A Dusty Tires Short Story

By Ken Drenten

Part 2 – Moses

Scrooge wrapped his robe more tightly around him against the cold wind on the mountainside and looked around, but he saw no one nearby. Then he looked out across the valley below.

He saw things moving like ants down there. He looked closer and realized they were people, a huge horde of them, with donkeys, oxen and carts, tents, goats and sheep, but he couldn’t make out what they were doing. There must be tens of thousands of men, women, children and animals down there, he thought.

“They are children, my friend, just children,” a tired-sounding voice nearby said.

“What? Who are you? Why am I on this mountain?”

“My apologies for startling you, sir. My name is Moses. You may have heard of me.”

A white-haired, bearded man in multilayered dusty robes spoke to him. He was seated on a rock nearby, leaning on a knobby wooden staff and looking out over the same valley that Scrooge beheld.

“Moses! Yes, of course. I – I am most honored to meet you. You led the people of Israel out of Egypt.”

“Hmm. Yes. It really wasn’t me who led them, but, well, you can see them all down there right now. Don’t ask me how this is being done, because a moment ago it seems I was down there with them. But young man, with God, all things are possible.”

Moses extended his staff toward the valley.

“These are indeed the children of God, His chosen people. They don’t know it yet, but many of them are in for more suffering and pain than they would believe possible. Generations of them will die in violence and illness, and many more will live and die in captivity,” he said.

“And more’s to come for their offspring, through many generations.”

He shook his head in sorrow and sighed.

Scrooge tried to be helpful. “Maybe it would have been better for them if they had kept wandering in the desert.”

Moses looked up. “That reminds me of a funny story,” he said.

A faithful man went into synagogue and prayed. “Lord, are we the chosen people?”

“Yes, you are my chosen people.”

“We who are the sufferers of slander, pogroms, the Holocaust, and centuries of discrimination and hate, we really are your chosen people?”

“Yes, my son.”

“Pardon me, but isn’t it about time you chose someone else?”

Moses chuckled. “But seriously, God did show us what happened to people who were not His own, and who did not choose Him, but chose other gods. He showed what happened to all but Noah and his family in the Great Flood.

“He showed what happened to the wicked in the loathsome cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He showed what happened to the proud Egyptians who had brutally enslaved His people for hundreds of years. His hand was against the Amorites, Canaanites, the Hittites, the Philistines, the Babylonians and all others who chose to worship detestable gods and opposed the Living God.”

Moses glared at him. “And did the people who were chosen heed God’s warnings?”

Scrooge just stared straight ahead and gulped. Moses reached over and tapped Scrooge’s head lightly with his staff.

“See this? This is the human head. Yours. It’s thick, dull, and prone to unwillingness to listen or to remember. Mine is, too, I’m afraid.

“So, He gave His chosen people His Law. The Ten Commandments. He had me hand-deliver it to them, and He told them to follow His decrees and commands. He promised if they would do so obediently and worship Him alone, they would live peacefully in a land of plenty.”

Scrooge looked at him hopefully.

“Did they obey? No. They were a hard-headed, stiff-necked lot. God chose them, but did they choose God? Even after God provided for them every step of the way on a long journey and gave them a good land flowing with milk and honey, no – a thousand times, no — they chose other gods, made of wood, stone and metal. Pffft!”

He spat disgustedly in the dust.

“Thus you see before you the children of Israel wandering lost in a desert. They look like ants from here, but indeed, ants have more sense than these people!”

Moses smiled grimly.

“They continued to wander, not just for 40 years, but for centuries in Israel and Judah, fighting among themselves, splitting into separate nations, warring with other nations until being invaded and made captives by the Babylonians, the Persians, the Macedonians and then the Romans. God warned them through prophets every step of the way what would happen if they were disobedient, but they wouldn’t listen. Moreover, they actually chased off and killed God’s messengers.”

“But why didn’t God just come and tell them what He wanted them to do Himself, face to face?”

Moses regarded Scrooge for a moment. “He did, my friend,” he said quietly. “As you are no doubt aware, unless I miss my guess.”

Scrooge hung his head. “So, it looks like none of us have a chance. God destroys the really wicked people right away, and the ones He chooses to show His favor to end up disobeying him just like Adam and these people did. But everyone gets destroyed eventually.”

Moses smiled at him. “You see, the point is that no one can be perfectly righteous like God — not even God’s chosen people.

“And God did not allow them to be destroyed completely. He saved a remnant of his children. He kept his part of the agreement he had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and myself — that He would be our God, and we would be His people. He had good reason to give us all a chance, as you say.

“You see, he rewrote the agreement. A new one that would apply to all people – not just the chosen few Israelites.”

Moses clapped his hand upon his knee and stood up. “In addition, all the hardship His chosen people suffered through provided them with a unique sense of humor,” he said.

“That reminds me of another funny story,” Moses said with a smile. “It’s about a census taker, you see, who knocks on the door of a faithful man’s home.”

“Does so-and-so live here?” the census taker asks.

“No,” replies the man.

“Well, then, what is your name?”

The man replies with his correct name.

“Wait a minute — didn’t you just tell me that a person by that name doesn’t live here?”

“Living?” says the man. “You call this living?”

They both chuckled.

“And you, sir, have celebrated the great festive occasion of Christmas! I myself never had the glorious opportunity to celebrate that event upon this earth, though I yearned for it all the days of my life,” Moses said.

“The birth of God’s Son! What is it like, Ebenezer Scrooge, to have the privilege of celebrating the birth of our Lord, Savior and Messiah while you are still a man walking upon this good old earth?”

“Well, it’s, uh, good,” Scrooge said. “That is, I think I understand it a little better now.”

“Good! It is well that you should,” Moses said. “Without that understanding, you would no doubt be wandering with no idea where you are going, just as many of these people are.”

Moses winked. “I’ll have lots more stories to tell you someday, but now I must leave,” he said.

Next — Part 3, Conclusion

Subscribe to Dusty Tires and receive a weekly email with the latest blog article. It’s free!

All rights reserved, copyright Dusty Tires (dusty-tires.com), 2026.