The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1907-05-17
ISRAEL ENSLAVED
IN EGYPT
School Lesson Tor May 1919
Specially Prepared for This Paper.

LESSON TBXT.-Exodus i;1-l4. Mem
ory verses, 10, IL.
GOLDEN TEXT.-"Then they cried un-
10 the Lord in their trouble, and he saved
them out of their distresses. psalm
1918.
Understanding to Ussher's chron-
ology Jacob went down into Egypt about
i706 h. c.. and the s%ojourn in Egypt was
for 25 or 43O years from that time. For
the length of captivity see Gen. 1918. IA;
Elk. 1910; Kings Gil; Gal. 3:17.
RULERS.-It is quite generally agreed
by scholars that tho Pharaoh OF the
oppression vas Rameses H., and the
Pharaoh Of the Exodus his son, Meneph-
tab l.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
The Chosen Family.-Vs. is. The
first sever verses are Introductory to
the whole book. In accordance with
the almost invariable custom of the
writer, there Ia first a brief recapitu-
lation of preceding events, and then a
statement OF the actual condition OF
affairs Joseph Parker.
V. 1. THESE are the names" The
IL sons of Jacob only are given, the
heads of the families or clans. Every
mar and his household" 1.-THE house.
hold according to the Hebrew idea,
included not merely wife and children,
but men-servants and maid-servants,
dependents and re~tainers, even hire
lings who might quit the service and
go elsewhere when 1t pleased them"
-Rawlinson. How numerous these
households were ear be surmised from
she fact that Abraham could muster
31S armed men to rescue Lot (Gen.
14:14) Isaac was mightier than some
of the neighboring kings Gen. 26:16);
Esau and Jacob had to separate be.
their followers were so numer.
Gus (Gen. 1876, y.
v. 8. And all . were 70 souls"
The list Is given in Genesis 46, where
two ome are included, Dinah, ia
cob's daughter, and Serah, a grand.
daughter. Perhaps, as Canon Cook
suggests, these were named because
they remained unmarried. Dean
Payne Smith Champion L%ectures) esti-
mates that altogether, with their
households and retainers, they num-
bered 5000 souls. THAT so large a
body should be favoraby received need
not excite surprise
The Reasons for Removai.-"There
was need for Jacobs family being re.
moved from Canaan, as some of them
were becoming much tainted with the
idolatry and pollution prevalent there.
In Egypt, on the whole, life was purer.
Then there was a risk of their anal.
gamating by marriage with the doomed
~Canaanites; but the Egyptians were
so different a race that there was no
such risk with them. To be among the
Egyptians would also be a benefit to
them in other ways, for they would
learn much from a people so skilled in
all the arts ofs life and so superior in
civilization ."-Blaikie. Even the af'
hictions they We're to suffer there were
not the least of their gains from the
stay in Egypt, as we shall see.
A Period Of Prosperity.-Vs. 6, z. 1t
vas a wise providence Of God that in
troduced the period of bondage in
Egypt with a period of liberty and
prosperity; otherwise, the Hebrews
would not have remained in Egypt
after the end of the famine.
A Period of Adversity.-Vs. S-14.
The period of prosperity through
which the Israelites passed was from
Jehovah; but SO, no less certainly,
was the period of adversely which fol
enough to endure it. Both were parts
of Gods great process of development
ard training.
Rameses H.. as a BulIder.-"This
king was the most enterprising builder
of all the Pharaohs, and that mean
the sacrifice of tens of thousands OF
lives. He built temples and reared
monoliths and colossal statues. His
temples were approached through long
avenues of sphinxes. Out of the solid
rock at Ipsambul he hewed two spa
cious subterranean temples. and sci
up at their doors four human figures
60 feet high. Among his public works
was a chain of Notifications along the
entire northeastern frontier of Egypt
for 100 miles. BY his command i'm
mense bikes were built on the lower
Nile and in the Delta. Canals were
dug and cities were built."-Prof. E. P
Humphrey.
The Climax Of crueIty.-Ex. 1:15-22
When Pharaoh found the Israelitei
aourishing even under this terrible op
preston, he resorted to measures still
more severe, ordering the destruction
of their male infants as o on as they
we're born. The females would BIZ
harmless, and would prove valuable
slaves. "A similar policy was pursued
by the Lacedemonians toward tht
helots, by Mithridates toward his Ro
nan subjects, and by the Caliph
Hakem, toward the Egyptians."--F
Johnson. When the official midwive'
evaded the kings command, by a re
Hnement of cruelty to which the Herot
of the future was not equaI, he re
quired parents to execute the sentence
of death on their W children" =
Humphrey. This was indeed the eli
may Of af1ictiOn.