Part Three
III. When the Is´ra-el-ites went out of E´gypt a nation was born, and the family became a state, with all the institutions of government. Therefore we call this the Period of the Is´ra-el-ite People.
1. It opens with the Exodus from E´gypt, B. C. 1270? (Exod. 12. 40-42), and closes with the Coronation of Saul, B. C. 1050?.
2. During this period the government of the Is´ra-el-ites was peculiar. The Lord was their only King (Judg. 8. 23), but there was a priestly order for religious service (Exod. 28. 1), and from time to time men were raised up by a divine appointment to rule, who were called judges (Judg. 2. 16). This constituted the Theocratic Administration, or a government by God.
3. We subdivide this period as follows:
1.) The Wandering in the Wilderness. This was a part of God's plan, and trained the Is´ra-el-ites for the conquest of their land (Exod. 13. 17, 18). It lasted for forty years (Deut. 8. 2).
2.) The Conquest of Ca´naan, which immediately followed the crossing of the Jordan (Josh. 3. 14-17). The war was vigorously carried on for a few years, but the land was only seemingly conquered, for the native races remained upon the soil, and in some places were dominant until the time of Da´vid.
3.) The Rule of the Judges. From the death of Josh´u-a, B. C. 1200?, the people were directed by fifteen judges, not always in direct succession.
4. This period has been justly called "the Age of the Heroes"; and from many great men we choose the following:
1.) Mo´ses, the founder of the nation (Deut. 34. 10-12).