THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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dynasty, Rameses II was one of the g reatest kings, and it s generally held th a t he is the Pharaoh of th e oppres sion. During the last fifty years archeolo gists have unearthed monuments, ruins of cities, palaces, inscriptions, and other things which have throw n a whole flood of ligh t on Rameses and his reign. One of th e most in teresting bits of history uncovered is th a t which records his vic torious campaign a t Carchem ish on the E uphrates, whose very existence was denied by critics. II. The Method of Oppression. F rom th e quiet p astu re lands of Goshen, th e shepherds were forced by th e decree of th e king, and compelled to labor a t brick-making and building, under the lash of th e cruel ta sk mas ters. In every way possible th e labor was made hard. Illu stration s of slaves m aking bricks and th e ta sk m asters standing over them , have been found on Egyptian walls, showing how tru e to facts is th e Bible narrative. In spite of the hard tasks, th e people multiplied, and as the purpose of th e oppression was not to accomplish a cer tain am ount of necessary work, bu t to keep down the people, a new edict w as issued. This was aimed a t the chil dren, the command being to kill every male child born in the fam ilies of the Israelites. Is it not strange th a t S atan ’s malig n ity against the race is shown in his attack s on the children, all down the line of hum an history? H ere he used Pharaoh, la ter on he used Herod. In the dark days of the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church, th e pages of history are red w ith the blood of the infants, literally to rn limb from limb by the minions of the Pope. The Turkish atrocities again st the A rm enian children and the German atrocities against the children of Belgium and N orthern France, are the la test exhibitions of Satanic hate to childhood. This same sp irit was back of all th e opposition to
the proposed legislation for the safe guarding of child life in G reat B ritain. In our own United States, th e opposi tion against the proposed legislation for the relief of th e children in the Pennsylvania coal mines and E astern factories, came from th e same spirit. Even more recently th e defeat of the legislation intended to relieve child hood in Southern cotton mills, proves th a t in our own land, and in th e very day when we are deploring th e tre a t m ent of th e children in Europe and Armenia, by German and Turkish brutes, th ere exists th e same a ttitu d e on the p art of some of the people of our own land. How foreign is th is to the sp irit of Him Who said “Suffer the little children to come unto Me,” and Who u ttered one of His stern est de nunciations again st those who would cause one of His little ones to stumble, and Who said “Unless ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not en ter into th e kingdom of Heaven.” M att. 18:3. III. The R esults of Oppression. Though the oppression was of P h arao h ’s own planning, and th e ou t come of his own selfish ambitions, yet, God used it to work out His own plan. Palestine, not Egypt, was to be the home of His chosen people. Goshen, w ith its rich p astu re lands and easy life, and its idolatry, would have to be given up by Israel, if they were to be the Lord’s people. The oppression was one g reat in strum en t in bringing th a t about. How many readers of these lines will look back on th e ir own lives, and see how God had to allow hardship and tria l of one kind or another, to come to them to separate them unto higher things. Then, again, it was necessary, if Israel was to becdme a g reat nation in her own land, th a t they should know more th a n ju st how to atten d to sheep and cattle. So, w ithout intending to, P haraoh opened a g reat “m anual arts school,”, and when th e Israelites got
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