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Bible History of the Old Testament |
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No. 31 The Children of Israel in Egypt - Their Residences, Occupations, Social Arrangements, Constitution, and Religion Part 2
(To read the first part of this text, go to the Home Page above and then the Archives Page for Bible History of the Old Testament.) As we talked about in the last text, as far as the religion of Israel went, it had been three and a half centuries since the death of Jacob. As far as we know now, all communication from Heaven, whether by prophecy or in vision, had wholly ceased from God to man. Even the birth of Moses was not Divinely revealed to his parents as God had done in earlier times. In these direst of circumstances, the children of Israel just had to rely on the writings of the Prophets and what they already knew had been revealed to them. They were very good at passing their teachings on to their children, so no doubt all of it had been preserved down through the years. In the wisdom of God's providential arrangements for them, he knew that their simple patriarchal forms of worship would much better suit their circumstances in Egypt than the more elaborate forms of worship that they later accepted as their norm. They observed three things that really made them stand out from the rest of the people around them: circumcision, sacrifices, and the Sabbath. There is direct testimony from the Bible in Exodus 4: 24-26 and Joshua 5:5 that the rite of circumcision was observed by Israel in Egypt. As to sacrifices, Exodus 8: 25-28 says that they celebrated a great sacrificial feast in the wilderness. This implies that sacrificial worship was regularly done by the people. Lastly, God told them to "Remember" the Sabbath and to gather two days' provisions on the previous day. They obviously understood the special significance of the day and were already used to a special celebration of it each week. There are other things, such as the practice of vows as spoken of in the law that seem to point back to previous religious rites among them. So even during the centuries of silence from God, they seem to have cherished the fundamental truths of their ancestral religion and still practiced many of the outward observances that they had been taught from generation to generation. The religious life of the families and individuals also bore reference to their deep beliefs still held during this hard time. It is well known about the significance of the names that parents gave to their children. We know that God at times intervened and gave a person a certain name, but the following are just some of the names that parents named their children during this terrible time of silence: Eliasaph (my God that gathers); Elizur (my God that watcheth all around); and Zuriel (my rock is my God). The children of Israel probably also acquired many things from the Egyptians. Originally, the religion of the Egyptians contained much truth, but gradually it became perverted to more and more superstition. They could have sort of held some of the same truths, but with a difference of application and understanding. Thus, both of them believed in the immortality of the soul, and of future rewards and punishments. The Egyptians just believed in many gods instead of just the one True God. Also, the Israelites learned something that the Egyptians never did: that God is the God of the present as well as that of the future, and that he reigned and dispensed good and evil while they were living on the earth. This probably had much to do with why they insisted so much on having so many different laws to keep them from sinning. Even though many of their beliefs were similar, certain of their differences prove that the Law was not given at a later period, but to those who came out from Egypt, and immediately upon their leaving it. On the other hand, the Israelites had also acquired much evil from being around the Egyptians. In the Pentateuch, there are allusions not only to the moral corruptions witnessed, but also to the idolatrous practices that had been common there. These terrible things were done on such a common basis, that the Israelites probably just became accustomed to them and grew hardened to the fact that their lives were being drawn away from the True God. This may have also become common with the Israelites, because the Bible talks of warnings given to them in several different places: the worship of the golden calf in Exodus 32; the warning against sacrificing unto the "he-goat"; and the express admonition even to Joshua to "put away the strange gods" which their "fathers served on the other side of the flood." (Joshua 24:14) This, then, was the political, religious, and social state of Israel when their long peace was interrupted by news that Aahmes I was making war against the foreign dynasty of the Hyksos. He was victorious and broke down strongholds and expelled the terrible Shepherd kings from the country. He then continued his progress towards Canaan and took the cities by storm. All the bad memorials were removed, the worship which they had introduced was abolished, and the old Egyptian forms were restored. A reign of great prosperity now started for this foreign power. Even though there are differing opinions on the subject, most believe that it was this very dynasty that was the period where the "king arose who knew not Joseph." Since he was a foreigner, he would not have known about the background of the Israelites and that they were friendly people who just wanted to worship their own way. He felt threatened by them because of their vast numbers. After he took over power, he looked upon them as foreigners and was afraid that if others tried to make war upon him, that they might join the enemy. His apprehension may have shown that he had found out about the circumstances under which they had first settled in the land. Also, from the many monuments that have been found and the writing deciphered in Egypt, it appears to have been the policy of all the Pharaohs to bring an immense number of captives to their land so that they could force them to do manual labor. This may have been the Pharaoh's thinking - that since they were already foreigners he wouldn't have to bring in other people to build his cities for him. The Israelites were allowed to keep their flocks and fields, but he made them do manual labor also. There is a detailed illustration of this that has been found on one of the Egyptian monuments. It shows laborers who are foreigners, that are engaged in the various stages of brick making. They are under the supervision of four Egyptians, two of whom are superior officers, while the other two are overseers who are armed with heavy lashes. These are depicted as crying out "Work without fainting!" The work that the Israelites did consisted of brick making, digging canals for irrigation, and building the two cities of Pithom and Raamses in Goshen. Both of these two cities served as depots for commerce and for the army. According to Greek historians, the Egyptians boasted that they only employed captives and slaves for their dirty work, and never their own people. Aahmes I had a special need for Israelite labor, though, since he was largely engaged in restoring the temples and buildings that had been destroyed by the Shepherd kings. This news was found on an inscription that dated from his 22nd year as Pharaoh. As told in the Bible, though, Pharaoh's plan backfired. Instead of killing off the Israelites, they grew so quickly that he was terrified of their vast numbers. Out of fear, he commanded that all the male children be killed right after they were born in a way that the mothers would think it was just a normal death. The midwives feared God, and wouldn't carry out his plan, so it backfired also. God blessed them for their acts of bravery, even though they told Pharaoh that the Israelite women were much stronger and had already born their children before they got there. St Augustine wrote that "God forgave the evil on account of the good, and rewarded their piety, though not their deceit." Then in stark desperation, Pharaoh just ordered openly that every male child should be cast in the Nile as it was born. We are not told how many babies died, or if the Israelites found a secret way to preserve them, but this last attempt to exterminate Israel failed also. So the two prophecies had been fulfilled. Even under the most adverse circumstances Israel had so multiplied that it filled the Egyptians with much fear. At the same time, though, the "affliction" of Israel had reached its highest point, and now God was about to make good on His promise of so many years ago. As in so many instances of the way God works, He was about to make good on this promise in a most unlikely manner. 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.
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