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2 THE GOLDEN AGE FOR JULY 3, 1913 GOD IN THE UNSEEN FORCES OF LIFE GOD IN THE UNSEEN FORCES OF LIFE; OR MOSES, HIS CHILHOOD AND PREPARATION. Reported for The Golden Age by M. P. H. —Copyright Applied For. M a . hWiJ MX r® i J l&tSr 7j rßjwa CHRIST CHURCH. LONDON. Scripture: Exodus I and 11. Special Text: Hebrews 11:23-26: “By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. By faith. Moses, when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the re ward.” THE Book of Exodus is divided into three general sections, Bondage; Deliverance; iWWI Organization. In the section of Bondage, we have first, the growth of I rael and, second, their op pression by Pharoah. In the section of Deliverance, we have first the preparation, and, second, the actual move ment. In the section of Organization, we have first, the law, and, second, worship. In our present study we shall attempt to com pass the following: 1. The growth of Israel in Egypt. 2. Their oppres ion by Pharoah. 3. The first stages of the preparation for de liverance. viz.: The birth of Moses, to his call. All of our present study is covered by chap ters one and two of the Book of Exodus, and I want us first to look at the growth cf Israel in Egypt, in chapter one, verses one to seven. The land of Goschen was one of Egypt’s most fertile sections, and contained abcut a hundred square miles. Here, the Israelites befoie, and after the death of Pharoah, had great prosper ity, and grew in numbers very rapidly. They had come from a somewhat crude civilization, to the most civilized, highly educated country in the world, where arts and crafts were car ried cut with greatest skill. This gave them an opportunity for growth, and enlargement of mind, and even of culture, and of means for Do You Love The Golden Age ?—How Much ?—Look at Your Label and Send Check proc 1 aiming the truth of God —a fine training school for what Gcd had in store for them in the not distant future. Israel was founded upon a good ancestry; they had Abraham as their forefather. They were inspired, too, by a lofty ideal —God’s cove-’ nant of promise. Moreover, this was strength ened by contact with the greatest nation in the world at that time. It is good for any people to have such a training. Let us now look at their oppression by Phar oah, in chapter one, verses eight to twenty-two. This oppression resulted in five essential things. If you want to unite a people together, you give that people one common form of suffering, and require them all to pass through it, and as they do so they will find themselves the closer knit together. So in order that God should bind this people into one inseparable company, that had to pass through one common suffering— the school of prosperity is not enough training for a people to lead in the salvation of a race. There must be the school of adversity also. Hence we find Israel in the school of adversity. Pharoah had gotten jealous of the progress and prosperity of the Israelites, and determined to put an end to it. First, he put severe task mas ters to rule ever them. Then he deprived them of their freedom and liberty. Finally he de creed that every new-born son was to be cast into the river. This oppression resulted in five things: First, it kept the Hebrews separate from the Egyp tians preventing them from inter-marriage, and debasing contact with idolatry. Second, it un ited them into one nation, binding them to gether in the strongest tie known to the world —the tie of a common sorrow. Third, it tend ed to wean them from idols—the gods of their enemies, and led them to the One God who had helped them thus far. Fourth, serving under the Egyptians, and fcr them, they were given an opportunity to learn their arts and sciences; to study their national works, and be come acquainted with their industrial life. Professor Price has said: “It was an indus trial training school, in the foremest civiliza tion of that day.” First, it broke every tie between them and Egypt, so that they were pre pared to leave when God’s appointed time came Every whit of this was nec ssa y in the light of what was to take place after a while, and shows us Gid’s moving behind the scenes. This brings us to the consideration of the first stages of the preparation for their deliv erance, viz.: The birth of Moses. God had had his eye upon this people all the while. He had made his c venant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them the land of Canaan, and to make them a great people and able ing to the world. He had had hi $ eye upon their movements in Egypt. He had his eye upon their cruel oppression and determined to de liver them; so he begins this movement for their final deliverance, and the carrying out of his covenant promise, and the fiist instru ment in their deliverance is a man. It is al ways so in every movement of God. If you look back over the history cf the race you will ob erve that at every important turn of history, you find a man at the head of the procession, and that man in touch with God. Hence, we have the birth of Moses. The ex-, act date of his birth is not known, but it is said to be somewhere between 1578-1700 B. C. The place of his birth was in Goschen. His father and mother were obscure people, but religious for we are told in Hebrews 11:23 that they acted “through faith.” Observe here, how large a proportion of the great men of history have been children of ebseure parentage. It would be very interest ing, if we had time, to see to what a great extent this is true. Men foremost in war, in literature, in matters of state, on the platform, in the pulpit, in the financial side of life. Oh, what a great majority of them if we could simply look through the list, we should find have been men, who, like Moses, have sprung from the most obscure parentage. God seems to have gone contrary to the world, and se lected cur greatest leaders from the ranks of the obscure. At the time of Moses’ birth, the decree of Pharoah for the destruction of every male child that was being born to the Israelites, was in effect. And Moses’ parents, in order to save him, hid him three months. Then, when they could hide him no longer, they placed him in the bull-rushes where he was discovered by Pharoah’s daughter. All are fa miliar with this pathetic and heroic story, and how it ended. There is a beautiful legend that represents Pharoah’s daughter as a leper, who, by advice was bathing in the Nile for a cure. But only when her heart felt fcr the babe, and her hand touched him her leprosy fled. George T. Cos ter has taken this legend, and woven it into verse, and I give it to you here: “Day after day she bathed, but grew no better, Her sorrow daily grew; The future tightening round her like a fetter, Her sky no spot of blue. Compassion filled her. With fond words and speeches, She sought its tears to stay; And then her hand, sad lepros hand, outreaches Its tears to wipe away. She touched the babe, and, instantaneous won der— Her lepresy had fled. In thine own heart, 0 thou with sorrow smitten, Prove this old legend true. Forget thyself; console the sadness near thee, Thine own shall then depart, And songs of joy like heavenly birds, shall cheer thee, And dwell within thine heart.” This brings us to his training for his life work, which divides itself into two periods of fsrty years each. First, his training under Pharoah. and, second, his training under ban ishment in Midian. Let us consider these sep arately. First, his training under Pharoah: This again divides itself into two parts. First, his home We do net know how long Moses re mained with his parents under Pharoah’s watch-care, but it was somewhere between (Continued on page 14.)