argumentative bastards

I never quite understood the passover saga. It's clear to me that my people struggled for freedom and that's a common theme throughout the rise of civilization, but did we really have to go through the forty years of wandering in the desert before mistaking canaan for canada? I guess our idol worshipping, conflict ridden masses really needed to be desperate for water and manna before we could stop fighting amongst ourselves and actually recognize the land of milk and honey when we saw it.

Thinking about the relationship between the pharoah and moses though , I've always been struck by how easy it would have been for moses to bide his time until the pharoah's death, when as the favourite son he would have been appointed pharoah and king of the known world. Once pharoah he could have released the hebrew slaves and us hebrews could have taken over Egypt ourselves. It would have been a lot faster, sparing everyone the series of plagues and Egypt would have flourished. Who knows, maybe our brethren would have come up ancient egyptian hydroponics and made the desert bloom a little earlier.

But no, Moses was hankering for a good fight. He couldn't sit back while his people were whipped making bricks in mudpits mixed with straw. But why not diplomacy? Act as an internal "deliverer" quietly discombobulating the corrupt construction leaders until his time came to be pharoah, which wasn't far off. I don't think us hebrews have historically been very skilled at international diplomacy because it often involves subverting our tongues in favour of patience and progression.

Seriously though. We could have owned Egypt....