1. Preservation. The frequent famines in Palestine (Gen. 12. 10; 26. 1;42. 1-3) showed that as shepherds the Israelites could not be supported in the land. On the fertile soil of Egypt, with three crops each year, they would find food in abundance.
2. Growth. At the end of the stay in Canaan the Israelites counted only seventy souls (Gen. 46. 27); but at the close of the sojourn in Egypt they had increased to nearly two millions (Exod. 12. 37; Num. 1. 45, 46). The hot climate and cheap food of Egypt has always caused an abundant population. In Egypt Israel grew from a family to a nation.
3. Isolation. There was great danger to the morals and religion of the Israelites in the land of Canaan. Abraham had sent to his own relatives at Haran for a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24. 3, 4) in order to keep both the race and the faith pure. One of Isaac's sons married Canaanite wives, and as a result his descendants, the Edomites, lost the faith and became idolaters (Gen. 26. 34, 35). Jacob sought his wives among his own relatives (Gen. 28. 1, 2). We note a dangerous tendency in Jacob's family to ally themselves with the Canaanites (Gen. 34. 8-10; 38. 1, 2). If they had stayed in Canaan the chosen family would have become lost among the heathen. But in Egypt 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 Israel should dwell apart from other nations (Num. 23. 9).
4. Civilization. The Egyptians were far in advance of all other nations of that age in intelligence, in the organization of society, and in government. Though the Israelites 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 Israelites were transformed from shepherds and herdsmen to tillers of the soil—a higher manner of living.
Blackboard Outline.
Six Ev. I. Del. 1. Fac. Scrip. Trad. 2. Dat. 2348? 3. Cau. Wick. rac. 4. Ext. par. 5. Pur. 1.) Des. ev. 2.) New ep.
II. Disp. Rac. 1. Inst. mig. 2. Evid. Bib. Trad. Lang.
III. Rise Emp. 1. Eg. 2. Chal. 3. Ass. 4. Sid. and Tyr.
IV. Mig. Abr. Causes. 1. Mig. inst. 2. Pol. cau. 3. Rel. mot.
V. Jour. Patr. Str. in Pal. Shep. Hom. Relat.
VI. Soj. in Eg. Obj. 1. Pres. 2. Gro. 3. Isol. 4. Civ.
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW.
What is the purpose in this series of studies?
At what point does history begin?
Name the six great events in early Bible history.
How is the fact of a deluge attested?
What date is commonly given to this event?
What was the moral cause of the flood?
What was its extent?
What was its purpose in the plan of God?
What new spirit took possession of men soon after the flood?
To what results did this lead?
What was the relation of this fact to the confusion of tongues?
What evidences of these migrations are found?
What were the three great centers of national life in the Oriental world?
What city became the center of commercial life?
To what race did the earliest empires belong?
What was the most important journey, in its results, in all history?
What three causes are given for this migration?
What was especially the religious motive of this journey?
How long did Abraham's descendants remain in Palestine?
In what part of the country did they live?
What were their relations with the native peoples in Palestine?
What is meant by "the sojourn?"
What was its immediate cause?
What four providential results came to Israel through this sojourn?
How long was the time of the sojourn?
How were the Israelites protected from corruption through this sojourn?
What was the effect of the sojourn upon their civilization?
Subjects for Special Papers.