The Topeka state journal., 1913-08-09

! and custodians of the truth of the
one God, supreme over all the ma
| tions.
The Dread Egyptian Night.
There was a great cry in Egypt
1 heard the women of an Egyptian
family wailine oned ay in Carlo over
the death of a loved one 1t was q
new sound to me, which, alas, 1 have
heard often repeated throughout tho
East. This western world knows il
not. We should be glad that the
heart-harrowing wall never rises TO
tai usage. The death-cry of the Fast
has in it so much of heart-b break, so
much of loss and longing, that no
occidental cares to hear it again.
The imagination is not equal to
the task of filling the whole of
Egypt with that indescribable wall.
when at midnight the death angel
smote the first-born of all the people.
The calamity must be analyzed to
be understood The grief in Pharaoh's s
household is itself enough to think up
on. Equally great was the grief in the
hut of the peasant. where the young
mother hugged to her heart the still
body of her only son. In dungeon and
in palace, this universal human cal2m-
ity was felt No other plague could
have reached so far or have been felt
so deeply as this.
0Tuel. nat QepenQS- nedTd Il mis-
sionary talk philosophically the other
day about the necessary evil of a few
hundred people losing their lives that
nation might be delivered. The judg
ment of history always has gone
solidly for this philosophy. Every war
has been a testimonial to it. 1t is eX-
pedient that some die that the many
may be saved. Gods own Son was not
too great price to pay for the emanci-
patton of race from sin. In the near
view, with nothing else IN sight but
the suffering of the Egyptians, the
death of the first-born was a horrible
calamity. In the long look. it was but
a sad incident in great and bene6ccnt
providence.
The first purpose of this last awful
plague was accomplished. Instantly
there arose a clamor to expel the He
brews The lesson was not lost upon
the people. They saw the connection
between their oppression of the Jews
and their defiance of the God of Isreal
with this immeaSurab BILE calamity. In
a night they drove out the children Of
IsreaI crying, Take both your f1ocHs
and your herds, as ye had said, and be
gone"
The Historic Going Forth.
These slaves, suddenly emancipated
by the edict forced from Pharaoh at so
fearful a cost, were not furnished for
travel. They had no money and few
Therefore they resorted to
the oriental usage, which still persists
in the east,of asking "backsheesh" Of
their more fortunate neighbors. The
Did verson translated this passage that !
hey borrowed" jewels from the |
Egyptians. There is no warrant for
his in the original text, and the re-
Used version makes it clear that they
asked" And the Egyptians freely
rave. albeit more lavishly than they
would have done under less critical
circumstances Men We're willing to
give up their all if they might only
get out of their sight these people |
whose presence brought such disasters. |
A word here about the date of the !
exodus is in order. This is a subject
nents must both be consulted. In
'olved in the problem are critical !
questions as to the ruling monarch at |
he time of this Exodus. Jacob en- |
cred Egypt about 1877. Joseph was
made governor in Egypt about 1887 |
The Exodus, according to the consen- /
us of modern scholarship. was about |
447 B. c. There are difficulties, and |
ret these are clearing up steadily with
urther archaeological knowledge. The
Biblical account is being vindicated,
md the four hundred years of bondage
re becoming better attested from
ocular sources.
On this whole subject the most il
!
lew book of singular fascination,
merely as travel record. From the
>Ile to Nebo." by Rev. Franklin E.
Ioskins. D. d, published by the Sun
lay School Times company. This is
ot only record of a personal journey
rom Egypt through Sinai to Canaan,
Ver the route of the children of
srael, with the comments of veteran
IRA bic scholar and traveller, but it is
lSo a scholarly examination of such
ritical points as the one at issue. L
ommend it as lesson help at this
ime. A word of caution is to be ex-
ressed, however. to the average Bible
eader, concerning engrossment in
hese purely technical problems. The
mes of John c. Sharp express a
hought that should always be in the
minds of the students of points of
'iblical criticism:
I have a life with Christ to live;
But ere l live it must 1 wait
i'll learning can clear answer give
OF this and that books date?
have a life in Christ to live,
l have death in Christ to die;
md L must wait till Science give
All doubts a full reply"
The Great Exemption.
This story is to be studied not in the
ght of the Egyptians who died, but of
he 1sraelities who lived. 1t is the
asslng over of those who should be
1ved for great service. Its mes
age is that God has a zeal for His
wn. He keeps covenant faith. The
hole philosophy of religion hinges
n this cardinal truth OF the right of
ian to enter into a covenant with God.
ONE orientaliSts, the late H. Clay
rumbul conspicuous among them.
ave pointed out that the thresh old
ovenant, and the sprinkling of the
with blood implied not only
lat the angel of death would pass by,
ut also that Jehovah Himself would
ass in 1t was not only a salvation
ON death, but a salvation to life with
od.
Our study of the Passover has its '
resent point in the great truth of the
ew Testament that Christ our Pass ,
yer is sacrificed for u.s. He is ''the