Training of Moses. The one Hebrew, however, who dared raise his hand against the oppression of the Pharaoh, succeeded in escaping beyond the border fortresses and found a home among the nomadic kinsmen of his race in the rugged mountains that lie between southern Judah and the Sinaitic peninsula. Here, amidst the dangers and solitudes of the desert, Moses, the great prophet, leader, and founder of the Hebrew nation, received his training. Here he learned to trust the Power that guides the destinies of men and nations, and to despise the boasted strength of Egypt. In guiding the flocks of Jethro, his father-in-law, through the trackless wilderness filled with wild beasts and hostile Bedouin, he had also become skilled in leading men.
The Historical Facts Underlying the Plague Stories. Moses' work in leading the Hebrews from Egypt is a familiar chapter in biblical history. In the break-down of the Egyptian government and in the period of anarchy which followed the fall of the Nineteenth Dynasty, a supremely favorable opportunity was offered for the escape of the serfs. An Egyptian writer states that at this time "the Egyptians had no chief ruler for many years. The land of Egypt was in the hands of the nobles and rulers of towns; each slew his neighbor, great and small." A certain Syrian also proclaimed himself king and made the entire land tributary to him, plundering the people. To these evils were added the horrors of foreign invasion. Even under a good government the sanitary conditions in Egypt are far from satisfactory. In the time of anarchy and bloodshed the hot valley of the Nile is ravaged by disease and plagues. The seven plagues described in the oldest biblical narrative were not miracles, but the natural catastrophes which, from time to time, have afflicted the land of Egypt. Most of them are characteristic of the Nile Valley and can only be fully understood in the light of its physical and climatic peculiarities. Certain of these plagues also stand in a close casual relation to each other, as well as to the historical events recorded by the contemporary Egyptian historians. Foreign invasion and civil war, with the attendant slaughter, would inevitably lead to the contamination of the waters of the Nile. Upon this one river depended the health and life of the inhabitants of Egypt. Unsanitary conditions and the defilement of the waters would breed frogs and flies. The flies would in turn spread abroad the germs of the disease which attacked the flocks. Hail and swarms of locusts are exceedingly rare in Egypt, but they are not unknown, as careful observers have attested, and their rarity would make their appearance all the more impressive. The identification of these remarkable plagues with the anger of the god or gods was accepted by the Egyptian as well as by the biblical writers.
Method of Travel in the Desert. The peculiar topography of the territory of eastern Egypt, which was the scene of the exodus, throws much light upon the historic event which lies back of the different biblical narratives. As in the account of the plagues, the later versions, which unfortunately are the most familiar, have magnified the miraculous element. The older version, however, is clearly the one which should be followed. Apparently the scattered Hebrew tribes were rallied and later guided in their marches by the means still employed by the caravans through the same wastes of sand and rock. A brazier of coals is carried before the leader of the caravan to show where he is and the direction of the march, so that those who straggle sometimes many miles behind will not be lost in the wilderness. By day there rises from these coals a column of smoke which, in the clear atmosphere of the desert, may be seen many miles away. By night the glowing coals are lifted aloft so that all may be guided by their light. In this manner the Hebrews were reminded of Jehovah's presence and guided by his prophet, Moses.
Moses' Equipment as a Leader. The distance from the eastern side of the land of Goshen to the wilderness was only a few miles. What the Hebrew serfs most needed was a courageous, energetic, and trained leader, able to command their confidence and inspire them to quick and decided action. These qualities Moses had acquired largely as a result of his desert experience. Above all, he was able to appeal to their faith in the God of their fathers, and thus, like the great prophet of Islam, to rule his followers through their religious as well as through their selfish impulses.
The Scene of the Exodus. Of the two ways which led eastward from Egypt, the Israelites chose the southern, that ran directly into the desert. The northern route, the Way of the Philistines, was already guarded by strong, warlike peoples. Unfortunately, the oldest biblical account of the exodus contains no geographical data, and none of the three or four places mentioned in the late priestly narrative have been identified. The interpretation which places the scene of the exodus near the present port of Suez, at the northern end of the western arm of the Red Sea, is based wholly on the biblical reference to the Sea of Reeds, which is commonly translated Red Sea. That this term is frequently used in the Old Testament as the designation of the Red Sea is unquestioned; but there is no place in the vicinity of the present Port of Suez which satisfies the conditions implied by the biblical narrative. Furthermore, it is difficult to see what would have led the Hebrews to make this long and difficult détour to the south rather than escape to the desert directly east of the Wady Tumilat. The biblical narrative implies that the latter was the course followed. The significant term, Sea of Reeds, points not to the Red Sea, in whose saline waters reeds would not thrive, but to the marshy shores of the Crocodile Lake, the modern Lake Timsah, which lay directly east of the Wady Tumilat. Into it poured the fresh waters from the Nile, which were conducted thither by the canal that ran along the wady. Even though the modern Suez Canal, which runs through it, has transformed conditions, Lake Timsah is still surrounded by a thicket of vegetation. Inasmuch as the Hebrews frequently used the word sea (for example, the Sea of Galilee) as the designation of an inland lake, the name Sea of Reeds was exceedingly appropriate.
Probability That the Passage Was at Lake Timsah. According to the earliest biblical narrative deliverance came to the Hebrews as they were pursued by the Egyptians because "Jehovah caused the sea to go back, by a strong east wind all the night, and made the bed of the sea dry." The shallow southeastern end of Lake Timsah satisfies most fully the physical conditions implied by this ancient narrative. At its southern end it opens out into a broad bay, but between this point and the main body of the lake was a shallow, marshy strait, not more than a quarter of a mile across. A strong wind driving it from the level desert would force back the waters into other parts of the lake, leaving this passage comparatively dry. A close and significant parallel is recorded by Major-General Tulloch, who states that the shallow waters of Lake Menzaleh, which lies only a short distance to the north and is subject to the same conditions, were driven back by the wind for seven miles, leaving the bottom of the lake dry (Journal of the Victorian Institute, vol. XXVIII, p. 267, and vol. XXVI, p. 12). The biblical narrative also states that "Jehovah bound the chariot wheels of the Egyptians so that they proceeded with difficulty." This is precisely what would follow, not on a hard, sandy shore, but in the marshy, muddy depths of a body of fresh water like Lake Timsah. While the exact scene of that incident, which, more than any other in their history, impressed upon the consciousness of the Israelites Jehovah's power and willingness to deliver them, will never be exactly identified, the southeastern end of Lake Timsah is the most probable site.
THE LAND OF THE EXODUS AND WILDERNESS WANDERING.
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