founder of its nationality1, and accordingly it is with the exodus that the real history of Israel begins, at least in the view of the earlier prophets 2. Then for the first time was established that unique relationship between Jehovah and Israel which became the basis of a theocratic polity; nor can we wonder that prophetic and priestly writers of a later period incorporated in the Pentateuchal picture of the Mosaic age an account of those fully-developed theocratic institutions, the germinal origin of which could be traced to Moses himself. For the primitive ordinances established at the period of the exodus, the sacrifice of the Passover with its accessories, the feast of Mazzoth and the sanctification of the firstborn, gradually came to be regarded as symbols of Israel's original consecration to the worship and service of Jehovah. Observe the month of Abib, says the writer of Deuteronomy, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. .. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy lifes. To this corresponds a passage in the book of Exodus: By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: and it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn 1 Cp. Amos ii. 9 foll., iii. 1; Hos. ii. 15, xi. 1, xii. 9, 13, xiii. 4 foll. 2 Meinhold, Jesus und das A. T. p. 133, observes that if the story of Genesis is of fundamental importance, it is difficult to explain the fact that the prophets generally regard the exodus as the beginning and foundation of Israel's religion. It is certain that Abraham is very seldom alluded to by pre-exilic prophets (Isa. xxix. 22; Jer. xxxiii. 26. Mic. vii. 20 is not certainly pre-exilic. See Kirkpatrick, The Doctrine of the Prophets, p. 230). Deut. xvi. 1-3. of my children I redeem1. We know how the events of the exodus lived in the memory of the people. Again and again, in the days of alarm and calamity, the thoughts of the faithful reverted to that signal manifestation of Jehovah's beneficence and might. It was a comprehensive type of all divine salvation; it constituted a sure basis of the loftiest hopes; it rekindled faith even when it seemed to be overwhelmed by the disasters of later history; it was the ground of the most passionate appeals: Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab in pieces, and pierced the dragon2. God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. I will meditate of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. With these inspired outbursts may be classed the wonderful song of Moses, which is inserted in the prophetic narrative of the exodus, and is the most exalted expression of the triumphant feelings aroused by that memorable event. The exodus was indeed a turning-point not merely in the history of the world, but in the development of human faith. It not only gave birth to a nation, but was the startingpoint of a higher religion. Israel saw the mighty act which Jehovah performed upon the Egyptians: and the 1 Exod. xiii. 14, 15. 8 Ps. lxxiv. 12, 13. 2 Isa. li. 9. 4 Ps. lxxvii. 12 foll. 5 The structure of the song is examined by Kittel, Hist. of the Hebrews, vol. i. p. 225. He follows Dillmann in distinguishing between a shorter, older form contemporary with the event, and the enlarged form, 'which is a psalm composed according to the rules of art' and belongs to a later period. Cp. Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the O. T. p. 27. 1 people feared Jehovah, and believed in Jehovah, and in Moses his servant1. 2. Another principal aim of the Mosaic narratives of the exodus and settlement in Canaan appears to be that of bringing into clear relief the character and requirement of God. The very programme of the new religion is contained in the sentence prefixed to the Decalogue, I am Jehovah, thy God; while, as Riehm observes, the ideas of mercy and truth as elements in the character of God seem to dominate the course of the entire narrative. Certainly the purport of the book of Exodus is on the one hand to extol the patience, longsuffering, and condescension of Jehovah, and on the other to give prominence to His moral requirement. In a later lecture this last point will be more particularly considered. It is only necessary in this place to draw attention to the ethical tendency of Mosaism as illustrated in what is generally reckoned to be the earliest legislation: the Decalogue and the so-called Book of the Covenant' (Exod. xxi-xxiii). Worthy of notice is the comparative silence of this legislation on points of ritual and ceremonial observance. The characteristic contribution of Moses to the religion of Israel was the teaching embodied in the Decalogue. His aim was to foster a higher morality; the distinctive character of the [Mosaic] religion,' says Prof. Robertson Smith, 'appears in the laws directed against polytheism and witchcraft, in the prominence given to righteousness and humanity as the things which are most pleasing to Jehovah and constitute the true significance of such an ordinance as the Sabbath, and, above all, in the clearness with which the law holds forth the truth that Jehovah's goodness to Israel is no mere natural 2 1 Exod. xiv. 31. Cp. Delitzsch, O. T. History of Redemption, § 23. Riehm, ATI. Theologie, p. 63. There are difficulties in regard to the 'Ten Words' arising from the fact that 'in ancient Israel there were two opinions as to what those words were' (Robertson Smith, O. T. in J. C. p. 335). The question must for the present be waived. relation, such as binds Moab to Chemosh, that His favour to His people is directed by moral principles and is forfeited by moral iniquity'.' The chief object, however, of the whole Mosaic narrative seems to be that of emphasizing the significance of the divine self-revelation implied in Israel's deliverance from Egypt. The marvels of the exodus, like some of our Lord's miracles, appear to have been intended to arrest attention, and to rivet Israel's gaze, as it were, upon its divine teacher. Jehovah alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. We have already noticed that each of the first five commandments of the Decalogue is based on some trait of the divine character. And in the long and pathetic story of Jehovah's forbearance with Israel's stiffnecked perverseness and perpetual backsliding we have a revelation of the divine nature more striking than any mere display of omnipotence could possibly be. Forty years, we read, suffered he their manners, or, possibly, bare he them as a nursing father in the wilderness. Sternness mingled with generosity, righteous indignation controlled by pitying love, patience as of a father with a fractious child-these are traits which lie upon the surface of the narrative. At times Jehovah is represented as weary-as even longing to be released from the burden of Israel's folly, ingratitude, and perverseness. But each fresh rebellion leads to new manifestation of love. Throughout the narrative' we behold,' says Dr. Bruce, 'a manifestation of all the divine attributes, power, wisdom, patience, faithfulness, unwearied loving care -not a momentary manifestation only, but one extending over a lengthened series of years, supplying material for a history rich in pathetic stirring incident which endures for ages, an imperishable monument to the praise of Israel's God.' Who can fully measure 10. T. in J. C. p. 344. 3 Acts xiii. 18. the significance of this new and profound idea of God -an idea which, possibly even in the mind of Moses himself, was dim and vague, but which to the faith of his prophetic successors became distinct and clear? The significance of that struggle for a new conception of God,' observes Prof. Kittel, 'can be estimated by any one who possesses two qualifications. He must know the illusions and the degrading bondage in which the people of Israel were held, owing, doubtless, to their view of God. He must reflect on the religious usages of western Asia, which deeply wounded man's moral sense and trampled the dignity of human nature in the dust these, with their bewildering orgies, he must compare with the spirit of the religion of Moses. Nature-religion, with its tendency to enslave man, to set at nought his natural freedom and moral dignity, could not but rob the nations in ever-increasing measure of their civilization and humanity. By his religion, Moses won for his people and the world the road to freedom, human dignity, and the development of pure humanity'.' 3. A third aim of the Mosaic narrative, regarded as a whole, is doubtless to depict an ideal theocracy or kingdom of God. The conception of a theocracy may have been only dimly present to the consciousness of the newly formed nation 2, but the essential elements of such a conception were implicitly contained in the belief that Israel belonged to Jehovah, and that He was Israel's God. At any rate, in the view of the Pentateuchal writers, prophetic or priestly, it is clear that Jehovah is the king of His elect people, and Moses a human deputy divinely empowered to act as mediator between Jehovah and His subjects. 1 Hist. of the Hebrews, vol. i. p. 251. 2 Montefiore, Hibbert Lectures, p. 105, seems to speak too strongly when, following Wellhausen, he asserts that 'the old Israelite has no knowledge of his nation's peculiar position or destiny. The idea of a theocracy is wanting.' Riehm's opinion seems the more probable (ATI. Theologie, p. 58): Der Grundgedanke des Mosaismus ist nichts anderes als eine Fortbildung und Näherbestimmung des Bewusstseins der Patriarchen über ihr Angehörigkeitsverhältniss zu dem einen wahren Gott.' |