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Page 22
Afterward Joseph sent his brothers home with good news, and rich gifts,
and abundant food. He sent also wagons in which Jacob and his sons'
wives and the little ones of their families might ride from Canaan down
to Egypt. And Joseph's brothers went home happier than they had been for
many years.
THE STORY OF MOSES, THE CHILD WHO WAS FOUND IN THE RIVER
The children of Israel stayed in the land of Egypt much longer than they
had expected to stay. They were in that land about four hundred years.
And the going down to Egypt proved a great blessing to them. It saved
their lives during the years of famine and need. After the years of need
were over, they found the soil in the land of Goshen, that part of Egypt
where they were living, very rich, so that they could gather three or
four crops every year.
Then, too, the sons of Israel, before they came to Egypt, had begun to
marry the women in the land of Canaan who worshipped idols, and not the
Lord. If they had stayed there, their children would have grown up like
the people around them and soon would have lost all knowledge of God.
But in Goshen they lived alone and apart from the people of Egypt. They
worshipped the Lord God, and were kept away from the idols of Egypt. And
in that land, as the years went on, from being seventy people, they grew
in number until they became a great multitude. Each of the twelve sons
of Jacob was the father of a tribe, and Joseph was the father of two
tribes, named after his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
As long as Joseph lived, and for some time after, the people of Israel
were treated kindly by the Egyptians, out of their love for Joseph, who
had saved Egypt from suffering by famine. But after a long time another
king began to rule over Egypt, who cared nothing for Joseph or Joseph's
people. He saw that the Israelites (as the children of Israel were
called) were very many, and he feared that they would soon become
greater in number and in power than the Egyptians.
He said to his people: "Let us rule these Israelites more strictly. They
are growing too strong."
Then they set harsh rules over the Israelites, and laid heavy burdens on
them. They made the Israelites work hard for the Egyptians, and build
cities for them, and give to the Egyptians a large part of the crops
from their fields. They set them at work in making brick and in building
storehouses. They were so afraid that the Israelites would grow in
number that they gave orders to kill all the little boys that were born
to the Israelites; though their little girls might be allowed to live.
But in the face of all this hate, and wrong, and cruelty, the people of
Israel were growing in number, and becoming greater and greater.
At this time, when the wrongs of the Israelites were the greatest, and
when their little children were being killed, one little boy was born.
[Illustration: _They made the Israelites work hard_]
He was such a lovely child that his mother kept him hid, so that the
enemies did not find him. When she could no longer hide him, she formed
a plan to save his life; believing that God would help her and save her
beautiful little boy.
She made a little box like a boat and covered it with something that
would not let the water into it. Such a boat as this covered over was
called "an ark." She knew that at certain times the daughter of king
Pharaoh--all the kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh, for Pharaoh means
a king--would come down to the river for a bath. She placed her baby
boy in the ark, and let it float down the river where the princess,
Pharaoh's daughter, would see it. And she sent her own daughter, a
little girl named Miriam, twelve years old, to watch close at hand. How
anxious the mother and the sister were as they saw the little ark
floating away from them on the river!
[Illustration: _She placed her baby in the ark_]
Pharaoh's daughter, with her maids, came down to the river, and they saw
the ark floating on the water, among the reeds. She sent one of her
maids to bring it to her so that she might see what was in the curious
box. They opened it, and there was a beautiful little baby, who began to
cry to be taken up.
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