|
Bible History of the Old Testament |
||
When the apostles went forth into the Roman world, they could speak to many people in different places because Grecian culture, modes of thinking, and language were spoken universally at the time they were spreading the Gospel. This had to be the Divine Providence of God to work everything out like that. What Greece was to the world at the time of Christ, Egypt had been that and much more when the children of Israel became a God-chosen nation. In neither case, though, did the truth of God need help from the wisdom of this world. God always uses natural means for supernatural ends, and makes all things work together for His Glory. History thought it was pursuing its independent course, and science, philosophy, and the arts were seeming to advance apparently without any help from God at all. Everything in the end, though, was done for the furtherance of God's Kingdom. It was important that the children of Israel should have come into Egypt and settled there for many years before becoming an independent nation. The early history of the sons of Jacob showed that they needed to be separated from the people of Canaan. They also would have to go through some severe problems before they would be ready to inhabit their own land. They first had to learn how to trust God and depend on Him. Egypt was the best place they could have been for their training for forming their own nation, for at this time she offered the only suitable opportunities for them to learn and grow. It is true that they had to suffer some problems, but that could have happened anywhere they went. The benefits that they derived from staying in Egypt were very peculiar and unique. So Israel's bondage and God's wonderful deliverance took place on the great scene of the ancient world-empire of Egypt. So close was the connection between Israel and Egypt, that it would be impossible to properly understand the history of Israel without knowing something about their connection with Egypt. The rest of this chapter, then, will be devoted to a brief description of Egypt. Historians tend to differ as to the exact periods that particular events took place. Each year, though, there continue to be archaeological digs and finds that bear out exactly what the Bible says. Some of the things that have been discovered are Assyrian monuments, the stone which records the story of Moab in 2 Kings Chapter 3, the temples, the graves, and the ancient papyri of Egypt. They each tell their own story that marvelously bears out the truth of the Scripture narrative. The connection between Israel and Egypt began with the visit of Abram there. On his arrival, he must have found the people there already in a high state of civilization. Abram's history gains fresh light from monuments and old papyri that have been found. There is one papyrus known as The Two Brothers that is probably the oldest work of fiction in existence today. It proves that Abram had occasion for fear on account of Sarai by instructing her to say that she was his sister. It also tells of a Pharaoh who sent two armies to take a fair woman from her husband, then to murder him. Another papyrus records how the wife and children of a foreigner were taken from him by a Pharaoh. It has been found that this papyrus dates from nearly the time when the patriarch was in Egypt. From the same period, there is a picture in one of the tombs that represents the arrival of a nomad chief, like Abram and his family, who seek the protection of the prince. The newcomer is received as a person of distinction. There is another Egyptian story that might remind one of Joseph. Its hero is a foreign nomad, who rises to the highest rank at Pharaoh's court and becomes his chief counselor. These are just some of the instances of how Egyptian history illustrates and confirms what the Bible says. An Egyptian inscription that has been discovered shows of the forced employment of the children of Israel in building and repairing certain cities. There is also a pictorial representation of Semitic captives, probably Israelites, making bricks in the manner described in the Bible; and another drawing of people who are drawing stones, cutting them in the quarries, and completing and enlarging the fortified city of Rameses, which their fathers had formerly built. The builders that are depicted in the latter were expressly called Aperu, or Hebrew. The Egyptian monuments also had a dramatic effect on the early history of Israel, and one sheds remarkable light on the other. In general, most of the knowledge of Egyptian history is derived from the monuments that were spoken about in the previous paragraphs, and from the historical work of Manetho who was an Egyptian priest who lived about 250 B. C. At this time, most of the monuments that had been built in Egypt were still intact, and Manetho had access to them all. He was a very learned man in the ancient literature of his country, and wrote under the direction and permission of the then monarch of the land. Unfortunately, the biggest portion of his work has been lost, and only fragments of it exist in a chronicle written by a Christian convert of the third century called Julius Africanus. Most of his work was lost also, and all we have to go on is writers who had written about him and used many of his quotes in their books. Like most heathen chronologies, Manetho's catalogue of kings begins with gods, and afterwards he listed 30 dynasties, which brought the history down to the year 343 B. C. In his list, many of the kings overlap because they were in different parts of the country. It is not possible to really know many of the details until the 12th dynasty. Under this dynasty, the whole of Egypt was united under one dictator. According to the monuments, the country was in a very high state of prosperity and civilization. It is at the beginning of this dynasty that it is supposed that the visit of Abram took place. The reign of the 12th dynasty lasted more than 2 centuries. It is either at its close or the beginning of the 13th dynasty that Joseph ascended to the throne and ruled. Then history is almost blank from the middle of the 13th dynasty to the 18th one. That period was ruled by the Hyksos, or Shepherd kings, who were a foreign and barbarous race of invaders. They were hated and opposed by the people. Their period of reign lasted to between 2 and 3 centuries, which agrees with Scripture chronology. They were evidently an eastern race and might have been of Phoenician origin, because the first two names of their kings were definitely Semitic. There is also evidence that this race brought with it the worship of Baal and the practice of human sacrifices - both of these being of Phoenician origin. It is important to keep this in mind, because there had been almost continual warfare between the Phoenicians along the west coast of Palestine and the Hittites and native Egyptian kings. This constant animosity could also explain why they thought of these people as an abomination to them. It could also explain why the Shepherd kings didn't bother the Israelite shepherds in the land of Goshen. Joseph's rule could not have been at a different time because the Bible says that Egypt was a peaceful, prosperous state and united under the rule of one king, as talked about in the Bible. During the rule of the Hyksos, Egypt was in a divided, distracted, and chaotic state. It is here again that the monuments give remarkable confirmation of the history of Joseph. The names of three of the Pharaohs of the 13th dynasty also bear a striking resemblance to that given by the Pharaoh of the Bible to Joseph (Zaphnath-paaneah). Also, the pharaoh in this dynasty had a very special relationship to the priest city of On, in that its high-priest was almost always a near relative of Pharaoh. Also the monuments of that period enable us to understand the history of Joseph's marriage, but they also throw light on a question of much greater importance - How could such a devout and pious servant of God such as Joseph have entered into such a close relationship with the priesthood of Egypt. In this area, much knowledge of the priest-hood of Egypt can furnish a complete answer. Every race had undoubtedly had at first some knowledge of the one true God, and the pure religion that was inherited from Paradise. This type of religion seems to have been longest preserved in Egypt, because the earliest religious records that were preserved in the work The Ritual For the Dead, disclose a different state of things from what they had digressed to at this time in their history. Every age had witnessed more corruptions until at last Egypt had fallen almost completely away from where they had started. There can be no doubt, though, that even though they had fallen away from the God they had once known, they embodied belief in "the unity, eternity, and self-existence of the unknown Deity"; the immortality of the soul, and in future rewards and punishments. They also felt a high calling to morality. When the children of Israel went into the wilderness, they took with them the many lessons that had been taught to them from Egypt. The had, though, to acquire the truth that the Deity that was unknown to the Egyptians was Jehovah, the living and True God. This is how such a close connection between Joseph and the Egyptian priesthood was both possible and likely. They both believed in one being who ruled ultimately. This is not the only thing, though. It was only under a powerful native ruler that the re-division of the land and the rearrangement of taxation could have taken place that Joseph proposed. We know from history that under the rule of the last great king of the 13th dynasty, a completely new system of Nile-irrigation was introduced. This was probably to avoid another period of famine. Also, a place by the artificial lake bears the name of Pi-aneh, which means "the house of life", a name like that given by Pharaoh to Joseph. It is thought that Israel remained undisturbed in Egypt during the brief 14th dynasty and the Hyksos period. After the "shepherd kings" had been expelled, the Israelite population remained behind in the borderland of Goshen. They would naturally have seemed dangerously large to a new king who knew nothing about them. The king also may have found out that the Israelites had the same occupation as the terrible "shepherd kings" had. Under these circumstances, it is easy to see how the king might have felt that he needed to weaken such a population by forced labor. He didn't want them to be able to rise up against him in any way. He forced them to build fortress-cities, such as Pithom and Raamses. Raamses bore the name of the district in which it was situated, and Pithom meant "the fortress of foreigners". We also learn from the monuments that the new king Aahmes I, employed Fenchu (bearers of the shepherd's staff) in building his fortresses. This would exactly describe the Israelites. The period between Aahmes I and Thothmes II, is when the Exodus is thought to have taken place. This also agrees with Scripture. Thothmes II began his reign very brilliantly, but after a while there is a total blank in all the records concerning him. After his death, there was a general revolt among the nations whom his father had conquered. There is no mention of the disasters the nation sustained at the Exodus, nor how Pharaoh and his men had perished in the Red Sea, but it is thought that the reason that there is a blank about him is because he may have been in command during this time and been killed by the Red Sea collapsing on him. The king would have been dead, there would have been no son to succeed him, and the throne would have been occupied by the widow of the Pharaoh. For twenty years there was no attempt to recover the nations of Canaan and east of the Jordan by Egypt. According to the monuments, also, the queen was a proud and bitterly superstitious woman - just such a one that we could expect would encourage Pharaoh to harden his heart against Israel and their Jehovah God. Also from Egyptian documents, we learn that just before the children of Israel entered the desert of Sinai, the Egyptians ceased to occupy the mines which they had worked for years in that peninsula. Also during the latter part of Israel's stay in the wilderness Thothmes III carried on and completed his wars in Canaan, and just immediately before the entry of Israel into Palestine the great confederacy of Canaanite kings was broken up because of this. All this explains the broken state of the country, which was so different from the great powers there forty years before that had filled the spies with so much fear. By the time Joshua and people got there, each king just held his own city and district, and was not much of a threat to them. There is not history to follow these two connections any further, but all through the troubled period of the early Judges all the way down to Barak and Deborah, there are Egyptian monuments that give constant illustration and confirmation of the state of Canaan and the history of Israel, just as it is described in the Bible. We know that Abram was the first driven by famine into Egypt. This same thing also led the brothers of Joseph to seek out corn to buy there so they would not starve. From the very earliest times, Egypt was the great granary of the old world. The extraordinary fertility of the soil depended on the overflow of the Nile. The great river brought fresh new fertile soil that covered the land like a fruitful garden where beyond all of it was desolate wilderness. Even though Egypt has been termed the "land of wonders", the Nile has always been one of the outstanding characteristics of the land as a whole. The other outstanding characteristic of the land has been all of its monuments that have given us so much rich history of the land. Egypt's name exactly corresponds to the Egyptian designation Kah-Ptah that is named after one of their gods. In the Hebrew scriptures its name is Mizraim, which also corresponds with another Egyptian name for the country Chem. Both of these words mean the same thing in their languages - the red mud or dark soil of which the cultivated part of the country consisted. It was called "the two Mazors", probably because it was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt. The king of Upper Egypt was designated by a title whose initial sign was a bent reed, while the rulers of Lower Egypt bore the title of "bee." The whole country occupies less than 10,000 square geographical miles. Out of this there are about 5,600 at present, and 8,000 in ancient times, fit for cultivation. Bible history is chiefly about Lower or Northern, Egypt while the most magnificent of the monuments are in Upper, or Southern, Egypt. The fertility of the land depends on the overflow of the Nile. It starts to rise about the middle of June and reaches it greatest height about the end of September and then starts to decrease. In Cairo they measure it and if it doesn't rise 24 feet they deem that the harvest will not be good. Anything under 18 feet means that a famine could threaten them. By mid-August the Nile is usually flowing well with its red, turbulent waters. They are distributed by canals that have been built all over the country. When it recedes, it leaves behind a thick red soil which comes all the way from Central Africa. It is over this rich soil that seeds are planted. It doesn't rain much more, nor do they have a need for any extra fertilizer on it. The river also furnishes wonderful and nourishing drinking water. Some physicians have even said that it has healing virtues. It always is abundant with fish and the land is like a green and wonderful oasis that is surrounded by desert. The banks of the Nile and all its numerous canals are like a well-watered garden under a tropical sky. The ancient Egyptians also gave great attention to their fruit and flower gardens which were attached to their villas. Many of the monuments show beautiful gardens laden with fruit and pavilions adorned with the lushest of flowers. It was a wonderful land to behold with all the richest of food and plants in every way. This was the land on which the Israelites thought back to when they were in the desolate dreariness and famine of the wilderness. When Abram entered Egypt, his attention must have been riveted by the Great Pyramids. Sixty of them have been counted, but the largest ones are near ancient Memphis, which lay about 10 miles above Cairo. In Scripture Memphis was called Noph and was the capital of Lower Egypt, with Thebes being the capital of Upper Egypt. It is hard to even imagine in one's mind the real size of the pyramids. The larger one's base covered an area of about 65,000 feet, and they slanted upwards for 600 feet. They covered 13 acres of ground and contained nearly 7 million tons of solid masonry. Not far from these great pyramids was ancient On, which was connected with Joseph's history. Also Moses may have gotten his early training there. Other than the pyramids, though, there were sepulchres, monuments, historical records, and sites of ancient cities. Probably the most magnificent monuments are those in Thebes, the No or No Amon of the Bible. It is impossible in a brief space to describe its temple. The sanctuary itself was small, but opposite to it was a court that opened into a great hall into which a great cathedral might be placed without touching the walls on either side. 140 columns support this hall, with the central pillars being 66 feet high and so wide that it would take 6 men with extended arms touching to go around one of them. All around the great hall are inscriptions and records. The temple itself seems small, though, when compared with the approach to it. The approach was through a double row of 60 or 70 ram-headed sphinxes that were placed about 11 feet apart from each other. There was a second avenue that led to a temple which enclosed a lake for funeral rites; and yet a third avenue of sphinxes that extended a distance of 6000 feet to a palace. All this just only gives a faint idea of the magnificence of Egypt. The laws of Egypt seem to have been moderate and wise, with the manners of the people being simple and domestic. Its people seemed contented, prosperous, and cultured. The women occupied a high place and polygamy was pretty much the exception and not the rule. Science, literature, and the arts were cultivated; commerce and navigation were very successful, and a large army and efficient fleet maintained the power of the Pharaohs. The country seemed to be old in its civilization, and the lawgivers of Israel learned of its wisdom. The above gives a pretty good description of the beauty and greatness of Egypt as a country. Israel learned much while they lived there those hundreds of years. God had to take them out into the wilderness so that He could teach them His Ways and show them that He was the only True God and that He would provide for them. He wanted to show them something far greater than all the wonders of Egypt ever had to offer them. In every sense of the word God brought His people out of Egypt with a might Hand, and an outstretched Arm. For more information from this book, go to the Archives Page at my site www.cathydeaton.com There are other articles of interest there also. This text is taken from the book Bible History Old Testament written by Alfred Edersheim. This book has been used by permission.
|