The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-15
~ WILLIAM q. ELLIs.

Israel that Day out of the Hands OF
the Egyptians" Elk. 1870.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS
The meaning of the word Hebrews is
"the crossers;" and this significance is
more deeply embodied in the history
than in the name. From It's oeginnlngs
in Abraham down to the present, Israel
has been finding a way to cross streams
and oceans of decision and peril. Floods
of disaster which have engulfed great
touched The story of the crossing OF
the Red Sea is symbolical of this cho-
sen peoples deliverance from countless
perils and their preservation amid great
dangers. For the larger Israel which
calls Jehovah Father, there Is here a
dramatic Reinforcement of the ever
fresh and practical teaching that some
how God makes a way Tor the reef ,s 81
his children he teaches the unbeneving
his might and majesty
The story is the story of miracle.
All the ingenious theories OF tides and
shadows and sandbarS seem foolish to
one who has looked upon the site or
this great deliverance- At the minute
of this writing am sailing up the Reo
Sea, with the mountainous Sinai PENN
sula in sight on one side and the sandy
shores of Egypt on the other. A strong
west wind, such as drove the waters
upon the Egyptians Is blowing and the
sea is running high and heavy, dash
ing up on the deck of the great ocean
liner. For five days we have been
ploughing swiftly through the Red Sea,
which suggests how great is this body
of water which some commentators
would treat as if it were shallow mill
pond Only the supernatural interposl-
ton of the Ruler of wind and wave
could effect such a wonder as the cross
ing of the Red Sea by the Israelites; II
was a miracle of providence.
'sSpoiIing the Egyptians"
The enslaved Israelites went not
forth from Egypt empty-handed on the
night of the Passover. When the suf-
fering and panic-stricken Egyptians
did at length let them go they were or
a sudden more eager to get rid or their
slaves than they had been to retain
them. So when the Israelites came
asking for gifts-which is not strange
procedure in the eyes of one at all
acquainted with the east-they were
met with an attitude of Take 1t and
go: ANYTHING to get rid of you" The
old version says that the Israelites Dor
roWed' of the Egyptians; but this Is
palpable mistranslation; asked IS tne
word in the original. The state of mind
of the Egyptians must have been akin
to that of the terror-stricken Chinese
of Pekin, after the relief of the siege;
when in terror, they not only gave for
efgners whatever they asked, but even
heaped gifts upon them masking. 50
ii came to pass that the exiles went not
out empty; and probably, also, from
the dead bodies of the engulfed Egyp-
tians washed up on the Sinai shore,
they obtained Announcements OF war.
The route chosen by Moses was not
directly across the isthmus or Suez'
for that would have led into the coun-
try of the Philistines, and the newly
emancipated slaves needed much dis
ciplining before they were ready TO
enter upon hostilities with this war
like people So the line OF march lay
down the shores of Egypt toward the
Red sea; apparently into a "cul de
sac" but really into great deliver
ance that would forever eliminate
Pharaoh and his hosts as factor to
be feared.
A Strange Scene.
Even a disciplined army is cumber-
some in it's movements; those VINO
have seen great unorganized mob OF
people know how difficult it is to han
die. So the leadership of this raw
company of about two million souls,
six thousand of them fighting men.
was no small task for Moses. The
Israelites were each carrying such of
his meagre possessions as he could
bear away, and the whole were en-
numbered with fiocks and herds and
the inevitable impedimenta of an
Yet it was an army, notwithstanding
ALL 1t had a large measure of homo
geneity, common purpose and a
chiIdlike dependence upon the man
who represented its divine leadership.
The national sentiment which pervad-
ed the people was indicated by the fact
that the mummy of Joseph was car
ried among the most precious treas
ures. And before the host went the
strangest banner that ever an army
followed; a pillar of cloud by day and
a pillar Of fire by night, SIGNALLING
Jehovah's protection, providence and
leadership.
Harder than the slaves task of
making bricks without straw was that
which fell to Moses in leading on a
victorious way q people whose spirits
he hr-OI Nv a -
tyrannous masters. Sorely as the
Egyptians had snitten the sraelites in
their bodies, more sorely had they
smitten them in the spirit. They be-
queathed to Moses a company of crav-
en- hearts. So at the first sight OF pur-
suit-Pharaoh having realized the
value to him of his slaves after he had
let them go-the children of Israel
ignoble fashion. So Moses spoke unto
them the word that God is ever de-
cIaring into the ears OF his people, the
word that weak and timorous hearts
today most need to hear, Tear We not
Jehovah will fight foryou." God may
discipline his own, but he never de-
serts them.
The Enemy Appears.
II Is easy to be brave, as all brag-
CARTS art, when no enemy is in sight
But the truly courageous are they
who stand fast in the presence of dan
ger. Consider what drew nigh to
these fugitives, not yet emancipated
from the slave spirit, and with the
crack of the overseer's whip still in
their ears I quote Edersheim:
1t INST have been as the rays of the
setting sun were glinting upon the war
chariots. that the Israelites first de-
scribed the approach of Pharooh's
army 1t followed IN their track.
and came approaching them from the
north. There was. no escape In that
direction. Eastward was the sea; to
the west and south rose mountains.
Flight was impossible; defence SEEM