PART II
Israel Under the Leadership of Moses
CHAPTER I
THE BIRTH OF MOSES
Exodus 1.1 to 2.10
Interpretation. The children of Israel, settled in the rich pasture land of Goshen, had become a numerous people. At first they prospered, but then there came a change with the accession to the throne of the "Pharaoh who knew not Joseph." This Pharaoh was, in all probability, not only of a different dynasty, but also of a different race from the Pharaoh of Joseph's day. The Pharaoh of Joseph's day was probably a descendant of the Hyksos invaders of Egypt, a Semitic tribe of shepherds like the Israelites. The true Egyptians, however, who were an agricultural people, and held shepherds in abomination, perhaps because many of their practices conflicted with the religious notions of the Egyptians, which included the worship of sacred cattle (see Exodus 8.22), finally overthrew this Semitic dynasty. As a consequence, the Israelites were looked upon with suspicion and hatred as a dangerous element in the state. The very services that they had rendered to the old dynasty would now be held against them by the new, and instead of being a favored race, they came to be looked upon, in spite of their long sojourn in Egypt, as alien and hostile, and were subjected to persecution and oppression. Persecution, at first took the form of enforced labor in the erection of the public works of the Pharaohs but when the Israelites seemed to thrive in spite of this, resort was had to the drastic measure of murdering every male infant. At this point, the Biblical story shows us how Providence prepared redemption for Israel by sparing the life of the infant who was destined to become the liberator. Of the general religious significance of the Egyptian bondage, as interpreted in the Bible, we have already spoken in preceding chapters.
Aim. The aim of this lesson is three-fold, first, to inculcate in the child the ideal expressed in the words, "And a stranger shalt thou not wrong neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt;" (Exodus 22.20); second, to encourage him to maintain his national Jewish aspirations in the diaspora, as did his fathers in Egypt, and, finally, to inspire him with faith in God's providence, as illustrated by the way in which God saved the infant Moses.
Suggestions to the teacher. Begin by recalling the story of Joseph to the class; how the Israelites who settled in Goshen—point out its location on the map—became a numerous people, and enjoyed, for a long time, the favor of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, in gratitude for all that Joseph had done for Egypt at the time of the famine. Then dwell on what the children of Israel, who were, for the most part, simple shepherds, learned from the Egyptians, who were not only skillful farmers, but great builders as well. This can best be done by showing pictures of the Egyptian monuments and pointing to the skill required in order to erect them in an age before the use of steam and electricity was known. "But", the teacher should emphasize, "although the children of Israel learned much from the Egyptians, they did not copy them in everything. In one respect, they were far in advance of the Egyptians,—in their religion. They knew that there was one God, whom they could not see, who made the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, but the Egyptians worshipped many gods. They had sacred bulls and sacred cows and sacred cats, and even a sacred bug—a kind of beetle. The Israelites in Egypt understood that they were not to become Egyptians, but that God would some day lead them out of Egypt to their own land of Palestine, as He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So they continued to speak their own language, Hebrew, and to maintain their religion."