Hebrew Life and Times Part 2

CHAPTER IV

A STRUGGLE AGAINST TYRANNY

Although they had escaped for a time from Babylonian tyranny, the descendants of Abraham in Canaan found themselves somewhat within the range of the influence of the other great civilized power of that day, that is, Egypt. Egyptian officers collected tribute from rich Canaanite cities. The roads that led to Egypt were thronged with caravans going to and fro. By and by, a series of dry seasons drove several of the Hebrew tribes down these highways to Egypt in the search of food. The story of Joseph tells how they settled there.[1]

They were hospitably received by the king (or Pharaoh, which was the Egyptian word for "king"), and were allowed to pasture their flocks on the plains called the land of Goshen in the extreme northeast of the country west of what we now call the Isthmus of Suez. For some decades or more they lived here, following their old occupation--sheep-raising.

=Egyptian civilization.=--Egypt was in many ways like Babylonia. In Egypt too a great civilization had sprung up many millenniums before Christ. In some ways it was an even greater civilization than that of Babylonia. Egyptian sculptors and architects erected stone temples whose grandeur has never been surpa.s.sed. Many of them are still standing and are among the world's treasures. It would seem that there was somewhat more of love of beauty and somewhat less of greed for money among the Egyptians than among the Babylonians.

THE ACCESSION OF RAMESES II

There came to the throne of Egypt about B.C. 1200 a man of extraordinary vanity and selfish ambition known as Rameses II. He wished to build more temples in Egypt than any other king had ever built, so that wherever the traveler might turn people would point to this or that great building and say Rameses II built that. To put up these buildings he enslaved his people, compelling them to labor without pay. To raise the funds for building materials he made war on his neighbors, especially the Hitt.i.tes in western Asia north of Canaan. Again and again Hebrew children would see the dust of marching armies over the roads past their pastures and men would say, "Rameses is going to war again." And by and by, weeks or months later, the soldiers would return with tales of b.l.o.o.d.y battles and sometimes laden with spoils.

=Enslavement of the Hebrews.=--Now, wars usually breed more wars.

Rameses having attacked the Hitt.i.tes was afraid they would attack him.

Egypt was indeed very well protected from attack. There was only one gateway into the country, and that was by way of the narrow Isthmus of Suez. And there were a wall and a row of fortresses across the isthmus. But who were those shepherd tribes living just west of the isthmus inside the gateway? They are Hebrews, Rameses was told. They are immigrants from Canaan. "Look out for them," said Rameses. "If they came from Canaan, they may favor the Hitt.i.tes and help them to get past my fortresses into Egypt. Let them be put at work so that they will have no time for plots."

Rameses was planning just then to build two large granary cities near the northeastern border to be a base of supplies for his armies on their campaigns into Asia. One was to be called Pithom.[2]

So one day armed men came to the Hebrew tents and the order was given to send such and such a number of men to work in the brick-molds of Pa-Tum. And they had to go. The women and the children had to care for the sheep while most of their men trod the clay and straw in the brick molds at Pa-Tum and carried heavy loads of brick on their shoulders to the masons on the walls. Of course the sheep suffered for lack of care. The children also pined from neglect. Life for the Hebrews became a grinding treadmill of hards.h.i.+p and weariness and drudgery.

THE BOYHOOD AND YOUTH OF MOSES

During this time of oppression a Hebrew baby boy was by chance adopted by one of the princesses in Pharaoh's court and brought up by his own mother as his nurse. He was given an Egyptian name with the common Egyptian ending Mesu or M-ses, as in Rameses. The boy was given all the educational advantages that the Egyptian palace could offer. But all the time in secret from his mother he was learning the story of his own people and their wrongs, and was being trained to hate their oppressors. One day after he had grown to manhood he went down to the city of Pa-Tum to see the work on the new granaries which were being built. Here he saw one of his own people being flogged by an Egyptian overseer. In a fury he leaped to the man's defense and killed the Egyptian. Of course Rameses heard of it, and Moses had to flee from Egypt into the desert. In the desert he found a shepherd clan related to the Hebrews and lived there for some years brooding over the hard plight of his people.

=Moses' call and the struggle for freedom.=--One day in the desert, Moses heard from a pa.s.sing caravan that old Rameses II was dead. Like a flame that burned but did not consume the thought came to him: "Now is your chance! The king and his officers will not know about you. Go back to Egypt and lead your kinsmen out to freedom. This is G.o.d's call and G.o.d will help you."

So back to Egypt he went. First, he undertook to rally his own people, promising the help of their G.o.d, Jehovah. It was a dangerous undertaking that he proposed. The kings of Egypt were accustomed to make short work of those who resisted their authority. Moreover, these Hebrews had been slaves for years, and their spirits might have been cowed and broken. Yet they believed in Moses and his a.s.surances and accepted him as their leader.

Soon thereafter Moses and his brother Aaron went boldly to the palace of the Pharaoh and declared to him that Jehovah, the G.o.d of the Hebrews, had commanded that the Hebrews be allowed to hold a religious festival in the desert to offer sacrifices unto him as their G.o.d. The plan no doubt was that the people should escape once they were outside the boundaries of Egypt; Moses evidently considered any method justifiable in the effort to outwit the oppressor. But the Pharaoh answered, "Who is Jehovah that I should hearken to his voice to let Israel go?" The request was sharply refused. It is surprising that Moses himself was not arrested and imprisoned on the spot. Perhaps he still had friends in the Egyptian court. Or perhaps the Egyptians had a certain reverence for him as a messenger from a G.o.d, even though they did not grant his demands.

=Bricks without straw.=--At first it seemed that Moses had failed. For instead of the longed-for freedom, the toiling Hebrews found that a still heavier burden of work was laid upon them. In the manufacture of sun-dried brick it is necessary to mix straw with the clay in the molds, the fibers giving a tougher quality to the product. Previously the straw for this purpose had been furnished by the Egyptians. But now the order was, "Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it."

So they had to go and hunt through the surrounding fields for old refuse straw, in rotting ricks and compost heaps. Yet the same number of bricks was required as before, with a whipping in case of failure.

The granaries in Pa-Tum and Rameses were excavated many years ago from beneath the sands of Egypt, and their ruined walls may still be seen by tourists. It is noticeable that the upper tiers in the walls are made of bricks of a very poor quality as compared to those in the lower tiers. Evidently, the Hebrews got through the work somehow each day, putting very little straw in the clay, or sometimes none at all.

But they wished they had never heard of Moses, and they reproached him for "making them hateful in the eyes of Pharaoh." In the first round of the fight Moses and freedom had lost; Pharaoh and slavery had won.

But the end was not yet.

STUDY TOPICS

1. Look up in any good Bible dictionary, the article on Egypt; or read the summary of Egyptian history in some recent general history.

2. Draw a map of Egypt, locating approximately the place where the Hebrews worked.

3. In what special ways was Moses well trained to be an emanc.i.p.ator for his people?

4. Are there workers to-day who are in any form of slavery which may be compared to that of the Hebrews in Egypt?

5. Are there any Pharaohs to-day? Any Moseses?

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Chapter I, and Genesis 46 and 47.

[2] Exodus I. 1-11, or Pa-Tum in Egyptian; the other Rameses, after the king himself. It was decided to compel the Hebrews to do the work of brickmaking for these new cities.

CHAPTER V

A GREAT DELIVERANCE

Egypt has never been a health resort. The intensely hot summers breed germs of disease, and also the insects which often carry them.

Throughout its history the country has been ravaged periodically by fearful epidemics. A series of these pestilences predicted by Moses and declared to be Jehovah's punishment for the enslavement of the Israelites, made it possible for him to lead his people out of slavery. So severe were the plagues that the government was for a time disorganized. Taking advantage of their opportunity, the Hebrews suddenly gathered up their possessions and set out toward the desert, driving their sheep and goats before them. In spite of the large figures given in some pa.s.sages of Exodus, other statements indicate that they were not very numerous, a few thousand at most, and they doubtless hoped to slip out past the border fortresses, at night, unnoticed. As they approached the border, however, news came that they were being pursued by a troop of hors.e.m.e.n. This meant, of course, that a watch would be made for them at the fortresses also. They were caught in a trap, and turned in despair upon Moses, who could only once more a.s.sure them that Jehovah was leading them, and would somehow open the way.

THE STRONG EAST WIND AND ITS RESULT

That night they encamped on the western sh.o.r.e of one of the shallow bays or lakes at the head of the Red Sea. To the east was the water.

North of the lake the wall and the line of fortresses began. Behind them they could already see where their pursuers were camping for the night. In the morning--terror, death, and return to slavery!

=A path through the sea.=--During the night, however, someone came in from the sh.o.r.e of the lake with the astonis.h.i.+ng news that it was going dry. A strong east wind was blowing, with an effect often observed by modern travelers, namely, that the comparatively shallow waters were being driven back into the deeper part of the sea. Instantly the word of command was given. With the women and children first and the flocks next, they picked their way through the mud and sand and rocks on the lake bottom, clear across to the other side. The next morning the wind changed, the waters returned, and many of their pursuers were drowned.

The feelings of the Hebrews are expressed in the words of the triumph song in which through all later centuries they celebrated this deliverance:

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

=Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea; And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea."=

INFLUENCE OF THE EXODUS ON HEBREW RELIGION

It was indeed a notable deliverance, and the Hebrews never forgot it.

It affected their ideals and their religion. Immediately after escaping from Egypt they set out across the desert for Mount Sinai, which was considered the home of their G.o.d Jehovah, there to offer up sacrifices of grat.i.tude. Moreover, from that time on, every year they brought to mind the story of the great deliverance through a sacrificial feast called the Pa.s.sover. Under Moses' leaders.h.i.+p at Sinai they entered into a covenant with Jehovah. They were to be Jehovah's people forever, and they probably agreed to wors.h.i.+p him only, as their national G.o.d.

=Monotheism.=--At this time few had come to perceive the truth of monotheism, namely, that there is but one G.o.d in the universe, and that all the so-called G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses are mere superst.i.tions. The Hebrews, at this time, did not doubt the real existence of other G.o.ds than Jehovah, such as Chemosh, the G.o.d of the Moabites, and Marduk and Shamash, G.o.ds of Babylon. But after the deliverance from Egypt they felt themselves bound to Jehovah by special ties of grat.i.tude, and more and more came to consider the wors.h.i.+p of any other G.o.d, by a Hebrew as base disloyalty. So the Exodus, and the experiences at Sinai, pointed the way, at least, toward monotheism.

=Justice.=--Of great importance also was the influence of these experiences on their ideas of right and wrong, and their conception of the character of Jehovah. Because they as a nation had been enslaved they were the better able to sympathize with the oppressed and down-trodden. "Remember," their prophets could always say, "that _ye_ were slaves in the land of Egypt." And when, in after years, they were unjust in their dealings with foreigners living among them, they were reminded that "Ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."