The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-01-24

near,S ear ye not SChOf0A
will fight for you" God may disci-
pline His own, but He never deserts
them.
'.Thcy Shall Not Pass
1t is easy to be brave, as ALI bragg
CARTS are, when no enemy is in sight
But the truly courageous are they who
can stand fast in the presence of dam
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. / quote Edersheim:
1T must have been as the rays of
the setting sun were glinting upon the
war chariots that the Israelities first
described the approach of Phareohs
army. 1t followed in their track, and
/ came approaching them from the
north, there was no escape in that
| direction. Flight was impossible; de-
tense seemed madness. Once more
the faith of Israel signally failed, and
they broke into murmuring against
| Moses. But the Lord was faithful.
What now took place was to be not
only the final act of sovereign deliver
merely to serve ever afterwards as a
memorial by which Israels faith
might be upheld, but also to teach, by
the judgments upon Egypt, that Jeho-
yah was righteous and a holy
Judge
John Knox before Mary. Queen of
Scots. and Luther at the Diet of
! Worms, are suggested by the answer
| 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 ter
rible about the assurance and holiness
| of the man who knows that he speaks
| for God. Hear the swish of the sword
| of battle in these words to the fsint-
hearted; Fear We not. stand stiH. and
will work for you today: for the Egyp-
| tians whom We have seen today, ye
| 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 will of
| the Lord of hosts? This surely must
be the browning horror of the fugitive
ex-kaiser's tormenting thoughts. He
! now knows that the Supreme Being
| Whom he blasphemed fought against
him.
The Interposed Cloud.
| Speak unto the children of Israel
that they go forward" cried Jehovah
to Moses The divine program for hui
mainly is progress. That is Gods
message to every Individual life and
to the race as a whole. To emphasize
1t he often mercifully shuts all paths
| except the one that means advance
| True. real progress is not always along
the line of the least resistance; there
| are Red Seas to be crossed in every
experience. But when God points the
! way He also prepared II.
AS protection pending the passa ge
the cloud which had led the vanguard
became the rearguard; it 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 mysterious veil
the Lord was preparing great things
for His own, and terrible things for
His enemies. 1t was soon to he DEM
onstrated. as Moses sang. Jehovah
Is man of war;
The Great Miracle.
And wonderful weapons He Yields.
Since He holdeth the winds in His fist
it was easy for God by great east
wind to pile up the waters of the tur-
/ bulent sea. so where the fishes had
| swum the 1sraelites walked dry shod.
This passage OF the Red Sea was a
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 way of escape for the
Israelites. hemmed in on all other
sides Dozens of great ocean liners
may now anchor in what is CONNIE on
ly regarded as the site of the cross
ing: water like this does not naturally
become dry land for night God did
il: it was but one of the countless un-
guessed tactics which the God Of war
has at His command.
The wall of water on either side
the simple statement of inspiration is
ma1estic-made an impression upon
the marching Israelites; even as II 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 Je-
hovah obiises 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
i picked chariots, essayed to follow by
the game path. But what had been
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
fighteth for them
The Song of Victory.
Therein the Egyptians. ere they
were engulfed in the grip of the God
whom they defied. showed under
standing of the significance of tho
whole matter. God was caring for
His own people and indicating His
own name. That is the point of the
whole story, as IL appeared in the song
of victory which Moses sang: and in
the later song of the Psalmist. 1917
12):
"Our fathers understood not' Thy wonders
In Egypt:
They remembered not the multitude Of Thy
loving kindnesses
But were rebelIious at the sea. even the
Red Sea.
Nevertheless He saved them for His names
i. sake.
That He might make His mighty power
to be known.
He rebuked the ,ted Sea also. and II was
dried up;
So he led them thru the depths as thru
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 sdversaries;
There not one Of them left.
!. LII. .....I LII