V. The Journeys of the Patriarchs. For two centuries the little clan of A´bra-ham's family lived in Pal´es-tine as strangers, pitching their tents in various localities, wherever pasturage was abundant, for at this time they were shepherds and herdsmen (Gen. 13. 2; 46. 34). Their home was most of the time in the southern part of the country, west of the Dead Sea; and their relations with the Am´o-rites, Ca´naan-ites, and Phi-lis´tines on the soil were generally friendly.
VI. The Sojourn in E´gypt. After three generations the branch of A´bra-ham's family belonging to his grandson Ja´cob, or Is´ra-el, removed to E´gypt (Deut. 26. 5), where they remained more than four hundred years. This stay in E´gypt is always called "the sojourn." The event which led directly to the descent into E´gypt was the selling of Jo´seph (Gen. 37. 28). But we can trace a providential purpose in the transfer. Its objects were:
1. Preservation. The frequent famines in Pal´es-tine (Gen. 12. 10; 26. 1; 42. 1-3) showed that as shepherds the Is´ra-el-ites could not be supported in the land. On the fertile soil of E´gypt, with three crops each year, they would find food in abundance.
2. Growth. At the end of the stay in Ca´naan the Is´ra-el-ites counted only seventy souls (Gen. 46. 27); but at the close of the sojourn in E´gypt they had increased to nearly two millions (Exod. 12. 37; Num. 1. 45, 46). The hot climate and cheap food of E´gypt have always caused an abundant population. In E´gypt, Is´ra-el grew from a family to a nation.
3. Isolation. There was great danger to the morals and religion of the Is´ra-el-ites in the land of Ca´naan. A´bra-ham had sent to his own relatives at Ha´ran for a wife for I´saac (Gen. 24. 3, 4) in order to keep both the race and the faith pure. One of I´saac's sons married Ca´naan-ite wives, and as a result his descendants, the E´dom-ites, lost the faith and became idolaters (Gen. 26. 34, 35). Ja´cob sought his wives among his own relatives (Gen. 28. 1, 2). We note a dangerous tendency in Ja´cob's family to ally themselves with the Ca´naan-ites (Gen. 34. 8-10; 38. 1, 2). If they had stayed in Ca´naan the chosen family would have become lost among the heathen. But in E´gypt they lived apart, and were kept by the caste system from union with the people (Gen. 46. 34; 43. 32). It was a necessary element in the divine plan that Is´ra-el should dwell apart from other nations (Num. 23. 9).
4. Civilization. The E-gyp´tians were in advance of other nations of that age in intelligence, in the organization of society, and in government. Though the Is´ra-el-ites lived apart from them, they were among them and learned much of their knowledge. Whatever may have been their condition at the beginning of the sojourn, at the end of it they had a written language (Exod. 24. 7), a system of worship (Exod. 19. 22; 33. 7), and a leader who had received the highest culture of his age (Acts 7. 22). As one result of the sojourn the Is´ra-el-ites were transformed from shepherds and herdsmen to tillers of the soil—a higher manner of living.
Hints to the Teacher
1. Let the map of the Old Testament world be drawn by a pupil on the blackboard, and let all the lands and places referred to in this lesson be noted upon it. Indicate on this map the regions of the deluge, the four empires, the journey of A´bra-ham, and the route of the Is´ra-el-ites to E´gypt.
2. Let the references be read and their connection with the lesson be shown by the students.