The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1894-06-07
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.


the Red sea-
TIME According to the common chronology.
B. c. 149l according to Brugsch, B. @. 1900.
They started on the morning of the 18th Of Abb
(some time in ApriL) The crossing Of the Red
sea was several days later.
PLACE.-The northern end OF the Red sea
The place may have been the present Gulf Of
Suez, or the sea may have extended much far
ther north, and the crossing have taken place
somewhere near the present Bitter lakes (see
below.)
THE PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS According
to the majority of Egyptologists, Menephtah,
the son of Raneses IL Menephtah lived years
after this; but "it was the army Of Pharaoh
which was overwhelmed: and neither here, nor
in the gong of Moses, is any mention made OF
the kings death, an event OF suficient conse-
quence to have been noticed The death Of
Pharaoh cannot be even argued from the ex.
preston in Ps. 1885, Is: He overthrew Pharaoh
and his host in the Red sea, since the death OF
q monarch is not the necessary consequence Of
his defeat and overthrow.
LESSON NOTES.
|. The Israelites Urged to Coin
our last lesson the Israelites were busi-
ly preparing for their departure. The
time had been set. The hour
had come. While they were still
engaged in celebrating their first Pass
over feast, at midnight the Lord smote
all the frstborn of Egypt, from the
frstborn of Pharaoh. that sat upon the
throne to the frstborn of the captive
that was in the dungeon lex. 1920.
The last and greatest stroke had fallen.
The whole land of Egypt was now in
intense excitement. There was a
great cry for there was not house
where there was not one dead. There
was no longer refusal of Moses re-
quest On the contrary, Pharaoh could
not wait till morning before he sent to
Moses, and bade him be gone with all
the people.
The Rendezvous.-The first journey
of the Israelites was from Rameses to
Succoth Q2: 37). These are not towns,
but districts Rameses was 1.-The land
of Rameses." which is spoken of as
identical with Goshen, or at least with
the western portion of it. Itlay along
the Wady Tumilat. the line of the
present Sweetwater canal, and was
shaped like cornucopia, with it's
broader end toward the Nile. From
all portions of the land this people as
sembled to Succoth as their place of
rendezvous. Succoth ga place of
tents" or booths) was district mot a
town. lying at the eastern end of the
Wady Tumilat. along the line of the
lakes. Pithom, lately discovered by
NJ. Naville, twelve miles west of Ismai-
liza, was probably the chief store city
lying on it's western border.
Their Numbers.-There were 600, 900
men, besides children, and mixed
multitude Q2:37). This would natu-
rally imply about 100000 in all. But
Prof. Willis J. Beecher, of Auburn The
illogical seminary, in a lecture not long
ago, suggested that the enumeration
may have been technical, just as we
| count an army. A regiment consists
of 1000 men, while often, in various
| ways, not more than 400 or 500 are
present, and yet we call it regiment.
Six hundred thousand may be equiva-
lent to 800 regiments, ''the thousands
containing but few hundreds, so that
there may not have been more than
| 100000 men, or million in all The
same reckoning is used IN numbering
the houses in Philadelphia and other
| cities.
The Pursuit by Pharaoh.-Several
days have now passed since the Israel
ties, in an hour of great excitement.
were given their freedom. But soon
the laborers were missed from their
| places, the houses were empty, the
fields had no fiocks, the public works
were stopped for want of bricks and
men to lay them. When, therefore
Pharaoh saw that the Israelites had
| al Ion af, "a
again in Egypt, he thought they were
confused and bewildered ESQ the word
'entangled" [14:3l means), and they
were in his power, because he held the
defenses of the great wall, which
reached to the impossible Red sea. He
therefore takes his six hundred chosen
chariots, and sets out to overtake the
fugitivcs, ordering other cliariots in diff
fercnt parts of Egypt (of which Diodor
us Siculus says that Rameses ii. haG
twenty-seven thousand) TO follow.
The Place of Crossing the Red Sea-
There have been many theories as tc
the place where the Israelites crossed
the Red sea. But it is now almost GER
tain that either one or the other of two
theories must be in the main correct.
Q) DIR. Trumbull has advanced some
most able arguments in favor of the
Gulf of Suez, the place advocated BY
many scholars "The Israelites crossed
near the town of Suez, on extensive
shoals which run toward the southeast
in the direction of Ayun MIsa Cths
Wells of Moses). The distance is about
three miles at high tide. This is the
most probable theory. Near here Ma
poleon, deceived by the tidal wave
attempted to cross in 1899, and nearly
met the fate of Pharaoh" Niebuhl
crossed at this point in 1852, on ;
dromedary, some Arabs, who were VI
to their knees in water, accompanying
him on foot.
(2) The other theory is that of Prin
cipal Dawson, one of the leading geolo
gists of the world, in his Egypt ant
Syria, and in his still later 1850 Mod
ern Science in Bible Lands. He as
geologist believes that at this time tn
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