The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-08-12
GETTING OVER DIFFICULTIES
The International Sunday school les
son for August II l. Crossing n
Red Sea" IN. 1917 to 1i:31.
(By WILLIAM T. ELLIS)

The past casts its spell over the
present. and / noticed when coins
through the Suez Canal and the upper
caches Of the Red Sea that the pas
iengers were talking. most about the
;cene enacted in this region OF the
line OF the Exodus rather than about
he engineering wonders OF the canal
Itself The figure Of Moses loomed
arce over this region. AS one goes
~ rail from Suez To Cairo, he looks
ut over the very scenes witnessed by
he fleeing Children of Israel. The
liStoriCity Of this event and the actu-
.lity OF the places is to be stressed.
Some of us have been over a part Of
he region of the Exodus story while
our friends have %traversed every foot
u il. There is danger that many
-eadcrS of the great Exodus narra-
i've will say with the old woman of
he story. We'll now. l know all those
places were in the Bible, but l never
.hought of them being on the earth"
Looking into the flight of the chill
lrcn of Israel from beneath Pharaoh's
.ruel rod, which the death OF the first
born had temporarily lifted, we must
remember that every year is throwing
collateral light upon this story as men
Incarth and decipher more mOnu-
nents; and as they study more deeply
nto the facts and language of Scrip
.ure.
How Many Jews Made the Flight?
a huge and an interesting point in
his story. which looms like a pillar
# tire on the horizon OF history. is the
number OF the host of the Children of
israel who were delivered from Egypt.
The accepted belief has been hat
here were three million. This is built
An tho statement that there were SIX
hundred thousand fighting men. TAX
lng the Common average OF five per-
sons to q family, this immense total
mas been reached. Critics have not
oecn slow to point out the difficulties
Of leading such a host, and the prac-
tical impossibility of sustaining them
On the Sinai Peninsula. The passage
of the Red Sea in a night by three
million persons seems incredible.
The Gloating has been premature.
Scholars are now showing by evidence
that seems inco~ntrovertible that the
world translated thousands" in this
and man passages. is also the word
used for families" or clans This
whole subject is ~illuminatingly treated
in DR.. Hoskins' book. From the Nile
to Nebo.' This removes all difficulties
at a stroke. The word "alaf." if taken
to mean families, means that there
were six hundred families who made
the FXOOuS. LII. I1OSklliS COuIluSiOl
Is. 1.-THE numbers OF the Children o.
Israel were somewhere about 100. 0O(
souls, and these figures will be fOunC
to fit in satisfactorily with the COndi
tons in Egypt before the Exodus with
the conditions and possibilities through
the Exodus itself. and supply all tn
requirements for the growth and ex
tension OF the Kingdom after the Elk
odus."
The same authority suggests thre'
enlightening Illustrations:
1T might also be remarked here TO
the sake Of those who may find a diff
iiculty in letting go of the exaggerated
numbers which have played a part i
our mental conceptions since on
childhood. to recall another fact, tina
II was not the great numbers in tn
Anabasis t10. 900 Greeks), who march
ed up from the coast to the sea, no
the Moslem Hegira tdeparture) 15
~pcrsons), nor the great number o
board the Mayflower 102 soul
which made these movements famOu
and momentous in history. but tn
principles. moral and spiritual. whiC
led and sustained these soldiers an
pilgrims through their dangers an
viccisitudes. so also is it true in tn
matter of the Exodus. its importanC
for our race lies not in its number
great or small. but in the message
Gods truth which they carried
their breasts"
The Place Of the Crossing
The old figure of speech that "
stand on the shoulders of all who ha,
lived before us is especially applicab
10 Bible study. Fifty years have i
in A fiood OF light upon the history
the Bible from sources undreamed
our atherS. We now know a multi
tude Of archaeological facts that ShO
the reasons for many of the actor
reported in the Bible history witho'
explanation. Thus the Children
Israel might have chosen three rout
out OF E.gypt-One UP along the Me
iterranean shore. which is still Il
dircctcst route from Canaan. h
which would have led them into i
slant conflict with the Philistine
second. the central route through I
great Egyptian wall which Was guar
ell 10y Pharaoh'S troops: or the thi
r,uIe below the lower end Of the Wa
winch. however. involved IA cross;
%: tue Red Sea. Be il remember