s that _He_, not these false gods of Egypt, ruled
the heavens. The Egyptians and many other heathen nations of the earth
used to offer their children to false gods. I do not mean by killing
them in sacrifice, but by naming them after some idol, and then expecting
that the idol would ever afterwards prosper and strengthen them. Thus
the kings were called after the sun. Pharaoh means the Sun-king; for
they fancied that the sun was a god, and protected their kings one after
the other. And God slew all the first-born of Egypt, even the first-born
of King Pharaoh on his throne. The Sun-god could not help him. The
idols of Egypt could not take care of their worshippers--only the
children of the Jews escaped. (Exodus xii.) What a lesson for the Jews!
And they needed it; for during the four hundred years that they had been
in Egypt they had almost forgotten the one true God, the God of their
forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; at least they thought Him no
better than the false gods of Egypt. After all these wondrous proofs of
God's almighty power, and His jealousy for His own name, they fell away
to idols again and again. They worshipped a golden calf in Horeb (Exodus
xxxii.); they turned aside to worship the idols of the nations whom they
passed through on their way to Canaan. Idolatry had been rooted in their
hearts, and it took many years of severe training and teaching on God's
part to drive it out of them--to make them feel that the one God, who
made heaven and earth, had delivered them--that they belonged to Him,
that they had a share in Him--to make them join with one heart and voice
in the glorious song of Moses:

"I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and
song and he is become my salvation: he is my God and I will prepare him
an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man
of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he
cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy
right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord,
hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine
excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou
sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the
blast of thy nostrils the