The Situation of the Jews in Egypt after the Death of Joseph

Ref. 1

Years passed; Joseph and his brothers died. Jacob's family multiplied rapidly and soon became a whole nation, which was called Israelite, after the patriarch of Israel, and Jewish, after the patriarch Eber.

This people, according to the number of the twelve sons of Jacob, was divided into twelve tribes or tribes. All of them lived in tents in the land of Goshen and were engaged in cattle breeding. At first, the Israelites zealously preserved the faith of their fathers, but then gradually fell under the influence of Egyptian religions and became idolaters. For their apostasy from faith in one God - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Lord punished the Jewish people by the fact that they soon became slaves of the Egyptians.

It happened as follows. When Joseph reached the pinnacle of political power, Egypt was ruled by the Hyksos pharaohs, i.e., the Semites. They seized power in Egypt by force and were in power from about 1720 to 1552 B.C. But then in Egypt there was a national uprising against the Hyksos - the invaders. The Hyksos were expelled from Egypt, and the dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs again came to power. Hating the Hyksos, the Egyptian pharaoh poured out all his hatred on the Jews, since they were related by blood to the Hyksos and could at any time go over to the side of the enemies of Egypt. At least, that's what Pharaoh himself thought.

Seeing how rapidly this tribe was multiplying, he said to his officials: "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are numerous and stronger than we; let us outwit him so that he does not multiply; otherwise, when war comes, he also will unite with our enemies, and take up arms against us, and come out of [our] land" (Exodus 1:10).

At that time, the pharaoh was building his capital Ramesses in the Nile Delta, as well as Piphom, a city of granaries and military warehouses. Unarmed Israelis were a rich source of cheap labor. By order of the pharaoh, the Jews were herded into the construction sites in droves and forced to knead clay and make bricks. So they worked from day to day. day, from dawn to dawn, under the unbearably scorching rays of the sun, and the overseers drove them with sticks.

Pharaoh, however, was deceived in his expectations. The Israelites, despite severe oppression, continued to multiply under these conditions. Then the enraged bishop ordered the Jewish midwives to kill all male babies during childbirth. But the midwives did not stain themselves with infanticide, for they feared God more than Pharaoh. Pharaoh, however, did not abandon his cruel plans and ordered the executioners to take the newborn boys from their mothers and throw them into the Nile. The land of Goshen was in mourning, and weeping and groaning could be heard everywhere. With tears of repentance, the Israelites remembered the God of Abraham - and the Lord heard them. To deliver the Jews from the Egyptian captivity, the Lord chose the great prophet and leader Moses.

Chapter V: The Calling of Moses, and the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt Birth and Upbringing of Moses

Ref. 2

A married couple from the tribe of Levi Abram and Jochebed had a child. He was very handsome and brought joy to his parents. But unfortunately it was a boy who had been doomed to die in the waters of the Nile. The mother fell into great despair and, despite the threat of severe punishment, decided to hide her son from the Egyptian executioners. For three months the mother hid her child, and when it became impossible to do this any longer, she tarred the basket, put her child in it and put it in the reeds by the river bank. The mother went home, and Mariam instructed her daughter to hide on the shore and watch what would happen to the baby.

The one whom the Lord destined to save the Jewish people could not perish in the waters of the Nile. At this time, the daughter of Pharaoh came to bathe in the sacred river. Seeing a basket in the reeds and hearing the crying of a child, she ordered her slave to take it out of the water. Imagine the surprise of the princess when a basket with a crying baby was placed at her feet! She gently bent over the foundling and caressed him, trying to calm him down.

Pharaoh's daughter immediately guessed that she had found an Israelite child, and since deep down she condemned her father's inhuman order, she decided to take the child under her protection. Miriam, who was watching this scene from a distance, approached the Pharaoh's daughter, offering to find a wet nurse - a Hebrew for this child. Having received consent, she happily rushed home for her mother. Thus, by God's providence, the child safely returned to the arms of his dear parent. He was no longer threatened with death in the depths of the Nile, since none of the Egyptian executioners dared to contradict the wishes of the pharaoh's daughter. A few years later, when the boy was already grown up, his mother took him to the palace, and the daughter of Pharaoh adopted a little Israelite, naming him Moses, which means "taken out of the water."

The biblical account does not give any details of Moses' early life in Pharaoh's court. It is only known that he was "taught all the wisdom of Egypt" (Acts 7:22), i.e. he received the highest education that was only available to the priests and ruling classes of the country, who kept all scientific and high religious knowledge secret from the people. But, having accepted all the good that Egyptian culture had in itself, Moses at the same time kept his mind and heart pure from coarse idolatry, and with God's help he was strengthened in the faith of his fathers (Acts 7). As the son of the tsar's daughter, he had a brilliant career ahead of him at court. But, living in the circle of the royal family, he never forgot that he was a Jew, and with all his heart he loved his numerous people. Often a picture of the life of his brothers rose before his eyes, he saw how they suffered, how they cursed their fate, he heard the whistle of whips urging them to slave labor, he heard their complaints, sobs and pleas for salvation.