Heroes of Israel Part 14

And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, "I have sinned against the Lord your G.o.d, and against you."

And the Lord turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt. But Pharaoh did not let the children of Israel go.

And the Lord 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 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.

F. THE LAST PLAGUE

And Pharaoh said unto Moses, "Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in the day thou seest my face thou shalt die."

And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, 'About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there hath been 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 the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, 'Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee': and after that I will go out." And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

And it came to pa.s.s at midnight, that the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And 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; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also."

And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, "We be all dead men."

And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked.

=--38. The Great Deliverance= (Exod. 13:17, 18, 21, 22; 14:5-7, 10-14, 19-27)

A. THE FLIGHT AND PURSUIT

And it came to pa.s.s, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that G.o.d led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for G.o.d said, "Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:" but G.o.d led the people about, by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night: the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people.

And it was told the king of Egypt that the people were fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them.

And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. And they said unto Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we spake unto thee in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."

And Moses said unto the people, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."

B. THE Pa.s.sAGE OF THE RED SEA

And the angel of G.o.d, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them: and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his hors.e.m.e.n.

And it came to pa.s.s in the morning watch, that the Lord looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians. And he took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians."

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their hors.e.m.e.n." And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

=--39. The Song of the Exodus= (Exod. 14:30, 31; 15:1, 2, 20, 21)

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea sh.o.r.e. And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord: and they believed in the Lord, and in his servant Moses.

Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying,

I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and song, And he is become my salvation: This is my G.o.d and I will praise him; My father's G.o.d, and I will exalt him.

And 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 answered them,

Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

107. The story of the deliverance from Egypt makes a long chapter, but it is full of exciting interest and shows the fearless character of the great leader who trusted in his G.o.d. It was a bold thing for Moses to return to Egypt and try to persuade the king to let Israel go. But when he was sent to threaten Pharaoh it was indeed a task requiring courage.

Imagine a single man to-day demanding of the sultan of Turkey that he should free his slaves.

108 (--37). Moses was sent to tell the king that terrible plagues would come upon his people if he refused to let the Hebrews go. Ten plagues are mentioned. Nine of them were as follows: (1) the water of the Nile turned to blood-red color and made undrinkable; (2) enormous numbers of frogs; (3) swarms of stinging insects, perhaps gnats or mosquitoes; (4) swarms of flies, which would be terrible in a hot country; (5) a cattle pestilence; (6) fearful boils on men and cattle; (7) destructive hail; (8) locusts that ate vegetation; (9) the awful hot desert wind filling the air with fine sand and causing darkness.

109 (--37). When Pharaoh was frightened by each of the plagues, what did he promise? What made him break his promise? Did you ever know anyone who was sorry for doing wrong when the punishment came, but forgot his promises afterward?

110 (--37F). What did Pharaoh threaten Moses after the ninth plague? What did Moses say should be the last plague? Probably some sudden terrible pestilence came upon Egypt. Tell the story of that night.

111 (--38A). Study the map and notice what a short journey it would be from Egypt along the coast to the Philistine country. But the borders of Egypt were strongly guarded, so that was a dangerous way to go. What might have happened if the Hebrews had seen that they would have to fight?

112 (--38A). Moses was a wise leader. He knew he had a host of slaves, who had not learned courage. So he led them southward toward the Red Sea. There was a road leading to the wilderness near the Bitter Lakes.

Locate this.

113 (--38A). What happened when the Egyptians found that the people had actually gone? What did the Hebrews say when they learned that Pharaoh was following them? How did Moses encourage them?

114 (--38B). The Hebrews were in a very difficult situation. They had come to a place where the water from the Red Sea ran far up the low-lying sands. What great ca.n.a.l has since been dug there? The water was too deep for the Hebrews to cross. Pharaoh's army was coming up behind. The only thing that could save Israel would be a strong wind that should drive the waters back and leave the sands clear. How often G.o.d's great Providence helps his people in trouble! Moses bravely encouraged them.

115 (--38B). What separated the Israelites from the Egyptians? What made the crossing possible? What trouble did the Egyptians experience? What would naturally happen if the high wind stopped after the Israelites had crossed? Tell the story of the deliverance.

116 (--39). What do you think were the feelings of Israel when they found themselves safe? Recite the song in which they celebrated their escape?

What does "Exodus" mean?

WRITTEN REVIEW

Let us try to see just what happened to the Hebrews. Draw a map of Egypt and the Sinai peninsula on a larger scale than that in your book. Mark Goshen, the region where the Hebrews lived. Mark the bitter lakes coming nearly to the Gulf of Suez. Connect these with a wavy line showing the shallow waters which were driven back for the pa.s.sage of the Hebrews.

Mark with a red line the road which the Hebrews might have taken along the coast road straight to Canaan and the road which they actually took south of the bitter lakes. Continue this last line into the Sinai peninsula, noting that the people were led into the wilderness.

XII. MOSES, THE LAWGIVER

THE STORY