The Pillar of Fire; or, Israel in Bondage

by J. H. Ingraham

"Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."

Then Moses stretched forth his hand upon the sea, in the deep defile of which, cleaved by God for his own people, the Egyptian hosts, chariots, horse and foot, were struggling to retrace their course to the Egyptian shore, each man battling with his comrade for preference in advance. The whole scene, for several miles in the midst of the sea, was a spectacle of terror and despair such as no war, no battle, nothing under the skies, ever before presented. The shouts and cries of the Egyptians reached our ears upon the shore with appalling distinctness.

Now Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, out of the path through which the last of the Israelites were coming forth, when the billows that had been cloven by the rod of God, and made to stand in two walls like adamant, began to swell and heave, and all at once both edges of this sea-wall fell over like two mighty cataracts plunging and meeting, roaring and rushing together each into the chasm wherein the whole host of Pharaoh—his captains, chariots, and horsemen—with their faces towards Egypt, were struggling to escape from the snare that God, in His just vengeance, had laid for them. The returning waters covered the whole host of them before our eyes, and, while we looked, the wild sea rolled its huge waves, laden with death, above the abyss; and then subsiding, the great sea once more flowed calmly over the spot, and Pharaoh, who had been erecting for years a majestic pyramid to receive his embalmed body, was buried by the God whom he defied, beneath the chariots and horses in which he trusted for victory over the sons of God.

This spectacle of God's power and judgment filled all Israel with awe. Those who had murmured against Moses sought his presence, and prostrated themselves before him, acknowledging their fault, and asking him to entreat God to pardon their iniquity, declaring that henceforth they would receive the voice of Moses as the voice of God.

That day the Israelites encamped on the shore; and all night the waves cast upon the coast the dead bodies of Pharaoh's host, and chariots innumerable, with their stores of quivers of arrows, lances, swords, and spears; so that the men of Israel, to the number of one hundred thousand chosen out of each tribe, save that of Aaron were armed from the spoils of the dead soldiers and chariots. Was not this, also, the finger of God, O my father! The impression made upon the minds of the children of Israel, by this wonderful exhibition of the power of God,—of His goodness to them and His vengeance upon Pharaoh,—was such that they believed God, and feared Him, and professed themselves ready henceforth to be obedient to His voice.

When Moses and the children of Israel saw that their enemies were dead, they chanted a sublime hymn of praise and triumph to God upon the shore. Then came Miriam, the sister of Aaron, the aged prophetess of God, bearing a timbrel in her hand, and followed by an innumerable company of maidens and daughters of Israel, each with her timbrel in her hand, and singing songs of joy and triumph, while the virgins danced before the Lord.

Now, my dear father, I have brought my letters nearly to a close. I have recorded the most wonderful events earth ever saw, and displays of Divine power which man has never before witnessed. In contemplating these wonders, you will be impressed with the terrible majesty of God, and overwhelmed by His greatness. You will be struck with His unwavering devotion and care for His people whom He hath chosen, and with His unceasing vengeance upon His enemies, and such as oppress those whom He protects. You will be awed and humbled with a sublime perception of his limitless power in the heavens, on earth, and in the sea; and feel deeply your own insignificance as a mere worm of the dust in His sight; and you will cry with me, as I beheld all these manifestations of His glorious power—

"What is man that thou art mindful of him, O God, who fillest the heavens with the immensity of Thy presence, and in Thine own fulness art all in all?"

From the Sea of Arabia, Moses led the armies of Israel, for three encampments, into the wilderness towards Horeb. Here was no water but that which was bitter; and the people murmuring, Moses pacified them by a miracle. Thence they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water and seventy palm-trees, and here we encamped for some days. After certain further wanderings, we came to a wilderness, just one month after departing from Egypt, God, in all that time, taking not away the Pillar of Cloud by day nor the Pillar of Fire by night from before the people. Indeed, the whole journey was a miracle, and attended by miracles; for in this wilderness, Sinn, their provisions failed, and the people (who are a perverse and stiff-necked people, forgetful of favors past, and rebellious—as is perhaps natural to those who have been so long in bondage, and find themselves now free), murmured, and again blamed Moses for bringing them from their fare of flesh and bread in Egypt, to die of hunger in the wilderness. God, instead of raining fire upon them, mercifully and graciously rained bread from heaven to feed them, returning their want of faith in Him with loving-kindness and pardon. And not only did God send bread from heaven—which continues to fall every morning—but sent quails upon the camp; so that they covered the whole plain. The taste of this heavenly bread is like coriander-seed in wafers made with honey. It is white, is called by the people manna, and is in quantities sufficient for the whole of them. The camp thence moved forward and came into the vale of Horeb, where I had first beheld Moses standing by his flock. Here there was no water, and the people murmured in their thirst, and again blamed Moses for bringing them out of Egypt into that wilderness, not remembering the mighty deliverance at the Sea of Arabia, nor the manna, nor the quails. At the first obstacle or privation, they would ever cry out against Moses, who, one day, exclaimed to his God, in his perplexity—

"What shall I do to this people? They are almost ready to stone me!"