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6
TR&CK THROUGH THE <BTBLE
"By G.
Appearing TLbery Week During 1907. {Copyright American Serial Rights Applied Tor by The Golden Age Publishing Co. All Rights Resorbed.}
EXODUS—THE EMERGENCE OF THE NATION,
A. Bondage, i.—v. B. Deliverance, vi.—xviii. C. Organization. xix.—xl.
I. Israel in Egypt. i. I. Jehovah and Moses. I- Preliminary and Fundamental. xix., xx.
i. Growth of the na- vi.—vii. 7 i. The Purpose. Grace. xix.
tion. i. 1-7 The Charge. a. The Call of Grace. 1-6
ii. Oppression. 1. 8.22 i. Self-declaration of b. The Answer of Ignorance. 7, 8
Jehovah. vi. 1-9 c. The Way of Exclusion. 9-25
ii. The Charge and ii. The Plan. Law. xx.
Fear vi. 10-12 a. The Ten Words. 1-17
(Parenthesis. 13-27) b. The Answer of Ignorance. 18-21
iii. The Charge and c. The Way of Approach. 22-26
Faith, vi. 28 —vii. 7
11. Moses. ii.—iv. "■ Jehovah and Pharaoh. 11. La ™=- XX, . X ™i
i. Birth and Preserve- vii. S-xi. 1. Os the Person. xxi. 1-32
tion II 110 Judgment. u. Os Property. xxi. 33—xxn. 15
ii. Flight and Resi- I- The Approach. iii. Os the State. xxli. 16-xxiii 19
dence in Midlan. vii. S' l3 IV ' The Angel promlsed ' xxln - 20 ' 33
ii. 11-22 First cycle—
iii. His call. 3 Plagues.
ii. 23—iv. 17 _ y ii- 14-viii. 19
iv. His Obedience. iii- Second cycle
iv. 18-31 3 Plagues.
viii. 20 —ix. 12
iv. Third cycle—
-3 Plagues.
ix. 13 —x. 29
v. Final. xi.
11l Israel and Pharaoh HI. Jehovah and Israel. HI- The System of Worship. xxiv.—xl.
'i. Moses and Pharaoh. xil.-xviil. 1. Instruction and Equipment, xxiv.-xxxi
v 1-18 i- Deliverance. a. Preliminary Communion. xxiv.
ii. Moses and Israel. xli.-xv. 21 b. Detailed Instructions. xxv.-xxx.
19-21 a. The Exodus. c. Promised Equipment. xxxi.
iii. Moses and Jehovah. xil.—xiii. 16 ii. Interlude. The People’s sin.
22 23 b. Forward. xxxii.—xxxiv.
xiii. 17 —xv. 21 a. The Sin. xxxii. 1-6
ii. Guidance. b. The Mediation. xxii. 7 —xxxiv.
xv. 22 —xviii. iii. Construction and Consecration.
a. Marah. xv. 22-26 xxxv.—xl.
b. Elim. xv. 27 a. Construction. xxxv. —xxxix. 32
c. Sin. xvi. b. Consecration. xxxix. 33 —xl.
d. Rephidim.
xvii., xviii.
■
EXODUS.
The book of Exodus is a continuation of the story
told in the latter part of the book of Genesis. In
Exodus nothing is commenced and nothing is fin
ished. It is a link in the chain of the story of
God’s dealings with the human race. For the sake
of linking the subject to that which has gone be
fore, let it be remembered that the book of Genesis
was divided into three parts: first. Generation; sed
ond 1 v Dege n erat ion ; thirdly, Regenera tio n.
' ■ •- 7
!
/IF ''
II as, lw
G. CAMPBELL MORGAN.
Tn considering Regeneration we saw the work
proceeding with regard to the individual, the fam
ily, and society. The last note in Genesis indicates
the line of the regeneration of the nation.
We now turn to Exodus. The word “Now” with
which the first chapter commences may with perfect
accuracy be translated “And.” It is a word mark
ing continuity. If we take the book of Genesis
away the book of Exodus becomes meaningless. All
the history in Exodus depends upon that in Gen
esis. We left the children of Israel a people withr
out a national consciousness, or organization. We
are now to study the account of the emergence of
the nation.
The Golden Age for January 24, 1907.
There are three clearly defined divisions in the
book: Bondage, Deliverance, and Organization.
(a) Bondage.
Segregated from the corrupting influences of the
land of Canaan, the children of Israel rapidly mul
tiplied in the land of Goshen.
This very growth became a menace to Egypt, and
from the standpoint of political expediency Pha
roah was justified in resorting to extreme measures
to check this growth. High enthroned over Pha
roah, Jehovah permitted His people to pass through
the long period of oppression and suffering, and so
stiffened the national fibre, as He thereby made
the people strong for the campaigns of the future.
As the appointed time for deliverance approach
ed. the instrument of God was found, and prepared.
The story of Moses occupies 'the next section. His
preservation presents a wonderfully human picture
as it manifests the sweet art of mother love. The in
spiration of love’s activity was, ais we learn from
the New Testament, that of faith.
Jehovah’s overruling of circumstances toward the
accomplishment of His purpose is seen in the com
ing of Pharaoh’s daughter. The history of the hu
man race has been affected by the fact that on
a given day a baby cried info the face of a woman.
The baby found its way into the woman’s heart,
and the woman carried the baby into the heart of
Egypt’s power. There the future leader of the na
tion received his education, and the first part of
the preparation necessary for the work that lay be
fore him.
Forty years passed away, and the child, having
become a man, turned his back upon the couit of
Egypt, and upon all its splendours. His flight was
also under the government of God. If he bad at
tempted to deliver Israel at forty years of age, he
would have failed. The man, cultured and refined,
with all the learning of his time, passed to the next
period of his preparation in the majestic loneliness
of the Sinaitic peninsula. It was change from lesser
to greater grandeur. The solitude of the mountains
under the golden light of sun by day, and the state
ly solemnity of stars by night, is more full of ma
jesty than all the glitter of an earthly court. There
Moses was a shepherd, and so received the next part
of his preparation for leadership.
Then follows the account of his direct call and
commission. In it Jehovah had to meet and deal
with the difficulties of Moses’ fear. The victory
was with God. and Moses turned his back this time
upon the loneliness of the wilderness, arid set his
face toward the court of Pharaoh.
(b) Deliverance.
In this division Jehovah emerges from the shad
ows into clear light, and becomes the centre of su
preme interest. He is seen dealing with Moses by
way of preparation, with Pharaoh in judment, and
with His people in deliverance and guidance.
Tn the first section we have the account of the
answer which Jehovah gave to the complaint of His
servant, when he was discouraged at his first recep
tion both by Pharaoh and his own people.
This answer consisted, in the first place, of a
grea t sei f-deci ara tion.
In the course of it the words “I am Jehovah” are
used four times, and surrounding these declarations
are affirmations concerning the Divine activity.
”1 appeared ... I was not known ... I have es
tablished My covenant ... I have heard the groan
ing ... I have remembered my covenant ... I
will bring you out ... I will rid you out . . .
I will redeem you ... I will take you to me . . .
I will be to you a God ... I will bring you in
... I will give it you.” The value of this declar
ation may be gathered by a recognition of the diffi
culty of the position which Moses occupied. The
man who had been brought up in the court of
Egypt had returned to it to declare the authority
of another Potentate, an unseen King. He had been
treated with contempt by Pharaoh. The very peo
ple he had come to deliver, had refused to hear him.
He had returned to God with his complaint, and the
method of the Divine dealing with him was that of
unveiling before him His own glory. Moses was
never afraid again. There were other failures, but
no fear of God was manifest from that moment
to the end. He had seen a new vision of Him, and
doubted His power no more.
And yet fear was immediately manifest, but It
was fear of himself. It was difficult to believe that
he could be the instrument of such a God. This
new fear Jehovah answered by assuring His servant
that his strength before Pharaoh would not be that
of his own eloquence of power, but that of Divine
preparation and equipment. Then faith triumphed
over fear and Moses went forward to the work apt
pointed him.
The next section reveals Jehovah dealing with
Pharaoh in judgment. That judgment moves in
three cycles, in each of which three plagues demon
strate the power of God. These all failing to bring
the heart of Pharaoh into willing submission, a
fourth and final judgment fell upon him.
In the story of this process of judgment it is nec
essary to draw a most careful distinction between
Pharaoh’s hardening of his own heart, and God’s
hardening of his heart. This is one of the great
passages in Scripture in which the Authorized Ver
sion is apt to mislead. There, throughout the ac
count it is declared that the Lord hardened the
heart of Pharaoh. The Hebrew text does not war
rant any such translation. As a matter of fact it
is never stated that Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s
heart until the end of the second cycle of plagues.
Moreover two different words are made use of,
although both are translated “hardened.” One of
these means to make strong or courageous. The
other means to make stubborn. It is declared from
the beginning that God made his heart strong or
courageous, thus setting him absolutely free for the
unfearing exercise of his own will. It is never de
clared that God made his heart stubborn until it had
(Concluded on Page 12.)
