Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 12

(See c.o.x: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. pp. 113, 116, 118.)

[47:6] See c.o.x: Aryan Mytho., ii. 112, 113.

CHAPTER VI.

THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT, AND Pa.s.sAGE THROUGH THE RED SEA.

The children of Israel, who were in bondage in Egypt, making bricks, and working in the field,[48:1] were looked upon with compa.s.sion by the Lord.[48:2] He heard their groaning, and remembered his covenant with Abraham,[48:3] with Isaac, and with Jacob. He, therefore, chose Moses (an Israelite, who had murdered an Egyptian,[48:4] and who, therefore, was obliged to flee from Egypt, as Pharaoh sought to punish him), as his servant, to carry out his plans.

Moses was at this time keeping the flock of Jeruth, his father-in-law, in the land of Midian. The angel of the Lord, or the Lord himself, appeared to him there, and said unto him:

"I am the G.o.d of thy Father, the G.o.d of Abraham, the G.o.d of Isaac, and the G.o.d of Jacob. . . . I have seen the affliction of _my people_ which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their tormentors; for I know their sorrows. And I am _come down_ to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land into a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

Then Moses said unto the Lord:

"Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the G.o.d of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say unto me: What is his name? What shall I say unto them?"

Then G.o.d said unto Moses:

"I AM THAT I AM."[48:5] "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."[48:6]

And G.o.d said, moreover, unto Moses:

"Go and gather the Elders of Israel together, and say unto them: the Lord G.o.d of your fathers . . . appeared unto me, saying: 'I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt . . . unto a land flowing with milk and honey.' And they shall hearken to thy voice, and thou shall come, thou and the Elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him: 'the Lord G.o.d of the Hebrews hath met with us, and now let us go, we beseech thee, _three days journey in the wilderness_, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our G.o.d.'[49:1]

"_I am sure_ that the king of Egypt will _not_ let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst thereof: _and after that he will let you go_. And I will give this people (the Hebrews) favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall come to pa.s.s, that when ye go, _ye shall not go empty_. But every woman shall _borrow_ of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and raiment. And ye shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters, _and ye shall spoil the Egyptians_."[49:2]

The Lord again appeared unto Moses, in Midian, and said:

"Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead which sought thy life. And Moses took his wife, and his son, and set them upon an a.s.s, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the _rod of G.o.d_ (which the Lord had given him) in his hand."[49:3]

Upon arriving in Egypt, Moses tells his brother Aaron, "all the words of the Lord," and Aaron tells all the children of Israel. Moses, who was not eloquent, but had a slow speech,[49:4] uses Aaron as his spokesman.[49:5] They then appear unto Pharaoh, and falsify, "_according to the commands of the Lord_," saying: "Let us go, we pray thee, _three days' journey in the desert_, and sacrifice unto the Lord our G.o.d."[49:6]

The Lord hardens Pharaoh's heart, so that he does not let the children of Israel go to sacrifice unto their G.o.d, in the desert.

Moses and Aaron continue interceding with him, however, and, for the purpose of showing their miraculous powers, they change their rods into serpents, the river into blood, cause a plague of frogs and lice, and a swarm of flies, &c., &c., to appear. Most of these feats were imitated by the magicians of Egypt. Finally, the first-born of Egypt are slain, when Pharaoh, after having had his heart hardened, by the Lord, over and over again, consents to let Moses and the children of Israel go to serve their G.o.d, _as they had said_, that is, for _three_ days.

The Lord having given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, they borrowed of them jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment, "_according to the commands of the Lord_." And they journeyed toward Succoth, there being _six hundred thousand, besides children_.[50:1]

"And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day, _in a pillar of a cloud_, to lead them the way; and by night _in a pillar of fire_, to give them light to go by day and night."[50:2]

"And it was told the king of Egypt, that the people fled. . . .

And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him.

And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, . . . and he pursued after the children of Israel, and overtook them encamping beside the sea. . . . And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel . . . were sore afraid, and . . . (they) cried out unto the Lord. . . . And the Lord said unto Moses, . . . speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the Red Sea, and divide it, and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. . . . And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,[50:3] and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; _and the waters were a wall unto them upon the right hand, and on their left_. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, _even all Pharaoh's horses, and his chariots, and his horse-men_."

After the children of Israel had landed on the other side of the sea, the Lord said unto Moses:

"Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horse-men. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength. . . . And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horse-men, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. . . . And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses."[51:1]

The writer of this story, whoever he may have been, was evidently familiar with the legends related of the Sun-G.o.d, _Bacchus_, as he has given Moses the credit of performing some of the miracles which were attributed to that G.o.d.

It is related in the hymns of Orpheus,[51:2] that Bacchus had a _rod_ with which he performed miracles, and which he could change into a _serpent_ at pleasure. _He pa.s.sed the Red Sea, dry shod, at the head of his army._ He divided the waters of the rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, by the touch of his rod, and pa.s.sed through them dry-shod.[51:3] _By the same mighty wand, he drew water from the rock_,[51:4] and wherever they marched, the land flowed with wine, milk and honey.[51:5]

Professor Steinthal, speaking of Dionysus (Bacchus), says:

Like Moses, he strikes fountains of wine and water out of the rock.

Almost all the acts of Moses correspond to those of the Sun-G.o.ds.[51:6]

Mons. Dupuis says:

"Among the different miracles of Bacchus and his Bacchantes, there are prodigies very similar to those which are attributed to Moses; for instance, such as the sources of water which the _former_ caused to sprout from the innermost of the rocks."[51:7]

In Bell's Pantheon of the G.o.ds and Heroes of Antiquity,[51:8] an account of the prodigies attributed to Bacchus is given; among these, are mentioned his striking water from the rock, with his magic wand, his turning a twig of ivy into a snake, his pa.s.sing through the Red Sea and the rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, and of his enjoying the light of the Sun (while marching with his army in India), when the day was spent, and it was dark to others. All these are parallels too striking to be accidental.

We might also mention the fact, that Bacchus, as well as Moses was called the "_Law-giver_," and that it was said of Bacchus, as well as of Moses, that his laws were written on _two tables of stone_.[52:1]

Bacchus was represented _horned_, and so was Moses.[52:2] Bacchus "was picked up in a box, that floated on the water,"[52:3] and so was Moses.[52:4] Bacchus had two mothers, one by nature, and one by adoption,[52:5] and so had Moses.[52:6] And, as we have already seen, Bacchus and his army enjoyed the light of the Sun, during the night time, and Moses and his army enjoyed the light of "a pillar of fire, by night."[52:7]

In regard to the children of Israel going out from the land of Egypt, we have no doubt that such an occurrence took place, although not in the manner, and not for such reasons, as is recorded by the _sacred historian_. We find, from other sources, what is evidently nearer the truth.

It is related by the historian Ch.o.e.remon, that, at one time, the land of Egypt was infested with disease, and through the advice of the sacred scribe Phritiphantes, the king caused the infected people (who were none other than the brick-making slaves, known as the children of Israel), to be collected, _and driven out of the country_.[52:8]

_Lysimachus_ relates that:

"A filthy disease broke out in Egypt, and the Oracle of Ammon, being consulted on the occasion, commanded the king to purify the land _by driving out the Jews_ (who were infected with leprosy, &c.), a race of men who were hateful to the G.o.ds."[52:9] "_The whole mult.i.tude of the people were accordingly collected and driven out into the wilderness._"[52:10]

_Diodorus Siculus_, referring to this event, says:

"In ancient times Egypt was afflicted with a great plague, which was attributed to the anger of G.o.d, on account of the mult.i.tude of foreigners in Egypt: by whom the rites of the native religion were neglected. _The Egyptians accordingly drove them out._ The most n.o.ble of them went under Cadmus and Danaus to Greece, but the greater number followed _Moses_, a wise and valiant leader, to Palestine."[52:11]

After giving the different opinions concerning the origin of the Jewish nation, Tacitus, the Roman historian, says:

"In this clash of opinions, _one point seems to be universally admitted_. A pestilential disease, disfiguring the race of man, and making the body an object of loathsome deformity, spread all over Egypt. Bocchoris, at that time the reigning monarch, consulted the oracle of Jupiter Hammon, and received for answer, that the kingdom must be purified, by exterminating the infected mult.i.tude, as a race of men detested by the G.o.ds. After diligent search, the wretched sufferers were collected together, and in a wild and barren desert abandoned to their misery. In that distress, while the vulgar herd was sunk in deep despair, Moses, one of their number, reminded them, that, by the wisdom of his councils, they had been already rescued out of impending danger.

Deserted as they were by men and G.o.ds, he told them, that if they did not repose their confidence in him, as their chief by divine commission, they had no resource left. His offer was accepted. Their march began, they knew not whither. Want of water was their chief distress. Worn out with fatigue, they lay stretched on the bare earth, heart broken, ready to expire, when a troop of wild a.s.ses, returning from pasture, went up the steep ascent of a rock covered with a grove of trees. The verdure of the herbage round the place suggested the idea of springs near at hand. Moses traced the steps of the animals, and discovered a plentiful vein of water. By this relief the fainting mult.i.tude was raised from despair. They pursued their journey for six days without intermission. On the seventh day they made halt, and, having expelled the natives, took possession of the country, where they built their city, and dedicated their temple."[53:1]

Other accounts, similar to these, might be added, among which may be mentioned that given by Manetho, an Egyptian priest, which is referred to by Josephus, the Jewish historian.

Although the accounts quoted above are not exactly alike, _yet the main points are the same_, which are to the effect that Egypt was infected with disease owing to the foreigners (among whom were those who were afterwards styled "the children of Israel") that were in the country, and who were an unclean people, and that they were accordingly driven out into the wilderness.

When we compare this statement with that recorded in Genesis, it does not take long to decide which of the two is nearest the truth.

Everything putrid, or that had a tendency to putridity, was carefully avoided by the ancient Egyptians, and so strict were the Egyptian priests on this point, that they wore no garments made of any animal substance, circ.u.mcised themselves, and shaved their whole bodies, even to their eyebrows, lest they should unknowingly harbor any filth, excrement or vermin, supposed to be bred from putrefaction.[53:2] We know from the laws set down in _Leviticus_, that the Hebrews were not a remarkably clean race.

Jewish priests, _in making a history for their race_, have given us but a shadow of truth here and there; it is almost wholly mythical. The author of "The Religion of Israel," speaking on this subject, says:

"The history of the religion of Israel _must start from the sojourn_ of _the Israelites in Egypt_. Formerly it was usual to take a much earlier starting-point, and to begin with a religious discussion of the religious ideas of the _Patriarchs_. And this was perfectly right, so long as the accounts of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were considered _historical_. _But now that a strict investigation has shown us that all these stories are entirely unhistorical_, of course we have to begin the history later on."[54:1]