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 Joseph and Moses, the founders of Israel 
 
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JOSEPH AND MOSES 
 
PRINTED BY 
 MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, 
 
 FOR 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. 
 
 LONDON I SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED. 
 NEW YORK ; CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. 
 
JOSEPH AND MOSES 
 
 THE FOUNDERS OF ISRAEL 
 
 Being their Lives as Read in the Light of the 
 Oldest Prophetic Writings of the Bible 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev. BUCHANAN BLAKE, B.D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "HOW TO READ THE PROPHETS," 
 
 In Five Volumes 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET 
 
 1902 
 
6557^ 
 
 gB. I I tl^ 
 
 Q+. 
 
 "Not so, dear child 
 Of after days, wilt thou reject the past, 
 Big with deep warnings of the proper tenure, 
 By which thou hast the earth ; for thee, the present 
 Shall have distinct and trembling beauty, seen 
 Beside that past's own shade, when in relief 
 Its brightness shall stand out." 
 
 Browning, Parac. v. 
 
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PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 The series of volumes entitled, How to read the Pro- 
 phets^ was undertaken for the purpose of popularising the 
 study of the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. But 
 this study has more and more increased the conviction 
 that the earlier portions of Scripture, commonly called 
 historical narrative, are also essentially prophetic in this 
 true and valid sense, that all prophecy is a declaration 
 or announcing of the mind and will of God to men for their 
 salvation and growth in grace. Hence their understanding 
 and appreciation, as contributing to the development of 
 religious truth and a fuller knowledge of God, can only 
 come when they are viewed from this standpoint, i.e. as 
 prophetic writings. In other words, they form part and 
 parcel of a Divine revelation, through the medium of inspired 
 men raised up for this end, that they should tell men about 
 God. Justice will not be done to Holy Scripture if it be 
 viewed as history, science, or law ; it is primarily and 
 essentially religion, everything touched by it having dis- 
 tinctively a religious value. To recognise this is to give the 
 Bible its own unique place in the religious literature of the 
 world. And this value as a volume of spiritual nourishment 
 has always been given to Holy Scripture by believing men. 
 They have "grown in grace" on the religious teaching, 
 
VI PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 with its quickening, elevating, and purifying impulse and 
 influence. 
 
 " Holy Bible, Book Divine ! 
 Precious treasure, Thou art mine ! " 
 
 It is known that the prophetic writings of the Bible 
 are not confined to the period of the prophets as usually 
 understood, but begin in the Jewish division of Old 
 Testament Scripture with the Book of Joshua, and in- 
 clude Judges, Samuel, and Kings, under the title of the 
 Earlier Prophets {Propheta Anteriores). Our contention 
 is that the prophetic writings should be regarded as 
 beginning still earlier, so as to comprise the most inter- 
 esting and instructive portions of Genesis, which are 
 essentially prophetic. If the writings in Judges can be 
 regarded as prophetic, according to the received division of 
 Scripture, how much more surely these most touching and 
 graphic illustrations of great and eternal principles of 
 righteousness, which we have in the earliest books of our 
 Bible ! Truly they are a Torah, i.e. a law, yea, a law, not 
 in any narrow definition of the word, but in the very highest 
 and widest sense as an instruction in righteousness, a 
 revelation of the mind and will of God. 
 
 Hence in this volume, dealing with an interesting and 
 formative period of Old Testament history, the effort is 
 made to set forth prophetic teaching in its own pure, 
 spiritual power. Only those portions that are regarded as 
 distinctly prophetic are given in their own setting, that so 
 they may speak with their own power and be seen in their 
 own light. May this volume help Bible lovers to a deeper 
 appreciation of the intrinsic and abiding truth enshrined in 
 the writings of Scripture ! 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Prefatory Note . 
 General Introduction 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE NARRATIVE OF JUDAH. 
 
 The Text and Historical Setting 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. The Home Life in Canaan ..... i and 57 
 
 II. The Testing-Time in Egypt 3 ,, 68 
 
 III. The great Success 5 „ 77 
 
 IV. Appointment and Commission of Moses . . . 20 „ 89 
 V. The Oppression and its End 25 „ 102 
 
 VI. The Departure out of Egypt 33 „ 109 
 
 VII. The Years of Wandering 38 „ 120 
 
 VIII. Great Scenes in the Life of Moses . 41 ,, 130 
 
 IX. From Kadesh to Moab 53 ,, 142 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE NARRATIVE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 The Text and Historical Setting. 
 
 I. Joseph sold into Egypt 
 II. The Famine and Reunion 
 III. To the Departure 
 
 154 and 196 
 158 „ 211 
 167 „ 222 
 
VU1 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGES 
 
 IV. From Rameses to Sinai 175 and 232 
 
 V. Law-Giving and Law-Enforcing . . . 181 „ 243 
 
 VI. From Kadesh to Moab 192 „ 253 
 
 A Chronological Table 263 
 
 Comparative List of Words which help to distinguish 
 
 the two Narratives 264 
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 It is impossible for us to ascertain, or fully to realise, the 
 great influence exercised upon the succeeding generations 
 by men like Joseph and Moses, who lived on in hallowed 
 memories, by the deeds they had done for their people as 
 father and deliverer. Around them would gather the best 
 of the national tradition. What a hero was Joseph, separ- 
 ated from his brethren only for their highest interests ! 
 How magnificent a patriot is Moses in his early renuncia- 
 tion and final triumph ! Such stories as have gathered 
 round these men have impressed the boys of every age, 
 and none have more deeply stirred their sympathies. That 
 of Joseph especially, with its striking calamity, " the afflic- 
 tion of Joseph," to use a phrase of Amos ; and the singular 
 providence which watched over him in a foreign land, 
 raising him finally to a most exalted condition, must con- 
 tinue to supply supreme teaching as long as the "heart 
 has passions and human life its woes." For here there is 
 set before us the tragedy of all life, finest and fittest illus- 
 tration of the providence that shapes all lives, and the 
 justification of God's ways among men. The law that 
 suffering is the necessary condition to all success — that one 
 must suffer for others, aye the via cruris, via lucis of highest 
 Christian teaching is clearly set forth in the narratives pre- 
 
X GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 served for us about Joseph and Moses as our best heritage 
 from the earliest prophets. 
 
 Commonly we think of Amos as the first prophet, inas- 
 much as he is supposed to be the first prophet who wrote 
 his own prophecies or prophetic testimony as to the mind 
 and will of God. But there were "reformers before the 
 Reformation,'' and true prophetic writers long before Amos. 
 It is now being recognised that while the earlier books of 
 Scripture are broad-based on truest history, embodied in 
 clay tablets or on papyrus plants, or handed down in the 
 warm tradition of a nation's folk-lore, they were written to 
 teach high spiritual lessons as to God and His dealings 
 with our race to the men of the day when they assumed 
 the form they now have. How many and how great 
 have been the discoveries in every direction and through 
 many channels ! And yet it is our conviction that nothing 
 discovered has called in question any great basal fact, 
 which the Bible has directly called upon us to believe. 
 Many things which were commonly received by the people 
 as facts, and recorded as such in Scripture, may have been 
 found not to correspond with actual history. But these are 
 only illustrations of highest truth in the prophetic handling 
 of material lying to their hand. They are not the ground 
 on which the truth rests, or the source from which it springs. 
 The religious and spiritual teaching has better ground and 
 higher source, even in the revelation of truth to men by 
 God through His inspiring Spirit. Prophetic men, "men 
 from God spake" and taught "as they were moved by the 
 Holy Ghost " ; yes, even as they were being carried forward 
 by the mighty influences of a revelation which was ever 
 becoming fuller and clearer as the years rolled on. They 
 were touched by the inspiration of heaven, commissioned to 
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION XI 
 
 be declarers of Divine truth, and used in their own way, in 
 their own setting, every kind of material available for their 
 great purpose, even that of giving not to one day only, but 
 to all coming days, highest moral instruction. St. Paul 
 himself, in an interesting passage, shows how we may profit 
 in the highest degree by ordinary illustrations from common 
 life (Gal. iv. 24). Building, indeed, well and wisely on the 
 commonly received traditions of the people, their concern 
 was wholly with the abiding and supreme principles of 
 righteousness, which they used these traditions to illustrate. 
 Thus they were enabled to reach .the people's hearts in a 
 most effective way. But the teaching is the main thing, and 
 its truth and value are not bound up in the truth of the 
 tradition, they are intrinsic in the teaching itself; a teaching 
 which, though using received facts, always transcends, as 
 it is truly independent of, them. So that if we go to Scrip- 
 ture to learn and receive what it was originally meant to 
 supply, we shall ever find purest spiritual truth in rich and 
 varied fulness at our disposal. If, like the honey-bee, we 
 go to the flower for honey, that which the flower was created 
 to supply to the bee, we shall find in Scripture that which is 
 sweeter than honey — God's own word for our hungering 
 spirits 1 " for all inspired Scripture is profitable for teaching, 
 for reproof, for correction, for discipline in righteousness ; 
 that the man of God may be^/, thoroughly furnished unto 
 all good works." 
 
 Had the aim of the Scripture been to provide us with 
 historical matter, to supply us with accurate and definite 
 details of information about persons, things, places, the 
 writers surely would have been more careful to provide 
 consistent accounts, in single and complete narratives, of 
 what they wrote about. But their aim being wholly other- 
 
Xll GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 wise and far better, they refer us for all information as to 
 facts of history to the ordinary so-called secular sources of 
 profane history, and they use the facts they have to reveal 
 God. What happened in India or Arabia concerning the 
 Vedas, Avestas, or the Koran, has happened in many 
 quarters concerning the Bible. The sacred books, given to 
 instruct men as to the will of God, have been regarded as 
 a supreme embodiment of law and science as well as of 
 religion. Such a view of sacred books is in direct opposi- 
 tion to their aim and function ; when held, it bans and 
 hinders all human progress and investigation ; it confuses 
 essential truth with contemporary, even temporary settings. 
 
 Dealing in particular with one portion of Scripture now, 
 which we are going to use as a sample of all Scripture, we 
 find clearly enough that there are two accounts, or double nar- 
 ratives, couplets of the stories of Joseph and Moses, placed 
 side by side, sometimes so woven into the final statement as 
 only with difficulty to be distinguished. This is the case in 
 Genesis also as to the Creation, as to the Flood, as to Abra- 
 ham ; in Samuel as to David ; and, even in the supreme 
 case, as to our Lord Jesus Christ, concerning Whom we 
 have the four Gospel portraitures. In the New Testament 
 these four Gospels remain as separate and distinct writings, 
 marked and characterised by their own helpful and guid- 
 ing peculiarities of view-points and circumstance; whereas 
 in the Old Testament the final writer has combined his 
 sources into one story. He makes no effort to harmonise 
 details of fact ; his idea seems rather to be the preservation 
 of all handed down statements, of all traditions and lessons 
 that are capable of teaching and instructing his own day. 
 He was concerned with the spiritual lessons, not with 
 history ; he moved in the higher realm of moral and 
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION XU1 
 
 religious truth, so that to him all details of circumstance, 
 however apparently different, might all be really and truly 
 complementary to the full truth, even as the different 
 colours are all complementary to the one ray of pure light. 
 Substantial agreement as to all essentials is accompanied 
 by a rich circumstantial variety. A perfect knowledge, we 
 believe, would be able to harmonise what to an imperfect 
 information may only seem a mass of contradiction. Thus 
 various theological conceptions of the Divine character may 
 seem contrary, even contradictory, to finite minds, condi- 
 tioned by narrow limitations, and yet may be, nay are, true, 
 not in their separateness, but only in their union, in a 
 perfect statement unto which theology may yet attain, and 
 after which it ever strives. Hence, to take an example 
 from the narratives lying before us in the Book of Exodus, 
 we have three different views of the relation between God 
 and the heart of the Pharaoh, three different theological 
 conceptions or representations. Thus we read in Ex. vii. 
 13 or x. 1, "He, i.e. God, hardened Pharaoh's heart"; in 
 vii. 14, "Pharaoh's heart is hardened"; and in viii. 15, 
 " He, i.e. Pharaoh, hardened his own heart." Three dis- 
 tinct statements are here made, and each has at some time 
 or another been a foundation text for its own system of 
 theology ; but here in our supreme standard of the Bible we 
 have all three views enshrined and preserved in one sacred 
 record, side by side, as each equally true and valid. Thus 
 by a fuller appreciation of the Divine Word may the Church 
 be yet taught to reach unto the unity of the Faith by the 
 unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, — a unity that does 
 not deny or exclude apparent contradictions, but which, in 
 its own higher completeness, gives them their own place in 
 a deeper and truer, even an inner harmony. So also, again, 
 
XIV GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 one prophetic teacher may conceive of Jehovah acting 
 directly on human affairs by His word, only saying the 
 word of authority, while another may think rather of His 
 acting by means, mediately, as by a rod in the hand of 
 Moses or Aaron, even as ever through the laws of nature, 
 the determination of His own appointment. The harmony 
 of two such views can easily be recognised. 
 
 If, thus, we adopt such a view of the main purpose of the 
 writers of Scripture, our faith in God and understanding 
 of His way of revealing Himself to men will be increased 
 and strengthened. It will remove stumbling-blocks on 
 which many have fallen. It will put an end, once and for 
 all, to the weary and never satisfying, though wonderfully 
 ingenious, endeavours to find, even in our incomplete 
 acquaintance with all the circumstances, an external and 
 mechanical harmony, a complete harmonising of mere 
 details of an outward and wholly subsidiary character. 
 And, what is far better, it will lead us to seek and find 
 a true inner and spiritual harmony in the convergence of 
 many varying aspects in one spiritual teaching, with its own 
 supreme and unchallengeable authority for conscience as 
 the word of God. Scripture, then,, will speak with its own 
 authority to heart and life, with its own true throbbing life, 
 and not as the scribes. Men will not then have their 
 searching of Scripture condemned ; for they will come 
 through it nearer to Him of Whom all Scripture speaks. 
 They will not be baffled by endless details, but they will be 
 fed and sustained by spiritual food, learning from every page 
 more of God, and the better how " to fight the good fight 
 of faith." 
 
 In reading the lives of Joseph and' Moses, the great 
 founders of Israel, we see distinctly three accounts of the 
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION XV 
 
 course of their history. Our interest at this time is to deal 
 with the two oldest narratives of prophetic writing that have 
 come down to us, and therefore we leave out at present the 
 writer who is not pre-eminently prophetic, and who con- 
 cerned himself chiefly with supplying genealogical tables, 
 and details of information from the national archives. 
 Nothing so helps the understanding of truth as the printing 
 of statements by themselves. Hence we have utilised the 
 results of many diligent scholars in printing separately the 
 two prophetic narratives here. Every reader can thus see 
 and judge for himself in this matter. 
 
 We say there are manifestly two distinct prophetic narra- 
 tives in Scripture dealing with our period. The existence 
 of these couplets can be explained and adequately accounted 
 for, not alone by the different influences always at work 
 among men, but very clearly and particularly by the his- 
 torical circumstances of the Jewish people. It is known 
 that a great and most unfortunate schism arose in that 
 people on the death of Solomon. Two kingdoms instead 
 of one were then formed. And they became hostile camps, 
 each with its own feelings, traditions, and national policy. 
 The great Davidic kingdom, ever afterwards in the estima- 
 tion of the prophets the highest point of Israel's glory, and 
 the picture of what yet might be when David's house might 
 be rebuilt by a true Davidic king, was broken into two. 
 " Ephraim envied Judah, and Judah vexed Ephraim." The 
 consequences of this separation, politically and religiously, 
 were of the saddest and most momentous kind. It meant 
 an opportunity for Assyrian and Babylonian conquest ; it 
 meant the weakening of the influence of prophecy and of 
 the religion of Jehovah, which might have been so mighty 
 had Jerusalem continued the one central shrine of the faith 
 
XVI GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 and the capital of the people. A suicidal and internecine 
 strife began ; bitter and painful consequences ensued. 
 Almost of necessity, therefore, a prophet speaking or 
 writing for the kingdom of the Ten Tribes would have to 
 consult their local feeling, and adapt himself to their view- 
 point. Hence a prophetic narrative for each kingdom 
 became a necessity. The people of each kingdom would 
 read history in its own way, and interpret the traditions in 
 its own interest. 
 
 The one great tradition and testimony of a single and 
 united people now becomes twofold in the very necessity of 
 the circumstances of history. So that we are not surprised 
 to find these two prophetic narratives existing, and lying 
 side by side ; we would have been much more surprised had 
 this not been the case. We have only to throw ourselves 
 back into the days of Jeroboam i. and his successors to see 
 at once the need of a prophetic treatment of the grand 
 themes of the people's history from the point of view of 
 Ephraim or of Judah, so that highest spiritual lessons might 
 effectively be taught and satisfactorily impressed on the 
 popular heart of either kingdom. 
 
 But a day came when this national schism, which at first 
 seemed to receive the approval of the prophets as a chas- 
 tisement for the people's sin (i Kings xi. 39), began to be 
 recognised as wholly evil. Aspirations for the healing of 
 the breach began to be felt and expressed. The great 
 prophets of the time of Hezekiah, Micah, and Isaiah fore- 
 told the cessation of all separation, and the unifying of 
 the tribes again. Only then could the one testimony for 
 Israel's God be truly and worthily given. 
 
 The words in Zech. xi. 14 which speak about the 
 breaking of the brotherhood between Judah and Israel, as 
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION XVU 
 
 set forth in the symbol of the broken staff called Bands, i.e. 
 Union, may fitly refer to a time when reunion was being 
 desired, but had to be postponed. What more natural than 
 that, when Assyria was threatening Israel, efforts at recon- 
 ciliation should be made, and that some great prophet 
 should combine in one grand narrative the two separate 
 strands of the history of the people, sadly separated in the 
 tenth century, whom political negotiations were trying to 
 reunite again. A religious movement would thus go along- 
 side of a political one. We cannot, of course, name with 
 certainty the prophet who tried to do the best service he 
 could for his people at this time, but we find Oded named, 
 about 734 B.C., as intervening between Pekah of Israel and 
 Ahaz of Jerusalem. How gracious an episode is this ! 
 How delightful to read about the prophetic action which 
 led to the restoration of the captives taken in war ! (2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 14). Now, if the political state of, say, 800 B.C., 
 accounts sufficiently for the writing and circulation of 
 two such distinct and separate prophetic documents as we 
 have now in our possession, may we not find in the pol- 
 itical circumstances of Hezekiah's reign (722-700 b.c.) an 
 equally appropriate time for the combination of these two 
 into one whole by the prophets of that time — a time 
 singularly favourable to prophetic activity ? This suggested 
 date, of course, would place the union of the documents at 
 a moment prior to the publication of Deuteronomy. We 
 do not know how long before its actual promulgation this 
 work was written, and perhaps the uniting of the two 
 sources and Deuteronomy may belong to about the same 
 time. The writer of Deuteronomy seems to have shown a 
 preference for one of the sources; but this does not pre- 
 clude the possibility of his having had both before him. 
 b 
 
XV111 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 The preservation of the two sources in the form we have 
 them shows a wonderful respect for the feelings and sym- 
 pathies of the two peoples \ there is a kindliness and delicacy 
 of touch shown so constantly, that we feel that the writer 
 was ever eager not to wound any sensibility known by him 
 to exist. Thus the combination of the two narratives was 
 truly an eirenicon, a message of peace, and a strenuous 
 endeavour to bring about the union of the tribes. If the 
 effort failed, as Zechariah's words would imply, there yet 
 remains this monument of a most praiseworthy attempt. 
 It is now necessary only in a word to refer here to the date 
 of the final and complete narrative as in our Scripture, when 
 a priestly writer, with perfect access to all national means 
 of information, completed the whole superstructure. This 
 must have been done in a people composed of the reunited 
 tribes, restored to their home land, or in full view of such 
 a restoration. A sore captivity was, in the course and dis- 
 cipline of the Divine Providence, the appointed means for 
 completely uniting the people, and for fulfilling all prophetic 
 aspiration. Three distinct historical conditions explain the 
 original writing and final combination of the constituent 
 portions of our Scripture narrative, and each portion sheds 
 its own light upon the time to which it belongs. The times, 
 generally speaking, are 800, 720, and 546 respectively before 
 Christ. 
 
 One narrative clearly, then, belongs to the Northern King- 
 dom, that of the Ten Tribes, or of Ephraim, with its capital 
 in Samaria. Among these tribes were, of course, Reuben 
 and Simeon as interesting founders, but especially Joseph, 
 represented by the two great tribes of Ephraim and 
 Manasseh. Thus we can at once see how such a prominent 
 place is given to the above-named brethren in a narrative 
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION XIX 
 
 that was meant to circulate in the north. They, and not 
 Judah, have the place of honour. The main tradition about 
 the important part played by Joseph in connection with 
 the migration of his family into Egypt was, of course, the 
 common inheritance of all the tribes, and would be available 
 in many forms, not only in tradition, but even in old 
 records and writings, such as the "Book of Jasher" and 
 the " Wars of Jehovah.'' While, as the priestly document 
 proves, additional material existed in the national archives 
 and genealogical tables so diligently kept. In those days 
 folk-lore was ever swift and eager to keep in fond and 
 retentive memory all that pertained to a people's glory. 
 Another outstanding peculiarity of this northern document 
 is the use of the name Jacob for the patriarch, the father 
 of Joseph, rather than that of the name Israel, the new and 
 more exalted name associated with the higher revelation at 
 Peniel. The name Jacob connects the history with the 
 human side, and awakens a feeling of kinship. "Whereas 
 Israel, as a name for the patriarch, suggests the Divine side 
 of things, and implies the existence of a purer Jehovah 
 worship and a closer intimacy with a dominating religious 
 influence. Israel, while adopted by the Ten Tribes as their 
 national designation, and therefore a name dear to them, 
 was used in Judah for their great founder, and thus the 
 way was being prepared for the use of this name Israel as 
 the best designation of God's people in their reunited state. 
 While, lastly, and by no means of least importance, we find 
 the Supreme Being always described in this narrative under 
 the name of God, i.e. El, rather than under that of Jehovah. 
 This bears testimony to a distinct usage, and throws light 
 on a religious custom in the Northern Kingdom. We know 
 the great struggle connected with the name and life work 
 
XX GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 of Elijah, especially, to secure the recognition of Jehovah by 
 the rulers of Samaria. The prophetic writer cannot allow 
 himself to use this great name at the time he wrote. He 
 writes and speaks in the common terms of the people to 
 whom he sends his message. 
 
 But while these are the three main outstanding features 
 of the narrative of the Northern Kingdom, there are indeed 
 very many other minor, but still interesting, differences of 
 style and phraseology which mark off the one narrative 
 from the second. The more important of these are given 
 in a list by themselves at the end of this volume. 
 
 The second, and probably somewhat later, narrative, is so 
 distinctively Judean in its whole setting and atmosphere, 
 that it may, without hesitation, be regarded as belonging 
 to the kingdom of Judah. Of course it is impossible to 
 dogmatise as to which of these narratives was the earlier. 
 It was in the Northern Kingdom that the scene of earliest 
 religious conflict is placed. On the salvation of that king- 
 dom the loving and prayerful labours of prophet after 
 prophet were spent. Amos and Hosea were both sent 
 north from the heart of Judah, as the unnamed prophet 
 who testified against Jeroboam's altar came also thence. 
 The splendid labours of Elijah and Elisha in the same 
 district are known to all. Leaving apart the question of 
 priority as to documents which perhaps are merely con- 
 temporary, we note some interesting Judean features in the 
 other. The brothers Judah and Benjamin are well to the 
 front. Judah has clearly the place from which Reuben 
 by transgression fell. Rachel is naturally mentioned, for 
 her grave was a landmark. While the sacred four-lettered 
 name for God, Jehovah, or as scholars prefer to vocalise it, 
 Jahveh, is invariably used. Undoubtedly the distinct reve- 
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION xxi 
 
 lation, leading, and guidance of God as Jehovah in the 
 life - histories of Joseph and Moses would have a very 
 special interest for the prophets in Jerusalem, and they 
 would labour to preserve, in its very purest form, a con- 
 tinuous and unbroken tradition of such value as a means 
 of spiritual teaching. Judah and Jerusalem were not always 
 faithful to their covenant God, as Hosea has sadly to 
 acknowledge ; but in comparison to what was done in 
 Samaria, their record was cleaner. In the very centre of 
 the land, with special advantages in David's own citadel, 
 the worship of Jehovah was kept purer and freer from 
 foreign elements for a longer period. 
 
 The kingdom of the Ten Tribes owed much at its very 
 initiation to the help of Shishak (Sheshonkh n.), the 
 ruling Pharaoh of the time, in the 22nd dynasty, and 
 Egyptian influences Qver continued to play a larger part 
 there than in Judah. The introduction of the calf worship, 
 and the whole way in which Egypt is referred to, show a 
 different attitude towards Egypt in Israel from that shown 
 in Judah. More distinctly spiritual ideas of God and re- 
 ligion also are found in the narrative written for Judah. 
 
 Hezekiah, with Micah and Isaiah, and Josiah, with 
 Jeremiah, nobly maintained the higher impulse in Jerusalem, 
 and thus encouraged and preserved a true remnant, even 
 the true Israel, which became the channel and vehicle of 
 the purer faith, the custodian and propagator of a lofty 
 spiritual conception of Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. 
 "They are not all Israel, which are of Israel" (Rom. ix. 6). 
 
 It only remains in this Introduction that we should deal 
 with the matter of the anonymity of the writers of these 
 interesting prophetic documents. We do not know the 
 names of the great men who wrote or ordered the writings 
 
XX11 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 before' us. There is amongst us a curious tendency to 
 place importance on the name of a writer, as if the value 
 of a document, or the truth of the message contained in it, 
 were in anyway affected thereby. The truth and authority 
 of the truth belongs ever to the message, and not to the 
 messenger. Thomas a Kempis long ago said wisely : 
 " Inquire not who spoke this or that, but mark what is 
 spoken. Men pass away, but the truth of God remaineth 
 for ever. 5 ' " God buries His workman, but carries on His 
 work.'' We have been accustomed to associate large 
 portions of Scripture with honoured names like those of 
 Moses, David, and Isaiah. That has been the tradition, 
 coming down from a time, perhaps, when the authority of 
 a name was required as a guarantee of the truth. But to 
 us the guarantee is found in the truth itself; and if the 
 tradition fails us, we suffer no loss. A very small portion, 
 indeed, of Scripture is written by known or named writers. 
 The twelve prophets, more or less, Isaiah of Jerusalem in 
 the earlier parts of "Isaiah," Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, have 
 given us their words with their sign-manual, 1 even as we 
 have the glowing letters of St. Paul, as from the very centre 
 of his missionary conflict, instinct with life and spirit. But 
 the patriarchal narratives, the histories of the kingdoms, 
 many of the prophecies, and the psalm odic literature of the 
 Old Testament, along with the Synoptic Gospels, at least, 
 in the New, have all come down to us as our most sacred 
 and treasured heirlooms from authors whose names are 
 not known on earth, but all of whom were the Church's 
 best and most honoured servants. Their names are in the 
 book of life, and they live more worthily in the word they 
 wrote than in the recording of their name. God sent them, 
 and spake by them His ever-living message. Let us 
 
GENERAL INTRODUCTION XX1U 
 
 emphasise the message and receive the teaching, while with 
 truest gratitude we thank God for His messengers and 
 teachers, " the goodly fellowship of the prophets." They 
 were men busy with the religious interests of their own 
 day, ever listening to the voice of God ; alive to the Time- 
 spirit indeed, but ever most of all in touch with God, and 
 alert to make known His will. Full of sympathy with the 
 needs of a throbbing, pulsating human life with varied and 
 momentous interests, they were citizens of the heavenly 
 kingdom, in true communion with the Almighty and 
 Eternal. While using tablets, papyri, archives, folk-lore, and 
 tradition, all and every kind of information, they were not 
 historians, but prophets. Everything within their reach was 
 made serviceable for the telling not of interesting facts, but 
 of sublime, even eternal principle. Thus being dead, nay 
 unknown, they speak on to us, to every day in their 
 beautiful and instructive settings of the events of an earlier 
 day. We may not know how to describe them worthily, 
 and the names given by scholars for their own convenience, 
 such as E, J, D, or P, may very easily be made the object 
 of cheap and unworthy ridicule. But even these names, to 
 a reverend man, may be helpful and fraught with teaching. 
 This, however, remains, that in the very anonymity of the 
 writers we have highest testimony borne to the essential 
 and intrinsic worth of their teaching, and grandest proof of 
 the Inspiration of the Word, as being not of man, but 
 of God. 
 
 What fed and nourished the religious life of ancient 
 days, keeping up faith and courage in darkest days, can 
 never die ; its power abides. It was ever the spiritual 
 teaching, the high pure moral impulse, the very atmosphere 
 of God in Scripture, that nurtured faith, that strengthened 
 
XXIV GENERAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 courage, that inspired hope, that deepened charity. All 
 that we have before us in these prophetic narratives. For 
 it matters not to us in what way God is conceived as 
 acting; it matters that He is always conceived as acting, 
 always thought of as present. The absolute truth as to 
 the Divine character and the Divine working ever emerges 
 from every human mist, rises above every local or temporary 
 colouring, and is seen at length in its complete emancipa- 
 tion as God's word for all peoples that dwell upon the 
 earth. 
 
PART I. 
 
 THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 ACCORDING TO THE SOUTHERN OR JUDAH 
 NARRATIVE. 
 
 THE TEXT WRITTEN ABOUT 800 B.C. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Home Life in Canaan. 
 
 Joseph's birth. — Now Jehovah remembered Rachel, and 
 she bare a son, and she called his name Joseph, and said, 
 " Jehovah hath added to me another son." Then it came 
 to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Israel said to 
 Laban, "Send me away, that I may go unto my own home, 
 and to my country." Israel then journeyed to Succoth, and 
 built him an house, and made booths for his cattle. 
 (Hence the name of the place.) Afterwards he continued 
 his journey, and pitched his tent at Migdol-Edar. And it 
 happened that, while Israel dwelt there, Reuben was guilty 
 
 N.B. — Words in italics are distinctive marks of the narrative. See 
 Comparative List at end. 
 I 
 
2 THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 of sin with Bilhah, and this was told unto his father. Now 
 Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he 
 was the son of his old age, and as a mark of his favour he 
 gave him a princely robe. 
 
 (Gen. xxx. 24, 25, xxxiii. 17, xxxv. 21, 22, xxxvii. 3.) 
 
 Joseph, sent to his brothers. — Now Israel said unto 
 Joseph, £t Do not thy brethren feed their flocks in Shechem ? 
 Come, and I will send thee unto them." And he said unto 
 him, "Here am I." Then he said unto him, " Go, I pray 
 thee, see how thy brothers are, and how their flocks are 
 getting on, and come and tell me." So he sent him out of 
 the valley of Hebron^ and Joseph went to Shechem. But a 
 man found him wandering about in the district, and he asked 
 him, " What are you looking for?" And he answered, " I 
 am looking for my brothers. Tell me, I pray thee, where 
 they are feeding their flocks." Then the man said, "They 
 have left this district, for I heard them say, ' Let us go to 
 Dothan."' Joseph, therefore, went after his brethren, and 
 he found them in Dothan. But when they saw him at a 
 distance coming towards them, they said, "Come now, 
 therefore, and let us kill him, and we will say, ' Some wild 
 beast hath devoured him.' " But when Judah heard this, he 
 said, " Let us not kill him ! What profit is it if we slay our 
 brother, and conceal his blood ? Come, let us sell him to 
 the Ishmaelites, and let not. our hand be upon him • for he 
 is our own brother, our own flesh ! " And his brethren 
 agreed to this, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty 
 pieces of silver. Thus Judah delivered him out of their 
 hands. Then they took Joseph's robe, and killing a kid 
 of the goats, dipped it in the blood, thereafter sending it 
 to their father, to let him know that they had found it. 
 
THE TESTING-TIME IN EGYPT 3 
 
 He recognised it at once, and said, " My boy's coat ! A 
 wild beast has devoured him ! Joseph must be torn in 
 pieces ! " Then Israel rent his clothes, and put sack- 
 cloth upon his loins, and he said, "I will go down to 
 Sheol, unto my son, mourning." Thus his father mourned 
 for him. (xxxvii. 13-18, 20, 21, 26, 28, 31-35.) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Testing-Time in Egypt. 
 
 Joseph in Egypt. — But Joseph had been taken down to 
 Egypt, and Potiphar^ an officer of the Pharaoh^ a captain 
 of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had 
 brought him down. Now Jehovah was with Joseph, so that 
 good fortune attended him, and he remained in the house of 
 his master, the Egyptian. His master saw that God was with 
 him, and that He made all that he did to be successful. So 
 it was that Joseph found favour in his sight, and became 
 his personal servant. He then made him overseer of all his 
 house, and gave him charge over all that he had. From 
 that time God blessed the house of the Egyptian for 
 Joseph's sake, yea, the blessing of God was upon all that 
 he had, and on his land. In fact, he left all that he had 
 in Joseph's hand ; and he knew about nothing he had, 
 except the food he ate. (xxxix. 1-6.) 
 
 The great temptation. — Now Joseph had much personal 
 beauty, and a good figure, so that his master's wife fell in 
 love with him, and tempted him to sin ; but he refused, and 
 said unto his master's wife, " You know that my master per- 
 
4 THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 fectly trusts me with everything, having given into my charge 
 all that he hath. There is no one higher in the house than 
 I am. He hath kept from me nothing, but thee, because 
 thou art his wife ; how then can I do this great wickedness, 
 and sin against God ? " And, it happened, that as he paid 
 no attention to her, although she daily tempted him, one day 
 while he was engaged in the house on business, and none 
 of the men of the household were about, she caught hold of 
 his garment, saying, " Come with me." But he left his 
 outer garment in her hand, and fled out of the house. 
 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and 
 .had fled, she called for the eunuchs, and said unto them, 
 " See I He hath brought in an Hebrew unto us, to mock 
 us ! He came into my apartment, and I cried out. When 
 he heard me cry, he left his garment, and ran away.'' Then 
 she kept his garment by her, until his master came home, 
 and to him she told the same story, so that when he 
 heard his wife's statements his wrath was kindled, and he 
 took him and put him in the house of detention?- Thus 
 Joseph remained there in the house of detention ; but 
 Jehovah was with him, and showed him kindness, so that he 
 became a favourite with the governor of the royal prison, 
 who gave him charge of all those detained there, and made 
 him responsible for what they did. The governor looked not 
 to anything that was in his charge, for Jehovah was with 
 him, and made all he did to turn out well. ■ 
 
 (xxxix. 6-23.) 
 1 The Round House where the king's prisoners were kept. 
 
THE GREAT SUCCESS 5 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The great Success. 
 
 Joseph's promotion and legislation. — Now there was 
 no food in all the earth, for there was a very severe famine, 
 so that both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan 
 suffered by reason of it. Joseph, who had been appointed 
 over the country, therefore gathered up all the silver that 
 was found in Egypt and in Canaan for the corn which was 
 bought, and brought it all into Pharaoh's treasury. But 
 when there was no more money in Egypt and in Canaan, 
 all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, "Give us 
 food, for why should we die before thee? Our money is all 
 done!" Then Joseph said, "Give me your cattle, and I 
 will give you corn in exchange for them, seeing that your 
 money is done." They, therefore, brought their cattle unto 
 Joseph, and he gave them food for their horses, and flocks, 
 and cattle, and asses. Thus he supplied them with food for 
 all their cattle for that year. When that year came to an end, 
 they came unto him the next year, and said unto him, " We 
 will not hide from our lord that our money is done, and 
 that our lord also hath our herds of cattle, there is nothing 
 left with us before our lord, but our bodies, and our lands ! 
 Why should we die in thy presence ? Both ourselves and 
 our land ! Buy thou us, and our land for food, then shall 
 both we and our land belong unto the Pharaoh, and give 
 thou us seed that we may live and not die, that the land be 
 not desolate." Joseph, therefore, bought all the land of 
 Egypt for the Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man 
 his farm, because the famine was so terrible among them. 
 
o THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 Thus the land became the property of the king. And as 
 for the people, they were removed to towns from one end of 
 Egypt to the other end. Only the lands of the priests he 
 bought not, for the priests had a portion granted to them by 
 the Crown, and they lived on that portion. They therefore 
 did not sell their land. Joseph then said to the people, 
 " Now see ! I have bought you and your land this day for 
 the king. Lo ! here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the 
 land. Ye shall give a fifth of the produce to the State, and 
 four-fifths shall be your own for seed, and for food for your- 
 selves, your households and your little ones." Then they 
 replied, " Thou hast saved our lives ! Be kind to us, and 
 we will be Pharaoh's servants.'' Joseph thus made this law 
 for Egypt: — "The fifth of all the produce, except on the 
 priests' land, shall belong to the State." (xlvii. 13-26.) 
 
 His family. — Now unto Joseph were born two sons 
 before the years of famine came ; and he called the name of 
 the first Manasseh, for God hath made me forget all my toil 
 and my father's house ■ and the name of the second he 
 called Ephraim, for God hath caused me to be fruitful in 
 the land of my affliction. (xli. 50-52.) 
 
 Joseph's brethren come down. — Now when the famine 
 was over all the land, and people of all nations were coming 
 to buy corn from Joseph, Israel saw that there was corn in 
 Egypt, and he said unto his sons, " Why do ye look upon 
 one another? I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. 
 Get you down thither, and buy from there, that we may live, 
 and not die." The sons of Israel then went down to buy 
 among the others, as the famine was in the land of Canaan. 
 Israel, however, did not send down Benjamin, Joseph's 
 
THE GREAT SUCCESS 7 
 
 brother, with them ; for he said, " Some harm may, perhaps, 
 happen to him ! No," he said, " my boy shall not go down 
 with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. Oh ! 
 if anything should happen to him in the way, then would ye 
 bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave !" 
 
 (xlii. i, 2, 5, 4, 38.) 
 
 First time before Joseph. — When Joseph was selling 
 corn to all the people, his brethren came to him to buy 
 corn. He recognised them, but they did not know him. 
 Joseph then said unto them, " Where do you come from ? " 
 They replied, "From Canaan, to buy_/2?^." He also asked 
 them more about their affairs, saying, " Have you a father? 
 Is he still alive ? Have you a brother ? " And they said, 
 " Oh ! yes, we have a father, an old man, and he has a child 
 of his old age, a young lad, who is alone left unto him by his 
 mother ; and his father loves him, for his brother is dead." 
 Joseph then said, " Oh ! bring him down unto me that I 
 may see him !" But they answered, "Oh ! no, we cannot. 
 The lad cannot leave his father ! If he were to go away, his 
 father would die of grief ! " Then Joseph declared unto his 
 brethren, "Except your youngest brother come down with 
 you, ye shall see my face no more." They then laded their 
 asses with corn, and went away. But when the first opened 
 his sack to give his ass a feed at the Rest-house, he saw his 
 money, for, behold ! it was in the mouth of the sack ; and he 
 said unto his brothers, " My money is given back ! See ! it 
 is in my sack ! " Then when they opened their sacks, 
 behold ! every man's money was in the mouth of his sack ; 
 and they did not know what to say. 
 
 (xlii. 7, xliv. 19-23, xlii. 26-28.) 
 
 A second visit proposed. — The famine was continuing sore 
 in the land, and it came to pass that when they had finished 
 
8 THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 the corn, which they had brought up from Egypt, their 
 father said unto them, "Go again, buy us a little food." 
 Then Judah spake unto him as follows, "The man did most 
 decidedly tell us that we would not see his face, except our 
 brother were with us. If thou wilt send our brother down 
 with us, we will go, and buy the food ; but if thou wilt not 
 send him, we will not go down, for the man said unto us, 
 'Ye shall not see my face unless your brother be with you.'" 
 Then Israel replied, " Oh ! Why dealt you so badly with 
 me? Why did you tell the man that you had another 
 brother?" And they said, "The man asked us many 
 questions about our circumstances, and our relations, saying, 
 ' Is your father alive yet 1 Have you a brother ? ' And we 
 told him the truth. Could we know for certain that he 
 would say, 'Bring your brother down ! ; " (xliii. 1-7.) 
 
 Judah surety for Benjamin. — Judah then said unto 
 Israel his father, "Let the lad go with me, and we will at 
 once go, that we may live, and not die, both we and thou, 
 and also our children. I will be surety for him ! At my 
 hand shalt thou require him ! If I bring him not back to 
 thee, then let me bear the blame for ever ! And, surely, if 
 we had not lingered we could by this time have returned 
 from our second visit." Then their father Israel said unto 
 them, " If it must be so, now do this : — Take of the best 
 fruits, in the land in your vessels, and carry down a present 
 for the man, some balm, and some preserved grapes, spices 
 and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. Take also a fresh 
 supply of money ; yea, the money that was brought again in 
 the mouth of your sacks take it also with you ; perhaps 
 there was some mistake. And take your brother, and arise 
 go to the man." (xliii. 8-13.) 
 
THE GREAT SUCCESS 9 
 
 Their new adventures. — The men, therefore, took that 
 present, and* a fresh supply of money with them, and 
 Benjamin, and at once went down to Egypt, and stood 
 before Joseph. Now when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, 
 he said to the steward of the house, " Bring these men into 
 my house, and slay, and make ready, for these men shall 
 dine with me at noon." The steward did as Joseph bade 
 him, and brought the men into Joseph's house. But they 
 were afraid when they were taken into Joseph's house, and 
 they said, " It is because of the money that was returned in 
 our sacks at the first time that we are brought in ! That he 
 may turn against us, and fall upon us, and take us for 
 bondmen, and our asses ! " Then they came near to the 
 steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at 
 the door of the house, and said, " O sir, we came indeed 
 down at the first time to buy food, and it came to pass, 
 when we came to the Resting-place that we opened our 
 sacks, and, behold ! every man's money was in the mouth 
 of his sack, our money in full weight, and we have brought 
 it again in our hand. Other money, also, have we brought 
 down in our hands to buy food — we cannot tell who put 
 our.money in our sacks." Then he replied, "Peace be to 
 you ! Fear not ! Your God, and the God of your father 
 hath given you treasure in your sacks — I had your money." 
 The steward, thereupon, took the men into Joseph's house 
 and gave them water, and washed their feet, and gave their 
 asses food. (xliii. 15-24.) 
 
 The feast in Joseph's house. — Then they made ready 
 the present before Joseph came at noon, for they heard 
 that they should dine there. And when Joseph came home 
 they brought him the present, which they had with them, 
 
IO THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 into the house. He then asked them how they were, and 
 said, " Is your father well — the old man of whom ye spake ? 
 Is he yet alive?" And they answered, "Thy servant, our 
 father is well — he is still alive." And they bowed down 
 their heads. Joseph, then, lifted up his eyes, and saw his 
 brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, " Is this your 
 younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me ? " And he 
 added, " God be gracious unto thee, my son ! " He then 
 hurried away (for he yearned towards his brother), and 
 sought a place to weep. And he entered into his chamber, 
 and wept there. Then having washed his face, he went 
 out, and restrained himself, as he said, " Let the feast 
 begin." Now he sat by himself at table, and the brethren 
 by themselves, and the Egyptians by themselves, because 
 the Egyptians might not eat along with the Hebrews, for 
 that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. They were 
 arranged before him, the firstborn according to his birth- 
 right, and the youngest according to his youth, insomuch 
 that they marvelled among themselves. He also gave por- 
 tions unto them from his own table, but Benjamin's portion 
 was five times greater than any of theirs. Then they drank 
 and were merry with him. (xliii. 25-34.) 
 
 The loss of the silver cup. — Another test. — He then 
 commanded the steward of his house to fill every one of 
 their sacks with food, as much as they could carry, and to 
 put every man's money in his sack's mouth, also to put his 
 cup, his silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, 
 along with his money for the corn. And he did according 
 to what Joseph told him. As soon as it was light, in the 
 morning, they were sent away, they and their asses. When 
 they were gone out of the city, not yet very far, Joseph said 
 
THE GREAT SUCCESS II 
 
 unto his steward, "Up, follow after them. And when thou 
 dost overtake them, say unto them, ' Wherefore have ye 
 rewarded me evil for good? Is not this the cup in which 
 my master drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth ? Ye 
 have done wrong in so doing.' " Then he overtook them, 
 and spake unto them these same words. But they said 
 unto him, "Wherefore saith my lord these words? God 
 forbid that thy servants should do such a thing ! Behold ! 
 the money which we found in our sacks' mouths we brought 
 again unto thee out of the land of Canaan, how then should 
 we steal out of thy master's house silver or gold ? With 
 whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, 
 and let the rest of us be my lord's bondmen." Then he 
 said, " Now also let it be as you say. He with whom it is 
 found shall be my servant, and ye shall go away in peace." 
 They then quickly took down every man his sack, and 
 opened them. And he searched, beginning at the eldest 
 and stopping at the youngest, and the cup was found in 
 Benjamin's sack. Then they rent their clothes, and laded 
 every man his ass, and returned to the city. 
 
 (xliv. 1-13.) 
 The noble action of Judah. — His intercession. — Then 
 Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house (for he was 
 still there), and they fell before him on the ground. And 
 Joseph said unto them, " What is this that ye have done ? 
 Did ye not know that such a man as I can certainly 
 divine ? " Judah then said, " What shall we say unto 
 you, sir? What shall we speak? or how shall we clear 
 ourselves? God hath found out the wrong -doing of 
 thy servants. Lo ! we are my lord's servants, both we, 
 and he, also, with whom the cup is found." But 
 Joseph said, "God forbid that I should do so. The 
 
12 THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 one with whom the cup is found, he shall be my servant ; 
 but as for you, go you up in peace unto your father. '' Then 
 Judah came near unto him, and said, "O sir! let thy ser- 
 vant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let 
 not thine anger burn against thy servant, for thou art even 
 as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, * Have ye 
 a father or a brother?' And we replied, 'We have a 
 father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one, 
 and his brother is dead, and he alone is left by his mother, 
 and his father loveth him.' Then thou saidst unto thy 
 servants, ' Bring him down unto me, that I may see him.' 
 But we said unto my lord, ' The lad cannot leave his father ; 
 for if he should leave his father, his father would die ! ' 
 And thou saidst unto thy servants, ' Except your youngest 
 brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.' 
 Then it came to pass when we went up unto thy servant our 
 father, we told him the words of my lord. When our father 
 told us to go again and buy a little food, then we said, ' We 
 cannot go down ! If our youngest brother be with us, then 
 will we go down, for we cannot see the man's face except 
 our youngest brother be with us.' And thy servant, my 
 father, said unto us, ( Ye know that my wife bare me two 
 sons, and the one went away, and I said, " Surely he is torn 
 in pieces ! " and I have not seen him since, so that if ye take 
 this one also from me, and harm befall him, ye shall bring 
 down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol ! ' Now, there- 
 fore, when I come to thy servant, my father, and the lad be 
 not with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life, 
 it shall come to pass when he seeth that the lad is not with 
 us, that he will die ! And thy servants shall bring down 
 the grey hairs of thy servant, our father, with sorrow to the 
 grave. For thy. servant became surety for the lad unto my 
 
THE GREAT SUCCESS 1 3 
 
 father, saying, ' If I bring him not to thee, then I shall bear 
 the blame to my father for ever.' Now, then, I pray thee, 
 let thy servant abide here instead of the lad, as a bondman 
 to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers ! For 
 how can I go up to my father without the lad? Then 
 indeed would some great blow come upon my father ! " 
 
 (xliv. I4-34-) 
 
 Joseph makes himself known. — Now Joseph could no 
 longer restrain his feelings in the presence of those that 
 stood by him, so that he cried out, " Let every one of you 
 go away ! " Thus there was no one there, when he made 
 himself known unto his brothers. Then Joseph said unto 
 them, " Come close to me, I pray you ! " And when they 
 came near, he said unto them, " I am Joseph ! your 
 brother, whom ye sold into Egypt ! Now see ! Your eyes, 
 and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, see, that it is my 
 mouth that speaketh unto you ! " He then fell upon his 
 brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin fell upon 
 his neck. And they afterwards conversed together. Then 
 he gave them all beautiful raiment, but to Benjamin he 
 gave five splendid garments. To his father he sent as 
 follows : — Ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, 
 and ten she-asses laden with corn, and bread and meat for 
 his father by the way. And he said, " Now thou art com- 
 manded ! This do ye. Take you waggons out of Egypt 
 for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your 
 father, and come. Say unto him, * Thou shalt dwell in the 
 land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and 
 thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks and 
 thy herds, and all that thou hast, and there will I support 
 thee.'" 
 
 Joseph, then, gave them waggons, and sent his brethren 
 
14 THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 away, and they departed. Now they came to their father, 
 and told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive ! He is governor 
 over all the land of Egypt ! " But he was taken aback, for 
 he believed them not. When, however, he saw the waggons 
 which Joseph had sent to carry him down, then the spirits of 
 their father revived, and Israel said, " It is enough ! Joseph, 
 my son, is still alive ! I will go and see him before I die ! " 
 (xlv. i, 3, 4, 12, 14, 15, 22, 23, 19, 10, 11, 2J, 24-28.) 
 The departure from Canaan. — Then Israel took his 
 journey with all that he had. And he sent Judah before 
 him unto Joseph to arrange for their meeting in Goshen. 
 So when they were come into the land of Goshen, Joseph 
 made ready his chariot, and went up to meet his father 
 Israel in Goshen, and presented himself unto him, and he 
 fell on his neck, and wept upon his neck a long time. 
 Then said Israel unto Joseph, " Now let me die, since I 
 have seen thy face, that thou art still alive ! " And Joseph 
 said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, " I will 
 go up, and show Pharaoh, and tell him, that my brethren, 
 and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, 
 are come unto me, and that they are shepherds (for their 
 occupation has been to feed cattle), and have brought their 
 flocks and their herds, and all that they have. Now it shall 
 be, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, 'What is 
 your occupation ? ' that ye shall say, * Thy servants have 
 been occupied about cattle from our youth, even until now, 
 both we, and also our fathers,' that so ye may dwell in the 
 land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination unto 
 the Egyptians." (xlvi. 1, 28-34.) 
 
 Joseph tells Pharaoh. — Joseph then went and told 
 Pharaoh, and said, " My father, and my brothers, and their 
 
THE GREAT SUCCESS 1 5 
 
 flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out 
 of the land of Canaan, and behold ! they are in the land of 
 Goshen." And he took some of his brethren, even five 
 men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh 
 said unto his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And 
 they said in reply, " Thy servants are shepherds, both we 
 and also our fathers." They also added, "We come to 
 sojourn in the land, for the famine is sore in the land of 
 Canaan. Now, therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants 
 dwell in Goshen." And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, 
 saying, " Let them dwell in Goshen, and if thou knowest 
 of any qualified men among them, then make them chief 
 shepherds over my cattle." (xlvii. 1-6.) 
 
 The settlement in Goshen. — Israel then dwelt in the 
 land of Goshen ; and Joseph supported his father, and his 
 brethren, and all his father's house with bread according to 
 their families. And it came to pass after these things, that 
 it was told to Joseph, " Behold ! thy father is sick.'' Then 
 he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 
 Then it was told Israel, saying, " Behold ! thy son Joseph 
 cometh unto thee.'' And Israel strengthened himself, and 
 sat up on the bed. 1 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for 
 age, so that he could not see ; and when he beheld Joseph's 
 sons, he said, " Who are these ? " And Joseph said unto 
 his father, "These are my sons, whom God hath given me 
 in this place." Then he said, " Bring them, I pray you, 
 near unto me, that I may bless them." And he brought 
 them near unto him, and he kissed them and embraced 
 them. Israel then said unto Joseph, " I had not thought 
 to see thy face ! and lo ! God hath let me see thy children 
 1 Heb. xi. 21 ; I Kings i. 47. 
 
l6 THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 also ! " And Joseph brought them out from between his 
 knees, and bowed himself with his face to the earth. And 
 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward 
 Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward 
 Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. Then 
 Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon 
 Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand 
 upon Manasseh's head, crossing his hands in purpose, for 
 Manasseh was the firstborn. Now, when Joseph saw that 
 his father was placing his right hand on Ephraim's head, it 
 displeased him, and he held up his father's hand to remove 
 it from Ephraim's head on to that of Manasseh, saying unto 
 his father, " Not so, my father ! for this is the firstborn, put 
 thy right hand on his head." But his father refused, saying, 
 " I know it, my son ! I know it ! He also shall become a 
 people, and shall become great also ; nevertheless, his 
 younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall 
 become a multitude of nations." And he blessed them that 
 day, and said, "Through thee shall Israel bless, saying, 
 God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh. '' Thus he set 
 Ephraim before Manasseh. 
 
 (xlvii. 27, 12, xlviii. 1, 2, 10, 8-14, 17-20.) 
 Israel's blessing. — Now Israel said — 
 " Gather yourselves, and hearken ! Ye sons of Jacob ! 
 Yea, listen unto Israel, your father ! 
 Reuben ! Thou art my firstborn ! My strength ! My 
 first-fruits ! 
 Thou art excellent in dignity ! Excellent in power ! 
 Bubbling over as water, thou shalt not have the excel- 
 lency ! 
 Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed ; 
 And thou defiledst it ! He went up to my couch ! 
 
THE GREAT SUCCESS I 7 
 
 Simeon and Levi ! They are brothers ! Weapons of 
 violence are their counsels ! 
 
 my soul ! Come not into their secret ! My glory ! 
 
 Join not their company ! 
 In their anger they slew men ! In their wrath they 
 
 houghed oxen ! 
 Cursed be their anger ! It was hot ! Their wrath ! Oh ! 
 
 it was cruel ! 
 
 1 will divide them in Jacob ! I will scatter them in Israel ! 
 Judah ! Thy brethren shall praise thee ! Thy hand 
 
 shall be on thy foes ! 
 Thy father's sons shall bow down to thee. 
 Judah is a lion's cub ! From the prey, my son, thou 
 
 art gone up ! 
 He stooped down ! He crouched as a lion ! As a lioness, 
 
 who shall rouse Him ? 
 The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah ! Nor the 
 
 ruler's staff from between his feet ! x 
 Unto him shall be the obedience of the people ! 
 Binding his foal to the vine ! His colt unto the choice 
 
 vine ! 
 He washed his garments in wine — his robes in the juice 
 
 of grapes ! 
 His eyes shall flash with wine ! White are his teeth with 
 
 milk! 
 Zebulun ! He dwells by the sea ! He shall be a haven 
 
 for ships ! 
 His border shall extend to Zidon ! 
 Issachar ! He is a strong ass, lying down in the cattle- 
 sheds ! 
 
 1 The words "until he come to Shiloh, 5 ' or "his goal," are uncertain 
 in their meaning* 
 2 
 
1 8 THE LIFE OF JOSEPH 
 
 Yea, he saw that rest was good, and that the earth is 
 
 pleasant ! 
 Therefore, he submitted to the yoke, and became tributary ! 
 Dan ! He judgeth the people, as one of the tribes of 
 
 Israel ! 
 Dan shall be a serpent in the way ! An adder in the 
 
 path! 
 He biteth the horse's heels ! The rider falleth back- 
 ward ! 
 Gad ! A troop shall press him, but he shall pursue 
 
 them ! 1 
 Asher ! His bread shall be plenteous ! He shall yield 
 
 royal dainties ! 
 Naphtali ! A slender terebinth ! With goodly boughs ! 
 Joseph ! He is a fruitful branch ; a fruitful branch by a 
 fountain ! 
 His branches spread over the wall ! 
 The archers ill-treated him ! They shot at him, and 
 
 persecuted him ! 
 But his bow abode in strength ! The arms of his hands 
 were made strong, 
 By the Hands of the Mighty One of Jacob ! 
 By the Name of the Shepherd, the Refuge of Israel ! 
 By the God of thy father ! So may He help thee ! 
 By the God Almighty ! So may He bless thee ! 
 With blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep 
 
 beneath ! 
 Blessings of the breast and of the womb ! 
 The blessings of thy father are greater than the ancient 
 hills, 
 
 x (< O Jehovah ! I have waited for Thy salvation." These words must 
 belong to another place. 
 
THE GREAT SUCCESS 1 9 
 
 Than the glories of the everlasting mountains, 
 May they be on the head of Joseph, on the head of 
 him that is chief among his brethren ! 
 Benjamin ! He is a ravening wolf ! 
 In the morning he seizeth his prey ! In the evening 
 he divideth the spoil ! (xlix. 1-27.) 
 
 The funeral of Jacob. — Now the time drew near that 
 Israel must die, and he called Joseph his son, and said unto 
 him, " If now I have found favour with thee, put thy hand 
 under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Bury 
 me not, I pray thee, in Egypt ; but when I sleep with my 
 fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in 
 their burying-place." And he said, " I will do as thou hast 
 said." Then he said, "Swear unto me." And he sware 
 unto him. Israel then bowed himself on the head of the 
 bed, and gathered up his feet into the bed. And Joseph 
 fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed 
 him. Then Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, 
 to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel. 
 Then the forty days were fulfilled for him (for this is the 
 number of the days of embalming), and the Egyptians 
 mourned for him seventy days. And when the days of 
 his mourning were over, Joseph spake unto the house of 
 the Pharaoh, saying, " If now I have found favour with 
 you, speak, I pray you, to the Pharaoh, saying, ' My father 
 made me swear, saying, " Lo ! I die ! In the grave which I 
 have made for myself in the land of Canaan, there shalt 
 thou bury me!" 1 Now, therefore, let me go up, I pray you, 
 and bury my father, and I will come again.'' Then the 
 Pharaoh said, " Go up and bury thy father, according as he 
 made thee swear." Then Joseph went up to bury his 
 
2 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 father, and with him went up all the servants of the 
 Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and the elders of the 
 land of Egypt, and all the household of Joseph, and his 
 brothers, and his father's household ; only their little ones, 
 and their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of 
 Egypt. And there went up with him both chariots and 
 horsemen, and it was a very great company. Then they 
 came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond 1 
 Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and 
 sore lamentation, yea, he mourned for his father seven 
 days. And when the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the 
 land, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, 
 "This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians," wherefore 
 the name of the place is called Abel-Mitzraim, i.e. the 
 mourning of Egypt. (It is on this side Jordan.) Then 
 Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all that 
 went up with him to bury his father. 
 
 (xlvii. 29-31, xlix. 33, 1. i-n, 14.) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Appointment and Commission of Moses. 
 
 Moses commissioned. — Then Jehovah said, "I have 
 certainly seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, 
 and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, 
 and I know their sorrows. Therefore I am come down to 
 deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to 
 bring them up out of that land unto a good land, and a 
 large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey — unto the 
 1 I.e. on this side, from the point of view of the writer. 
 
THE APPOINTMENT AND COMMISSION OF MOSES 21 
 
 land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, 
 Hivites, and Jebusites, Go, and gather the heads of Israel 
 together, and say unto them, 'Jehovah, the God of your 
 fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared 
 unto me, saying, " I have visited you, and seen what is 
 done to you in Egypt : and I have said, ' I will bring you 
 up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the 
 Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebu- 
 sites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey * ; and they 
 shall hearken to thy words, and thou shalt come, thou 
 and the heads of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and say 
 unto him, 'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, hath met 
 with us, and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' 
 journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to 
 Jehovah, our God.' But I am sure the king of Egypt will 
 not let you go, no, not even by force; therefore I will 
 stretch out My hand, and smite Egypt with all My wonders, 
 which I will do in the midst thereof, and after that he 
 will let you go." (Ex. iii. 7, S, 16-20.) 
 
 The difficulties of Moses. — Divine helps. — Then Moses 
 answered and said, " But, behold ! they will not believe 
 me, nor hearken unto my words, for they will say, ' Jehovah 
 hath not appeared unto thee.'" Jehovah then said unto 
 him, "What is that in thine hand?" And he said, "A 
 shepherd's rod ! " Then He said, " Cast it on the ground." 
 And Moses cast it upon the ground, and it became a 
 serpent, so that he fled from before it. But Jehovah 
 said unto him, "Put forth thine hand, and take it by 
 the tail." Then he put forth his hand and caught it, 
 and it became a rod in his hand. " This do that they 
 may believe that Jehovah, the God of Abraham, the 
 
2 2 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 God of Isaac, and the God of Israel, hath appeared unto 
 thee." 
 
 Second help. — Jehovah then furthermore said unto him, 
 "Put now thine hand into thy bosom." And he put his 
 hand into his bosom ; and when he took it out, behold ! 
 his hand was leprous as snow. Then God said, " Put thine 
 hand into thy bosom again." And he put his hand into 
 his bosom again ; and when he plucked it out of his bosom, 
 behold ! it had become again as his flesh. " Now it shall 
 come to pass if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to 
 the teaching of the first sign, that they will believe that of 
 the second sign." 
 
 A third help. — " And it shall come to pass, if they will 
 not believe also these two signs, nor hearken unto thy 
 words, that thou shalt take the water of the river, and pour 
 it upon the dry land. The water which thou takest out of 
 the river shall become blood upon the dry land." 
 
 (iv. 1-9.) 
 
 Moses still unwilling. — Then Moses said unto Jehovah, 
 " O my God ! I am not eloquent, neither before this, nor 
 since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant, but I am slow 
 of speech, and of a slow tongue." But Jehovah said unto 
 him, "Who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh 
 the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind ? Have not 
 I, Jehovah, done so? Now, therefore, go, and I will be 
 with thy mouth, and teach thee what to say." But Moses 
 answered, " my God ! send, I pray Thee, Thy message 
 by another." Then the anger of Jehovah was kindled 
 against Moses, and He said, "Is not Aaron, the Levite, 
 thy brother? I know he can speak well. And also, be- 
 
THE APPOINTMENT AND COMMISSION OF MOSES 23 
 
 hold! he cometh forth to meet thee, and when he seeth 
 thee, he will be glad in his heart. Thou shalt speak unto 
 him, and put words in his mouth, and I will be with thy 
 mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach ye what ye 
 shall do. Thus he shall be thy spokesman unto the people, 
 yea, he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou 
 shalt be to him instead of God. (iv. 10-16.) 
 
 Moses obeys. — Then Jehovah said to Moses in Midian, 
 " Go, return ye into Egypt, for all the men are dead who 
 sought thy life." (And Moses took his wife, and his sons, 
 and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of 
 Egypt.) "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, * Thus saith 
 Jehovah^ " Israel is My son, My firstborn, and I say unto 
 thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me ! 1 For if thou 
 re/use to let him go, behold! I will slay thy son, thy 
 firstborn." 
 
 An incident by the way. — Now it came to pass by 
 the way at the Rest-house that Jehovah met him, and sought 
 to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cir- 
 cumcised her son, saying unto him, "Surely thou art a 
 husband by blood unto me.'' So He let him go, and she 
 said, " A husband by blood," referring to the rite. 
 
 (iv. 17-26.) 
 
 Aaron sent to Moses. — Jehovah then said to Aaron, 
 " Go unto the wilderness to meet Moses " ; and he went, and 
 met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. There- 
 upon Moses told Aaron all the words of Jehovah, who had 
 sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. 
 Moses and Aaron then went and gathered together all the 
 1 Hos. xi. 1. 
 
24 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 heads of the Children of Israel, and Aaron spake all the 
 words which Jehovah had spoken unto Moses, and did the 
 signs in the sight of the people, so that they believed. For 
 when they heard that Jehovah had visited the Children of 
 Israel, and looked upon their affliction, they bowed their 
 heads, and worshipped. (iv. 27-31.) 
 
 Interview with the Pharaoh. — After this Moses and 
 Aaron went in and told the Pharaoh, " Thus saith Jehovah, 
 God of Israel, 'Let My people go, that they may hold a 
 feast unto Me in the wilderness.' " 
 
 But Pharaoh said, " Who is Jehovah, that I should obey 
 His voice to let Israel go ? I know not Jehovah, neither 
 will I let Israel go ! " 
 
 Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews hath met with 
 us. Let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the 
 wilderness that we may sacrifice unto Jehovah, our God, 
 lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword." 
 
 The king of Egypt, however, said unto them, "Where- 
 fore do ye, Moses and Aaron, hinder the people from their 
 work? Get you unto your burdens." The Pharaoh also 
 added, " Behold the people of the land now are many, and 
 ye make them rest from their tasks." He, therefore, the 
 same day commanded the taskmasters of the people, and 
 their officers, saying, " Give the people no more straw to 
 make brick, as heretofore ! Let them go and gather straw 
 for themselves ! But the quality of bricks, which they did 
 make heretofore, ye shall require of them ; ye shall not 
 lessen it at all ! For they are idle ! Therefore they cry, 
 saying, * Let us go and sacrifice unto our God.' Nay, let 
 more work be laid upon them that they may toil therein, 
 and not pay attention to empty words.'' (v. 1-9.) 
 
THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL AND ITS END 25 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Oppression of Israel and its End. 
 
 The sad condition of the people. — The taskmasters of 
 the people then went out, and their officers, and they spake 
 to the people saying, "Thus saith the Pharaoh, 'I will not 
 give you straw ! Go ye, get you straw where ye can find 
 it ! Yet nothing of the prescribed work shall be lessened.' " 
 Thus the people were scattered abroad throughout all the 
 land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw ; and the 
 taskmasters hastened them, saying, "Fulfil your amount, 
 your daily quantity, as when there was straw.'' Then the 
 officers of the Children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's task- 
 masters had set over them, were beaten, and asked, "Why 
 have you not fulfilled your task, in making brick both 
 yesterday and to-day as heretofore ? " Hence the officers of 
 the Children of Israel came and cried unto the Pharaoh, 
 saying, " Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants ? 
 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say 
 unto us, ' Make brick ! ' And behold, thy servants are beaten, 
 but the fault is in thine own people." But he said, " Ye are 
 idle ! Ye are idle ! Therefore ye say, ( Let us go and sacrifice 
 unto Jehovah ! ' Begone now ! Go to work ! There 
 shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the required 
 amount of bricks." Then the officers of the Children 
 of Israel saw that they were in a sad case, when it was said, 
 " The quantity of your daily task shall not be lessened." 
 
 (v. 1 -1 9.) 
 
 Moses is blamed. — Therefore they met Moses and 
 Aaron, who stood in the way as they came forth from the 
 
26 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 Pharaoh, and said unto them, "Jehovah look upon you and 
 judge ! Ye have made us to be abhorred in the eyes of the 
 Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, putting a sword 
 into their hands to slay us." Then Moses returned unto 
 Jehovah, and said, "0 Jehovah ! Why hast Thou brought 
 so much suffering upon this people ? Why is it that Thou 
 hast sent me ? For since I came to the Pharaoh to speak 
 in Thy name, he hath dealt cruelly with this people ; and 
 Thou hast brought no deliverance to them at all." Then 
 Jehovah said unto Moses, " Now shalt thou see what I will 
 do to the Pharaoh. For he shall be forced to let them go ; 
 yet by my stretched out Hand shall he be made to drive 
 them out of his land." (v. 20-vi. 1.) 
 
 The divine compulsion. — And Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 "Pharaoh's heart is hardened ! He refuseth to let the 
 people go ! Get thee unto him in the morning, when he 
 goeth out unto the water. Thou shalt wait for him on 
 the bank of the river Nile. And thou shalt say unto him, 
 c Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee, 
 saying, " Let My people go that they may serve Me in the 
 wilderness " ; and, behold, hitherto thou wouldst not hear ! 
 Thus saith Jehovah : "By this shalt thou know that I am 
 Jehovah. Behold ! I will smite upon the water which is in 
 the Nile, and it shall be turned into blood, and the fish 
 which is in the river shall die, and the river shall become 
 loathsome, and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the 
 water of the Nile." But the Pharaoh turned away, and went 
 into his house, and did not pay any attention to this either. 
 
 (vii. 14-18, 23.) 
 
 A second visitation. 1 — Now seven days were fulfilled 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxviii. 45. 
 
THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL AND ITS END 27 
 
 after that Jehovah had smitten the Nile. Then Jehovah 
 spake unto Moses, " Go unto the Pharaoh, and say unto 
 him ; 'Thus saith Jehovah, " Let My people go, that they may 
 serve Me. For if thou refuse to let them go, behold ! I will 
 smite all thy borders with frogs ; and the Nile shall bring 
 forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up, and come into 
 thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, 
 and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, 
 and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs ; and 
 the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, 
 and upon all thy servants." Then the Pharaoh called for 
 Moses and Aaron, and said, "Entreat Jehovah, that He 
 may take away the frogs from me and from my people, and 
 I will let the people go that they may sacrifice unto 
 Jehovah.'' And Moses said unto the Pharaoh, "Glory over 
 me ! When shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, 
 and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee, and thy 
 houses, that they may remain in the river only ? " And he 
 said, "To-morrow." Then he said, "Be it according to 
 thy word, that thou mayest know that there is none like 
 unto Jehovah, our God. And the frogs shall depart from 
 thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and 
 from thy people. They shall remain in the river only." 
 Moses and Aaron then went out from the Pharaoh; and 
 Moses cried unto Jehovah because of the frogs, which 
 He had brought against the Pharaoh. And Jehovah 
 did according to the word of Moses. Then the frogs 
 died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of 
 the fields ; and they gathered them together into heaps 
 that the land stank. But when the Pharaoh saw that 
 there was respite, he hardened his heart. 
 
 (vii. 25-viii. 4, 8-15.) 
 
28 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 The third visitation. — Again Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before the 
 Pharaoh. Lo ! he cometh forth to the water, and say unto 
 him : ' Thus saith Jehovah, " Let My people go that they may 
 serve Me. Else if thou wilt not let My people go, behold ! 
 I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, 
 and upon thy people, and into thy houses, so that the 
 houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and 
 also the ground whereon they are. And I will separate in 
 that day the land of Goshen, wherein My people dwell, that 
 no swarms of flies shall be there, so that thou mayest know 
 that I, Jehovah, am in the midst of the earth. Yea, I will 
 make a division between My people and thy people. 
 To-morrow shall this sign be." Thus Jehovah did, and 
 there came a grievous swarm of flies into the royal palace, 
 and into the houses of the court, and into all the land of 
 Egypt. The land was infected by the swarms of flies. 
 Then the Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, 
 " Go ye ! Sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the land ! " 
 But Moses said, " It is not meet so to do ! For we shall 
 sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah our 
 God. Lo ! shall we sacrifice the abomination of the 
 Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us ? 
 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and 
 sacrifice unto Jehovah, our God, as He shall command us." 
 Then the Pharaoh said, "I will let you go that ye may 
 sacrifice to Jehovah, your God, in the wilderness, only ye 
 shall not go very far away. Entreat for me." And Moses 
 said, "Behold! I go out from thee, and I will entreat 
 Jehovah that these swarms may depart from the Pharaoh, 
 from his servants, and from his people, to-morrow ; but let 
 not the Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the 
 
THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL AND ITS END 29 
 
 people go to sacrifice to Jehovah." Then Moses went out 
 from the royal presence, and entreated Jehovah ; and He did 
 according to the word of Moses, for He removed the swarms 
 from the Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people ; 
 there remained not one. But the Pharaoh hardened his 
 heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go. 
 
 (viii. 20-32.) 
 The fourth calamity. — Then Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 "Go in unto the Pharaoh, and tell him: 'Thus saith 
 Jehovah, God of the Hebrews, " Let My people go that they 
 may serve Me." ' For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt 
 hold them still, behold ! the Hand of Jehovah is upon thy 
 cattle, which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, 
 upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep. 
 There shall be a very grievous murrain ; but Jehovah shall 
 separate between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of 
 Egypt, and there shall nothing die of all that is the Children 
 of Israel's." And Jehovah appointed a set time, saying, 
 "To-morrow, Jehovah shall do this thing in the land." 
 Then Jehovah did that thing on the morrow, and all the 
 cattle of Egypt died, but of the cattle of the Children of 
 Israel not one died ; for the Pharaoh sent, and, behold ! not 
 one of the cattle of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of 
 the Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. 
 
 (ix. 1-7.) 
 The fifth visitation. — Then Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 " Rise up early in the morning, and stand before the 
 Pharaoh, and say unto him, ' Thus saith Jehovah, the God 
 of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve 
 Me ; for if not, I will at this time send these My plagues 
 upon thine heart, and upon thine servants, and upon thy 
 people, that thou mayest know that there is none like Me 
 
30 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 in all the earth. For else I would have stretched out My 
 hand and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and 
 thou wouldest have been cut off from the earth. Yea, in 
 very deed, for this have I raised thee up, for to show in 
 thee My power, and that My name may be declared through- 
 out all the earth. As yet exaltest thou thyself against My 
 people, that thou wilt not let them go ? Behold ! to-morrow' 
 about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, 
 such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof 
 until now. Send therefore now ! Gather thy cattle, and all 
 that thou hast in the fields ! Every man and beast which 
 shall be found in the fields and not brought home shall be 
 hailed upon so that they shall die. 1 ' He that feared the 
 word of Jehovah among the servants of the Pharaoh made 
 his servants and his cattle flee into the houses, but he that 
 regarded not the word of Jehovah left his servants and his 
 cattle in the fields. Then Jehovah sent thunder and hail, 
 and the lightning ran along upon the ground. Yea, Jehovah 
 rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and 
 lightning mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there 
 was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a 
 nation. For the hail smote throughout all the land of 
 Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast, and the 
 hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of 
 the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children 
 of Israel were, was there no hail. Then Pharaoh sent, and 
 called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, " I have 
 sinned this time ! Jehovah is righteous ! I and my people 
 are wicked ! Entreat Jehovah for us ! It is enough ! Let 
 there be no more mighty thunderings and hail, and I will 
 let you go, that ye shall stay no longer. 1 ' Then Moses said 
 unto him, "As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will 
 
THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL AND ITS END 3 1 
 
 spread out my hands unto Jehovah, that the thunder may 
 cease, and that there be no more hail, that thou mayest know 
 that the earth is Jehovah's. But as for thee and thy ser- 
 vants, I know that ye will not yet fear Jehovah, the God." 
 Moses then went out of the city from the royal presence, 
 and spread out his hands unto Jehovah, and the thunders 
 and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the 
 earth. And when the Pharaoh saw that the rain and the 
 thunder were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his 
 heart, he and his servants. (ix. 13-21, 23^-34.) 
 
 The sixth visitation. — And Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 " Go in unto the Pharaoh, for he has hardened his heart, 
 and the heart of his servants, that I might show these My 
 signs before him. And that thou mayest tell in the ears of 
 thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in 
 Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that 
 ye may know that I am Jehovah." Then Moses and 
 Aaron came in unto the Pharaoh, and said unto him, " Thus 
 saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, ' How long wilt 
 thou refuse to humble thyself before Me ? Let My people 
 go, that they may serve Me ; else, if thou refuse to let My 
 people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring the locusts into 
 thy country, and they shall cover the face of the earth, that 
 one cannot be able to see the ground ; and they shall eat 
 what has been left, what remaineth unto you from the hail, 
 and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the 
 field, and they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all 
 thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians. Neither 
 thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen such since the 
 day that they were alive unto this day.' " Then he turned 
 himself and went out from the Pharaoh. But the Pharaoh's 
 
32 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 ministers said unto him, "How long shall this man be a 
 snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve 
 Jehovah, their God. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is 
 destroyed ? " 
 
 Then Jehovah brought an east wind upon the land all 
 that day, and all that night. When it was morning the east 
 wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all 
 the land of Egypt, and rested in all the districts of Egypt. 
 Very grievous were they. Before them there were no such 
 locusts as they, neither after them shall there be such. For 
 they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land 
 was darkened ; and they did eat every herb of the land, and 
 all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left, and there 
 remained not any green thing on the trees, or on the herbs 
 of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 
 
 (x. 1-7, 13-15.) 
 
 The last interview. — Then the Pharaoh called for 
 Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, "I have sinned 
 against Jehovah, your God, and against you ; now, therefore, 
 forgive my sin only this once, and e'ntreat Jehovah, your 
 God, that He may take away from me this death only ! " 
 And he went out from the Pharaoh, and entreated Jehovah. 
 Then Jehovah turned a mighty strong west wind, which 
 took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red Sea. 
 There remained not one locust in all the districts of Egypt. 
 The Pharaoh, then, said unto him, " Get thee away from me ! 
 Take heed to thyself ! see my face no more ! For on the 
 day thou seest my face thou shalt die ! " And Moses said, 
 "Thou hast spoken well! I will see thy face no more!" 
 And Moses said, "Thus saith Jehovah, * About midnight 
 will I go out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn 
 in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of the 
 
THE DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT 33 
 
 Pharaoh, that sitteth upon the throne, even unto the first- 
 born of the maid that is behind the mill, and all the first- 
 born of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all 
 the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall 
 be like it any more, but against any of the Children of Israel 
 shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast, that 
 ye may know how that Jehovah doth put a difference 
 between the Egyptians and Israel.' Then all these thy ser- 
 vants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves 
 unto me, saying, ' Get thee out, and all the people that follow 
 thee ! y Then after that I will go out." And he went out from 
 the Pharaoh in a great anger, (x. 16-19, 28, 29, xi. 4-8.) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Departure out of Egypt. 
 
 Passover preparations. — Then Moses called for all the 
 elders of Israel, and said unto them, " Draw out, and take 
 you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. 
 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood 
 that is in the basin, and strike the lintel, and the two side 
 posts with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you 
 shall go out at the door of his house till the morning. For 
 Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when 
 Pie seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side 
 posts, Jehovah will pass over the door, and will not suffer the 
 destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. This 
 ye shall observe as an ordinance to thee, and to thy sons 
 for ever ; so that it shall come to pass, when ye be come to 
 the land which Jehovah will give you, according as He hath 
 
34 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 promised, that ye shall keep this service. And when your 
 children shall say unto you, ( What mean ye by this service ? ' 
 Then ye shall say, £ It is the sacrifice of Jehovah's Passover, 
 Who passed over the houses of the Children of Israel in 
 Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our 
 houses.' " Then the people bowed their head, and wor- 
 shipped. 
 
 The last blow on Egypt. — And it came to pass that at 
 midnight Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of 
 Egypt, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh that sat on the 
 throne, unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the 
 dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. Then the Pharaoh' 
 rose up in the night, he and all his court, and all the Egyp- 
 tians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not 
 a house where there was not one dead. 
 
 (xii. 21-27, 29, 30.) 
 
 The Exodus. — Then Moses said unto the people, 
 "Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt, 
 out of the house of bondage; for by His strong hand 
 Jehovah brought you out from this place. ' There shall no 
 leavened bread be eaten.' This day came ye out in the 
 month Abib. And it shall be when Jehovah shall bring 
 thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and 
 the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He 
 sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk 
 and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. 
 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and on the 
 seventh day shall be a feast unto Jehovah. Unleavened 
 bread shall be eaten seven days, and there shall no leavened 
 bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen 
 with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt show thy son 
 
THE DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT 
 
 35 
 
 in that day, saying, 'This is done because of that which 
 Jehovah did unto me, when I came forth out of Egypt.' 
 And there shall be a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and a 
 memorial between thine eyes, that the law of Jehovah may 
 be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath Jehovah 
 brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this 
 ordinance in its season from year to year.*' (xiii. 3-10.) 
 
 The redemption of the firstborn. — " And it shall be 
 when Jehovah shall bring thee into the land of the 
 CanaaniteS) as He sware unto thee and unto thy fathers, 
 and shall give it thee, that thou shalt set apart unto Jehovah 
 every firstborn child, and every firstborn of a beast, that 
 thou hast. The males shall be for Jehovah. But every 
 firstborn of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb ; and if 
 thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt kill it. Even all 
 the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. 
 And it shall be when thy son asl^eth thee in time to come, 
 saying, ' What is this ? ' that thou shalt say unto him, ' By 
 strength of hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from 
 the house of bondage ; and it came to pass that when the 
 Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Jehovah slew all the 
 firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man 
 and the firstborn of beast, therefore I dedicate to Jehovah 
 every firstborn male, but all the firstborn of my children I 
 redeem.' And there shall be a token upon thine hand, and 
 frontlets between thine eyes. For by a strong hand Jehovah 
 brought us forth out of Egypt." (xiii. 11-16.) 
 
 The first difficulties. — When the Children of Israel 
 went out, Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of a 
 cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire 
 
36 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 to give them light ; so that they could go by day and night. 
 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the 
 pillar of fire by night from before the people. And it was 
 told the Pharaoh that the people had fled. Then the heart 
 of the Pharaoh and of his ministers was turned against the 
 people, and they said, "Why have we done this, that we 
 have let Israel go from serving us." And he made ready 
 his chariot, and took his people with him ; (he took six 
 hundred chosen chariots, and captains over every one of 
 them). When the Pharaoh drew nigh the Children of Israel 
 lifted up their eyes, and behold the Egyptians marched after 
 them; and they were sore afraid, and said unto Moses, 
 " Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken 
 us away to die in the wilderness ? Wherefore hast thou 
 dealt with us to carry us forth out of Egypt ? Is not this 
 what we told thee in Egypt, saying, ' Let us alone ! that we 
 may serve the Egyptians ! For it were better for us to serve 
 the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness ! ' " 
 
 (xiii. 21, 22, xiv. 5-7, 10-12.) 
 The great deliverance. — Then Moses said unto the 
 people, " Fear ye not ! Stand still ! See the salvation of 
 Jehovah, which Pie will show you to-day ! For the 
 Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them 
 again no more for ever ! Jehovah shall fight for you, and 
 ye shall hold your peace." Then the pillar of the cloud 
 went from before their face, and stood behind them, so 
 that it came between the camp of the Egyptians and 
 the camp of Israel. And it was a cloud and darkness, 
 but it gave light by night, so that the one came not 
 near the other all the night. Then Jehovah caused the 
 sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and 
 made the sea dry land. And it came to pass, that in 
 
THE DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT 37 
 
 the morning watch Jehovah looked unto the host of the 
 Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud and 
 troubled the Egyptians, and clogged their chariot-wheels, 
 so that they drave them heavily, so that the Egyptians 
 said, " Let us flee from the face of Israel, for Jehovah 
 fighteth for them against the Egyptians." And the sea 
 returned to his usual fulness when the morning appeared. 
 Then the Egyptians fled against it, and Jehovah overthrew 
 them in the midst of the sea. Thus Jehovah saved Israel 
 that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel 
 saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel 
 saw that great work which Jehovah did upon the Egyptians ; 
 and the people feared Jehovah, and believed Him, and 
 His servant Moses. 
 
 (xiv. 13, 14, 19-21, 24, 25/y, 27^ 30, 31.) 
 The wilderness journey. Three days to Marah. — 
 Moses then led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went 
 out into the Wilderness over against the fortified Wall 
 (Shur). They then moved for three days in this wilderness 
 without finding water. And when they came to Marah, 
 they could not drink of the waters of Marah for they were 
 bitter. (This was the reason of this place being called 
 Marah.) Then the people murmured against Moses, saying, 
 " What shall we drink ? " And he cried unto Jehovah, 
 Who showed him a tree, which when cast into the waters 
 made them sweet. There he made for them a statute 
 and an ordinance, and there he proved them, and said, 
 " If thou wilt diligently hearken to the Voice of Jehovah 
 thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, 
 and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His 
 statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which 
 I have put upon the Egyptians. For I am Jehovah Ropheh 
 
38 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 (the healer)." They then came to Elim, where were twelve 
 wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees, and they 
 encamped there by the waters. (xv. 22-27.) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Years of Wandering. 
 
 The provision of manna, and the Sabbath. — Then said 
 Jehovah unto Moses, " Behold ! I will rain bread from 
 heaven for you, and the people shall go out, and gather 
 a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether 
 they will walk in My law, or not. And it shall come to 
 pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare what they 
 bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather 
 daily." (And Moses said concerning that, "Eat this to-day; 
 for to-day is a Sabbath unto Jehovah. To-day ye shall 
 not find it in the field. Six days shall ye gather it, but 
 on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there shall be none." 
 Now it came to pass that there went out some of the 
 people on the seventh day to gather, and they found 
 none. Then Jehovah said unto Moses, " How long refuse 
 ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See, for 
 that Jehovah hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He 
 giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Abide 
 ye every man in his place ! Let no man go out of his 
 place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the 
 seventh day.) (xvi. 4, 5, 25-30.) 
 
 At Rephidim, a water famine.— Now the people pitched 
 in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to 
 
THE YEARS OF WANDERING 39 
 
 drink, wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and 
 said, " Give us water that we may drink.'' But Moses 
 said unto them, ["Why chide ye me?] Why do ye tempt 
 Jehovah ? " And he called the name of the place Massah 
 (Tempting) [and Meribah (Chiding), because of the Children 
 of Israel chiding, and] because of their tempting Jehovah, 
 saying, " Is Jehovah among us, or not ? " 
 
 (xvii. ib> 2, 7.) 
 Arrival at Sinai, and legislation. — Then Jehovah came 
 down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount, and 
 Jehovah called Moses up to the top of the mount. So 
 Moses went up. And Jehovah said unto Moses, " Go 
 down, charge the people lest they break through unto 
 Jehovah to gaze, and many of them perish ; and let the 
 priests also, who come near to Jehovah, sanctify themselves, 
 lest Jehovah break forth upon them." Then Moses said 
 unto Jehovah, " The people cannot come up to Mount 
 Sinai, for Thou chargedst us saying, ' Set bounds about 
 the mount, and sanctify it.'" But Jehovah said unto him, 
 " Away ! get thee down ! And thou shalt come up, thou 
 and Aaron with thee ; but let not the priests and the 
 people break through to come up unto Jehovah, lest He 
 break forth upon them." Therefore Moses went down 
 unto the people, and spake unto them. When he returned, 
 Jehovah said unto Moses, " Thus shalt thou say unto the 
 Children of Israel, ' Ye have seen that I have talked with 
 you from heaven. Ye shall not make with Me gods of 
 silver, neither shall ye make unto you" gods of gold. An 
 altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice 
 thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy 
 sheep, and thy oxen. In all places where I cause My 
 name to be worshipped, I will come unto thee, and I 
 
40 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 will bless thee. And if thou wilt make Me an altar of 
 stone, thou shalt not make it of hewn stone ; for if thou 
 lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither 
 shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar.' " 
 
 (xix. 20-25, XK - 22-26.) 
 Here take in a code of legislative enactments contained 
 in chs. xxi.-xxiii. 19, and called "the Book of the 
 Covenant." 
 
 The Divine promise. — " Behold ! I send an Angel before 
 thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the 
 place which I have prepared. Beware of Him, and obey 
 His voice ; rebel not against Him, for He will not pardon 
 your transgressions, for My Name is in Him. But if thou 
 shalt indeed obey His voice, and do all that I speak, 
 then I will be an enemy unto thy enemies, and an adver- 
 sary unto thine adversaries. For Mine Angel shall go 
 before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the 
 Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, 
 and the Jebusites, and I will cut them off. Thou shalt 
 not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after 
 their works ; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and 
 quite break down their idolatrous pillars ; and ye shall 
 serve Jehovah, your God, and He shall bless thy bread 
 and thy water, and I will take sickness away from the 
 midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young, nor 
 be barren in thy land; the number of thy days I will 
 fulfil. I will send a fear of Me before thee, and will 
 discomfit all the people, to whom thou shalt come, and 
 I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. 
 I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the 
 Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee. 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 41 
 
 (I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, 
 lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field 
 multiply against thee. By little and little will I drive 
 them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and 
 inherit the land.) And I will set thy bounds from the 
 Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from 
 the desert (of Arabia) unto the river (Euphrates) ; for I 
 will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, 
 and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 
 
 "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with 
 their gods. They shalt not dwell in thy land, lest they 
 make thee sin against Me ; for if thou serve their gods, 
 it will surely be a snare unto thee." (xxiii. 20-33.) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Great Scenes in the Life of Moses. 
 
 The public covenanting. — Now Moses came and told 
 the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the judgments ; 
 and all the people answered with one voice, and said, 
 "All the words which Jehovah hath said will we do." 
 Then Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah, and rose 
 up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the 
 mount, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes 
 of Israel ; and he sent young men of the Children of Israel, 
 who offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings 
 of oxen unto Jehovah. Moses also took half of the blood 
 and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled 
 on the altar. Then he took the roll of the covenant, 
 and read in the hearing of the people, and they said, " All 
 
42 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 that Jehovah hath said will we do, and be obedient." And 
 Moses took of the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and 
 said, " Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah 
 hath made with you concerning all these words." 
 
 (xxiv. 3-8.) 
 
 The people's apostasy, and intercession of Moses. — 
 And Jehovah said unto Moses, " Thy people, which thou 
 broughtest out of Egypt, have turned aside quickly out of 
 the way which I commanded them. They have made 
 them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have 
 sacrificed thereunto, and said, ' This is thy god, O Israel, 
 which has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' I 
 have seen this people, and, behold ! it is a stiff-necked 
 people I Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may 
 wax hot against them, and that I may consume them, and I 
 will make of thee a great nation. 5 ' Then Moses besought 
 Jehovah his God, and said, " O Jehovah ! why doth Thy 
 wrath wax hot against Thy people whom Thou hast brought 
 forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a 
 mighty hand ? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, 
 and say, ' For mischief did He bring them out to slay them 
 in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the 
 earth.' Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent Thee of 
 this disaster against Thy people. Remember Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou swearest 
 by Thine own self, and saidst unto them, ' I will multiply 
 your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I 
 have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall 
 inherit it evermore.' " Then Jehovah repented Himself of 
 the disaster He had thought to bring upon His people. 
 
 (xxxii. 7-14.) 
 
 The Divine command. — Then Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 43 
 
 " Depart ! Go up hence ! Thou and the people, which 
 thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt unto the 
 land of which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to 
 Israel, * Unto thy seed will I give it.' And I will send 
 My Angel before thee, and I will drive out the Canaanite, 
 the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, 
 and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. 
 I cannot go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a rebellious 
 people. I would consume them by the way if I did." 
 
 (xxxiii. 1-3.) 
 
 The anxiety of Moses. — Moses prayed unto Jehovah, 
 and said, " See ! Thou sayest unto me, ' Bring up this 
 people/ and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt 
 send with me. Yet Thou hast said, ' I know thee by name, 
 and thou hast also found grace in My sight.' Now, there- 
 fore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight show 
 me now Thy ways that I may know Thee, that I may find 
 grace in Thy sight, and consider that this nation is Thy 
 people. I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory." Then 
 Jehovah said, " I will make all My goodness pass before 
 thee, and I will proclaim the Name of Jehovah before thee, 
 and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will 
 show mercy on whom I will show mercy." But He said, 
 " Thou canst not see My face, for there shall no man see 
 Me and live. Behold ! there is a place by Me, and thou 
 shalt stand upon the rock ; and it shall come to pass, while 
 My glory passeth by that I will put thee in a cleft of the 
 rock, and will cover thee with My hand, while I pass by. 
 And I will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My back 
 parts, but My face shall not be seen." 
 
 (xxxiii. 12, 13, 18-23.) 
 
 The revelation. — Then Jehovah descended in the cloud, 
 
44 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 and stood with Moses there, and proclaimed the Name of 
 Jehovah, for Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed — 
 "Jehovah, Jehovah God, Merciful and Gracious, 
 Longsuffering, and abundant in lovingkindness, and 
 
 truth, 
 Keeping mercy 1 for thousands ! Forgiving iniquity, 
 
 transgression, and sin ! 
 Who will by no means free from punishment ; 
 Visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, even 
 
 children's children, 
 Unto the third and fourth generation." 
 Moses then made haste, and bowed his head toward the 
 earth, and worshipped, saying, "If now I have found grace 
 in Thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord go, I pray Thee, among 
 us, for it is a stiff-necked people ! Oh ! pardon our iniquity 
 and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance." Jehovah 
 then said, "Must My Face go with thee, and I myself rest 
 thee ? " And Moses said, " If Thy Face go not with us, carry 
 us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known, then, 
 that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? 
 Is it not in that Thou goest with us? So shall we be 
 separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are 
 upon the face of the earth." 
 
 And Jehovah said unto Moses, " I will do this thing also 
 that thou hast asked, for thou hast found grace in My 
 sight, and I know thee by name. Behold ! I will make a 
 covenant ! Before all thy people will I do marvels, such 
 as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation ; 
 and all the people among whom thou art shalt see the 
 working of Jehovah. It is a wonderful thing that I shall do 
 with thee. Hew thee two tables of stone, and I will write 
 1 Mercy and lovingkindness the same word. 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 45 
 
 upon them the words of My covenant. Observe thou that 
 which I command thee this day. Behold ! I drive out 
 before thee the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the 
 Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite ! Take heed to 
 thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants 
 of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the 
 midst of thee. Ye shall destroy their altars, break down 
 their pillars, and cut down their Asherahs." 
 
 (xxxiv. 5-9, xxxiii. 14-17, xxxiv. 10-13.) 
 
 A series of commands. — 
 
 I. Thou shalt worship no other God — 
 
 for Jehovah, whose Name is Jealous, is a jealous God, lest thou make a 
 covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and thou depart from Him 
 after other gods, and sacrifice unto them, and they call thee, and thou 
 eat of their sacrifice, and thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, 
 and their daughters go after their gods, and cause thy sons to depart 
 from their own God. 
 
 II. Thou shalt not make thee any molten image. 
 
 III. The Feast of Unleavened Bread thou shalt keep. 
 Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread as I commanded thee in the 
 time of the month Abib (for in the month Abib thou earnest out from 
 Egypt). 
 
 IV. Every firstborn is Mine — 
 
 even every firstling among thy cattle, ox, or sheep ; but the firstling of 
 an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb, and if thou redeem it not, 
 thou shalt break its neck. All the firstborn of thy sons, thou shalt 
 redeem, and none shall appear in My presence empty. 
 
 V. Six days thou shalt work. 
 
 But on the seventh day thou shalt rest in ploughing time, and in 
 harvest thou shalt rest. 
 
46 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 VI. Thou shalt keep the Feast of Weeks. 
 
 That is, the feast of the First-fruits of harvest, the feast of the ingathering 
 at the end of the season. Thrice in the year shall all your men appear 
 before Me the God of Israel, Jehovah. For I will cast out the nations 
 before thee, and enlarge thy borders. And no one shall desire to have 
 thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before God, thrice in the year. 
 
 VII. Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice 
 
 with leavened bread. 
 And none of the sacrifice of the Passover shall be left over unto the 
 morning. The best of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into 
 the house of Jehovah thy God. 
 
 VIII. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk. 
 
 And Jehovah said unto Moses, " Write thou these words 
 (commandments), for after the tenor of these words have I 
 made a covenant with thee and Israel." Then Moses wrote 
 upon the tables these words of the covenant. Altogether he 
 had been on the mount with Jehovah forty days and forty 
 nights. He did neither eat bread nor drink water. 
 
 (xxxiv. 14-28.) 
 A guide chosen. — Then Moses said unto Hobab, the 
 son of Jethro the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are 
 journeying unto the place of which Jehovah said, ' I will 
 give it you/ come with us, and we will reward thee; for 
 Jehovah hath spoken good things concerning Israel." But 
 he said unto him, " No ! I will not go ! I will go back to my 
 own land, and to my kindred." Then he said, " Leave us 
 not, I pray thee ! Thou knowest how we shall have to * 
 pitch our camp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us 
 instead of eyes. And it shall be if thou goest with us, yea, 
 it shall be, that whatever goodness Jehovah shall give unto 
 us, the same will we give unto thee." And they departed 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 47 
 
 from the mount of Jehovah three days' journey, and the 
 ark of the Covenant of Jehovah went before them in the 
 three days' journey to search out a camping-place for them. 
 Now it came to pass when the ark set forward that Moses 
 said — 
 
 " Rise up, Jehovah ! Let Thine enemies be scattered ! 
 Let them that hate Thee flee before Thee ! " 
 Then when it stopped, he said — 
 
 "Return, Jehovah ! unto the ten thousands of the 
 thousands of Israel ! " 
 
 (Num. x. 29-33, 35> 3<5.) 
 
 Discontent in the camp. — Then the mixed multitude 
 that were among them desired flesh to eat, and the people 
 of Israel also wept again, and said, " Who shall give us 
 flesh to eat ? We remember the fish which we did eat in 
 Egypt for nothing — the cucumbers, and the melons, and 
 the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick ! But now we 
 are dried up ! Wc have nothing at all except this manna ! " 
 
 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and in colour 
 like bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, 
 and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and made 
 cakes of it. The taste of it was like fresh oil. And when 
 the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell 
 upon it. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout 
 their families, every man at the entrance to his own tent, 
 and the anger of Jehovah was kindled greatly. Moses also 
 was much displeased, and said unto Jehovah, " Why hast 
 Thou afflicted Thy servant ? Oh ! why have I not found 
 favour in Thy sight, that Thou layest the burden of all this 
 people upon me ? Have I conceived all this people ? Have 
 I brought them forth, that Thou shouldst say unto me, 
 * Carry them in thy bosom as a nursing mother beareth the 
 
48 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 sucking child, unto the land which Thou swarest unto 
 their fathers to give ? ' Whence should I have flesh to give 
 unto this people ? for they weep unto me, saying, ' Give us 
 flesh that we may eat.' Oh ! if Thou deal thus with me, 
 kill me, I pray Thee, at once, if I have found favour in Thy 
 sight, and let me not see my wretchedness ! " 
 
 Then Jehovah said unto Moses, "Say thou unto the 
 people, c Purify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall 
 eat flesh.' For ye have wept in the hearing of Jehovah, 
 saying, " Who will give us flesh to eat ? for it was well with 
 us in Egypt." Therefore Jehovah will give you flesh, and 
 ye shall eat, not one day nor two days, nor five days, 
 neither ten days, nor twenty days, but even a whole month, 
 until ye have too much of it, and it become nauseous unto 
 you. For ye have despised Jehovah, who is among you, 
 and have wept before Him, saying, 'Why came we forth 
 from Egypt ? ' 
 
 But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 
 600,000 footmen ! Yet Thou hast said, ' I will give them 
 flesh that they may eat a whole month ! ' Shall the flocks 
 and herds be slain for them to suffice them ? or shall all 
 the fish of the sea be gathered together for them to suffice 
 them?" Then Jehovah said unto Moses, "Is Jehovah's 
 hand waxed short ? Thou shalt now see whether My word 
 shall come to pass unto thee or not." 
 
 Then there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and brought 
 quails from the sea, and let them fall over the camp, as 
 it were a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey 
 on that side, flying about two cubits above, And the 
 people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all 
 the next day, and they gathered the quails* He that 
 gathered least, gathered ten homers, and they spread them 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 49 
 
 all abroad for themselves round about the camp. But 
 while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was 
 chewed, the wrath of Jehovah was kindled against the 
 people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great 
 plague. Now the name of that place was called Kibroth- 
 hattaavah (the graves of lust), because there they buried 
 the people that lusted for flesh. 
 
 (xi. 4-13, 15, 18-24, 3I-35-) 
 
 Investigations as to the promised land. — Now Jehovah 
 spake unto Moses, saying, " Send thou men that they may 
 examine the land of Canaan." Then Moses bade them 
 go up to the Southland, and see the people that dwelleth 
 therein, whether they be strong or weak, and what the 
 land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad, and 
 what towns they are in which they dwell, whether they are 
 open camps, or fortified places. Then they went up to 
 the Southland, as far as Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, 
 and Talmai, the children of Anak were. (Now Hebron was 
 built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) Then they came 
 back and told Moses that they had gone into the land 
 whither he had sent them, and that it certainly was a land 
 flowing with milk and honey. But " the people are strong 
 that dwell in the land, and the towns are walled and very 
 strong, and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.'' 
 Then Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, " Let 
 us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to 
 overcome it.'' But the men that went up with him said, 
 " We are not able to go up against the people, for they are 
 stronger than we." 
 
 (xiii. 1, 17^, iSd, 19, 22, 27-30, 36.) 
 
 A rebellion. — Then Israel wept, saying, " Oh ! why is 
 Jehovah bringing us into such a land to fall by the sword, 
 4 
 
50 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 so that our wives and children should be for the enemy ? 
 Were it not better that we should return into Egypt?" 
 But Caleb said, " If Jehovah is pleased with us, then He 
 will bring us into this land, and give it to us ! It is a land 
 that floweth with milk and honey. Oh ! do not ye rebel 
 against Jehovah ! Oh ! do not be afraid of the people of 
 the land ! They will be food for us ! Their defence is de- 
 parted from them ! Jehovah is with us ! Fear them not ! " 
 
 The Divine decision. — Then Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 " How long will this people despise Me ? How long will 
 it be ere they believe Me ? Oh ! all the signs that I have 
 showed among them ! I will smite them with the pesti- 
 lence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater 
 nation, and mightier than they." 
 
 (xiv. i, 3, 8, 9, n, 12.) 
 
 Another intercession. — But Moses said unto Jehovah, 
 " The Egyptians have heard that Thou broughtest up this 
 people in Thy might from among them, and they will tell 
 it to the inhabitants of this land ; yea, they will hear that 
 Thou, Jehovah, art among this people, that Thou art seen 
 clearly, and that Thy cloud standeth over them, and that 
 Thou goest before them by daytime in a pillar of a cloud, 
 and in a pillar of fire by night. But if Thou shalt kill all 
 this people as one man, then the nations, which have heard 
 the report about Thee, will speak, saying : ' Jehovah was 
 not able to bring this people into the land, which He sware 
 unto them, therefore He hath slain them in the wilderness.' 
 Oh ! now, let the power of my Jehovah be great according 
 as Thou hast spoken, saying — 
 
 ' Jehovah is longsurTering, and of great mercy, 
 Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 5 1 
 
 By no means freeing men from punishment ; 
 
 Visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, 
 
 Unto the third and fourth generation/ 
 Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people, accord- 
 ing unto the greatness of Thy mercy, even as Thou hast 
 been forgiving this people from Egypt until now." 
 
 (xiv. 1 3-1 9.) 
 The Divine relenting. — Then Jehovah said, "I have 
 pardoned according to thy request ; but as truly as I live, 
 and as all the earth shall be filled with My glory, all these 
 men, who have seen My glory, and the wonders which I 
 did in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me 
 now these ten times, and have not hearkened unto My 
 voice, surely they shall not see the land, which I sware unto 
 their fathers to give unto their seed. No, none of them 
 that despised Me shall see it ! But My servant Caleb, 
 because he had another spirit in him, and hath followed 
 Me fully, him will I bring into the land, whereunto he 
 went, and his seed shall possess it. And your little ones, 
 who ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and 
 they shall know the land which ye have despised. Oh ! 
 why do ye transgress the commandment of God ! No ! it 
 shall not prosper ! Go not up, for Jehovah is not with 
 you ! Ye will only be smitten before your enemies ! For 
 the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, 
 and ye shall fall by the sword, because ye are turned away 
 from Jehovah, and He will not be with you ! " 
 
 But they presumed to go up to the hill-country. Never- 
 theless the ark of the Covenant and Moses departed not 
 out of the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaan- 
 ites, who dwelt in that district, came down, and smote them, 
 and beat them down unto destruction, (xiv. 31, 41-45.) 
 
52 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 Origin of name Hormah. — King Arad the Canaanite, 
 who dwelt in the Southland, had heard that Israel was 
 coming up by the way that the messengers had gone, so 
 that he went and fought against Israel, and took some of 
 them prisoners. Then Israel vowed a vow unto Jehovah, 
 and said, " If Thou wilt indeed deliver this people into 
 my hand, then I will utterly destroy them and their towns." 
 And Jehovah hearkened to the voice of Israel, and de- 
 livered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them, 
 and their towns. Thus the name of the place was called 
 Hormah (i.e. Destruction). (xxi. 1-3.) 
 
 The revolt of On. — Then On, son of Peleth, rose up 
 and said, "Is it so small a thing that thou hast brought 
 us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey to kill 
 us in the Wilderness, that thou wouldst altogether make 
 thyself a prince over us ? Thou hast not brought us into 
 a land that floweth with milk and honey." Moses therefore 
 was very angry, and said unto Jehovah, " Respect not Thou 
 their offering ! I have not taken one ass from them, neither 
 have I done any hurt to them." Then he said unto the 
 people, " Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked 
 men ! Touch nothing that is theirs, lest ye be swept away 
 in all their sins." They were standing at the entrance of 
 their tents with their wives, and their sons and their little 
 ones. And Moses said, "Hereby ye shall know that 
 Jehovah hath sent me unto you to do all these works, and 
 that I have not been acting of myself. If these men die 
 an ordinary death, if they be visited in the usual way by 
 sickness, then Jehovah hath not sent me ! But if Jehovah 
 create something new, and the earth open her mouth, and 
 swallow them up with all their property and they go down 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 53 
 
 suddenly to Sheol, then ye shall understand that these men 
 have despised Jehovah." Then it came to pass when he 
 had made an end of speaking all these words that the 
 ground that was under them clave asunder, and they and 
 all their property went down alive to Sheol. 
 
 (xvi. 13, 14, 26, 27, 31, 33.) 
 The supply of water. — Now the people chode with Moses, 
 saying, " Oh ! why have ye brought us up out of Egypt 
 to bring us into this dreadful place ? It is not a place for 
 seed or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, neither is there any 
 water to drink ! " Then Jehovah said unto Moses, " Speak 
 unto this rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth 
 water." (xx. 3, 5, 8.) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 From Kadesh to Moab. 
 
 An embassy to Edom. — Then Moses sent unto Edom, 
 saying, "Let us go by the Highway, and if I and my 
 cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it. I will 
 only pass through on foot, and do nothing else." But he 
 said, " Thou shalt not pass through ! " Then Edom came 
 out against Israel with a large force, and in great strength. 
 
 (xx. 19, 20.) 
 Arrival in Moab. — Thence they went to Beer (i.e. the 
 Well), whereof Jehovah spake unto Moses, " Gather the 
 people together, and I will give them water." 
 Then Israel sang the song — 
 " Spring up, O Well ! Sing ye to it ! 
 The well ! Princes dug it ! Nobles hollowed it out ! 
 Rulers — with wands and staves ! " 
 
54 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 And from the wilderness they came to the valley, which 
 is in Moab, near by Mount Pisgab, which looketh toward 
 Jeshimon (xxi. 16-20). They were now on the border of 
 the Children of Ammon, at Jaazer. And Israel took all 
 the towns of the Amorites and dwelt in Heshbon and the 
 villages thereof. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the 
 king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former 
 king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even 
 unto Arnon. Then Moses sent to reconnoitre Jaazer, and 
 they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites, 
 , who were there. Then they turned, and went up by the 
 way of Bashan ; and Og, the king of Bashan, went out 
 against them, he and all his people, and fought a battle at 
 Edrei. And Jehovah said unto Moses, " Fear him not, for 
 I have delivered him into thy hand, even all his people and 
 his land. Thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto 
 Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon." So 
 they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, so that 
 none were left alive, and they took possession of his land. 
 Now Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. 
 And Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of Moab at that 
 time. Then Israel began to enter into marriage with the 
 daughters of Moab, and they called the people unto the 
 sacrifices of their gods, so that they did eat at them, and 
 worshipped their gods. And the anger of Jehovah was 
 kindled against Israel, and He said, "Take all the heads 
 of the people who have done so, and hang them up unto 
 Jehovah against the sun, that the fierce anger of Jehovah 
 may be turned away from Israel." (xxv. 1-4.) 
 
 The Midianite trouble.— And behold one of the people 
 of Israel, even Zimri, a prince of a chief house among l 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 
 
 55 
 
 the sons of Simeon, brought a Midianitish princess Cozbi 
 unto his brethren in the sight of Moses, and of all the 
 people who were weeping. Then Phinehas, who was 
 zealous for his God, went and slew both the man and the 
 woman, and made an atonement for Israel. And Jehovah 
 said unto Moses, " Vex the Midianites, and smite them, for 
 they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled 
 you in the matter of Peor and Cozbi." (xxv. n, 16-18.) 
 
 Settlements in Moab. — Now the children of Machir the 
 son of Manasseh went and took Gilead, dispossessing the 
 Amorites who were there. Therefore Moses gave Gilead 
 unto Machir, the son of Manasseh. Jair also, the son of 
 Manasseh, went and took the small towns thereof, and 
 called them the towns of Jair (Havoth Jair). And Nobah 
 went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called 
 it Nobah, after himself. (xxxii. 39-42.) 
 
 The death of Moses. — Then Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 " Behold ! thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. Get thee up 
 into this mount on Abarim, even unto Nebo, which is in 
 the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho, and behold 
 the land of Canaan, which I give unto the people of Israel 
 for a possession. Thou shalt die on the mount whither 
 thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron 
 thy brother died in Mount Hor, and was gathered to his 
 people because ye trespassed against Me among the people 
 of Israel at the waters of strife at Kadesh in the wilderness 
 of Zin -j for ye sanctified Me not in the midst of the people. 
 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee, but thou shalt not 
 go thither unto the land, which I give unto Israel. 
 
 (xxxii. 4S-52.) 
 
5 6 THE LIFE OF MOSES 
 
 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the 
 mountain of Nebo {i.e. Pisgah) that is over against Jericho; 
 and Jehovah showed him all the land, and said, " This is 
 the land which I sware unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
 saying, 'I will give it unto thy seed.' I have caused thine 
 eyes to see it, but thou shalt not go over thither/' So 
 Moses the servant of Jehovah died there, in the land of 
 Moab, according. to the word of Jehovah; and he was 
 buried in a valley over against Beth-peor, but no man 
 knoweth of his sepulchre at this day. Now Moses was 
 an hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye 
 was not dim, nor his natural force abated. Then the 
 people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 
 thirty days; thus the days of weeping and mourning for 
 Moses were ended. And there arose not a prophet since 
 in Israel like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to 
 face. For His were all the signs and wonders, which 
 Jehovah sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, 
 and to all his servants, and to all his land, and all that 
 mighty hand, and all the great terror which Moses showed 
 in the sight of all Israel. (Deut. xxxiv. 1-T2.) 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 AS TOLD IN THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Home Life. 
 
 We take up the life of Joseph at its very commencement 
 here, when his birth marks a new departure in the life of 
 his father Jacob. The birth of this boy was an occasion 
 of great rejoicing. Now at length had his beloved Rachel 
 become a mother, and he can regard his years of exile and 
 wandering in Padan-Aram at an end. A great sin had 
 driven him away from home, entailing upon him much 
 labour and cruel treatment at the hands of Laban. But 
 with the birth of Joseph a new day dawns, and the 
 patriarch resolves to return to Canaan. On his way to 
 the homeland he has that most solemn crisis at Peniel, 
 when, under the Divine touch, his old Jacob name and 
 nature are left behind, and with the new name of Israel, 
 around which a fresh revelation of grace and hope gathers, 
 he goes forward to meet the future. This is the name 
 given always to our patriarch in Judah. He now becomes 
 
58 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 the founder of a new nation, a prince with God ; the first 
 father of that people who ever after gloried in the name 
 of Israel. God was the God of Israel henceforward,— the 
 God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. The adoption of this 
 name had its own particular value. It had none of the 
 unpleasant associations with it, which the name Jacob had. 
 It might become a worthy rallying-point for all the tribes ; 
 and even Edom, the descendants of Esau, who had not 
 ceased from the anger of his blood feud (Amos i.), might 
 be invited to close the enmity of generations in friendly 
 acceptance of this new name. The cup of Israel now 
 seems full, as he crosses the Jordan with his happy Rachel 
 and his great wealth. How touchingly he speaks in his 
 message to Esau, as he tells of his sojourning with Laban, 
 and his large possessions ; as also in his prayer to God, 
 " With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am 
 become two bands ! " 
 
 Very special interest gathers round Rachel along with 
 Israel. She was dearly loved, not alone by her husband, 
 but also in the best and most hallowed traditions, as a 
 mother in Israel ! Jeremiah, tenderest and most sym- 
 pathetic of men, speaks of her as her people's mother, 
 " weeping for her children " as she beheld them going into 
 captivity, and refusing to be comforted (Jer. xxxi. 15). 
 Israel, Rachel, Joseph — here is a triad of names, all lit up 
 by most sacred and hallowed associations ! It is always 
 more to follow. The very name Joseph enshrined for our 
 prophet the thought of God's added grace. And now in 
 this etymology note also the Divine name always used in 
 this narrative, Jehovah shortened into Je, as in Jehoshuah, 
 Joshua, Jesus. Cain, Eve's firstborn, was the attainment 
 of something as one's own possession from Jehovah; 
 
THE HOME LIFE 59 
 
 Joseph is the attainment of addition, of something more. 
 Thus our God deals with believing men. At once moral 
 and religious ends are being served here; even names 
 afford material to the inspired writer to teach spiritual 
 lessons. Happy mother who finds a Joseph in her son ! 
 Rachel's other son was born in pain, and called by the 
 dying mother Benoni ; this we have in the other writer. 
 To our narrative, as to Israel, he was to be a Benjamin, 
 not a son of sorrow, but of the right hand. This tribe 
 ever remained loyal to Judah and Jerusalem. Deepest 
 interest is to gather round Benjamin in Joseph's story. 
 He is as the apple of the eye to Israel, Judah, and Joseph. 
 Israel's first king came out of Benjamin, and the Psalmist 
 places him in the front of reunited Israel in the procession 
 of praise (lxviii. 27). The sanctuary on Mount Moriah 
 also lay within his bounds. 
 
 It is interesting to trace the way by which the patriarch 
 returned to his own country. He had been in Gilead. 
 Succoth, which is mentioned here as a first halting place, 
 is on the main road leading from the regions beyond the 
 Jordan to Nablus or Shechem, and to the west of Peniel, 
 where he received his new name. In accordance with the 
 invariable practice of our writer, this name is explained 
 by its being the place where Israel settled first. Every 
 place-name in Bible story has its own association for the 
 prophet, and its own instruction for the people. The 
 migration of Jacob now, like that of Abraham earlier, 
 must have been a considerable movement, not of an 
 individual only, but of a leader with a large following. 
 He did not come into an uninhabited country, but into 
 the midst of prosperous kingdoms, ruled over by Amorites 
 and Hittites. With both these Abraham had dealings ; and 
 
6o THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 the Hittite kingdom especially grew to great dimensions 
 and important empire, with its capital in Kadesh on the 
 Orontes, and large towns like Hamath. When Israel was 
 still in the Wilderness, the Hittites were the chief military 
 rivals of Egypt; and Pentaur, the great court poet of 
 Rameses n., sang in his Epic the triumphs of the Pharaohs 
 over them. Amorites and Hittites seem to have been 
 allies, for we have these words in Ezekiel concerning 
 Jerusalem : "The Amorite was thy father, and the Hittite 
 thy mother" (xv. 10). Abraham purchased ground from 
 Hittite chiefs ; but Amos (ii. 10) speaks of the country, 
 which Israel was brought up to possess, as "the land of the 
 Amorite." Most interesting excavations, lately conducted 
 by Professor Petrie at Lachish (Tel-el-Hesy), have brought 
 to light the ancient Amorite town with its strong walls. It 
 has been pointed out that the population of Southern 
 Judah remained " in race if not in name essentially 
 Amorite " to a period later than Jeroboam i. and the 
 founding of his kingdom in Samaria. Specimens of 
 Amorite ware, dated 1 700-1600 b.c, and thus about 
 Abraham's time, have been discovered in Lachish. They 
 were found in the lowest stratum, about twenty-one feet 
 below the surface. Still more recent investigations at 
 Tell-Zakariya, and Tell-es-Safi in the Philistine country, 
 are making known to us the character of the region be- 
 tween the Plain and ancient Hebron, to which Jacob was 
 now with pious longing directing his footsteps ; for the 
 valley of Hebron, including Mamre, was the homeland of 
 Abraham. While he pressed southward, his elder sons 
 had established themselves in the rich pasture lands of 
 Shechem. He halted near Bethlehem, at Migdol-Edar, 
 the Shepherd Tower, in the region afterwards dear in the 
 
THE HOME LIFE 6l 
 
 memory of Judah, because of its associations with their 
 great leader David. Sad was Jacob's experience at this 
 time, as he was called upon to lament the loss of Rachel, 
 his dearly loved wife. Rachel's tomb became a landmark 
 for a loyal people. Reaching Hebron with his younger 
 sons, Joseph and Benjamin, he was now at home. Hebron 
 bears still the name El-Khalil, or The Friend, connecting 
 it closely with Abraham " the friend of God." It has thus 
 always occupied a most unique and hallowed position as 
 "a sacred place," both in pre - Israelitish, Jewish, and 
 Mahommedan times. Being built seven years before Zoan, 
 the Hyksos capital in Lower Egypt, these two towns rank 
 with Damascus as the oldest towns in the world. Zoan, 
 the seat of the Shepherd Kings from 2000 to 1700 B.C., 
 would with them be founded about 2300 b.c. While 
 Thebes and Memphis were the true native capitals of Upper 
 Egypt, it was at Zoan that this foreign dynasty ruled ; and 
 it was to this capital that Joseph was afterwards to go, 
 while it was also to be the scene of the mission and work 
 of Moses and Aaron. It was not till much later that 
 Thebes and Memphis again became the actual capitals of 
 Egypt, as in former times. 
 
 The affection of Israel for Joseph was very marked about 
 this time. Reuben, his eldest son, had incurred his dis- 
 pleasure by a misdeed most shocking in Eastern eyes. 
 His primacy as the firstborn departed from him, and Judah 
 is regarded as taking the leading position ever after in 
 family affairs. The setting aside of Reuben from the dis- 
 charge of duties properly his own, in the narrative now 
 under review, has to be accounted for. His moral dis- 
 qualification is urged, and in the patriarch's dying words 
 the censure is repeated. Now, when we remember how 
 
62 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 this narrative was written for circulation in Judah, we can 
 easily see how attention is directed to a sad lapse on 
 Reuben's part, which if Reuben's tribe had only been 
 more friendly to Judah might have been forgotten. Every 
 sin of the Ten Tribes in their individual founders would 
 be quoted and dwelt upon as illustration of their greatest 
 of all sins in breaking away from David's House. Pained 
 thus by Reuben's conduct, his affection would naturally 
 enough be lavished on his younger sons. They remained 
 at home with him while the others were away, with per- 
 haps little affection for or interest in the old home at 
 Hebron. The Ten Tribes never were as friendly or de- 
 voted to Judah and Israel as they should have been. 
 Upon them came the charge of pulling down the House 
 of David, and of creating the painful schism of the two 
 kingdoms of Samaria and Jerusalem. There is a sacred- 
 ness about home and family, and they who infringe or 
 neglect it in any way do so only to their own loss. 
 
 The special love of Israel for Joseph at this time is 
 shown in his being kept by himself, relieved from all 
 work, and treated as a prince or gentleman. He wore 
 fine clothes, for such were his father's gift — a garment 
 like that worn by princes (2 Sam. xiii. 18), and not the 
 curious patchwork of many colours, the garment rather of 
 a poor person in the East. But happy days in the joy and 
 innocence of home life last not for ever, and to Joseph the 
 crisis comes when he has to go forth to meet the world's 
 responsibilities and dangers. The crisis assumes a very 
 acute form now. He is wounded in the house of his 
 friends (Zech. xiii. 6), having against him the antagonism of 
 his own brethren, always a harder thing to bear than the 
 open and avowed hostility of the world. The very love 
 
THE HOME LIFE 63 
 
 his father bore him exposed him to the dislike of his 
 brethren, who were not so privileged as he. That in 
 which he gloried most, his very best possession, was that 
 which entailed upon him suffering of the severest kind. 
 High privilege spells highest responsibility and greatest 
 danger. Any kind of favouritism, though it be well enough 
 grounded, and meant only with a view to coming service, 
 is apt to be deemed partiality. Israel's call out of Egypt to 
 be a son, designed as it was to make him a servant and 
 witness-bearer unto God, has not escaped this charge. 
 But Wisdom is justified in all her works. 
 
 Joseph as an obedient and willing son, ready to do his 
 father's will without question, had gone north to seek his 
 brethren, and to convey to them their father's greetings. 
 Thus Amos and Hosea were to go forth from the very 
 heart of Judah, with warm and loving messages to Ephraim 
 and Samaria. Thus Christ came from our Father in 
 heaven with His own good news, His gospel about the 
 Father and the Homeland. Joseph failed to find his 
 brothers in Shechem ; for having exhausted the pastures 
 there, they had gone farther north still. On making 
 inquiries he is able to trace them, and finds them at last 
 in Dothan. The circumstance that this town was on one 
 of the great caravan routes between north and south is 
 deserving of special attention. Had the meeting-place of 
 Joseph and his brethren been anywhere else, the whole of 
 his history might have been different. Dothan is thus a 
 natural and interesting stage, not only in the caravan route 
 between Damascus and Egypt, but in the life of Joseph. 
 Divine Providence runs along life's great highways, its 
 stages are our ordinary common halting - places ; road 
 makers are the pioneers of civilisation and religion. This 
 
64 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 thing is not done in a corner. The main road from rich 
 and prosperous Damascus down towards the lower end of 
 the Galilean Lake, with its flourishing towns, through 
 Bethshean (Scythopolis) and the plain of Jezreel, a chief 
 campaign ground for Israel, on to Ramleh, the Philistine 
 country, and Egypt, passes through Dothan, where Joseph 
 at this time arrives. He was now to be carried along with 
 this world's traffic, and following that route his whole tribe 
 was soon to come. It is indeed as an individual that he is 
 now before us ; but what happened in his tribe may well 
 be represented as happening in their head representatively. 
 The prophetic purpose is to teach spiritual lessons, and 
 these may as well be taught whether Joseph be a single 
 man or a tribe of men. Certainly he was a leader, and 
 Providence was now as ever using ordinary, human, family, 
 tribal history, with its common enough, and often ignoble, 
 strifes, as means for opening up new channels along which 
 the new blood of fresh life and religion might run. The 
 opposition of his brothers, now leading to sad separation, 
 was only to prepare the way in a strange land for the 
 coming events, hidden in mystery now. At Dothan we 
 stand between two mighty civilisations. Damascus in the 
 north, with Babylonia, a world empire dating back to at 
 least 3800 e.g., and Egypt in the south, with Thebes, 
 Memphis, Zoan, also a world empire, founded the one in 
 the valley of the river Euphrates and the other in the 
 valley of the river Nile (4400 B.C.). It is interesting to 
 note how thus great river-courses determined the course of 
 early civilisations. A new civilisation, carrying in its breast 
 the seed of a pure spiritual religion s is now to be introduced 
 into Egypt with far-reaching influences. The so-called 
 heretic kings of Egypt in 1433 B.C., with their reforming 
 
THE HOME LIFE 65 
 
 tendencies, may have owed much to the movement now 
 begun at Dothan. 
 
 The arrival of Joseph with the greetings of Israel is not, 
 however, welcomed by the ten brothers ; they seem to have 
 nothing in common with him. There is already a deep- 
 seated antagonism, only too soon to bring about most sad 
 and lamentable consequences. The home tie seems loose, 
 and the representative character in which Joseph comes 
 to them from their father is as nothing to them at all. 
 He has no lot or part in their life, and they and he have 
 a wholly different outlook upon the future. He is simply 
 an interloper, a spy, a talebearer, and therefore one to be 
 put out of the way as speedily as possible. Hence they at 
 once cry out, "Let us kill him!" Thus in after-days were 
 the Ten Tribes to take up an independent position in full 
 antagonism to Judah and Jerusalem as they marshalled 
 their forces, crying, "What portion have we in David? 
 Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse ! To 
 your tents, O Israel ! " At a still later day prophets, sent 
 with warning, pleading voice, were to be driven away ; and 
 the best of all the prophets, even the heir, was Himself 
 to hear the rash and wicked shout, " Crucify Him ! We 
 have no king but Caesar." 
 
 But in the case of Joseph more moderate counsels are 
 urged by Judah, as occupying now the position of the elder 
 brother, from which Reuben by sin had fallen. The first 
 rage abates somewhat, and it is thought sufficient to get 
 rid of Joseph without having their hands stained with his 
 blood. How interesting is it to mark the place of kindly 
 intercession that Judah here, and again in Egypt, occupies 
 in regard to Joseph ! He feels for Joseph, and is earnestly 
 desirous to save his life. Writing to his own countrymen, 
 5 
 
66 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 how gladly does our prophet avail himself of this trait in 
 the character of their great ancestor ! Thus he gains access 
 to their heart. It was their founder who acted thus ! 
 Nay also would he seek to gain access to the heart of 
 Joseph's great descendant, Ephraim, now the predominant 
 tribe in Samaria, by just thus pointing out the service 
 Judah rendered on this occasion to his brother. There 
 is infinite wisdom worthy of inspired teaching in all this. 
 Anything that might end the quarrel between Ephraim 
 and Judah would be welcomed by one who was a peace- 
 maker, and prayed for the union of David's house. 
 But though the character and action of Judah thus appear 
 as redeeming features at this sad time, it is far from being 
 what it might have been. What an opportunity for the 
 very highest service is here given to him and lost by him. 
 He might have boldly identified himself with Joseph's 
 cause, and declared his intention not only of saving his 
 life, but of preventing any harm of any kind being done to 
 him. He might have stayed the wrath of the brethren, 
 and restored Joseph to his father. But this would have 
 been to make him "afflicted in the affliction " of Joseph ; 
 it would have turned the opposition of his brothers against 
 himself. And he was not prepared for this manly and 
 courageous course. His suggestion was to sell Joseph to 
 some of the passing merchants. This meant the tearing 
 away of Joseph from his home, and the bitter wounding of 
 a father's heart. Thus Judah acts on grounds of expedi- 
 ency and not of high principle, mainly concerned to do 
 the best for himself while trying to do something for his 
 brother. He saves himself as well as Joseph. There is 
 no lofty self-sacrifice here; nothing deserving of praise. 
 And the brothers readily adopt the proposal of Judah. 
 
THE HOME LIFE 67 
 
 They did not want their brother's life, they only wanted 
 him put out of the way. Judah's proposal will secure this 
 end, and pay them better. Hence, when they see certain 
 Ishmaelitish merchants passing that way, they at once sell 
 Joseph for the sum of twenty shekels, the amount usually 
 paid for a young man under the age of twenty (Lev. xxvii. 5). 
 Ishmaelites thus buy and carry away Joseph. Their hand is 
 now being shown to be against Israel (Gen. xvi. 12). Esau's 
 marriage relationship with Ishmael had been a grief unto 
 Isaac (xxviii. 9), while in later years Edom and Ishmael 
 were confederate against Judah (Ps. lxxxiii. 5). Stephen, in 
 his great defence before the Sanhedrim, tells us that " the 
 patriarchs moved with envy sold Joseph" (Acts vii. 9). 
 
 How history seems often to repeat itself in not only its 
 essentials, but even in some of its more minor details ! 
 For example, Judah covenanted with Judas for a certain 
 sum of money ; and Christ, being sold by the Jews, was 
 crucified by the Romans. Our narrative would, however, 
 clearly teach that the spirit of hatred, out of which sprang 
 the act of selling, was in God's sight as bad as murder 
 itself (Matt. v. 22). Some time after, Joseph's soiled 
 garment with its bloodstains would be handed back to 
 his father. He was allowed to believe that his beloved 
 son had been torn asunder by wild beasts while in the 
 discharge of the duty imposed on him. The brothers 
 keep their dread secret to themselves for the time ; even 
 Judah in his shame kept his own counsel. But nothing 
 is hid for ever. Conscience, with its remorse, is an 
 undying memory, and coming events vindicate Divine 
 justice and punish the wrongs of the past ; our sin always 
 finds the wrong-doer out. The first scene in Joseph's 
 life ends with his forcible transportation into Egypt. His 
 
68 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 old home life is suddenly ended ; he goes unto a new life. 
 His brothers try to forget him, and to count him as one 
 dead ; while his father alone goes about mourning, feeling, 
 as he afterwards so touchingly put it, " that all tnese things 
 were against him ! " His only hope, and in such a hope 
 there was not much of brightness at all, was that in Sheol, 
 that World of Shades, — that underworld so full of gloom, 
 where "the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary 
 are at rest," — father and son might meet again, when, 
 gathered to his fathers, his pilgrimage would end. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Testing-Time in Egypt. 
 
 We now pass from Canaan to Egypt, as we leave the 
 callous brethren and their heart-broken father, and follow 
 the Ishmaelitish caravan, with the hope of Israel, down to 
 the land of the Pharaohs. The travelling dealers of those 
 days were nomadic ; having no settled home, these ancient 
 carriers would be men of two languages at least, a com- 
 mercial people, with eager desire for gain. They dealt in all 
 sorts of merchandise ; nay, even men and women would be 
 bought and sold by them. As descendants of Ishmael, 
 who was not in the line of promise, and who did not live 
 before God, these men are naturally introduced to us as 
 caring nothing for Joseph, and willingly buying him for sale 
 in Egypt. Their "hand was against every man, and every 
 man's hand against them." The days of travel in the 
 caravan would be interesting to Joseph, and from the 
 traders Joseph would undoubtedly learn much indeed. 
 
THE TESTING-TIME IN EGYPT 69 
 
 From the stores of their knowledge he would increase his 
 own, also adding a rich experience. He would pass through 
 the fertile plain of Sharon and the important towns of the 
 later Philistine country, at that time ruled over by the 
 strong Hittite kingdom, finally arriving in Lower Egypt by 
 the northern route, called, in after-days, the way of the 
 Philistines. He would see the strong frontier forts of the 
 Shepherd Kings on the great Shur or Wall, stretching from 
 the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea in 
 the south. It was a going down, as a writer living in Jeru- 
 salem would properly describe it, from the hills to the plain. 
 At these frontier fortresses chariot forces were kept by the 
 Pharaohs. Joseph would see and learn much about Egypt 
 and its foreign relations, information gladly obtained, we 
 may well believe, after his early grief and parting from home 
 had subsided. Leaving Tahpanhes he would be taken direct 
 to Zoan or Tanis, the headquarters of the ruling dynasty at 
 that time. The Hyksos, as being an Asiatic dynasty, were 
 disliked by the native Egyptian princes, who were their fiefs 
 at Thebes, the more ancient and purely Egyptian seat of 
 empire. There are no records of these foreign rulers in 
 the native registers. Hence, most probably, the seat of the 
 Hyksos was in Zoan, and not in Memphis. Recent 
 discoveries have told us all about this period, when the 
 native rulers in Thebes were feudatories or fiefs of the 
 powerful Asiatic dynasty reigning in Zoan. The very 
 pavement in Zoan on which royal processions moved in 
 state has been uncovered. The passage in Ps. lxxviii. 1 2 
 gives corroborative evidence of the centre of the government 
 being in Zoan, even in the time of Moses, when it refers to 
 the wonders done in " the field of Zoan." There are now 
 known to have been three dynasties of Hyksos rulers, being 
 
70 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 the 15th, 1 6th, and 17th in the list of Pharaohs. The period 
 of this rule extended from about 2098 to 1587 B.C., or five 
 hundred years, being followed by the" famous 18th dynasty, 
 with its illustrious Thotmes, and the 19th, so important in 
 the history of Moses, as having on its roll the great 
 Rameses 11., the oppressor of Israel, and known in classical 
 history as Sesostris. Such a time was singularly appropriate 
 for the coming of such a man as Joseph, and for his promo- 
 tion rapidly to power and place. This would have been 
 almost impossible had a pure Egyptian dynasty been on the 
 throne ; for to the Egyptian the Shasu or Shepherd tribes 
 from Arabia were an abomination. The proud Egyptian, 
 with his fertilising river, in which he so gloried as to deify 
 its power, despised men who tended migratory flocks, and 
 had no magnificent towns and temples. But at the court 
 of Apepi, about 1640 B.C., such a tribe as that to which 
 Joseph belonged would be at once welcomed without any 
 question. It was a tribe akin to the ruling house. This 
 Apepi, Joseph's Pharaoh, however, was the last of the 
 Hyksos, and thus the Israel migration was very specially 
 opportune. The royal title Pharaoh corresponds to our 
 modern title Emperor, Kaiser, etc., indicating that he who 
 held this title was the ruler or master of the royal house. 
 This title is used in our document ; and the name of the 
 reigning Pharaoh is not given to us. 
 
 On his arrival in Egypt, after passing the northern 
 fortress towns, the Khetem in Egyptian or Migdol in 
 Hebrew, as such towns were called along the frontier, 
 Joseph would be taken to Zoan. This, of course, would 
 be the most important emporium of trade at that time. 
 Thither the Ishmaelitish traders then would go to sell their 
 merchandise and dispose of Joseph. They were fortunate, 
 
THE TESTING-TIME IN EGYPT 71 
 
 both for themselves and for him, in finding a purchaser of 
 this young man in a very highly placed officer of the royal 
 court. He is called a captain of the guard. The name 
 Potiphar or Potipherah is pure Egyptian, and probably 
 means the gift of the sun-god, Ra. The office held by 
 Potiphar was that of chief of the palace guard, a very high 
 judicial and police appointment. Very soon Joseph 
 received the favourable notice of his master. His conduct 
 was exemplary, and his attention to all his duties highly 
 conscientious. This is expressed in the language of the 
 prophets by saying that the " Lord was with him." Pro- 
 sperity and good fortune in the present life were regarded 
 by the pre-exilic prophets and the common proverbial say- 
 ings of the Jews as manifest tokens of Divine favour and 
 personal goodness. Job's sufferings were traced to his 
 wrong-doing. But later experiences of captivity and the 
 sorrow of life were to teach men that the troubles of the 
 righteous were many, and that the deliverance out of them 
 might not be immediate. To find favour with God and 
 man would be one and the same thing in a perfect world ; 
 to such a world prophets ever pointed, of such they ever 
 spoke. Joseph's advance in Egypt was steady. He grew 
 in the high regard of Potiphar, so that probably nothing ever 
 altered his opinion of Joseph. Thus, then, we have the 
 picture, the prophetic representation, of a good man, of virtue, 
 goodness, and innocence, cast out by his own friends, and 
 exposed to all the trials and temptations of life. While it 
 is clearly taught here that goodness by its own inherent 
 and intrinsic excellence — for all human goodness means the 
 presence of God and His favour in the soul — must make its 
 way and succeed, it is also as clearly taught that the good 
 man has no special immunity from suffering. He must be 
 
72 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 tempted in all points, and alone made perfect through the 
 things he suffers. There is no divinely erected, miracu- 
 lously provided defence for him. God will not give his 
 angels charge over him, unless for himself he walks in ways 
 that are right and pure and good. Character and lot are 
 essentially related. To learn how this is, is to know what 
 life means. The Josephs of God are His chosen servants, 
 happy and blessed only as they do His holy will in the 
 world. Theirs is the immortality, the abiding and ultimate 
 blessedness of goodness. 
 
 The stranger, introduced into Potiphar's staff, soon so 
 approves himself to his master that he becomes a trusted 
 and confidential officer, and is placed in special charge of 
 his household, all his private affairs being left in Joseph's 
 hand. "He is that good and faithful servant whom his 
 lord appointed over all that he had." Being now at the 
 height of favour in Potiphar's house, his second great testing 
 is to come. Before it was even so. Being high in his 
 father's favour, a privileged son, he had for the sake of 
 doing his father's will, of being faithful to his mission, to 
 suffer the loss of all things. One word of compromise, the 
 slightest concession, might have conciliated his brethren, 
 and secured a calm and tranquil life without danger, even if 
 also without glory. But he made the choice of faithful 
 adherence to principle, with the consequences already seen. 
 His second great crisis is brought about by his remarkable 
 success. The higher positions for which men long bring 
 with them their own peculiar and much stronger tempta- 
 tions. " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.' 7 The 
 finest rose has the sharpest thorn. Again it was Joseph's 
 high position that exposed him to this special test ; it was 
 the struggle to maintain this high position unstained that 
 
THE TESTING- TIME IN EGYPT 73 
 
 called for noblest endeavour and secured success. Again, 
 any compromise or lowering of the standard of principle 
 would have been fatal. To the prophet's eye such would 
 have been impossible. A God's Joseph, a man of God, 
 could not so sin against God. His choice, his character, his 
 record, all were against such a contingency. The persever- 
 ance of the saints is involved here ; and this great doctrine, 
 rightly understood, is taught by our prophet now. God's 
 people must necessarily be exposed to temptation, and 
 they must also overcome it. To him that overcometh 
 is all reward. 
 
 Undoubtedly our narrative is not so true to Egyptian 
 sources as the other here. Such a high placed officer as 
 Potiphar was, would probably have been a eunuch, as we 
 are told he was, and, therefore, most likely unmarried. A 
 temptation like the one recorded here could not have come 
 from this quarter ; but there were many quarters from which 
 it could have come. There is no improbability at all in 
 Joseph having to encounter such a test. But here the 
 teaching is of immensely more importance than the actual 
 time or setting of the circumstance. The very essence of 
 the teaching is that to every good man, to all worthy com- 
 munities, the temptation to a low and impure life must come. 
 Those who would be a people of God must entertain high 
 and pure ideas about the sacredness of marriage, for on 
 many a prophetic page it is taken as the fittest symbol to 
 represent the Divine relationship between God and Israel. 
 An elevated and ennobling view of life and its responsi- 
 bilities is brought before us. Infidelity to the marriage tie, 
 any kind of impurity of life, is not a mere lapse from virtue, 
 an excusable offence on the ground of weakness ; it is a sin 
 against God. What Nathan taught to David, and John the 
 
74 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 Baptist to Herod, our prophet now teaches Israel. Such 
 teaching is the great safeguard of our family life : it is 
 needed ever. Morality and the home's best interests can 
 only be furthered by deep religious conviction. It is to be 
 deplored that in much of our modern literature this evil of 
 impurity is not called by its proper name, sin. Some loud, 
 clear prophetic voice is now demanded. 
 
 Joseph meets his new temptation with the courage born 
 of purity and goodness. The pure in heart are always 
 strong, while " sinful heart makes feeble hand." The 
 tempted one becomes a preacher. His very goodness 
 had, perhaps, made him guileless and unsophisticated. 
 He had moved about with a clean heart and pure life 
 in a very corrupt . state of society. Perhaps his very 
 innocence had been misconstrued, his very goodness of 
 heart and kindness of action misinterpreted. The world 
 may have thought him on their side, when he was earnestly 
 trying to bring them over to his side. Being " all things 
 to all men " to win some, may be regarded by those who 
 will not be won as a desire to enjoy the pleasures of the 
 world. Any charge will do to destroy the influence of 
 a good man. Good doing, lofty motive, high aspiration 
 ever condemn their opposites, and create the most cruel 
 and malignant opposition. In the story before us there 
 is a complete freedom from stupid apocryphal legend, from 
 miraculous absurdities, which, e.g., are found in the Egyptian 
 tale of the " Two Brothers." Other books and other stories 
 concern themselves with telling what is wonderful or 
 strange, loving to excite the mind with sensational elements. 
 But in Scripture the aim and purpose is always spiritual 
 and religious edification. The story of Joseph's temptation 
 and victory has been contrasted with the above story of 
 
THE TESTING-TIME IN EGYPT 75 
 
 the " Two Brothers " found on an Egyptian papyrus. But 
 the contrast is wholly in favour of the Bible narrative. 
 The younger brother in that story is tempted and falsely 
 accused, as was Joseph. But everything else is different 
 and strange. The cattle in the stalls tell hirn about his 
 elder brother's rage, a fanciful conceit ; a river of crocodiles 
 intervenes between the brothers, and a whole series of most 
 extraordinary adventures follow. The only point of contact 
 between the story of Joseph and that of the " Two 
 Brothers" is that innocence ultimately is recognised and 
 rewarded. It is hard to see why the attempt has been made 
 to trace any connection between the simple and beautiful 
 story before us and this exaggerated and ridiculous Egyp- 
 tian fancy. If there ever was any, then how splendidly 
 here, as in the case of the Flood legends, does Inspiration 
 emancipate the Bible writers from crude and absurd myths, 
 and enable them to give pure and high instruction. 
 
 The total disregard which the enemies of truth have for 
 any kind of consistency is admirably illustrated by the way 
 in which Potiphar's wife is represented as acting at this 
 time. She had professed regard and esteem for Joseph, 
 and now, in a moment, she becomes his bitterest foe. 
 The world, which promises us all pleasure if only we 
 adopt its ways, becomes our unceasing antagonist when 
 we despise them. Joseph is wickedly and falsely charged 
 with doing the very thing he refused to do ; the ill-doing 
 and iniquity of another is laid on him. Every stone is 
 turned to do him damage. Racial antagonism is em- 
 phasised also. This Hebrew ! " Can any good thing 
 come out of Nazareth?" But what was meant for harm 
 is only working for greater good. We may not know 
 whether Potiphar believed his wife's story; probably not. 
 
76 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 The way in which she reproaches him for having brought 
 in a Hebrew into his establishment may lead us to this 
 view. But, of course, the point here emphasised is the 
 unworthy hatred entertained for the Hebrew people by 
 the Egyptians. And this is here appropriate in a prophetic 
 writer living in Judah. The keen opposition of the prophets 
 of Jerusalem to an alliance with Egypt found its firmest 
 and most strenuous expression in the great prophet Isaiah, 
 who cried often, " Woe to them that go down to Egypt 
 for help ! but do not look to the Holy One of Israel " 
 (ch. xxxi.). If Shishak had helped Jeroboam, he had 
 plundered Jerusalem. It is not likely that any kind of 
 severe punishment was meted out to Joseph. The writer 
 is concerned rather with the triumph of virtue than with 
 anything else. He was removed to another department of 
 Potiphar's work, and placed among those in the royal 
 prison. Perhaps to please his wife, Potiphar spoke angrily, 
 and represented Joseph's removal from one department to 
 another as punishment. The word prison does not suggest 
 here anything of severe treatment ; while the circumstance, 
 to which we come later on in the other narrative, that 
 two officers of the royal household were detained in this 
 place before trial, until their cases should be looked into, 
 shows us just exactly the position in which Joseph was 
 placed. It was no common prison or dungeon, but the 
 Round House or "Sohar" of Egypt. He had done no 
 wrong, and deserved no punishment. He had simply been 
 transferred for observation . to the care of another officer. 
 And very soon his exemplary conduct secured for him 
 an honourable promotion in connection with this royal 
 place of detention. Thus Joseph, through a false charge, 
 and an unworthy suspicion soon brushed aside, was brought 
 
FAMINE ADMINISTRATION — JOSEPH^ SUCCESS 77 
 
 nearer the centre of the court, and under the eye of 
 men daily in the Pharaoh's presence. The high function- 
 ary and colleague of Potiphar, under whom Joseph was 
 now serving, had ample opportunity of studying his ex- 
 cellences, and becoming familiar with his capacity for 
 administration. His fidelity and straightforwardness mark 
 him out for high and responsible office. Nothing daunted 
 Joseph. He went on doing whatever work fell to his 
 hand, pursuing the even tenor of his way unmoved and 
 without swerving. Everything comes to those who thus 
 wait in faithful doing. There is always time with God. 
 Being a young man of seventeen when he left his father's 
 house, and thirty when appointed by the Pharaoh to an 
 important place in the administration of the whole land, 
 some thirteen years of varied experience and rich instruc- 
 tion to one so willing to learn had been passed by him 
 in Egypt. He was now thoroughly fit for highest duty. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Famine Administration — Joseph's great Success. 
 
 Just at this time the government of the Hyksos was in 
 special need of a man of great administrative capacity, of 
 just such a man as Joseph had proved himself to be. 
 Undoubtedly the Hyksos dynasty would be conscious 
 of the growing strength of the native kings in the South, 
 and aware of their own instability. It was a time of 
 unsettlement. Hence a calm, firm, and conscientious man 
 was welcome. The state of the country, however, at this 
 time is not well known, and, as we have pointed out, native 
 
7o THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 Egyptian records do not tell us of what happened under 
 Hyksos government. That there were the usual records 
 kept at Zoan goes without saying, but as reflecting on 
 Egypt many would be destroyed when the proud 18th 
 dynasty came into power. In support of this destruction 
 of national records we have the conduct of Rameses n. 
 as most striking evidence. This haughty and boastful 
 Pharaoh removed and defaced many ancient monuments 
 in order to make way for the glorification of his own 
 achievements. Like the palimpsests of literature, there 
 are monumental remains in Egypt on which the doings 
 of the Pharaoh are carved over those of earlier Pharaohs, 
 especially of the Hyksos period. Zoan, in particular, was 
 dealt with by this Pharaoh in such a way as to remove 
 all traces of a time so disgraceful in the eyes of a pure 
 Egyptian. This may explain largely, if not altogether, the 
 fact that no mention of Joseph, or his share in Egyptian 
 administration, has come down to us. We are told, how- 
 ever, of a most severe famine, affecting not only Egypt, 
 then and for a long time after the granary of Europe, 
 but also South Canaan. Now famines are of rare occur- 
 rence in Egypt, the agricultural prosperity of which was 
 dependent on the regular rise and fall of their magnificent 
 river. They occur more frequently elsewhere, as in 
 Palestine and India, where the crops require the rain in 
 its season. But there have been famine times in Egypt, and 
 our narrative makes use of just such a time to bring the 
 tribe of Joseph down from their dried up pastures in Canaan 
 to the rich lands of Goshen. This is a natural and suitable 
 method of developing the story, even though no actual 
 famine had occurred. But by Brugsch, the famous dis- 
 coverer and Egyptologist, there was found at El-Kab, near 
 
FAMINE ADMINISTRATION — JOSEPH'S SUCCESS 79 
 
 Thebes, an inscription in connection with just the very 
 time now in question. It is on the grave of a man called 
 Baba, the father of Aahmes. Now Baba lived about the 
 time of Joseph, and his son Aahmes took an important 
 part in expelling the last Hyksos, Joseph's Apepi, and 
 restoring the glories of a Theban dynasty. This inscrip- 
 tion tells of famine measures, and special administration 
 even in the South. At that same time, then, we 
 have the story of Joseph's famine administration in the 
 North Kingdom, or in Lower Egypt. Gradually the 
 whole land of the people came under the hand of the 
 court, as the people mortgaged it in their need of food. 
 Perhaps this step, which helped Joseph for the time being, 
 only led to an increased dislike to Apepi, resulting soon 
 in his overthrow. The complete supremacy of the court, 
 with the radical change of the system of land tenure, could 
 not be agreeable to the Egyptians. The story of Baba's 
 distribution of corn to the starving people shows how at 
 that time there was private ownership in land ; but when 
 we come to the time of the 19th dynasty, we find that 
 all land is in the hands of the Pharaohs. We have no 
 distinct Egyptian record of this important change in the 
 system of land tenure, but it is quite clear that it did 
 take place, and just about the time of Joseph. It is 
 interesting also to know that distinguished foreigners of 
 Asiatic birth did from time to time rise to high office 
 under the Pharaohs, promotion being given to men who 
 had faithfully served their royal master in other and lower 
 departments of public life. One Dudu is mentioned as 
 occupying important place — indeed highest place — in the 
 time of Khu-n-Aten (18th dynasty) ; and we have in 
 later years the illustrations of Messu in Merenptah's time, 
 
80 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 and Daniel and Mordecai in the courts of Babylonia and 
 Persia. Joseph became a preserver of life by so ordering 
 things that in a time of famine the surplus of a nation's 
 supply in better days was now available. It had been 
 gathered into store -cities with their great granaries, so 
 that every need could be supplied. He was truly a foun- 
 tain of life, as some regard the name Zaphnath-paaneah 
 to mean. The highly distinguished place which Joseph 
 would thus occupy in the favour of the Pharaoh and 
 at the court, would soon pave the way to higher honours 
 still. So that we are not surprised to be told that he 
 was soon allowed to marry into a high-priestly family. 
 The priests of Egypt were almost a royal caste, and had 
 a large part assigned to them in the government and 
 administration of the country. Joseph was now practically 
 a member of this governing caste. Two sons were born 
 unto him before the years of famine came, and much 
 happiness fell to him at this time. His firstborn received 
 the name Manasseh, that tells of his being largely enabled 
 to forget his former days of trouble; while his second 
 son bore the name Ephraim, which tells of prosperity and 
 fruitfulness in his new position. The prophet Hosea, who 
 continuously speaks of the Northern Kingdom under the 
 name of Ephraim, has much to say about the significance 
 of this word as he refers to the tribe which- had become 
 so "fruitful among his brethren' 7 (xiii. 15), but which, 
 alas! had only been "bringing forth fruit for himself." 
 In these two sons, apparently his only ones, Joseph be- 
 comes two tribes instead of one among the people for 
 whom he was now doing so very much. 
 
 But it is not the purpose of our prophet merely to point 
 out how Joseph had reached unto this lofty position, and to 
 
FAMINE ADMINISTRATION — JOSEPH'S SUCCESS 8 1 
 
 show so clearly how he was enabled to preserve the life of 
 Egypt -j he was more concerned to show how one who had 
 been so ill-treated becomes a means of highest blessing to 
 those who had thus been unkind to him. The preserva- 
 tion of life in Egypt is only the background of a far more 
 important event, even the preservation of the life of Israel, 
 and the furtherance of their best interests. Not for his own 
 sake in any sense, but for Israel's sake, had this promo- 
 tion come. So that when the famine was at its height in 
 Palestine, among the many strangers who would come 
 to buy corn, there came down representatives of his own 
 family, even his own brethren. About twenty years had 
 now elapsed since they saw him last, and they never 
 dreamed of seeing him again, certainly not in this state 
 of honour. He was gratified, and would now find the 
 opportunity for which, no doubt, he had long been waiting, 
 of putting himself into communication with his aged father. 
 Hence he made quite a number of inquiries about him 
 and his younger brother. They thought, perhaps, it strange 
 that " the man," whom they knew not, should concern 
 himself about their family affairs. It was passed over, 
 however, at this time as a kindly curiosity. But when 
 he told them to bring down their younger brother, little 
 dreaming that they would ever have to come back, they 
 simply said, " That is impossible." This remark, followed 
 so soon by the discovery at the first halt on the home- 
 ward journey that their money had all been returned, 
 considerably perplexed them. They did not know what 
 to make of it all. But they had to press home with the 
 welcome supplies, and said nothing more until some time 
 after, when the continuance of the famine rendered a 
 second journey to Egypt necessary. When again their 
 6 
 
82 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 father urged the necessity for this, Judah has to make 
 a clean breast of the whole matter. He has to tell his 
 father what must have pained both. "We cannot go 
 down," he says, "unless we take Benjamin with us.'' This 
 was an ultimatum Judah felt, and in a noble spirit he 
 promises to be a pledge and security for the safe return 
 of the much loved lad. The patriarch was hard to per- 
 suade. Only dire need compelled him to consent. Then 
 in truly Oriental fashion Jacob bids his sons take down 
 a handsome present of the best products of the land and 
 a double supply of money. This is done, and soon little 
 Benjamin, in the hand of Judah, stands before Joseph. 
 What a day that was to Joseph ! How the pent up feelings 
 of years are ready to burst forth ! Oh ! these barriers and 
 divisions ! But Joseph must act circumspectly. He asks 
 them all to dine with him. At this they are alarmed. 
 They have now an awakened conscience, which makes 
 cowards of them. They are so afraid of losing Benjamin ! 
 So afraid of being charged with theft! Hence they speak 
 to Joseph's head servant, protesting their innocence of the 
 lesser thing, but wholly unmindful of the greater crime of 
 Dothan. The steward bids them have no fear of Joseph, 
 but banish all suspicion. When in the house Joseph meets 
 them, he is overcome with emotion, but restrains himself 
 in public, waiting until the meal is over, and every stranger 
 withdraws. The moment of vision and revelation is a 
 sacred one. And yet he wants to get possession of 
 Benjamin. It must not be to find him again only to lose 
 him for ever. He thinks of a device. He will put his 
 own drinking cup in the sack of Benjamin, and so have 
 him brought back. What consternation the brothers feel 
 when they are overtaken, and the lost cup is found in 
 
FAMINE ADMINISTRATION — JOSEPH'S SUCCESS 83 
 
 Benjamin's possession ! They must all return, and Judah 
 in the most heroic manner is willing to suffer any punish- 
 ment if only Benjamin is allowed pardon and return home. 
 This is now the final crisis. Judah's character stands out 
 in the best light. His reward has now come. Once he 
 saved Joseph, now he saves Benjamin. This time, how- 
 ever, it is by highest principle worthy of Judah, by being 
 willing even to die for him. This is the essence of the 
 gospel. It is a moment of revelation and salvation. 
 Joseph makes himself known now. Oh ! what a glad 
 moment ! One thing only remains to be done, and that 
 is to bring about a reunited family. He who had been 
 a saviour to Pharaoh is now to be a saviour to his father 
 and brethren. " Go," he says, " bring my father down. 
 Bid him dwell with me in Goshen — with Joseph his long 
 lost son, who will be more than glad to supply his every 
 want as long as he shall live." The reunion of the tribes 
 is clearly a desirable thing, and Joseph's desire is praise- 
 worthy in the prophet's eyes as what he has, and wishes 
 all to have. Joseph is here acting as one possessed of 
 supreme authority. He has not felt it necessary as yet 
 to consult his sovereign. It is just in harmony with the 
 arrangements already made by him for the settlement of 
 the land that he should allot Goshen to his own tribe. 
 This whole region has been made familiar to us in recent 
 years by exploration and the campaign against the Mahdi. 
 It is east of Zagazig, the modern village that stands on 
 the site of the ancient Bubastis, an ancient chief town of 
 the Hyksos, and extending south to Bilbeis (Belbes). 
 An ancient inscription dating from the time of Merenptah, 
 the Pharaoh of the Exodus, describes this as "left at 
 pasture for cattle, because of the strangers." It is thought 
 
84 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 that Goshen is a Hebraised form of Kesem, the Egyptian 
 name of that district. The message from Joseph was 
 good news to his father ; at first, indeed, it seemed too 
 good to be true ; but the waggons, not chariots, sent up 
 from Egypt to convey him there gave clear confirmation 
 of its truth, so that he resolved on going down at once. 
 He was now an old man, close on one hundred and thirty, 
 with a long life behind, full of strange adventure and sore 
 travail. " Few and evil have been the days of the years 
 of my pilgrimage," he said soon after most pathetically 
 in the presence of the Pharaoh. Leaving Hebron, the 
 home of his fathers, he passes through Beersheba, with 
 its interesting traditions. Judah, as the son who had 
 already worthily acted in the capacity of leader and eldest 
 son, goes on in advance to prepare the way. They enter 
 Egypt at this time not by the northern route by which 
 Joseph had come, but by the middle way, entering directly 
 into Goshen, having travelled along the caravan route from 
 Hebron to Shur. This we learn from the statement that 
 Joseph went up, i.e. went South, from the capital at Zoan 
 to meet his father. At this time the Pharaoh must have 
 been either at Bubastis or at Memphis, for Joseph has 
 still to go up in order to report the arrival of his father 
 and brethren. He readily receives the royal approval for 
 the arrangements, which he had so wisely made, so as 
 not to give any trouble to his master. The migration and 
 settlement of the whole tribe of Joseph has thus been 
 happily accomplished, and not a moment too soon. For 
 the close of the patriarch's life is drawing near. God now 
 brings it about in a gracious providence, which by carrying 
 out His own purpose ever secures the good of His people ; 
 so that the prophet gladly emphasises the great words 
 
FAMINE ADMINISTRATION — JOSEPH'S SUCCESS 85 
 
 of St. Paul in his triumphant optimism, "We know that 
 all things work together for good to them that love God, 
 who are called according to His purpose." Truly, as the 
 later psalmist reminds us, " Many are the afflictions of 
 the righteous, but Jehovah delivers him out of them all." 
 It is a magnificent vindication of the Divine way, that 
 Jacob should see all Joseph's glory, and depart this life 
 amid such a peaceful scene. 
 
 We are now called to the patriarch's last hours, and we 
 see Joseph and his two sons, along with the older branches 
 of the family, gathered to hear the last words of their father. 
 The eyes of the aged sire are dim, but his spirit is brave and 
 firm. To him comes the vision of a coming day. Manasseh 
 and Ephraim are before him to receive the blessing of their 
 grandfather. Does he remember now, with sadness, the 
 guile by which he secured Esau's place ? At any rate he is 
 resolved in giving the younger son here the elder brothers 
 blessing. And thus does he forecast the greatness of 
 Ephraim, which was to be the feature of the future. Cer- 
 tainly after days showed how Manasseh took a wholly sub- 
 ordinate place, and how Ephraim became the leading tribe 
 in the upbuilding of the new kingdom ; while in Hosea's 
 most tender and pathetic prophecy it is Ephraim that stands 
 for the Northern Kingdom over and over again. First in 
 honour and first in highest responsibility, thus Ephraim is 
 placed. All down his history this tribe is foremost in con- 
 tendings for the first place. Not only, however, does our 
 prophet connect this characteristic of this ambitious tribe 
 with an old tradition about the blessing of the sons of 
 Joseph, he also gives us one of the oldest songs in Israel, in 
 which all the tribes have their future history forecast by the 
 dying patriarch. What we have, of course, is not the very 
 
86 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 words of Jacob, but a song of Blessing, based on what the 
 founder of the tribes might have said. This song of 
 Blessing appears in another and enlarged form in the Book 
 of Deuteronomy, written somewhat later than the one before 
 us here by another prophetic writer, who puts it into the 
 mouth of Moses. The striking thing about this Blessing is 
 that in it there is nothing of praise for the Ten Tribes, all of 
 praise and merit is reserved for Judah and Joseph ; while 
 the warlike tendencies of Benjamin are mentioned, but not 
 indeed with high praise, for Saul belonged to that tribe. 
 
 The love of fatherland, ever a strong instinct with the 
 Jewish people, is touchingly set forth in the way by which 
 Jacob makes Joseph swear that he will bury him not in this 
 foreign land, but with the sacred dust of his forefathers at 
 Machpelah. This being done, Jacob dies. Every honour 
 is paid to his remains.' The embalmers of Egypt have full 
 powers given to them to spare no expense, and deepest 
 sympathy is felt for Joseph by all his circle in the court. 
 Seventy days were devoted to this mourning, as was cus- 
 tomary among the Egyptians. After this period the royal 
 permission was granted, and Joseph, attended by represen- 
 tatives of the court and army, went in state to bury his 
 father. There seems some uncertainty about the route of 
 the funeral. The words beyond Jordan, or east of the 
 Jordan, would suggest a very circuitous route ; for un- 
 doubtedly the shortest and most direct route would be 
 adopted at this time for this sad procession, with its high 
 marks of respect for one so honoured. The mention of 
 Abel-Mitzraim, with its explanation that Abel means mourn- 
 ing, may have arisen either from a corruption of the text 
 or a wrong identification of sites. If there was an Abel- 
 Mitzraim south of Hebron, its site is not known. The 
 
FAMINE ADMINISTRATION — JOSEPH^ SUCCESS 87 
 
 Hebrew prophet naturally enough associated some such 
 place with this funeral progress. Many places, indeed, have 
 " Abel" as the first part of their name, and its true meaning 
 is not mourning, as according to the view of our prophet, 
 but meadow. It is quite in harmony with the method of 
 our writer to explain place-names in the light of some great 
 truth he desired to emphasise. Here he dwells upon the 
 thought that there was genuine mourning and highest regard 
 paid to Jacob. 
 
 The sacred oath which the aged patriarch had imposed 
 upon his son was thus piously carried out. Jacob was laid 
 to rest with his fathers in Machpelah, in the sepulchre which 
 Abraham had purchased near Hebron. This being done, 
 Joseph returned to the discharge of his duties at the court 
 of the Pharaoh. As long as he lived he would continue to 
 protect his brethren, and to secure for them every comfort 
 in the land of Goshen. But political changes were fast 
 hastening. The duration of Hyksos rule was soon to end. 
 These Pharaohs had never been popular, and an attempt to 
 insist on the adoption of their religion in the proud capital 
 of Ra, at Thebes, would only intensify the growing an- 
 tagonism. But the exact dates are not quite determined. 
 The year 1587 is given as the beginning of the 18th 
 dynasty, when Hyksos rule was destroyed. If Joseph 
 came down to Egypt about 1660, and died in 1567, i.e. 
 allowing him ninety -three years of life in Egypt, he 
 would see the gradual weakening of the Hyksos power, 
 and would live to witness a new dynasty on the throne. 
 The experience of Israel in Egypt on the decease of 
 Joseph can only be imagined. Sufficient work lay to 
 the hand of the early kings of the 18th dynasty, and 
 they would doubtless leave the Hebrews alone. They 
 
55 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 would not be a numerous community, and association with 
 Joseph's name would secure them immunity in their pasture 
 lands. Originally a permanent dwelling in Egypt had no 
 doubt never been contemplated either by Joseph or by the 
 Pharaoh ; but the great military undertakings of the time, 
 with the firm hold Egypt had over Palestine, would not 
 allow any chance of return. Israel had to bide their time, 
 and meanwhile they grew and increased. It never could be 
 the will of God that His people should remain in Egypt ; 
 no home of a suitable kind could be found for them there 
 amid idolatrous surroundings, any more than for Abram 
 amid those of Sin (the moon-god) in ancient Babylonia. 
 They might build their nest, and make it strong, but soon 
 circumstances would break up that nest, and compel them, 
 like the young eagles to whom they are compared (Deut. 
 xxxii. n), to seek another and a more suitable home. If, 
 under stress of circumstances, Israel ever has to go down to 
 Egypt, it must be only as a temporary measure. As already 
 mentioned, as finding expression in the words of Isaiah, 
 those in Jerusalem who favoured an alliance with Egypt 
 obtained no support from the prophets there. Egypt, in 
 prophetic eyes, was only an enemy and an oppressor of 
 God's people. The Shepherd dynasty, not the true Egyp- 
 tian Pharaohs, had shown Israel no little kindness ; but 
 when they were overthrown, nothing but scorn and con- 
 tempt, with the imposition of heavy toil and burden, were 
 to come from the proud princes of Thebes. These new 
 rulers knew not Joseph, and had a strong and most pro- 
 nounced dislike for foreigners of every kind. Egypt and 
 the Nile were only for the true home-born children. But 
 the crisis did not come for some two and a half centuries 
 (1587-1327 B.C.). 
 
THE APPOINTMENT AND MISSION OF MOSES 89 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Appointment and Mission of Moses. 
 
 We have reached now the period of the 18th dynasty 
 in Egypt, a time of great military progress. The sovereigns 
 of this dynasty, at least in its earliest representatives, were 
 great conquerors and builders of empire. On the south the 
 boundaries were pushed beyond Dongola by the defeat of 
 the Nubians and Cushites, while a fleet was placed on the 
 Nile, near Semneh, above the second cataract. Consoli- 
 dation also went on, accompanied by much building of 
 magnificent temples and palaces at Thebes and Luxor, 
 which have been the glory of all time. The prophet 
 Nahum, in after days, referred to the splendour of Thebes, 
 the capital of Amen-Ra, the chief deity of the Egyptians, 
 throned upon the waters of the Nile. The mighty Pharaoh, 
 Thotmes 1., marshalled his forces to crush the Eastern or 
 Asiatic peoples, and asserted his supremacy over Syria 
 and Palestine. Hatasu as queen, Thotmes 11. and in. 
 continued this work, and the bas-reliefs at Tel-el-Bahiri, 
 near Thebes, represent the triumphs of their days. The 
 leading events of the campaigns waged against the Hittites 
 by Thotmes in. are found engraved, in a great war-song, 
 on the walls of the temple at Karnak. The temple of the 
 sun-god Ra at Heliopolis or On owes its building to this 
 Pharaoh, when all trace of the Hyksos cult would be 
 removed. One of the obelisks erected by Thotmes is to be 
 found in Rome ; while another, curiously called Cleopatra's 
 needle, is to be seen on the Thames Embankment in London. 
 The next Pharaoh of this line built two colossal figures at 
 
90 , THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 Thebes, as also the famous vocal Memnon, and a magnifi- 
 cent temple at Luxor. But now a change comes over the 
 character of this dynasty, and semi-Asiatic and reforming 
 influences are seen at work. Amenhotep iv. was " sicklied 
 o'er with the pale cast of thought," rather than occupied 
 with the usual work of kings. Under the influence of his 
 mother, an Asiatic princess, he disavowed the worship of 
 Amen-Ra and introduced that of Aten-Ra, the solar disc. 
 This led to much disturbance, insomuch that the king 
 moved the seat of government from Thebes to a new capital 
 at Tel-el-Amarna, a place which has only so recently been 
 discovered, with all its interesting remains, so helpful to our 
 knowledge of a time hitherto unknown. The Pharaoh 
 called himself Khu-n-Aten, as a worshipper of this new 
 deity. Many foreigners were introduced to office and 
 power in the new administration, but this roused intense 
 opposition. Khu-n-Aten's views were shortlived ; probably 
 only two successors belonging to this dynasty ruled. Then 
 such a rising of national Egyptian feeling took place, that 
 every trace of these heretic kings was removed ; the capital 
 in Thebes was again made the seat of religion and govern- 
 ment. The new dynasty (the 19th) came to the throne 
 on the wave of this popular outburst of national feeling, and 
 were bound to destroy every foreign influence in the land. 
 The date assigned to this dynasty is 132 7-1 181, and it has 
 five sovereigns, Rameses 1., Seti 1., Rameses n., Merenptah, 
 and Seti 11. This is the dynasty that is euphemistically 
 described as not knowing Joseph ; they were essentially 
 native and bitterly anti-foreign. Now most suitably is the 
 time of the oppression of the Hebrews ; for they must, have 
 shared in all the cruel measures adopted to crush the 
 foreigner and destroy his influence. The first of those 
 
THE APPOINTMENT AND MISSION OF MOSES 91 
 
 Pharaohs engaged in military campaigns against the 
 Hittites, and got themselves much renown. Rameses 11. 
 especially had some signal triumphs in his military under- 
 takings against these great rulers of Syria. " Palestine was 
 taken captive, and made utterly wretched ; the land of the 
 Hittites was tranquillised," to quote from an inscription of 
 Merenptah which refers to this time. The victories of 
 Rameses n. were sung by the epic poet of that time, whose 
 name is Pentaur, and his energies were devoted in every 
 direction to the aggrandisement of his own country and 
 dynasty. A cruel edict for the destruction of the male 
 children of all foreigners is naturally enough attributed to 
 Seti 1. ; it must have been one of the measures adopted for 
 the extirpation and diminution of foreign influence. But 
 the Hebrews had now grown to some considerable extent, 
 insomuch that the land of Goshen, lying between the 
 Pelusiac and Sebennytic branches of the Nile, was pretty 
 well occupied by them, and they became a large community. 
 Nothing definite can be said about their number; all we 
 can say with safety is that they formed a powerful element 
 in the population which could no longer be ignored. They 
 were compelled to build the store-cities of Rameses and 
 Pithom, this forced labour being hard and oppressive in a 
 marked degree. Such circumstances were thus preparing 
 for the moment of Exodus, when the Hebrews would be 
 compelled once and for all to abandon Egypt, and so to 
 fulfil the hopes and prophecies of their forefathers. While 
 it is impossible to fix the date of the Exodus, it is generally 
 regarded now as having occurred between 1200 and 1150, 
 either in the reign of Merenptah or his successor. Very 
 considerable agreement points to Rameses 11. as the Pharaoh 
 of the oppression. An earlier period used to be fixed upon 
 
92 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 for this formative event in Israel's history, but the military 
 conditions of the time of Thotmes in., and the smallness of 
 the community in Goshen, do not admit of this earlier date ; 
 while the discoveries of Tel-el-Amarna and Pithom, in very 
 recent times, afford information suggesting most probable 
 circumstances for the oppression and its result. Only when 
 some great northern invasion occupied the attention of 
 Merenptah, and compelled Egypt to loosen its hold on 
 Palestine, could the Exodus have taken place. While, again, 
 the duration of the sojourning of Israel in Egypt is put as four 
 hundred and thirty years in Gal. iii. 17, a period in round 
 numbers to represent the time from Abraham to Moses, or 
 the four generations from Joseph to Moses, which is the 
 period assigned to the sojourning of Israel in a " land that is 
 not theirs" in Gen. xv. 13. The passage from Ex. vi. 16 
 harmonises its four generations and genealogy with this state- 
 ment, which reads, "In the fourth generation they shall come 
 hither again. 5 ' If a hundred and ten years be allowed for a 
 generation, we would have then practically the same figure 
 as above (Ex. xii. 40). The period lies between 1640 and 
 n8o, these being the two extreme points of the sojourning, 
 beginning later or ending sooner, according to actual fact. 
 In the prophetic narrative which we are now studying there 
 is nothing said to us about the experiences and incidents of 
 the long period of servitude and oppression. That is taken 
 for granted; its sadness and severity are abundantly sug- 
 gested by the words that tell of the urgency and happiness 
 of the deliverance. The concern of our prophet is with the 
 salvation of the people, even as he would have us realise 
 that this is God's chief concern too. But the foregoing 
 historical introduction is necessary to our understanding of 
 the times, — an introduction, however, which we are left to 
 
THE APPOINTMENT AND MISSION OF MOSES 93 
 
 gather from other and ordinary sources of information, so far 
 as our prophet is concerned. A large section dealing with 
 chronological and genealogical details is given to us by a writer 
 whose business it has been to preserve such useful archives. 
 Our prophet deals ever with the spiritual and religious. 
 
 How magnificently and how worthy of the highest pro- 
 phetic insight is the way in which God is now shown to 
 intervene for His people's deliverance ! He is deeply 
 interested in them at all times. He knows their sorrow. 
 He cannot remain a disinterested observer. He comes 
 down to deliver them. Thus the good words of Isaiah are 
 anticipated in a pure prophetic succession, as he says, 
 " Surely they are My people ! Children that will not lie ! 
 So He was their Saviour ! In all their affliction He was 
 afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them ! In 
 His love and in His pity He Himself redeemed them " (lxiii. 
 9). He who had delivered Israel from famine by Joseph 
 would deliver His Israel from cruel bondage. He would 
 reveal Himself ever more and more as a deliverer and 
 saviour. This is of the very essence of the Divine character. 
 He must save. Beside Him there is no saviour. If in a 
 time of difficulty already experienced God had proved 
 Himself able to deliver, then no time of difficulty can be 
 too great. His ear is ever open ; His arm is always strong. 
 This is what the prophet saw in all Israel's past; this is 
 what he teaches as the hope for Israel's future. 
 
 Now God lays help on one whom He makes mighty to 
 deliver. Moses, the great leader, is specially commissioned 
 to do this work. Suddenly Moses is raised up, it would 
 appear — called at once to do God's bidding, as Cyrus was. 
 Elijah-like, meteor-like, he appears on the scene, as if with- 
 out father or mother. His glory and special qualification 
 
94 THE STORY QF MOSES 
 
 for service is that he has a clear perception, an intuition of 
 God as Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
 What makes him of supreme value to God for His people's 
 sake, is here his capacity of receiving a new revelation of 
 God, new and fuller, and yet in spiritual succession to and 
 in harmony with the old. God's servants are men who 
 have their eye ever open to Divine revelations, and their 
 ear ever alert to hear the Divine teaching ; they can there- 
 fore become His prophets, because they know His will, and 
 are enabled to proclaim His message unto men. Referring 
 to the work of Moses, a later prophet, Hosea, writes, "By 
 a prophet Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a 
 prophet was he preserved." Clearly and distinctly the 
 character of Jehovah is set before us in all its sympathetic 
 tenderness. The new deliverance, like every deliverance of 
 God's people, is to come by the way of a new vision of God. 
 Every step forward to any betterment among men is to 
 come by way of seeing some new excellence in God; in 
 this is the sanction and the inspiring stimulus to be found 
 for any movement that may truly be called progressive. 
 
 But how true to our human experience is the narrative 
 which tells of the difficulties, not only external to Moses, 
 but also in the very character of Moses, which hinder and 
 delay the acceptance and the execution of the Divine 
 commission. What is he more than any other? How 
 can he have received a revelation which no one else has 
 received ? In what way is he to convince men — even his 
 own people — that he is sent by God to be their deliverer ? 
 How can he prove that God is with him? "Who is blind 
 but My servant ? or deaf as My messenger ? " Ah ! here 
 is difficulty, indeed, felt by every man of God who feels 
 himself called out and commissioned to do any ser- 
 
THE APPOINTMENT AND MISSION OF MOSES 95 
 
 vice. 1 "They will not believe me." And Moses was to 
 learn, that only by a long and faithful continuance in well- 
 doing was he to prove his Divine commission. Even to the 
 last there were those who did not believe in this "man 
 Moses." 
 
 Now Moses requires some outward and visible proof 
 that God is with him, even as Gideon did. That proof 
 he gets. The common shepherd's rod is in his hand to 
 become a rod of power. For him it can be and do 
 anything, when once God uses it, when once it is sur- 
 rendered unto God. 
 
 The proof and attestation of a Divine revelation, its true 
 sign to us is not wonders and prodigies, but the truth itself 
 as it touches heart and conscience, moving men to do and 
 dare for God. " Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will 
 not believe," said Christ when He was ever seeking to raise 
 men to a higher and more spiritual way of dealing with 
 God. This Moses felt, too, hence we have this wonder and 
 sign given to him that he may use it among the people. 
 Such a sign was no additional proof or convincing argu- 
 ment ; it was illustrative and corroborative. But people 
 who want signs and wonders want them in the plural. 
 One, though very glorious, never is enough; another is 
 asked for, and yet another. And while one may be as 
 impressive as many, many are as easy as one. Our 
 prophet himself must have felt the uselessness of these 
 signs and wonders as proofs of the Divine legation of 
 Moses. It was commonly alleged that the Wise Men or 
 Magi about Pharaoh's court could do likewise ; and he 
 knew that the effect of such outward things is only 
 temporary and spasmodic. They may be like the ringing 
 1 Jer. i. 6 ; Ezek. ii. 8. 
 
96 THE STORY O^ MOSES 
 
 of a church bell, to arrest attention, and give an invita- 
 tion, soon forgotten if the invitation to come and enter in 
 is neglected. Here we are told that Moses is empowered 
 to do great things in God's name, and yet he is unwilling 
 still. He cannot speak, he says. The moral strength has 
 thus not been imparted by the outward signs. There must 
 be a spiritual work done in the very soul of a man before 
 he can go and speak God's words, even as they are given 
 unto him. Could not the same human will that sur- 
 rendered the rod, have also surrendered the tongue to 
 God? Was not the teaching as to the way in which 
 God could use any outward thing symbolic of the way 
 in which He could use any part of man's being ? Might 
 he not pray — 
 
 "Lord ! speak to me, that I may speak 
 In living echoes of Thine own?" 
 
 Not yet. Hence Aaron was to be called into requisition. 
 But we would note that this is only done as an expedient, 
 rendered necessary by the imperfection of Moses. The 
 prophetic ministry does not require the priestly, if only 
 it is worthy. The subordination of the priest to the 
 prophet is here clearly taught. God reveals Himself to 
 the prophet. The prophet should speak for God directly 
 to men ; but owing to human conditions and limitations 
 he has often spoken through his brother, the priest. In 
 Israel's later history the priests allied themselves too much 
 with the high places, and prophets like Amos had to 
 denounce both high place and priest. 
 
 The relation now established between Moses and Aaron 
 is like unto the high and holy one between God and Moses. 
 Moses is to be the prophet or spokesman for God ; Aaron 
 
THE APPOINTMENT. AND MISSION OF MOSES 97 
 
 is to be the prophet or spokesman for Moses. Divine 
 truth is to be given by God to Moses, and by Moses to 
 Aaron. Moses is to speak God's words to Aaron, but 
 Aaron is to speak for Moses to the people. Here we 
 perceive the exact significance of the Hebrew word for 
 prophet, and the too much neglected but most important 
 thought, that God's prophets are rather speakers for God 
 than predictors or speakers beforehand. They are the 
 great Announcers of truth, the men through whom every 
 Annunciation comes. 
 
 At this time Moses is in exile in Midian. The causes 
 of that exile are not given by our writer in any fulness. 
 It is suggested that he had fled, or been banished, from the 
 land of Egypt, his life being forfeit to the law for some 
 action he had taken, probably in the interests of his own 
 people. Some considerable time had elapsed between the 
 flight of Moses and his return. He has married, and has 
 sons, who have now grown up. The great distance of 
 Midian from Egypt has to be remembered. To come 
 thence, Moses and his followers would have to traverse the 
 Sinaitic peninsula, so that he and his friends would be- 
 come familiar with all its geographical peculiarities. Thus 
 Moses and Jethro had been chosen by God and prepared 
 of Him to be leaders of Israel during an important transi- 
 tion period. While meanwhile in Egypt the men who had 
 been concerned with Moses in perhaps some premature 
 rising, and those who had taken an active part in sup- 
 pressing it, had all passed away. Moses could now come 
 back to begin a new work as a new man disciplined in 
 the regions of Midian. Having traversed the way himself, 
 he could lead others along it. God chooses men whom 
 He prepares by His own discipline. 
 7 
 
9§ THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 In the claim which Moses now presents to Pharaoh, in 
 its own nature and in its very phraseology, we have the 
 essence of the doctrine of the prophets. The formula, 
 "Thus saith Jehovah," so characteristic of all the prophets, 
 is here, so that the word, message, or burden is a Divine 
 oracle. The prophet speaks in Jehovah's name, for Him. 
 But not only is the formula interesting, the claim also is 
 even more so. For Israel is claimed as God's son, even 
 His firstborn, who can owe allegiance only to the God and 
 Father of his own nation. Thus Hosea spoke, "When 
 Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called him out 
 of Egypt to be my son" (xi. i). A son to serve God. 
 Thus sonship and service are associated, as always in the 
 prophetic Scripture. The truest servant is the truest son. 
 The thought of choice or election to privilege, or any kind 
 of selfish immunity, is never allowed for a moment a place ; 
 the Divine choice or calling is ever to service and witness- 
 bearing. "Let My son go, that he may serve Me." 
 This is the charter of all spiritual liberty and enfranchise- 
 ment. Every yoke of bondage that prevents a free and 
 loving worship, even a sonly or filial service of God, must 
 be broken. God's sons must be freed from every human 
 servitude that interferes with His service. Only from this 
 point of view can we justify the intervention of Providence 
 in the affairs of Israel. To Moses a large appreciation of 
 the spiritual meaning of the claim he now makes must 
 doubtless have been present. With the people, however, 
 on the other hand, there was a failure to understand the 
 claim ; they had then, as people still have, to be convinced 
 of their high calling of God. With Pharaoh and the world 
 the claim is only made matter of ridicule. The enterprise 
 of Moses also seemed strange unto his wife. Those who 
 
THE APPOINTMENT AND MISSION OF MOSES 99 
 
 were " more of kin and less of kind " could not understand 
 his lofty spiritual outlook. He seemed to his own as one 
 beside himself. The remarkable incident en route is typical 
 of the controversy which inspired men have to wage with 
 those who see not as they see. It is sometimes harder to 
 witness a good confession at home than in the world ; it is 
 oftener easier to gain converts among those who know us 
 least of all, than among our own household. Probably 
 Zipporah and her sons went back to Midian at this 
 point. 
 
 The touching account of the meeting of Moses and 
 Aaron is next given us. It is a beautiful scene. These 
 long separated brothers are once more united. Oh ! how 
 many things have they to tell one another ! Aaron can 
 speak about the sorrows and trials of Israel, and Moses 
 can tell of the way in which God had been revealing 
 Himself to him in his quiet hours, while he shepherded 
 the flocks on the mountain side, when every common 
 heath became to him a burning bush, and all nature spoke 
 of the great Creator. Going hand in hand to Goshen, they 
 received a warm welcome. Moses was full of hope and 
 gladness. His message about a Divine visitation must 
 have greatly cheered the people. The early enthusiasm 
 that springs of hope was manifesting itself. The difficulties 
 soon to damp down the faith of many were not as yet 
 realised. But they were soon enough to appear. The 
 coming of Moses across what we are accustomed to call 
 the wilderness was an important event. It betokened a 
 way out, an exodus. The whole region of the Sinaitic 
 peninsula was in those days far more busy than now. 
 There were trade or caravan routes in every direction. Im- 
 portant inscriptions and illustrations have been discovered 
 
100 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 on the rocks at Mokatteb, showing us that there were 
 rich mines of iron ore and turquoises fully worked in these 
 early days by the Egyptians. To our uninformed ears the 
 wilderness through which Moses now came, and through 
 which he was afterwards to lead Israel, only suggests waste 
 and desert. But it was not by any means of this character. 
 Coming and going was common. Egyptian troops held the 
 whole region, in which were many Egyptian stations fully 
 supplied with men and provisions. Hence Moses had 
 been obliged for his own safety to pass over into Midian 
 when he went out at first. 
 
 The presentation of a petition to the court of the 
 Pharaohs, asking for the transference of Israel to their 
 own country, is now made. Gladly would this have been 
 done in former days, but the presence of abundant labour 
 was now welcome to the Pharaohs, characteristically bent 
 on magnificent buildings. Cheap, forced labour was 
 especially required in days when there was no steam 
 power known. The prodigious work needed in the removal 
 of such masses of marble and stone of all kinds could only 
 be done by large crowds of men. To this the people of 
 Israel were handed over, a work very far from congenial to 
 a pastoral people. Moses, of course, saw that he must 
 proceed with great caution and moderation in the pre- 
 sentation of his case. He could not ask for all he wanted 
 at once. Hence his first request is simply for a brief 
 respite from constant forced labour, that the people might 
 worship their own God in the wilderness, or desert of 
 Shur, not far away, but sufficiently far away from heathen 
 temples and oppression. 
 
 The claim of a people to have their own religious worship 
 is a claim of nationality \ it infers national rights. The 
 
THE APPOINTMENT AND MISSION OF MOSES IOI 
 
 Pharaoh is represented as understanding what the claim 
 means. Every nation has its own god. But these 
 Hebrews, who are they ? They have no god, no rights ; 
 they are not a nation, but simply the slaves of Egypt. 
 When Moses seeks to urge, that unless the people serve 
 their God they will be punished by Him, he only dwells 
 upon what the Pharaoh must know was a common belief 
 in those days. All calamity was traced by peoples to the 
 neglect of their national gods. Prosperity could only be 
 secured by a due observance of religious rites. It was 
 vain, however, to urge any such plea. The Pharaoh simply 
 regarded Israel as so much machinery, so many tools, for 
 the doing of the world's work ; and the claim of Moses is 
 regarded wholly as an excuse for idleness, a hindrance to 
 work. Religion and its claims are thus often despised by 
 the oppressors of their fellows. Only in religion can the 
 claim of man's free spirit find its highest expression, and 
 human liberty its best champion. Civil and religious 
 liberty have ever been conjoined in any people's best 
 contendings. In the great Reformation of Luther the 
 claim of religion broke the trammels of ages and set 
 men free, civilly and politically as well as religiously and 
 ecclesiastically. It is almost impossible for us to realise 
 the scornful manner in which Moses and Aaron would bu 
 treated at the court. They were ridiculed, and their words 
 regarded as empty, frivolous things. How difficult, indeed, 
 seemed the : task to which they had put their hand ! A 
 poor, despised, oppressed people had now, however, found 
 their champions. Their " claim of right " had at length 
 found a voice, and, sooner or later, every worthy claim of 
 right finds in history its full and complete recognition. 
 Those who contend for those essential and inalienable 
 
102 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 principles bound up in man's well-being, truly Divine 
 principles, have on their side Divine power; and this has 
 never failed. " Though the vision tarry, yet wait thou for it.'' 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Oppression of Israel and its End. 
 
 The appearance of Moses on the scene, as interested in 
 the people of the Hebrews, only intensified the sadness of 
 the situation and increased the severity of the oppression. 
 The moment before the dawn is darker than all moments 
 that preceded, and the hardest bit of the struggle is just the 
 last. The claim of Moses, that certain religious privileges 
 be conceded to the Hebrews, led to the almost complete 
 withdrawal of any leisure or opportunity they at present 
 had. Their hours of labour are increased, — a very effective 
 means, in every age, of preventing the progress of religion. 
 The amount of bricks to be made continued the same ; but 
 the necessary chopped straw not being provided, the people 
 had to go in search of it. The bricks thus made were 
 made with more difficulty and of poorer material. This 
 particular industry is portrayed on Egyptian walls, and we 
 can thus bring before our eyes the exact conditions of the 
 work of the Hebrews then. 
 
 Houses and town walls were made of mud-bricks dried 
 in the sun. Recent excavations, as in Lachish and else- 
 where, show the shape and size of these mud-bricks. A 
 well-known picture at Thebes represents large numbers of 
 foreign brickmakers under charge of the Egyptian overseer 
 or taskmaster. The black Nile soil, with fine sand and 
 
THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL AND ITS END I03 
 
 chopped straw, formed the usual Egyptian brick. It is 
 interesting to know that from the 18th to the 20th dynasty, 
 the time of the sojourn of Israel in Egypt, the bricks 
 bore on a stamp the name of the Pharaoh. The very 
 extensive building operations of Rameses 11., perhaps, led 
 to the restriction of straw (required for food for cattle) 
 for brickmaking, and to the production of an inferior and 
 cheaper brick. The time of the oppression, as we believe, 
 must have been contemporaneous with these building 
 operations. To elucidate this whole question, special 
 attention was given to the store town of Pithom by Naville 
 (1883), and it was found that it belonged to the reign of 
 Rameses 11., and was built in its higher walls of the inferior 
 class of bricks referred to above. Rameses built this and 
 other towns like Rameses and On for purposes of defence. 
 They were strongly fortified places. Pithom is Pi-Tum, or 
 the house of Turn, the sun-god, and is first mentioned 
 on monuments of the 19th dynasty. It is the same as 
 Succoth, which is the Hebrew form of Thuket, the civil 
 name of Pithom, as the capital of the eighth nome or 
 division of Lower Egypt. The temple of Turn has been 
 discovered, with numerous dedicatory inscriptions by 
 Rameses to that deity, and also a series of brick build- 
 ings, where provisions sufficient to victual armies crossing 
 into Palestine might be kept. These great triumphs of 
 modern Egyptian exploration shed a flood of light on our 
 narrative, and corroborate the historical basis on which it 
 rests. 
 
 In the circumstances of increased hardship, blame is 
 attached to Moses on the part of many, who had been 
 quite satisfied with the former condition of things. They 
 had had sufficient food, and they did not concern them- 
 
104 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 selves with the claims of religion much, if at all. Such 
 persons there always are, and they hinder all important 
 movements, discouraging all great leaders. "They mind 
 earthly things/' When these grumblers laid their re- 
 proaches on Moses and Aaron, they in turn were for the 
 moment depressed and disheartened. They gave way to 
 melancholy, and might have said, " Who hath believed our 
 report ? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? " 
 Greatest minds, keen on noblest issues, are most of all 
 liable to these times of depression. Instances in Scripture 
 may be found in the stories of Elijah, Jeremiah, and Jonah. 
 None of us have far to seek for cases in our own days. 
 The promised deliverance has not come as soon as was 
 expected. " Our Lord delayeth His coming." The enter- 
 prise, entered on with so much of hopeful enthusiasm, is 
 not crowned with immediate success, and many are in- 
 clined to withdraw from it. Nay, the very mention of 
 deliverance only seems to tighten the cords and chains 
 that bind the captives. Men in their weakness and short- 
 sightedness blame the Almighty. Measuring time by their 
 own standards, and not knowing the real difficulties in the 
 way, they forget that " one day is as a thousand, and a 
 thousand as one day " to Him who "knoweth the end from 
 the beginning." But when Moses threw himself on God, 
 there came to him as a deeper conviction than ever that 
 the great deliverance was drawing nigh. He could not see, 
 perhaps, how it was to come about. That it was to be, 
 became, however, his firm and fixed hope. This hope was 
 based on the might of God. Prophet after prophet taught 
 Israel to trust in the strength of Jehovah. Out of weakness 
 they could be made strong by their covenanted God. 
 That strength, in some way or other, was to be made 
 
THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL AND ITS END 105 
 
 manifest in the presence of the Pharaoh, so that Israel 
 might be let go. Had there been a voluntary release all 
 would have been well. But now the die is cast. Pharaoh's 
 heart was hardened. 
 
 The great barrier to Israel's going forth was the deter- 
 mined and obstinate purpose of the Pharaoh, that as Israel 
 was useful to him, they should not be allowed to go away 
 on any consideration. But the heart of man is in the hand 
 of God. It may in certain circumstances be hard and 
 stubborn ; it may in other circumstances become weak and 
 yielding. Prosperity may harden men against God, but 
 sore adversity can break the proudest will. What Moses 
 has to convince Pharaoh of is the strength of Jehovah. 
 That thought must be pressed home. Proud Pharaoh 
 must learn the lesson that God is over and above him. 
 Doubtless Egyptian kings reverenced their own gods, but 
 their own overweening confidence in themselves led them 
 to imagine themselves almost as high as the gods they 
 worshipped. Their religion allowed the kings to be 
 supreme ; theirs was a Divine right which almost destroyed 
 all recognition of the Divine. 
 
 God's hand had thus to be stretched out. Now, accord- 
 ing to all prophetic teaching, all plague and trouble, all 
 famine and disaster, are owing to the displeasure of God. 
 All comes on man because of his violation of the Divine 
 law in one or other of its forms. He was the First great 
 Cause, and prophets lived in the very presence of God. 
 All that was done of good or evil was done directly and 
 immediately by Him, none staying His hand, or saying 
 unto Him, "What doest Thou?" But alongside of this 
 great teaching as to God, they also taught human responsi- 
 bility and moral choice. Men could hearken unto God, 
 
106 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 and obey His will. By so doing they could avoid disaster. 
 But failure to obey God spelt every kind of ruin. This 
 lesson, ever requiring to be emphatically repeated, is taught 
 in large letters here in the story of God's dealing with the 
 Pharaoh through Moses. Every calamity that befell him 
 was sure evidence of his hardening bis heart, and of his own 
 foolish, stubborn determination not to do the will of God, 
 but to carry out his own will. Men have to learn to say as 
 the last and best expression of their spiritual life, "Thy 
 will, not mine, be done." Again, let us note this purely 
 prophetic phrase so common afterwards in Jeremiah and 
 Ezekiel, "Thus saith Jehovah, i By this shalt thou know 
 that I am Jehovah.'" The prophet speaks in God's name, 
 and is concerned for His glory. If the great fertilising 
 Nile, so kind and generous to Egypt as to be ranked a 
 deity, should fail or become undrinkable ; if frogs should 
 become a pestilent plague by their abundance; if flies 
 should multiply ; if disease should appear among the 
 cattle ; if rain and stormy tempests should do havoc all 
 around ; or if locusts should, as they often did, devour the 
 fruit of the land, — if any or all of these things should 
 happen, then the Pharaoh should know that the Divine 
 anger was burning fiercely against him and his land 
 because of this great wrong, that he was holding God's 
 people in captivity. The once presented petition would 
 remain until granted. It was in the form of an ultimatum, 
 and could not be withdrawn. Over and over again this is 
 what Moses would have to say. By his continual coming 
 Moses would weary the royal court. He would lose no 
 opportunity of magnifying the disasters occurring in any 
 part of the kingdom, and of urging the Pharaoh to make 
 the concessions he so earnestly prayed for. Any yielding 
 
THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL AND ITS END 107 
 
 on Pharaoh's part would be a welcome and hopeful sign ; 
 but with the passing away of the trouble to which Moses 
 pointed, would be the passing away of the yielding. A 
 return of prosperity, a gleam of sunshine, a victory in war, 
 would banish all thought of any concession ; again and 
 again, to the annoyance of Moses, the Pharaoh hardened 
 his heart. Moses felt that he was only being deceived 
 and trifled with. The Pharaoh was not being touched in 
 any radical or abiding manner. If Israel were ever to 
 be released, it must be by a coup-de-main, a bold and 
 determined movement suddenly and thoroughly carried 
 out. 
 
 Things were ripening fast towards this. The people of 
 Israel were gradually being knit together by a common 
 suffering and a common hope. They were being made to 
 feel that they must act, that they must themselves break the 
 fetters, that they saw would only tighten the more, the 
 longer they stayed in Egypt. For a long time they had seen 
 the futile negotiations going on between the royal court 
 and Moses. Nothing had as yet resulted, save the intensify- 
 ing of their suffering, which united them the closer in their 
 desire for a complete emancipation. Negotiations seldom, 
 nay, never, avail between the Church and the world. Con- 
 cordats can only be purchased by a loss of spiritual in- 
 dependence. God's people must buy this their freedom at 
 a great price, being willing to lose not it, but sometimes 
 nearly all else beside. They must count all things but 
 loss for the sake of God, and freedom to worship 
 Him. 
 
 Moses has then at length his last interview, a stormy and 
 troubled interview, with Pharaoh. He had been told never 
 more again to show his face at court. If he dared to come 
 
[08 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 the penalty would be death. Then he felt it his duty 
 solemnly to denounce Pharaoh and all his court, threaten- 
 ing a terrible disaster, even the death of the heir to the 
 throne. Having uttered, like Amos to the hireling priest 
 at Bethel, his words of awful doom, he left the court for 
 ever, in a great anger. Vain was the trust he had put in 
 princes. He learnt for himself, and the prophet now 
 teaches Judah the lesson that men are ever slow to learn, 
 the lesson which the latest psalmist sang (Ps. cxviii.) — ■ 
 
 "Better it is to trust in God 
 
 Than trust in man's defence : 
 Better to trust in God than make 
 Princes our confidence." 
 
 The deliverance of Israel from Babylon took place, it is 
 true, by the royal permit, so that they did not go out in 
 haste. But that was a rare occurrence ; as a rule, deliver- 
 ance cometh only through pain and loss. It has to be 
 fought for, and claimed in spite of every opposition. The 
 words put into the mouth of Moses on the occasion of his 
 last interview are typical words. They forecast the day 
 when every heathen power shall be brought low, and God 
 alone shall be exalted in that day. Then shall all kings 
 and nations come and bow down unto Him that is a Jew, 
 unto Him that is a true Israelite "in whom there is no 
 guile." Such words, when voicing more than a nation's 
 own ambition, and trust in their own tribal gods, tell of 
 the final triumph of righteousness, " when He whose right 
 it is to reign shall come/' when a "king shall reign in 
 righteousness, and princes decree justice." Only in a per- 
 fect kingdom of God shall the world's redemption be 
 secured. 
 
THE DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT 109 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Departure out of Egypt. 
 
 The crisis, long drawing ever nearer, has at last arrived for 
 Israel in Egypt. They are now to leave that alien land, 
 and to enter into a land of their own, the land of their 
 fathers' wanderings, the land of their fathers' sepulchres. 
 Moses has done with the Pharaoh, as Isaiah and the later 
 prophets desired their people to have nothing more to do 
 with Egypt. Into the mouth of penitent Ephraim, Hosea 
 puts these words: "Assyria shall not save us! We will 
 not ride on the horses of Egypt ! Neither will we say any 
 more to the work of our hands, ' Ye are our gods ' : for in 
 Thee the fatherless findeth mercy." 
 
 What is now required is some means whereby every 
 Israelite may know his comrade. Some convention or 
 arrangement must be made, so that every Hebrew may 
 rally to the call of Exodus, and go forth as one man from 
 Egypt. This is found in a ceremony which afterwards 
 became the great annual national festival of the Passover — 
 the great remembering of the nation being born as in a 
 day. A lamb was to be slain by every Hebrew household, 
 and the blood was to be put upon the lintel of the doors. 
 This would clearly distinguish every Hebrew house. It 
 would show who were willing to identify themselves with 
 the people of God, and to join in the great Exodus, now 
 being arranged for. If a sudden call should be sent out, 
 how easy it would be to communicate with blood-sprinkled 
 households. No Egyptian would deign thus to use blood. 
 To have the whole family at home, in perfect readiness to 
 
HO THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 start, was also an extremely wise arrangement. The great 
 national festival of the Passover ever afterwards kept fresh 
 in the memory of the people the night of the great de- 
 liverance, when God passed through the land in judgment, 
 and in mercy passed over every blood-sprinkled doorpost. 
 The word Passover has been derived from the Hebrew verb 
 here used for passing over ; and both in meaning and 
 sound there is a striking similarity (Pasach). The word 
 paschal has also been derived from an Egyptian word 
 signifying to remember. It was a feast, certainly, held in 
 remembrance of a notable national event. Considerable 
 interest attaches to the blood-sprinkling over the threshold 
 as referring to an old custom, which formed a blood- 
 covenant, celebrated in connection with the welcome of a 
 bride to her new home. Many such old customs, as, e.g., 
 circumcision itself, had been adopted by the Hebrews, and 
 on their adoption had received a special religious signi- 
 ficance not originally belonging to them. Whatever may 
 have been the earliest meaning or purpose of the blood- 
 sprinkling, it is clear that here our prophet desires to 
 connect very distinctly its meaning with a great Divine 
 act of mercy. For him it is the basis of deep spiritual 
 teaching. This undoubtedly he is anxious to impress on 
 the mind of the people. There was much of passing over 
 at this vernal equinox, as an old season passed away, or 
 passed over into a new ; -there was the passing over from 
 Egypt into the new national life ; but there was something 
 better, even that which lay at the bottom of the whole 
 matter in the Divine mind, the Divine passing over this 
 people in mercy. Hosea's figure of a marriage relation 
 between God and Israel may be taught by anticipation. 1 
 3 See also Ex. iv. 26, "A bridegroom of blood art thou," p. 23. 
 
THE DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT III 
 
 The didactic purpose of our writer is manifest. He sees 
 the children asking the meaning of this great celebration, 
 and he gives this answer to their question, that it was in 
 commemoration of God delivering the blood -sprinkled 
 houses. Above all things he would desire the people of 
 Jerusalem to recall and realise the mercy of God in this 
 annual event, for even while the ceremony was kept up, 
 its spiritual meaning might be forgotten, to the infinite loss 
 of all concerned. Never does the opus operatum by itself 
 avail. 
 
 The night of the departure of Israel from Egypt was a 
 night of great sorrow in the land. It seemed as if in some 
 striking manner every power from the Pharaoh downwards 
 had been paralysed. Some terrible blow, resulting in 
 mourning in many houses, had fallen. So great was the 
 mourning and lamentation, that it seemed as if "there was 
 not a house where there was not one dead." Of course, 
 there were many houses where there were no firstborn to 
 die, and the fatal epidemic and disaster, though widespread, 
 must have been local. What concerns us is this great 
 prophetic message, that so great was the domestic sorrow 
 that the government was paralysed, and an opportunity of 
 Exodus afforded. How otherwise would the proud Pharaoh 
 have relaxed his grip upon Israel even for a moment? In 
 every age God acts by the laws of nature which He 
 Himself has established. He uses the men and the means, 
 which all are at His sovereign disposal ; He causeth even 
 the wrath of men to serve Him. If we knew just exactly 
 the historical moment of the Exodus, we might speak with 
 confidence about the state of the Egyptian kingdom. 
 Merenptah, the Pharaoh, is represented, indeed, on one in- 
 scription as deploring the death of his heir; and besides 
 
112 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 this great sorrow, his hands were pretty fully occupied in 
 military undertakings. The opportunity of the Hebrews 
 had come, and, as the Psalmist puts it, " Egypt was glad 
 when they departed. The fear of them fell upon them ! 
 For He remembered His holy promise to Abraham His 
 servant, and He brought forth His people with joy, and 
 His chosen with gladness " (Ps. cv. 38). 
 
 In connection with the accomplished deliverance, and 
 as part in later days of the Passover feast, we have the 
 appointment of the eating of unleavened bread. The terms 
 of the appointment refer to the Exodus as in the past, 
 " Remember this day. 5 ' But the Feast of Unleavened Bread 
 being at one and the same time in celebration of the same 
 event, was regarded as another name for the Passover itself 
 (Luke xxii. 1). The moment of appointment would be 
 between the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan, belonging 
 thus to the wilderness legislation. The institution also of 
 distinctive memorial signs upon the hand and between the 
 eyes is now also given. Nothing too much could at this 
 time be introduced to keep in abiding memory God's great 
 goodness and mighty power. These were to be national 
 marks worn by all true members of the people, but only 
 as aids and helps to a far more important thing, even the 
 speaking forth of the Divine goodness. It was not the 
 wearing of these mnemonic slips so much that was enjoined 
 in themselves, but only this as a means to the end that 
 "all the Lord's people should be prophets, and His Spirit 
 upon them all." Christ had to condemn in His day the 
 wearing of such things in large and conspicuous fashion, 
 when their main purpose was wholly neglected (Matt, xxiii. 5). 
 This true meaning is given, e.g., in Prov. hi. 3, "Bind 
 them about thy neck ; write them upon the tables of the 
 
THE' DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT 113 
 
 heart" Israel was to be for God a witnessing people in 
 the highest spiritual sense ; but they missed their vocation, 
 and lost their place and calling. Failing to do God's work, 
 the work to which they were called, they ceased to be 
 God's people. 
 
 In addition to these two institutions, there was yet a 
 third, which entered very vitally into the religion of the 
 Israelites. It is the redemption or sanctification of the 
 firstborn ; everything that was first-fruits was to be regarded 
 as belonging to God, as holy or devoted unto Him. This 
 was a common belief among heathen nations, and many a 
 bloody altar bore witness to the cruel devotion of super- 
 stitious nations, who sought to appease God and atone for 
 sin by sacrificing their " firstborn for their transgression, the 
 fruit of their body for the sin of their soul." The story of 
 Abraham's great trial shows the prevalence of this old 
 custom, and illustrates the way in which he was led by God 
 to consecrate his Isaac to God in some better way. For 
 what God wishes is the surrendered will, not the smoking 
 altar. Thus, too, when Israel came out of Egypt and were 
 pulsating with the devotion of a first love, they would 
 readily regard all first-fruits as peculiarly belonging to their 
 great Redeemer. The prophet Jeremiah, referring to this 
 time, says, "Thus saith the Lord, 'I remember thee, the 
 kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals ; when 
 thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that 
 was not sown. Israel was holiness — consecrated to the 
 Lord, the first-fruits of his increase : all that devoured 
 these were counted guilty ; trouble came upon them ' " 
 (ii. 2, 3). The whole of the tribes were to have this privi- 
 lege, that as God's people they were dedicated and conse- 
 crated. It was a high and lofty calling ; a prophetic ideal 
 8 
 
114 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 which, in order that it might be workable in our real world, 
 had to be considerably modified. Every firstborn son, then, 
 is to be a priest unto God, born for service and not for 
 privilege ; an heir not to acquired possession, but to the 
 responsibility of guiding, directing, blessing others. A 
 primogeniture like this of the prophet would heal our 
 wounded life, wounded to death by a false doctrine of the 
 elder brother, who, neglecting every social and brotherly 
 duty, claims for himself every right. A true Hebrew was 
 to regard his first son as a signal mark of Divine favour, 
 a token of sparing mercy. He was to remember that in 
 Egypt his firstborn would have perished had it not been 
 for God's goodness. With heart throbbing with gratitude 
 to God, he was to dedicate all his first and best to God's 
 service, not in an empty and unprofitable holocaust, but in 
 a daily lifelong service (Rom. xii. i). A sense of debt and 
 obligation was to characterise the people of God ; they were 
 always to say, " All to Him I owe " ; all not only of the 
 spiritual redemption, but all also of the daily goodness of 
 providence. 
 
 But now the narrative goes on to deal with the actual 
 course of events, which had for the moment been interrupted 
 to allow of the placing of these striking institutions, with 
 their valuable instruction, in suitable and appropriate frame- 
 work. The people have made their great departure ; they 
 have taken their final step. The midnight call had come, 
 and Israel bade farewell to Egypt and the oppression of 
 Goshen. But the way before them was to be full of diffi- 
 culty. Many were to be the years of unsettlement and 
 hard fighting before, under a powerful leader like Gideon 
 or Samuel, they were to have any kind of ordered govern- 
 ment ! What a troubled and troublous period was this 
 
THE DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT 115 
 
 indeed — an iron age assuredly ! During this time, however, 
 Israel had a Divine guide. He was "their light by day, 
 and their defence by night. 5 ' Looking back, this was what 
 the prophet saw; this was his believing interpretation of 
 history. God was in it all. A people chosen and called 
 forth from Egypt were to be not only led, but much more, 
 moulded and disciplined to be for His own possession. As 
 then, so now, an unseen but very effective pillar-cloud 
 of guidance, an unseen but very effective pillar-fire of 
 defence, ever goeth before and behind the people of God. 
 He is their guide and their defence. 
 
 The departure of Israel naturally led to commotion and 
 recrimination among the royal officers of Egypt. They had 
 never anticipated such a bold step. It was owing to their 
 neglect and want of military precaution that this event had 
 taken place. Large liberty had been left to the Hebrews ; 
 their work was arranged by their own recognised officers, 
 under oversight of Egyptians. No military guards blocked 
 the way. The way from Goshen right into the heart of 
 the peninsula of Sinai lay open, and almost entirely un- 
 guarded. Zoan was, in the north, well defended, as also 
 all the approaches from Syria by the way of the Philistines 
 through Pelusium and Tahpanhes (Daphne). There would 
 be chariots enough there. While up south, of course, 
 strong military forces would guard the great towns. But 
 here was the unprotected centre, with its store : towns built 
 and occupied by the Hebrews. Straight before them was 
 the way across the Red Sea, with its chain of lakes and 
 marshes. Moses knew well, as we have seen, the whole 
 country. Negotiations being broken off, he takes a bolder 
 course. He goes out with the whole people. They expect 
 to get clear away before being pursued. This, of course, 
 
Il6 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 could not altogether have happened. Their arrangements 
 had been quietly made, through a complete organisation of 
 the people ready to hand, in the officers appointed over 
 them. The Egyptians were completely taken by surprise in 
 a moment of careless neglect and weakness. But the news 
 would soon be reported, and as soon as possible a pursuing 
 force would be sent after them by royal command. The 
 appearance of an armed force, of course, caused fear to 
 manifest itself among the more craven spirits, who were 
 not prepared to fight for anything. These begin a course 
 they continued as long as they lived — a course of fault- 
 finding with Moses, making his leadership as difficult as 
 possible by unceasing murmuring. Moses, however, was 
 firm and confident. He displayed a spirit worthy of his 
 position, and success crowned all his arrangements. After 
 the wind had dried up the ground before them, and the 
 armed men had stood firmly to their post, the Hebrews 
 passed over safely into the wilderness, and the Egyptian 
 chariots were thrown into confusion on a battleground ill- 
 suited to them. Verily God fought for His people. So 
 He always does. Wind and ground alike were in their 
 favour; while these and the stars in their courses fought 
 against their foes. We magnify the miracle of a Divine 
 Providence which continually works out a sovereign purpose 
 by making all things subserve its end — that end being ever 
 to lead men to believe in God, and to do His holy will. 
 
 " The common round, the trivial task, 
 May furnish all we need to ask ; 
 Room to deny ourselves, a road 
 To bring us daily nearer God." 
 
 After this disaster to the pursuing host of Egyptians, the 
 Hebrews got safely away, and were not followed any farther. 
 
THE DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT 117 
 
 They were beyond the boundary of lake and wall (Shur), 
 which defended Egypt all the way from Pelusium, in the 
 north, down to the sea proper. The exact point of crossing 
 this boundary is determined for us by the circumstance 
 that Moses led the people for three days before coming to 
 Marah, a place of bitterness, which afterwards was to have 
 pleasant memories. Formerly it was thought that the cross- 
 ing had been much farther south, at an arm of the sea in 
 the Gulf of Suez. But this point is probably farther south 
 than they would have gone, and wholly out of their way 
 towards Canaan. Hence it is now believed that the cross- 
 ing of the boundary took place farther north, at a point 
 about midway between the head of the Gulf of Suez and 
 the way of the Philistines. There was here a main route 
 out of Egypt called the Way of Shur. It was guarded by 
 a Migdol or Khetem, i.e. a strong fortress at the boundary 
 or crossing. To avoid this fortress, probably the people 
 went a little south ; but when once across, and in the 
 wilderness of Shur or Etham, they could get away beyond 
 pursuit. There is some uncertainty as to what Etham 
 represents. Some regard it as being the same as Khetem ; 
 while also, with some, probably it may stand for Edom, 
 towards which Israel was now hastening. Moses had gone 
 direct to Midian by this route before. They would avoid 
 the route to the Egyptian district of Mafka with its mines, 
 along which troops would be passing, and plunge right into 
 the wilderness, as we are here told. Had they gone the 
 way south, so as to pass through the so-called Sinaitic 
 region, they would not have found it difficult to obtain 
 water. There was much traffic that way, but in the wilder- 
 ness, whither they had gone in their three days' march, no 
 wonder they came to a Marah experience ! A hasty march 
 
Il8 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 straight across towards Midian, which we might well imagine 
 to have been the first goal of Moses on his way to Canaan, 
 would be eagerly carried through without much considera- 
 tion or looking back. This they must do— get away from 
 Egypt to serve God in the wilderness. But when they 
 pitch their camp they find the water bitter ; and eager to 
 teach some spiritual lesson, the prophet calls the name of 
 the place Marah. Place-names as stages in a pilgrim journey 
 are all instructive to him. Each has its lesson. We should 
 not look for any place so called : it is reached only to be 
 passed. The spiritual is more than the geographical. Every 
 disappointment overcome, every difficulty surmounted ever 
 should be — this is the teaching, a new opportunity for 
 covenant renewal. The Marahs of life, with their fearful 
 apprehensions of danger, and new discoveries, and appre- 
 ciations of Divine goodness, are always steps onwards in a 
 movement to a better and higher experience. If they are 
 times of trial and testing from one point of view, they are 
 rather, and much more, occasions and opportunities for new 
 and fuller revelations of the love and grace of God. At 
 this Marah, how rich is the instruction given about Jehovah ! 
 He is the healer of sickness, and this is His good promise, 
 that if the people are obedient, and walk in His ways, the 
 plagues of Egypt will not come upon them. The bitter 
 waters are ever made sweet by that " tree of life, which is 
 for the healing of the nations." Into earth's deepest sorrow 
 there may come a Divine gift that will end all pain and allay 
 all fear. Let Israel hope in God ! For in Christ's Cross, that 
 tree of shame, there has been found the healing of all pain. 
 The teaching of the prophet here as to the sad and 
 intimate relation between sin and sickness is interesting, and 
 of much importance. The prophetic interpretation of all 
 
THE DEPARTURE OUT OF EGYPT II9 
 
 life is again before us. Sin and sickness are cause and 
 effect, so that where the one is the other comes. Both are 
 alien ( in God's world. In Eden there was no sickness, 
 because there was no sin. And it was ever the hope and 
 teaching of the prophets, that in a true kingdom of God, 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness, there should be nothing to 
 hurt or to destroy. They saw a coming city of God, in which 
 the inhabitant should not say, " I am sick ; the people that 
 dwell therein are a forgiven people " (Isa. xxxiii. 24). Such 
 a city would be a true Hygieia, the dream and hope of every 
 medical reformer. For all sin is a violation of the Divine 
 law. The laws of health, both for mind and body, are the 
 laws of God ; obedience to these laws, in clean and pure 
 living, both bodily and spiritually, for each reacts on the 
 other, will secure the highest health, the reduction of 
 mortality and sickness to its minimum. " Mens sana in 
 corpore sano," embodies our best thinking ; and it can only 
 be found in that man whose spirit is in fellowship with God, 
 and whose body is used in a God-honouring life of service 
 and work. The Apocalypse of St. John, with its pure river 
 in the midst, its tree of life, and absence of sin, must be still 
 our ideal and aspiration. 
 
 Thus much does Marah teach. Life's commonest, 
 bitterest disappointments if utilised for profit, earth's hard, 
 highway halting-places, may give us an insight into God's 
 ways by showing us wherein we have erred in the past — 
 our need of ever depending on Him. If the first three 
 days' march only brought the people to a Marah, another 
 stage would bring them to Elim. This place was one of 
 great comfort, with all the appearance of a settled and fertile 
 place. It has been suggested that this is but another name 
 for Elath, of which it is, indeed, the plural masculine. This 
 
120 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 town is a well known one on the Gulf of Akaba, and is 
 frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. No doubt the 
 conditions of the valleys in the peninsula were much better 
 in the time of Moses than they are now. Then there were 
 large forests, and abundant water supply. At the Egyptian 
 mines large quantities of wood were consumed, and the 
 destruction of forests which thus went on very considerably 
 altered the climatic conditions. Thus there would be many 
 Elims in what is now a parched wilderness. The present 
 sterility and barrenness of the land are in complete contrast 
 to the state when there would be seasonable rains and rich 
 vegetation in the valleys. But the identification of the site 
 again, is a matter of minor importance to our prophet, whose 
 aim is so spiritual. He would teach that every exodus may 
 have its first and early disappointments ; that God's people 
 will only have alternation of joy and sorrow, fear and hope, 
 until they come to their final rest. The high exultation of 
 deliverance is moderated by a Marah experience ; while any 
 depression or melancholy in turn are banished by arrival at 
 Elim. Marah is ever en route for Elim in all true life. In 
 earth's happiest and brightest circumstances even there are 
 ever those experiences that will keep men from settling 
 down and mooring their barks to shores of fleeting delight. 
 Such times urge men on to a safe, even an abiding and eternal 
 haven. "All our joy is touched with pain." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Years of Wandering. 
 
 There are now three interesting matters, with which our 
 prophet concerns himself, and to these our attention will, in 
 
THE YEARS OF WANDERING 121 
 
 turn, be given, as each has caused, in its own measure, a 
 large amount of discussion. They are the giving of manna 
 with the Sabbath institution, the experiences at Rephidim, 
 and the legislation of Sinai. Practically these three matters 
 deal with one great theme, even the presence of God in the 
 midst of His people. It is this that the narrative seeks to 
 emphasise, and the whole aim is to press home the truth 
 again and yet again, that a people who owe everything, 
 even bread and water, to God, are under highest obligation 
 to love and serve Him. 
 
 The provision of bread is as much a Divine provision as 
 that of salvation ; it is necessary that a witnessing people 
 be fed. Here the gathering of the daily bread in the 
 sufficient quantity is used as a test of faith, trust, and 
 obedience. The Divine assurance given to Moses is that 
 God will "rain bread from heaven," which may every day be 
 gathered. This is what God does still for us every day as 
 He gives us our daily bread ; for although the intermediate 
 stages may not here be mentioned, it is from the rain that 
 God sends that all our bread comes. Oh that men would 
 see how directly all their blessings come from God ! How 
 often they think of the means and forget the Giver ! The 
 prescribing of a quantity is in harmony with the paternal 
 government, required by all peoples at a certain stage in 
 their history. While, furthermore, the appointment that 
 there was to be no gathering on the seventh day, shows the 
 desire of Moses that the rest of the Sabbath day should be 
 observed in the interests of the people themselves. They 
 were not to gather in the fruits of the earth on the Sabbath 
 day. It was to be a day for Jehovah, on which no work 
 should be done. Some have held that this was the first 
 institution of the Sabbath as an abiding part of the religion 
 
122 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 of Israel. The prophet Ezekiel says, "Wherefore I caused 
 them to go out of Egypt, and brought them into the 
 wilderness. ... Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths 
 to be a sign between them and Me" (xx. 10). Probably 
 the Sabbath as an institution had fallen into desuetude in 
 Egypt, and it was now at the earliest moment possible 
 revived by Moses, so as to become a distinctive sign of 
 Israel's covenant. Circumcision, the Passover feast, and 
 the Sabbath became one after the other marks of Israel, 
 each with its own spiritual significance, and associated with ' 
 its own revelation of God. The Sabbath, or seventh day 
 rest, is found in oldest Babylonian records. Hints of its 
 observance may be found in the patriarchal period in 
 connection with Abel and Noah. The sevenfold division of 
 time thus is one of the most ancient, and seven has always 
 been a peculiarly sacred number. A working week of six 
 days, with a rest day of worship on the first or seventh, is in 
 harmony with the deepest law and need of man's nature. 
 It has proved successful and beneficial wherever tried, while 
 other divisions of time have always been disastrous. What, 
 then, oldest custom observed, and social economy has 
 approved, was taken over into Israel's religion. The 
 seventh day was made God's day, and all the sanctions of 
 religion gathered with singular and impressive obligation 
 around its observance. It was, in God's grace, made for 
 man. What man's nature required, God led Moses to set 
 aside for holy purposes. Thus religion, then as now, has 
 proved the protection of man's interest against a world that, 
 for its own gain, would make every day a day of work and 
 toil. Moses forbade the gathering of bread on the Sabbath. 
 It was to be a Divine institution in Israel, and every one 
 who refused to keep this rest day was to be counted an 
 
THE YEARS OF WANDERING 1 23 
 
 enemy of his people and a rebel against his God. The 
 Sabbath was to enter into Israel's religion as an essential 
 and integral part of it ; it was a sine qua non, a true sign of 
 the people. Special blessing was to be attached to Sabbath 
 observance, for the success of a week of faithful toil would 
 be crowned indeed by its double in the experience of the 
 man who was resolved to honour the Sabbath day. No loss 
 do they suffer who observe such a law ; nay, all experience 
 proves the advantage socially, physically, and politically of 
 the day of rest. And the Christian Church has abundantly 
 felt all this, as it has added its own new significance to the 
 day, and made the Sabbath, for all believers, the first day of 
 the week, as the Lord's day, the day of their risen Lord. 
 To them "the Son of man is the Lord," fountain and 
 source of all authority "for the Sabbath day.' 7 
 
 The second matter to which we now turn is that of 
 Massah and Meribah. There would be occasional difficulties 
 in the way of supplying the camp with water. Naturally 
 enough some of the arrangements might fail, and blame 
 would be laid upon the responsible authorities. In the 
 final resort that blame would fall upon the leader, whose 
 sublime faith in God was far and away above anything the 
 people could cherish. When the people complained of 
 him, Moses felt that there was on their part real unbelief in 
 God, the true and supreme leader of Israel. Their chiding 
 him was tempting God. He was doing the very best he 
 could for the people, serving them in anxious hours of 
 arduous service with little appreciation and less thanks. 
 He could do no more. To blame him, then, was to find 
 fault with Jehovah. Hence the human Meribah — the 
 striving with a man, with the human lot and circumstance, 
 became also a Massah, a tempting of God. Ah ! how 
 
124 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 dangerous always are our human complaints of the service 
 of the men who are sincerely labouring for us ! We may 
 only prove by them our unbelief in Him who ever rules 
 and overrules all things. " O harden not your heart," cries 
 the psalmist, "as at Meribah, in the day of Massah in the 
 wilderness when your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and 
 saw My work " (Ps. xcv.). Oh, to remember that of a truth 
 God is among us ! He may not be seen by the outward 
 eye, nor His working measured by the scales of earth, but He 
 is the everywhere present, omnipotent worker of all that is 
 worthily accomplished. For " God is on the field when He is 
 most invisible." This sad striving, with its bitter experience, 
 is placed at Rephidim as Israel moves up towards Canaan. 
 It is interesting to notice that in our other narrative a 
 similar experience is represented as finding its occasion at 
 Kadesh-Barnea, somewhat later. What concerns us is that 
 to this sad striving Israel yielded, and against its repetition 
 the prophet earnestly warns the people. The remembrance 
 of Massah made an indelible impression on the people, as 
 witnessed to in its psalms. 
 
 But now we come to Sinai, that great centre of religious 
 interest for Israel. It is referred to as a sublime and 
 mysterious mountain, to which all approach was forbidden, 
 for it burned with lightning flash, and was so constantly 
 capped with clouds of blackness and darkness and tempest. 
 This Sinai of the wilderness stands in contrast to the Zion 
 of the new dispensation, the city of the living God, the 
 heavenly Jerusalem. All that is awe-inspiring, grand, and 
 terrible belongs to this mountain in Arabia where the law 
 was promulgated ; while all that is gracious and com- 
 passionate in its attractive winsomeness is associated with 
 Zion. " The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by 
 
THE YEARS OF WANDERING I 25 
 
 Jesus Christ." The great mountain ranges of the world 
 naturally lend themselves to lofty and inspiring thoughts. 
 They are fitting places for large and wide-sweeping views of 
 God and human life. Upon them men can be absolutely 
 alone with God, and far removed from the cares and 
 tragedies of the world beneath. On highest mountain tops 
 or under the shadow of great hills, in every age men have 
 found place and time for retirement and meditation. 
 Israel's God was the God of the hills and not of the plains 
 ( 1 Kings xx. 23). Mount Moriah is associated with Abraham's 
 sacrifice. To this great mountain, not 'far from Midian, 
 Moses was called first to receive his revelation of God and 
 his great commission ; and to this mountain he was to bring 
 back his people, as a sign of the fulfilment of that great 
 undertaking on which he was then sent. Thither also 
 came Elijah to find God not in storm and fire, but in the 
 still small voice. On Mount Hermon's lofty height the 
 chosen three saw their Master's glory, and heard the voice 
 out of the mount, which said, " This is My beloved Son ! 
 Hear ye Him ! " And in the early centuries, under the 
 persecutions of these times, it was in the wild mountains of 
 Arabia that many monasteries were established. From 
 these days of superstitious ignorance many strange stories 
 have come down, and stranger identifications of rock and 
 valley, which have turned the peninsula into a perfect 
 wonderland of marvel. Later days, which saw in Mahomet 
 the mighty prophet of Allah, have blended stories about 
 him with monkish legends innumerable, and it is a relief to 
 get away from the so-called wilderness of the Exodus to 
 purer regions altogether farther north. Of course, the exact 
 spot of Sinai is not known ; the absence of any reliable 
 tradition as to its site is well known. If for wise reasons 
 
126 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 the grave of Moses was not marked, so perhaps for similar 
 reasons the site of his great revelation was not remembered. 
 Of far more importance than the place is the revelation. 
 But how much diligence has been shown in surveying and 
 photographing all the mountains and mountain passes 
 formerly regarded as the sites of Sinai ! Too much praise 
 cannot be given to such labours. But a new sphere for 
 exploration is now suggested in the mountains of Seir, on 
 the western borders of Edom. The Mount Sinai for which 
 we are in search must be somewhere here, not far from the 
 pasture lands of Midian, where Jethro ruled as prince and 
 priest, a shepherd king. The name suggests the Babylonian 
 moon-god Sin, of which there might easily have been a 
 shrine when Babylonian empire was so extensive, as we 
 now know it to have been. Curiously, too, the word for the 
 bush out of which God spake, the bush in which God dwelt 
 (Deut. xxxiii. 16), in Hebrew is Sineh. Thus out of Sinai 
 God spake to Moses at the beginning ; there again now he 
 receives his new command. 
 
 In the grand representation of the prophet, God comes 
 down to reveal Himself to Moses. This may be called an 
 anthropomorphic mode of conception ; but how else can 
 man conceive of God, save in terms of his own thought and 
 language? In grace God comes dotvn. In His supreme 
 Being and essential holiness He is far above our highest 
 thought, but in His revelation and incarnation of Himself 
 He comes down. But there is also a going up. If, 
 wondrously, God comes down, man must also go up to his 
 highest and best. The place of meeting is sanctuary in- 
 deed, a holy of holies. Hence it is to be a temple, a 
 place cut off, with bounds set about it, and so set apart 
 for worship. 
 
THE YEARS OF WANDERING I 27 
 
 Now, within this sacred place Moses alone (or with 
 Aaron alone) meets with God, and meditates more com- 
 pletely on the meaning and claims of the Divine nature. 
 The danger of intruding into or violating this spot is 
 specially emphasised. Such emphasis was necessary at that 
 time in Judah. The place set apart on Mount Moriah by 
 David for the temple which Solomon built, had to be 
 specially honoured ; no profane foot was to pass through it. 
 At that stage in the world's history, holiness was taught to 
 pertain to places, to certain men and certain times, in order 
 to preserve the idea of holiness for the better day, when it 
 would be seen to belong not to place or time, but to the 
 spirit and character of the true worshipper, as taught by 
 Christ (John iv. 23). The story of the profane conduct of 
 King Uzziah, with its sad consequences (2 Chron. xxvi. 20), 
 shows us clearly the prophetic conviction, that all breaking 
 through of the people into a closer, local fellowship with 
 God while they were as yet in their undisciplined, 
 unspiritual state, would only bring Divine punishment upon 
 them. Those who would draw near to God must be men 
 of the pure heart and the clean hand. The mediation by 
 which this has been secured for us is shown in the gospel ; 
 for older days it was by priest and appointed service. But 
 men are ever apt to forget that the sacrifices of God are 
 " a broken spirit : a broken and a contrite heart, O God, 
 Thou wilt not despise " (Ps. li. 17). 
 
 The words that next follow supply us with some striking 
 elements in the prophet's conception of religion. God 
 speaks to men. Thus personal revelation is taught. There 
 is direct communication between God and man. There 
 is no need, then, of idols of gold or silver. It is not 
 necessary that an image should be made to represent a 
 
128 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 God who can immediately speak to the human spirit. He 
 who made man's mouth, can speak to man. He who made 
 the eye, can truly see. God is a Spirit, and only those who 
 worship Him in spirit, directly entering into communion 
 with Him as a personal Being, really worship Him. Here, 
 in germ, is the great truth taught by Christ about that hour 
 when neither here nor there, in no one definitely marked off 
 place, but anywhere, in heart and truth, men can draw near 
 to God. Moses was a man with whom God had spoken. 
 He was an example and type of a true worshipper, a true 
 man of God with open ear and willing heart. All should 
 be like unto him. And they can. 
 
 Again, there is at this point no inculcation of one central 
 and supreme place of national worship. There is preferred 
 the simple altar of earth for the offerings of the people, 
 and all over the land there might be places almost infinitely 
 multiplied, where God could cause His name to be wor- 
 shipped, and where He could bless the sincere worshipper. 
 Unfortunately, later years saw a tendency to have certain 
 local shrines or sacred places, such as Beersheba, Gilgal, 
 Bethel, etc., associated rather with great national or tribal 
 reminiscences than with a present and personal revelation 
 of God. And this localising or centralising tendency found 
 its last culmination in the regarding of the temple in 
 Jerusalem as the one spot to which all the tribes should 
 go up. Against this limiting of worship to one place 
 irrespective of the Divine presence, in burning words 
 Jeremiah protested (ch. iii. 16, vii. 4); and against this 
 one place, whence God had gone, the hosts of Chaldsea 
 came. In having Rome or Mecca as sacred places of 
 pilgrimage or centres of religion, with their own peculiar 
 value, this old tendency is seen still. But it is alien to 
 
THE YEARS OF WANDERING 1 29 
 
 true religion ; it is priestly rather than prophetic ; heathen 
 rather than Christian. The charter of religious freedom 
 and spiritual worship is given in these old words of Moses 
 in the text before us (p. 39), " In all places where I cause 
 My name to be worshipped, I will come unto thee, and 
 I will bless thee." It is confirmed to us by the words of 
 Jesus by the well. Religion must be universal, and 
 superior to all national and local limitation. But this 
 day of recognition is long in the coming ; for men are slow 
 to see that all true relationship rests not on blood, but on 
 the doing of the will of God (Matt. xii. 48). 
 
 We now have (Ex. xx.-xxiii.) a code of legislative enact- 
 ments, embodying what we are accustomed to call a police 
 or criminal body of law. It is called the Book of the 
 Covenant, and is, of course, from an ancient writing. The 
 arrangements for service, protection of life and property, 
 as to usury and strangers, as to a Sabbath year for the 
 land, and to three annual feasts, are set forth in detail, 
 and with large measure of fulness. They give us a code 
 of law for a simple and agricultural people, animated by 
 a high spirit of justice and kindliness. And the list of 
 laws is closed with a touching and beautiful picture of 
 Divine guidance. There is here brought before us the idea 
 of the Angel of the Presence as going before, as also ever 
 near. Under this phrase the Divine presence is now 
 spoken of. Thus in II Isaiah (Ixiii. 9) we have these pathetic 
 words, "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the 
 Angel of His Presence saved them"; or again, "Who led 
 them by the hand of Moses with His glorious arm." What 
 Israel is above all things to be careful about is not to 
 grieve this holy Guide, this true Paraclete in their midst 
 and ever by their side, for they are always a stiff-necked 
 9 
 
130 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 people. Hence all forms of idolatry must be destroyed, 
 and the people must be true to their God. In the event 
 of this being the case, many are the promised blessings 
 of heaven, in the way of provision, freedom from sickness, 
 prosperity, and successful war. The lateness of the narra- 
 tive, as we have it here, is clearly shown by the way in which 
 the boundaries of the kingdom are described. They are 
 those of the Davidic kingdom in its halcyon days. To 
 these days every prophet looked back with sore and weep- 
 ing eyes. Their deepest hope and most earnest forecasting 
 was that in a brighter future David's House might yet 
 again recover the former dominion, and reign over a re- 
 united people in glorious splendour as before (Amos 
 ix. n). The references also to the gradual casting out 
 of the Canaanite peoples, so fully realised in the days after 
 Joshua, in the hard days of the Judges, all tell us about 
 the way in which God's promise to bring Israel into 
 Canaan was ultimately fulfilled. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Great Scenes in the Life of Moses. 
 
 Coming down from the mount, Moses dwells upon the 
 Divine promise of guidance and direction. What he insists 
 upon, in true prophetic spirit, is obedience to the Divine 
 voice, and to the Angel of the Covenant. If only Israel 
 be true to Jehovah, and have nothing to do with the 
 idolatrous nations around, then they would be a people 
 for God, and He would show Himself their God by bless- 
 ing them in large and manifold measure. Outward and 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 131 
 
 earthly blessings, as ever in the Old Testament, occupy a 
 first and foremost place here. What, however, above all 
 things is to characterise Israel is their covenant position. 
 In the most solemn manner, by a number of services held 
 in various parts of the camp by duly appointed men, this 
 covenant was ratified by blood. The sprinkled blood now 
 recalled that upon the threshold on the eve of Exodus. 
 By blood the people were covenanted to be Jehovah's. 
 But how soon do the love and enthusiasm of a first de- 
 votion pass away ! The public ratification of the covenant, 
 done in a moment of gladness and high spiritual experience, 
 was followed by a time of relaxation and reaction. It is 
 always hard to maintain a high level of life and aspiration ; 
 it was very much harder for a people so recently brought 
 out of Egypt and called to high service. Very easily they 
 remembered the more licentious worships of that country, 
 and naturally reverted to a calf worship akin to that of 
 Apis. This apostasy is, however, only mentioned to place 
 in clear relief and bold foreground the intercession of 
 Moses on their behalf. Israel is a stiff-necked people, 
 ever prone to refuse the prophetic word ; but still the 
 prophets come, rising up early and coming. They are 
 God's representatives to God's people. They have no 
 selfish ambition or personal interests ; their only concern 
 is the glory of Jehovah ; their only sorrow, that His name 
 should in any way be blasphemed among the heathen. 
 What a touching and beautiful prayer is now put into the 
 mouth of Moses as he pleads the mercy of God and the 
 covenant promise ! How sympathetically is the character 
 of God portrayed ! He never really desires that any should 
 perish, but only that they should turn from their evil 
 ways. His Jonahs must ever be prepared to see judg- 
 
I3 2 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 ment postponed in the triumph of mercy over a penitent 
 people. 
 
 But Moses is increasingly convinced of the difficulty of 
 bringing up this people. He had already realised his own 
 unfitness for the task, when he had accepted Aaron as his 
 prophet and colleague. He now feels that something 
 more and much better than the help of Aaron is required. 
 His whole soul is revealed in his pleading here that God 
 would give him some more efficient and effectual aid. The 
 people are God's, not his; to bring them up is a work 
 worthy of God. Truly Moses knew that he had found 
 grace from God in the past ; but he longs for more in a 
 fuller, clearer, nearer revelation. This he had not yet 
 obtained, even in the moments of deep insight in the forty 
 days. Oh, how he prays for a more intimate knowledge 
 of the Divine ways of working, "Show me Thy ways, 
 O God ! " In answer there comes to him, to Jerusalem, 
 and to us, a far higher revelation of God than any yet 
 given or contained in a code of laws. For this revelation 
 of the mercy, grace, long-suffering, and loving-kindness of 
 Jehovah touches the high-water mark of the Old Testament. 
 Here we have the teaching on which Hosea, tenderest, 
 most sympathetic of prophets, loved to dwell. Mercy, or 
 loving-kindness, and not sacrifice. For the loving-kindness 
 of God leadeth men to repentance. And yet there is no 
 depreciation of the holiness of the law. While with 
 Jehovah there is forgiveness, that He may be sought unto, 
 there is also this, that sin unrepented of remains unfor- 
 given, and even when repented of has untold consequences 
 of physical harm and sorrow to the third and fourth genera- 
 tion. Perhaps in our zeal to magnify the loving-kindness 
 of God we have forgotten to remind men of these physical 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 1 33 
 
 consequences of all sin, as by the necessary, because 
 natural, law of heredity God sees the iniquity of the fathers 
 leaving its baneful effects in their own bodies, as also in 
 those of children and children's children. With this great 
 moral truth the prophet Ezekiel felt himself called upon to 
 grapple (Ezek. xviii. 2). 
 
 Nothing less than a very real spiritual manifestation of 
 God as Guide and Saviour can satisfy Israel. The Divine 
 face alone must go with them and rest them. It is ever 
 so ; for only in the very highest realisation of God in 
 Christ, as for us, with us, and in us, Himself reconciling 
 us unto Himself, can the religious life be maintained and 
 nourished. 
 
 And now we come to the matter of the legislation, the 
 thorny matter of the various codes or codifications of the 
 Divine law. In what order were they first published? 
 How much was in the very earliest ? Ah ! how happy will 
 we be if all this controversy is ended some glad day by 
 the lucky discoverer, who will dig up for us from some- 
 where the original tablets with the Ten Words ! Great 
 things in this line have been found in Nineveh and at 
 Tel-el-Amarna. Even greater things the future has in 
 store for us ! Meantime all dogmatism is out of place. 
 Clearly, however, we have indications of the essential 
 elements in the original covenant as perceived and taught 
 by Moses. The worship of Jehovah was fundamental. 
 Of course we know that in its ethical fulness and spiritual 
 significance, the conception of God meant a great deal 
 more to the later prophets and psalmists than to Moses, 
 even as to Christ and through Him to His apostles it 
 meant still more. But the service of Moses to Israel lay 
 in this, that he laid the foundation of that monotheism 
 
134 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 on which the prophets " reared their magnificent structure. 
 Above all, Moses wanted Israel to be loyal and devoted 
 to their own God, even in a better sense and higher way 
 than Egypt was to Ra, or Moab to Chemosh, or Ammon to 
 Moloch, or Canaan to Baal. If in the earliest stages 
 Israel regarded Jehovah as their own God with a kind of 
 tribal appropriation, that was only owing to their weak- 
 ness and limitation. The true God, prophets soon taught, 
 is of no tribe, but of all peoples. But Christ had to 
 come, and His Spirit had to abide with men, before the 
 great teaching of Paul on Mars' Hill could be accepted, 
 even in measure, by most advanced nations in modern 
 days. 
 
 Along with the supreme inculcation of the worship of 
 Jehovah came, of course, the prohibition of a molten 
 image of God. The apostasy of the Golden Calf was thus 
 condemned, but it was long before Israel was purged from 
 idols. Only after the sore captivity could we have such 
 mocking scorn of idolatry as we have in II Isaiah. Before 
 then Ephraim had been joined to his idols. Even Judah 
 was not blameless (Hos. xi. 12). 
 
 The appointment of the Sabbath, the Passover, and the 
 Feast of Ingathering must have occupied a prominent 
 place in the earliest code, while numerous regulations, 
 suited to a pastoral and unsettled life, had to be provided 
 by Moses. As in every other country, the original legislation 
 possessed by Israel would be at first in an oral form to 
 meet the needs and necessities of the people as they 
 emerged from time to time, and would be continually added 
 to as new needs arose, and even modified as circum- 
 stances changed. There was in Israel a grand succession 
 of prophetic men like unto Moses, who by an increasingly 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 135 
 
 fuller and richer spiritual experience would be able to 
 keep the codification of the law of God up to date, as we 
 say. How simple must have been the first and earliest 
 legislative decisions and enactments ! Here, e.g., is one 
 that betrays its origin, and sheds a flood of light upon 
 the rudimentary conditions of the time : " Thou shalt not 
 seethe a kid in its mother's milk.'' But the second great 
 code of Deuteronomy, with its fuller statements and 
 hortatory additions, clearly bears evidence of a much later 
 period, even the time when in its present form it was pro- 
 mulgated in King Josiah's days (621 B.C.). While the 
 third or last form of the law, its final form, is seen in 
 Leviticus, and belongs to the time of the Exile. These 
 three great codes lie side by side in the Pentateuch, as 
 in the statute-book of a people. 
 
 It is quite in harmony with what is in the fitness of things 
 that Moses should have utilised not only his knowledge of 
 the days spent in Midian, but also his family relationships 
 with Jethro, to get help and guidance as he moved along. 
 Hence we are told that he requisitioned his brother-in-law 
 Hobab, and appointed him as the guide of Israel, promis- 
 ing him a settlement in the new land, whither they were 
 bound. There is a true combination of trust in God and 
 the use of ordinary means. While the ark goes on before 
 as the symbol of the Divine Presence, Hobab also is sent 
 by Moses in advance to mark out suitable halting-places. 
 Orare est laborare, to work and to pray are one and un- 
 divided. We have two interesting remains of sacred words 
 or prayers used by Moses when the ark went forward or 
 halted — words which became in after years the fruitful 
 germ sentences of great psalms. Another difficulty, be- 
 sides finding a suitable route, would be that of procuring 
 
I36 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 sufficient provision for the camp. That which the wilder- 
 ness provided would be plain and simple fare compared 
 to the varied dieting of a more advanced civilisation like 
 that of Egypt. Hence murmuring would be common and 
 natural enough. But, of course, all this was to complain 
 of the Divine Providence. It was to have another Meribah 
 and Massah. To ask for more than they had was sheer 
 discontent, and it brought down upon them the displeasure 
 of Moses and of God. Moses felt his position keenly, and 
 would often be oppressed with a sense of his own weakness 
 and insufficiency. How could he do everything for such 
 a people ? Doubtless he was quite in sympathy at times 
 with the desire of the people to get more and better pro- 
 vision ! What a true insight do we get here into the 
 character of Moses ! He is like Jeremiah or the II Isaiah 
 in their disappointments. There is the pathos of a real 
 man, " compassed about with many infirmities." Like 
 Elijah or Jonah, he wishes to have his life ended at once, 
 rather than to become utterly helpless, and find himself 
 impotent. And even when he i s assured that God 
 must provide for His people, he cannot see how it is to 
 be done for so many ! His only hope and stay must be 
 in the mighty power of God, to Whom all things are 
 possible. The Divine hand never can be too short. Soon 
 the camp has an abundant supply of quails, so much so 
 that disastrous consequences result. They have now more 
 than is good for them, and satiety is followed by nausea 
 and sickness. Goodness and anger thus blend ; goodness 
 in supplying human want, but anger on those who did 
 not believe in God as able to supply, and who in self- 
 indulgence abused what He gave them. Kibroth-Hatta- 
 avahs are terribly sad halting-places in life. 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 137 
 
 Having now come so far on their way, it was natural that 
 communications should be opened up with the land of their 
 fathers, whither they were journeying. They had come up 
 from Mount Seir to Kadesh. The promise of the land was 
 ever more and more becoming an assured possession of the 
 people, as it was the deepest hope and conviction of their 
 great leader. He told Hobab most clearly of his destiny ; 
 and so confident was he of the good in store for Israel, that 
 he offered him a share along with them. We have now the 
 story of the men sent by Moses to make investigations, and 
 report. It is a graphic story. Spies, they have been curi- 
 ously called. But we must remember that through the great 
 caravan routes, traders would be often coming and going, 
 while Moses would use every effort to keep himself thoroughly 
 informed. The narrative, therefore, of the emissaries now 
 sent must be regarded as gathering up for us the whole 
 history of several months or years in this one story. Some 
 have thought that there were many Hebrews here and there 
 still in Palestine, and if so it would be natural that com- 
 munication should be opened up in some way between 
 them and the large body led by Moses, embodying the 
 main tradition, and representing the true succession. They 
 were now at Kadesh-Barnea, a place of some considerable 
 importance, and now called Ain Kadis. It must have been 
 a remarkably fertile oasis, and there are still remains to this 
 day that tell of its ancient greatness. From such a place 
 it would be the right thing to make inquiry as to a possible 
 going up into Canaan by the way of the Negeb (or South- 
 land 1 ). But though the messengers could tell of its 
 fruitfulness, they had also to recognise the strength and 
 fortified condition of the Amorite towns. So that access 
 1 The writer of these words must have been in Palestine. 
 
138 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 that way seemed barred indeed. No doubt, to a warrior 
 like Caleb, strong in his God and full of hope and courage, 
 a path was open. With a brave band of followers he could 
 have forced his way, and perhaps did, through the forces of 
 Arad. But it was another thing to lead the whole people 
 up that way. Hence Moses took it that it was God's will 
 that such an attempt should not be made. High com- 
 mendation is given to Caleb for his noble stand in the 
 presence of the craven-hearted people. He was a man of 
 faith, speaks the language of all the prophets, and receives 
 his high place in the muster roll' of Bible heroes. The 
 people, as a body, were extremely enraged at Caleb : we 
 are told in another source that they were ready to stone 
 him. The prophetic sympathy is clearly with Caleb ; but 
 Moses, as a wise leader, is wholly concerned with the 
 practical difficulties which he sees. Caleb's proposal was 
 honouring to God, but it meant fighting against great odds. 
 And, rather than go up through these, the people talked 
 about going back to Egypt. Moses, however, cannot 
 abandon the going up to Canaan. A return to Egypt is 
 impossible, but he is compelled to give up the plan of 
 Caleb. Could he not let the people do what they liked ? 
 Could he not join to himself men like Caleb, and make a 
 new people? This is his temptation, which now comes to 
 him as a good plan. Let the people go their own way ! 
 No, he will have none of it ! He has received a commission 
 from God to bring up the whole people. It would be a 
 confession of failure to do otherwise ! If they will not go 
 up this way, then he will at least keep them together, and 
 lead them up another way. But what delay, what post- 
 poning, what long wandering would all this mean ! It 
 would mean that all the generation that had come up from 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 1 39 
 
 Egypt would die before the consummation, so devoutly 
 hoped for, would come to pass. Moses had, then, sadly 
 to realise that they were not to go up by the Southland, 
 neither were they to dream of going back to Egypt. The 
 only other alternative was a great detour round by Edom 
 and Moab. But the friends of Caleb, and perhaps many 
 who preferred now a bold dash to a long roundabout 
 journey, vexed the heart of Moses by a foolish and ill- 
 advised attack upon the king of Arad, the Canaanite. Near 
 Kadesh have been discovered some primitive fortifica- 
 tions at S'beita, which may have been the fortified town 
 of Arad, now assaulted by a band of Israelites without 
 the consent of Moses. The refusal of his consent meant 
 the withdrawal of Divine approval. Moses would not in 
 any way countenance the undertaking. It was a complete 
 failure. 
 
 We have here also in our narrative another account of a 
 conflict between Canaanite and Hebrew, but this time it is 
 an attack by Arad on Israel. In it also Israel is discomfited. 
 Hormah is the name of this place of disaster. But it would 
 appear that permission was afterwards given to punish 
 Arad. If so, perhaps Caleb and his followers at this time 
 successfully invaded the land of Arad, and established them- 
 selves in Hebron. Hormah then had a new meaning, as 
 telling of the banning or devoting of South Canaan to 
 destruction. What had once meant only destruction to 
 them, now meant destruction to their foes. Moses had 
 undoubtedly been the chief and undisputed leader of 
 Israel in the early days of deliverance. His power had 
 been great, and his promised blessings had exercised large 
 influence on the people. Aaron, his brother, might have 
 shared his power along with him, but his weakness in 
 
140 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 yielding to the people's clamant demand for a visible 
 God only destroyed his spiritual influence, and increased 
 that of Moses. Obviously our prophet has no good word 
 to say at this time for Aaron. Later days, however, con- 
 doned the fault of Aaron, and he was regarded as the 
 founder of the great priestly family in Israel \ but at present, 
 as a leader in the camp, he had little share in the responsi- 
 bility of government. Thus, by the very stress of circum- 
 stances, Moses had to act almost alone. So long as progress 
 was being made, this one man authority would not be 
 resented; but when difficulties arose, especially when 
 the attainment of the promised land was now to be so long 
 in the coming, many dissensions would appear among the 
 people. The sympathy shown for Caleb, and yet the in- 
 ability to carry the people with him in the adoption of 
 a brave forward movement, roused opposition to a leader 
 who was showing signs of weakness. The honour given to 
 Caleb would cause jealousy. Apparently he was a Keni- 
 zite descending from Edom, not a true Israelite, though 
 identifying himself with Judah. It is interesting to note 
 how our prophet has praise for this alien house, Divine 
 grace running not in the line of blood, but of faith. This 
 represents the spirit and teaching of the prophets, on which 
 St. Paul took his stand. 
 
 But now one of the tribes, that of Reuben, definitely dis- 
 putes the leadership of Moses. Tribal jealousies must have 
 been common, and for Reuben Judah had no love. Already 
 severe condemnation had been passed upon this tribe, but 
 we can easily imagine that Reuben would not readily re- 
 linquish his primogeniture-right Peleth, or more correctly 
 Pallu, was Reuben's second son, according to the old 
 genealogical table preserved in Gen. xlvi. 9. Pallu's son, 
 
GREAT SCENES IN THE LIFE OF MOSES 141 
 
 here named On, takes the lead in an open refusal any longer 
 to follow Moses and obey his commands. He heard the 
 grumbling of Israel, and voiced their discontent. He was 
 not going to allow Moses and the tribe of Levi to become 
 chief by hereditary right without a bold stroke on behalf of his 
 own tribe. How long this dispute lasted we cannot tell, but it 
 must have been a lamentable one. There was no healing for 
 it. Reuben was irreconcilable, and the leadership of Moses, 
 so necessary for the holding together of the people, had to 
 be asserted and secured in some signal manner. Moses 
 assures the people of his impartiality and incorruptness. 
 He took nothing for himself, and protested that he had 
 no family ambitions at all. His concern was for Jehovah, 
 and the people as a whole. Therefore he asked all his 
 supporters to rally to his side, and have nothing at all to 
 do with On and his followers. They were to be under the 
 ban or boycott of the camp ; nothing of theirs was to be 
 touched. Upon them Moses pronounces the severest judg- 
 ment, telling them that they would not die in any common 
 or ordinary visitation of providence. When, therefore, 
 soon after, some great disaster fell upon the Reubenites, 
 it was made abundantly clear that Moses was confirmed 
 in the leadership by the Divine approval. In some striking 
 way, thus, these rebellious Reubenites were cut off, and 
 their revolt crushed. It was even as if the earth, ashamed 
 of such sons, had swallowed them up in some sudden earth- 
 quake. To rebel against the leadership of Moses was 
 clearly shown to be an act of despising Jehovah, Israel's 
 supreme Head. 
 
 But the position of Moses is still surrounded by difficulty. 
 Israel had come to Kadesh, and for a while would rejoice 
 in the quiet and comfort such an important place could 
 
I4 2 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 supply. They soon, however, grew tired of it, and longed 
 for some better place, — some place with better supply of 
 water for such a large camp, and larger facilities for crop 
 and fruit. The nomadic life was one of frequent move- 
 ment, and to that the desert seemed to give a mighty 
 impetus. Moses would have them stay here in one place 
 until they might be welded together into one people, able 
 to go up as one man to seize the promised land. But so 
 it was not to be. What did the people want? Was it 
 water ? Ah ! that could easily enough be provided. God 
 had only to give directions to His servant, and w T ater could 
 come out of the flinty rock. But the chiding, the Meribah 
 at Kadesh, was deeper based than on the mere want of 
 water. This was only one thing out of many wanted by 
 the people. Water had been wanted before, and had been 
 given." More and larger space was demanded. A change, 
 in fact, was required. Hence Moses had to yield to the 
 imperious demand of the people. Kadesh had to be left, 
 and a new movement attempted. It was still vain to go up 
 by the Southland ; hence an effort is made to pass through 
 the territory of Edom. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Journeying from Kadesh to Moab. 
 
 Seeing the spirit of the people so determinedly set on a 
 departure from Kadesh, Moses at once sent an embassy to 
 Edom. Had it been possible to pass this way a great deal 
 of time would have been saved, and a large measure of 
 discomfort and hardship prevented. Edom might very 
 
JOURNEYING FROM KADESH TO MOAB 1 43 
 
 easily have been friendly ; for they were kindred by nature. 
 But the saying, " More of kin, less of kind," was to be 
 verified again in Israel's new experience. Men are allowed 
 to find out these things for themselves. Had God been 
 consulted this request might never have been sent to Edom, 
 and yet its very sending was part of the process by which 
 Edom was hardening its heart against Israel, manifesting 
 the spirit of feud, which still rankled in its breast, and had 
 not been ended by the reconciliation in latter days of Esau 
 and Jacob. "A brother offended is harder to be won than 
 a strong city." The message to Edom is couched in 
 courteous and reasonable terms, so as to disarm opposition. 
 The permission of way-leave alone is asked. It is pro- 
 mised that the people will carefully keep to the main high- 
 way, along which caravans were continually passing from 
 Damascus to Egypt through Petra the ancient capital of 
 Edom. They would not be allowed to do any kind of 
 harm, and would pay for everything they needed. One 
 brother was simply to pass through another brother's 
 territory in a peaceful and friendly manner. This request, 
 however, is roughly refused. Not for a moment will Edom 
 put any facilities in the way of the sons of Jacob. On the 
 contrary, they will resist by force of arms any attempt to 
 pass that way. This was a lamentable refusal. They had 
 therefore to be content with securing provisions from Edom 
 (Deut. ii. 6), and to arrange to pass round into Canaan by 
 a very much longer route. A glance at the map shows us 
 what a calamity this conduct of Edom involved. But from 
 Edom no true help can ever come to God's people. They 
 may buy from them food and drink, but their pathway lies 
 not through Edom, but round about it. The camp had 
 now to go down south towards Ezion-Geber, and pass 
 
144 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 through the great Wady El-Arabah on its lower end. This 
 Arabah Valley is the most striking geographical feature in 
 this district. It is a great depression or hollow, as its 
 present name, El-Ghor, tells us, through which the Jordan 
 flows into the Dead Sea, and is continued in all its wildness 
 southward towards the Gulf of Akabah. On either side of 
 it were fertile spots, as at Kadesh on the one side and in 
 Edom on the other ; while there was a route from Hebron 
 to the capital of Edom, where it joined the great caravan 
 route. But the Arabah itself, and its immediate neighbour- 
 hood south of Kadesh, was a dry and dreary wilderness, 
 wherein there was no path. No wonder Israel would have 
 preferred the route through Edom. But now this was 
 closed by armed men. The only other way was by the 
 lower reaches of "the great and terrible wilderness," in 
 which Israel suffered most intensely in many ways. Food 
 would be scarce, and venomous insects abounded. It was 
 this experience that left its impress so deeply on Israel. 
 Surely here was manifest proof of Divine displeasure ! Never 
 could Jehovah have led them so far round had He not been 
 grieved with their manners. And yet He did not cut them 
 off. He had His own purpose to fulfil, the promise made 
 to the fathers. 
 
 Having passed at length into more. fertile regions east of 
 the Arabah, Moses turned direct north, and made straight 
 for the plains of Moab, from which he hoped to have an 
 easy passage into Canaan. But every step even here has 
 to be fought, as God's people in every age moves on to its 
 promised land. Bright and glad oasis experiences, however, 
 come at every onward stage on the way. Hence the 
 prophet gives us an illustrative quotation from an old 
 record now unfortunately lost. It tells of the way in 
 
JOURNEYING FROM KADESH TO MOAB 145 
 
 which God refreshed His heritage, as the Psalmist sings 
 (Ps. lxviii. 9) — 
 
 " Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain ! 
 Thou didst confirm Thine heritage when it was weary ! " 
 
 How graphic is this picturesque representation of life in the 
 wilderness ! Here the supply of water and the digging of 
 the well is gracious fulfilment of a Divine promise, never 
 failing in the time of need. The digging of wells marked 
 the movements of the patriarchs, and about the possession 
 of these the keenest contentions were seen to arise. How 
 joyful a discovery is a well in the desert ! How welcome a 
 guest is a water-finder ! The people all rejoice, and even 
 highest officials take part in making and enlarging a well ! 
 How sacred a place was the Well of Jacob at Sychar ! To 
 man God's best promise is given, that in him there shall be 
 " a well of water springing up unto everlasting life," that so 
 out of him there may " flow rivers of living water." 
 
 Our prophetic source now hastens to its end as we are 
 brought to the plains of Moab, to that valley in which is 
 situated the range of Mount Nebo, from which Moses 
 could see the land of Canaan. The particular point on 
 this range is called the Pisgah point, a name probably 
 indicating its shape and peculiarity, for the name does not 
 now remain. As Israel looked down towards the desert on 
 the north of the Dead Sea and east of Jordan, they would 
 have a wide and extensive view of the promised land, in- 
 cluding the hills of Gilead in the north, and extending as 
 far south as Engedi. In fact, the whole Jordan Valley lay 
 before them. They had passed across the Arnon at some 
 distance inland, where the crossing was easier in the Wady 
 Mojib. To the prophet, Israel has only one foe to fight 
 10 
 
146 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 before he can get ready to cross the Jordan, i.e. the 
 Amorite, whose extermination must be completed. Between 
 Israel and Edom, Ammon and Moab, there was a blood 
 relationship — Edom being Esau, Ammon and Moab de- 
 scendants of Lot, and the relations between Israel and 
 these kindred tribes are passed over entirely here. Against 
 them no bitter vengeance is breathed. The whole force 
 of war is directed against the Amorite. The writer of 
 Deuteronomy, commenting upon this earlier source, re- 
 marks that Israel was not allowed to attack Ammon or 
 Moab, and we have seen how they passed round Edom 
 without appealing to the arbitration of arms. The Amorites 
 occupied a different position. They were the original 
 inhabitants of Canaan, and, crossing the Jordan, had pressed 
 themselves in between Ammon and Moab, taking posses- 
 sion of the fertile tracts on both sides of the Jordan Valley. 
 It was thus a kindly turn to Moab and Ammon for Israel 
 to come and conquer these intruders. These Amorites 
 had two powerful settlements east of the Jordan, even at 
 Heshbon and in Bashan. Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, 
 king of Bashan, are mentioned as powerful rulers at this 
 time. Both of them, however, are conquered in turn by 
 Israel, and the Amorites are driven out. Moses and the 
 people now occupy an important place in Moab's fertile 
 plains, and remained only too long there for their own 
 good, we are told. 
 
 The duration of this stay cannot be fixed. It must have 
 been considerable, for the perplexity of Balak, king of 
 Moab, as to what his policy should be as to Israel, is 
 graphically set before us. For some time, indeed, he 
 would be friendly to them, as they had conquered the 
 Amorite invader, and driven him back beyond the Jordan; 
 
JOURNEYING FROM KADESH TO MOAB 1 47 
 
 but when Israel seemed to stay on, he would become 
 anxious, and fear the loss of his own territory. We have 
 not given the text of the narrative of the story of Balaam 
 and Balak, as it rather falls outside the lifework of Moses, 
 with which we are concerned at present. But as the result 
 of consultation, we find Balak adopting a policy of con- 
 ciliation, whereby he encouraged intermarriages between 
 Moab and Israel. This, however, was to mix Israel up 
 with other nations, and to endanger the purity of Jehovah 
 worship. The people led by Moses out of Egypt were the 
 heirs of a pure tradition, and it was of the essence of the 
 Mosaic covenant that they should keep themselves as a 
 people apart for Jehovah. To this end marriage with any 
 other people was forbidden. It had been Abraham and 
 Isaac's great joy, as it was their anxious concern, to marry 
 their sons within the tribal relation; and it was Isaac's 
 sorrow when Esau married a daughter of Heth. Religion 
 and family life are always closely bound up together in 
 Eastern lands, even as also the land and the religion seem to 
 go together. To an Oriental a nation has its own God, and 
 the jurisdiction of that deity is bounded by the national 
 boundaries. Religious festivals were seasons of national 
 rejoicing to which all the people came to present them- 
 selves before their God. Eating and drinking took place in 
 closest connection with worship. The sacrifices to God 
 were also sacrificial feasts for the people, in which those 
 who partook expressed their common nationality. It is 
 only when we realise what all this means that we can 
 understand the stringent regulation attributed to Moses 
 against intermarriage with other tribes. It meant apostasy 
 from Jehovah as a necessary result, and is therefore called 
 whoredom. Hence, for the safety of the people, severest 
 
14° THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 punishment had to be meted out to all who preferred their 
 own pleasure to the good and purity of Israel. Only by an 
 absolutely separated people could the worship of Jehovah 
 be preserved and propagated, so' that He might at length 
 reveal Himself as being not one God among many, but the 
 only living and true God for all nations and peoples to 
 worship. From the very nature of things the true God had 
 to appear as one people's God, so that by their missionary 
 activity His supreme glory might be made known to the 
 ends of the earth. Never was He in His own essence the 
 God of one people only ; but to one people He revealed 
 Himself as their God, that they might be the means of His 
 revealing all His glory to the whole world. Israel un- 
 doubtedly held, and therein erred, that Jehovah was their 
 God alone. Against this selfish exclusiveness all the 
 prophets waged perpetual war. 
 
 The apostasy at Moab is sadly referred to by Hosea in 
 these words : " I found Israel in the wilderness. . . . They 
 came to Baal Peor ! They gave themselves to that shame ! " 
 By the time of Hosea, Baal had come to be the equivalent 
 of the shame ! In earlier days Baal was simply the name 
 of God as Master or Creator, under which conception and 
 name he was worshipped in Moab. To this name no 
 malign meaning was given. Hence Gideon was called 
 Jerrubbaal, and Saul's son Ishbaal, without hesitation. 
 Later writers refused to use these names, so that Gideon 
 is called Jerrubbesheth and Saul's son Ishbosheth. Every 
 kind of mockery was cast on Baal. He was no god ! He 
 was only the shame ! It has, however, to be always borne 
 in mind that a true and worthy conception of Jehovah 
 came only gradually into the assured possession of Israel. 
 If Moses held, as we believe he did, very high views of 
 
JOURNEYING FROM KADESH TO MOAB 149 
 
 Jehovah, he could not all at once permeate his people with 
 such conceptions. They were only learners for a very long 
 time, and very slow learners at the best. The Arab tribes, 
 the Semitic peoples, were and are monotheist. To them 
 their God was one and supreme. Hence so easily did 
 Mahomet make his great proclamation — "There is no 
 God but one.'' But while Mahomet used the sword to 
 spread his new religion, Moses had slowly to instil into 
 Israel the principles of the covenant. The knowledge of 
 God can never become man's in any abiding manner by 
 storm or earthquake, by fire or sword ; it can only come 
 into our consciousness slowly, gradually by the Spirit and 
 " the still small voice." We may think of Moses as a great 
 prophet, ever seeking to inspire Israel with some of his 
 great ideas. Continual discipline and vigilant watching 
 were required. On his death there was frequent lapsing, 
 even from the comparatively elementary standard to which 
 he had brought them. 
 
 Moab was the land of Baal, town and mountain peak being 
 dedicated to the worship of God under this name. It may, 
 indeed, have meant much at first as describing God in His 
 capacity of Master and Creator of all things ; but emphasis- 
 ing, as it undoubtedly did, the more natural and physical 
 attributes, giving little place to the more important moral and 
 spiritual aspects of the Supreme, in course of time even this 
 little place was withdrawn, so that God as Baal became a 
 wholly unworthy conception. Men had to choose between 
 Baal and Jehovah in the great spiritual revival of Elijah ; while 
 Hosea distinctly forbids the use even of the name Baal as 
 a descriptive title of the Almighty. To him the covenant 
 relationship! meant more than Master, it implied a moral 
 element. Hence God might be called " Ishi," " My 
 
150 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 husband," but not "Baali," My Master (ii. 16). The late- 
 ness of our document shows itself in the severe words here 
 used, then, concerning the worship of Baal. Moses, Israel's 
 great leader, is shown as ordering to death all those who 
 had anything to do with this worship. It is clear that the 
 discipline and government of the people were concerned 
 very acutely in this matter. However near of kin Moab 
 might be (and in the cases of Ruth and David they were 
 very near), there could be no acquiescence on the part of 
 any true Israelite in the false religious rites of that people. 
 A new relationship between men is taught by the prophets ; 
 the doing of the Divine will rather than the having of 
 human blood making true motherhood, brotherhood, sister- 
 hood. Here Christ serves Himself heir to the best 
 prophetic teaching. 
 
 The same trouble that arose so seriously in Israel's deal- 
 ing with Moab also appeared in their relation to Midian. 
 A leading Israelite belonging to the tribe of Simeon had 
 not only urged a more tolerant treatment of these neigh- 
 bouring tribes, but had even himself married a Midianitish 
 princess, and had boldly brought her home. This roused 
 the indignation of Phinehas, who in a moment of righteous 
 anger executed condign punishment on both Zimri and his 
 bride. The keen feelings now excited, and the whole state 
 of the people, suggest to our mind the condition of Israel 
 after the Restoration, when Nehemiah so strenuously 
 laboured in this very matter of foreign marriages. Then 
 many Jews had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and 
 of Moab, so that he graphically tells us, " I contended with 
 them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and 
 plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, say- 
 ing, ( Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor 
 
JOURNEYING FROM KADESH TO MOAB 151 
 
 take their daughters unto your sons or for yourselves. Did 
 not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things ? ' " (Neh. 
 xiii. 23). While Moab and Ammon were allowed to re- 
 main, the Midianites were to be continually harassed. 
 Ah ! it was the Midianites who stole Joseph out of the land 
 of the Hebrews (p. 155). But in another and better day the 
 caravans of Midian, too, will praise the Lord ! (Isa. lx. 6). 
 We come now to the closing scene in the life of the great 
 leader of Israel. Through many vicissitudes he had 
 brought up the people from Egypt to the very border of 
 Canaan from which they could see the land promised to 
 their fathers. From that point they could in due time, 
 under brave and courageous leaders, enter it at a suitable 
 moment, and take possession. Much may have happened, 
 must have happened, in Moab before Moses passed away. 
 It must have been a time of training and of fuller legisla- 
 tion ; and if we cannot accept as historically accurate in 
 detail the dramatic representations of what Moses said, we 
 can yet fully believe that these are based on an actual 
 tradition. The Deuteronomist works up his material in a 
 most graphic manner, and makes it all speak as with a 
 living message. If more is ascribed to Moses in the way of 
 definite legislation than did actually then take place ; if 
 there is more of exhortation grouped in eloquent and 
 lengthy orations than were actually delivered, — this at least 
 is manifestly true, that there was much legislation which 
 supplied the germ of all that followed, while Moses would 
 be continually speaking to his followers about these founda- 
 tion principles, which were fully magnified and made 
 honourable in the best days of Israel by the prophets. 
 
 But the end had now come. There is a pathos in 
 this great leader dying on a mountain. Ever among the 
 
152 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 mountains he had had his deepest experiences. Visions 
 had been his there ; and ere he dies his eye rests in calm 
 peace on the land towards which all his hopes and aspira- 
 tions had gone forth. There is also a deep sadness in the 
 thought that having come so far, he could go no farther. 
 The time was not propitious ; the people were not ready ; 
 and Moses was not now fit for a new and extensive 
 campaign. To our prophet the ending of the career of 
 Moses here appears a judgment. Surely God must have 
 been angry with him ! This is the deep spiritual explana- 
 tion of the strange episodes of life. So much we mean to 
 do ; so little we actually accomplish. Some sin of our 
 earlier days has rendered us unfit for more. Israel, nay all, 
 may well learn the lesson that is here taught. Exclusion 
 from highest attainment is due ever to a moral and spiritual 
 failing of some kind. The outward exclusion is explained 
 by the inward failure. The Divine promise with its full 
 programme remains. Yes, God is going to give the land 
 to Israel, but not by Moses. The work goes on, but its 
 completion needeth other and fresher hands. He was a 
 grand old man this Moses, retaining in the opinion of the 
 people his freshness and vitality to the last. But at his age 
 this is manifestly true, that his strength was failing. He 
 himself is represented as saying, " I can no more go out 
 and come in, 5 ' when in view of death he passes over the 
 command to his successor. Being buried in a great moun- 
 tain valley, all so lone and grand, his sepulchre was not 
 known in after years. Truly sincere would be the mourn- 
 ing for Moses. For as a national leader he occupied the 
 highest place, knowing, of course, often the uneasiness of 
 those who rule, but sustained throughout by a strong sense 
 of the Divine Presence. He endured as seeing Him who is 
 
JOURNEYING FROM KADESH TO MOAB 1 53 
 
 invisible. All he did was done in direct dependence upon 
 Him who had revealed Himself as Jehovah to him at his 
 start. He felt that he was only the commissioned servant 
 of Jehovah. His personality towers over his contem- 
 poraries, and as bringing Israel out of Egypt he occupied 
 the very highest place in popular honour and prophetic 
 regard. " No one was like unto him.'' 
 
PAET II. 
 
 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 AS TOLD IN THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. 
 THE TEXT ABOUT 800 B.C. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Joseph sold into Egypt. 
 
 Joseph the young dreamer {circa 1680 B.C.). — Now God 
 remembered Rachel, yea, God hearkened unto her prayer, 
 so that she became a mother of a son, and said, " God hath 
 taken away my reproach " ; and she called his name Joseph. 
 When he was seventeen years old, he was with the sons of 
 Bilhah and Zilpah, the wives of his father, and he was in 
 the habit of reporting unfavourably of their conduct. 
 When, therefore, they saw that his father loved him more 
 than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not even ' 
 speak in a friendly way to him. On one occasion Joseph 
 dreamed a dream, and when he told it unto his brothers, 
 they hated him yet the more. This was his dream, which 
 he bade them hear. "We were binding sheaves in the 
 
 '154 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 155 
 
 field, and, lo ! my sheaf arose, and also stood right up, 
 while, lo ! your sheaves stood round about, and bowed 
 down to my sheaf ! " Then his brothers said unto him, 
 "Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Shalt thou indeed 
 have the rule over us?" 
 
 The result was that they hated him yet the more, for 
 his dreams and his words. But he dreamed yet another 
 dream, and told it to his brothers, as follows : " Lo ! I 
 have dreamed another dream. The sun, and moon, and 
 the eleven stars bowed themselves down before me." He 
 also told this dream to his father as well as to his brothers. 
 Therefore his father rebuked him, and said unto him, 
 " What is . this dream that thou hast dreamed ? Shall I 
 and thy mother and thy brothers come and bow down 
 ourselves unto thee to the earth?" His brothers, then, 
 envied him ; but his father took note of the matter. 
 
 (Gen. xxx. 22, 23, xxxvii. 2, 4-11.) 
 
 The result of envy. — One day they saw him coming, 
 and they said, "Lot this dreamer cometh ! Come, let us 
 kill him ! " But Reuben said unto them, " Shed no blood ! 
 Cast him into this dry well that is in the field, but do not 
 lay your hand upon him ! " This he said in order to get 
 Joseph out of their hands, and deliver him again to his 
 father. Thus when he came to his brothers they stript 
 his coat from off him, the prince-like robe that was upon 
 him ; and they took him, and cast him into the well. Now 
 the well was empty ; there was no water in it. Then there 
 passed by certain Midianite merchants, and they drew 
 Joseph up out of the well, and took him down to Egypt. 
 
 Reuben's sorrow. — When Reuben returned to the well, 
 lo ! Joseph was not in it ; and he rent his clothes. He 
 
156 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 then came back to his brothers, and said, "The boy is 
 not there ! Ah ! where shall I go ? " 
 
 (xxxvii. 19, 20, 22-24, z8aCj 29, 30.) 
 Taken to Egypt. — Now the Midianites sold Joseph in 
 Egypt to Potiphar, one of the chief officers of the king of 
 Egypt, and in charge of the police. Some time after this 
 it came to pass that the cup-bearer of the king of Egypt 
 and the chief baker had committed some fault against 
 their master, so that he was enraged against his servants, 
 and placed them under restraint^ in the place of confine- 
 ment, under the charge of the chief of the police under 
 whom Joseph was serving. The chief gave Joseph charge 
 of them ; and he looked after them, for they were kept there 
 for some time. (xxxvii. 36, xl. 1-4.) 
 
 Joseph as the interpreter. — And they dreamed a dream, 
 both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man 
 according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup-bearer 
 and the chief baker of the king of Egypt, when they were 
 under restraint. Now when Joseph came in to see them 
 in the morning, he looked upon them, and, behold ! they 
 were sad. Then he asked the servants of the king that 
 were with him, in the place of confinement in his master's 
 establishment, "Why do ye look so sad to-day?" And 
 they replied, " We have dreamed a dream, and there is no 
 one to interpret it." Then said Joseph, " Do not in- 
 terpretations belong to God ? Tell your dream to me." 
 
 The cup-bearer's dream, and its interpretation. — The 
 
 cup-bearer then told his dream to Joseph in the following 
 terms : " In my dream, behold ! a vine was before me. 
 The vine had three branches, and it was as though it 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 157 
 
 budded; its blossom came forth, and the clusters pro- 
 duced ripe grapes. Then the Pharaoh's cup was in my 
 hand : and I took the grapes, and pressed them into the 
 Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into the Pharaoh's hand." 
 Joseph then explained the meaning of the dream, and 
 said : " The three branches are three days : and in three 
 days shall the Pharaoh deal with your case, and restore 
 thee into thy place \ and thou shalt deliver the Pharaoh's 
 cup into his hand, as thou didst formerly, when thou wast 
 his cup-bearer. ^But think upon me when it shall be well 
 with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, arrd 
 make mention of me unto the Pharaoh, and bring me out 
 of this house ; for, indeed, I was stolen away out of the land 
 of the Hebrews ; and truly I did nothing that they 1 should 
 cast me into the well." 
 
 The chief baker's dream, and its interpretation. — When 
 the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he 
 said unto Joseph, " I also dreamt, and, behold ! there were 
 three baskets of white bread on my head, and in the 
 uppermost basket there was every kind of fancy bread for 
 the Pharaoh ; and the birds did eat them out of the basket 
 on my head." 
 
 Then Joseph, in reply, interpreted this dream as 
 follows : " The three baskets are three days : and within 
 three days shall the Pharaoh deal with your case, and 
 hang you upon a tree ; and the birds shall eat your flesh 
 from off thee.'' 
 
 The fulfilment of the dreams. — Now it came to pass 
 that the third day was the Pharaoh's birthday, on which 
 1 My brothers. 
 
158 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 he made a feast unto all his household ; and he dealt with 
 the cases of the cup-bearer, and the chief baker among his 
 servants. He restored the cup-bearer unto his office 
 again, and he handed the wine cup to the Pharaoh ; but 
 he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted 
 unto them. Yet did not the cup - bearer remember 
 Joseph, but forgot him. (xl. 5-23.) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Famine and Reunion. 
 
 The dreams of the Pharaoh — Apepi Hyksos. — It hap- 
 pened next, that at the end of two full years the Pharaoh 
 dreamed ; and, behold ! he stood by the Nile, when, lo ! 
 there came up out of the river seven well-fed cows, and fat ; 
 and they fed on the bank. Then, behold ! seven other cows 
 came up after them out of the river, ill-fed, and lean ; and 
 they stood by the other cows upon the bank of the Nile. 
 The ill-fed and lean cows then ate up the seven well-fed 
 and fat cows. So the Pharaoh awoke. Then he slept and 
 dreamed the second time ; and, behold ! seven ears of corn 
 came up upon one stalk, strong and good. Then, behold ! 
 seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up 
 after them \ and the seven thin ears devoured the seven 
 strong and good ears. And the Pharaoh awoke, and, be- 
 hold ! it was as a dream. But it happened that in the 
 morning he was much troubled ; and he sent and called 
 for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: 
 and the Pharaoh told his dreams to them ; but there was no 
 one able to interpret them unto the Pharaoh. 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 1 59 
 
 The advancement of Joseph. — Then spake the cup-bearer 
 unto the Pharaoh as follows : " I do remember my faults 
 this day ! The Pharaoh was wroth with his officers, and 
 he put me in prison, in the house of the chief of the police, 
 both me and the chief baker. And we dreamed on the 
 same night, I and he ; we dreamed each man according to 
 the interpretation of his dream. Now there was there with 
 us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the chief of the 
 police; and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted 
 them to us ; to each of us he interpreted according to our 
 dream. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it 
 was ; me, he restored unto my office, and him he hanged." 
 Then the Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they 
 brought him hastily. 1 And he shaved, and changed his 
 raiment, and came into the presence of the Pharaoh. Then 
 the Pharaoh said unto Joseph, " I have dreamt a dream, 
 and there is none that can interpret it : and I have been 
 told that thou canst understand a dream, and interpret it." 
 But Joseph answered the Pharaoh, saying, " This is not of 
 myself: God shall give the Pharaoh an answer that will 
 please him." 
 
 Repetition of dreams. — Then Pharaoh said unto Joseph : 
 " In my dream, behold ! I stood upon the bank of the Nile : 
 and, lo ! there came up out of the river seven fat-fleshed 
 and well-favoured cows ; and they fed in a meadow. Then 
 behold ! seven other cows came up after them, poor and 
 very ill-favoured and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all 
 the land of Egypt for badness. And the lean and the ill- 
 favoured cows did eat up the first seven fat cows : but when 
 they had eaten them up, it could not have been known 
 1 Out of the house. See LXX. 
 
l6o THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 that they had eaten them ; for they were still ill-favoured, as 
 at first. Then I awoke. I also saw in my dream, and, 
 behold ! seven ears came up on one stalk, full and 
 good : and, behold ! seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted 
 with the east wind, sprung up after them : and the thin ears 
 devoured the seven good ears : and I told this unto the 
 magicians ; but there was not one that could explain it to 
 me." 
 
 The interpretation. — Joseph, then, said unto the 
 Pharaoh, "The dream of the Pharaoh is one! God hath 
 showed the Pharaoh what He is about to do ! The seven 
 good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are 
 seven years. The dream is one ! The seven thin and 
 ill-favoured cows also that came up after them are seven 
 years ; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind 
 shall be seven years of famine. This is the thing which I 
 have spoken unto the Pharaoh : What God is about to do, 
 He showeth unto the Pharaoh ! Behold ! there come seven 
 years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, and 
 there shall come after them seven years of famine. Then 
 all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt ; for the 
 famine shall consume the land. (Yea, the plenty shall not be 
 known in the land, because of the famine following, for it 
 shall be very severe.) And, because the dream was repeated 
 unto the Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established 
 by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now, there- 
 fore, let the Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, whom 
 he may set over the land of Egypt. Let the Pharaoh do 
 this, and let him appoint officers over the land, who may 
 take up the fifth part of the produce in the seven years of 
 plenty. Let them gather all the corn of those good years 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT l6l 
 
 and store it up under the protection of the State, and let 
 them keep food in the cities, so that it may be in store for 
 the land when the seven years of famine come upon Egypt, 
 so that the land perish not through the famine." Now this 
 seemed to the Pharaoh and his court an excellent proposal. 
 Therefore he said unto his officers, "Can we find such a 
 one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of the gods is ? " 
 Then the Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Forasmuch as the 
 gods have showed thee all this, there can be none so 
 discreet and wise as thou art ; thou shalt be over my 
 household, and according to thy word shall my people be 
 ruled. Only on the throne shall I be greater than thou." 
 The Pharaoh then took off his ring, and put it upon 
 Joseph's finger, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, 
 and put a gold chain on his neck ; and he made him ride 
 in the second chariot which he had ; and they cried before 
 him, " Bow the knee ! " x Thus was he appointed over all 
 the land of Egypt. Pharaoh then called Joseph Zaphnath- 
 paaneah, and gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of 
 Potipherah, priest of On. Joseph then went out over the 
 land of Egypt ; and in the seven good years, when the earth 
 produced in abundance, he gathered up all the food, and 
 stored it in the cities, — the food, that is, of each district he 
 laid up in its own city. Joseph indeed gathered in the 
 com as the sand of the sea, in such large quantities that 
 he stopped counting, for it could not be counted. Then 
 the seven years of plenty that were in Egypt ended, and 
 the seven years of scarcity began to come, according as 
 Joseph had said. The scarcity, indeed, was felt in every 
 country, but in Egypt there was bread. For when Egypt 
 was famished the people cried to the Pharaoh for bread, 
 1 An Egyptian word. Perhaps a title of honour. 
 II 
 
1 62 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 and he said unto them, " Go unto Joseph ! What he saith 
 unto you, do ! " When the famine was felt all over the 
 land, then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto 
 the Egyptians. (xli. 1-45, 47-56^.) 
 
 Joseph's brethren appear. — The famine indeed was very 
 severe in the land, and in all countries round about. Then 
 Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt; 
 but Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his 
 brethren. When Joseph, who was the governor, saw his 
 brethren come and bow down themselves before him with 
 their faces to the ground, he recognised them ; but he acted 
 as a stranger unto them, and spake officially unto thenij for 
 he remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them. 
 He said unto them, "Ye are spies! Ye are come to see 
 the poverty of the land!" But they said, "Nay, sir, but 
 to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's 
 sons ! We are true men ! Thy servants are not spies." 
 "Nay," he said, "but to see the famine-stricken condition 
 of the land are ye come!" And they replied, "Thy 
 servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the 
 land of Canaan, and, behold ! the youngest is this day with 
 our father, and one is not." Then Joseph said unto them, 
 " It is just as I say unto you. Ye are spies ! Hereby ye 
 shall be tested. By the life of the Pharaoh ye shall not go 
 forth hence except your youngest brother come hither. 
 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother ; and ye 
 shall be kept bound, that your words may be proved, 
 whether there be any truth in you; or else I swear unto 
 you, ye are spies." And. he put them all together in ward 
 for three days. But on the third day Joseph said, "This 
 do, and live ! I fear God, if ye be true men, let one of 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 1 63 
 
 your brethren be bound in your prison-house. Go ye carry 
 corn for the famine of your households, and bring your 
 youngest brother unto me. In this way shall your words 
 be verified, and ye shall not die." And they did this. But 
 they said one to another, " We are truly guilty concerning 
 our brother ! For we saw his anguish of soul when he 
 besought us, and we would not hear him. Therefore is 
 this trouble come upon us." Then Reuben answered them, 
 saying, " Spake I not unto you, saying, ' Do not sin against 
 the child ! ' And ye would not hear ! Therefore, behold ! 
 also his blood is required at our hands ! " 
 
 (xli. 56^, xlii. 3, 4, 6, 7*7, 9-22.) 
 And they knew not that Joseph understood what they 
 were saying, for he spake unto them by an interpreter. 
 Then he turned himself about from them and wept. When 
 he returned, he talked with them, and took from them 
 Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. Joseph, then, 
 gave command to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore 
 every man's money into his sack, and to give them pro- 
 vision for the way. And thus it was done unto them. And 
 they came unto Jacob, their father, in the land of Canaan, 
 and told him all that had befallen them. "The man, they 
 said, who is the lord of the land spake roughly to us, and 
 took us for spies of the country. But we told him that 
 we were true men, and not spies. We are twelve brethren, 
 sons of our father ; one is not, and the youngest is with our 
 father this day in Canaan. And the man, the lord of the 
 country, said unto us, " Hereby shall I know that ye are 
 true men. Leave one of your brethren here with me, and 
 take food for the famine of your households, and begone, 
 and bring down your youngest brother unto me. Then 
 shall I know that ye are no spies, but true men ; and I 
 
164 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 will deliver you your brother, and ye shall trade in the 
 land." 
 
 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that 
 behold every man's bundle of money was in his sack. 
 When they and their father saw the bundles of money 
 they were afraid, saying one to another, "What is this that 
 God hath done unto us ! " Then Jacob, their father, said 
 unto them, " Me have ye bereaved ! Joseph is not ! 
 Simeon is not ! And ye will take Benjamin away ! All 
 these things are against me ! " Then Reuben spake unto 
 his father, saying, "Slay my two sons, if I bring him not 
 to thee ! Deliver him into my charge, and I will bring 
 him again to thee.' 7 (xlii. 23-25, 29-37.) 
 
 The second visit. — Then Jacob said, "Take also your 
 brother, and arise, go again unto the man. And may God 
 give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your 
 other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my 
 children, I am bereaved ! " When they returned, and 
 Joseph saw Benjamin, he brought out Simeon unto them. 
 Then Joseph wept aloud, and the Egyptians, even the court 
 of the Pharaoh, heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, 
 " I am Joseph ! Doth my father yet live ? " But his 
 brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled in 
 his presence, and bowed themselves down before him. 
 Then he said, " Oh ! do not be grieved, nor angry with 
 yourselves, for God did send me before you to preserve life. 
 For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and 
 there shall yet be five more, in the which there shall neither 
 be ploughing nor harvest, so that God sent me before you 
 to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your 
 lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 1 65 
 
 sent me hither, but God, and He hath made me a father to 
 the Pharaoh, and lord over all his household. Haste ye, 
 and go up to my father, and say unto him, ' Thus saith thy 
 son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt, come 
 down unto me, tarry not, and thou shalt dwell in the land 
 of Goshen, so that thou may be near unto me, thou, and 
 thy children, and children's children, and thy flocks, and thy 
 herds, and all that thou hast. There will I support thee (for 
 there are yet five years of famine), lest thou and thy house- 
 hold, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.' And ye shall 
 tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have 
 seen. Now ye shall haste, and bring my father down here.'' 
 (xliii. 13, 14, 16a, 23^, xlv. 2-1 1, 13.) 
 The Pharaoh's kindness. — The news of this was heard 
 in the court of the Pharaoh. "Joseph's brethren have come," 
 it was said, and the Pharaoh and his court were glad. The 
 Pharaoh then said unto Joseph, "Say unto thy brethren, 
 * This do ye ! Lade your beasts^ and go get you into the 
 land of Canaan, and bring your father and your households 
 down unto me, and I will give you the good of the land of 
 Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art 
 commanded. This do ye. Take you waggons out of Egypt 
 for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your 
 father, and come. Never mind your property, for the good 
 of all the land of Egypt is at your disposal.' " Joseph then 
 gave them waggons, according to the command of the 
 Pharaoh. He also give them provision for the journey, 
 and sending them away, said, "Now see that ye fall not out 
 by the way." They then went up out of Egypt, and came 
 into the land of Canaan unto Jacob, their father, and told 
 him all the words which Joseph had said unto them. 
 
 (xlv. 16-21, 24^, 25, 27.) 
 
1 66 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 Jacob's departure. — Now Jacob was at Beersheba, where 
 he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. And 
 God spoke to him in the visions of the night, and said to 
 him, "Jacob! Jacob!" And he said, "Here am I!" 
 Then God said, "I am God, the God of thy father; fear 
 not to go down to Egypt, for I will there make of thee a 
 great nation. I will go down with thee to Egypt, and I will 
 also bring thee up again, and Joseph shall close thine eyes.' 7 
 And Jacob rose up, and left Beersheba. His sons carried 
 Jacob, their father, and their little ones, and their wives in 
 the waggons which the Pharaoh sent to carry them. 
 
 (xlvi. 1-5.) 
 
 The death of Jacob. — Then it was said unto Jacob, 
 " Behold ! thy son Joseph cometh to see thee." And he 
 blessed Joseph, saying, "The God before whom my fathers 
 Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God Who fed me all my 
 life long unto this day, He Who redeemed me from all 
 trouble, bless the lads, and let my name be named upon 
 them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and 
 let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth? 1 
 Then Jacob said unto Joseph, " Behold ! I am dying, but 
 God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land 
 of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you Shechem 
 above your brethren, which I took out of the hand of the 
 Amorite with my sword and my bow." 
 
 (xlviii. 2, 15, 16, 21, 22.) 
 
 After Jacob's death. — When Joseph's brethren saw that 
 their father was dead, they said, " Joseph will peradventure 
 hate us, and will certainly requite us for all the wrong we 
 did unto him." They therefore sent a message unto Joseph, 
 saying, "Thy father did command before he died that we 
 should say unto thee that thou shouldest forgive the wrong 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 167 
 
 and sin of thy brethren, for they did wrong unto thee. 
 Now, then, we pray thee, forgive the wrong of the servants 
 of the God of thy father." And Joseph said unto them, 
 " Fear not ! For am I in the place of God ? As for you, 
 ye meant to bring trouble upon me, but God meant it for 
 good to bring it to pass, as it is now, that much people 
 should be saved alive." 
 
 The death, of Joseph. — Joseph lived an hundred and ten 
 years. Then he said unto his brethren, "I am going to 
 die ! But God will surely visit you, and bring you out of 
 this land into the land which He sware to Abraham, and 
 Isaac, and Jacob." And he took an oath of the children of 
 Israel as follows, " God will surely visit you, and ye shall 
 carry up my bones hence." So Joseph died, being an 
 hundred and ten years old ; and they embalmed him, and he 
 was put in a coffin in Egypt. 
 
 (1. 15-17, 19, 20, 22, 24-26.) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 To the Departure. 
 
 The new dynasty : its treatment of Israel. — And there 
 arose a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph ; and he 
 said unto his people, " Behold, the people of the children 
 of Israel are more and mightier than we ! Come, let us 
 deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to 
 pass that when war happens to us, they also join themselves 
 to our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of 
 the land." They therefore did set over them taskmasters to 
 
1 68 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 afflict them with their burdens; and they built for the 
 Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Rameses. But the more 
 they afflicted them the more they multiplied, and the more 
 they were spread abroad ; and they were troubled about the 
 children of Israel. Then the king of Egypt spake to the 
 Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was 
 Shiprah, and the name of the other Puah, and he said, 
 "When you do the work of a midwife to the Hebrew 
 women, if the child that is born be a son, then kill him ; but 
 if it be a daughter, let her live." But the midwives feared j 
 God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded, but 
 saved the male children alive. Then the king of Egypt 
 called the midwives together, and said unto them, "Why 
 have you done this thing ? Why have ye saved the male 
 children alive ? " And the midwives answered, " Because 
 the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian, for they are 
 lively, and have their children before the midwives come to 
 them." Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and 
 the people multiplied and grew very great. And it came to 
 pass because the midwives feared God that he made them 
 houses. The king of Egypt then charged all his people, 
 saying, " Every son that is born ye shall cast into the Nile, 
 but every daughter ye shall save alive." 
 
 (Ex. i. 8-12, 15-22.) 
 The birth of Moses. — Now a man of the house of Levi 
 had married a daughter of the same house. And the 
 woman conceived and bare a son. When she saw that he 
 was a goodly child she hid him three months ; but when she 
 could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes, and 
 daubed it with bitumen and pitch ; and she put the child 
 therein, and laid it by the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 
 And his sister stood afar off to know what would happen 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 1 69 
 
 unto him. Now the daughter of the Pharaoh went down to 
 bathe in the river, and her maidens were walking along its 
 bank. When she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her 
 maid to fetch it. And opening it she saw the child, which 
 began to weep. Then she had pity on him, and said, 
 "This is one of the Hebrews' children.' 7 Then his sister 
 said to the daughter of the Pharaoh, " Shall I go and call 
 for thee a nurse of the Hebrew women that she may nurse 
 this child for thee?" And the daughter of the Pharaoh 
 said, "Go"; and the maid went and called the child's 
 mother. Then the Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, 
 " Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give 
 thee wages." So the woman took the child and nursed 
 it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto the 
 Pharaoh's daughter ; and he became her son, calling his 
 name Moses. 1 
 
 And it came to pass in these days that Moses grew up, 
 and went out to see his brethren, and looked on their hard 
 work. He also saw an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one 
 of his brethren. Then he looked this way and that way ; 
 and when he saw no one, he slew the Egyptian, and hid 
 him in the sand. And when he went out another day, 
 behold ! two of the Hebrews were striving together ; and he 
 said to him that did the wrong, "Wherefore smitest thou 
 thy fellow?" But he replied, "Who made thee a prince 
 and a judge over us ? Intendest thou to kill me, as thou 
 killedst the Egyptian ? " Then Moses was afraid, and said, 
 " Surely this is known ! " And when it was known to the 
 Pharaoh, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from 
 the presence of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian. 
 
 (ii. 1-10, 11-15.) 
 1 And she said, (l Because I drew him out of the water." 
 
170 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 Moses in Midian. — Now he was by a well ; and when the 
 shepherds drove away the daughters of the priest of Midian 
 (he had seven) who had come to draw water to fill the 
 troughs to water their father's flock, Moses stood up and 
 helped them, and watered their flock. Then when they 
 came to their father, Jethro, 1 the son of Reuel, he said, 
 " How is it that you have come so soon to-day ? " And 
 they said, " An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the 
 shepherds, and, moreover, he drew water for us, and watered 
 the flock." And he said to his daughters, "Where is he? 
 "Why is it that you have left the man ? Call him in that he 
 may have food with us." Then Moses was content to dwell 
 with this man, and he gave him Zipporah, his daughter. 
 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom, 
 for he said, " I have been a sojourner in a strange land." 
 Now it came to pass in the course of those many days that 
 the king of Egypt died (b.c. 1208). (ii. 15^-23^.) 
 
 The revelation of God.— While Moses kept the flock of 
 Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, he used to 
 lead them toward the other side of the desert, and came 
 to that great mountain, even Horeb. Then the Angel of 
 Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the- 
 midst of a bush ; and he looked, and, behold ! the bush 
 burned with fire, and yet was not consumed. And Moses 
 said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why 
 the bush is not burnt up." And when he turned aside to 
 see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and 
 said, "Moses! Moses!" And he said, "Here I am!" 
 And God said, " Draw not nigh hither ! Put off thy shoes 
 from off thy feet ! The place whereon thou standest is holy 
 1 Probably the original word here was Jethro, son of Reuel. 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 171 
 
 ground ! I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and 
 the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was 
 afraid to look on God. But God said, " Behold ! the cry 
 of the Children of Israel is come unto Me, and I have also 
 seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them ! 
 Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto the king of 
 Egypt, that thou mayest bring forth the Children of Israel 
 out of Egypt!" But Moses said unto God, "Who am I 
 that I should go unto the king, and that I should bring 
 forth the Children of Israel out of Egypt?" "Certainly," 
 He said, " I will be with thee. And this shall be a token 
 unto thee that I have sent thee, * When thou hast brought 
 forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this 
 mountain.*" (iii. 1-6, 9-12.) 
 
 The commission. — But Moses said unto God, " Behold ! 
 when I come unto the Children of Israel, and shall say unto 
 them, 'The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you,' 
 and they shall say unto me, ' What is His name ? ' what shall 
 I say unto them?" Then God said unto Moses, "f am 
 that lam." 1 He also said, "Thus shalt thou say unto the 
 Children of Israel, ' / am hath sent me unto you. Jehovah, 
 the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of 
 Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me unto you.' This 
 shall be My name for ever, and My memorial unto all 
 generations. And I will give this people favour in the sight 
 of the Egyptians, so that when ye go forth ye shall not go 
 empty. For every woman shall ask of her neighbour and 
 of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and 
 jewels of gold, and raiment. And ye shall put them 
 upon your sons and upon your daughters. Thus shall 
 1 Or rather, " I will be what I have been." 
 
172 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 ye get these things from the Egyptians. And thou shalt 
 take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do 
 wonders." 
 
 Moses then went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and 
 said unto him, " Let me go, I pray thee, and return to my 
 brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet 
 alive." And Jethro said unto Moses, "Go in peace.'' He 
 then went, taking the rod of God in his hand ; for Jehovah 
 said unto Moses, "When thou goest into Egypt, see that 
 thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put 
 in thy power ; but I will harden his heart that he shall not 
 let the people go." 
 
 (iii. 13-15, 21, 22, iv. 17, 18, 2ob y 21.) 
 
 Moses in action. Blood and hailstorm. — Then Moses 
 lifted up the rod 1 and smote the waters that were in the 
 Nile in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants ; 
 and all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood, 
 and the fish that were in the river died, and the river stank ; 
 and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river. 
 And all the Egyptians digged round about the Nile for water 
 to drink. 
 
 Then Jehovah said unto Moses, "Stretch forth thine 
 hand toward heaven that there may be hail in all the land 
 of Egypt upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb 
 of the field throughout the land of Egypt." And Moses 
 stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and there was hail in 
 the land. But the heart of Pharaoh was firm, and he would 
 not let the Children of Israel go, as Jehovah had spoken by 
 Moses. (vii. 20, 21, 24, ix. 22, 23, 35.) 
 
 A concession. — And Moses and Aaron were brought in 
 
 to 1 - 
 
 1 Note in vii. 17 the words " rod in my hand." 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 1 73 
 
 again unto the Pharaoh, and he said unto them, "Go, serve 
 Jehovah, your God. But who, tell me, are they that shall 
 go ? " Then Moses said, " We will go with our young and 
 our old, with our sons, and with our daughters, with our 
 flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast 
 unto Jehovah." And the Pharaoh made reply, "Oh yes! 
 Jehovah will be with you, if I will let you and your little 
 ones go ! Take care ! You have mischief in view! Oh ! no ! 
 Go now ye that are men, and serve Jehovah, for that was 
 your request.'' Then they were dismissed from the royal 
 presence. (x. 8-n.) 
 
 Locusts and darkness. — Again Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 "Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt to bring the 
 locusts up upon the land, that they may eat every herb of the 
 land, even all that the hail has left." Then Moses stretched 
 forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the locusts came 
 up over the land ; but Jehovah made the heart of the 
 Pharaoh firm, so that he would not let the Children of 
 Israel go. Also, Jehovah said unto Moses, "Stretch out 
 .thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over 
 the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt." And 
 Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there 
 was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 
 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place 
 for three days ; but all the Children of Israel had light in 
 their dwellings. Then the Pharaoh called for Moses, and 
 said, " Go ye ! Serve Jehovah ! Only let your flocks and 
 your herds be stayed ! Let your little ones also go with 
 you ! " But Moses said, " Thou must also give us sacrifices 
 and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice unto Jehovah our 
 God. Our cattle must also go with us, for thereof must we 
 
174 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 take to serve Jehovah our God, and we know not with what 
 we must serve Jehovah until we come hither." Then 
 Jehovah made the Pharaoh's heart firm, that he would not 
 let them go. (x. 12, 13a, 14a;, 20-27.) 
 
 The last plague. — Finally, Jehovah said unto Moses, 
 "Yet will I bring one plague more upon the Pharaoh and 
 upon Egypt. After that he will let you go out. When he 
 shall let you go, he shall thrust you out hence altogether in 
 a complete manner. Speak now in the ears of the people, 
 so that every man may ask of his neighbour, and every 
 woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver and jewels of gold," 
 for Jehovah had given the people favour in the sight of the 
 Egyptians ; and the man Moses was very great in the land of 
 Egypt, in the sight of the servants of the Pharaoh, and in 
 the sight of the people. But Jehovah had told Moses that 
 the Pharaoh would not hearken unto him, that His wonders 
 might be multiplied in the land of Egypt. Thus Moses 
 and Aaron did all these wonders before the Pharaoh ; and 
 God made the heart of the Pharaoh firm, so that he would 
 not let the Children of Israel go out of his land. But after 
 the last plague he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and 
 said, " Rise up ! Get you forth from among my people ! 
 Both ye and the Children of Israel ! Begone, and serve 
 Jehovah, as ye have said ! Also take your flocks and your 
 herds, as ye have asked, and get away ! Bid me farewell." 
 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people that they 
 might send them out of the land in haste ; for they said, 
 "We are all dead men !" (xi. 1-3, 9, 10, xii. 31-33.) 
 
FROM RAMESES TO SINAI 1 75 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 From Rameses to Sinai. 
 
 The Exodus. — Then the people took their dough before 
 it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in 
 their clothes on their shoulders ; and the Children of Israel 
 did as Moses told them, for they asked of the Egyptians 
 jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. And 
 Jehovah gave them favour in the sight of the Egyptians, 
 so that they gave them such things as they required. 
 Thus they took these things from the Egyptians. 
 
 There were about six hundred thousand on foot that 
 were men, beside children. Also a mixed multitude went 
 up with them, and flocks and herds, very much cattle. 
 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which 
 they brought forth out of Egypt ; for it was not leavened, 
 because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, 
 neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. 
 Now it came to pass when the Pharaoh had let them go, 
 that God led them not by the " Way of the Philistines," 
 although that was near. For God had said, " Lest per- 
 ad venture the people repent when they see war, and return 
 to Egypt," therefore He led them about by the " Way of the 
 Wilderness '' of the Red Sea. Thus the Children of Israel 
 went up in haste out of the land of Egypt. And Moses 
 took the bones of Joseph with him ; for he had strictly 
 charged the Children of Israel in an oath, saying, " God 
 will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from 
 this place away with you." 
 
 (xii. 34-3 6 > 37^-39> xi »- 17-19O 
 
176 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 The crossing, with its triumph song. — But when the 
 Egyptians pursued them, they cried unto Jehovah • and 
 the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, 
 removed and went behind them. Then sang Moses and 
 the Children of Israel this song unto Jehovah, and spake, 
 saying — ■ 
 
 " I will sing unto Jehovah ! He hath triumphed glori- 
 ously ! 
 The horse and his rider, hath He thrown into the sea ! 
 Jah is my strength and song ! He has become my 
 
 safety ! 
 He is my God, and I will praise Him ! 
 My father's God, and I will exalt Him ! 
 Jehovah is a man of war ! Jehovah is His Name ! 
 Pharaoh's chariots and his host ! He hath cast into the 
 
 sea ! 
 His chosen captains also ! They are drowned in the 
 
 Red Sea ! 
 The depths have covered them ! They sank to the 
 
 bottom as a stone ! 
 Thy right hand, Jehovah ! It is become glorious in 
 
 power ! 
 Thy right hand, Jehovah ! It hath dashed in pieces the 
 
 enemy ! 
 In the greatness of Thy glory ! Thou hast cast down 
 
 Thy foes ! 
 Thou sendest forth Thy wrath ! It consumed them as 
 
 stubble ! 
 With the blast of Thy nostrils, the waters were piled up ! 
 The floods stood upright as a heap of corn ! 
 The depths were dried up in the heart of the sea ! 
 The enemy said, ' I will pursue ! 
 
FROM RAMESES TO SINAI 177 
 
 I will overtake ! I will divide the spoil ! 
 
 My desire shall be satisfied upon them ! 
 
 I will draw my sword ! My hand will recover them ! ' 
 
 Thou didst blow with Thy wind ! The sea covered 
 
 them! 
 They sank, as lead, in the mighty waters ! 
 Who is like unto Thee, Jehovah, among the gods ? 
 Who is like Thee ? Glorious in holiness ! 
 Fearful in praises ! Doing wonders ! 
 Thou stretchedst out Thy right hand ! The earth swal- 
 lowed them ! 
 Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth Thy delivered 
 
 people ! 
 Thou in Thy strength hast guided them ! 
 The peoples shall hear ! They shall be afraid ! 
 Sorrow has taken hold on the inhabitants of Palestine ! 
 The chiefs of Edom were amazed ! And Moab's mighty 
 
 men ! 
 Trembling seized them ! The dwellers of Canaan have 
 
 melted away ! 
 Fear and dread fell upon them ! By the greatness of 
 
 Thy might 
 They were as still as a stone ! Till Thy people passed 
 
 over 1 
 O Jehovah ! The people, whom Thou hast purchased, 
 
 passed over ! 
 Thou hast brought them in ! Planted them in Thy 
 
 Holy Hill, 
 The place which Thou hast made for Thyself to dwell 
 
 in! 
 The Holy Place, O Jehovah ! Thy hands have fixed it ! 
 Jehovah reigneth for ever and for ever ! " 
 
 12 
 
178 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a 
 timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her 
 with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam sang back 
 to them in responses — 
 
 " Sing ye to Jehovah ! He hath triumphed gloriously ! 
 The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea ! 
 
 (xv. 1-18, 20, 21.) 
 
 Wilderness experiences. — Now the people thirsted there 
 for water, and murmured against Moses, and said, " Why 
 have you brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our 
 children and our cattle with thirst ? " Then Moses cried 
 unto Jehovah, saying, "What shall I do unto this people? 
 They are just on the point of stoning me ! " And Jehovah 
 said unto Moses, " Go on before the people, and take 
 with thee of the elders of Israel ; and thy rod, wherewith 
 thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go. Be- 
 hold ! I will stand before thee there upon the rock in 
 Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall 
 come water out of it for the people to drink." And Moses 
 did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 
 
 The Amalekite attack. — Then came Amalek and fought 
 with Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, 
 " Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek. 
 To-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod 
 of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses had said 
 to him, and fought with Amalek ; and Moses, Aaron, and 
 Hur went up to the top of the hill. Now it happened 
 that when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed, 
 and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. But 
 the hands of Moses grew tired, and they got a stone and 
 made him sit thereon. Then Aaron and Hur held up his 
 
FROM RAMESES TO SINAI 179 
 
 hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other 
 side, so that his hands were kept steady until the going 
 down of the sun. Thus Joshua discomfited Amalek and 
 his people with the edge of the sword. 
 
 And Jehovah told Moses to " write this memorial in a 
 book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, ' I will utterly 
 put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.'" 
 Then Moses built an altar, and called the name of it 
 Jehovah Nissi\ for he said, "Jehovah hath sworn that He 
 will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." 
 
 (xvii. 3-6, 8-16.) 
 
 The visit of Jethro. — When Jethro, the priest of Midian, 
 Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for 
 Moses, and for Israel His people, how that Jehovah had 
 brought Israel out of Egypt, then he took Zipporah, the 
 wife of Moses, and her two sons, of which the name of the 
 one was Gershom (for he had said, " I have been a sojourner 
 in a strange land "), and the name of the other was Eliezer 
 (for he had said, " the God of my father was my help," and 
 delivered me from the sword of the Pharaoh), and came 
 unto Moses in the wilderness, where he encamped at the 
 great mountain ; and he said unto him, "I, thy father-in-law, 
 Jethro, am come unto thee, and thy wife and her two sons 
 with her." Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, 
 and did obeisance, and kissed him. They asked each other 
 about their welfare, and then came into the tent. There 
 Moses told his father-in-law all that Jehovah had done 
 unto the Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, 
 all the difficulty they had had by the way, and how Jehovah 
 delivered them. Then Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness 
 which Jehovah had shown to Israel, whom He had de- 
 livered out of the hand of the Egyptians; and he said, 
 
l8o THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 " Blessed be Jehovah ! Who hath delivered you out of the 
 hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of the Pharaoh ! 
 Who hath delivered the people from under the hand of 
 the Egyptians ! Now I know that Jehovah is greater than 
 all gods, for in the matters whereof they boasted, He was 
 above them." Then Jethro took a burnt - offering and 
 sacrifices for God ; and Aaron came, and all the elders of 
 Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. 
 
 (xviii. 1-13.) 
 Moses as legislator and judge. — On the next day Moses 
 sat in his place to judge the people, and the people stood 
 by Moses from morning unto evening. And when Moses' 
 father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, 
 "What is this that thou doest for the people? Why 
 sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee 
 from morning to evening? And Moses said unto his 
 father-in-law, " Because the people come unto me to in- 
 quire of God. When they have any difficulty they come 
 to me, and I decide between one and another ; and I make 
 them to know the statutes and the laws of God." Then 
 Moses' father-in-law said unto him, " The thing that thou 
 doest is not good ! Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou 
 and this people that is with thee ! This work is too much 
 for thee ! Thou art not able to perform it thyself alone ! 
 Hearken now unto my words, and I will give thee counsel, 
 and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people to 
 Godward, that thou mayest bring their cases unto God, 
 and thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt 
 show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work 
 they must do ; but thou shalt provide out of all the people 
 suitable men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating 
 covetousness, and place such men over them as rulers of 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCING l8l 
 
 thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers 
 of tens, so that they may judge the people at all times. 
 And it shall be, that only every great question they shall 
 bring to thee, and every small matter they shall dispose 
 of themselves. Thus shall it be easier for yourself, as they 
 will bear the burden along with you. If thou wilt do this, 
 and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to 
 endure, and also all this people shall go to their place in 
 peace." 
 
 Moses therefore hearkened unto his father-in-law, and 
 did all that he said. Then he chose suitable men out 
 of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers 
 of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of 
 tens ; and these judged the people at all times. They 
 brought the hard cases unto Moses, but every small matter 
 they themselves disposed of. 
 
 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his 
 way into his own land. (xviii. 1-27.) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Law-Giving and Law-Enforcing. 
 
 Legislation at Sinai. — Now they were come to the desert 
 of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness ; there Israel 
 camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, 
 and Jehovah called unto him out of the mount, saying, 
 "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob — 
 " Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians ! 
 How I bare you on eagles* wings, and brought you to 
 Myself ! 
 
152 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 Now, therefore, if ye obey My voice, and keep My 
 
 covenant, 
 Ye shall be My own people above all, for all the earth 
 
 is Mine. 
 Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, a holy 
 
 nation." 
 These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the 
 Children of Israel. Then Moses came and called for the 
 elders of the people, and laid before them all these words, 
 which Jehovah had commanded him. And all the people 
 answered together and said, " All that Jehovah hath spoken 
 we will do." Then Moses returned the words of the people 
 unto Jehovah, and Jehovah said unto Moses — 
 " Lo ! I come unto thee in a thick cloud, 
 That the people may hear when I speak with thee, 
 And believe thee for ever." 
 
 The consecration of the mount. — And Jehovah said unto 
 Moses, "Go unto the people, and purify them to-day and 
 to-morrow ; and let them wash their clothes, and be ready 
 against the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will 
 come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount 
 Sinai. But thou shalt set bounds unto the people round 
 about, saying, * Take heed to yourselves that ye go not up 
 into the mount, or touch the border of it. 1 Whosoever 
 toucheth the border of it shall be surely put to death. 
 There shall not an hand touch it ; for if any one does, he 
 shall surely be stoned or shot through ; whether it be beast 
 or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth long, 
 they shall come up to the mount." 
 
 Then Moses went down from the mount to the people 
 and purified them, and they washed their clothes ; for he 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCING 1 83 
 
 said unto them, "Be ready on the third day, thoroughly 
 separate." (xix. 2-15.) 
 
 The Divine Theophany. — Now it came to pass on the third 
 day, in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, 
 and a thick cloud upon the mount. Then the trumpet blew 
 exceedingly loud, and all the people in the camp trembled. 
 And Moses led forth the people out of the camp to meet 
 God, and they stood at the lower part of the mount. Then 
 Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because Jehovah 
 descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as 
 the smoke of a furnace ; and the whole mount quaked greatly. 
 Then as the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and 
 louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 
 
 (xix. 16-19.) 
 The Divine requirement. — Then God spake all these 
 words — 
 
 "I am Jehovah thy God (which have brought 
 thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house 
 of bondage). 
 I. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. 
 II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
 image (or any likeness of anything that is in 
 heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, 
 or that is in the water under the earth. Thou 
 shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve 
 them; for I Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous 
 God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon 
 the children unto the third and fourth genera- 
 tion of them that hate Me, and showing mercy 
 unto a thousand generations, to them that love 
 Me and keep My commandments. 
 
184 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 III. Thou shalt not take the Name of Jehovah thy 
 
 God in vain (for Jehovah will not hold him 
 guiltless that taketh His Name in vain). 
 
 IV. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy 
 
 (six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy 
 work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of 
 Jehovah thy God. In it thou shalt not do 
 any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, 
 thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy 
 stranger, that is within thy gates. For in six 
 days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea 
 and all that in them is, and rested on the 
 seventh day. ' Wherefore He blessed the 
 Sabbath day and sanctified it') (Gen. ii. 3). 
 V. Honour thy father and thy mother (that thy 
 days may be long upon the land which Jehovah 
 thy God giveth thee). 
 VI. Thou shalt not commit murder. 
 VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 VIII. Thou shalt not steal. 
 IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness (against thy 
 
 neighbour). 
 X. Thou shalt not covet (thy neighbour's house, 
 nor thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, 
 nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, 
 nor anything that is thy neighbour's)." 
 
 (xx. 1-17.) 
 The people's alarm. — Now all the people heard and saw 
 the thunderings and the lightnings, and the noise of the 
 trumpet, and the mountain smoking, so that, when they 
 saw it they moved away, and stood afar off. Then they 
 said unto Moses, "Speak thou with us and we will hear; 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCING 1 85 
 
 but let not God speak with us, lest we die." And Moses 
 replied, " Fear not ! God is come to prove you so that the 
 fear of Him may be among you, that ye sin not." The 
 people then stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the 
 thick darkness, where God was. 
 
 The elders go up with Moses. — And God said unto 
 Moses, " Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab, 
 and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. They shall 
 worship at a distance, and Moses alone shall come near 
 Jehovah, for they shall not come nigh. And the people 
 shall not go up with him." Then went up Moses, and 
 Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of 
 Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet 
 there was, as it were, a pavement of sapphire-stone, and the 
 body of heaven in its clearness. And upon the nobles of 
 Israel He laid not His hand. Also they saw God, and did 
 eat and drink. Then Jehovah said unto Moses, " Come up 
 to Me into the mount and be there, for I will give thee the 
 tables of stone, and the law, and the commandments, which 
 I have written, that thou mayest teach them.'' So Moses 
 rose up with his servant Joshua, and he went up into the 
 mount of God. And unto the elders he said, "Tarry ye 
 here for us, until we come again unto you. Behold ! 
 Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has important 
 business, let him come unto them." Then Moses went 
 away up into the mount, and remained there forty days and 
 forty nights. (xxiv. i, 2, 9-14, 18.) 
 
 And God gave unto Moses, when He had made an end 
 of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, the two tables 
 of testimony, tables of stone written with the finger of God. 
 
 (xxxi. 18.) 
 
t86 the STORY OF MOSES 
 
 During the absence of Moses. — Now when the people 
 saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, 
 they gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said 
 unto him, " Up ! Make us a god, which shall go before 
 us ! For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out 
 of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of 
 him." Then Aaron said unto them, " Break off the golden 
 ear-rings, which are in the ears of your wives, your sons and 
 your daughters, and bring them unto me " ; and all the 
 people did so, and brought them unto Aaron. When he 
 got them from them, he fashioned the gold with a graving 
 tool, and made it into a molten calf. Then they said, 
 " This is thy god, O Israel ! which brought thee out of the 
 land of Egypt ! " And when Aaron saw this, he built an 
 altar before it, and made a proclamation, "To-morrow is a 
 feast unto Jehovah ! " Then they rose up early on the 
 morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace- 
 offerings. They sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to 
 play. (xxxii. 1-6.) 
 
 The return and anger of Moses. — And Jehovah said 
 unto Moses, " Go ! get thee down ! For thy people, which 
 thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have become 
 corrupted ! They have soon turned aside out of the way ! 
 Then Moses turned and went down from the mount, and 
 the two tables of the testimony were in his hand. (Now 
 the tables were written on both their sides, on the one side 
 and on the other they were written, and they were the work 
 of God; and the writing was the writing of God, graven 
 upon the tables.) When Joshua heard the noise of the 
 people, as they shouted, he said unto Moses, " Hark ! 
 There's war in the camp!" But he said, "'No ! not the 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCING 1 87 
 
 sound of them that contend for victory, nor the cry of them 
 that are overcome ! Hark ! I hear them singing ! " And 
 it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, 
 that he saw the calf, and the dancing. Then the anger of 
 Moses waxed hot, that he threw down the tables out of his 
 hand, and brake them beneath the mount. He also took 
 the calf, which they had made, and burnt it in fire, and 
 ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and 
 made the people drink it. (xxxii. 13, 15-20.) 
 
 The punishment of the apostasy. — Then Moses said 
 unto Aaron, "What did this people unto thee, that thou 
 hast brought so great a sin upon them ? " And Aaron said, 
 " Let not my lord's wrath wax hot ! Thou knowest the 
 people ! How they are set on trouble ! For they said unto 
 me, * Make us a god, which shall go before us ! As for this 
 Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of 
 Egypt, we know not what has become of him.' Then I said, 
 ' Whosoever has any gold, let them break it off.' So they 
 gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out 
 this calf." Now when Moses saw that the people were 
 guilty (for Aaron had made them guilty, unto their shame, 
 among their enemies), he stood in the gate of the camp, 
 and said, " Who is on the side of Jehovah ! To me ! " 
 Then all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto 
 him. And he said unto them, "Thus saith Jehovah, the 
 God of Israel, ' Put every man his sword by his side. Go 
 in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay 
 every man his brother, and every man his companion, and 
 every man his neighbour.' " And the Children of Levi did 
 according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people 
 that day about three thousand men ; for Moses had said, 
 
1 88 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 " Devote yourselves to-day to Jehovah, even every man by 
 punishing his son, or his brother, that He may bestow upon 
 you a blessing this day." (xxxii. 21-30.) 
 
 The intercession of Moses. — Now it came to pass on the 
 morrow that Moses said unto the people, " Ye have sinned 
 a great sin ! But now I will go up to Jehovah, perhaps I 
 shall be able to make an atonement for your sin." Then 
 Moses went back to Jehovah, and said, " Oh ! this people 
 have sinned a great sin, and have made them a god of gold ! 
 Yet now ! Oh ! do forgive them ! But if not, blot me, I 
 pray Thee, out of Thy book, which Thou hast written." 
 But Jehovah said unto Moses, "Whosoever hath sinned 
 against Me, him will I blot out of My book ! Therefore, 
 now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have 
 spoken unto thee ! Behold ! My angel shall go before 
 thee ! Nevertheless in the day of My visitation, I will 
 punish them for their sin!" So Jehovah caused a plague 
 to come among the people, because they made the calf, 
 which Aaron made. (xxxii. 31-35.) 
 
 The further discipline. — When the people heard these 
 sad things, they mourned, and no one put on their 
 ornaments. For Jehovah said unto Moses, "Say unto the 
 people of Israel, ' If I come up into the midst of thee, I 
 will consume thee. Therefore now put off thy ornaments 
 from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.' " Thus 
 it was that Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by 
 the Mount of Horeb. 
 
 The mode of worship. — Now Moses regularly took the 
 Tent, and pitched it without the camp, afar from the camp, 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCING 1 89 
 
 and called it the Tent of Meeting. So every one who 
 sought Jehovah had to go out to the Tent of Meeting, 
 which was without the camp. And it was that when Moses 
 was in the habit of going out to the Tent, all the people 
 rose up and stood at the entrance of their tent, and watched 
 Moses until he was gone into the Tent. And when Moses 
 entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and 
 stood at the entrance of the Tent, and He talked with 
 Moses ; and all the people rose up and worshipped, every 
 man at the entrance of his own tent. And Jehovah spake 
 unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. 
 Then he came back again into the camp, but his servant, 
 Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, remained in the 
 Tent. (xxxiii. 4-6, 7-1 t.) 
 
 The renewal of the tables. — Now Jehovah also said 
 unto Moses, " Hew thee two tables like unto the first, 
 and I will write upon the tables the words that were in the 
 first tables, which thou brakest. Be ready in the morning, 
 and come up in the morning into Mount Sinai, and no one 
 shall come up along with thee." And he hewed the tables, 
 and went up to Mount Sinai as Jehovah had commanded 
 him. (xxxiv. 1-4.) 
 
 Moses gets assistance. — Now when the people were 
 murmuring it displeased Jehovah, for He heard it, and 
 His anger was kindled. Then the fire of Jehovah burnt 
 among them, and consumed the extremity of the camp. 
 The people, therefore, cried unto Moses ; and when Moses 
 prayed unto Jehovah, the fire was quenched. Then the 
 name of the place was called Taberah (i.e. burning), 
 because the fire of Jehovah burned among them. And he 
 
I go THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 said, " I am not able to bear all this people alone." Jehovah, 
 therefore, said unto Moses, " Gather unto Me seventy men 
 of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders 
 of the people, and officers over them, and bring them unto 
 the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with thee. 
 Then I will come down and talk with thee there, and I will 
 take of the spirit that is upon thee, and will put it upon 
 them, and they will bear the burden of the people with thee, 
 so that thou bear it not thyself alone." Then Moses 
 gathered the seventy men of the elders of Israel, and set 
 them round about the Tent. And Jehovah came down in 
 the cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the' spirit that 
 was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders, so that 
 when the spirit rested upon them they prophesied and then 
 stopped. But there remained two of the men in the camp, 
 Eldad and Medad, upon whom the spirit rested. They 
 were indeed of those who had been chosen, but they went 
 not out to the Tent, and prophesied in the camp. Then a 
 young man went and told Moses, saying, " Eldad and 
 Medad prophesy in the camp ! " And Joshua the son of 
 Nun, the servant of Moses from his youth up, said, "My 
 master, Moses ! Forbid them ! " But Moses said, 
 " Enviest thou for my sake ? Would to God that all the 
 servants of Jehovah were prophets ! Oh ! that Jehovah 
 would put His spirit upon them ! " Then Moses and the 
 elders of Israel returned into the camp. 
 
 (Num. xi. 1-3, 1 4j 16, 17, 24-30.) 
 Family troubles. — Now Miriam and Aaron spake against 
 Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had 
 married. (For he had married an Ethiopian woman.) And 
 they said, "Hath Jehovah indeed spoken only by Moses? 
 Hath He not spoken also by us ? " And Jehovah heard it. 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCING 191 
 
 Moses as a man was very humble, more so than all others. 
 Then Jehovah spake suddenly unto Moses and Aaron and 
 Miriam, " Come out, ye three, unto the Tent of Meeting ! " 
 And the three came out. Then Jehovah came down in the 
 pillar of the cloud, and stood at the entrance to the tent, 
 and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth. 
 And God said, " Hear now My words ! If there be a 
 prophet among you, I do make Myself known unto him in 
 a vision, and speak unto him in a dream. Is not Moses, 
 My servant, one ? Is he not faithful in all My affairs ? 
 With him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in 
 dark speeches. The very likeness of God doth he see ! 
 Why were ye not afraid to speak against My servant, 
 Moses ? " Then the anger of Jehovah was kindled against 
 them, and He departed. Then when the cloud departed, 
 behold ! Miriam was leprous, white as snow ; and Aaron 
 saw that she was leprous. He therefore said unto Moses, 
 "Alas ! Sir ! I beseech thee ! Lay not the sin upon us, 
 wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. 
 O let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is halt 
 consumed, when he is born ! " Then Moses cried unto 
 Jehovah, saying, "Heal her now, O God! I beseech Thee!" 
 But Jehovah said unto Moses, " If her father had but spit 
 in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days ! Let 
 her be shut out of the camp seven days, and after that 
 let her be received back again." Then Miriam was shut 
 out from the camp seven days, and the people journeyed 
 not till Miriam was brought in. (xii. 1-15.) 
 
192 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 From Kadesh to Moab. 
 
 Inquiries made about Canaan. — Then Moses sent men 
 saying, "Go -ye up into the hill-country, and see the land 
 what it is, and the people, whether they be strong or weak, 
 few or many ; and what the land is, whether it be good or 
 poor, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye 
 of good courage, and bring ye of the fruit of the land." 
 Now it was the time of the first ripe grapes. So they went up, 
 and came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from hence 
 a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bear it upon a 
 staff between two men, and pomegranates, and figs. (The 
 place was called Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes, 
 which the people of Israel cut down from it) And they 
 came back to Kadesh, and brought back word unto 
 them, and showed unto them the fruit of the land, saying, 
 " This is the fruit of the land ! The Amalekites dwell in 
 the Southland, and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the 
 Amorites dwell in the hill-country (and the Canaanites dwell 
 by the sea, and by the banks of the Jordan). And there 
 we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the 
 giants ; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and 
 so we were in their sight. 5 ' 
 
 (xiii. 17-210, 23, 24, 263, 2j&, 29, 33.) 
 
 A rebellious spirit. — Then the whole people wept, and 
 said one to another, " Let us make a captain, and let us 
 return unto Egypt.'' Moses then said to the people, " To- 
 morrow, turn you and get you into the wilderness towards 
 the Red Sea." And when he told them this, all the people 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 1 93 
 
 mourned greatly. Then they rose up early in the morning, 
 and gat them up to a hill-top, saying, " Lo ! we are here, 
 and we will go up unto the place which Jehovah hath 
 promised, for we have sinned. (xiv. ib, 4, 25, 39-40.) 
 
 Another disturbance. — Then Dathan and Abiram, the 
 sons of Eliab, sons of Reuben, took men, and rose up 
 against Moses. And he sent to call Dathan and Abiram, 
 the sons of Eliab ; but they said, " We will not come up ! 
 Thou hast not given us inheritance of fields and vineyards ! 
 Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? We will not 
 come up." Therefore Moses rose up and went to Dathan 
 and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. Then 
 Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the entrance to 
 their tents ; and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed 
 them up, and their households ; and the earth closed upon 
 them. Then all Israel that were round about fled at their 
 cry, for they said, " Lest the earth swallow us up ! " 
 
 (xvi. \b, 2a, 12b, 14, 25, 27^, 320-33^, 34.) 
 
 Smiting the rock. — Now the people were encamped in 
 Kadesh. And there Miriam died and was buried. Then 
 there was no water for the people to drink, and they 
 gathered against Moses, saying, "Would God we had died 
 when our brethren died, before Jehovah ! Why hast thou 
 brought us up into this wilderness that we and our cattle 
 should die here?" (Then Jehovah spake unto Moses, 
 saying, "Take the rod and gather the people together. 
 Then thou shalt bring to them water out of the rock, so 
 thou shalt give the people and their beasts drink." Moses 
 then took the rod from before Jehovah, as He commanded 
 him, and gathered the people together before the mountain ; 
 and he said unto them, " Hear now, ye rebels ! Must we 
 13 
 
194 THE STORY OF MOSES 
 
 fetch you water out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted 
 up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice, and 
 the water came out abundantly, so that the people and their 
 beasts drank.) (xx. i, 7-1 1.) 
 
 Edom's refusal of a passage. — Thereafter Moses sent 
 messengers with this message from Kadesh unto the king 
 of Edom : "Thus saith thy brother Israel ! Thou knowest 
 all the trouble that has befallen us ! How our fathers went 
 down into Egypt, and how we dwelt a long time there ! 
 Thou knowest how the Egyptians harassed us and our 
 fathers, so that when we cried unto Jehovah, He heard our 
 voice, and sent an Angel, and has brought us forth out of 
 Egypt ; and behold ! now we are at Kadesh, a town on thy 
 farthest boundary. Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy 
 country. We will not go through the fields, nor through 
 the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells. 
 We will keep to the king's highway. We will not turn to 
 the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed through 
 thy territory." 
 
 But Edom said unto them, " Thou shalt not pass by me, 
 lest I come out against thee with the sword." In this way 
 Edom refused to give Israel a passage through his territory. 
 
 (xx. 14-18, 21.) 
 
 The fiery serpents. — Now the heart of the people was 
 very impatient because of the way they had to go, and they 
 spake against God and against Moses : " Wherefore have ye 
 brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For 
 there is no bread, neither is there any water, and we loathe 
 this poor diet." Then Jehovah sent fiery serpents among 
 the people ; and they bit the people, and many of Israel 
 died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, " We 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 195 
 
 have sinned; for we have spoken against Jehovah, and 
 against thee. Pray unto Jehovah that He may take away 
 the serpents from us." Then Moses prayed for the people ; 
 and Jehovah said unto Moses, " Make thee a fiery serpent, 
 and set it upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass, that every 
 one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live." 
 Moses then made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole ; 
 and it came to pass, that if any one, who had been bitten 
 by a serpent, looked upon it he lived. (xxi. 4^-9.) 
 
 Journeying toward Moab. — They came to the Arnon, 
 which is the boundary between Moab and the Amorites, 
 wherefore it is said in the book, " The Wars of Jehovah '' — 
 
 " We took Waheb in Suphah, and the Arnon watercourses, 
 And the valley of the watercourses, toward the dwell- 
 ing of Ar 
 That lieth on the border of Moab." 
 
 Then Israel sent messengers unto Sihon, king of the 
 Amorites, saying, " Let us pass through thy land. We will 
 not turn aside into the fields or the vineyards. We will 
 not drink of the water of the wells, but we will go by the 
 king's highway until we have passed through thy territory." 
 
 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his 
 country, and gathered all his people together, and went out 
 into the open country to oppose Israel. He came to Jahaz 
 and fought against Israel \ but they smote him with the edge 
 of the sword, and took possession of his land from Arnon 
 to Jabbok. (xxi. 21-2412.) 
 
 Now Israel abode in Shittim, and joined themselves unto 
 the Baal of Peor - 3 and Moses said unto the rulsrs of Israel, 
 " Put to death all the men in your divisions that were joined 
 unto Baal of Peor." (xxv. 1a, $a, 5.) 
 
THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 AS TOLD IN THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Joseph sold into Egypt. 
 
 Joseph undoubtedly occupied even a more important place 
 in relation to the Ten Tribes, who formed the Northern 
 Kingdom, than he did in relation to that of Judah. It 
 was in the fortunes of Benjamin that Jerusalem was deeply 
 concerned. But in Joseph was seen the founder and 
 father of the two great families of Ephraim and Manasseh ; 
 and among them he was ever regarded as a mighty hero, 
 and highly gifted prophet of God. Ephraim, especially, 
 became so distinctly the leading and pre-eminent tribe in 
 Israel that the prophet Hosea can with correctness use 
 this one name for the whole Northern Kingdom. In 
 him the right hand blessing of aged Jacob ultimately 
 reached its highest fulfilment. 
 
 The birth of Joseph is an answer to prayer. The boy, 
 who was to have a great destiny, was God's own gift to 
 Rachel, whereby in gracious kindness He had taken away 
 
 196 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 1 97 
 
 her reproach. This is the meaning of the name for Israel. 
 How many reproaches was it to be his lot to roll away ! 
 Like David, the hero of the united kingdom, Joseph was 
 at first a shepherd boy. He is here introduced to us as 
 shepherding the flocks in the great pasture lands of 
 Shechem, on ground all sacred to later Israel. Apparently 
 Jacob's headquarters were in this neighbourhood at this 
 time, and the whole territory was holy ground to the 
 Ten Tribes. It was at their very doors, and they would 
 love to associate their great founder with Shechem — his 
 own inheritance, too, and their own capital for a time, 
 rather than with the more southern shrine at Hebron, 
 where Judah's headquarters, in David's earlier days of 
 reigning, had been. It is quite clear that the elder 
 branches of Jacob's household had certainly settled in 
 this neighbourhood, even when with pious longing Jacob 
 may have gone with his younger children to visit Mamre, 
 and recall the memories of Abraham, which clustered 
 there. When Joseph comes before us, he is not a visitor 
 to his brethren, but constantly with them, knowing them 
 all well, and all his features and character being well known 
 to them. Of course, as the son of Rachel, Jacob's favourite 
 wife, he would occupy a place of honour alongside of the 
 sons of Leah, a very much higher place than that occupied 
 by the four sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. Perhaps, indeed, 
 he held a kind of responsible charge, and may have had 
 to report to his father concerning these stepbrothers. 
 They were the founders of the smaller and more insigni- 
 ficant tribes, such as Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, whose 
 history had never been important, and who had rendered 
 no great service to Samaria. Thus when we are told that 
 Joseph felt it necessary to report unfavourably about the 
 
198 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 conduct of these young men, no manner of offence could 
 have been taken by Ephraim, or by the sons of Leah. 
 Their moral character and standing, doubtless, would be 
 more or less affected by their birth. No complaint, be 
 it noted, is taken to Jacob against the sons of Leah; 
 indeed, Joseph seems to be on the best of terms with 
 them. Now this, of course, is extremely interesting, as 
 it sheds its own light upon the circumstances in which 
 our narrative was written, and shows us the motives and 
 attitude of its prophetic writer. He had to gain access 
 to the heart and sympathies of the Northern Kingdom. 
 Even if he belonged to Judah, like Amos, and afterwards 
 Hosea, he would have to become all that he could to 
 Israel to disarm prejudice, and gain a hearing in the 
 north ; and thus, we see, in every missionary enterprise, 
 the need of wisdom, in saying as much good as possible 
 of the people whom it is desired to lead up to better 
 things. If moral conduct was the chief concern of the 
 prophets, as we know it was, we can see here how a 
 prophet writing for the Northern Kingdom had to con- 
 demn all that was wrong and unworthy in the name of 
 their great Joseph, and yet so as not to enrage the leading 
 tribes. Eor how could God give up Ephraim, or make 
 Israel as Sodom and Gomorrah ? (Hos. xi. 8). 
 
 How beautiful, and withal true to nature and history 
 is the simple, pastoral life that is now being lived by 
 Joseph and his brethren, — a life to which the prophets 
 looked yearningly back, as they condemned a life more 
 commercial and military to which Israel was prone, and 
 out of sympathy with which they felt themselves altogether ! 
 How anxious would a Joseph leader be to bring the other 
 tribes into line with their father and their father's God. 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 1 99 
 
 And in this anxiety the sons of Leah seem in agreement 
 with Joseph. But to speak of betterment, to suggest that 
 there was reasonable ground on which to complain of 
 their conduct, only roused ill-will and resentment against 
 one who claimed to have the vision of a better or higher 
 standard. The very stand, which must be taken up by 
 one who strives to raise up others towards the standard, 
 makes a man a prophet of God indeed, a voice crying, 
 a marked man. Thus the simple pastoral life was of 
 necessity to be broken up. Not because of any badness 
 on Joseph's part, but in the very nature of things, in 
 which light shineth in the darkness, only in danger of 
 being quenched, his very goodness led to opposition. But 
 every prophet leader must be prepared for antagonism and 
 opposition. " Which of the prophets have not your fathers 
 persecuted?" Hence a prophet going to speak in God's 
 great name to the Ten Tribes must be prepared for just 
 such opposition as Joseph encountered; but it would come, 
 he was persuaded, not from the true Israel, not from 
 Israel's best sons, but from those less worthy. How wise 
 and effective a mode of appeal is this, even to the best 
 elements in the community, the good men, who are ever 
 the saviours of society ! If an exhortation to better- 
 ness is necessary, it is just such a one as Israel's great 
 father and founder would have made. The kingdom 
 is only exhorted to walk in the ways of their father, 
 the good old paths. The prophet is thus in line with 
 Joseph. The opposition comes not from Reuben 
 and Leah's sons, but from less important persons 
 altogether. Thus may God's prophets ever encourage 
 themselves, and strengthen their hearts when they fear 
 that few believe their message, and many oppose the 
 
200 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 messengers who bring it ; those to whom the arm of the 
 Lord is revealed do receive it with joy, and only those 
 " of the baser sort " permanently reject it to their own 
 loss. Joseph lived in line with his father, and in fullest 
 sympathy with the views ■ as to God which Abraham had 
 cherished. He was thus in the true apostolic succession, 
 which is not of birth or office, but of faith. What high 
 privilege Samaria might yet attain unto, if it sought to 
 be a worthy descendant of Joseph, serving itself heir not 
 only to his name, but to his faith, and thus truly the 
 children, not alone of Joseph, but much more of Abraham. 
 Hence Joseph was a prophet. His was the prophetic gift 
 of seeing visions and interpreting dreams, a true seer. To 
 him God spake in the visions of the night, and caused 
 him to understand His purpose. Hosea tells us how 
 God had spoken by the prophets, multiplying visions and 
 using similitudes by the hand of the prophets (Hos. xii. 
 10). The religious man holds the key that unlocks the 
 mystery of life ; for " the secret of Jehovah is with them 
 that fear Him." The close connection between moral 
 living and the knowing of the will of God is ever taught 
 in Scripture. He that doeth the will of God shall know 
 the doctrine, whether it be of God or man (John vii. 17). 
 Ways that are mysterious, and hid completely, even as 
 a sealed book, from other men, are understood and inter- 
 preted by those who walk uprightly. Dreams or visions 
 play an important part in our narrative. Abimelech and 
 Jacob are guided by them. Joseph's whole life is deter- 
 mined by them. Moses is declared also the inspired 
 possessor of these. Yes, rightly to see is to foresee. To 
 know is to foreknow. True insight, however attained, 
 whether by intuition, or experience, or communion, gives 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 201 
 
 a man a vast influence among his fellows. He who is 
 able to see God, or to hear His voice, or to mark His 
 hand, is one who walks on the high places of earth, and 
 wields a kingly sceptre. "Wot ye not that such an one 
 as I am can divine ? " 
 
 In the bright, glad, pure, consciousness of opening 
 manhood, we see Joseph forecasting for himself a life of 
 high service, the very vision itself being a propelling force 
 towards its realisation. But to have and to utter such 
 a forecast for himself necessarily meant trouble and opposi- 
 tion. For only those who see visions can sympathise 
 with them, and thus the gulf between Joseph and the 
 sons of the handmaids grew broader and deeper. The 
 dream that told of his own coming greatness, however, was 
 repeated in substance, though in varying form of outward 
 details. It gained a deeper hold upon him. Joseph could 
 not get away from the conviction of his soul; his true 
 self could not be hid. So that thus, while some of his 
 brethren were more and more estranged from him, others 
 of them, and his father in particular, would only be led 
 to ponder upon all that was implied in Joseph's strange 
 anticipations. He was soon surnamed, perhaps not in 
 honour, but in contempt, " The Dreamer." Ever with 
 us is this tendency to cast scorn on dreams, and mere 
 dreamers ; but by such more has been wrought than the 
 world often thinks of. Jacob was deeply touched by 
 the whole matter ; and while at first amazed, perhaps 
 annoyed, he resolved in calmness to consider the matter, 
 and wait for the events of the coming days to resolve 
 the mystery of the present. He himself had been guided 
 by dreams ; he is at a later period still to be thus guided. 
 What a dream was that of the pathway of light along 
 
202 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 which angels ascended and descended ! How it must 
 have comforted the lonely fugitive ! In his efforts to 
 outwit the craftiness of Laban again he saw his way in 
 a dream, while Laban himself was warned by a dream 
 not to hurt his son-in-law. While, last of all, in his 
 human uncertainty as to his duty in the matter of going 
 down to Egypt, a Divine assurance came to him in a 
 dream. 
 
 The crisis in Joseph's life is associated with a determined 
 attack upon his claims as a dreamer. As he was seen 
 approaching, they said, "Behold, this dreamer cometh!" 
 Thereupon the unhappy brothers, who felt their own lives 
 condemned by his, resolved to adopt extreme measures. 
 " This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and an inheritance 
 of peace will be ours/' say those who forget that the witness 
 of God to right and truth never dies, so that if one voice 
 becomes silent, another continues the testimony. " There is 
 no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." But at this stage, 
 as is most right and fitting for the eldest brother, Reuben 
 intervenes on behalf of Joseph. While, perhaps, not 
 altogether approving of Joseph's views, he was wholly 
 opposed to the violent steps proposed. He was the eldest 
 son, and Joseph's dreams did not seem to recognise that 
 circumstance. Indeed, they seemed to turn the world 
 upside down altogether, as they implied that the ordinary 
 and natural relations of the family were going to be reversed 
 in some way. Birth was threatened, with the privileges 
 usually associated with it. Primogeniture, and all the 
 hurtful claims based on it in history, was not sufficiently 
 honoured by Joseph, even as was again to be done when 
 Jacob should prefer Ephraim to Manasseh. But in pro- 
 phetic teaching honour and promotion are never connected 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 203 
 
 by any necessary law with blood, always only with that 
 character of soul, which is the foundation of Divine election 
 to service, and natural selection to survival. How long 
 the power of the dead man's hand has curbed growth 
 and industry ! How long the accident of an accident has 
 hindered true human progress by giving primacy often 
 to those unfit to discharge its functions! Our prophet 
 would teach duty rather than right to Israel, and antici- 
 pate in Joseph's dream our modern axiom, " The tools 
 to them that can use them." 
 
 But here the elder brother has his chance and his 
 opportunity. In the New Testament Christ shows how 
 he failed in two striking parables. Reuben intervenes 
 indeed. He is fully persuaded to deliver Joseph in some 
 way or other, and restore him to his father. But he does 
 not want in any very pronounced way to oppose the others. 
 He wanted, if possible, to carry them with him, to save 
 them from the consequences of their hot anger. A more 
 courageous course would almost certainly have brought 
 upon him vigorous antagonism, and might even have 
 frustrated his plan for saving the life of Joseph. We 
 may well believe that, in his heart of hearts, Reuben, as 
 the elder brother, was on the side of Joseph, and could 
 never harbour the thought of any harm coming to his 
 father's darling son. His was a position of charge and 
 responsibility, but he was not possessed of those elements 
 of character which could alone enable him to maintain 
 his place. He was " unstable as water," and never did 
 excel. His only were good resolutions, great thoughts, 
 but never brave actions (Judg. v. 15). As a tribe, 
 Reuben, indeed, lived on, but they were never numerically 
 strong, nor politically important (Deut. xxxiii. 6). These 
 
204 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 characteristics of the tribe are now seen in their leader. 
 Good-hearted enough, but neither strong in courage nor 
 devoted to principle. He was swayed by policy and 
 expediency rather than by any clear adhesion to the 
 right. His aim at this time seems to have been to keep 
 the ten together, and not by any distinct committal to 
 declare his own purpose. He saw that his brethren 
 were full of anger, and bent on extreme measures. It 
 must be his business by caution and prudence to save 
 Joseph and not expose himself. Waiting for a more 
 convenient time to deliver Joseph out of their hands, he 
 hits upon the expedient of suggesting that they should 
 content themselves by punishing him for the present by 
 throwing him into some empty well, and so marking their 
 displeasure. It was a cruel indignity to cast on Joseph 
 indeed, but Reuben meant it only as a means of rescue. 
 His suggestion was at once adopted, and the lad thrown 
 into a well, while they went away to their other employ- 
 ments. Reuben's counsel is received, and his leadership 
 maintained; but at what loss, and only in a temporary 
 manner ! He had made an unworthy concession to 
 clamant anger, and had not acted in such a way as to 
 have a good conscience, or to earn any respect. Even 
 after he would rue the day on which he acted on com- 
 promise, rather than on principle. He might, indeed, 
 have brought on himself suffering and pain by a more 
 open and straightforward advocacy of Joseph's interests, 
 but that would have been but for a short time. As it 
 was, he avoided the shortlived burst of anger only to 
 bring upon himself an abiding heritage of regret and 
 remorse. Never did a more convenient day come for 
 him ! He had lost his chance ! Joseph was dis- 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 205 
 
 honoured ! He was stolen ! Ah ! what a memory of 
 sorrow and poignant grief for all Reuben's after days ! 
 No permanent leadership can be secured by the sacrifice 
 of principle. But there is an apparent justification found 
 for Reuben's advice in the course of the subsequent 
 history. If Reuben had the regret of not acting courage- 
 ously, and the terrible memory of that moment of agony, 
 when he went and found Joseph stolen from the well, 
 he could feel that God had overruled his fault, and con- 
 doned his sin, by causing even this to work together not 
 only for Joseph's good, but also for the good of all the 
 tribes. This good thing, too, he had done. He had saved 
 Joseph's life, and prevented the other tribes from staining 
 their hands with their brother's blood — a brother to 
 whom they were soon to owe every blessing. 
 
 When Joseph had been left in the well, his brothers 
 having gone away, perhaps, to another pasturage, his cries 
 attracted the attention of a passing caravan. They are 
 Midianites, or descendants of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 
 xxv. 2), and quite distinct from the Ishmaelites. These 
 men are mentioned in Judg. viii. 24 as having a peculi- 
 arity of their own, namely golden ear-rings, and we are 
 not to think of the names Ishmaelite and Midianite as 
 interchangeable. The caravan of traders, here mentioned, 
 are a step further removed from Israel than the Ishmaelites, 
 and they are held up here to opprobrium. Their conduct 
 is condemned. They did not buy Joseph in any open 
 and honourable way, as traders, but they stole him without 
 the consent of his brethren, and to the bitter sorrow of 
 Reuben, his rightful guardian in his father's absence. Of 
 course, from their point of view it might be urged that 
 they found Joseph neglected and cast away, and acted 
 
206 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 in the spirit of a good Samaritan in rescuing him. Later 
 on, however, they sold him, trafficking thus in human 
 flesh ! No such sin as selling their brother can thus be 
 charged against the Ten Tribes ! They wot not what 
 had become of him. Joseph is lost; perhaps he had 
 become the prey of wild beasts in his attempt to escape 
 from the well. This is the only explanation the brothers 
 can think of. This, at any rate, is the explanation they 
 resolve to give to their father. His garments, with blood- 
 stains upon them, are taken to him, and the patriarch 
 is left to imagine his son dead. Out of this Reuben does 
 not come well. Probably, however, he took no part in 
 concocting the story. His grief over the disappearance 
 of Joseph is genuine and unfeigned. Jacob's grief, also, 
 must have been keen. 
 
 While thus sorrow reigns in the home thus bereft, 
 Joseph had been sold into the household of an officer high 
 in the service of the Pharaoh. By his open, manly, honest, 
 and intelligent character, as also by his singular capacity, 
 he gradually gained the place never long denied to merit 
 and goodness. He was much in favour with his master, 
 and had a position of great responsibility assigned him in 
 connection with the royal prison, where only officials of 
 the royal court were detained until the pleasure of their 
 master should be ascertained. In an Eastern country at 
 that time government was autocratic, thoroughly arbitrary 
 and capricious. Thus we are told of two officers, holding 
 important positions in close contact with the king, who had 
 incurred suspicion, and had been without trial placed in 
 this house of detention. These men were personally 
 appointed, and, of course, liable to instant dismissal or 
 punishment, pn the one hand, or to special favour and 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 207 
 
 promotion, according to the royal whim. In ordinary 
 course they are committed to the charge of Joseph, who is a 
 favourite of Potiphar. The Joseph founder of Israel thus 
 by sheer merit and most excellent conduct is placed in 
 most favourable circumstance for having an opportunity of 
 introduction to the innermost circle of the rulers of the 
 land. He is not in any disgrace, nor is he suffering any 
 ill-treatment from Egypt. Nay, Egypt had always been 
 well disposed to him and to his posterity, the Ten Tribes. 
 Every facility had been placed at Joseph's disposal. Egypt 
 recognised the merit of this great founder. 
 
 Now Joseph is brought into close personal relationships 
 with these two highly placed officials, and interests himself 
 very considerably in their comfort and well-being. Doubt- 
 less he does what he can to make their time of detention 
 less irksome. He becomes their friend and confidant. 
 So that when they are harassed by the uncertainties of 
 their position, they can speak of all they feel to one so 
 sympathetic. They had no manner of knowledge as to 
 what kind of treatment might yet be meted out to them by 
 the Pharaoh. What they talk over by day, they dream 
 over by night. Being sad and depressed one morning, 
 their kindly attendant seeks to discover the reason. He is 
 told that they were troubled by their dreams, and then he 
 urges them to tell him what they were. For he assures 
 them in a spirit of true humility and beautiful reverence 
 that from God cometh every good gift. So that unto Him 
 interpretations alone belong. All he can do to comfort 
 them he will, but he can only be helped by the true source 
 of all wisdom. Let them then trust him, and if at all 
 within his power he will try to unravel the meaning of their 
 dreams. The telling of the dreams with their repetitions of 
 
208 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 prominent features, and Joseph's now complete knowledge of 
 their circumstances, enable him to discern what they mean, 
 so that he can speak to the one about coming promotion, 
 and with sorrow unfeigned to tell the other about the sad 
 fate in store for him. The birthdays of kings, especially in 
 later times, were occasions for the distribution of high 
 honours to the favourites of fortune. In these the cup- 
 bearer shared, even as Joseph forecast. The suspicion 
 against this official was found to be without any ground ; 
 and having been much in favour with his royal master, this 
 opportunity is taken to restore him to his former place. 
 Joseph proves himself again a true seer not only of the 
 good, but also of the evil. In a most touching way he 
 urges the cup-bearer to speak a good word for him in the 
 ears of the Pharaoh when suitable opportunity should 
 present itself. He recalls his sad and sudden departure 
 from his homeland. He remembers the pit into which he 
 had been thrown, and the way in which he had been stolen 
 out of the land of his fathers, here called the land of the 
 Hebrews, or men who have crossed over. This term 
 "Hebrew" is applied to Abraham in the old historical 
 archive in Gen. xiv. 13. He had crossed not alone the 
 Jordan, but also the great river Euphrates in his migration. 
 He is a foreigner among foreigners, and for no evil that he 
 had done. Naturally he longs for a change, in which he 
 might be allowed once again to return home. This can 
 alone be brought about by the grace , of the Pharaoh. 
 Hence his appeal to the cup-bearer, only to be so soon 
 forgotten in human ingratitude. He has no complaint to 
 make of Potiphar, and there is even no reproach cast 
 upon his brethren. It was foreigners that stole and sold 
 him ; his being in the well was no fault of his. If the 
 
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT 209 
 
 cup-bearer could do anything, Joseph would be truly 
 thankful. 
 
 But for some time longer our hero has to continue in his 
 apprenticeship — still longer must he remain on probation 
 in Potiphar's service, before the day of his promotion to 
 highest service should come. Here he was learning obedi- 
 ence by the things he suffered ; fidelity in this school and 
 period of probation would bring in due course its own 
 reward. Some ten or twelve years this period lasted, for he 
 was in his full prime of thirty when appointed to high office 
 in the royal court. But God was with him. A Divine 
 discipline is better than material prosperity. That which 
 brought on the suffering is to be its cure. The firm con- 
 viction of duty and high destiny, which he felt at the 
 beginning, and which entailed on him his becoming an 
 outcast from his father's house, was to bring about his 
 ultimate vindication. Joseph must remain faithful to the 
 principle to which he had sworn allegiance — his guiding 
 star. He must not grow weary. Even though human 
 ingratitude may be great ; even though the cup-bearer 
 might forget Joseph for so long, all this was only bidding 
 him put his trust not in man, nor in man's son, but wholly 
 in God ; even though the day seemed long, yet at length 
 came the happy issue. The troubled king, greatly per- 
 plexed by dire forecastings of coming disaster strangely 
 blended with happy visions, can get no help from the wise 
 men forming his council. Good harvests followed by a 
 series of bad seasons ; fat and fine cattle devoured by 
 lean and starved ones. What could it all mean ? No 
 answer seemed forthcoming. But now is the cup-bearer's 
 opportunity. He seizes it. He is compelled to recall his 
 former experiences, and narrates how a young man, high in 
 
2IO THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 Potiphar's service, had been so helpful to himself in his 
 distress, and how he had interpreted his dream exactly in 
 harmony with the course events took. At once Joseph is 
 sent for ; and he, as quickly as possible, donning suitable 
 garments and shaving himself, appears in the royal pre- 
 sence. He is still the same Joseph ; humble but confident, 
 unabashed but respectful he stands. He disclaims all 
 personal merit or superior knowledge, and bids the Pharaoh 
 believe in God, who makes known His will to men "in 
 divers ways at sundry times." The repetition of the 
 dreams, so manifestly one in substance, could not fail to 
 strike one so wise as Joseph was. He has consequently 
 neither difficulty in explaining them nor hesitation in stating 
 their meaning to the Pharaoh. The excellent advice to 
 appoint a Famine Commissioner, who should be over the 
 corn supply of the land, with powers to make provision for 
 the coming years of scarcity in the years of abundance, at 
 once commended itself to the court. With one consent 
 this young man, about whom Potiphar had nothing but 
 good to say, was appointed to this high office, and vested 
 with supreme powers. Every honour is given, and the word 
 translated, " Bow the knee," may refer to a title that told 
 of his being a wise interpreter of dreams. Marks of royal 
 favour were speedily bestowed upon him ; he receives an 
 Egyptian name, which, according to some, means, "The 
 Revealer of Secrets," according to others, "Storehouse of 
 the House of Life." The former is suggested by his power 
 to interpret ; the latter more appropriately refers to his new 
 office and function. A singular honour is also conferred 
 on Joseph in his being allowed to marry into one of the 
 highest families of the land. For the chief priest at the 
 supreme and central sacred college of On or Heliopolis, 
 
THE FAMINE AND THE REUNION 211 
 
 dedicated to the worship of the great Egyptian tutelary god 
 in a magnificent temple there, occupied highest rank. He 
 is called Potiphera, which, as most probably meaning, 
 devoted to Ra, may be an official title and not a family 
 name. Of course, in the Hyksos days, Ra was largely dis- 
 placed by their own deity. To allow Joseph to marry 
 his daughter was practically to receive him into the royal 
 household. Asenath, whom he marries, is also a distinctive 
 Egyptian name, and indicates dedication to Neith, an 
 Egyptian goddess. The priests of the various deities 
 formed an important caste, and received high appointments 
 from the Pharaohs. It is important to note the complete 
 Egyptian knowledge of our writer, and the correct Egyptian 
 colouring given to the narrative. This does not, however, 
 require an early date, for there was very close connection 
 between Egypt and the kingdom of the Ten Tribes. Nay, 
 the names of the deities are themselves later than Joseph's 
 time. But frequent and accurate references are made to 
 that great country by the prophets of Israel. The very 
 word used to describe some special act of public homage 
 rendered or title given to Joseph is Egyptian. Thus Joseph 
 seems to be now thoroughly domiciled. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Famine and the Reunion. 
 
 The second scene in the great life drama of Joseph closes 
 with his high appointment, and marriage into what was 
 virtually a royal family. His father and brothers have lost 
 all knowledge of him, and perhaps have by this time, for 
 thirteen years have now passed away, tutored themselves to 
 
212 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 believe him dead. " This my son " is not only " lost," but 
 is also dead, the sorrowing father might say. 
 
 But important events are now to occur, and to evolve 
 strange results. The famine administration has commenced, 
 and the active measures taken at once by Joseph on his 
 appointment during the years of plenty are bearing fruit. 
 The supplies of corn are abundant in Egypt. The famine, 
 however, is felt in distant countries, and in Palestine 
 especially it is found to be severe. In those days there 
 was much coming and going between Palestine and Egypt. 
 The recent discoveries at Tel-el-Amarna and Lachish show 
 the extensive intercourse of those years, until recently 
 wholly undreamt of. Great trade routes existed, and con- 
 stant communication was kept up between various Syrian 
 governors and the Egyptian government. Doubtless all 
 strangers from foreign lands coming for grain would have to 
 present themselves to the headquarters of Joseph. So that 
 thus one day, to his joyful surprise, he saw his brethren 
 stand before him, doing obeisance unto him, as they asked 
 permits from him to purchase corn, even as in his dream 
 he said they would bow down. He would readily recognise 
 them \ but after the lapse of so many years, in such a high 
 place and in Egyptian costume as a governor, they could 
 hardly be expected to see their long lost brother. He at 
 first treats them as complete strangers, nay, as one doubtful 
 of their bona fides. They might as well be spies, sent by 
 some Hittite prince to discover the weakness of the land. 
 He, for himself fully aware as to their identity, was anxious 
 to know why Benjamin was not there, to gather, in short, all 
 the information he could without awaking suspicion. He 
 hears their family story, learns that Benjamin is still alive, 
 and endeavours to hit upon some method whereby he may 
 
THE FAMINE AND THE REUNION 213 
 
 get this much loved brother brought to him. He proposes 
 in the first instance to detain all, sending only one back ; 
 but after three days he makes a new proposal, even to 
 detain one as hostage, and send the rest home. The 
 brethren now recall the day when they refused to show 
 kindness to Joseph, and spurned his pleading cries. 
 Reuben reminds them of his advice at that time, when he 
 counselled them to do no harm to the lad. Conscience 
 was bringing up its record now, as it always does in some 
 crisis of life, when men wonder why calamity should come 
 upon them. To Reuben this severe treatment now is re- 
 tribution for sin, according to the prophetic view announced 
 by the friends of Job, and long maintained among the 
 Jews. The calamity is here connected not with the whole 
 of life, but with some one outstanding sin. The men on 
 whom the tower in Siloam fell were supposed to have been 
 greater sinners than their neighbours. We note the im- 
 portant place at this time taken again by Reuben ; in him 
 there was something good toward the God of Israel. He is 
 the elder brother with the leadership, and in his breast 
 conscience is working actively. It is very touching to 
 remember how all this conversation between the brethren 
 was overheard and understood by Joseph ; how their 
 every reference to the events of Dothan stirred in his 
 breast deep feelings ; how he even longed to make himself 
 known, and end the terrible suspense. But things were not 
 ripe for the complete denouement yet. Benjamin was not 
 yet here, and it was only fitting that the revelation should 
 be made in the presence of a completed family. Thus 
 God's purposes await the completings of history. Many 
 human barriers must fall before God appears. 
 
 The proposal of Joseph is adopted, that one brother be 
 
214 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 detained as hostage, while the rest should go home speedily 
 with provision for their households, and bring Benjamin 
 down without delay. Simeon, Leah's second son, is ap- 
 pointed as hostage ; while Reuben leads the rest back, and 
 takes upon himself the responsibility of explaining the 
 whole situation to his father. Reuben's account of their 
 strange experiences filled Jacob's heart with deepest grief 
 and much sad foreboding. He is overwhelmed with 
 sorrow, and knows not what to say at all. The circum- 
 stances of human life have often an appearance of com- 
 plication and adversity. Everything seems against him, as 
 he thinks of Joseph apparently dead, Simeon detained as a 
 hostage, and his darling Benjamin demanded. But these 
 things may all be but the wrong side of a beautiful plan 
 which is being woven surely by Providence ; it may only 
 belie the seeming sad reality. The other and right side 
 may show Joseph alive, and actively working for his father's 
 good, Simeon only temporarily detained, and the demand 
 for Benjamin only a means to a complete family reunion ! 
 A superficial glance at the outward relations of men may 
 only lead to wrong decisions, and produce unworthy sorrow. 
 A deeper insight may teach men that even — 
 
 "The clouds, they so much dread, 
 Are big with mercy, and will break 
 In blessings on their head." 
 
 Men must learn to wait for the unravelling of things. The 
 opening of the sacks and the sight of the money returned, 
 fill them with astonishment. But Reuben is satisfied that 
 things are all right, and he urges on Jacob instant acqui- 
 escence. He objects to any further delay, and proves his 
 own confidence and sincerity by offering to place his own 
 
THE FAMINE AND THE REUNION 215 
 
 two sons with him as hostages for Benjamin. How noble 
 and self-sacrificing is the spirit in which Reuben, the elder 
 brother, acts ! What more could Jacob desire from his 
 firstborn ? How great is the capacity for great and good 
 things even among the Ten Tribes, notwithstanding their 
 revolt from David's house ! Judah may yet hope for better 
 things from Samaria. The sands have not yet run down. 
 In the prophet's heart, time and place for repentance are 
 ever being given. But Jacob is hard to persuade. His 
 life had been one of singular adventure, and we well believe 
 he wanted no more change in his old age. But still more 
 singular events awaited him. The returned money seemed 
 a new mystery ; the interpretation was awanting ; the great 
 interpreter was not here. Reuben, however, is urgent. He 
 will now brook no delay. He demands complete trust, and 
 uses the very strongest means to assure his aged sire. He 
 loved his own boys well, even as well as Jacob loved 
 Benjamin. "Trust me," he cries, "and I will bring him 
 safely back to you. 57 The reluctant decision is at length 
 given, and with a prayer that God may be with them to 
 guide them well and safely, he sends them down with 
 Benjamin. Oh ! how anxiously he wonders what kind .of 
 treatment " the man " will mete out to him ! That man 
 was soon to reveal himself, so as to allay all fear, and fill 
 this father heart with purest joy. How often does the event 
 rebuke the anxiety, and teach men to have no anxious thought 
 for the morrow ! " Cast all your care on God, for He careth 
 for you." What supreme spiritual teaching does Israel here 
 receive ! All misgiving and foreboding arise from ignorance 
 of what the future holds in store. We know not " the man," 
 nor the things that are working together all for our good. 
 No unnecessary delay, we may be sure, now occurs, as 
 
2l6 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 Reuben hastens down to Egypt. Very soon the reunited 
 family stand all together in the headquarters of Joseph. 
 Might not Joseph's descendants still afford a rallying ground 
 for such family reunion ? What was once done before by 
 Joseph might be done again for the alienated tribes. But 
 all must be in one place, and with one mind, before Joseph 
 can make himself known. It must be around little Ben- 
 jamin, as a kind of mediator, that the desired consumma- 
 tion take place, little and least though he be. So Micah 
 spake concerning Bethlehem-Ephratah, the birthplace of 
 Benjamin, in the later days, when he looked for some great 
 deliverer to quell the pride of Assyria. 
 
 The sight of Benjamin led to decisive action on Joseph's 
 part. He at once brought out Simeon, and the twelve 
 brethren were all together — the eleven gazing with wonder 
 upon the one. Ah ! those early dreams ! All was now 
 fulfilled ! What a moment is this ! The heart of Joseph 
 breaks now through all conventions ; he bursts into tears 
 as he cries, " I am Joseph ! " adding as if it were the one 
 great burden of his heart, "Is my father yet alive?" How 
 he had thought all these long years of that loved father ! 
 How he had longed for union once again with him ! 
 
 What can be said by the brothers now ? The mystery is 
 all explained. It is Joseph himself ! No wonder he wanted 
 to test us, for we had used him badly ! No wonder he 
 desired above all things to see Benjamin, his own mother's 
 son ! No wonder the money was all restored in the sacks ! 
 But the joy of the revelation and discovery is accompanied 
 by feelings of remorse and self-reproach. It is not an easy 
 matter for Joseph to allay these feelings of unworthiness. 
 They do blame themselves so keenly now. If only they 
 had thought for a moment ; if only they had allowed some 
 
THE FAMINE AND THE REUNION 217 
 
 kindly consideration to influence them, they never could 
 have treated Joseph as they did. It is necessary that these 
 feelings should come, but they must never be allowed to 
 prevent us entering upon the good things provided by God, 
 even for the unworthy. The pierced hand gives gifts even 
 to those that pierced it. The bruised myrrh gives back 
 sweetest fragrance to the bruisers. The Josephs of history 
 restore a thousandfold, even to those who once wronged 
 them. The poor and weak actions of men, their ill-con- 
 ceived and misguided conduct, have all been overruled, and 
 out of many sad events God has brought supreme good ; 
 for there is a providence that ruleth over all. 
 
 "God's in His Heaven — all's right with the world!" 
 
 " I wot that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers." 
 But through human ignorance, and man's many mistakes, 
 the Divine purpose is moving on towards its perfect realisa- 
 tion. Joseph therefore urged that all feelings of remorse 
 and self-reproach should end ; that they should not now be 
 sorry, nor think any more of their past actions, seeing that 
 God had sent him before them to preserve life. Joseph had 
 had to suffer for his own people severely and vicariously, 
 but through his suffering good and blessing came. "All 
 we like sheep," these brethren could say, " had gone astray, 
 but the Lord hath laid on him (Joseph) the iniquity of us 
 all. Thus by the stripes that fell on him have we been 
 healed." The very highest height of prophecy, in these 
 magnificent words of II Isaiah liii., are broad-based on the 
 deepest experiences of life ; their truth is found in their 
 actual reality, their absolute correspondence with human life. 
 
 Joseph now bids his brothers go at once and bring 
 down their father, that so during the remainder of the 
 
2l8 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 famine years, at least, he may find home and comfort in 
 Egypt. What an assuring and kindly message is sent! 
 Jacob is told that God had done all things well, and that 
 ample provision in a suitable place would be made for him 
 in Goshen. The last word is one of urgency. Not a 
 moment's unnecessary delay must now be made. Five 
 years of famine still remain, and Joseph cannot dream of 
 his father having any longer any discomfort or scarcity of 
 supplies. In all this Joseph is acting as a devoted son, 
 and as one armed with highest authority. His will is law 
 in regard to the arrangements of the land, at least in Goshen. 
 But when the news of this happy event in Joseph's family 
 history came to the ears of the Pharaoh, he at once uses 
 the occasion to show again his sense of the value of the 
 services rendered to Egypt by Joseph. He will honour 
 Joseph, and see that his father be brought down in right 
 royal fashion. Thus an opportunity is taken to represent 
 Egypt and the Pharaoh here in the most favourable light 
 possible. While to the later prophets, and especially to 
 those of Judah, an alliance with Egypt had never been a 
 thing approved ; in the kingdom of Samaria such an alliance 
 had often been sought as against the increasing power of 
 Assyria, and a bulwark against the wave of conquest from 
 the North ; an unwise policy, indeed, for it gave Egypt a 
 place in Canaan. But the government in Samaria had no 
 unkind word to say of Egypt. And here the kindness and 
 generosity of the Pharaoh Apepi appears in the best light, 
 even as that of Shishak had, when his support established 
 Jeroboam i. on his throne. At this time everything is done 
 by Egypt that could possibly be done ; every wish of Joseph 
 is anticipated, and all his arrangements graciously con- 
 firmed. Thus, too, when Israel left Egypt, as we shall 
 
THE FAMINE AND THE REUNION 219 
 
 soon note, under the guidance of Moses, great gifts were 
 bestowed upon the Hebrews by the people of the land, 
 the God of Israel having made them popular in Egypt. 
 Friendly relations, then, between Israel and Egypt are char- 
 acteristic of our writer's view of the situation. 
 
 Every facility is placed at Jacob's disposal for making a 
 complete migration to, and settlement in Egypt. He might 
 make it his home if he chose ; but what was now offered 
 as a home was to be made a place of bondage by a 
 Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. With glad hearts and full 
 equipment, the brethren then return for their father. The 
 news which the brothers brought up the second time was 
 acceptable indeed ; it could, however, be hardly believed. 
 But the God who had led Jacob all his life long was not 
 going to leave him in any doubt now. The guiding vision 
 comes to him at Beersheba, the sacred sanctuary dear to 
 the Northern Kingdom. Even in the time of Amos wor- 
 shippers from the Ten Tribes sought this shrine (Amos v. 5). 
 He is bidden go down, with the promise that, even as had 
 been said to Abraham, the sojourning there would only 
 be for a season. For God's people the guiding vision 
 always comes. He then arose, cheered as he went along 
 with the glad thought that every step was bringing him 
 nearer to his beloved son Joseph. Happy days ! Happy 
 reunion ! On earth only too short always ! For after being 
 settled in the land, and seeing every arrangement made 
 for his comfort, his end comes. The faithful son hastens 
 from the court to receive his father's last blessing, and 
 brings with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 
 How touching the closing scenes in the patriarch's life ! 
 As he blesses Joseph, and uses the words, " The God who 
 fed me all my life long," he must have recalled the 
 
2 20 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 changeful events of his long and chequered experience, even 
 from that day when Esau, " for one morsel of meat, sold his 
 birthright.'' He would see himself a wanderer in the desert, 
 a serving-man with Laban, the wrestler with God at Peniel, 
 wounded in his deepest affections by the loss of Rachel 
 and the disappearance of Joseph. But now in what happi- 
 ness he closes his life ! His end, indeed, is peace. What 
 a singular and pathetic tenderness there would be in his 
 words as he blessed the lads ! For now he sees not only 
 his own son Joseph, but his sons also. He receives them 
 into his family, as if they had been his own boys, born 
 though they had been in a foreign land, and of an alien 
 mother. The adoption of people of all kindreds and 
 tongues into the kingdom of God is a prophetic note. 
 The blessing given to Ephraim and Manasseh ever after 
 attended them ; for they did grow into large and powerful 
 tribes in the land. But to Joseph, Jacob gives his last and 
 best words. It is his hope that his family will return again 
 to Canaan ; that he had been taught by Abraham and Isaac 
 to regard as his fatherland, the land promised to them and 
 to their seed by God. This was Jacob's legacy to Joseph, 
 as it was to be his to Israel in turn. They were not to 
 stay for ever in Egypt, even though Egypt had been kind 
 to them. The home of God's people is not of earth, but 
 of promise. But, furthermore, there is given to Joseph as 
 his special possession the territory of Shechem, which Jacob 
 had himself in some brave military endeavour taken out of 
 the hand of the Amorites, who now occupied Canaan, but 
 were ultimately to be displaced. Of this the capture of 
 Shechem was the pledge and promise. No wonder that 
 in after days much interest gathered round Shechem as a 
 centre of power and influence for the Northern Kingdom. 
 
THE FAMINE AND THE REUNION 221 
 
 On Jacob's death the eleven brethren once again dis- 
 played their fear and anxiety as to the way in which they 
 might be treated by Joseph. Nothing can make them 
 forget their own ungenerous treatment of him, and they 
 only expect the same measure to be meted out to them 
 which they had meted out to him. For this is the measure 
 of human conduct. Humanly speaking, they could expect 
 nothing else. But Joseph, founder and prophet leader of 
 them all, was not after man, but rather a man after God's 
 own heart, and he had forgotten and forgiven all wrong 
 done unto him. So good had God been unto him, that 
 he cannot allow any remembrance of trouble to remain in 
 his mind, so full only was it now with grateful recollection 
 of goodness and mercy shown to him by God. Hence he 
 bade them once more clear their minds of any fear, and 
 banish all anxiety. He would have them look unto God, 
 and put complete trust in Him. Thus the brothers are 
 enabled to place their confidence in Joseph, and find in 
 him their protector and their friend. They settle down in 
 Goshen, and devote themselves to the occupations of that 
 fertile place. In Joseph there is a prophetic type of a 
 perfect forgiveness, even of Him who delighted continually 
 to say to all anxious and sin-burdened ones, " Neither do 
 I condemn thee. Thy sins are all forgiven thee. Go in 
 peace." " To err is human ; to forgive, divine." 
 
 And now the close of Joseph's long life and able ad- 
 ministration draws nigh. At seventeen he had been stolen 
 from his home ; at thirty he stood before the Pharaoh, and 
 received highest commission ; at the age of one hundred and 
 ten — the age desired in Egypt — he dies honoured and full 
 of days. We know nothing about the last fifty years or so 
 of his life. He may have retired from active duty before 
 
222 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 his king's death, or he may have been expelled from office 
 in the troublous days when the Hyksos were in deep waters, 
 preliminary to their being banished, when pure native 
 Egyptian rulers came to the throne. At any rate we can 
 well believe that, so long as he lived, his was an honoured 
 name;, and when he died, loyal to his fathers and the best 
 traditions of his people, the commandment he gave concern- 
 ing his bones, that he should not be buried in Egypt, would 
 have all the force of a binding obligation on his descendants. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 To the Departure. 
 
 Joseph left as his legacy not only his name and character, 
 but also the promise of deliverance. "By faith he made 
 mention concerning the Exodus, as he gave commandment 
 concerning his bones." In course of time his family grew 
 into considerable importance in Goshen, and threatened to 
 become a source of danger as a great and mighty people. 
 They would not amalgamate with Egypt, and Egypt could 
 not amalgamate with them. Hence the Egyptian govern- 
 ment was concerned about the whole question of dealing 
 with them. When all memory of any service rendered to 
 the land by their great ancestor had completely faded away, 
 the Pharaohs of the 19th dynasty adopted measures of 
 restraint and restriction. The Hebrews were requisitioned 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 223 
 
 to do forced labour in the building of the great store- cities 
 of Pithom and Rameses, and an attempt was also made to 
 diminish the number of male children allowed to live. 
 These measures, however, failed in their chief purpose, and 
 only had the effect of welding Israel closer together as 
 one people, exposed as all were to the same troublous 
 conditions. In those dark days one was born in the House 
 of Levi, who was destined to be a great leader for his 
 people. While many of the male children born had been 
 cruelly killed, this young child had been carefully guarded 
 by his mother, and taken notice of by a daughter of the 
 ruling Pharaoh. How much Moses owed to Egypt ! Nursed 
 by a loving mother till he was able to go to school and 
 college at the expense of his royal patron, he grew up a 
 thorough Hebrew, instinct with the sympathy for their 
 sufferings, and inheriting the best traditions of the House of 
 Levi. The daughter of the Pharaoh, Nitocris by name, and 
 sister of Rameses n., conferred probably an Egyptian name 
 upon her protege^ but what it was we do not know. Mesu 
 was a common enough name, or part of a name, among the 
 Egyptians, being found in the royal names Thotmes, or 
 Ramesu, son of Thot or Ra. If this was the origin of 
 Mesu in the case of Moses, then the first part of the name 
 has been lost, having doubtless been abandoned when he 
 gave up Egypt and chose to suffer affliction with his own 
 people. The prophetic writer finds a suitable derivation of 
 the name in two Hebrew words, which mean " Drawn out 
 of the water." This was indeed a worthy name for him, 
 who not only was drawn out of deep waters, but who, in 
 time, was himself to draw Israel out of the deep waters of 
 Egyptian oppression. We can think of Moses as receiving 
 all the advantages of a liberal education in the arts and 
 
224 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 science of Egypt at the College of On or Heliopolis, along 
 perhaps with Rameses himself, and Pentaur, the great 
 epic poet in after days, who sang the victories of the 
 Pharaoh over the powerful Hittite people. The obelisk 
 which now stands on the Thames Embankment amidst the 
 wonders of our modern age, may once have stood, along 
 with others, in the Halls of learning through which this 
 interesting trio walked day by day. Moses would be 
 thoroughly trained in the use of Babylonian script and 
 Egyptian hieroglyph. His would be a complete knowledge 
 of the religious ideas and legislation of the Egyptians as 
 embodied in their Book of the Dead, and taught in this 
 great college. But the link of blood was powerful, and 
 Moses felt more drawn to take his part with his mother's 
 people than with his royal friends at court. The result of 
 his somewhat rashly taking sides in a broil between a 
 Hebrew and an Egyptian, in which he killed the Egyptian, 
 led to his having to leave the royal court at once and flee 
 far away to Midian. Before fleeing, however, he had a 
 foretaste of the difficulty yet to be more fully experienced 
 in attempting to govern his own people. Interference by 
 him was resented in such strong language that Moses felt 
 the hopelessness of doing anything for them at that time. 
 He had to go to Midian, far away from Egypt and her 
 armies, right across the Sinai peninsula. Probably he went 
 with some of the trading caravans, for among so many 
 foreign traders he could easily travel in disguise. Large 
 traffic went on at this time along the great trade routes. 
 The armies, both of war and commerce, were in constant 
 motion. But in Midian, Moses finds a place of complete 
 retirement, where in the great mountains he could be alone 
 with God and his sheep. An interesting and beautifully 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 225 
 
 idyllic story is told about his reception into the house of 
 Jethro, and his subsequent marriage with one of hi s 
 daughters. This marriage relationship played an important 
 part in the future life of Moses, as we shall see. But the 
 naming of his son Gershom, proved that he was longing 
 to be back again among his mother's people. Here he was 
 a stranger, and in a strange land. The date of this ex- 
 perience is given for us in the statement, that about this 
 time occurred the death of the reigning Pharaoh. News 
 from Egypt would come regularly enough by the traders to 
 Jethro and Moses, and the report of the death of Rameses 
 11. would be good tidings to Moses in particular. For it 
 was this Pharaoh who, from being his friend and com- 
 panion, had become his bitter foe. This was the year 
 1208 B.C., and with the advent of a new Pharaoh, called 
 always the king of Egypt in our document, the way was 
 opening up for his return. It was his hope that the new 
 ruler would not be so oppressive and so unfriendly to 
 himself personally as Rameses had been ; at any rate the 
 old quarrel would be forgotten, and Moses might come 
 back with safety to visit his own home and kindred. 
 
 But in purposing to do this, he was doing more than 
 following a natural desire. " The steps of a man are ordered 
 by God." There is ever a Divine hand shaping and guiding 
 all human destiny. Unless we can see some spiritual motive 
 in life moving men, we only see what is outward and merely 
 superficial. To imagine that men are only swayed by 
 nature and circumstance, is to leave out of count the most 
 potent influence of all. Hence all prophetic teaching bids 
 us remember spiritual motives, dreams, visions, religious 
 emotion and aspiration. And, therefore, the mission and 
 lifework of Moses are only to be explained by the vision of 
 15 
 
226 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 God which he had in the mountains of Horeb. That 
 'vision which he now receives determines his present and 
 coloured all his future. He was able to endure, as " seeing 
 Him who is invisible." What days of communing and 
 meditation these would be ! Alone among the great moun- 
 tains—alone with God ! His deepest desire would be to be 
 true to his people and his mother's God ! And now that 
 God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob, reveals 
 Himself to him. This was the result of his mother's 
 teaching; it was now coming out and impressing him. Not 
 the stories of Amen Ra and Bast and Apis, but the simple 
 stories of what Abraham did by faith in God, of the sacrifice 
 of Isaac, and of all Jacob's eventful career ! We know, from 
 many a similar case, of the influence of a mother's pious 
 teaching on her son at an impressible age. Augustine and 
 Luther are but instances of many more. The early lessons 
 of faith and prayer now touch the very heart of Moses, and 
 the very spot on which he stands is holy ground; the 
 common broom is all aglow with the Divine presence. His 
 father's God calls him to high service, even in His name to 
 go and deliver Israel from bondage. The sense of his own 
 unfitness for the task, of course, humbles him; but the 
 Divine promise is pressed home, that the God who went 
 with Abraham will also go with him, and make his way 
 prosperous. 
 
 And now he thinks of the kind of reception he may get. 
 How is he to prove 'his commission? What is he to say 
 about God ? How is he to speak so that the people may 
 believe in him and accept him as their leader ? Some new- 
 Divine revelation is necessary. He must be able to speak 
 of God as having given him some message, something more 
 than they have had already, A fuller knowledge of what 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 227 
 
 God is, in His glory, is now possessed by Moses, and 
 this fuller knowledge finds its expression in the giving 
 of a new name. The God of the fathers is not simply 
 El, Elohim, or Shaddai, Maker and Almighty, names by 
 which they had known Him, but He is more — He is a 
 promise-keeper, a covenant-fulfiller. " I will be what I have 
 been." This is the message ; it is something new. Hence 
 Moses embodies it in a new name, the sacred tetragram- 
 meton (or four-lettered word), JHVH, the exact vocalisation 
 of which has been lost. " I am that I am " is an imperfect 
 rendering of the words. For this tells of abstract existence, 
 an ever-living one in some metaphysical sense, whereas God 
 now reveals Himself in a very practical sense, as One who 
 is the Fulfiller. On this good word God caused Moses to 
 hope. Every subsequent age was to emphasise more and 
 more the significance of this name Jehovah, as He who fills 
 all things, by fulfilling His promise and carrying out His 
 purpose. 
 
 Moses, thus specially qualified and commissioned, starts 
 to tell his people about this new revelation, to give them 
 this new name for God ; and as he leaves Midian he takes 
 with him his rod, to which special importance is given in 
 the narrative now before us. For God is conceived and 
 represented here as going to work mediately, by means of 
 it, rather than immediately, through the word spoken. 
 Moses is also assured that the Egyptians will be well dis- 
 posed to Israel, and not allow them to go out empty. We 
 notice how, again, as we have had occasion to remark 
 before, Egypt is spoken of here as really friendly to 
 God's people ; and we remember how much help Shishak 
 gave to Jeroboam when he founded the kingdom of 
 the Ten Tribes in Samaria. Antipathy to Egypt was a 
 
2 28 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 dominant feeling in Jerusalem, but not so in Ephraim. 
 Hosea tells how Samaria ever sought an alliance with 
 Egypt, and would only renounce it in her great repentance 
 (xiv. 3). 
 
 Moses now bids farewell to the house of Jethro, probably 
 leaving his wife and sons behind him, or sending them back 
 very soon after his start. He states his very proper and 
 natural reason for wishing to go to Egypt — a reason which 
 Jethro thoroughly approves, as he gives him his parting 
 blessing, and says, " Go ! In peace ! " The inner spiritual 
 purpose of Moses is not mentioned to Jethro. Moses keeps 
 his counsel to himself at this point. Perhaps Zipporah and 
 her sons had no sympathy with this new crusade on which 
 he was setting out. 
 
 Arriving in Egypt, he soon appears at the court to present 
 his great demand, and with his rod acts wonderfully in the 
 presence of the Pharaoh. It is the raising of his rod that 
 turns the water of the Nile into blood ; it is the stretching 
 forth of that same rod toward heaven that brings the storm 
 of hail. These wonderful signs, however, have no power to 
 move the Pharaoh. They make, indeed, no real impression 
 upon him at all. He remains firm and obstinate, being 
 determined not to let the people go. How he accounted 
 for them we cannot tell. Were they in his eyes simply 
 strange coincidences? Could not his own magicians do 
 wonders also? At any rate these signs and wonders did 
 not convince the mighty ruler of Egypt that Jehovah, in 
 whose name Moses was acting, had any special authority 
 over him. Or if they did in any measure, it was but for a 
 moment. Any concession he was going to make would be 
 only of a partial or imperfect kind, granted in a time of 
 emotional weakness, only to be recalled when he was him- 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 229 
 
 self again. The demand of Moses was, however, an 
 ultimatum. He was not going to make any modification 
 at all of his claim or of its terms. He had come to ask a 
 complete emancipation of Israel, that so they might go 
 completely and altogether out of Egypt, households, flocks, 
 and all they had. The Pharaoh seemed willing to allow 
 the men to go away and worship their God. This would 
 only carry out his own policy. They might go and stay ! 
 He laughed at the very idea of a complete Exodus. Not 
 believing at all in Jehovah, he thought it would be as likely 
 a thing for Jehovah to be with them, as for him to let the 
 households and the cattle go ! No, he had Israel in his 
 grip, and he was determined not to lose anything that 
 might be of real marketable worth. Thus the first negotia- 
 tion with the Pharaoh was doomed to failure. Moses had 
 to wait a while, and see in what way God might further lead 
 him. It was certainly to Moses a hard problem. How 
 was this determined potentate to be overcome? After a 
 season Moses again appears with his former ultimatum. 
 He is not going to give up his great mission. By this time, 
 no doubt, the people are beginning to be more hopeful, and 
 they are, in larger measure, giving their support and sym- 
 pathy to Moses. There is light in the dwellings of Israel, 
 yes, a light also of hope and expectation. A terrible visita- 
 tion of locusts had destroyed the crops of the Egyptians, 
 and the darkness of calamity and disaster had filled their 
 hearts with sorrow. No locusts troubled Goshen, and 
 combinations of foreign foes against Egyptian armies on 
 the field of battle would only gladden Israel. Surely the 
 Pharaoh will now yield ! Why should he any longer refuse 
 a nation's prayer ? In response to this second demand a 
 further concession is granted. The men and their families 
 
• ( 
 
 230 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 may go, but not their cattle and flocks ! This, of course, 
 was only to mock Moses ; for how was he to support the 
 people without cattle and flocks ? But he presses the argu- 
 ment, that if the people are to hold a feast unto their God, 
 they must have the wherewithal for the sacrifice. He is 
 met by an absolute refusal. In this the hand of God is 
 surely seen. Man cannot resist the Almighty. This resist- 
 ance must be owing to the Divine purpose. To our prophet 
 it was not simply the Pharaoh hardening his heart ; there 
 was much more in it. God must have had a part in this. 
 How strange and mysterious at all times is the human will ! 
 Who can explain its determinations ? Nothing merely out- 
 ward is sufficient to account for them. Surely there is a 
 Divine judgment, wherever eyes are closed and hearts are 
 rebellious against the purpose of heaven ! But man cannot 
 for ever resist God. The proudest king must bite the dust 
 when God issues His final decree. This is the teaching of 
 our prophet now, and it is summed up for us in the words 
 found in the Book of Daniel, " He doeth according to His 
 will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of 
 the earth, and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, 
 What doest Thou?'" (iv. 35). 
 Moses is at length absolutely convinced that the end of 
 all parleying is now near, and that the moment for decisive 
 action has come. His plans are hastily completed, and the 
 people are fully resolved to leave the house of bondage. 
 The course of events makes this the only alternative. 
 Joseph's great deathbed vision and charge is about to be 
 fulfilled. His bones are no longer to remain in Egypt. If 
 again the Pharaoh refuses, and withholds his consent, then 
 without the royal permission, with the resolution of a now 
 united people, and in dependence on the might of God, they 
 
TO THE DEPARTURE 23 1 
 
 must take the matter into their own hands, and go out in a 
 complete emancipation. But, as we have seen already, the 
 people of Egypt are represented as friendly to Israel. At 
 this time it is only the particular reigning dynasty that bars 
 the way to liberty. Dynasties may change, and with them 
 policies. But the goodwill of Egypt remains, and it is now 
 manifested in many useful and valuable gifts. However 
 helpful at this time, they were in the long-run no unmixed 
 blessing, for these Egyptian jewels of gold were afterwards 
 put to a use dishonouring to Jehovah, and only reminiscent 
 of Egypt. The world's gifts, though useful, thus sometimes 
 hamper the Church of God, and by their own conditions 
 and associations affect its spirituality. Moses was also a 
 popular favourite. He had great personal qualifications, 
 and was a persona grata, even among the officers of the 
 court. Much sympathy would be felt for him, and very 
 many would at least secretly further his plans. In all this 
 God's power was working mightily. Thus He ever worketh 
 best and most truly to make men serve His sovereign 
 purpose. It is only His strange work to break the dis- 
 obedient on the wheels of judgment. What was the nature 
 of this last judgment, we are not told in our narrative. It 
 was clearly something that the king of Egypt felt so keenly, 
 that he bade Moses take away the people at once out of 
 his land. Obviously he held them responsible for all his 
 troubles. Something must account for them ; some scape- 
 goat must be found. They were a plague spot in his 
 kingdom ; a source of weakness and continual irritation. 
 Let them begone, and at once ! The longer they delayed, 
 the worse things seemed to be at the court. And the 
 people, full of terror and alarm at the course of events, did 
 all they could to make the Exodus of Israel speedy and 
 
232 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 complete. " Egypt was glad when they departed, for the 
 fear of them was upon them " (Ps. cv. 38). 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 From Rameses to Sinai. 
 
 Although this Exodus had been long anticipated, nay, 
 even ardently desired, the actual departure must have come 
 about almost suddenly and unexpectedly. It would be 
 even <k as a thief in the night." It is ever so. However 
 spoken of, or forecasted, even during many years of warning, 
 the great end of life comes to all men even as in the 
 twinkling of an eye, and this even though our house be put 
 in order. 
 
 Moses is now called to an important leadership. That 
 mission of deliverance on which he had been sent from the 
 burning bush, and for which he had been eagerly waiting, 
 was now fulfilling itself. The hour had struck; his life- 
 work was now before him. But the difficulties of his high 
 and honourable post were only beginning. It is always one 
 thing to start a mighty movement, it is quite another to 
 keep it going. Already he had discovered much of the 
 essential difficulty of his task ; the people had once before 
 resented his interference, they were slow to accept his 
 control. Some indication, but only in very general terms, 
 is given of the numbers of the people. They were a con- 
 siderable community, but the numbers now given may 
 include first and last all who joined Moses. In the Return 
 from Babylon, even when permission was granted and 
 everything made easy by Cyrus, many of the people did not 
 
FROM RAMESES TO SINAI 233 
 
 come back, but preferred to stay behind in the ease and 
 comfort of settled homes, notwithstanding their strange and 
 idolatrous surroundings. It is also worth noting that even 
 many Egyptians and others joined Israel, being with them 
 but not "of them." This may account for some of the 
 troubles of the coming days. Much of the murmuring 
 would come from the mixed multitude. 
 
 The suddenness of departure compelled the people to 
 eat unleavened bread ; and the establishment of this custom 
 in a great national festival kept alive, as nothing else could 
 do, the remarkable beginning of a people who seemed thus 
 to be " born in a day." 
 
 Alternative routes lay open to Israel. Perhaps many of 
 the leaders among the people favoured a bold dash for 
 liberty, such as going by the great caravan route known as 
 the "Way of the Philistines.'' This would have taken them 
 speedily and directly into Canaan. But immense difficulties 
 lay in the way of adopting this course. It was a regular and 
 much frequented route. There were fortified stations along 
 its route, and it was in constant communication with Zoan. 
 
 Every step of the way out of Egypt would have had to be 
 fought if Israel had gone this road. And they were not 
 prepared for war. It would take them some time before 
 they could be sufficiently armed and disciplined. None of 
 them would have been allowed to be soldiers or to bear 
 arms in Egypt. An attempt thus to force their way by arms 
 along the " Way of the Philistines " would have ended in 
 complete disaster. A rare word is used to express the 
 formation of Israel at this time. Some think it refers to a 
 hastily formed condition, as an army moving in haste ; it 
 cannot mean harnessed, or fully equipped with weapons of 
 warfare. The prophet of the Exile does not want the 
 
234 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 Return from Babylon to be in haste or in any kind of 
 disorder (Isa. lii. 12). Having resolved not to go by the 
 "Way of the Philistines/' the course adopted was right 
 across into the wilderness beyond the great wall or 
 boundary (Shur) of Egypt, by the "Way of the Wilderness 
 to the Red Sea." This route was farther away from Egyp- 
 tian headquarters. It was used less for military than for 
 commercial purposes. While, again, it was a way well 
 known to Moses. His plan was, no doubt, to avail himself, 
 in the fullest measure, of his own knowledge of the Sinaitic 
 peninsula, and after a time to lead Israel into Palestine, 
 when they would be ready for the task of conquering the 
 Amorites. It is not by some one brilliant coup d'etat, but 
 by infinite patience, that the goal is to be reached. But, of 
 course, it was not to be expected that the Hebrews would 
 be allowed to go out without some effort on the part of the 
 Egyptian army to stay them. They were pursued, un- 
 doubtedly, and some fighting would have to be done, but 
 in it victory came to Israel so wonderfully that it could not 
 be accounted for in any other way than by the direct inter- 
 position of Jehovah. God, their leader, now showed Him- 
 self as their great defender. He went behind them as 
 their rearguard. Hence in His praise they sang their 
 grand triumph song, for " Jehovah had triumphed ! His 
 people were free ! " The nucleus of this old song is 
 given to us in the words of Miriam, the sister of Moses, 
 now in a great moment of joy and exultation, as she led the 
 singing crowds, exclaiming — 
 
 " Sing ye to Jehovah ! He hath triumphed gloriously ! 
 The horse, and his rider, hath He thrown into the sea." 
 
 But clearly the song, in the form it was preserved in the 
 
FROM RAMESES TO SINAI 2$$ 
 
 "Book of Jasher," and as we have it now, speaks of a later 
 day, when not only the Red Sea and wilderness difficulties 
 were past, but also the conquest of the tribes of Palestine 
 was a thing long gone by. For Israel is now planted in God's 
 holy hill of Sion, the seat and centre of the great Davidic 
 kingdom. The Divine Providence had wrought a complete 
 deliverance for the people, of which they need ever to be 
 reminded. 
 
 Having passed into the great peninsula, the first matter 
 of concern was to find camping ground, where water could 
 be had in adequate amount. It would be a very easy and 
 a very natural ground on which to raise complaint against 
 the leadership of Moses, that water could not be obtained 
 in sufficient quantity to meet the need of the people ; and 
 it would be a matter of great anxiety to him always to see 
 that this want was supplied. He would sometimes feel 
 himself in great straits, and the knowledge of his own 
 limitations would cast him ever on his God for help and 
 succour. But of this he felt sure, that God would never 
 leave nor forsake him, even though the people might 
 thoughtlessly threaten to do harm to him, their best friend 
 and most competent leader. God bade him go on before 
 the people along with the elders, and his rod in his hand, 
 so that when he came to what seemed only flinty rock he 
 was to strike it, so that water might be seen flowing forth. 
 Our prophet teaches us that in every need of His people 
 God is an ever-present help. He can supply water even 
 out of the flinty rock. Never will any of His own be 
 allowed to suffer from thirst or famine. The great famine 
 due to Ahab's disobedience ended in Elijah's triumph. In 
 the continual supply of water and food for His children, 
 there is constant miracle of love and goodness, a greater 
 
236 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 miracle of power than any merely occasional meeting of 
 need. To the eye of faith it seemed as if every day Moses 
 was smiting the rock in the desert. To us, we know, the 
 smitten rock is ever near, for it follows us, and that " Rock 
 is Christ." Oh ! to see God ever leading us on, ever 
 standing before us in His providing love and boundless 
 grace ! 
 
 A second trouble in the peninsula would be the danger 
 of attack from the nomadic tribes, who claimed the desert 
 as their own. At Rephidim, " Amalek came and fought 
 against Israel." This people occupied the country ex- 
 tending from the south of Palestine to the centre of the 
 peninsula even on to the time of David. For in his days 
 we read of Amalekites invading and raiding Ziklag, and 
 the Philistines. They were an old people, being mentioned 
 as far back as the time of Abraham, and as dwelling at 
 Kadesh, to the south of Hebron. They were closely allied 
 to the descendants of Esau, and one of his grandsons bears 
 the name of Amalek in the old genealogy in Gen. xxxvi. 12. 
 Other tribes, such as the Kenites and the Kenizites, belong- 
 ing to Edom, in the desert were friendly to Moses ; but this 
 tribe of Amalek barred Israel's progress most effectively in 
 their attempt to enter Palestine by a direct way from the 
 south. Moses by his marriage with Jethro's family had 
 secured the help of the KeniteSj while Caleb and his people 
 must have seceded from their brethren and allied them- 
 selves to Israel about this time. Here in the desert began 
 that most bitter feud between Israel and Amalek which 
 was continued from generation to generation until the name 
 of Amalek was entirely blotted out. It was Samuel's great 
 complaint against Saul, that he had utterly failed in his 
 duty concerning this hostile people. Referring, doubtless, 
 
FROM RAMESES TO SINAI 237 
 
 to the narrative before us, Samuel is made to recall this 
 incident at Rephidim, and to urge on Saul measures of 
 complete extermination. But this was not done, so that 
 the Amalekites remained to trouble David in after days. 
 Thus the great contest, in which this people stood face 
 to face with Israel as rivals for the possession of the same 
 prize, became an important crisis of history. It was written 
 not only on their hearts, but in their nation's archives, as a 
 reminder to an abiding national obligation. An oath was 
 sworn that necessitated the destruction of Amalek, and the 
 remembrance of Jehovah-Nissi would always be a strong 
 incentive to Israel to drive out all heathen peoples, who 
 never help, but always hinder progress. It is interesting 
 to mark the prominence here given to the great Ephraimite 
 leader, Joshua, in this narrative. In this contest he is the 
 commander-in-chief of the army, and we learn afterwards 
 that he had been a chosen friend and comrade of Moses all 
 his days. Even as Reuben has already been favourably 
 mentioned, so now Joshua is honoured as is fit in one 
 writing for Ephraim about these old days. Though 
 successful in driving off Amalek, the success is only partial, 
 for Israel cannot make its way across the plateau held by 
 them into Canaan. What a dreadful memory would thus 
 be associated with Amalek ! They led to the forty years' 
 wandering in the desert. For being barred here, Moses 
 had to bethink him of another route by which he could 
 enter Palestine — a longer one, farther afield. Along with 
 Joshua, we have favourable mention made also of Aaron 
 and Hur as helpful and loyal colleagues of Moses at this 
 juncture. They faithfully supported him. 
 
 But a more important help and most valuable support 
 was now to come from another quarter, even from Jethro, 
 
238 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 his father-in-law. Being now near Midian, an opportunity 
 is now given for a friendly and seasonable visit, and for the 
 doing of three kindly things. There is some uncertainty 
 as to what was the exact name of Moses' father-in-law. 
 Jethro has indeed been regarded as a title of rank or 
 office held by the shepherd prince and priest in the desert 
 of Midian, while Reuel or Raguel is taken for his father's 
 name. But as Hobab is also called the son of Raguel, it 
 has been thought that he was the father-in-law of Moses. 
 Thus the full name would have been Hobab, the Jethro of 
 Midian, son of Reuel. Others regard Hobab as the son of 
 Jethro. But the tradition is not fixed ; what is Jethro in 
 one writer is Hobab in another. This is certain, that 
 Moses having already received his wife from this powerful 
 tribe, now receives most valuable counsel in managing 
 and organising his people from the same quarter. The 
 Kenites may have been a subdivision of the Midianites, 
 and devoted to some particular trade, such as smiths, for 
 this meaning the word bears. Midianites carried away 
 Joseph into Egypt, where he had the opportunity of rising 
 to ultimate greatness ; and Midianites now tender advice to 
 Moses. There is also a reunion of a household, too. For 
 Zipporah and her two sons now join Moses. On the 
 meaning of Gershom we have already remarked ; in the 
 name of the second, Eliezer, we find an indication that he 
 was so called before the great revelation of Jehovah had 
 been made at Sinai in Horeb. El, not Jah, was then his 
 help. It is always as Elohim that our prophet describes 
 God in his narrative before this time. 
 
 Now Moses can tell his father-in-law all about that 
 vision, and about all the good things that his God had 
 done for him, and for his people through him. And he so 
 
FROM RAMESES TO SINAI 239 
 
 impresses Jethro with his intense convictions that he, 
 too, joins in a great feast to Jehovah. A very bright and 
 happy time must have been spent during the days of this 
 visit. It was a moment of sweet reunion, a true oasis in 
 the desert of life. But the visit of Jethro is specially im- 
 portant in connection with a distinct improvement in the 
 administration of affairs. Up to this time all the responsi- 
 bility practically rested on one man. Moses had in the 
 very nature of things to carry the whole burden of govern- 
 ment, and to issue instruction and give decision in matters 
 both great and small. Jethro recognised that this was a 
 profound mistake, and, as one well skilled in the art of 
 government, he points this out. We see Moses sitting in 
 the supreme tribunal every morning till his work was done, 
 as prophet, priest, and king in God's name issuing statutes 
 and judgments. How absolute and unlimited were his 
 powers ! He is leader and legislator. The work has, of 
 course, gradually grown to its present dimensions ; and 
 now some division of labour, some decentralisation and 
 devolution are necessary, in the public well-being, if the 
 energies of Moses himself are to be conserved, and the 
 interests of the people advanced. One man cannot with 
 safety combine in his own person all functions of govern- 
 ment, judicial, administrative, and executive. Hence on 
 Jethro's advice a system of government with a graded staff 
 of officers is introduced, and power is given to these 
 subordinates to deal with all petty or smaller matters, while 
 those questions that might affect the constitution or religion 
 of Israel would come before Moses by way of regular appeal 
 for final decision. The new officers, with smaller spheres, 
 would be in closer touch with the local or tribal needs, 
 and thus Moses would be allowed to devote himself to 
 
240 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 those concerns which were the highest and most vital, as 
 he was set free from the routine which was wearing him 
 down. He was to be henceforward to God for the people, 
 that so under direct Divine guidance, and with such calm 
 and quiet as such communion required, he might give them 
 ordinances and laws in which they might walk and not 
 stumble. Already in Egypt there had been officers 
 appointed over the people, but now the organisation is 
 made complete, and on a thoroughly representative basis. 
 
 The people were now on ground sacred to Moses, and 
 associated with great memories in his regard. Here was 
 the mount of God at which he had received his vision and 
 commission \ and here, in fulfilment of promise, the people 
 had come to worship the God of their fathers. Here 
 "Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto 
 them." Here "He shined forth from Mount Paran." 
 Here " they sat down at His feet, and received His 
 words." Here Moses found time and opportunity for 
 some supreme work of consolidating the people. He is 
 called up to God. In the other prophetic source we 
 noticed how kindly and sympathetically God had been 
 represented, even as coming down to meet and deliver 
 man, a coming down ultimately crowned in the Incarnation. 
 Here we have a going up of Moses. It is the other half 
 of the truth. No adequate conception of God gives 
 either the coming down or the going up alone ; it com- 
 bines the two thoughts in their perfect union. Divine 
 glory has its human sympathy, its grace; it has also its 
 lofty holiness, its own consuming fire. 
 
 Some may speak of the one element of the representa- 
 tion as higher or lower ; the truth is that they coexist, and 
 are really inseparable in the highest thought and worthiest 
 
FROM RAMESES TO SINAI 24I 
 
 being. While God is ever coming down, still we must lift 
 our eyes to the hills, we must look up. God thus is repre- 
 sented here as dwelling in the great mountains, highly 
 exalted above all men and all things which He hath made. 
 This is the grandeur and sublime majesty of His being. 
 He is the exalted One, the throned King, the Holy One of 
 Israel. At first, doubtless, and even always, God's exalta- 
 tion may be associated with physical height, as being far 
 above. We say God is up in heaven, though we know He 
 is everywhere present. He dwelleth in the high and holy 
 place, though we know He also abides with the man that is 
 humble and contrite. If holiness itself was at first taught 
 and impressed on men by physical separation, we can easily 
 see how a worthier conception of God was being reached 
 through thoughts of physical height. Thus to Moses and 
 the people God dwelt on the very heights of Sinai. Even 
 so thought the Greeks of Zeus on Mount Olympus. But 
 this was but a stage in Israel's religious experience ; there 
 was for man a meeting-place, to which while man goeth up, 
 God cometh down. It is in the perfect man that God 
 revealed Himself. And even as God was worshipped as 
 dwelling in Sinai's glories, all the powers of nature were 
 conceived as being at His service. Round about Him are 
 clouds and thick darkness, but out of these He may 
 gloriously shine and speak. The loud thunder peal is His 
 voice so full of awe, and the flashing lightning is His winged 
 messenger. " He maketh the winds His messengers ; the 
 flaming fire His servant" (Ps. civ. 4). Whatever is 
 associated with such a God has a supreme authority. 
 Moses goes up and communes with God in the terrible 
 magnificence and awe-inspiring heights of Sinai, and his 
 words are God's words to men. An authority of mystery 
 16 
 
242 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 and sublimity belongs to a revelation thus given. This it 
 was that Sinai had. We come not to cloud and darkness 
 now, but to vision and light in Christ Jesus ; and we find 
 our authority not in dread accompaniments of awful power, 
 but in the grace and tenderness of the man Christ Jesus, 
 the Word made flesh who dwelt among us— an authority 
 of all constraining love — as we see it in the persuasive, all- 
 permeating power of the gospel. Eagle -wings in their 
 glory and strength tell of Divine power and protection to 
 dwellers in the desert ; a hen gathering her chickens under 
 her wings speaks to us of the grace that bringeth salvation. 
 To give due solemnity to the publication of the Divine law, 
 and to enforce the national acceptance of it, the mount in 
 which God dwelt was specially set apart as holy, so that 
 no profane foot might touch it. It was to be as a temple, 
 a space cut off for God. Space separation was required 
 as a stage towards the realisation of spiritual separation. 
 Certain times, places, things had to be put upon one side 
 and separated from others in order to impress on men's 
 minds the root - idea of holiness ; by and by they would 
 reach the higher conception of holiness as consisting in 
 separation not from time, place, or thing, but from sin. 
 This is a conception men, however, are ever slow to learn ; 
 they are ever apt to associate holy feelings, and states, and 
 actions with times, places, and things. And thus they fall 
 from true and helpful religion into the formalism and 
 externalities of ritualism and sacerdotalism. 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT 243 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Law-Giving and Law-Enforcement. 
 
 The time of sojourn at Mount Sinai was of great moment 
 to Israel. It was a time of national consolidation, and the 
 people there received from Moses, with the special Divine 
 approval of Jehovah, their great code of the Moral Law. 
 Attestation was given by the voice of thunder and the flash 
 of lightning ; but for us, attestation is found in the essential 
 and abiding moral elements of the law. Doubtless the 
 fuller statement and more exact classification of this law 
 came later. Not having the Two Tables now in our 
 possession, it is impossible to state in any complete manner 
 what was written by Moses upon them. Perhaps some day 
 they may be discovered, and more valuable find it is 
 impossible to imagine. The giving of the Ten Words makes 
 us recall the law-giving of Solon in Athens, or the first Ten 
 Tables of the Decemviri in Rome, nay even it carries us 
 back in thought to the great Egyptian Book of the Dead, 
 the legislation of Manu in India, or the law-giving in ancient 
 Babylonia. The conception that the whole code of laws 
 adopted in a nation's history was dictated in one supreme 
 moment as a completed thing by the God of the people, is 
 found at a later and more advanced period among various 
 nations. The more reasonable view of the growth of law 
 is that under Divine guidance great leaders, like Moses 
 in Israel, were enabled to conserve all they knew of good 
 customs around them, bring it into line with pressing need, 
 and thus lay a foundation on which a wise superstructure 
 might be built in after days gradually and securely. In all 
 
244 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 legislation there is (i) the original commandment, (2) the 
 obligation imposed, and (3) a sanction or punishment 
 threatened in case of disobedience. Looking at the 
 Solonian Code, that of the Twelve Tables, or at Manu's, we 
 find religious, civil, and moral ordinances all mixed up 
 together in one. To sever law from morality, and religion 
 from law, is work for only the most advanced condition of 
 civilisation. 
 
 The service now performed for Israel at Sinai would be 
 great ; for the principles on which the people were hence- 
 forth to be governed were being laid down. Unwritten 
 usage was now being examined, and essential ideas were 
 being embodied in a covenant between Jehovah and Israel, 
 a contract of the most binding obligation. This covenant 
 relationship is the main and central contribution of Moses 
 and Sinai. Hence the insistence on the worship of Jehovah 
 as supreme over all other gods worshipped ; and the prohibi- 
 tion of a graven image, such as other nations used, with 
 reverential mention of His name, would be the very kernel 
 of all legislation now. The observance of the Sabbath 
 was, as we have seen, a distinct custom among the ancient 
 peoples : its religious significance was emphasised in the 
 highest way by Moses. And the other six Words all 
 embodied moral maxims already in the unwritten law of 
 nations. Laws for the maintenance of the family, the 
 preservation of life, and the protection of character and 
 property, were the common inheritance of men, and were 
 required by society as its chief safeguards. 
 
 Moses had his high time of communion with God within 
 the cloud that lay upon the summit. But the narrative 
 before us tells of the going up to some lower plateau of 
 a representative body composed of Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT 245 
 
 and seventy elders. They, indeed, were not so highly 
 privileged as Moses, for they remained at a distance ; but 
 to them was given a vision of the God of Israel, such a 
 vision as the prophet Ezekiel had in after years. This was 
 a time of holy sacrifice and festival. Then to these repre- 
 sentative men Moses delegated his supreme authority 
 among the people, while he went for a still further season of 
 retirement and meditation up to the higher parts of the 
 mount. At the close of this time he came down with this 
 most precious possession, a written law on the Two Tables 
 of stone, or Tablets, for they must have been easily carried, 
 and could not have 'been more than a foot long by 8 inches 
 in breadth. 
 
 But the absence of Moses for so many weeks from the 
 camp led to great disorder there. He alone could preserve 
 good government, and by his own personal presence and 
 authority enforce the law. Aaron and his colleagues 
 seemed utterly incapable of maintaining discipline. Instead 
 of strenuously resisting the idolatrous tendency of the 
 people, they at once yielded. It is quite clear that the 
 people as a whole were not able to do without some visible 
 embodiment of their God ; and they, in the mass, did not 
 see any incompatibility or incongruity between the character 
 of Jehovah and a graven image. They had no intention of 
 abandoning Jehovah. No, they simply wanted to have 
 some representation of Him, even as the Egyptians had of 
 their gods. As long as Moses was in the camp, he had 
 earnestly forbidden any such making of an image ; and his 
 word was law. Aaron, however, saw no harm in it ; to him 
 it seemed quite natural that some such visible embodiment 
 of God should be made ; quite natural that a calf should 
 come out of the molten gold. Now Egyptian ear-rings are 
 
246 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 turned into an Egyptian mode of worshipping God. The 
 kindness and gifts of Egypt keep up a remembrance of 
 Egyptian ways and customs. How strange that they should 
 regard the calf-god as a representation of One who had 
 delivered them from Egypt and its idolatry ! Yet so late as 
 the time of Jeroboam a calf-god was erected both at Dan 
 and at Bethel, still under Egyptian influence. If our 
 prophet was eager to denounce this sad apostasy of the Ten 
 Tribes, how could he more suitably do it than by holding 
 up to condemnation the apostasy of the whole people in the 
 wilderness? If again were heard the cry, as the people 
 worshipped at Dan or Bethel before the altar of a calf- 
 god, " Behold thy God, O Israel ! Who brought thee up 
 out of the land of Egypt ! " (1 Kings xii. 28), then this was 
 in the blood of the people. Their fathers had done it 
 before under the influence of Egypt. History was only 
 repeating itself. But against the altar built by Jeroboam, a 
 man of Judah — a great but unnamed prophet — came out to 
 testify ; and in course of time it was overthrown in a great 
 national discipline and repentance. Long years, however, 
 had to pass before such idolatrous customs were purged out 
 of Israel. There had to be first the long, sad years of 
 captivity for the Ten Tribes, from 722 to 539 B.C. 
 
 Moses has to hurry back to the camp ; and as he 
 descended from the mount his faithful confidant Joshua, as 
 with military instinct, imagines he hears sounds of battle in 
 the plain, and is eager to join the fray. But Moses knew 
 better. He had his own misgivings ; the fear of an apostasy 
 had been upon him. Often had he heard the singing of 
 Egyptian crowds in their idolatrous worship. To his pained 
 ear such singing now came again, and, alas ! from the midst 
 of his own people, for whom he had done and suffered so 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT 247 
 
 much. No wonder that passion and disappointment over- 
 came him ! He would not have been a man, if a perfect 
 paroxysm of rage had not seized upon him in such circum- 
 stances. But at what a cost ? For the Tables are thrown 
 down and broken, as he rushed forward to destroy the golden 
 calf-god. No half measures are adopted. The image is 
 again cast into the fire, ground to powder, and strawed upon 
 the water. Aaron comes in for serious blame. Moses 
 cannot understand how he had acted as he had done; 
 and his brother in the lamest of excuses blames the people. 
 Nothing can be said by way of extenuation or exculpation. 
 This is indeed a moment of crisis. The very idea of 
 Jehovah-worship seems threatened with extinction in its 
 birth. Something of the most severe and signal kind must 
 be done to punish such a terrible sin. Moses, therefore, 
 called upon all his house — all the family of Levi — and all 
 who were on his side to execute severest sentence on all 
 who were ringleaders in this apostasy. Thus in the great 
 emergency the tribe of Levi stood in the breach, and 
 deserved well of an Israel true to Jehovah. In after days 
 the Levitical priesthood had charge of the temple and its 
 sacrifices. 
 
 Notwithstanding this severe punishment, in Avhich the 
 sword claimed so many victims, Moses felt that a sin so 
 great was not purged. His grief and sorrow were intense. 
 He felt as if the whole people were guilty in this matter, 
 and that such wrong-doing would prevent God from leading 
 them any more. What a fundamental doctrine is this, that 
 sin requires an atonement ! It is not enough that some 
 wrong-doers be punished, sin itself in some way must be 
 dealt with — in itself, its stain, its power. Some great 
 penitence must be offered by, and for, the whole people 
 
248 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 (Zech. xii. 10). So that now we see Moses in the most 
 gracious and pathetic manner acting as Israel's intercessor, 
 willing that he himself should die rather than that Divine 
 forgiveness should not be extended to the people. Thus 
 Paul prayed too (Rom. ix. 3). What a burden on a 
 tender conscience is the sin of those for whom one is 
 responsible in any way ! Such intercession may secure 
 forgiveness, and a continuance of Divine favour, but " the 
 soul that sinneth, it shall die.'' Disobedience against God 
 ever leaves its fatal mark behind it. Our salvation can 
 only result, when we are delivered from sin itself, in its soul- 
 destroying power. The apostasy of Israel was the fruitful 
 and sad cause of judgment and disaster for many a long 
 day. It wrung the heart of Moses with deepest pain and 
 anguish. It was a mourning people to whom he now 
 spoke. So holy was Jehovah, that He could not dwell 
 in the midst of a sinful people. What a lesson was this 
 to Ephraim and the Ten Tribes ! Would that it had been 
 learnt ! 
 
 In these circumstances the Tent of Meeting, where Moses 
 waited on God, was removed from the camp and placed at 
 some distance. When Moses went out to worship, the 
 whole people stood at the entrance of their tents and 
 worshipped too. Not yet did they come to the Tent itself. 
 Simple in the extreme was the mode of worshipping God at 
 this time. Moses was the people's representative, and he 
 spoke to God for the people as "a man speaketh to his 
 friend." More ornate and elaborate ritual in grander shrine 
 may have far less spiritual power, far less access to God, 
 than Moses enjoyed in his unadorned Tent of Meeting. 
 To the faithful and attached Joshua was committed the 
 guardianship of this sacred place. Soon after two new 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT 249 
 
 Tables were made, and upon them was written the Com- 
 mandments which were on those that had been broken. 
 
 And now another step is taken in arranging for the ad- 
 ministration of affairs. At Jethro's advice we have seen 
 how judicial officers had been appointed, so that from fifties 
 upwards the people had been supplied with divisional 
 magistrates from whom they could get a settlement of all 
 their disputes. But there still remained the necessity of 
 some division of the executive authority still vested in the 
 hands of Moses. There were complaints among the people, 
 especially of a want of supervision in all parts of the camp, 
 particularly those more remote from the headquarters of 
 Moses. We are told there was trouble at one extremity of 
 the camp ; and we have Moses confessing his inability any 
 longer to be responsible for the whole civil administration. 
 Hence a selection is made of seventy men from among the 
 recognised elders or officers of the people to form a central 
 government. These are brought to the Tent of Meeting, 
 and there solemnly recognised as colleagues, in the manage- 
 ment of the people, along with Moses. The spirit or 
 authority that had been his alone, he was now to share with 
 them. The mark of their appointment was that they 
 prophesied or spake in the name of God. Authority was 
 thus delegated : " the powers that be are ordained of God." 
 Joshua seemed somewhat afraid of this innovation, as if it 
 was going to derogate too much from the position of his 
 master, for whom he had sincere regard, and with whom he 
 had been in closest intimacy all his days. Especially was 
 this the case when he heard that two of the newly appointed 
 executive were exercising their functions in the camp, and 
 not in the Tent of Meeting. But Moses allayed his mis- 
 givings by assuring him that he welcomed the new order of 
 
250 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 things. Nay, he would rejoice if the power and authority to 
 speak in God's name were given to all the people. There 
 was here no narrowness, no jealous confining and limiting 
 of spiritual privileges to one man, one family, or one more 
 highly favoured tribe. On the contrary, there is a calm 
 and unmoved contemplation of a perfect and complete 
 enfranchisement of all the people with both civil and 
 religious liberty. There is no priestly claim, nor self- 
 centred autocratic rule in the hand of one man ; the whole 
 people are to be priests and prophets unto God, and will be 
 when His Spirit is given unto them. The prophetic teaching 
 displays a large and liberal measure of toleration, finding 
 its highest culmination in the last and greatest of all the 
 prophets, the prophet of Nazareth. Israel had to under- 
 stand that Moses was not only wise, but also meek indeed. 
 How long has it taken even our country to grasp the 
 principle that God is no respecter of persons, that no claim 
 save that of character is valid in His sight. The old idea, 
 that in the Mosaic arrangements some hard and fast 
 appointments were made for the Levitical tribe, seems to 
 be out of touch with the character of Moses as here 
 portrayed. A Joshua might have been the author of 
 these ; not a Moses. The rise of a priestly class or caste to 
 keep the people right in matters of ritual worship was, in 
 the very nature of things, a gradual thing, and in the eyes of 
 the prophets not always an unmixed good. To them the 
 law was written on the heart, and obedience thereunto 
 prompted by love, and not by external suggestion. For is 
 not the new covenant of Jeremiah only the true successor of 
 the Mosaic covenant as it develops its best elements, and 
 discards those which are less worthy of permanence? Thus 
 it may be regarded as being far otherwise than a criticism 
 
LAW-GIVING AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT 25 1 
 
 of the Sinaitic covenant — being really a criticism of a 
 priestly and Levitical covenant. Thus, too, Christ criticised 
 not Moses, but those who sat in Moses' seat. He, not 
 they, were in the true succession. And as the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews teaches us, the Melchisedec priesthood is an older 
 and worthier one than that of Zadok. Elements of per- 
 manence and ethical worth are found not in an order, but 
 in a God-endued man, in men raised by God, out of self to 
 serve Him. They are not of birth, but of grace. 
 
 The difficulties experienced at this time by Moses in 
 governing the people came not alone from outside, but from 
 his own immediate household. The delegation of powers 
 to officers of various rank was well suited to moderate 
 complaints as to the conduct of affairs. Here Moses is 
 willing to go as far as he possibly can. But there is a 
 realm in which he refuses to suffer any manner of dictation. 
 He is firm and decided when an assault is made upon him 
 by Aaron and Miriam in regard to his marriage. It is 
 perhaps unfortunate that information is so slight in regard 
 to this incident. We are not able to say whether Zipporah 
 is referred to or not. She, of course, was a daughter of 
 Midian, but Cushan is spoken of in Habakkuk as near 
 that country. If Moses takes unto himself a second wife, 
 he would be only doing what was common enough in his 
 time and long after ; and if he married a princess of some 
 leading Arabian tribe, he would not only be following his 
 own predilections, but also maxims of State policy. True, 
 later prophecy condemned marriage with alien peoples. 
 The action of Moses shows that not yet had this view been 
 strictly enforced. He claims perfect liberty of action here, 
 and keenly resents the conduct of Aaron and Miriam. It 
 is sad to find this quarrel in the family of Moses, and 
 
252 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 especially to find Miriam, who had already played a 
 prominent part both at the finding of her brother and at 
 the crossing of the sea, involved in a painful dispute, 
 which necessitated some signal mark of her brother's 
 disapproval. The position of Moses as supreme, and as 
 faithful to God in his management of Israel, required 
 distinct vindication. Miriam's interference may have been 
 doing immense harm : it had to be stopped at once. A 
 very severe form of punishment, even perpetual exclusion 
 from the camp as a leper, is at first threatened ; but on 
 the intercession of Aaron this is modified to a seven days' 
 restraint. In the narrative Aaron has not come out well 
 hitherto. He was to blame for the calf apostasy ; here he 
 joins himself with Miriam in interfering in the private affairs 
 of Moses. No great honour is given to Aaron. And none 
 was given to him or his order in Samaria. Jeroboam's 
 priesthood was chosen by himself. The Ten Tribes, how- 
 ever, could be exhorted to hold Moses in high esteem, as 
 faithful in all his house, and favoured in the very greatest 
 degree by the knowledge of the Divine will. He was no 
 common prophet. To be like unto him was mark of 
 highest honour in later days. By this measure Moses 
 secured deliverance from family feuds ; but relations would 
 be embittered, and Israel's best interests damaged by con- 
 flict among those charged with their protection and further- 
 ance. How free from reproach must those be who minister 
 in holy things ! 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 253 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 From Kadesh to Moab. 
 
 Already we have seen how Amalek had prevented Israel 
 entering Canaan through the district held by them. Being 
 now at Kadesh-Barnea, a fertile oasis where for many days 
 they remained, it was natural that inquiries should be made 
 as to the possibility of entering the Promised Land by a 
 route from this point, keeping all the time on the west of 
 the great Arabah. Hence we are now told that Moses sent 
 men on this particular mission, that so they might examine 
 the way, and report on the nature of the country. They 
 would, of course, seek to avoid the region of the Amalekites, 
 hence they are sent into the hill-country as distinct from the 
 lowlands of the Southland. Their business is to ascertain 
 the character of the people and country between Kadesh 
 and Hebron, a district afterwards occupied by David, while 
 as yet Saul was reigning in Gibeah. They brought back 
 abundant proofs of the fertility of the land, but they had 
 sadly to report that strong peoples filled the whole district. 
 For while the Amalekites occupied the whole Southland, 
 Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites were to be found strongly 
 established all over the hill - country. Among these 
 original inhabitants of the land were men of gigantic 
 stature, and they were impressed with their own puny size 
 in their presence. Such news filled the camp with con- 
 sternation, for it proved that much hard fighting would 
 have to be done, if an effort were made to force an entrance 
 into Caanan by this route from Kadesh. It seemed as if 
 there were to be no way of access into the Promised Land, 
 
254 T HE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 flowing with milk and honey. Was it to be a mere dream 
 so far as they were concerned, a hope never to be realised ? 
 The people wept, and rebellious thoughts enter into the 
 minds of many, as they propose a return into Egypt under 
 a new leader. The crisis now seems intense. Is the 
 Divine leading all in vain ? Was the departure from Egypt 
 a mistake? When all this talk came to the ears of Moses, 
 he was filled with indignation. Go back ! never ! If two 
 doors of access to Canaan were closed, this man of faith, 
 with the firm conviction that he and his people were yet to 
 inherit the land in which Abram sojourned, believed that 
 another door would open. God's people must just go on in 
 unfaltering perseverance, every apparent check only bring- 
 ing a new measure of courage. The new purpose is formed 
 of entering through Edom, and the command is given to 
 leave Kadesh, and to go south on the road towards the 
 Red Sea at the Gulf of Akaba, till they should reach the 
 caravan route turning east into Edom, and then passing to 
 the north. This meant a partial retracing of their steps ; 
 but their disappointment at having to do this was lessened 
 by the hope of having an easy passage through Edom. 
 
 At this point, however, there was an absolute refusal on 
 the part of some to fall in with this plan. They were there, 
 and they were not going back. If they were not to go on 
 towards Hebron, then let them stay where they were until 
 opportunity should arrive for further advance. Some sin 
 had caused this delay. In this refusal to follow the plan 
 of Moses, Dathan and Abiram, sons of Reuben, take the 
 leading part. They were not going to do any more 
 "marchings weary," just at the command of one who 
 had not as yet given them any fulfilment of his promise 
 of fields and vineyards. It was this they wanted, and at 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 255 
 
 once, without any further postponement. They regard the 
 words of Moses as simply a throwing of dust in the eyes 
 of the people, and thus blinding them. The Reubenites 
 are now lessening their claim to regard. If Reuben had 
 once stood up for Joseph, and acted worthily, his 
 descendants are showing themselves wholly unworthy of 
 any leading place in Israel. Their resistance now came to 
 nothing. On refusing to come and explain their conduct, 
 Moses and his elders come to them, and severely censure 
 their action. This conspiracy is nipped in the bud ; the 
 earth, ashamed of such sons, overwhelms them with com- 
 plete destruction. They are soon buried and forgotten. 
 The way in which this was done is not gone into in detail. 
 Our prophet is not concerned with that ; he simply teaches 
 again his great lesson that rebellion against a Divine lead- 
 ing shall be surely punished. Reuben as a tribe never 
 took any prominent place in the kingdom of Samaria. 
 Might not the other tribes learn from this the righteous 
 judgment of God? At Kadesh Israel was afraid, as they 
 saw the growing power of Moses in his complete victory 
 over this once powerful tribe. 
 
 A sad incident is recorded as having taken place at this 
 time, ere the people left Kadesh. Here Miriam died and 
 was buried. Thus with striking and significant brevity this 
 event is recorded. How simple the statement ! How free 
 from all eulogistic reference to men and women are the 
 prophets of God ! They tell us of the Divine discipline, 
 with its human sorrow, leaving it to make suitable im- 
 pression upon our mind. Her death here must have been 
 sad enough to Moses, even though their relations had not 
 been so friendly as at one time. He was not to bring his 
 own sister into the land, about which they had so often 
 
256 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 spoken. For, alas ! Miriam is dead, she who had watched 
 over his boyhood with a little mother's care, rejoiced in his 
 greatness, and sung so vigorously the great triumph song ! 
 Thus another sore sorrow smites the anxious leader of 
 Israel. 
 
 And, indeed, he is anxious. For no sooner have the 
 people left Kadesh than difficulties about the supply of 
 water again arise, and Moses is deeply concerned. 
 Mutinous murmuring is heard in the camp. The people 
 seem wholly incapable of putting any trust in Jehovah, or 
 of reposing any confidence for any length of time in Moses. 
 They cannot see any guiding light upon their horizon, and 
 they only dread death for themselves and their cattle in the 
 desert through which they are travelling. In such a spirit 
 they gather against Moses, forgetting how all their wants 
 had hitherto been supplied, and unworthily imagining that 
 Moses is not as truly interested in their well-being as they 
 themselves. The Divine promise is still available. The 
 leader has still the rod of power in his hand, with all its 
 memories ; but he is tried and anxious. His temper is not 
 unruffled ; difficulties and disappointments have had an 
 unhappy effect upon him. And so as he goeth forth to 
 secure a new supply of water he is not so calm as he 
 might be, and does not sufficiently sanctify God in the 
 presence of the people. His striking of the crag twice, 
 and also his speaking so roughly to the people, indicate 
 that about this time his power of self-control and capacity 
 for leadership were becoming weaker. God was still the 
 same, as able to supply all the wants of the people as 
 before, but in the midst of a murmuring and ungrateful 
 people Moses was being worn down. Our narrative dis- 
 tinctly impresses us with the thought that Moses was 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 257 
 
 blameworthy at this time. The words, "Must we fetch 
 you water?" with the use of the rod twice when once 
 would have been enough, show in their emphasis the way 
 in which the writer gently, but clearly, finds fault with 
 Moses. Later on we find that his exclusion from the 
 Promised Land is accounted for as a punishment for his 
 failing now. Had he been able he might have led Israel 
 into Canaan. His inability was only proof of spiritual 
 failing. How much depends on continuance in well-doing ! 
 
 This sad episode in Kadesh was the signal for a new 
 departure ; it was the beginning of a time of trouble and 
 distress. Moses' leadership is now practically over. His 
 great pre-eminence has been stained ; there is a blot on 
 his escutcheon. We have perhaps forgotten that Moses 
 was but a man after all : — as the best men are only men 
 at the best. But Scripture gives us always the truth, and 
 resents all glorifying of its heroes. What peoples and 
 nations naturally do to their founders and patriotic 
 leaders, long after their death, is to set them in a place of 
 almost Divine honour. But this tendency has no counten- 
 ance from the Bible, which sets men's sins, even those 
 most secret, in the light of God's countenance. 
 
 The departure from Kadesh was followed by the great 
 disappointment caused by the refusal of Edom to give 
 Israel a permit to pass through their territory. This was 
 a very lamentable refusal; but to the prophet a clear 
 illustration of the bitter spirit of feud maintained by Edom 
 against Israel, and shown all down their history. There is 
 a very tender note struck in the words, "Thy brother 
 Israel," here addressed to Edom by the messenger sent to 
 ask for way leave. The story of Israel's trouble is touch- 
 ingly given, so as if possible to reach the heart of Edom. 
 17 
 
258 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 But there is no brotherly response at all. His attitude 
 now is like that so bitterly condemned by the prophet 
 Obadiah, when in the day of Jerusalem's calamity Edom 
 stood aloof. Esau's dislike to his brother is now again 
 showing itself. What more sad than the alienation of a 
 brother in the day of our adversity ! How real and true 
 the brother born for that adversity ! 
 
 This stern and decided opposition from Edom meant 
 a further and much more prolonged march through the 
 wilderness. The result was a spirit of great disappoint- 
 ment, vexation, and impatience. There was a burst of 
 terrible discontent. The retracing of their steps had been 
 lightened by the hope of better treatment from Edom. All 
 seems vain. Bitterest words are now spoken against God 
 and Moses. Moses acts in God's name. To attack one is 
 to attack both. Food, water, everything, however, is scarce. 
 It is truly an arid and inhospitable region through which 
 they have to move down south to reach a spot where they 
 can with safety cross the Arabah, and pass round Edom. 
 There is nothing before them but this route now. And as 
 they pursue it in a sad and mourning spirit they have many 
 troubles. Not the least of these would be the fiery serpents 
 which t they found in the desert, as in their own natural 
 habitat amongst the rocks. Probably they were so called 
 from their bright firelike colour ; their bite was extremely 
 painful, and nearly always fatal. Serpents, we know from 
 the annual reports of India, still cause a very large amount 
 of mortality among the people. Israel was now suffering 
 because of disobedience. Surely all this prolongation of 
 trouble — these long years in the wilderness, with all their 
 pain — was clear proof of the anger of God. Had they been 
 obedient, better fortune far would have been theirs. The 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 259 
 
 iron of this sore time had deeply and indelibly gone into 
 their national consciousness. Never would they care to 
 have another such time; let them then beware, cried the 
 prophets, of sinning against God. "Forty years was I 
 grieved in My heart with this generation," is the pathetic 
 wail of the psalmist as he speaks for God. 
 
 A very curious and interesting relic of these days survived 
 in Jerusalem, even to the days of Hezekiah. It was the 
 serpent of brass now ordered to be made by Moses, and 
 which had been preserved, and worshipped with a super- 
 stitious reverence. When the great prophet Isaiah initiated 
 his sweeping religious reformation, this old relic was con- 
 demned to destruction as a mere piece of brass (Nehush- 
 tan), and as having absolutely no spiritual worth (2 Kings 
 xviii. 4). But when it was first erected a definite com- 
 mand was given by Moses to the people, bidding them 
 look unto it as a means of healing. To do this was not 
 simply to look to a brazen serpent, it was much more 
 an act of obedience to God ; it was to put themselves 
 again in line with the God from whom they had gone away 
 by disobedience. The religious worth of the action of 
 looking would thus be emphasised ; faith in God could 
 alone secure healing, and keep far away insidious dangers. 
 The serpent on the pole would ever have its warning 
 message, putting men on their guard also against a 
 dangerous foe. But the brazen serpent by itself could 
 heal no one ; it was, apart from faith and obedience, a 
 mere piece of brass. The look that saves must be one 
 of deepest faith to God Himself — a look away from self 
 and Satan to the Divine Saviour. The prophetic teaching 
 ever laid emphasis, not on a deed done, an opus operatum, 
 an outward sacrament, but on an act of the soul, an 
 
260 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 act of living faith. Thus Christ referred to this old- 
 time story in order to illustrate the necessity of faith 
 (John iii. 14). 
 
 Passing down south the people at length cross the 
 Arabah not far from Ezion Geber at the head of the 
 gulf, and move on towards the rolling plains of Moab, 
 which are to see the closing scenes in the life of the 
 great leader. They come to the Arnon, the boundary 
 between Moab and the Amorites, and our prophetic 
 writer recalls some stirring lines contained in the well- 
 known document called " The Wars of Jehovah." This 
 collection of notable exploits would tell of the mighty 
 deeds of God for Israel ; to mention such a book was 
 to recall tenderest memories. Doubtless most of these 
 in one form or another have been preserved in our Scrip- 
 tures, but the loss of such a document as this and the 
 " Book of Jasher " is great indeed. 
 
 Israel's chief foe is found now among the Amorites ; 
 they are regarded as the original inhabitants of Canaan, 
 who are to be wholly dispossessed and driven out. They 
 seem, as already pointed out, to have overflowed into 
 the territory across the Jordan, and to have dwelt between 
 the Ammonites and the Dead Sea. It is not easy to fix 
 sites with any definiteness in this whole region, but Suph 
 is supposed to be the valley of Zareh or Sufs&feh. 
 Safiah is the present name of an important ravine or 
 gorge between Edom and Moab. Waheb is not yet 
 known. Ar the city is Aroer in the valley of the Arnon, 
 and not the capital of Moab farther north at Rabbatb. 
 Victories here encouraged Israel to ask permission to 
 pass through the country of Sihon, king of Heshbon, but 
 this was refused ; and we have here, with quotations from 
 
FROM KADESH TO MOAB 261 
 
 a still older document, some great war-song, an account 
 of the measures taken by Moses to overcome this foe. 
 Sihon and his people had probably been flushed by some 
 earlier victories won by them over Moab, and so haughtily 
 opposed the incoming people. His proud and boastful 
 defiance lies before us. He would make no terms at all 
 with Israel, and thus made it easy for Moses to carry 
 out the Divine plan of driving them out. Thus no little 
 fighting would have to be done before Moses could move 
 the whole people forward from the Arnon to the Jabbok. 
 He had to secure command of the only route along 
 which a large body of people could be moved, following 
 the valley passes north in a straight line to Nebo. It 
 was, then, the victory over Sihon, king of Heshbon, at 
 Jahaz that made it possible for Israel to advance still 
 farther north and find a place of settlement among a 
 kindred folk. At Jahaz, on the border, remains of villages 
 are still found, so that this old battleground has been 
 recovered. The ruins of a town called Beit Zerah have 
 also been marked. Heshbon, the capital of Sihon, was 
 fourteen miles to the north-east of the Dead Sea, or 
 twenty miles from the Jordan. It is now also a place 
 of ruins ; but traces of an earlier civilisation can be found 
 in the neighbourhood, while interesting indications of 
 ancient modes of worship have been discovered by ex- 
 plorers. Moving up through the Wady Zerka Ma'in, the 
 people reached the River Jabbok with its associations for 
 them in the story of Jacob. From the glen that is in 
 the field of Moab they could look down towards Jeshimon 
 and have their first view of the Jordan Valley, while from 
 Nebo they could command its whole length from Engedi 
 in the south to the mountains of Gilead in the north. 
 
262 THE STORY OF THE EXODUS 
 
 Pisgah probably is a descriptive word rather than a name, 
 telling us of some lofty height on Nebo or the Abarim 
 hills, whence such a view was obtained. Israel then abode 
 in Shittim, we are told ; but no manner of indication as 
 to time is given to us here. They had come down from 
 the highlands above to the fertile and warm fields of 
 Shittim ; but here there was an apostasy most grievous 
 in the eyes of the prophets, and Micah especially refers 
 to this time of lapse. The influence of Moab on Israel 
 must have been great, as being a kindred people; while 
 the plains on which they were now encamped made them 
 glad and happy after the dreary wilderness experiences. 
 The whole land was under the tutelage of Baal, and Israel 
 associated themselves with his rites and worship at Peor. 
 " They came to Baal-Peor," expresses in a brief sentence the 
 sorrow and disappointment of the prophet. The righteous 
 soul of Moses would be filled with vexation indeed, and 
 his last word here is one of severest condemnation. But 
 his stringent measures were wholly vain so far as the 
 immediate eradication of Baal worship was concerned; for, 
 as we know from the later prophets, it was not till long after 
 the terrible conflict between Ahab and Elijah, and under 
 the new dynasty of Jehu, that the name of Baal was for- 
 bidden even to be used, and all traces of it removed 
 from the names and habits of Israel. 
 
A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 The Elamite Dynasty in Babylonia 2240 
 
 The Hyksos Period in Egypt 2098-1587 
 
 The Kassite Dynasty in Babylon 1730-1158 
 
 Joseph in Egypt 1660-1567 
 
 The 18th Dynasty of Egypt jcg^ 
 
 Thotmes 1 jcoo 
 
 Tel-el-Amarna Period '433-1327 
 
 The 19th Dynasty 1327-1181 
 
 Rameses II. , . ... 1241-1208 
 
 The Exodus between 1200 and 11S1 
 
 Building of Temple 070 
 
 Schism of Kingdoms 037 
 
 Ahab and Elijah 860 
 
 The prophetic Narratives ....... goo 
 
 Amos and Hosea 780-720 
 
 Hezekiah and Isaiah . . . . . . . .710 
 
 Manasseh's dark Days 698-643 
 
 Josiah and Jeremiah .621 
 
 The Exile and Captivity 588-539 
 
COMPARATIVE LIST OF WORDS 
 
 WHICH HELP TO DISTINGUISH THE TWO 
 NARRATIVES. 
 
 The distinctive words are given in the order in which they are 
 italicised in the text (pp. 1-56, 155 ff.). 
 
 Word. 
 
 J- 
 
 E. 
 
 The name of God . . . 
 
 Jehovah 
 
 Elohim. 
 
 ,, the Patriarch 
 
 Israel 
 
 Jacob. 
 
 „ Jacob's home 
 
 Hebron 
 
 Shechem. 
 
 The interceding brother . 
 
 Judah 
 
 Reuben. 
 
 Joseph's name means 
 
 Added to 
 
 Taken away. 
 
 The traders . 
 
 Ishmaelites 
 
 Midianites. 
 
 The treatment of Joseph 
 
 Sold 
 
 Stolen. 
 
 Taking down described by 
 
 Yaradh 
 
 Hiph of Ba. 
 
 Potiphar 
 
 Married 
 
 A eunuch. 
 
 Ruler of Egypt 
 
 The Pharaoh 
 
 The king of Egypt. 
 
 Good fortune 
 
 With a Divine source 
 
 A human source. 
 
 Favour .... 
 
 Found (Matzah) 
 
 Given (Nathan). 
 
 House of detention 
 
 Beth ha Sohar 
 
 Mishmor or Bor. 
 
 Severe .... 
 
 Kabhedh 
 
 Hazak. 
 
 Country described as 
 
 Land of Egypt 
 
 As Egypt. 
 
 )j )> 
 
 , , Canaan 
 
 As Canaan. 
 
 Corn .... 
 
 Sheber 
 
 ■ Bar. 
 
 Food .... 
 
 Okel. 
 
 
 To load 
 
 'Arnas 
 
 Ta'an. 
 
 Child of old age 
 
 Here characteristic. 
 
 
 Lad .... 
 
 Naar 
 
 Yeleth. 
 
 Sack 1 . 
 
 Amtahah 
 
 Sik. 
 
 1 In certain passages an editor has harmonised the word used. 
 
 264 
 
COMPARATIVE LIST OF WORDS 
 
 265 
 
 Word. 
 Provision 
 Beast . 
 Joseph called 
 
 Characteristic 
 Oth . 
 The door 
 To bow down 
 To be angry . 
 
 J- 
 
 E. 
 
 Mispoh, Mazon 
 
 Zedah. 
 
 Hamoi 
 
 Be'ir. 
 
 The man 
 
 The lord. 
 
 Moshel or governor 
 
 Shalit. 
 
 word 
 
 Israel settled . 
 
 Thus saith Jehovah 
 Mount of law 
 Means of working . 
 To harden the heart 
 
 To protest. 
 Pethach. 
 
 Kadhah Shachah. 
 
 Verb alone With in his eyes. 
 
 It is enough. 
 
 In a separate province, Not so. 
 Goshen 
 
 A prophetic formula. 
 Sinai Horeb. 
 
 Hand or word of God The rod of Moses. 
 Kabhadh Hazak. 
 
 With Leb in JE and Lebhabh in I\ 
 Characteristic words Let my people go. 
 ,, ,, Entreat. 
 
 ,, , t Earth (Adhamah) Eretz in P and E. 
 
 Such. 
 ,, ,, To put a difference. 
 
 ,, ,, Came to waters, eyes of. 
 
 ,, ,, Stiff-necked. 
 
 With prep, and inf. With ace. of obj. 
 Asah Sim, in P. 
 
 Canaanites Amorites. 
 
 Characteristic words — repent, proclaim, mercy, interpret, refuse to 
 let go, heal, prove, meet, border, thou and thy people. 
 Master . . . . Ish Baal. 
 
 Koh .... Of time Of place. 
 
 Words of law written . By Moses By God. 
 
 Word for serpent in JE different from P. 
 ,, handmaid ,, ,, 
 
 „ rock ,, ,, 
 
 Leading spy . . . Caleb Joshua. 
 
 Jehovah represented as . Coming down Remaining up. 
 
 In addition, special constructions are found, as — little of, from, 
 now, oh, Sir, etc. J has a fondness for verbal suffixes, which 
 E avoids. 
 18 
 
 Consume 
 To make (of thee a nation) 
 People of land 
 
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