A GREAT DELIVERANCE
Egypt has never been a health resort. The intensely hot summers breed
germs of disease, and also the insects which often carry them.
Throughout its history the country has been ravaged periodically by
fearful epidemics. A series of these pestilences predicted by Moses
and declared to be Jehovah's punishment for the enslavement of the
Israelites, made it possible for him to lead his people out of
slavery. So severe were the plagues that the government was for a time
disorganized. Taking advantage of their opportunity, the Hebrews
suddenly gathered up their possessions and set out toward the desert,
driving their sheep and goats before them. In spite of the large
figures given in some passages of Exodus, other statements indicate
that they were not very numerous, a few thousand at most, and they
doubtless hoped to slip out past the border fortresses, at night,
unnoticed. As they approached the border, however, news came that they
were being pursued by a troop of horsemen. This meant, of course, that
a watch would be made for them at the fortresses also. They were
caught in a trap, and turned in despair upon Moses, who could only
once more assure them that Jehovah was leading them, and would somehow
open the way.
THE STRONG EAST WIND AND ITS RESULT
That night they encamped on the western shore of one of the shallow
bays or lakes at the head of the Red Sea. To the east was the water.
North of the lake the wall and the line of fortresses began. Behind
them they could already see where their pursuers were camping for the
night. In the morning--terror, death, and return to slavery!
=A path through the sea.=--During the night, however, someone came in
from the shore of the lake with the astonishing news that it was going
dry. A strong east wind was blowing, with an effect often observed by
modern travelers, namely, that the comparatively shallow waters were
being driven back into the deeper part of the sea. Instantly the word
of command was given. With the women and children first and the flocks
next, they picked their way through the mud and sand and rocks on the
lake bottom, clear across to the other side. The next morning the wind
changed, the waters returned, and many of their pursuers were drowned.
The feelings of the Hebrews are expressed in the words of the triumph
song in which through all later centuries they celebrated this
deliverance:
="I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously:
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.=
* * * * * * * * *
=Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea;
And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea."=
INFLUENCE OF THE EXODUS ON HEBREW RELIGION
It was indeed a notable deliverance, and the Hebrews never forgot it.
It affected their ideals and their religion. Immediately after
escaping from Egypt they set out across the desert for Mount Sinai,
which was considered the home of their God Jehovah, there to offer up
sacrifices of gratitude. Moreover, from that time on, every year they
brought to mind the story of the great deliverance through a
sacrificial feast called the Passover. Under Moses' leadership at
Sinai they entered into a covenant with Jehovah. They were to be
Jehovah's people forever, and they probably agreed to worship him
only, as their national God.
=Monotheism.=--At this time few had come to perceive the truth of
monotheism, namely, that there is but one God in the universe, and
that all the so-called gods and goddesses are mere superstitions. The
Hebrews, at this time, did not doubt the real existence of other gods
than Jehovah, such as Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Marduk and
Shamash, gods of Babylon. But after the deliverance from Egypt they
felt themselves bound to Jehovah by special ties of gratitude, and
more and more came to consider the worship of any other god, by a
Hebrew as base disloyalty. So the Exodus, and the experiences at
Sinai, pointed the way, at least, toward monotheism.
=Justice.=--Of great importance also was the influence of these
experiences on their ideas of right and wrong, and their conception of
the character of Jehovah. Because they as a nation had been enslaved
they were the better able to sympathize with the oppressed and
down-trodden. "Remember," their prophets could always say, "that _ye_
were slaves in the land of Egypt." And when, in after years, they were
unjust in their dealings with foreigners living among them, they were
reminded that "Ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."
These ideals were reflected in their conception of their God. Many of
their notions about him were crude and unworthy, even late in their
history. This was natural and inevitable in the light of the times in
which they lived. But in these Egyptian and desert experiences we see
a notable beginning of nobler religious ideals. From this time on they
were impelled to think of Jehovah, first of all as the God who had
brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and who had taken their
part, humble shepherds as they were, against the mighty Pharaoh, the
king of Egypt. To that extent, at least, their God was a God of
justice and mercy. Other ideas, which were inconsistent with this,
continued for a time, but gradually fell away, until at length great
seers arose who proclaimed that God is nothing else than justice and
mercy; righteousness is the essence of his character, and that is all
he asks of men.
"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne."
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
According to all the Hebrew records, the covenant at Sinai was
embodied in a divinely given Decalogue, or a set of ten short
commands, which could be counted off on the ten fingers. Two
Decalogues are given in Exodus, as coming from Moses at Sinai. One is
in Exodus 34. 17-28. The other is the well-known Decalogue in Exodus
20. The former has to do largely with sacrifices and ritual
observances. The latter, with its stern demands for right conduct
toward one's fellow men, and for the worship of Jehovah rather than
idols, expresses well the new moral and religious impulses which came
to the Hebrews under the leadership of their first great deliverer.
In its original form the Decalogue probably read something as follows:
=Thou shalt have no other gods before me.=
=Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven (or molten) image.=
=Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain.=
=Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.=
=Honor thy father and thy mother.=
=Thou shalt not kill.=
=Thou shalt not commit adultery.=
=Thou shalt not steal.=
=Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.=
=Thou shalt not covet.=
STUDY TOPICS
1. Read in Hastings or any other modern Bible dictionary, the article
on "Exodus." Note the testimony of modern travelers on the effect of
high winds on the upper part of the Red Sea.
2. Where was Mount Sinai? Look up in Bible dictionary.
3. Draw a map, showing the probable route of the Hebrews after leaving
Egypt.
4. What part of the Ten Commandments seems most to reflect the
influence of the great deliverance from Egypt? Read Deuteronomy 5.
12-15.
5. Test your memory for the Ten Commandments in their brief form as
given in this chapter.
6. The records of the events of this chapter are found in Exodus,
chapters 6-12, 14, and 15. Read as much of this as your time will
permit.