Articles by
Dr. Anthony F. Cicone
According to Josephus: A
Valentine's Day
love story for the ages
by Dr. Anthony
F. Cicone, CFS 2/3/2004
[Editor’s Note: Dr. Anthony
Cicone is a former pastor, and Josephus is an ancient
historian whose writings have often been used to confirm
Biblical historical accounts. Dr. Cicone shares this
story as a Valentine gift to his fellow cash flow
professionals.]
As the people lost courage, the Ethiopians pushed on as
far as Memphis, and then as no one stood in their way,
they overran city after city. As the country lost
courage and there was none to oppose them, the
Ethiopians actually pushed on to the sea itself. They
had made incredible inroads into the land, plundering
its immense wealth as they went.
To some degree, they were repulsed, yet they moved ever
forward. Those whom they did not slay had fled in shame
before them. The Ethiopians came to believe that it
would be a mark of cowardice if they did not subdue the
entire country. So they moved ever forward with great
vehemence and experienced the taste of victory
everywhere they went within the land… the land of
ancient Egypt.
Under this sad oppression, the Egyptians looked to
oracles and prophecies in an attempt to discern how they
should retaliate. After deliberation and counsel, they
made a most strange decision as to who should serve as
general of the Egyptian forces. As a young child, this
newly appointed general had been placed in the arms of
the king who in a pleasant fashion had put his royal
headband on the head of this future general. The child
had thrown the royal headband to the ground and, in a
silly manner, had tread upon it with his feet. This had
ignited the wrath of a court scribe who had foretold
that the birth of this child would bring low the kingdom
of Egypt. The scribe had attempted to kill the child as
he played before the king; but he was prevented from
doing so. Now the word from the oracles was that this
should be the very one to lead the armies of Egypt at
such a crucial time.
The king of Egypt himself persuaded the general to take
command. It was a great marvel that the priest who had
admonished the people to kill the general when he was a
child was not ashamed now to admit Egypt’s need of his
help. While the Egyptian scribes desired that this
general would overcome their enemies, they also hoped he
would be slain in the attempt.
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The Egyptian army moved out and marched, not by the
river as might have been expected, but by the land. The
terrain was difficult and it was inhabited by a
multitude of serpents. These serpents were of great
number and were quite deadly. Some of them actually
ascended out of the ground unseen and would propel
themselves through the air upon unwary soldiers to do
the men great harm. However, the Egyptian general
implemented an ingenious strategy to preserve the army.
He ordered that baskets be made out of sedge into the
form of arks and filled with ibes. The ibe was a bird
and the natural predator of these deadly serpents. The
Egyptian army thus transported the sedge arks, filled
with ibes, as it moved by land to attack the Ethiopians.
The serpents fled before the ibes as the Egyptian army
released them incrementally as they proceeded. The ibes
would not attack the soldiers but lost no time in
devouring the serpents. Advancing in this fashion, the
Egyptian army proceeded on their march until, having
reached the Ethiopians, they took them by surprise. The
Egyptians engaged the Ethiopians with great vigor,
slaughtered them, and broke their hopes of any future
success against Egypt. The once militarily successful
Ethiopians, knowing they were in danger of being reduced
to slavery, retreated to the royal Ethiopian city of
Saba.
The city of Saba was encompassed by the Nile River on
one side and by the Astapus River and the Astaboras
River on the other sides. A strong wall surrounded Saba,
and being situated in a very remote area surrounded by
rivers, it was a virtual island. Great ramparts had been
constructed between the walls and the rivers, which made
it next to impossible for any army that had navigated
the rivers to take the city.
So, the Egyptian army lay idle before the city of Saba,
and its great general became uneasy. After some time,
the Egyptian general led his army near the walls of
Saba. As Tharbis, the daughter of the king of the
Ethiopians, beheld the general fighting with great
courage, she knew him to be the author of the Egyptian
successes. She found herself admiring the subtlety of
his undertakings and before long, although beholding him
from afar; she fell deeply in love with him. So
impassioned was Tharbis, that she sent her most faithful
servant to the general with an earnest proposal of
marriage. The general accepted her offer with the
stipulation that she would procure the deliverance of
the city and gave her the assurance of an oath that once
he had taken possession of the city, he would indeed
take her as his wife. No sooner was the agreement made
and the city delivered to the Egyptians, but the general
consummated the marriage and led the Egyptians back to
their own land.
The Bible tells us that this general had been raised as
the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and from his youth been
trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. No doubt,
the wisdom of the Egyptians included training in the
military science of his day. So it should not surprise
us that he would serve as a general. He had indeed been
bred to be a leader of men and one day he would lead men
from slavery to freedom. For this great general of the
Egyptians was also the humble servant God would choose
to lead His children out of bondage. His name was Moses
and the rest is His-story.
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