Story 34: The Youth, Training, And Manhood Of Mo'ses ll

   The friendly act of Mo'ses was resented by the two He'brews, and the one who had been the aggressor in the quarrel said to him, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed that E'gyp-tian?" This placed Mo'ses in a very difficult position. His own people feared him because he had slain the E'gyp-tian while trying to protect one of them, and now they resented his friendly effort to promote peace and good will among them. He had been right in his sympathy for them, and was justified in using force to protect the man whom the taskmaster was treating so cruelly, but in killing the E'gyp-tian he had committed a serious crime against the government.
   The life of Mo'ses was now in danger. If news that he had murdered one of the E'gyp-tian officers reached Pha'raoh, he would probably be put to death as a criminal. Fearing for his own life, and knowing that once his sympathy for the oppressed and hated He'brews became known to the king there would no longer be any hope of delivering them, he fled from the country at once. He went across the desert to the east of E'gypt into A-ra'bi-a, and into the part of the peninsula that was known as Mid'i-an. He was compelled to remain in hiding, for Pha'raoh was greatly angered when he learned of the death of the E'gyp-tian overseer. The king felt that his hospitality had been abused, and that a member of his own household had turned against him in order to help the He'brews; it was ordered, therefore, that the young prince be captured and put to death.
   While hiding in Mid'i-an, Mo'ses lingered by the side of a well and gave serious thought to his problems. He had suddenly found it necessary to forsake the ease and comfort of the E'gyp-tian palace, and to give up the kindness of the princess who had adopted him.
   Now in the country known as Mid'i-an there lived a noble priest who owned large flocks of sheep and other valuable properties. He had seven daughters who cared for his flocks, and who often brought them for water to the well where Mo'ses was resting. There were also in that vicinity certain shepherds who were unfriendly toward the young women, and who often molested them when they came to the well to draw water for their sheep.
   While Mo'ses was sitting by the well lost in deep thought, the seven daughters of the Mid'i-an-ite priest came to water their flocks. Then the ill-mannered shepherds came and started to drive away the flocks that were being watered. Mo'ses saw the unkind treatment of the women, and knew that someone ought to help them. Realizing that he was now a wanderer because he had once tried to help others in a matter which they thought did not concern him, he must have been strongly tempted not to interfere, but he could not bear to see the women so ill treated. He rebuked the shepherds, drove them away, and then drew water for the flocks of sheep which belonged to the priest of Mid'i-an.
  

Story 34: The Youth, Training, And Manhood Of Mo'ses l

   For forty years Mo'ses remained in the palace of Pha'raoh, enjoying all the luxury and advantages afforded by the court of one of the richest and most powerful rulers in all history. As an adopted son of the E'gyp-tian princess he was given the advantages of the best education which could be had in any land. It is said of Mo'ses, "He was instructed in all the wisdom of the E'gyp-tians, and was mighty in his words and works." We also know that he was proficient in mathematics, natural philosophy, engineering, warfare, grammar, and medicine. From such training he was well prepared to hold a place of honor among the greatest nobles and princes, and to turn at last to the great mission of his life.

   His nurse, who was really his own mother, continued to care for him until he was no longer a child. She taught him to worship the true God of the He'brews, and told him about all the customs of his people. No doubt she also secretly told him of the wonderful way in which the LORD had caused him to be saved from death, and laid upon his heart the burdens and hardships of his own people.

   During all these years of royal advantages Mo'ses never forgot the sufferings of his own people held in bondage. The luxury and exuberance of his own surroundings did not close his eyes to the poverty and hardships of his brethren, nor could he enjoy his life of ease and comfort while the children of Is'ra-el remained so miserable. His unselfish love for the down-trodden people, and his patient hope for an improvement in their condition became so strong that he decided to take some definite step toward helping them.
   One day while he was quietly passing among the workmen on one of the government projects, probably an embankment near the river Nile, he saw one of the E'gyp-tian taskmasters striking a He'brew laborer with a whip. As he watched his own kindred straining under unbearable burdens, and saw how they were mistreated by the cruel overseer, his blood boiled with righteous indignation . Looking around and seeing that no other E'gyp-tians were near, he struck the taskmaster so fierce a blow that it killed him. He then secretly covered the body in the sand, and went on his way.
   This act of the young prince was not known to any of the E'gyp-tians, but the He'brew whom Mo'ses had protected whispered the news to other workmen, and they in turn told their brethren, until the deed was finally known to most of the He'brews. The next day Mo'ses visited the workmen again, and this time saw one of the He'brews strike another during a quarrel. At once he went up to them in the hope of settling their differences, and rebuked the one who seemed to be in the wrong. He had intended merely to show them that even though they were slaves, they still were kindred, and should try to deal patiently with one another.
   

Story 33: Is'ra-el's Slavery In E'gypt And The Birth Of Mo'ses V

   Just as the infant Mo'ses had been saved from drowning by the LORD'S guidance upon two different occasions, so he was saved from slavery of his people by being raised in the palace of the king. Had he been found by the E'gyp-tian officers in his parents' home, he would have been thrown into the river Nile; had Pha'raoh's daughter not found him when she did, he soon would have been drowned in the same river when the basket in which he floated finally sank.
   It was truly a miracle which saved Mo'ses from the waters of the Nile, and it was a miracle equally great which preserved him from the evils and idolatry of the E'gyp-tians by letting him be brought up under the care of his God-fearing mother. The LORD also made it possible for him to enjoy all the advantages of education which the adopted son of an E'gyp-tian princess could gain through wealth and high position. Thus the very king who sought to destroy Is'ra-el was led by the providence of God to be the means of training the child who would soon become the deliverer of the people held in bondage.

Story 33: Is'ra-el's Slavery In E'gypt And The Birth Of Mo'ses IV

   The mother then took some reeds which grew near the river bank and wove them into a little basket, just the right size to hold her baby, then she coated it so carefully with pitch that no water would come in. When the basket, which is sometimes called an "ark," was ready for the purpose which she had in mind, she tenderly placed her baby in it, and hid it carefully in the bulrushes which grew in the marshes near the banks of the river. Her daughter Mir'i-am, who was now twelve years old, was put on watch nearby to see that no harm came to the child, and to tell her mother what the king's daughter had done when she saw the baby.
   Mir'i-am did not have to wait long for the answer to her mother's prayer for the safety of the little boy. When Pha'raoh's daughter and a number of her maids came down to the river, guided by the LORD to the place where the child still floated on the waters in his basket, the princess saw the basket almost at once. When she lifted the cover from the ark of bulrushes and saw the beautiful child within, she was greatly touched by the sight, and said " This is one of the He'brews' children." The child began to cry, and her heart went out to it with compassion and love. While she stood telling her maids about finding the baby, and wondering what she should do with it, little Mir'i-am rushed up to her. Pretending not to know anything about the baby, she said, "Shall I go and call for thee a nurse of the He'brew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?"
   The kindly offer of Mir'i-am was quickly accepted by Pha'raoh's daughter, and the little girl hurried home to tell her mother the wonderful news. Joch'e-bed was filled with joy by the opportunity of caring for her son in the home of the king who had sworn to destroy the He'brews. Not knowing that Joch'e-bed was the mother of the child found by the river, Pha'raoh's daughter agreed to pay her the customary wages for taking care of the child.
   It was hard to pretend that she did not even know the child which she had born, but Joch'e-bed knew that his safety depended upon her ability to care for him without revealing the fact that he was her own son. She therefore entered the royal palace at once, and patiently acted as nurse to the child which Pha'raoh's daughter had adopted.
   The E'gyp-tian princess gave the child every comfort and attention which great wealth could supply, and in many ways tried to act as a good mother to him. It was Joch'e-bed, however, who took advantage of her position as a hired nurse to bring up her son in the faith and wisdom of his own people. And yet, even when telling him of the customs and duties which were most sacred among the He'brews, she was careful never to let the child know that she was his mother.
   When it came time to give the baby a name the daughter of Pha'raoh, called him Mo'ses, which means "drawn out" in the E'gyp-tian language. This name was given because the princess had literally drawn him out of the waters upon which the basket was floating when she found him.

Story 33: Is'ra-el's Slavery In E'gypt And The Birth Od Mo'ses lll

   And yet, the more cruel the king of E'gypt became in his effort to destroy the He'brews, the stronger became their faith and courage. All through history members of the Jewish race have been hated and persecuted by people who were jealous of their success, but no tyrant has ever been able to destroy them. Through all the inhuman persecution which they received from Pha'raoh, the He'brews knew that the LORD was with them, He would surely find some way of delivering them from all their troubles.
   Even the wicked order of the king to drown all the boys born to the He'brews could not prevent the LORD from raising up a savior for His chosen people when the proper time had come. Among the hundreds of devout families in Is'ra-el at the time there was one most noted for faith in the LORD. The head of this family was named Am'ram, the son of Ko'hath, who was one of the descendants of Ja'cob's son Le'vi. His wife's name was Joch'e-bed, and she was also of  noble lineage through her descent from Le'vi. Two children had been born to them before the king had ordered the death of all male children born to the He'brews; one of them was a boy named Aa'ron, and the other was a very lovely girl called Mir'i-am. We shall learn much of the life and work of these two children in future stories.
   In the midst of Pha'raoh's bitter persecution of the He'brews Joch'e-bed gave birth to her second son. The nurse who cared for her was gracious and God-fearing, and therefore failed to report this birth to the officers who were charged with drowning all boy babies. Joch'e-bed and her good husband managed to hide the child in their home for three months, but as time went on they feared that he would be discovered by the cruel E'gyp-tians. The mother was not only moved by natural love for a child, but by a divinely given feeling that her new-born son was intended for an important mission among her people.
   After keeping the child safely hidden in her home for three months, Joch'e-bed began to search for some way of making sure that he would never be taken from her by the E'gyp-tian officers. As long as the child was kept at home there was always the danger that some unfriendly neighbor or E'gyp-tian spy would discover him, and then the innocent child would be drowned in the river Nile. One day the thought came to her that the daughter of the king came down to the river every day to bathe, and at once there flashed into her mind a way of giving the baby a home in which he would never be in danger. At once she decided to trust in the beauty of the child to win the favor of the king's daughter. The time had come when she had done everything in her power to save the child; from now on his welfare must lie in the hands of the LORD.

Story 33: Is'ra-el's Slavery In E'gypt And The Birth Of Mo'ses ll

   So different were the He'brews from the native E'gyp-tians, and so rapid had been the growth and progress of these chosen people of God, that the new line of kings became fearful that they would revolt against E'gypt. They looked upon the Is'ra-el-ites as a group of strangers who stubbornly clung to their own customs, and who were too proud to become members of the E'gyp-tian empire. "What would happen," they began to ask, "if E'gypt should become involved in a foreign war?" They also said among themselves, "Suppose these rich and powerful Jews were to unite with our enemies, then our country might be overcome by a revolution."
   The Pha'raoh who was then on the throne made up his mind that he would crush the spirit of the Jews so thoroughly that there would be no danger of their taking part in a revolt. He decided to make slaves of the He'brews, forcing them to work without wages upon various government projects. Taskmasters were appointed to see that the slaves were driven as hard as possible at their work. The purpose of this cruel treatment was to weaken the He'brews, and in this way to reduce their numbers.
   The kings of E'gypt had always been noted for their interest in erecting great public buildings and monuments. The gigantic pyramids, which are among the wonders of the world today, had been built by the hard labor of countless slaves. The huge stones for the pyramid were quarried and shaped by the slaves, carried on floats down the river Nile, and hoisted into position by some wonderful engineering which is unknown today. Magnificent temples, exceeding in size and beauty to many of the finest buildings of this age, had been erected in The'bes, Kar'nak, and Mem'phis.
   The Pha'raoh who decided to make slaves of the Is'ra-el-ites also erected many new temples, built great treasure houses and palaces, and ordered the construction of vast tombs for the dead. In addition to these great works, the king must be credited with the building of many roads, a system of canals, and vast embankments in the valley of the Nile.
   In carrying out this extensive program of public works, Pha'raoh drafted the He'brews as laborers. He placed over them hard taskmasters, who not only forced them to spend long hours in backbreaking work, but abused and insulted them. The lives of the He'brews were filled with sorrow and suffering; through no fault of their own they had become slaves of the lowest class.
   The E'gyp-tians imposed taxes which they knew the He'brews would be unable to pay, and then seized their property as a penalty for not paying the taxes. The unhappy children of Is'ra-el were treated harshly in every possible way, and they were no longer permitted to live according to their own customs. Special efforts  were made to destroy their family life, which had been the chief reason for their remarkable growth and strength. To prevent further increase in their numbers the midwives, or nurses who cared for mothers and young children, were ordered to see that all male He'brew children did not live after birth. When the midwives, who worshiped the true God, failed to carry out this cruel demand, it was ordered that all male children born to the He'brews should be thrown into the river Nile at once.
  

Story 33: Is'ra-el's Slavery In E'gypt And The Birth Of Mo'ses l

   Following the brief story of the death of Jo'seph, the history of Is'ra-el is passed over in silence for a period of one hundred and forty-five years. During this century and a half important changes took place among the royal families which ruled E'gypt, and control of the government passed from the hands of the shepherd kings, who were not members of the original E'gyp-tian royalty, back to native E'gyp-tian rulers. The shepherd kings had treated the He'brews with great kindness, but the E'gyp-tian rulers who followed looked upon them with suspicion and jealousy.
   In the Covenant promise made to A'bra-ham, the founder of the He'brew people, God had told him that for four hundred and thirty years his descendants should be under the rule of foreign people, and that in the closing years of this period they would be treated very harshly. Two hundred and fifteen years of this time passed before Ja'cob and his family went down into E'gypt. During this time A'bra-ham, his son I'saac, and then Ja'cob and his family, had lived much of the time in Ca'naan, not as owners of the land, but as wandering strangers.
   The land of Ca'naan was largely occupied by various tribes which were all known under the general name of Ca'naan-ites. God had promised A'bra-ham that his descendants should be like the stars of the heavens and the sands of the sea in numbers. Up to the time of the removal of Ja'cob to the land of E'gypt the immediate family of the chosen race had increased to only seventy, including Jo'seph and his family. As a result of God's will in keeping them separate from the E'gyp-tians, and in giving them a land of great fertility, the passing of two hundred years had left the family greatly increased in both numbers and prosperity.
   Jo'seph had been ruler in E'gypt for ten years before the removal of Ja'cob and his family to that land, being forty years old at the time, and he ruled for seventy years after the settling of his father and brothers in the land of Go'shen. These were years of good fortune for the children of Is'ra-el, and their numbers increased very rapidly. They remained in the land of E'gypt for one hundred and forty-five years after the death of Jo'seph, and for at least half a century of that period continued to enjoy the kindest of treatment from the E'gyp-tian rulers. The hardships and oppression which followed began shortly before the opening of our next story.
   During the years of kind treatment by the rulers of E'gypt, and while they were increased in numbers and wealth, the children of Is'ra-el had been faithful in serving the one true God, and had kept themselves almost entirely free from the idol worship practiced in E'gypt. They lived far away from most of the E'gyp-tians, and were careful not to mingle with them in either marriage or religion. Thus the customs and worship of the Is'ra-el-ites was kept pure, and they soon became a large and powerful band of united people. The tribal life of each of Ja'cob's eleven sons, and of the two sons of Jo'seph, was carefully preserved, and each group was determined to do its part in making Is'ra-el a great nation. They all looked forward to the time when they might return to the land of Ca'naan, where they would be free to prosper as the LORD had promised. In these worthy hopes and ambitions the children of Is'ra-el were misunderstood by the E'gyp-tians, who were greatly alarmed by their growth and power, but who were still unwilling to let them leave the country.