This brings the teacher to the narrative of God's revelation of his name to Moses, the significance of which I explained in the preceding chapter. In teaching it to the child, the chief aim, as already indicated, should be to inspire reverence for the name of God. A second aim should be to impress the child with the greatness of Moses. This can be very easily done by presenting this lesson somewhat as follows: "Then God told Moses His name, His name which he had not told before to any other man, not even to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He had made himself known to them as God Almighty, and by many different names, but His real name he had not told them. This name, children, you have never heard, though you have probably all seen it." (The teacher then lets them open their prayer-books at the יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמַע , or, if they have no books with them, he has a book ready which he opens at that place. He lets one of the children read the first verse of the שְׁמַע.) "Now you all know that we read the third word in this verse 'adonoy', but that is not what the four letters of that word יהוה spell, is it? You would expect the word to be spelt יהוה wouldn't you? Well, those four letters that make this third word of the אֲדֹנָי spell the name that God told Moses, but we, none of us, say that name. Instead, we say 'adonoy', which means 'The Lord', because it is not respectful to call God by His name."[8] The teacher then asks one of the children what his father's name is, his mother's. "When you speak to your father and mother, do you call them by name? What do you call them? When people speak to a king they never call him by name, but they call him, 'Your Majesty.' A judge in a law court is never called by name, he is called, 'Your Honor.' The President of the United States is not addressed by name, he is addressed as 'Mr. President.' This is all done as a mark of honor and respect, and for the same reason we do not call God by His name but speak of Him as the Lord, God, the Eternal, and so forth, in order to show our respect and reverence for God. But when God saw how faithfully Moses had obeyed Him, even though this obedience had brought him nothing but sorrow, He loved Moses so much that He told him His name, to show that He treated Moses as a friend who might call Him by name as friends are used to call each other. He wanted to let Moses feel that it made no difference even if Pharaoh was his enemy, and if the Israelites themselves turned against him, because Moses still had one Friend who would always stand by him, God himself. He told him, therefore, His name, and gave him permission to use it in speaking to the children of Israel that they might all know that God was with him and would help him, and He said, 'I am the Lord; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name I made Me not known to them'," etc., to the end of verse 9. In discussing the lesson with the children, point out the sinfulness of taking God's name in vain, even as applied to the other names of God beside the tetragrammaton (יהוה).
CHAPTER V
THE PLAGUES
Exodus 6.9 to 10.29
Interpretation. The meaning of these chapters is plain. They contain the narrative of that contest between Pharaoh and his court with all their magic devices on the one hand and Moses, armed with the name of God, on the other. The reader should not fail to note the dramatic portrayal of the impotence of blind, tyrannical rage which vacillates between half-hearted concessions that cannot satisfy opposition and blind fury that merely invites opposition. With the second plague Pharaoh is ready to satisfy Moses' demand, but he remains of this intent only until the plague is removed, then in his apparent security, the habit of tyranny immediately reasserts itself, and he again refuses to let Israel go. With the fourth plague, Pharaoh offers as a compromise that the Israelites may sacrifice to their God in Egypt. This compromise Moses rejects, stating boldly as his reason that such a course would involve slaying the "abomination", i. e., the gods, of the Egyptians, a thing which the Egyptian people would not suffer. Thereupon Pharaoh consents to let the Israelites go, "Only do not go afar off," but with the removal of the plague this concession is again withdrawn. After the seventh plague, Pharaoh, in accordance with the insistent demand of his court, is ready for further concessions. He is ready to permit the men to go, provided they leave the women and children as hostages biding their return. When this concession is rejected, his fury leads him again into a mad defiance. The ninth plague makes him seek once more to appease Moses and Aaron. He is ready now even to let the women and children go, only the cattle must remain in Egypt. But Moses is firm; the cattle were needed for sacrifice. Nothing less than a complete exodus of all the people with their possessions for a three days' journey into the wilderness to worship God on His holy mountain would satisfy Moses. Indeed, he even suggests that the king himself provide animals for the sacrifice. Then Pharaoh in a rage commits his final indiscretion, declaring to Moses and Aaron, "Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in the day thou seest my face thou shalt die." This closes all negotiations between them. Moses accepts his ultimatum. "Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no more." Henceforth, not even a three days' journey into the wilderness will suffice. Pharaoh had pronounced his own sentence, a sentence which the arbitrary and tyrannical always pronounce upon themselves when opposed by the protagonists of reason and justice.
Aim. The aim of this chapter, as of all those leading to the event of the Exodus, is to inspire the child with faith in God's providence as exercised over Israel in particular, and over mankind in general, in the interests of liberty and justice.
Suggestions to the teacher. It is sometimes suggested in books on the teaching of Biblical history that the story of the plagues be passed over lightly, without much attention to detail. This would be a mistake. The story of the plagues has a great fascination for young children, the same sort of fascination which the works of fairies and witches in their favorite fairy tales exercise over them. The skillful teacher will make the most of the native interest in the marvelous by employing it to increase the spirit of reverent awe which he must endeavor to associate with the thought of God. In telling each of these plagues, it is not enough to describe what happened, but the teacher must assist in making the child realize what the plagues meant to Egypt. Thus, in teaching the first plague, dwell on how indispensable water is and what distress results if people are deprived of water for any length of time.
The interest of the children in the plagues must not, however, be merely due to their interest in the marvelous. Endeavor to interest them primarily in the contest between God and Pharaoh. All the conversations between Pharaoh and Moses must be told as nearly as possible in the language of the Bible, so that the child is made to feel the strength of the firm insistence of Moses and the weakness of Pharaoh's vacillating and temporizing attitude. Unless at the end of the lesson the child is filled with admiration for Moses and contempt for Pharaoh, the teacher has not taught the lesson well.
Inasmuch as there are so many allusions to the ten plagues in Jewish and general literature, the child should be taught to remember them in their proper order. This can be done best by naming each plague in a single word or brief phrase, as in the Passover Haggadah, and writing them on the blackboard thus: