The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1901-11-15
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
international Sunday School Lesson
for November " 1901.
BY REV. FRANKLIN B. DWIGHT.
EXODUS IL: ITO.
The Birth of Moses.

Our lesson this week is history, but
history with romantic halo of true
human love. Moses is the greatest
character in the Old Testament, and
as we enter upon the story of his life,
we are face to face with all the great
events which surround the giving of
the Law and the formal declaration
of Gods will for mans conduct.
And this Moses, who was to lead
Israel out of bondage was type of
that greater Deliverer who was to
redeem His people by the sacrifice of
Himself 1.-THE Law was given by
Moses but grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ, land from the little ark
of bulrushes and the weeping infant
our minds go forward to the manger
craC le at Bethlehem and to the little
child Jesus. In each picture we see
the love of God for his children.
He would teach men His will through
the enactment of a moral law, and
the great lawgiver first appears as u
babe amid 'the flags by the river g
brink. He would reveal to men His
nature, and the Son of the His
love first comes to earth as ali infant
born i'll stable. In each case it is
a picture of wonderful beauty and
t. nderness. God has come neaI to
man in revealing both his law and
His gospel, and the Bible tells us
these old stories in language which
all can understand.
Our lesson opens with the state
ment that "there went man of the
house OF Levi and took to wife a
daughter of Levi.
This refers back to what must have
occur ed some time before the birth
of Moses, perhaps ten Or twelve years
as we shall soon see. We are struck
at once with the mention of the name
| of the house or tribe to which
Amram (see Elk. vi :20) for that was the
mans name and Jochobea. his wife,
belonged, 1t becomes the rule from
this time to mention the name Of the
tribe to which prominent men in the
Bible history belong. The Scripture
writers attach great Importance TO
the matter OF parentage and descent,
and thereby teach the truth that res
pect for ancestors should be q con-
slant principle among God-fearing
people.
| When the text says "a daughter of
Levi lit probably means descendant.
Amram and Jochobed were near of
kin, as was very common among the
Jews Miriam was their daughter, and
she must have been at least nine or
ten years old at the time of this
story. Aaron too was born before
Moses. as we learn from chap. vii: 6,
that he was three years older. All
this Indicates that the cruel edict of
the King was not in force very long
1t probably went into operation
shortly before the birth of Moses, and
was revoked, or ceased to be executed
sooon after. This is generally inferred
from the fact that at the time of the
exodus the Israelites numbered
800, 600 males, (see Elk xii 1917 1t
must be remembered that from the
birth of Moses to the exodus was a
period Of more than eighty years. as
we learn by the statement of the age
of Moses at that time, and if this edict
of determination had been long in
force we should not expect to find
such vast number of men surviving.
Try and picture tho incidents which
had lead mp to the closing scene Of
our lesson. A. godly home, blessed
with at least two children and per-
haps more is gladdened by the birth
of another son. What happy time !
The baby is always source of joy
and we can ser the pleasure of the
parents and hear the happy laugh Of
the children at sight of their beauti
full little brother, for that il probably
part of what the text means when it
says he was ''goodly" or in Heb XII ::
%, "a proper child In fact Stephen
| fr1,. nd Al -, -.
90, that "he was exceeding fair. -
But stop, all must be still No one
must know that there is a baby in the
house. The kings officers may come
and kill the little infant. Hide him,
Jochedbed, just as safely as you can.
And as the parents. acting by faith in
Gods promise Heb. XII :23) that He
would deliver His people, and perhaps
hoping that their lovely boy would
grow up to be the deliverer hide him
| for three months. But it is plain that
the cruel officers are persistent. We
can see them searching the houses
and prying into all sorts of out of
the way places to see if there were
any male children for them to kill
And now it is the mothers wit which
thinks of hiding place. That is very
suggestive. While the New Tesla
ment gives the credit for the first
hiding to the parents.s that we may
we'll believe that both father and mo
Their joined in it, our lesson gives the
account of the ark in the bulrushes
as an expedient which the mother
alone evidently thought of and carried
out.
And so she took this little basket
and made it water tight and put the
baby into it. Now we can see her
going down probably to a branch of
the Nile, where there were no croco-
diles. In one branch it is said none
are found today, and probably none
were found then. Here she places
her treasure among the tall grasses,
and then, with little Miriam standing
guard nearby, we can see the faithful
mother going away to pray, believing
that God would care for the child.
But what is this brilliant company
of ladies we Soc approaching? All,
there is the Kings daughter coming
TO battle in the sacred river. She
sees the little ark and sends her maid
to fetch it. And now, as she opens
it, the babe weeps. Who can resist
little child in tears? The Princess
could not. Her womans' heart was