Free Unashamed by Francine Rivers Page A

his head. “If God can part the Red Sea, do you think that river will stop Him? He could dry it up with one breath! The only safe place outside the camp of Israel is right here where you’re sitting.” She took the jug and glared at her two brothers in frustration. Why wasn’t it as clear to them as it was to her? “God is coming! And you’d better be ready when He gets here!”

    Jobab pushed his stool back and stood. He looked around the room at the storage jars, the rush mats stacked in the corner, the blankets piled on her bed. “What more do we need?”

    She closed her eyes tightly, trying to still the trembling inside her. “Patience.” If the Israelites crossed the Jordan at this very moment, it would not be too soon for her.

    Ω       Ω       Ω

    While the Israelites remained camped in Shittim, manna continued to rain down from heaven, though it lessened each day until only a soft sprinkling appeared like dew as the sun rose.

    Salmon went down onto his knees with the thousands of other men, women, and children who gathered their share for the day. He made a cake of the coriander-like flakes of manna and placed it on the camp stove his parents had brought out of Egypt. He thought of his parents often now, praying he wouldn’t make the same mistakes, praying he would stand in faith, praying he would not weaken in the face of battling the enemy, praying he would be a man of God, not just a man.

    Breathing in the wonderful, sweet aroma as the manna cake sizzled in olive oil, he took a pronged stick and carefully turned the cake. His stomach clenched with hunger. When the cake was finished, he rolled it up and sat back to eat it slowly, savoring its sweetness. Soon the manna would disappear altogether, for the people would have no need of it when they entered Canaan, a land of milk and honey. Milk meant herds of cattle and goats; honey meant blooming fruit trees, vines, and crops of grain and vegetables, foods his generation had heard of but had never tasted. The Lord had said they would take possession of orchards and vineyards they hadn’t planted, harvest the wheat and beans and lentils another nation had sown, shepherd herds and flocks left by the fleeing enemies of God. Yet Salmon couldn’t help but feel a deepening sadness.

    He’d never known anything but the taste of manna. The first time he had tasted anything else was the day he and Ephraim had camped alongside the stream in Canaan, where they’d caught and roasted fish. Though the meal had been delicious, it couldn’t compare with what God had given them and what God would soon take away.

    Salmon held the bread of heaven reverently. All his life he had taken it for granted; now he realized how precious it was. As he ate of it, tears came, for he knew this bread had come from the very hand of God, a free gift keeping him alive. Could there ever be anything as sweet? Could anything else be as nourishing?

    Soon the people would cease to be children wandering in the desert and stand as men and women of God in the land of promise. And like mother’s milk, the manna would be taken from them. He and the others would plow, plant, tend herds and flocks, and harvest crops. They would have children, build homes, build cities.

    Oh, God, keep us faithful! he prayed. Don’t let us again become whining infants! Don’t let us become arrogant in the victories You will give us. The sins of our fathers are ever before us. If only they could be wiped away once and for all time, so that we could stand in Your presence the way Adam and Eve did, when first You created them.

    And the shofar blew, calling the people to gather.

    The time had come to move forward and receive the gift God had so graciously prepared for them.

    Ω       Ω       Ω

    Officers came through the camp, calling down the orders from Joshua. “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, follow them. Since you have never