Part 7

112 (Sec.38A). Moses was a wise leader. He knew he had a host of slaves, who had not learned courage. So he led them southward toward the Red Sea. There was a road leading to the wilderness near the Bitter Lakes. Locate this.

113 (Sec.38A). What happened when the Egyptians found that the people had actually gone? What did the Hebrews say when they learned that Pharaoh was following them? How did Moses encourage them?

114 (Sec.38B). The Hebrews were in a very difficult situation. They had come to a place where the water from the Red Sea ran far up the low-lying sands. What great canal has since been dug there? The water was too deep for the Hebrews to cross. Pharaoh's army was coming up behind. The only thing that could save Israel would be a strong wind that should drive the waters back and leave the sands clear. How often God's great Providence helps his people in trouble! Moses bravely encouraged them.

115 (Sec.38B). What separated the Israelites from the Egyptians? What made the crossing possible? What trouble did the Egyptians experience? What would naturally happen if the high wind stopped after the Israelites had crossed? Tell the story of the deliverance.

116 (Sec.39). What do you think were the feelings of Israel when they found themselves safe? Recite the song in which they celebrated their escape? What does "Exodus" mean?

WRITTEN REVIEW

Let us try to see just what happened to the Hebrews. Draw a map of Egypt and the Sinai peninsula on a larger scale than that in your book. Mark Goshen, the region where the Hebrews lived. Mark the bitter lakes coming nearly to the Gulf of Suez. Connect these with a wavy line showing the shallow waters which were driven back for the passage of the Hebrews. Mark with a red line the road which the Hebrews might have taken along the coast road straight to Canaan and the road which they actually took south of the bitter lakes. Continue this last line into the Sinai peninsula, noting that the people were led into the wilderness.

XII. MOSES, THE LAWGIVER

THE STORY

=Sec.40. The Law at Sinai= (Exod. 15:22-25, 27; 19:1)

A. THE MARCH AND THE MURMURING

And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters for they were bitter. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet.

And they came to Elim, where were twelve springs of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. And they took their journey from Elim, and in the third month they came to the wilderness of Sinai; and there Israel encamped before the mount.

B. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;

=I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.=

=Thou shalt have none other gods before me.=

=Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor the likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.=

=Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.=

=Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.=

=Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.=

=Thou shalt do no murder.=

=Thou shalt not commit adultery.=

=Thou shalt not steal.=

=Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.=

=Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.=

And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

And Moses said unto the people, "Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before you, that ye sin not."

And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

=Sec.41. The Great Rebellion= (Exod. 24:13, 18; 32:1-8, 15-20, 30-35)

A. THE GOLDEN CALF

And Moses and Joshua his minister went up into the mount of God. And Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, "Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him."

And Aaron said unto them, "Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me."

And all the people brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf: and they said, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."

And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, "To-morrow shall be a feast to the Lord."

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, "Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it."

And Moses turned and went down from the mount with the two tables in his hand. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp."

And he said, "It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear."

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

B. MOSES' PRAYER

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, "Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin."

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them."

And the Lord smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

[The people were forgiven, but again and again they rebelled. Moses prayed for them, but the Lord said they must wander in the wilderness forty years. At last Moses led them to the plains of Moab and to the river Jordan, where he made his farewell speech.]

=Sec.42. The Last Days of Moses= (Deut. 31:1-3, 6-8; 34)

A. THE FAREWELL SPEECH

And Moses spake these words unto all Israel, "I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: and the Lord hath said unto me, 'Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.' The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee; he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken. Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt go with this people into the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed."

B. THE DEATH OF MOSES

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land.

And the Lord said unto him, "This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days.

And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face; in all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his land; and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror, which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel.

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

117. After the Revolutionary War, the thirteen American states adopted a constitution. Washington was the great leader. We all honor him now, but during his life many were jealous of him and the people often found fault with him and lost confidence in him. He was greatly tried and would have given up the presidency but for his sense of duty. So it was with Moses. He brought deliverance to the people and gave them their first great laws, but they constantly murmured against him and against God. The long story of his leadership of Israel during forty years in the wilderness is told in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. We shall study a few of the main incidents.

118 (Sec.40A). After the victory over the Egyptians, Moses led the people toward Mt. Sinai. Notice on the map the mountain range in the Sinai Peninsula. What difficulty soon arose? How did the people meet it? This was the beginning of a number of trials that Moses had in his leadership.

119 (Sec.40A). How long did it take to reach Mt. Sinai? The gathering at the mountain was a very solemn occasion. Israel was to receive a constitution. Think of the solemn time when the constitution of the United States was adopted.

120 (Sec.40B). What do we call these great words? Every student should know them by heart. If they were learned in the Primary Department it would be well to recall them.

121 (Sec.40B). How were the people impressed by the holy law? Let us understand that when we speak of "the fear of the Lord" it does not mean that we are afraid of him, but that we have a great reverence for him.

122 (Sec.41A). How long had Moses remained in the mountain to which he had gone to receive the laws? The people could not understand a God whom they could not see. They wanted an idol such as the Egyptians had. Tell the story of the golden calf.

123 (Sec.41A). How did Moses learn of what had happened? What did Moses bring down from the mountain? What did Joshua hear? What did Moses do when he found what had happened? Is it ever right to be angry?

124 (Sec.41B). The people had greatly disappointed Moses, but he was very sorry for their sin. He went to pray for them. Read carefully his wonderful prayer. Moses well knew God's love, but he knew also that wickedness must be punished.

125. We shall consider another great rebellion in connection with the next two heroes whom we study. It resulted in the Hebrews being sentenced to travel about for forty years. Moses led them. He was their chief, ruling over them, and their general, enabling them to conquer their enemies.

126 (Sec.42A). Moses had led the people for forty years. At last the grand old man brought them to the very border of the Promised Land. What river was all that separated them from Canaan? Locate the place of the last camp just opposite Jericho. The book of Deuteronomy gives the farewell speeches of Moses. This section is a part of what he said to them. Tell it in your own words. What great American gave a Farewell Message to his countrymen?

127 (Sec.42B). It was a great disappointment to Moses that he could not lead the people into Canaan, but he cheerfully accepted God's will. It must have been a wonderful sight that the old man saw from the mountain. Imagine yourself on Mt. Nebo. Look over Canaan and tell what Moses saw. Where did Moses die? How did Israel mourn for him? What did the writer of the last verses think of this great man? Learn Mrs. Alexander's beautiful poem.

THE BURIAL OF MOSES

By Nebo's lonely mountain, On this side Jordan's wave, In a vale in the land of Moab, There lies a lonely grave; But no man dug that sepulchre, And no man saw it e'er, For the angels of God upturned the sod, And laid the dead man there.

That was the grandest funeral That ever passed on earth; But no man heard the tramping, Or saw the train go forth. Noiselessly as the daylight Comes when the night is done, And the crimson streak on ocean's cheek Grows into the great sun,

Noiselessly as the springtime Her crown of verdure weaves, And all the trees on all the hills Open their thousand leaves, So, without sound of music, Or voice of them that wept, Silently down from the mountain crown The great procession swept.

This was the bravest warrior That ever buckled sword; This the most gifted poet That ever breathed a word; And never earth's philosopher Traced, with his golden pen, On the deathless page, truths half so sage As he wrote down for men.

And had he not high honor? The hillside for his pall; To lie in state while angels wait, With stars for tapers tall; And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes, Over his bier to wave; And God's own hand, in that lonely land, To lay him in the grave.

WRITTEN REVIEW

Draw a picture of two large tables of stone. Write the first five commandments on one, using just the first sentence of each commandment. Write the last five commandments on the other in full, except that for the tenth commandment use only its first four words. Do this very neatly.

REVIEW

XIII. THE HEROES OF ISRAEL'S WANDERINGS

XIII. THE HEROES OF ISRAEL'S WANDERINGS

128. Our studies have brought us to the time when the Hebrews were about to enter the land of Canaan. Up to that time they were a wandering people going from place to place, seeking pasture for their flocks or refuge from famine. After they settled down they used to tell the stories of the heroes of the old wandering days. We have studied five of these. Who was called the Father of the Faithful? Who was his son? Who was the man who gave his name to the nation? Which of his sons became the ruler of Egypt? Who was the deliverer of the people from Egypt? Let us recall some of the stories of these five heroes.

129 (5-7, Sec.2). Tell the story of Abraham's journey westward to the new land. Who did he believe called him and led him? What people in our own history did we compare with him?

130 (12, 13, Sec.5). Abraham had a nephew with him: what was his name? What great wealth did these two men have? What trouble was caused by the increase of their wealth? How did Abraham settle the matter? Why did we call him "magnanimous"?

131 (23, 24, Sec.8). Abraham was most anxious to do what he thought was right. Tell the wonderful story of how God showed him that he need not sacrifice his son.

132. Read Sec.11A and see if you can recall the story of Jacob's deception of Isaac.

133 (50, Sec.16). After many years and after Jacob had learned many hard lessons he turned back to his own land. Tell the story of his meeting with the brother whom he had wronged.

134 (Sec.19). How many sons had Jacob? Who was his favorite? Why did his brothers hate him? Tell the story of how they sold him as a slave.

135 (Sec.23C). Joseph prospered in Egypt, but through false accusation was thrown into prison. Here he interpreted the dreams of two men: who were they? which of the men was pardoned by the king and forgot Joseph? The king dreamed: how did this lead to Joseph's promotion?

136 (Sec.27C). There were seven years of good crops followed by seven years of famine. How did the famine bring Joseph's brothers to Egypt? Why did they not recognize him when he knew them? What plan did he use to make them sorry for their unkindness and to make one of them willing to be a slave to save his youngest brother? Tell the story of the forgiveness.

137 (84, 89, 90, Sec.30). After the Hebrews had been a long time in Egypt they became very numerous. Pharaoh was alarmed at their numbers. What order did he give so that there should be no more men? Tell the story of Moses' safety and adoption.

138 (97, 98, Sec.34A). Moses had been obliged to flee from Egypt and had lived a long time in the wilderness thinking about how his people could be saved. Perhaps sometimes he thought that he ought to deliver them, but he hesitated. Tell the story of the Burning Bush and how God encouraged him to go back to Egypt and be the deliverer.

139 (114, Sec.38B). Moses boldly went back and told the king he must let the people go. After ten awful plagues Pharaoh let them go. But no sooner were they gone than he repented and followed after them. How did Moses lead them into safety by God's good providence?

140 (127, Sec.42B). How many years did Moses lead his people in the wilderness? To what point did he bring them at last? There he made them a noble farewell speech of encouragement. Tell the story of how he saw Canaan, and of his death. What did the writer of the Book of Deuteronomy think of Moses?

WAR HEROES

XIV. JOSHUA AND CALEB

XV. GIDEON, THE WARRIOR

XVI. SAMSON, THE STRONG MAN

XIV. JOSHUA AND CALEB

THE STORY

=Sec.43. The Twelve Spies= (Num. 13:1, 2, 17-21, 25-28, 30-33; 14:1-10, 26-33)

A. THE MISSION OF THE SPIES

The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, "Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among them."

And Moses sent twelve men of the tribes of Israel, and of them Caleb was of the tribe of Judah and Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim. And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, "Get you up this way by the South, and go up into the mountains: and see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, whether they be few or many; and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; and what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land."

Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes. So they went up, and spied out the land. And they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it upon a staff between two; they brought also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

B. THE REPORT OF THE COWARDS

And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to the children of Israel, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, "We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fenced, and very great: and moreover we saw the giants, the children of Anak, there."

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."

But the men that went up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we." And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."

C. THE DISCOURAGEMENT

And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and said unto them, "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore doth the Lord bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones shall be a prey: were it not better for us to return into Egypt?"

And they said one to another, "Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt."

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the children of Israel.

D. THE ADVICE OF THE HEROES

And Joshua and Caleb, which were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes: and they spake unto all the children of Israel, saying, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it unto us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is removed from over them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not."

But all the people cried to stone them with stones.

E. THE SENTENCE OF THE LORD