e growth of the religion of the Christ, below ground
and above ground; its rootings and its flowerings. The right historical
use of the Bible is, through a critical knowledge of the sacred literature
of Israel, to reproduce before our minds this process of the growth of the
Christ in Israel and of His new growth in humanity; with a view to our
intelligent perception of His true place in history, and of the
significance thereof. The heart of the Bible is Christ. That which our
fathers saw we need to see, that in Him all things stand together, as the
arch is holden by the key-stone. Rightly to read the secret of His life is
to find the secret of earth's problems. Therefore our fathers insisted so
strenuously on the Old Testament preparation for Christ. A tree's rootings
are proportionate to its size. In the gradual prefiguring of Christ
through Israel's story, they read the historic attestation of His
revelation. The picture of Israel's history that yielded them their vision
is dissolving before our eyes, at the touch of the new criticism, and men
are fearing that the secret of the Bible is escaping from our age. I
desire to-day to draw for you, in outline, the story of Israel's
development, as traced by our new masters; that you may see the old vision
re-emergent in truer, nobler forms. The re-construction of Hebrew history
makes real and certain an organic, natural development of the religion of
the Christ; a travail of the nation with the Son it bore to God.

The best method of studying any history is in its great epochs and
periods. The eras of Hebrew history group themselves clearly, in orderly
progression.

I.

_The Epoch of Moses:_ B.C. 1300(?)

Hebrew history properly begins with this era. The tribes of Israel when
first resolved by the glass of history, appear upon the Arabian border of
Egypt, as occupants of the rich pasture lands of Goshen. They were a
branch of a large Semitic family, which included Moab, Edom, Ammon and
other familiar tribes. Of the social, intellectual and religious status of
the Hebrews at this period we have little definite information. They would
seem to have been on the usual plane of races which have entered the
semi-nomadic stage, and which are gradually substituting agricultural
pursuits for a roving shepherd life. Oppressed by Egypt they revolt, and
begin a migration backward toward the north and east.

The soul of this movement was Moses; a real historic figure, worthy