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Q. How long did Joseph survive his father?

A. Fifty-four years: he died at the age of one hundred and ten years, having governed Egypt eighty years. Q. What oath did he exact of the children of Israel when he was dying?

A. M. 2367.

B. C. 1637.

A. Being assured that God would visit them, he made them sware to carry his

bones from Egypt at their departure.

Q. What was done with Joseph's body?

A. It was embalmed and put into a coffin in Egypt.* Q. What circumstance occurred to alter the condition of the Israelites ?

A. A prince succeeded to the throne who respected not Joseph; and he, fearing their rebellion and escape, condemned them to slavery, and "made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field."

Q. What cities did they build for Pharaoh ?
A. Pithom and Raamses.‡

According to the LXX. Joseph was placed in a Soros, a large stone coffin, such as was used only for persons of very eminent rank. Several coffins of this kind may be seen in the British Museum.

The Hebrew yada is rendered, Exod. ii. 25. "to have respect unto."

"At one place the people were making bricks, with straw cut into small pieces, and mingled with the clay to bind it. They were, in short, engaged exactly as the Israelites used to be, making bricks with straw; and for a similar purpose-to build extensive granaries for the Bashaw: treasure cities for Pharaoh. Exod. i, 11.”—Rev. W. JOWETT's Christ. Research.

Q. Had this cruel treatment the desired effect?

A. No: the more they were afflicted, the more they Wherefore, to prevent their

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rapid increase, Pharaoh ordered that every male child should be cast into the Nile; which sanguinary edict, however, seems to have been generally evaded.

Q. What occupation was frequently A. M. 2432. undertaken by women of rank, at this B. C. 1572. period of the world?

A. The washing of the linen of the family:* for this purpose they usually resorted to the neighbouring rivers and fountains.

Q. What happened on an occasion of this kind?

A. The daughter of Pharaoh, passing with her maidens along the side of the river, discovered among the flags an ark,† containing a little child, whose weeping excited her compassion. She therefore adopted him, and called his name Moses.

Q. By whom was the child nursed ?

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A. By his mother, whom the princess engaged, being ignorant of the relationship between them.

This practice is noticed in the sixth book of the Odyssey. Nausicaa, daughter of the king of Phæacia, proceeds with her maidens to the beach to wash the linen of the family and while thus engaged, Ulysses is cast on the shore.

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The mud of the Nile, which is still used by the Egyptians in the construction of their boats, is "rich and slimy, and, when dry, so firm and impervious, that, together with the strong reed that grows on the banks, it is easy to conceive how the mother of Moses constructed a little ark."-Rev. W. JOWETT'S Christ. Research.

Q. Who were the parents of Moses?

A. Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, was his father; and Jochebed, the sister of Kohath, his mother.

Q. How many children had they besides Moses ?

A. Two; Miriam and Aaron: the latter was born three years before Moses.*

Q. Why was Moses exposed on the Nile by his parents? A. He was concealed for three months after his birth, to evade the bloody mandate of the king; but a longer continuance of this secresy being impracticable, his parents, resolved never to obey the inhuman decree,t cast him thus on the providence of God.

Q. How long did Moses reside in Egypt?

A. He dwelt there forty years; ‡ and was educated in all the learning of the country.

2. Was he captivated by the wealth and honours that awaited him?

A. No: by faith "he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward."

*Exod. vii. 7.

+ Heb. xi. 23. "They were not afraid of the king's commandment."

Tradition ascribes many heroic exploits to Moses during his residence in Egypt; and in Acts vii. 22. he is said to have been "mighty in words and in deeds."

Q. By what act did he identify his condition with that of his brethren ?

A. Seeing an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, he interfered and slew him: for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they understood not."*

Q. Did the Israelites acknowledge his authority?

A. No: for on the following day, endeavouring to reconcile two Hebrews, whom he found striving together, the aggressor not only refused his mediation, but reproached him with killing the Egyptian.

Q. What resulted from this?

A. Concluding that this circumstance was generally known, he fled from Egypt, to avoid the vengeance of Pharaoh, and took refuge in the land of Midian. There he engaged himself to Jethro, the priest or prince of the country, who gave him Zipporah his daughter to wife. Q. How many children were born to him there? A. Two: Gershom and Eliezer.

A. M. 2511.

B. C. 1493.

Q. What occurred to Moses in his eightieth year?

A. Having led the flock of Jethro to

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the back of the desart, to Horeb the Mount of God,† the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire, in the midst of the bush.

* From Acts vii. 25. the call of Moses to his high office, while yet in Egypt, is clearly demonstrable,

+ Horeb was unquestionably called the Mount of God, from the displays there made of the Divine Glory.

Q. How was he commanded to do reverence on this awful occasion ?

A. By putting off his shoes.*

Q. How did God reveal himself to him?

A. As the God of his father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.t And the Lord said unto him, "I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt."

Q. What remarkable inquiry did Moses make on this occasion ?

A. He asked what reply should be given to the Israelites when they inquired the name of the God of their fathers; and he was commanded to say unto them, "I AM hath sent me unto you :"‡ and, "The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."

Q. How did Moses undertake the duty thus devolved upon him?

A. Very reluctantly therefore, to encourage him, he was empowered to work several miracles to evidence

• The oriental mode of expressing reverence.

+ This declaration was urged with overwhelming force by (Saviour against the Sadduces, who denied the future tate. Luke xx. 27-38.

The original, "I WILL BE hath sent me unto you," is considered as a sublime indication of the incomprehensibility and eternity of God.

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