Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-04
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
PHARAOH OPPRESsES ISRAEL.
Exodus, Lila: 2.1-25.r
Golden textile will save the
children of the needy, and break.
in pieces the oppressor.-Psalm
ia
BY REV. HUGH t. STEVENSON.

BY REV. HUGH T. STEVENSON.
The first lesson in the new year is
In reality merely continuation of the
studies of the last three months and
10 the second part in a six-montf
course on the patriarchs and early
leaders Of Israel. from Abraham tc
the settlement of Canaan. During
the past quarter we saw the origin OF
the people Of Israel and the training
Of the patriarchs of the chosen fam
lily. FIRST there was Abraham, to whom
was given the impulse to leave III
Of the Chaldees, to leave his home
and country, and to journey to the
west to an unknown land, which was
to be given to him and to his de-
scendants. This promise made to him
was handed down from generation to
generation. through Isaac and Jacob.
The sons of Jacob, impelled by threat
ened starvation. were forced to seek
food in the land of Egypt, where,
through Gods leadership, Joseph had
been brought into joint rulership with
Pharaoh. Here the little band set
tied in the prosperous land of Goshen
and took care of their hocks and
herds. In the coming quarter We
shall study how from the chosen fam
lily God developed the chosen nation,
how the people were oppressed, how,
under the leadership of Moses, they
were led out of bondage into the
wilderness of Sinai. how under God
He gave them great code of laws
and made of mob a compact people,
and finally how under the guidance
of the heroic Joshua they came into
the promised land.
These are ancient stories familiar TO
the student of the Bible. 1t will not
be our purpose So much to gather It
mass of historical facts from these
lessons. Rather ii will be our en-
deavor to get at the human elements
in each lesson and to find the practi-
cal application of interest to the world
of today. Though we shall come to
many interesting bits of history. what
we shall endeavor to find is the mes
sage that God has for the twentiet tn
century.
The book of Genesis closed with a
story of peace and prosperity. The
book of Exodus opens almost with
story of adversely. Joseph during his
lifetime was able to look after the
interests of his family But his al
lotted years were now past and after
his death there came to the throne
of the Pharaohs new line Of rulers
For several hundred years Egypt had
been ruled by an Asiatic dynasty. call
ed the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings,
who, being Asiatics, naturally toier-
ated the Hebrew people. This new
line Of rulers, being Egyptian had no
liking for this growing and thrifty
tribe, living in the rich agricultural
portion of the Kingdom. 1t was proba-
r. "a vIila nf a
the israelites were brought into bon
dage. This Rameses II was great
builder who saw in the descendants
of Joseph good material for his armies
of workmen. Twenty-one of the
thfrty-two obelisks of Egypt. and
seven Of the eight ruined temples of
Thebes have been ascribed to him. 1t
As Impossible, however, to, tell just
how accurate this is, as he had a habit
of : celebrating the names of his
predecessors and substituting his own.
a further proof of his lack of mod
the obelisk I'm London, which boast
fully speak of "Rameses, chastiser of
foreign lands, son of the sun, dragging
the foreigners of southern nations to
fhe great sea, the foreigners of the
northern nations to the four poles OF
heaven, lord of the. two countries. SON
of the sun, RaIneses, giver of life like
the sun"
This ruler saw in the Hebrews liv-,
ing in the northeastern part of his
Kingdom q serious menace. They
held the key to the military situation,
and It was to remove this sword that
hung over the kingdom that Rameses
II took them from their peaceful. ag-
ricultura1 pursuits to the harsh tasks
Of physical labor in the fields. With
their labor he built forts. granaries,-
roads, temples, storehouses and pal
aces. Upon Gods children were prac-
ticed nj Of the cruel arts known to
the oppressor. They knew what it
was to feel the lash Of the taskmas-
ter. That human1ife was held cheap
~ when it came to great construction
projects such as Rameses II was ia
Herodotus, who tells us that the dig
ging of the canal between the Nile
and the Red sea cost the lives of
10000 workmen.
With the death Of Joseph the prom
ises of God seem to have also died
Centuries have elapsed since these
grand promises were given to Abra-
ham, and now. with Joseph gone and
the people brought down to abject
slavery, the last hope of their full
Hl1ment seems to have vanished
Then. when the nations continue to
increase and multiply. in spite of the
royal edict that all male children shall
be destroyed as soon as born, it
would seem that they were merely
slipping farther and farther into the
nnire. Where was their God of Jeho-
yah? Did He not care? Did He not
about all those great promises that