THE BOOK OF EXODUS Contributions from the " Young Men's Corner "— Thirteenth series, 1932. " Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so " (Acts 17. 11). Issued by : " NEEDED TRUTH " Publishing Office, To be obtained from : MR. R. T. H. HORNE, 57, Church Road, Higher Tranmere, Birkenhead. CONTENTS. SUBJECT. Page Israel's bondage, and the early days of Moses .. .. 1 Moses in Midian, and at the Burning Bush .. .. .. 22 Moses leaves Midian with Zipporah, and appears before Pharaoh 36 Jehovah, and the Rod .. .. .. .. .. .. 51 The Plagues 67 The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread .. .. 81 The Red Sea, Moses' song, Marah and Elim 97, 113 The giving of the Manna .. .. .. .. .. .. 113 The Smitten Rock, and the Victory over Amalek .. .. 129 Jethro and his counsel to Moses .. .. .. .. 145 Sinai and the Covenant .. .. .. .. .. .. 162 The Golden Calf, and Moses in the Mount 177 Israel's Offerings ; the Ark and the Mercy-seat . 12, 17 The Table of Shewbread 31,33 The Lampstand 42, 49 The Curtains and the Boards ; the Veil and the Door .. 56, 65 The Altar of Burnt Offering 73, 81 The Hangings of the Court . 90 The Garments of the High Priest and of the Priests . 102 The Consecration of the Priests 121 The Altar of Incense . 137 The Laver 153, 161 The Half-shekel and the Sockets 171 The Anointing Oil and the Incense . 185 Pages. Remarks and Correspondence—Priests and the Priesthood 128, 159, 176, 191 Remarks—Rephidim and Amalek .. 143 Remarks 192 Studies with a Concordance : the word " Steps " . .. 110 Questions and Answers . 32, 64, 80, 96, 109, 128, 142, 159 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. Young Men's Corner Thirteenth Series. January, 1932 " Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so." (Acts 17. 11). CONTENTS. Page Israel's bondage, and the early days of Moses 1 Israel's offerings ; the Ark and the Mercy-seat 12 ISRAEL'S BONDAGE, AND THE EARLY DAYS OF MOSES. —Exodus 1. 1—2. 15. From Middlesbrough.—A Pharaoh comes to the throne who knows not Joseph and who greatly errs, not knowing Joseph's God and not bringing Him into his thoughts. The nation of Israel rapidly grows and the king becomes afraid of a crisis and uses affliction and slavery, which only caused a greater multiplication of the Israelites' numbers. Though they had Joseph's bones and God's words (through Mm) of promise, from Joshua 24. 14 and Ezekiel 20. 7 it would seem that in a great measure the Israelites were idol worshippers and had forgotten God. This made us wonder whether God was chastening them that they might acknowledge Him. Pharaoh waxes worse unto the commanding of the death of the male children, which God overrules, using the midwives who feared Him ; because they acknowledged God, He honoured them (1 Samuel 2. 30). Have the " houses " in 1. 21 any special significance ? [The word house is used in two senses at least in the Scriptures; the first is that of a building, and the second that of a person's descendants. I take it that it is in the latter sense that God made the midwives houses. God gave them children and children's children, which was a hope of every true Israelite.—J.M.]. Stephen, in Acts 7. 20, says that " about this time Moses was born." Hebrews 11. 23 shows that the hiding of Moses was an act of faith—fearing God rather than the king's commandment. We see God's protecting care over Moses even to the finding of a nurse in his own mother. Though trained in Pharaoh's palace in all the knowledge of Egypt, yet by faith he refused all Egypt could offer. It came into Moses' heart (Acts 7. 23) to visit his brethren, the number of years given in the promise to Abraham having nearly elapsed. No doubt Moses was in communication with God—Acts 7. 25— but this is not God's time for him to deliver his brethren. Moses, like others, made mistakes, and this is easily understood and only tends to magnify the infinite grace and exhaustless patience of God. [We must be careful not to blame Moses for a fault which really lies at the door of the Israelites. Exactly the same consideration arises when we think of the Lord being sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Was it the time to save Israel ? or was the Lord mistaken ? Wherein did the failure in saving Israel lie ? Was it not in the fact that they refused the Divine Deliverer, and because of their unbelief must endure the persecution and tribulation which the persecution of Israel in Egypt typifies ?—J.M.]. E. H. Bowers. 2 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. From London, S.E.—It is fitting to begin the study of this section of the Bible with a short preface concerning the Book of Exodus as a whole. It may be divided, therefore, for convenience, into three portions:— 1. Historical. Chapters 1.—25. 2. Legislative. Chapters 25.-28. 3. Constructive. Chapters 28.—40. In the ancient Hebrew Scriptures the first five books were- included as one, but the Septuagint translators divided it into five- books, and Exodus became a separate entity. Nevertheless, it forms a complete picture with them. It is noticeable that the early chapters must have been written by some one acquainted with Egyptian life and order. Hence we see the value of Moses being brought up in the royal household ; he would be taught hieroglyphics. We turn now to deal with this first historical section of the book. The start is very exciting, and at times things seemed critical. God uses a quick-witted girl and the tears of a baby to bring a future law- giver through a very harassing time. We might digress a moment as we picture the mother of Moses using a few precious impressionable years to teach the boy the back- ground of his knowledge of the Word of God. We draw a simile here and picture ourselves using a like opportunity given to us in Sunday- School work. In later years, as we see Moses grown to manhood, we note something of the parallel between him and the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses was not proud—he could not settle to a comfortable life of his own whilst the Hebrews were in trouble—and he was shortly to know the bitterness of rejection. A high destiny was before the man. He was to write the books which form the beginning of the Bible ; he was to be a leader of men. For him " the University of Experience " opened its gates with a glad welcome. E. A. Mayston. From Greenock.—While going through Exodus, chapter 1., the first five verses seemed to present a difficulty when placed alongside the other three accounts of the souls who came into Egypt, but it was found that there was really no discord when the subject was gone into fully. In Genesis 46. we have 70 souls; in Exodus 1., 70 souls; Deuteronomy 10., 70 souls ; and Acts 7., 75 kindred. Genesis 46. 26, 27, shows that 69 persons went in with Jacob to Egypt, making 70 in all, excluding his sons' wives (R.V.M.). [Re Y.M.C., 1930, page 171). [66 souls came with Jacob into Egypt, not 69.—J.M.]. The Scripture in Acts (kindred) probably includes some one not of the direct line of Jacob. With the accession of the new king which knew not Joseph, the bondage of Israel began. The slaves, however, seemed to thrive on oppression, as the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied. At last Pharaoh commanded that every son which was born should be destroyed. " At which season, Moses was born." But Amram and Jochebed defied the king's commandment, and hid him till he was three months old, when his mother made him the ark of bulrushes and laid it by the river's brink, where it was discovered by Pharaoh's daughter, who took him for her son, and named him Moses. One day when he was grown up, he was enraged to see an Egyptian smiting one of his brethren, a Hebrew, and immediately, after looking around him, he smote the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 3 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews quarrelling and tried to reconcile them. Here he discovered that his previous day's action was known, and he was forced to flee from Egypt into Midian. G. Millar, Jun.. S, J. From Wishaw.—Well might we call to memory the words of the hymn, at the commencement of our present study, God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps on the sea, And rides upon the storm. We thought there was a tone of sadness in verse 6, how it records the death of Joseph first, then his brethren, and all that generation. It seems that so far as the Egyptians were concerned that was the end of Joseph and all his work of salvation ; the following verses go to show that all the good that he had done was forgotten. Egypt's new king said to his people, " Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely " ; but God was with them—the more they were afflicted the more they grew, and the time of promise drew nigh.