed it—sharp-eyed indeed.
Judging by appearance alone, few would guess this berserker-style, fully bearded man was also a literary enthusiast and master of inspirational quips.
Seizing the moment, Moses immediately declared he would take his elder brother to see Pharaoh. Amid the crowd's cheers, he set off, chest out, head high.
Seeing such a large group running toward the palace, Hachiman followed as the wind.
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