1. The =fact= of a general deluge is stated in Scripture (Gen. 7.), and
attested by the traditions of nearly all nations. Compare the story of
Xisuthros in Berosus; the record in the Chaldean tablets; the Greek myth
of Deucalion; the Mexican tradition; and the legends of the North
American Indians.[A]
2. The =date= is given in reference Bibles (following Archbishop Ussher)
as B. C. 2348. This is probably incorrect. It may have been a thousand
years earlier. But as archaeologists are not yet agreed, we give Ussher's
chronology, here and elsewhere, merely as a convenience in the
arrangement, not as accurate.
3. 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.
4. 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 Euphrates
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.
5. 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.= (B.C. 2247?) 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 was not sudden, but gradual (Gen. 11.
2, 7).
[Illustration: MAP OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WORLD.]
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 English, Greeks, Romans, Medes, and Hindus--races now
widely dispersed--once slept under the same roof. At an early period
streams of migration poured forth from the highlands of Asia in every
direction and to great distances.
III. =THE RISE OF THE EMPIRES.= In the Bible world three 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 three nations, their rise and fall, constitute the matter of
ancient Oriental history, which is closely connected with that of the
Bible. These three centers were Egypt (called in the Bible Mizraim, Gen.
10. 6, 13), of which the capital was Memphis; Chaldea, of which the
capital was Babel or Babylon (Gen. 10. 10; 11. 2-9); and Assyria, of
which the capital was Nineveh (Gen. 10. 11). We might add to these the
Canaanite or Phenician city of Sidon (Gen. 10. 15, 19), and its daughter
Tyre, the great commercial centers of the ancient world, whose empire
was not the land, but the sea. Note that all of these early kingdoms
were established by the Hamitic race.
IV. =THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM.= (B. C. 1921?) No other journey in
history has the _importance_ of that transfer of the little clan of
Abraham from the plain of Shinar to the mountains of Palestine 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 Accadian
dynasty that had become dominant in Chaldea. 3. But the deepest motive
was religious, a purpose to escape from the idolatrous influences of
Chaldea, 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
Abraham set forth on his journey (Gen. 12. 1-3).
V. =THE JOURNEYS OF THE PATRIARCHS.= (B. C. 1921-1706?) For two
centuries the little clan of Abraham's family lived in Palestine 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 generally in the southern
part of the country, west of the Dead Sea, and their relations with the
Amorites, Canaanites, and Philistines on the soil were generally
friendly (Gen. 20. 14; 26. 26-31).
[Illustration: PALESTINE IN THE TIMES OF THE PATRIARCHS]
[Illustration: Goshen]
VI. =THE SOJOURN IN EGYPT.= (B. C. 1706-1491?) After three generations
the branch of Abraham's family belonging to his grandson Jacob or Israel
removed to Egypt (Deut. 26. 5), where they remained either two hundred
or four hundred years, according to different opinions.[B] This stay in
Egypt is always called "the sojourn." The event which led directly to
the descent into Egypt was the selling of Joseph (Gen. 37. 28). But we
can trace a providential purpose in the transfer. Its objects were:
1. =Preservation.= The frequent famines in Palestine (Gen. 12. 10; 26.
1;42. 1-3) showed that as shepherds the Israelites could not be
supported in the land. On the fertile soil of Egypt, with three crops
each year, they would find food in abundance.
2. =Growth.= At the end of the stay in Canaan the Israelites counted
only seventy souls (Gen. 46. 27); but at the close of the sojourn in
Egypt they had increased to nearly two millions (Exod. 12. 37; Num. 1.
45, 46). The hot climate and cheap food of Egypt has always caused an
abundant population. In Egypt Israel grew from a family to a nation.
3. =Isolation.= There was great danger to the morals and religion of the
Israelites in the land of Canaan. Abraham had sent to his own relatives
at Haran for a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24. 3, 4) in order to keep both the
race and the faith pure. One of Isaac's sons married Canaanite wives,
and as a result his descendants, the Edomites, lost the faith and became
idolaters (Gen. 26. 34, 35). Jacob sought his wives among his own
relatives (Gen. 28. 1, 2). We note a dangerous tendency in Jacob's
family to ally themselves with the Canaanites (Gen. 34. 8-10; 38. 1, 2).
If they had stayed in Canaan the chosen family would have become lost
among the heathen. But in Egypt 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 Israel should dwell apart from
other nations (Num. 23. 9).
4. =Civilization.= The Egyptians were far in advance of all other
nations of that age in intelligence, in the organization of society, and
in government. Though the Israelites 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 Israelites were
transformed from shepherds and herdsmen to tillers of the soil--a higher
manner of living.
Blackboard Outline.
=Six Ev.= =I. Del.= 1. Fac. Scrip. Trad. 2. Dat. 2348? 3. Cau. Wick.
rac. 4. Ext. par. 5. Pur. 1.) Des. ev. 2.) New ep.
=II. Disp. Rac.= 1. Inst. mig. 2. Evid. Bib. Trad. Lang.
=III. Rise Emp.= 1. Eg. 2. Chal. 3. Ass. 4. Sid. and Tyr.
=IV. Mig. Abr.= Causes. 1. Mig. inst. 2. Pol. cau. 3. Rel. mot.
=V. Jour. Patr.= Str. in Pal. Shep. Hom. Relat.
=VI. Soj. in Eg.= Obj. 1. Pres. 2. Gro. 3. Isol. 4. Civ.