BIBLE HISTORY - Classic Works of Apologetics

CONDITIONS LEADING TO THE EXODUS.
water of the Nile shall become hlQou as he
pours it on the dry land. Here, Go(l seems to
say, is a cause to which all the fruitful energies
of the Nile are to be submissive. Surely, as
Lange suggests, here are seen the prophetic,
the priestly, and the kingly qualities of the
deliverer. God gave these to him and developed
these in him; anll, in their growth,
Moses was less self-confident; he was modest
in the presence of new energies.
\Vhat coulcl be more natural to such a concen
trated soul, in the midst of so much din and
confusioll, than a desire to possess the orator's
guerdon of strength? He bemoane(l the slowness
of his tongue. Here was the Cromwell of
the period with what Sir Philip Warwick called
a " sharp and un tuna hIe voice" and "no grace
of speech." Like the stern Oliver, Moses was
to change empires by saying "Yea" and
" Nay," at the right times and with just emphasis,
though he should also leave to the literature
of eloquence some of its finest passages.
No greater orator li,-es than he whose words,
like his deeds, are God's utterances through
him.
It must be confessed that Pharaoh heard a
trumpet-tone within the words which soon left
the lips of Moses and fell upon the ruler's ears:
"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
unto the Lord our God."l "The God of
THE war of the great exile was on. It was,
as Pharaoh dimly saw, a war with Jehovah
also. He had felt the force of the
Hebrew's VISIOn of God. "Jehovah," said
Moses, "God of Israel, saith: Let my people
go that they may hold a feast in the wilderness."
"'vVho is Jehovah?" protested the
startled devotee of the golden bull - "\Vho is
Jehovah that I should obey his voice?" 2 The
King of Egypt had already lost his slaves.
Statesmanship without the" I am that I am "
has no future. It can only say to the strainecl
institution, as Pharaoh said to that mass of
bondmen, "Get you to your burdens." All
revolution is repressed evolution. "Statesmanship,"
says Goldwin Smith, " is not the art
of making a revolution, but the art of avoiding
one." Moses seemed to be the revolutionist;
he was only pleading for evolution. Pharaoh
was the spring of the great revolt; and God
said of him: "\Vith a strong hand shall he
1 Exodus v, 3 (Revised Version). 2 Exodus v, 2.
CHAPTER V.
LAST DAVS IN EGVPT.
the Hebrews!" This expression echoed the
arms of ancient battles and whispered of other
and future fields of contest. \Ve must remember
that Moses was not always beyond reproach;
God was delivering men by a man like unto
themselves. But, at least, here was no shrewd
diplomat seeking only the escape of Israel by
way of false pretenses; the earnest-eyed Hebrew
leader had not forgotten Israel's ancient rights;
and, indeed, in this matter, he was regardful of
the rights and religious sensitiveness of Egypt.
It must he remembered that Israel had never
been captured, or rightfully bound, even according
to Egyptian jurisprudence. Under Joseph,
it was understood that they" sojourned there."
Besides in this case, their worship, in which
they were granted such privileges, must be an
abominable thing to Egyptian piety. This request
on the part of Moses and Israel gave the
government of Pharaoh an opportunity for wise
and just concession. "All government," says
Burke, .. is possible only by compromise." A
righteous compromise is truest statesmanship.
\Vould he, could he, exercise the statesmanship
which looked toward an assimilation of this
people with the Egyptian-nationality? To neglect
to do this involved, here and now, such an
act of despotism as could indicate nothing else
to Israel than a determination to abolish the
worship of Jehovah ancl stamp out the Hebrew.
Pharaoh refused. So, and only so, does God
"harden Pharaoh's heart."
drive them out of his land. I am Jehovah! "J
Pilgrims with Mayflower compacts in their
cabins owe to Pharaoh their glorious exile. "I
am Jehovah!" They alone bear repuhlics and
democracies into unsubdued wildernesses or
lands of Canaan. "I am Jehovah!"
Too much honor is not likely to be paid to
the less conspicuous and unreconled forces in
any beneficent revolution; and we are always
likely to underestimate even so strong a spirit
as Aaron, the elder brother of this diyinely led
man. \Vhile Moses hacl heen in Midian, Aaron
had been so sympathetic 'with God's purpose
and so earnest in pushing it to achievement,
that, at length, just before Moses returned to
Egypt, Aaron journeyed to meet him at Sinai.
In that forty years, Israel had grown ripe for
revol t. The elclers hacl fostered and guided
the growing desire for freedom. As they came
to understancl God, they understood more truly
man and his problem. With the development
1 Exodus vi, I-2.