Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest

fifth year, having for many years, in the capacity of royal regent, relieved his queenly mother of
governmental burden and responsibility, now that she is venerable with years, knowing the political
intrigue on all sides among the consanguinity of the blood-royal, and so anxious to carry out the
cherished enterprise of her life, i.e., to transmit the kingdom to her son Moses, at the same time in
constant fear lest something might happen and prevent his receiving the crown, she resolves, though
out of harmony with royal precedent, to have Moses crowned king before she passes out of life. With
great reluctance he finally yields to her importunity, and, pursuant to Egyptian custom, is passing
through a whole lunar month of preparatory disciplines and vigils, conducted by the magicians in
the secret orgies of their subterranean chambers, beneath the great pyramids. The time of
inauguration is drawing nigh, he sees a vision at the third watch of the night, in the subterranean
chamber of the magician; behold! he sees the soldiers dashing hither and thither ransacking the mudtenements
of the Hebrew slaves, hunting up every boy baby and knocking his brains out. He sees a
father and mother with all expedition fixing up a bulrush ark, putting their baby in it, committing it
to the waves. It floats down the Nile, pursued by the little sister on the bank, is picked up by the
maid-servants at day-dawn, brought to the queen in her bathing-house, adopted, mother and father
called to nurse. Then it is revealed to him that he is that baby. Besides, a supernatural voice rings out,
“Thou art not an Egyptian; thou art a Hebrew, a son of the despised race of slaves.” Then Moses,
responsive to the heavenly vision and the divine voice, to his unutterable surprise for the first time
in life finds out his mistake, that he is not the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, but the son of his faithful
Hebrew nurse and the pious old gardener, who all their lives had showed him so much kindness, but
of course never intimating to him his Hebrew origen, as this would have blighted all the hope of his
future kingdom. Now arriving at day-dawn, entering the royal palace he runs to his venerable
queenly mother: “Oh, mother; though you are not my mother, yet I love you with all the possible love
of a mother’s son; yet you are not my mother, but I am the son of that Hebrew nurse and belong to
that race of slaves.” This to his royal mother is a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky crushing all her
hopes. Verily, the trouble she had feared all her life has come like a flood. Now arises the crisis
mentioned in the above quotation. She importunes him to keep the whole matter thus revealed in the
heavenly vision a secret, with her and him alone, go on with the inauguration and be crowned king.
“Oh, mother, in that case I would reign under a falsehood, as you know that the Egyptians would
never tolerate a Hebrew on the throne. They would hurl me down and elevate the nearest of the
blood-royal.” “Why? Joseph, the Hebrew, was king of Egypt.” “Yes, but he reigned as a Hebrew and
not as an Egyptian, which will never again be tolerated since the degradation of the Hebrews in
disgraceful bondage. Oh, mother, you know I can never reign under a falsehood. I must be true and
cast my fortunes with those despised slaves.” History says when Moses thus refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh’s daughter, receive the crown of Egypt, bade his royal mother adieu and hastened
away to join the toiling slaves, that she quickly died of a broken heart, succeeded in the throne by
the nearest of the blood-royal, unfortunately very profligate. How wonderfully God maketh the wrath
of man to praise Him! While Pharaoh was doing his utmost to prevent the insurgency of Israel by
killing their leader, of course making sure of it by killing all the boy babies, behold! the very one he
was ransacking all the land to kill he is keeping in his own palace, feeding him on the fat of the land,
paying his own father and mother enormous wages to nurse him, and bestowing a million of dollars
on the magicians, priests and philosophers to give him the finest education ever received by a mortal
man, thus conferring on him every qualification needed for the very work he had turned loose his
whole army to prevent by killing the babies. We have myriads of historic repetitions of this same
folly this day. The very sons and daughters cultured by the opposition to fight the holiness movement