The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-15
IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.
What the Church Folks Are Thinking About and Doing
Religious News From Everywhere.

which Moses made when the people
| began to show fear. 1t was the tre-
mendous certainty of a man of un-
| shaken faith. There is something
terrible about the assurance and bold
ness of the man who knows that he
| speaks for God. Hear the swish of
| the sword of battle in these words to
| the faint-hearted: Fear ye not,
Jehovah, which he will work for you
today; for the Egyptians whom We
have seen today, We shall see them
again no more forever. Jehovah
will fight for you, and We shall hold
your peace" Doesn't it make one
shudder at the thought of undertaking
combat with the win of the lord of
| hosts?v
The Interposed Cloud.
So little do many people under
ceive the fundamental principle that
the divine programme for humanity
is progress. Speak unto the child
rem of Israel, that they go forward"
cried Jehovah to Moses. That is
life and to the race as a whole. To
emphasize it he often mercifully shuts
all paths except the one that means
advance. True, real progress is not
always along the line of least resis-
lance, there are Red Seas to be
recessed en- every experience. But
when God points the way he also pre-
pares it.
AS a protection pending the passage
the cloud which had led the vanguard
became the rear guard; IL was. inter-
posed between the Israelites and their
pursuers. Little wonder that the
sweet singers of Israel loved to con-
template Jehovah as a shield" On
his own side of that myterious veil
the Lord was preparing great things
for his own and terrible things for his
enemies. 1t was soon to be demon
strated, as Moses sang. Jehovah is
a man of war"
The Great Miracle.
And wonderful weapons he yields.
Since he holdeth the winds in his fist,
1t was easy for God by a great east
wind. to pile up the waters of the tur-
bulent sea, so where the fishes had
swum the Israelites walked dry shod.
This passage of the Red Sea was
miracle; why try to minimize it, or
explain it away. Only the direct in
terposition of the Lord OF creation
could have wrought this mighty won
der, making a way of escape for the
Israelites, hemmed in on all other
sides. Half a dozen great ocean liners
are now anchored in what is common
ly regarded as the site of the crossing;
water like this does not naturally be-
come dry land for a night. God did
it; 1t was but one of the countless I'M
guessed tactics which the God Of war
has at his command
The wall of water on either side
the simple statement of inspiration is
majestic-made an impression upon
the marching Israelites; even as it has
made an impression on all who have
heard or read the story since 1t was
a rampant such as only God could
build; one of the highways of help for
his own which the word of Jehovah
obliges him to build whenever there
is occasion.
But what is help for friend may be
hurt for foe. When day broke the
Egyptian army. with its six hundred
picked chariots, essayed to follow by
easy going for the Israelites proved a
snare for their pursuers, so that the
latter were soon crying. LET us flee
from the face of Israel, for Jehovah
fghteth for them"
The Song of Victory.
Therein the Egyptians, ere they
were engulfed in the grip of the God
whom they dehed, showed an under
standing of the significance of the
whole matter. God was caring for his
own people and indicating his own
name That is the point of the whole
story. as appeared in the song of vic
tory which Moses sang; and in the lat
er song of the Psalmist (10:7-12.)
Our fathers understood not thy wonders
They Remembered not the multitude of
thy loving kindnesses,
But were rebellious at the sea, even the
Nevertheless he saved them for his
names sake,
That he might make his mighty power
to be known.
He rebuked the Red Sea also, and It
was dried up;
So he led them through the depths as
through a wilderness.
And he saved them from the hand of
him that hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of
the enemy.
And the waters covered their adver-
sarieS;
There was not one of them left
Then believed they his words;
They sang his praise"