University of Virginia Library

11. LETTER XI.
REMESES OF DAMASCUS TO SESOSTRIS.

The events which have transpired since I last
wrote to you, mock my pen by their sublimity and infinite
grandeur. Upon a rock for a tablet, the desert
around me, the Sea of Edom before me, I desire to record,
while they are vivid in my memory, the stupendous
scenes of the past six days. The millions of Israe.
have come forth out of Egypt! The Sea of Suphim
is between them and the land of their bondage! But
I have so much to write, such wonders to relate, that
I will not anticipate your curiosity, but proceed to
send you a narrative of each event in due order. Let
all the earth say that the Lord God of the Hebrews is
the only God: besides Him there is no God!

The day that Moses and Aaron departed from the
presence of Pharaoh-Thothmeses, in truth to see his face
no more, the Lord commanded them to call together the
elders and people of the Hebrews, and instruct them to
take a male lamb, or a kid without blemish, one to each
household, keep it till the fourteenth day of the month,
which day was just at hand, and kill it on the evening

thereof, sprinkling, with a bunch of hyssop, the lintel and
door-posts of their houses dipped in its blood, and roasting
the flesh, eat it at night, leaving none until morning.
“And ye shall eat it,” said the Lord, “in haste, with
your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your
staff in your hand; for it is the Lord's passover, who
will the same night pass through the land of Egypt, and
smite all the first-born of the land of Egypt, both man
and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgment! I am the Lord: and this day shall be a
memorial to you forever.”

Then Moses did as the Lord commanded. Moreover,
on the day of the night on which the lamb, that had
been selected from the flocks three days before, was to
be slain, he said to the elders of Israel, whom he called,
together, “Thus saith the Lord your God, `Let none of
you go out at the door of his house until the morning;
for this night the Lord will pass through to smite the
Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the
lintel, and on the two side-posts, the Lord will pass over
the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in
unto your houses to smite you.”' There were also other
ordinances of bread unleavened established, which bread
they were commanded to eat for seven days, at the “feast
of unleavened bread.”

And when Moses had proclaimed these and other
ordinances, the people bowed their heads and worshipped
God, and said they would do all that the Lord had commanded
Moses and Aaron to say unto them.

Then, my dear father, followed a scene of the deepest
interest! It was three millions of people preparing
to break their bondage of generations, and to go forth

from under the cruel sceptre of the king of Egypt forever.
The mighty miracles of Moses had, long since,
silenced the murmurs and doubts of the elders, openly
uttered at the beginning, when Pharaoh in revenge
against Moses and Aaron, increased their burdens,
and denied them straw for their bricks. At each successive
miracle they had gained confidence in their
powerful advocate before Pharaoh; and when they saw
that he could not be equalled by the magicians, they
became vain and proud of him, whom before they had
condemned; and waited, with wonder and expectation,
their mighty deliverence. At the occurrence of the
sixth miracle they threw up all work, and no Egyptian
had the heart to say, “Go to your tasks!” for they saw
that God was with them. Thus from all parts of Egypt,
drawn by curiosity, hope, wonder, and a desire to behold
this mighty leader whom God had raised up, they flocked
to Goshen, until the land was filled with their vast numbers!
The houses and huts could not contain them, and
they slept by thousands in the fields, and by the wayside.
When they perceived that the darkness, and the
locusts, and the hail approached not their land, the most
timid and desponding took courage, and lifted their
voices to the God of their fathers, in hope and gratitude.
Indeed, after the awful plague of darkness, thousands of
the most ignorant Hebrews shouted that he was a god,
and the Egyptians of all classes were ready to acknowledge
him as Osiris or Thoth! And in some of the
temples, the day after the darkness passed, the priests
waved incense to Osiris by the name of Musæusiris, or
Osiris-Moses: and, I doubt not, divine honors will be
paid him in Egypt for generations to come! Yet this
mighty servant of God moves among the people, as
unassuming and self-forgetful as the humblest of his
brethren, quietly giving his directions for the greatest
movement earth was ever to behold—a nation marching
in one day from bondage to freedom!

I moved in and out, everywhere among them. There
was a strange joy lighting up every face. Old men
looked calm and happy; young men were noisy with
hope; maidens were full of joy; mothers smiled with
delight, as they clasped their babes to their bosoms, in
the certainty that they would not grow up in servitude
to Pharaoh. All eyes were turned to Moses and Aaron,
as they passed to and fro, and many fell on their knees,
and worshipped them; while others shouted, as the only
way they could express their emotions. How must the
heart of the servant of God have swelled with gratitude
to his Creator, as he beheld the happiness around him!
And how deeply he must have realized his responsibility,
as he reflected that the hopes of three millions of people,
whom he had assembled in Goshen, with the promise of
deliverance from the sceptre of Pharaoh, hung upon his
single arm, but which was, for the time, the arm of
God!

With what emotions of awe and expectation did the
children of Israel, each at the door of his house, prepare
to slay the chosen lamb, and sprinkle its blood on the
side-posts and lintel! To them it was the command of
Moses simply, and beyond that none knew the significance.
It was a beautiful and serene evening. The
sun had filled the skies with golden atoms, and the
horizon was tinged with commingled emerald, blue, and
orange colors, fused into an atmosphere of ineffable

glory. It seemed as if the presence of the God of the
Hebrews was in His skies, beholding His people! At
the given hour, being the ninth of the day, a hundred
thousand sacrificial knives—held in the hands of the men
of a whole nation, which became, for the moment, a
nation of priests to God—flashed in the sun, and the
blood of the victims, pouring upon the land of Goshen,
consecrated it as the altar where the God of the Hebrews
first received the national worship of His people,
and their recognition of Him as their God.

Then, with hyssop dipped in a basin of the blood,
each man sprinkled the door-posts, and cross-piece of
the entrance of his house, in behalf of all who either
should dwell in it, or who, being stranger-brethren,
came from other parts of Egypt, and could enter no
house for the throngs, yet were numbered with some
one household: as, for instance, the house of Aaron's
father-in-law, which could hold but thirty people,
had on its list three hundred and seventy names,
as its household,—all brethren from other provinces;
for Goshen was now like a mighty camp. There were
besides, hovering about the confines of Goshen, and
even mingling with the Hebrews, thousands of Egyptian
families, who, flying from the terror of the Lord in
Egypt, had sought safety near the Hebrews, and under
the wing of the God who had protected them,—hoping
to share their safety. Many of these brought their substance
with them—their rich apparel, their gold, and
jewels, and silver—hoping, therewith, to purchase the
favor of their once despised, and now dreaded, bondmen.

How, my dear father, shall I record the events of the

night that followed the death of the lambs! As the sun
went down, the Hebrews, with awe, retired within their
dwellings, and closed the doors. Mothers, with anxious
haste, drew in their first-born. Even many of the hapless
Egyptians, who had heard of the command to the
Hebrews, chose a lamb and slew it—their hands trembling,
and hearts sinking between hope and fear—and
sprinkled the door-posts of their wretched places of
shelter, if, peradventure, the great and terrible God of
the Hebrews would, in the coming night of His vengeance
upon Pharaoh, seeing the blood, pass them by, and
spare their first-born also.

At length a silence, like that which forever reigns in
the heart of the pyramids, reigned throughout Goshen.
Not an eye was closed in all Israel, during those first
hours of dread watching for the first sound abroad of
God's coming down upon Egypt. I remained up, in the
house of the venerable Aminadab, the father-in-law of
Aaron. Elisiba, the wife of Aaron, with her arm around
her eldest son Nadab, a fine young man, held him firmly
by her side. Aaron and Moses were apart, in a room by
themselves, engaged in low conversation, or in solemn
prayer. No other sound was heard, but the voice of this
wonderful man talking, as if face to face with his God.

Suddenly, at midnight, a bright light from heaven
shone above the dwelling, and from it went forth a glory
which filled the land of Goshen with its beams. I stood,
at the moment, in the court, and fell with my face to
the earth; for I knew that it was the presence of God.
At length Moses touched me, and said—

“Fear not! Rise and behold the glory of God, that
when thou shalt return and sit upon thy throne, thou

mayest teach thy people that the God of the Hebrews
is the God of heaven and earth! For thy sake, as well as
for Israel, and Pharaoh, and the Egyptians, and all the
nations who shall hear of this, are these wonders and
judgments done; that Pharaoh, and all kings, and the
whole earth, may know who is the Lord, and worship
only Him!”

I arose, and lo! in the height of heaven I beheld a
column, or pillar of fire, the base of which was above
the roof of the house, and the summit thereof in the
region of clouds. It was in the form of a Hebrew staff,
with a bar of light across it near its top, upon which
seemed to be a crown of glory, shooting forth thorns of
light and splendor. In this cloud, or pillar of light,
there seemed to stand a form like that of a man, but
resplendent with ineffable radiance, and I covered my
face and worshipped. When I looked again, the dazzling
vision, if such it were, was in motion towards
Egypt, and the city of On. As it moved, it lighted up
the whole earth. When it came over the city of the
Sun, a sword seemed to be drawn by the man who stood
in the pillar of fire, and I beheld it sweep over the palace
of Pharaoh, and strike. Then, with the swiftness
and dazzling gleam of lightning, it turned every way
over Egypt, till I could not, dared not behold longer,
and bowed my head, veiling my eyes, and adoring.

Then we heard, even in Goshen, a cry as from the
living heart of Egypt, as if every mother in the vast
cities of On and Memphis, and the hundred surrounding
villages, had lifted her voice in one prolonged, dreadful
wail of woe.

I knew what that cry meant, and trembled in silent

awe. I prostrated myself before God and cried for
mercy!

At length the sword was drawn back by the hand of
the man in the pillar of cloud, and the shining column
returned and stood over the house where Moses and
Aaron remained; a calm, lambent light, soft as moonbeams,
being now emitted from it, instead of the angry
splendor with which it shone before.

One or more hours passed, and two horsemen, riding
like the wind, entered Goshen and cast themselves upon
the ground at the feet of Moses and Aaron. They were
couriers from Pharaoh.

“My lords,” cried one of them, pale and trembling
with fear and haste, after he had risen from his prostration,
“the king hath sent us to thee, and these are the
words he hath commanded us to say: `Rise up, Moses
and Aaron, and get you forth from among my people,
and from Egypt, both ye and the children of Israel, and
go and serve the Lord as ye have said. Take your
flocks, and your herds, and all that ye have, and be
gone; and pray your dreadful God for me, that He may
bless me also, for He hath slain my son!”'

Then came, while he was yet speaking, a large company
of lords, and high officers, and great men of Egypt,
whose sons the wrath of God had slain (for there was
not a house in Egypt where there was not one dead,
from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat upon the throne,
to the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon),
and they were urgent upon Moses and Aaron, and the
Hebrew people, imploring them, with tears and supplications,
to hasten from the land, with all they had, and
to make all haste.

Then Moses, as soon as it was day, sent word throughout
all Israel to prepare to go forth out of Egypt that
day. He directed the people to take all the jewels, and
gold, and silver, and raiment, which the Egyptians were
forcing upon them to bribe them to hasten; “for,” he
said, “it is yours, as the Lord hath commanded you to
spoil the Egyptians, for whom ye have labored without
wages. It is the Lord's gift to you from those whom
He would spoil, and whose lives He has spared to them.”

Now followed a spectacle of wonderful interest and
sublimity. As if moved by one spirit, Israel marshalled
itself into companies of hundreds, and these into bands
of thousands, and these into mighty divisions of tribes,
so that by noon there were twelve separate armies of
God, ready to march at the voice of Moses. The whole
plain of Goshen, as far as the eye could see from the
tower of Jacob, was covered with their mighty hosts.
Each tribe had its women, and little ones, and flocks
and herds within its own square. They waited now for
the signal to move forward, every man with his loins
girded, his shoes on his feet, and his staff in his hand,
their bread unbaked in their kneading-troughs, and their
persons laden with the jewels and gifts which the urgent
Egyptians had forced upon them, either that they might
see their faces no more, or from fear, or in the hope to
be blessed by their Lord God for these favors: for so
the Lord, to whom the gold and silver of the earth belong,
had disposed their hearts towards the Hebrews.

Then, at the going down of the sun, Moses gave the
signal for this mighty march. There were no trumpets
sounding, no military display of banners and spears;
but they moved to their own tread, which seemed to

shake the earth. They came on in columns, a thousand
men abreast, and marched past the tower of Jacob, on
which Moses stood, with Aaron by his side, the miraculous
rod in his hand. When the van of this army of Jehovah,
terrible in its strength, came up with the tower, the
white cloud of the Presence of Jehovah (which, all day,
had stood in the air like a snow-white cloud, immovable
and wonderful to behold), advanced, as if borne upon a
gentle wind, and placed itself before the host. Night
came on ere half the divisions had passed by where Moses
stood; and, as the sun went down, never more to rise
upon Israel in Egypt, the Pillar of Cloud became a Pillar
of Fire, and shed a glory over the innumerable armies
of Israel equal to the splendor of day.

It was midnight ere the last tribe had passed by with
its face to the desert. Then Moses and Aaron descended,
and I kneeled before them, and asked if I might be permitted
to go out of Egypt with the Lord's people, and
continue to behold the power of God. Moses answered
me with benignity, and said I should be with him as a
son, that I might see the wonders of Jehovah, and make
known in Phœnicia His glory and power.

While he was speaking, a mixed multitude of Egyptians,
Nubians, slaves, captives of Egypt, and of all
those persons who hoped to be blessed and benefited
with Israel, fell to the ground before Moses, and entreated
him to suffer them to go up to the new land to
which he was going. Moses granted them, without
hesitation, their prayer.

Then I learned that those among the Egyptians who
had, in obedience to the command of Moses, sprinkled
their own door-posts, escaped like the Israelites, for it

was the sign of the blood of obedience alone, that the
angel of the Lord regarded; on the other hand, several
Israelitish families saw their first-born perish, they having
neglected to obey the command of Moses, from avarice
or indifference, or doubt of the intention of God, or
supposing that being Israelites would save their households.

And here, my dear father, let me make known to you
that I have learned from Aaron the significance of this
sign; for God having made known to him that “he is
to become the high-priest, as Moses is the leader, of his
people, has revealed to him that the slaying of the
lamb is a type of a divine and innocent Person, who
shall come down from God, and one day be sacrificed.
Earth, as the antitype of Egypt, is to be the altar of this
future stupendous sacrifice. And as by the blood of a
lamb, and the death of the first-born, Israel is delivered
from Egypt, so by the blood of the Lamb, the
first-born of God, shall the whole of mankind who look
to his blood be finally delivered from this earth, and
from Satan its Pharaoh, and be led by God into a
heaven above the skies, a land of eternal happiness and
peace, to dwell there till the end of ages.”

Is not this a sublime doctrine? Is God, then, making
with Israel, an outline of what He is to perform with the
whole earth? Shall we escape this world-broad Egypt,
and under a divine leader like Moses, by the blood of
the mysterious Lamb of God, be led to another world?
I have but indistinct knowledge, my dear father, of all
this; but have learned enough to make my heart bound
with joy. For in this enlarged conception of the wonderful
theme, you and I, and all in the whole earth,—

who shall look to the God of Israel, and by foresight
of faith trust in the sprinkling of the blood of the
Lamb upon the threshold of our hearts,—are also of
Israel; their God is our God; their land of heaven
our land of promise also! Oh, who can fathom the
wisdom, and goodness, and love, and power of God!
To His name be glory, majesty, dominion, and worship
from all nations! Before Him let kings fall down, and
princes prostrate themselves, and every knee of all
people, nations, kindred, and tongues, be bent; for He
is the Lord of heaven and earth, and besides Him there
is no God!

Also, my dear father, Moses, whose lips ever distil
celestial wisdom, was graciously pleased, on the night
before the death of the first-born, as he walked to and
fro in the court of the house of Aminadab, to reveal to
me the divine aim in sending such miracles as He did
upon Egypt, instead of any others. I listened with
wonder and increased awe, and, if I may so express it,
redoubled admiration of the wisdom and justice of God.

Said the holy Hebrew and sage, “The Egyptians have
ever believed, that the jugglery and magic arts, in which
their magicians and priests of mysteries display such
astonishing proficiency, are actual miracles, exhibiting
the power of their deities, and their co-operation with
their priests to enable them to do these deceptions.
Miracles, therefore (or magic), were regarded by them
as acts of their idols. It became necessary that the
Lord God of the Hebrews should manifest Himself
and His power by miracles also; and not only this,
but that the miracles which He performed should be
of such a character as to distinguish them from the

jugglery of the magicians, and at once convince the
Egyptians that they proceeded from a Being omnipotent
over their idols, and show the Israelites themselves, who
had almost forgotten God, that the author of such
mighty miracles as they beheld, must be the only living
and true God of the earth and skies. Now, my
dear Remeses,” he continued, “if you will give heed to
my words for a few moments, you will perceive how
perfectly fitted the ten miracles which God performed
in the sight of Pharaoh, Egypt, and Israel, were to destroy
their faith in the gods of Egypt, and make known
the true God as the only Deity to be feared and worshipped
by men.

“At first, in conformity with the Divine purpose, the
strength of the magicians was brought out and fairly
measured with my own, as God's servant, inspired by
Him, for of myself I did nothing. Unless this trial of
skill had been made, both the Egyptians and doubting
Israelites would have said that I derived my power
from their gods (for they would not forget I had been
an Egyptian and knew their mysteries), and God would
not have been honored. But when the royal magicians
appeared in the name of the gods of Egypt, lo! the God
of heaven was shown not only to be superior to their
sorcerers by His miracles, but, as you will perceive,
hostile to their idolatrous worship. The observers of
both sides were permitted not only to distinguish the
power of God from the inferior arts of the magicians
of Egypt, but are led to withdraw with us, as is the
case with tens of thousands who seek to follow us
from Goshen,—their confidence in the protection and
power of their gods being utterly destroyed. Observe

now, my dear prince, the direction taken by the miracles.

“The first one, which confirmed my authority and
mission to Pharaoh, destroyed the serpents. This was
the first assault of the Almighty upon the gods and
sacred animals and things of Egypt; for you are aware
of the temple of the sacred Uræus, where the serpent is
worshipped. The serpent of the rod of God destroying
the serpents of the Egyptians, showed Pharaoh that his
gods could not live, or save themselves in the presence
of the servant of the true God. Thus the serpent form
taken by the rod was not merely an arbitrary shape;
there was profound design concealed thereunder.

“The Nile is held sacred, revered as a god by the
Egyptians, and the fish they regard as holy. Its waters
supply all Egypt with a drink which they quaff with
reverence and pleasure, believing that a healing virtue
dwells in its waves. Changed to blood, and its fish becoming
putrid, they loathed their god and fled from his
banks with horror.

“The next miracle—of frogs—was also directed against
a god of the Egyptians and the worship of these unclean
animals. He was made to become their curse; and as
they dared not kill them, being sacred, they became to
them a terror and a disgust unspeakable.

“The miracle which followed was directed against
their priests and temples; for, by the laws of the forty-two
books, no one could approach the altars upon which
so impure an insect harbored; and the priests, to guard
against such an accident, wore white linen, and shaved
their heads and bodies every other day. The severe nature
of this miracle, as aimed against the religious rites

and altar-services of the Egyptians, you will perceive.
So keenly did the magicians feel this, and foresee how
it would close every temple in Egypt, that they were
forced to exclaim, in my presence—

“`This is the finger of God!'

“The succeeding and fifth miracle was designed to
destroy the confidence of the Egyptians in their god of
flies, Baal-zebul. This god had the reputation of protecting
Egypt from the swarms of flies which, at certain
seasons, infest the air throughout all Egypt. The inability
of the magicians who were sent for by Pharaoh
to remove them, showed that the Lord God was more
powerful than their fly-god, and thus led them to look
upon their own idol with contempt.

“The miracle which destroyed their cattle was aimed
at Apis, and Mnevis, and Amun, the ram-headed god of
Thebes, and at the entire system of their worship of animals.
Thus, by this one act of power, the Lord Jehovah
vindicated His own honor, and destroyed their confidence
in their idols, and the very existence of their
gods.

“When, by the command of God, I took ashes from
the altar of human sacrifices, and sprinkled it towards
heaven, as did their priests, to avert evil, and evil came
in the shape of the boil, God taught them, that what
they trusted to, He could make against them, and out of
their idolatrous rites bring a curse upon them and upon
Egypt.

“The eighth miracle,” continued Moses, while I gave
ear to his words with wondering attention, “was directed
at the worship of Isis, as the moon, and controller
of the seasons, and clouds, and weather. When the

hail and the rain, the lightning and thunder, was brought
by God upon the land, and all the prayers to Isis failed
to stay the fearful tempest of His wrath, it should have
convinced Pharaoh of the folly of his idolatry, and taught
the people not to put their trust in an idol that could not
help them against the power of the God of the Hebrews.

“The miracle which followed, was directed against
the adoration and rites of Serapis, and his whole gorgeous
system of worship; for the Egyptians saw that the
god who was regarded as their peculiar protector against
the destructive power of locusts, was impotent to remove
the cloud of these voracious insects, which God
brought upon them from the sea; and that only when
Pharaoh entreated God, were they removed.

“The last miracle was aimed at the universal worship
of Osiris, or the Sun. It was intended to teach Pharaoh
and the Egyptians, and also Israel, that the God of
the Hebrews was superior to their `lord of the sun,'
and that He could veil His splendor when, and for any
length of time, it pleased Him! And also that they
were called by the exhibition of this mighty miracle to
worship Him who made the sun, and moon, and stars,
and all the glory of them—Jahovah is His name!”

When, my dear father, the man of God had ceased
speaking, I remained for some time silent with awe,
meditating upon what I had heard; worshipping, and
adoring, and praising God, whose wisdom, and power,
and judgments, are over all His works, who will not
give His glory to another, nor leave Himself without a
witness of His existence upon earth.

Thus you see, my dearest father, that the miracles
were not arbitrary displays of power, but grand divine

lessons, mingled with judgments. It was Jehovah vindicating
His own worship, and showing the impotency
of false gods, by the manifestation of His supreme power
and majesty, as the destroyer of gods, and the only
potentate,—God of gods, King of kings, and Ruler over
all, blessed for evermore!

Having now revealed to you the mystery, veiled
under the miracles of Moses, I will close my long letter,
leaving you to reflect, my father, upon the wonders of
God, and to contemplate His wisdom. In one or two
more letters, I shall close my correspondence; as, travelling
in the desert, I shall have no opportunity to communicate
with you. I shall proceed into Syria by the
caravan route in a few days, and by the way of Palestine
and the valley of the Jordan, return to Damascus,
and thence, as soon as my affairs will permit, shall hasten
to see you at your palace in Tyre.

Farewell, my dear father.