Having glanced at ancient Egypt in its greatness, we will transfer our. thoughts to the land of Canaan, or rather, to the men dwelling there in tents, whom God had called out of the surrounding idolatry to serve Him. There was civilization and there were kingdoms of great importance in anaan, but we shall merely glance at the surroundings of the patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in tents and owned no landed possessions, but they were wealthy in flocks and herds, and more, they were great men – not indeed kings, but the noble heads of a royal race. A kingly dignity attaches itself to their words and ways, and this we see mingled with a simplicity of life impossible in palaces. The ruins of the temples and the records of the long since dead palace life of old Egypt remain to this day; but in a manner as remarkable, the dignity of the tent and the simplicity of its life abides still. We can learn the life lived by the ancient Egyptians from observing the pictures on their monuments; we can see the life lived by the patriarchs by observing the children of the desert, the Ishmaelites, who trace their parentage to Abraham.
We must recall how Israel entered Egypt. Jacob and his sons were driven there through stress of hunger. A severe famine prevailed in Egypt and in the countries surrounding it, but for all the dearth “there was corn in Egypt.” Little did aged Jacob dream by what means it was that Egypt had become the life-center for the surrounding countries; little did he think that the son whom he mourned as dead was by the hand of God raised to chief power in Egypt, and that by his wisdom Joseph (named Zaphnath-paaneah, signifying The food of life, or, of the living) was the sustainer of life, not only of Egypt, but of the world around it.
As the strain of the famine told upon the resources of Jacob, he was constrained to do as the rest of the world, and to send down to Egypt for corn. It went sorely against him, and he was full of apprehension, too, for the safety of his sons, who were to conduct the caravan to the source of supply. On one occasion, as his sons set out, he said to them, “Take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels” (Gen. 43:1111And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: (Genesis 43:11)); and he anxiously hoped for their return.
Though certainly not a representation of the sons of Jacob coming into Egypt, the picture here given, taken from a monument, affords an admirable illustration of the event. Here are dwellers in the land of Canaan with their asses, and the burdens and coats of “many colors” as recorded in the Scripture story. These strangers from Syria bring their presents to an Egyptian noble, whose scribe takes note of the varied gifts. The ibex they lead are good representations of the creature as it is known this day, only probably the ibex was tamed in the times of the monument. At the head of the procession stands an Egyptian introducing the strangers to the nobleman.
Joseph, having made himself known to his brethren, sent for his father; and Jacob came into Egypt in the wagons forwarded to bring him to the land which was to see such strange things in relation to the departure of his offspring some two hundred years afterward.
Israel settled in the fruitful land of Goshen, and there grew rapidly into a great nation. We have to remember that in those days men had several wives, so that the standard of our ideas of the time necessary to elapse for the growth of a family into a nation, must not be accepted. We must judge from the standard of the people described. Even now, in somewhat similar surroundings, a sheikh will be father of two hundred children. But, beyond this, we are expressly told how they “multiplied and grew,” the hand of God being with them.