PERIOD II.] "DEATH-BED OF JACOB." Egyptians may be seen in the British GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE. shall return to receive the unreserved it was necessary, as their remains had obedience of all men-Gentiles as well to be conveyed to a considerable disas Jews; for "unto him every knee tance for interment. A few specimens shall bow, and every tongue confess." of the embalmed bodies of ancient embalmed the practise of preserving the dead prevailed, and probably originated in Egypt. The process of embalming lasted about ten weeks, and generally cost a large sum of money. When embalmed, the body was laid in a coffin of stone or wood, and placed upright against a wall where it remained a long time, in some instances for years, before it was removed to a vault. The Hebrews did not practise embalming, but in the case of Jacob, and in that of Joseph, ABEL-MIZRAIM-a place on the west of the Jordan to which the Egyptians accompanied the sons of Jacob when they conveyed their father's body to Canaan for burial. It was called Abelmizraim, or 'mourning of the Egyptians', by the Canaanites; it previously known as "the threshingfloor of Atad." DEATH-BED OF JACOB. was "BEHOLD I DIE; BUT GOD SHALL BE WITH YOU, AND BRING YOU AGAIN UNTO THE LAND OF YOUR FATHERS." I die, my son! behold, I die! But cease, my Joseph, cease to weep; But thou shalt like a cedar grow; For though the archers drew the bow, I die, my son! behold, I die ! And thou shalt lay these limbs distrest Where Isaac and Rebekah rest; W. KNOX. PERIOD III. FROM THE DEATH OF JOSEPH TO THE DEATH OF MOSES. B.C. 1635-B.C. 1451. 184 years. 17. BONDAGE OF ISRAEL. HISTORY. Exodus i.-iv. 17. MOSES' EARLY The children of Jacob's sons increased greatly in Egypt. A new king, also called Pharaoh, ruled over Egypt, but he knew not Joseph. He oppressed the Israelites with a cruel bondage, and made them work like slaves in making bricks. The children of Israel increased so much, that the king ordered that their male infants should be destroyed. Just before this decree Aaron was born. His father and mother, Amram and Jochebed, were of the tribe of Levi. The parents of Aaron had another son born. They hid him for three months. When they could no longer hide him, they placed him in an ark of bulrushes on the brink of the river Nile. The king's daughter came to the river to bathe; she found the child, and called its name Moses. Miriam, the sister of Moses, who was watching the child afar off to see what would become of him, was told to call a nurse for the child, and she fetched his mother. Moses was instructed in all the knowledge of Egypt. At forty years of age he saw an Egyptian smiting an Israelite; and he slew the Egyptian. The next day he saw two Hebrews quarrelling and he reproved him that did the wrong. He replied to Moses, "Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday." Moses was then afraid to stay in Egypt because the deed he had committed was known. He fled into Midian, where he fed the flock of Jethro, a priest, forty years. He married Zipporah, Jethro's daughter. God knew of the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt; and he remembered his promise to give them the land of PERIOD III.] GOD APPEARS TO MOSES. Canaan. He appeared to Moses, in a burning bush, on Mount Horeb, and there appointed him to go into Egypt, and demand the release of the Israelites from bondage. Aaron, the brother of Moses, was appointed to be spokesman to the people and to Pharaoh, whenever they should appear before him, because Moses was slow of speech. Moses was commanded to take his rod with him wherewith he should do *signs. NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS. oppressed-treated with harshness in and without. This plant was also or severity. called the papyrus, and from it the Egyptians made their paper; it was also applied to many other useful purposes. cruel-inhuman; as natural enemies; like some beasts with their prey. bondage-slavery; unpaid servitude. Lesson 7. bricks were made of clay found on the banks of the Nile; the clay was mixed with straw in order to bind it better together; the occupation was dirty and unwholesome, & the drudgery so severe that it was always performed by slaves or criminals. ordered the power of the king to doom his subjects to death or banishment was admitted in the east, and is still exercised by barbarous and despotic sovereigns. decree-a royal command; a law. Amram-was a son of Kohath, and a grandson of Levi; his wife was named Jochebed; they were the parents of Moses, whom they hid for three months to save him from being drowned. Aaron-was the elder son of Amram and Jochebed, and the brother of Miriam and Moses. After the delivery of the Ten Commandments, he became the high priest of the Israelites. hid-to evade the cruel decree of Pharaoh. no longer his cries and sportive laughter would attract attention at this age. bulrushes the bulrush grew on the banks of the Nile; baskets and small boats were made of it, such boats being generally coated with pitch both with bathe-this necessary act of ablution is more regularly performed in the east than in this country; and precautions are taken to render public bathingplaces safe from observation and intrusion. Moses-drawn out;' Pharaoh's daughter not only had this child drawn her son. This practice of adopting, or out of the water, but she adopted him as receiving into a family, the offspring of others, has prevailed from the earliest times; and the children so received became entitled to all the privileges of the household as fully as if they had been related by birth. Moses became entitled to the throne of Egypt by this adoption into Pharaoh's family, therefore he was educated in all the arts and literature of Egypt. Miriam high;' she was probably ten years of age at this time. mother-as Jochebed did not resort to an unjustifiable stratagem to save her child from the effect of the king's decree, but simply cast herself and her child upon the care and interposition of God, she was rewarded not only by seeing her child rescued from death, but also restored to her own bosom, accompanied by the lavish bounties of the king's daughter. Jethro-supposed to have been a descendant of Abraham; he is also called Raguel and Reuel. MOSES ON HOREB. burning bush-a beautiful emblem of the preservation of the Israelitish nation in the midst of their fiery furnace of trial in Egypt. demand-to ask authoritatively, with a determination not to receive refusal. spokesman-the deliverer of a message; Moses was less qualified than Aaron to be spokesman to the king. rod-shepherd's staff. [1635-1451 B.C. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. NILE-the principal river of Egypt which overflows its banks at certain seasons, and thus waters and enriches the surrounding countries; a figurative allusion to which is made by Jeremiah, the prophet. The chief cities, towns, and villages of Egypt are built along the banks of this river. In Exodus it is called "the river," in Isaiah and Jeremiah it is spoken of as the "Sihor." HOREB 'desert; solitude;' a celebrated mountain of Arabia to the west signs-wonderful acts; miracles as of Sinai. Less. 27, displeased;' Less. evidences of his divine mission. 29, Meribah.' MOSES IN THE DESERT OF MIDIAN. "I WILL NOW TURN ASIDE, AND SEE THIS GREAT SIGHT WHY THE BUSH IS NOT BURNT.' His presence dwells in every tree. To Israel and to Egypt dead, Moses the fugitive appears; Unknown he live'd, till o'er his head But God the wandering exile found The lowly bush a tree became- That made the noon around it night. Thence came the eternal voice that spake Thence went the Almighty arm that brake By Moses, old, and slow of speech. That power belongs to God alone. J. MONTGOMERY. PERIOD III.] THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT. 18. THE RELEASE OF İSRAEL DEMANDED. THE PLAGUES. Exodus ix. 27-xi. Moses met his brother in the mount of God, and kissed him. They went to the elders of the children of Israel; and Aaron told them all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did signs in their sight. The people believed, and bowed their heads, and worshipped. After this Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh. They demanded the release of the Israelites. The king would not let the people go, but he made their bondage harder; and the people of Israel were wroth with Moses and Aaron. They went again, at God's command, to require Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but Pharaoh would not hearken to them. God then sent the following plagues on Egypt to punish Pharaoh and the Egyptians : 1. He turned the waters of Egypt into blood for seven days; the fish died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water. 2. He caused frogs to come up from the streams and rivers and ponds, which covered the land of Egypt, and when they died the land stank. 3. He smote the dust of the land, and it became lice on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. 4 He sent swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of all his people, and the land was corrupted. 5. He sent a grievous murrain on the cattle of the Egyptians, and their cattle died; but not one of the cattle of the Israelites died. 6. He sent boils and blains on man and beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 7. He sent hail, rain, and fire on the land of Egypt, and it smote all that was in the field, both man and beast, and it smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree. 8. He sent locusts, which ate up every herb of the land that the hail had left. |