“This is fascinating,” remarked Youssef. He looked at
his father—Eddie Dudley, formerly of Bald Eagle Bluffs,
Michigan, dressed in khakis and a yellow T-shirt with a black
smiley face and letters that said, Have a nice day! —and asked,
“I wonder, father—if your soul is the same as these others I’ve
been shown today, why are you so different from them?”
“Different times create different spirits. We all come from
the same source, but we are shaped by our surroundings.
They lived completely different lives than I did because their
surroundings were far different from mine. We are essentially
fitted into the times we live in,” said Eddie.
“But your root is the same,” said Youssef.
“Exactly! Think of Amos as the root and source of this
tree, created by God, and each life is a different branch from
this same tree. One root of a tree creating many branches, one
soul creating many spirits, understand?” asked Eddie.
– 144 –
“I do, since you put it that way,” said Youssef. “Continue
on with Moses, please.”
“Sure enough. Well, Moses had a problem: which route to
take? He knew he couldn’t take the northern or the southern
route through the Sinai Peninsula, since they would be heavily
patrolled by the Egyptian military. Word would soon get out
that Moses had fled, and they would be on the lookout for
him. So he took the more treacherous route through the
mountains—he took the central route.
“This is how it happened. Moses went first southward
down the west side of the Sinai Peninsula. At the fork in the
road, where one could go either west toward the central route
or south toward the southern route, he met a Bedouin sheik.
The sheik was a descendant of Ishmael, and a devout believer
in the God of Abraham.”
“What was his name?” asked Youssef.
“Ibrahim,” said Eddie.
“Holy Allah! The Arabic version of Abraham!” shouted
Youssef.
Gabriel looked down toward Eddie and Youssef, smiled,
and continued to scan the horizon for the enemy.
“That’s right,” said Eddie. “The Arabian race was in full
swing. It had been nearly four hundred years since Abraham
and his son Ishmael. You have to remember that the Arabians
are half Hebrew and half Egyptian. A new race begun by
Abraham, Ishmael, and Ishmael’s twelve sons. This sheik is
one of their descendants. The Arabians never forget their
– 145 –
forefathers Abraham and Ishmael, and never will. As a devout
man of the God of Abraham, he listened within and heard
the voice of Allah, which told him to help Moses. So he did.”
“How did he do that?” asked Youssef.
“Ibrahim told Moses of a secret new central route through
the mountains that only the Bedouin knew about. One which
would bring Moses to the eastern side of the Sinai Peninsula
far quicker than the southern route. Also a route where there
were no Egyptian guards to arrest Moses.
“There was a large manhunt going on, so he had to be
extremely careful. Ibrahim told Moses of a secret password
known only to the Bedouin, so that if he ever ran into another
Bedouin along the way, he could utter the password, and they
would help him out. It was a tradition known only to them.
This came in handy along the way.”
“The Bedouin have always kept secrets,” Youssef remarked.
He thought for a second and asked, “What was the password?”
“The Bedouin word for ‘secret,’” said Eddie.
Youssef smiled. “That would be the word najwa.” It figured
the Bedouin would come up with that, he thought. “Continue
with the story, please,” he instructed.
“Very well. One of the Bedouin that Moses met along
the way was a man named Amar, who, through the use of the
password, told him of a secret crossing at what is now known
as the Gulf of Aqaba near the beach of Nueva. At certain times
it became a land bridge to the other side of Aqaba in what
is called Midian, which is now in the northwestern portion
– 146 –
of Saudi Arabia. It’s a fairly narrow underwater bridge with
canyons on each side. It was possible to cross at certain times,
at very low tide.
“So Moses went to the beach of Nueva and surveyed
the situation. What the Bedouin had told him was true, it
was possible to cross at certain low tides. So he crossed and
ventured into Midian and out of Egypt.”
“He slipped past the Egyptian guards?” asked Youssef.
“Of course. Moses was a very intelligent and highly
trained man. He crossed Aqaba and headed near where we
are standing presently. He came up to a well to rest awhile,
and after replenishing himself, fell into a deep sleep. While he
slept he had a vivid and powerful dream. It went something
like this:
“He saw in his dream a man who looked like no other. He
had white hair with blazing eyes of light. He was dressed in
a white robe with a golden belt. He walked with a staff, and
stopped when he came to Moses. He then said to Moses, ‘I
need your help.’
“Moses asked the being, ‘Help for what?’
“Moses then saw in his dream sheep being led to the
slaughter. Thousands of them, being led by wolves. They were
all standing in a line, in single file, each of them carrying
heavy packs upon their backs. On each side of the line were
wolves with razor-sharp teeth snapping at the sheep. Each
time a sheep got out of line, it would be gobbled up by the
wolves. The voice of the man then spoke: ‘I need a shepherd.’
– 147 –
“It was a horrific sight which startled Moses, who then
woke up in a pool of sweat. As he opened and adjusted
his eyes, he noticed men heading toward the well, wishing
to water their flock. He heard something else, and noticed
women coming from the other direction to water theirs.
“As both approached the well, the men tried to shoo the
women away, but Moses was having none of that. He pulled
out his sword and told the men that it is proper for women
to be first.”
“Of course,” said Youssef.
“You have to remember that in those days women were
servants, whose only role was to give birth and raise children.
It was a different world back then,” said Eddie.
“So what happened next?” asked Youssef.
Eddie smiled and said, “Moses held his sword to the
throat of the leader of the shepherds and they consented. The
women were allowed to have their flocks watered first, then
the men second.
“When the father of these women, a man whose name
was Jethro, heard about this, he invited Moses for dinner in
his rather large tent,” continued Eddie.
“You see, Moses had run into another one of your
descendants, another son of Ishmael who believed in the God
of Abraham. The Father was putting the right people in the
right place at the right time.
“Eventually, Moses would end up settling in the land of
Midian. He married one of the seven women he had met
– 148 –
at the well, and had children from her. He settled down,
and enjoyed what Midian had to offer him. He enjoyed a
wonderful family, and life was good for Moses for forty years.”
“Until something else happened,” said Youssef.
“Yes, my son, until something else happened that would
once again shatter Moses’s world,” said Eddie.
“I’ve noticed that Allah does that on occasion. He shatters
worlds,” remarked Youssef with a laugh.
“I see you have your old man’s sense of humor,” said Eddie.
He shook off the laugh and pressed ever onward. “Moses was
tending his father-in-law Jethro’s flocks, when he noticed a
light burning near the top of the mountain we are presently
standing on. He climbed the mountain to get a better view,
and right about the place where you are presently standing,
he saw a burning bush.”
Youssef looked down at his feet and wondered what it
must have been like.
“Yep, right where you are standing, my boy,” said Eddie.
“Don’t worry, nothing is going to happen now.”
Gabriel looked at the two men from above and could
only smile. He knew what Eddie was referring to, and
knew that Youssef was a little more than nervous standing
on holy ground. He yelled out at Eddie, “Do you have to be
so dramatic?”
Eddie laughed and continued, “Let me show you what
happened next, with Gabriel’s fancy holographic image
projector. It shows any scene past or present.”
– 149 –
The viewer appeared, and showed Moses standing next
to a burning bush that wouldn’t be consumed. Somehow the
bush just remained lit without burning itself up.
The burning bush spoke with the voice of thunder:
“Moses! Moses!”
Moses asked, “Who is this?”
“Don’t come any closer, for you are standing on holy
ground. I am the God of your fathers. The God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob…”
And the God of Ishmael, thought Youssef.
“…I have seen the deep sorrows of my people in Egypt. I
have heard their cries for freedom from the oppression of the
taskmasters. I have come to deliver them out of Egypt, and
into the land of promise, the land of Canaan. I will do this by
sending you to the pharaoh Neferhotep. When you see him,
demand of him to let my people go.”
Chills went up Moses’s spine at the thought of challenging
Pharaoh. Moses was no doubt thinking of his speech
impediment. “What? I am not a person for something like
that!” exclaimed Moses.
“Fear not, Moses, for I am with you. When you have
helped me deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt, you will
then return to me on this mountain,” said the bush.
“But when I go to the people of Israel, they will ask me who
has sent me to them. What shall I tell them?” asked Moses.
“Tell them the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has sent
you. Tell them ‘I am that I am’ has sent you. First go to the
– 150 –
elders of Israel, and then after you have talked with them,
then go to Pharaoh,” said the bush.
“And tell them that a bush appeared and talked to me?”
asked Moses. He wouldn’t believe this story himself if it
wasn’t happening to him; how would the elders believe?
As if reading his mind, the bush said, “I will put it into
their hearts for the elders to believe you. As for Pharaoh, I
will harden his heart, and he will refuse.”
“I’m not a very good speaker, nor am I a good example,”
Moses remarked.
“I will put the words in your mouth when the time comes.
When you arrive, find your brother Aaron and he will help
you. As far as being an example, you were prechosen for this
mission before you were even born,” said the bush.
The viewer then faded from view.
“Prechosen for this mission before he was born? What
does that mean?” asked Youssef.
“Who else would God choose besides the soul known
as Amos, who was in his last life Abraham, to liberate the
Hebrews?” Eddie replied.
“Well, no one, I suppose,” said Youssef. He thought it over
and still didn’t understand what was being said. Then he had
another thought and asked, “Are we all prechosen?”
“No. We choose our own lives while we live them. The law
of free will can’t be violated. But certain lives are prechosen
by an agreement between God and the soul that is chosen
for the mission. Amos agreed to this mission before he was
born,” said Eddie.
– 151 –
“I see. So what about me?” asked Youssef.
Gabriel was no longer at the peak of the mountain but
instead standing next to Eddie and Youssef. He said, “I will
answer that for you, Eddie. Yes, Youssef, you agreed to be the
King of the South, the king of Egypt in this lifetime. You will
have a formidable enemy in the King of the North, who is the
son of Lucifer. That is all I can tell you right now.”
Then Gabriel returned to the peak of the mountain and
resumed his watch.
Eddie and Youssef looked back at Gabriel. The archangel
stood motionless like a statue.
“Well, does that answer your question?” asked Eddie.
“Now I have many more questions, but he said that is all
he can tell me,” said Youssef.
“That’s right. To tell you more would be some kind of
present violation. But remember, he said ‘that is all I can tell
you right now’—he will tell you more later on. Want me to
continue with the story of Moses?” asked Eddie.
“Please do,” said Youssef, still stunned by the prophecy of
the archangel. The King of the South? What does that mean?
“Let’s see. Where was I? Oh yeah, that’s right, the burning
bush. Well, once that was finished, he went back to his family,
packed them up, and headed for Egypt.”
“I think the whole world knows what happens next,”
said Youssef.
“No, they don’t know the whole story. The truth is far
different from what we are led to believe,” said Eddie.
– 152 –
“Why do I get the feeling that I am about to hear another
revelation?” asked Youssef.
Eddie smiled and said, “Because you are. Once Moses
returned back to Egypt with his family, he met up with the
Hebrew elders. He told them about what he had witnessed
with the burning bush, and, sure enough, when he got to the
part about the name of the God that sent him, they understood.
Once he said, ‘I am that I am’ sent me, they believed him.
Finally, their long-awaited deliverer had arrived. Then the
entire tribe of Hebrews bowed their heads, and worshipped
the God of Abraham. The God known as ‘I am.’”
“Praise Allah,” said Youssef.
“Yes, praise Allah,” returned Eddie. “Then Moses went to
Pharaoh, who of course thought him a lunatic. He dismissed
him as a madman from the desert. You have to remember that
it’s been forty years since Moses was in Egypt. This pharaoh
had no idea who Moses really was, that Moses was once a
prince of Egypt.
“Moses then told Pharaoh that if he didn’t let the Hebrews
leave, Egypt would pay the consequences. That mighty Egypt
would be laid waste by the God of Abraham.”
“And of course, the pharaoh just laughed at him. Am I
wrong?” asked Youssef.
“No, you are not. The pharaoh didn’t take Moses seriously.
Therefore, Moses left, and a series of events happened that
would forever change history. Let me show you.”
– 153 –
The holographic viewer appeared on cue and showed a
mighty volcano spewing smoke. The volcano had four suc-
cessive stages, with the last stage blowing its top, completely
spewing forth lava for hundreds of miles. Then the viewer
vanished.
“What is this volcano?” asked Youssef.
“The mount Santorini. This is the instigator of the ten
plagues of Egypt,” said Eddie.
“The mount Santorini? The volcano that destroyed the
Minoan civilization?” asked Youssef. He knew a bit of history,
and that this explosion rocked the Aegean world and destroyed
the Minoans, who were at the time a very powerful empire.
“Yes, the same Minoans that you are thinking of. The
people who ushered in the Bronze Age. By the way, here is
a little tidbit of information…,” Eddie began, before he was
interrupted by Gabriel.
“You must first ask the Father if you can tell him this,
since it isn’t reported on Earth at this time,” said Gabriel.
Eddie did as was instructed and received permission to
do so. Then he continued, “As I said, the Minoans ushered
in the Bronze Age. And you know that bronze is a mix of
copper and tin. Well, take a guess where they got all their
copper from?”
“I’ve no idea, but I do know that bronze is made from
copper and tin,” said Youssef.
“Michigan’s upper peninsula! It was, at the time, the
largest concentration of copper in the world,” said Eddie.
– 154 –
“From Michigan? They traveled that far?” asked Youssef.
“Indeed they did. Quite the seafaring race, these Minoans,”
said Eddie.
“Amazing. So how did this affect the Egyptians?” asked
Youssef.
“I’m getting to that. Santorini had four eruptions. The first
one created a fissure under the crust of the Earth which led to
the Nile River. A crack that led to volcanic gas being released
in the Nile. This gas was rust colored, making the Nile look
red, which, of course, to the Egyptians and Hebrews looked
like blood.
“The rust-colored gas, which was released into the Nile,
removed all oxygen from the river, thereby killing all the fish.
This is the first plague,” said Eddie.
“So this turned the Nile red, this gas?” asked Youssef.
“Yes, and killed all the fish because there was no oxygen
for them to breathe. The second plague, which happened not
long after the Nile turned red, was the plague of the frogs,”
said Eddie.
“The frogs left the Nile because, as you said, there was no
oxygen for them to breathe,” said Youssef.
Eddie smiled at the intelligence of his son. “Yes! So
millions of frogs were turned loose upon Egypt.”
“So what happened next?” asked Youssef.
“Flies began to gather on the millions of dead fish that
floated on the Nile. These flies became the third plague.
After a few days of the people not being able to bathe, lice
– 155 –
began to surface and became the fourth plague. The livestock
were drinking filthy water which gave them various diseases,
and this became the fifth plague. The death of hundreds of
thousands of cattle.
“Lack of fresh water continued to make the people
unwashed, and soon boils began to develop on their bodies,
and this became the sixth plague.”
“So all these plagues are interconnected?” asked Youssef.
“Yes, the first six plagues are a result of the gas released
into the Nile because of the first eruption on mount
Santorini. Next, there were two other small eruptions, and
finally, the fourth and largest eruption of mount Santorini,
which destroyed the Minoan Empire. This fourth eruption
also caused the final four plagues, which also destroyed that
Egyptian dynasty, and altered human history as a result,”
answered Eddie.
“Continue,” said Youssef with much anticipation.
Eddie proceeded. “Once mount Santorini thoroughly
blew its top, the volcano spewed forth lava for miles into the
sky. Up into the atmospheres, little balls of volcanic magma
and ash shot forth. So much so that it caused the sun to be
blotted out of the sky for three days. This darkness became
the seventh plague. When these little balls of lava rose high
into the atmosphere, they became cold, and froze up into little
black ice balls, or hail. When they descended back toward
Earth, back down through the atmospheres, they heated back
– 156 –
up. By the time they landed the little magma balls looked like
black, fiery balls of hail.
“These hot, little balls of hell pretty much killed everything
they hit. They decimated the population. The same thing
happened to what was left of the Minoans. This was the
eighth plague.”
“Hot lava that went up into the atmosphere, froze, and
then came back down as hot balls of volcano?” asked Youssef.
“Pretty much,” answered Eddie. “Meanwhile, locusts were
busy ravaging the countryside, so that there was no food for
the Egyptians to eat. This was the ninth plague. The empire
was in peril. Nevertheless, Pharaoh refused to grant Moses’s
wish until the tenth and final plague.”
“The death of the firstborn,” said Youssef.
“Yes,” said Eddie
“So mount Santorini caused all these plagues,” whispered
Youssef.
“Indeed,” said Eddie.
“Continue,” said Youssef.
“As you command,” said Eddie, smiling . “At the fourth
eruption of Santorini, while it was blowing its top, it
expanded the underground fissure between itself and the
Nile. The initial gas that was put into the Nile dispersed until
it reached land. It came out briefly, for three hours between
midnight and three a.m. When it did, it struck down those
firstborn Egyptians.”
– 157 –
“Why didn’t it also strike the Hebrews, since it came on
land for three hours in the middle of the night?” asked Youssef.
“Because God had forewarned Moses of when it would
happen. God directed Moses to have all the children of
Abraham to have a special meal at midnight that would last
exactly three hours. This meal is called the Passover. That way
they would all be sitting upright, away from the ground. No
one was allowed to sleep.
“You see, this colorless, odorless gas only rose about a foot
or so above the ground. The reason that it only affected the
firstborn Egyptians was because the firstborn always slept
in the best beds, the ones closest the ground. The youngest
children would have to sleep on the middle or top bunks.”
“I see! Because they were the closest to the ground, it only
affected them!” exclaimed Youssef.
“Bingo!” exclaimed Eddie.
“Bingo?” asked Youssef.
“Another expression from the States, sorry,” said Eddie.
“So then Pharaoh finally let the Hebrews go?” asked Youssef.
“He didn’t have a choice after the final four plagues. He
was beaten,” said Eddie.
“By Mighty Allah,” proclaimed Youssef.
“Yes, the God of Abraham defeated him. After the
plagues, there wasn’t much left of Egypt, so the Hebrews
carted off with much of Egypt’s wealth, and headed toward
Mount Sinai,” said Eddie.
– 158 –
“Allah knew when Santorini would blow its top. So he sent
Moses to rescue the children of Abraham. Allah destroyed
two empires with one blow,” observed Youssef.
“Indeed, with the greatest volcanic eruption in history,”
said Eddie. “Once at the Sinai, they took the same route that
the Bedouin had shown Moses forty years prior. They took
the central route at a snail’s pace until they were all assembled <