BOOK II.

FROM MOSES TO DAVID.

A

CHAPTER I.

THE YOUTH OF MOSES.

Ex. I. 1.-II. 22.

T the head of Israel's history stands the mighty figure of Moses. He lived in times when his people were as yet in a state of barbarism, and for many centuries afterwards no historian appeared amongst them; so it is not surprising that we know but little of his life. Legend plays a greater part than history in the accounts which we possess of him, and it is impossible to give a sketch of his life and character which we can confidently declare to be true. But Israel never lost the memory of the man who was considered the spiritual father of his people. A grateful posterity named him and to a large extent with justice the founder of Israel's national existence and of the worship of Yahweh. As such, then, he may claim a place of honor amongst the men whose lives have moulded the history of the world.

The book of Exodus opens with an account of his birth and early life, which runs as follows:

The youth of Moses fell in evil days, for his people were in great distress, on account of the fear with which they were regarded by the Egyptian king. Nor was the monarch's alarm without good cause, for after the death of Joseph and his generation, the posterity of Jacob multiplied beyond measure, so that they filled the land. Now the king under whom Joseph had served as viceroy was dead, and his successor, who knew nothing of Joseph's services to Egypt, looked upon this increase in the number of the Hebrews with great anxiety. So

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at the time of the Israelite

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he said to his advisers: "See how numerous these tribes have grown. Nay, they are more powerful than we are ourselves. We must take steps to prevent their increasing still more; or else, when war breaks out, they will take the side of our enemies, and at last, after turning their arms against us, leave the country altogether." So the Egyptians began systematically to oppress the Israelites. All kinds of toil were forced upon them. For instance, they were compelled to build two fortresses, Pithom and Ramses, in Goshen, the district in which most of them lived. A hateful task! For the sole object of these fortresses was to keep them down, and to prevent their kindred tribes of the desert from coming to their rescue. They were compelled to perform other kinds of servile work as well, and in some places heavy labor in the fields was required of them. Thus the Egyptians oppressed them out of fear; but the more they oppressed them the more rapidly did they multiply.

Then the king bethought him of another and more cruel plan. He ordered the Hebrew nurses to kill all the male children as soon as they were born. But the nurses - all honor to them! God gave them a numerous posterity as a reward! may the names of Siphrah and Puah never be forgotten by the sons of Israel! the nurses would not lend a hand to the king in the execution of this treacherous design, so the project of the tyrant came to nothing.

Next came a still more fearful decree. The Egyptians received orders to slay the children of the Hebrews. The girls they might suffer to live, but the boys must be thrown without pity into the Nile.

It was in this time of misery that a woman of the tribe of Levi-another writer tells us that her name was Jochebed whose husband belonged to the same tribe, brought a son into the world. She could not bear to think of it being killed, it was such a splendid child. It was true she ran fearful risks by keeping it concealed, but for three months she persevered. Then some way the secret oozed out, and still striving to do what could be done towards rescuing her child, she wove a basket of papyrus, made it as water-tight as she could, laid her little baby in it, and then put it among the bulrushes on the banks of the river. Who could tell? God had power to save the little one! His sister she is called Miriam elsewhere- was to stand some way off, but to keep her eye upon the basket with such a precious treasure in it, to see what would become of it.

She had not been watching long when, behold! the king's daughter, with all her train of slaves, came to bathe in the Nile. It so happened that the basket among the bulrushes caught her eye, and she sent one of her attendants to fetch it; and when they opened it they saw the child lying there and wailing bitterly. The tender-hearted princess was moved with pity, and exclaimed: "Surely it must be some Hebrew child." Then Miriam came up and said: "Shall I find you a Hebrew nurse to suckle it for you?" And when the princess showed by her consent that she intended to keep the child alive, Miriam hastened to her mother with the glorious news. We may think how joyfully the mother obeyed the summons of the king's daughter.

What a strange scene it was! There lay the baby crying for food, and his mother, yearning all the while to lay him to her breast, stood by as if she were a stranger, without daring to betray how much better her right to the child was than the princess's! "Will you take this little one with you and suckle it? I will pay you if you will," said the princess. How Jochebed longed to cry out to her: "The gods of my people and the gods of your fathers reward you for taking pity on this slave-child!" But she must restrain herself. She agreed to the wages offered, and took her own child with her, as if she were an hireling. So Moses was brought up in the house of his parents during his early years, and his first impressions were derived from amongst his own people.

But when he grew older and could do without the first care of a mother, Jochebed had to take him to the king's daughter again. She did it with a bleeding heart. What would become of him now! No doubt the princess would take good care of him and have him well taught. The great Egyptian lady could do everything for him far better than his own mother could have done. But there was one great danger. Would not the child, with his courtly education, learn to despise his own people! Would he not become an Egyptian, every inch of him! Would not his position make him forget his origin? She feared it would be so.

The princess did not do her good work by halves. When the boy was brought to her she called him Moses, i.e., the drawn, "for," she said, "I have drawn him out of the water; and she did not bring him up as a slave, but as if he were her own son. So it seemed likely enough that he would forget his Hebrew origin, or would feel ashamed whenever it came into his mind.