THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT

                                                                the hebrew slavery















Egypt certainly was a more powerful monarchy than any existing on the earth in the time of Abraham.

 It was probably inhabited by a mixed race, hebrews and the people of Ham  as well as Hamite; though the latter had the supremacy. The distinction of castes indicates a mixed population, so that the ancients doubted whether Egypt belonged to Asia or Africa. The people were not black, but of a reddish color, with thick lips, straight black hair, and elongated eye, and sunk in the degraded superstitions of the African race

The river Nile,  runs 3,000 miles nearly due north to the Mediterranean. Its annual floodingprovided water of the wheat farming in  the valley of Avaris  with a rich soil brought down from the mountains of Abyssinia, making it the most fertile in the world. The country, thus so favored by a great river, with its rich alluvial deposits, is about 500 miles in length, with an area of 115,000 square miles, of which 9,600 are subject to the fertilizing inundation. But, in ancient times, a great part of the country was irrigated, and abounded in orchards, gardens, and vineyards. Every kind of vegetable was cultivated, and grain was raised in the greatest abundance, so that the people lived in luxury and plenty while other nations were subject to occasional famines.

THE HEBREW SLAVERY

The story begins some 3500 years ago in the land of Egypt. A man named Jacob brought his family to live in Egypt for two reasons. One, there was a bad shortage of food in Jacob's own land of Canaan. Two, Jacob's favorite son Joseph happened to be ruling Egypt for the Pharaoh at the time. Those Hebrew people lived in Egypt for 400 years.

THE HYKSOS KINGS IN EGYPT

Dynasties XII to XVII
The growth of the middle class and the conquest of the Hyksos

The 12th dynasty which was founded by Amenemhet I, Mentuhotep IV's vizier, (1991 BCE), and worked hard to restore royal prestigeencourage recruitment of able civil servants and their unconditional allegiance, and transform the royal image from that of an insecure war leader to that of a confident, semidivine ruler. They continued the tradition of pyramid building and were buried in the Fayum region and at Dahshur.

  The external situation remained dangerous. The northern Nubian and Sinai buffer zones were reoccupied and, for the first time, heavily

 Amenemhet I, (Ammenemes I) , murdered in 1962 BCE, overthrew the Theban rulers of Egypt to found the 12th Dynasty about 1991 BCE. He campaigned against the Libyans and the nomads in the Sinai.

For a while they ruled Egypt like at the beginning, but gradually the Egyptians Got tired of being ruled by foreigners. called HYKSOS  They got an army and took back rulership. After they took control of the land, they started to treat the family of Jacob very badly. The people were by this time known as Israelites and had grown much in population. By the time the 400 years were past, the Israelites became slaves to Egypt.

Sesostris





 Senusret I (Sesostris), (1971-1928 BCE) who had not been appointed successor yet, secured the throne for himself after Amenemhet's assassination, by executing the plotters and publicizing his father's testament,The Teachings of Amenemhet, which became an Egyptian literary classic. He conquered Lower Nubia (Wawat) and controlled it by building a number of fortresses, among them Buhen.

 military expeditions lso were directed toward internal affairs and the nomarchs. These nomarchs were nobles of Egyptian provinces, or nomes, and served as the kings representatives. Raising their own armies, they defended their own borders.





MOSES LED THE HEBREWS OUT FROM SLAVERY   1446 BC

The Israelites had to work long and hard at making building bricks for the Egyptians. At one point, the Pharaoh ruled that if a man didn't meet his quota of bricks for the day, that his baby was to be put into the buildings instead of bricks. This kind of persecution got worse. The king pharaoh was afraid of a prophecy that foretold of a deliverer for the Hebrew people. So the pharaoh ordered that all of the baby boys be thrown in the river from then on.

That deliverer was Moses. Moses was taken out of the river and raised by Pharaoh's daughter. Moses had grown up in Pharaoh's Court, but was not in Egypt the whole time up to the plagues. He had spent 59 years in other lands before he returned to Egypt to help the Israelites escape. Forty of those years Moses spent as a King in the land of Cush. He was at least 76 years old when he came back to Egypt


ten plagues that God sent upon the Egyptians. The last of these is the one we want to look at. With the other plagues, the Hebrews didn't have to worry. They were automatically protected from the hail, and lice, and the other stuff. They didn't have to do anything. But this time the people were asked to do some pretty strange things. Just on Moses' say-so. Moses sent messengers around with instructions for the people to follow. So it isn't like God came and told each person what was going to happen. I bet many of them didn't know any more than that they would escape some terrible thing if they acted in faith on Moses' word.

IN 1446 BC.... THE EXODUS....
there were over 2,000,000 people there in the land of Goshen, Egypt. . And they all had to faithe at the same time. Talk about faith moving mountains. What happened when the Hebrews faithed was more terrible and miraculous. 

That was unusual enough, but there was more. They were told not to get ready for bed, but to strap on their shoes, ware their cloaks, get a staff and hold it, and eat like they were in a hurry to take a trip -- probably standing up. Seems silly to eat a roasted lamb standing up, doesn't it? God has a way of testing our trust in Him by asking us to do things that don't look like they'll help. I mean, who would know if some of the people inside the houses were eating the lamb in a hurry or taking their time to enjoy the flavor




God sent an angel to kill all the first born of each family; even the families of animals. Everywhere in Egypt people died; even statues of the first born were destroyed. Except over in Goshen where the people had put blood on the door.


 Angel of Death came over the land of Egypt that night, and killed all the first born, there were also some Israelites who lost a son or daughter, or a sheep or goat. Some people don't learn even after nine plagues go by. They think in their hearts that they're not brave enough to take the risks that go with faithing.  Hebrew man saying that he couldn't afford to kill his lamb. That doesn't show much trust in God.