Having taken a general view of Bible history from the creation to the
coming of Christ, we now turn again to the record for a more careful
study of each epoch. The aim will be not to give a mere catalogue of
facts, but as far as possible to show the relation of cause and effect,
and to unfold the development of the divine purpose which is manifested
through all the history in the Bible.
I. We begin with the =Deluge= as the starting point of history. Back of
that event there may be studied biography, but not history; for history
deals less with individuals than with nations, and we know of no nations
before the flood. With regard to the deluge we note:
1. The _fact_ of a deluge is stated in Scripture (Gen. 7), and attested
by the traditions of nearly all nations.
2. Its _cause_ was the wickedness of the human race (Gen. 6. 5-7).
Before this event all the population of the world was massed together,
forming one vast family and speaking one language. Under these
conditions the good were overborne by evil surroundings, and general
corruption followed.
3. Its _extent_ was undoubtedly not the entire globe, but so much of it
as was occupied by the human race (Gen. 7. 23), probably the Eu-phra'tes
valley. Many Christian scholars, however, hold to the view that the book
of Genesis relates the history of but one family of races, and not all
the race; consequently that the flood may have been partial, as far as
mankind is concerned.
4. Its _purpose_ was: 1.) To destroy the evil in the world. 2.) To open
a new epoch under better conditions for social, national, and individual
life.
II. =The Dispersion of the Races.= 1. Very soon after the deluge a new
_instinct_, that of _migration_, took possession of the human family.
Hitherto all mankind had lived together; from this time they began to
scatter. As a result came tribes, nations, languages, and varieties of
civilization. "The confusion of tongues" was not the cause, but the
result, of this spirit, and may have been not sudden, but gradual (Gen.
11. 2, 7).
2. _Evidences of this migration_ are given: 1.) In the Bible (Gen. 9.
19; 11. 8). 2.) The records and traditions of nearly all nations point
to it. 3.) Language gives a certain proof; for example, showing that the
ancestors of the Eng'lish, Greeks, Ro'mans, Medes, and Hin'dus--races
now widely dispersed--once slept under the same roof. At an early period
streams of migration poured forth from the highlands of A'sia in every
direction and to great distances.
III. =The Rise of the Empires.= In the Bible world four centers of
national life arose, not far apart in time, each of which became a
powerful kingdom, and in turn ruled all the Oriental lands. The strifes
of these nations, the rise and fall, constitute the matter of ancient
Oriental history, which is closely connected with that of the Bible.
These four centers were: 1. _E'gypt_, in the Nile valley, founded not
far from B. C. 5000, and in the early Bible history having its capital
at Mem'phis. 2. _Bab-y-lo'ni-a_, called also Shi'nar and Chal-de'a, on
the plain between the Ti'gris and Eu-phra'tes Rivers, near the Per'sian
Gulf, where a kingdom arose about B. C. 4500; of which Ba'bel or
Bab'y-lon was the greatest, though not the earliest, capital. 3.
_As-syr'i-a_, of which the capital was Nin'e-veh (Gen. 10. 11). 4.
_Phoe-ni'cia_, on the Med-i-ter-ra'ne-an seacoast, north of Pal'es-tine,
having Si'don for its earlier and Tyre for its later capital, and
holding its empire not on the land, but on the sea, as its people were
sailors and merchants.
IV. =The Migration of A'bra-ham=, B. C. 2280?. No other journey in
history has the _importance_ of that transfer of the little clan of
A'bra-ham from the plain of Bab-y-lo'ni-a to the mountains of
Pal'es-tine in view of its results to the world. Compare with it the
voyage of the Mayflower. Its causes were: 1. Probably the _migratory
instinct_ of the age, for it was the epoch of tribal movements. 2. The
_political cause_ may have been the desire for liberty from the rule of
the Ac-ca'di-an dynasty that had become dominant in Chal-de'a. 3. But
the deepest _motive_ was _religious_, a purpose to escape from the
idolatrous influences of Chal-de'a, and to find a home for the worship
of God in what was then "the new West," where population was thin. It
was by the call of God that A'bra-ham set forth on his journey (Gen. 12.
1-3).
V. =The Journeys of the Patriarchs.= For two centuries the little clan
of A'bra-ham's family lived in Pal'es-tine as strangers, pitching their
tents in various localities, wherever pasturage was abundant, for at
this time they were shepherds and herdsmen (Gen. 13. 2; 46. 34). Their
home was most of the time in the southern part of the country, west of
the Dead Sea; and their relations with the Am'o-rites, Ca'naan-ites, and
Phi-lis'tines on the soil were generally friendly.
[Illustration]
VI. =The Sojourn in E'gypt.= After three generations the branch of
A'bra-ham's family belonging to his grandson Ja'cob, or Is'ra-el,
removed to E'gypt (Deut. 26. 5), where they remained more than four
hundred years. This stay in E'gypt is always called "the sojourn." The
event which led directly to the descent into E'gypt was the selling of
Jo'seph (Gen. 37. 28). But we can trace a providential purpose in the
transfer. Its objects were:
1. _Preservation._ The frequent famines in Pal'es-tine (Gen. 12. 10; 26.
1; 42. 1-3) showed that as shepherds the Is'ra-el-ites could not be
supported in the land. On the fertile soil of E'gypt, with three crops
each year, they would find food in abundance.
2. _Growth._ At the end of the stay in Ca'naan the Is'ra-el-ites counted
only seventy souls (Gen. 46. 27); but at the close of the sojourn in
E'gypt they had increased to nearly two millions (Exod. 12. 37; Num. 1.
45, 46). The hot climate and cheap food of E'gypt have always caused an
abundant population. In E'gypt, Is'ra-el grew from a family to a nation.
3. _Isolation._ There was great danger to the morals and religion of the
Is'ra-el-ites in the land of Ca'naan. A'bra-ham had sent to his own
relatives at Ha'ran for a wife for I'saac (Gen. 24. 3, 4) in order to
keep both the race and the faith pure. One of I'saac's sons married
Ca'naan-ite wives, and as a result his descendants, the E'dom-ites, lost
the faith and became idolaters (Gen. 26. 34, 35). Ja'cob sought his
wives among his own relatives (Gen. 28. 1, 2). We note a dangerous
tendency in Ja'cob's family to ally themselves with the Ca'naan-ites
(Gen. 34. 8-10; 38. 1, 2). If they had stayed in Ca'naan the chosen
family would have become lost among the heathen. But in E'gypt they
lived apart, and were kept by the caste system from union with the
people (Gen. 46. 34; 43. 32). It was a necessary element in the divine
plan that Is'ra-el should dwell apart from other nations (Num. 23. 9).
4. _Civilization._ The E-gyp'tians were in advance of other nations of
that age in intelligence, in the organization of society, and in
government. Though the Is'ra-el-ites lived apart from them, they were
among them and learned much of their knowledge. Whatever may have been
their condition at the beginning of the sojourn, at the end of it they
had a written language (Exod. 24. 7), a system of worship (Exod. 19. 22;
33. 7), and a leader who had received the highest culture of his age
(Acts 7. 22). As one result of the sojourn the Is'ra-el-ites were
transformed from shepherds and herdsmen to tillers of the soil--a higher
manner of living.