send him away, here I am killing your son, your first-born.”—Ex. 4:22, 23.

From one standpoint the firstborn sons of Israel represented the entire nation, for the firstborn sons were the ones who succeeded to become the heads of the households. The firstborn son received two parts of the family inheritance. So these particular ones directly liable to death during the tenth plague represented Israel as a whole, God’s “firstborn” nation.—Deut. 21:17.

HEARTS OF MIXED CROWD SOFTENED TOWARD JEHOVAH

Pharaoh in terror urged the Israelites to get out of Egypt. Exodus 12:40, 41 reports: “And the dwelling of the sons of Israel, who had dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came about at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, it even came about on this very day that all the armies of Jehovah went out of the land of Egypt.” This was on Nisan 14, 1513 B.C.E., exactly 430 years since Abraham had crossed the Euphrates River into Canaan, 215 of which years were spent in Egypt itself. With this the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Greek Septuagint translation agree.

Jehovah had made his name brilliant above all the other gods. But he had to get a complete triumph over that great First World Power as well. He maneuvered matters to that end. “And they proceeded to pull away from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. Directly the day after the passover the sons of Israel went out with uplifted hand before the eyes of all the Egyptians. All the while the Egyptians were burying those whom Jehovah had struck among them, that is, all the firstborn; and upon their gods Jehovah had executed judgments.” (Num. 33:3, 4) Jehovah made for himself so famous a name through the plagues that many people were favorably impressed and were softened in heart toward that name and turned from their false gods. “And a vast mixed company also went up with them, as well as flocks and herds, a very numerous stock of animals.” They all had to depend upon Jehovah to take care of them.—Ex. 12:38.

A pillar of cloud miraculously appeared at the head of the organized congregation. It did not lead them toward Palestine, but to the Egyptian shore of the Red Sea. Pharaoh got word of this. He assumed they were trapped. Hastily he summoned his chariots and military forces and dashed in pursuit. But what a roadblock confronted him! By angelic means the pillar of cloud moved from in front of the Israelites to the rear, in front of the Egyptians, and kept them away from the Israelites all night.—Ex. 14:5-20.

In the morning, the Egyptians could hardly believe their own eyes. The Red Sea had opened up! and there, down the vista of a long corridor right across the dry seabed, the Israelites’ rear guard was seen in the distance. “The waters were for them a wall on their right hand and on their left.” (Ex. 14:29) Ah, but their rear seemed to be exposed! “And the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all the horses of Pharaoh, his war chariots and his cavalrymen began going in after them, into the midst of the sea. And it came about during the morning watch that Jehovah began to look out upon the camp of the Egyptians from within the pillar of fire and cloud, and he went throwing the camp of the Egyptians into confusion. And he kept taking wheels off their chariots so that they were driving them with difficulty; and the Egyptians began to say: ‘Let us flee from any contact with Israel, because Jehovah certainly fights for them against the Egyptians.’”—Ex. 14:21-25.

JEHOVAH’S NAME PRAISED IN SONG

But it was too late. They had made the grave mistake of defying the name of Jehovah! God commanded Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea. The waters rushed together and the Israelites, safe on the eastern shore, saw their Egyptian pursuers overwhelmed, every one drowned. Jehovah had shown his mighty sovereign power over that world power. Moses then led the Israelites in a thanksgiving song of praise to Jehovah, giving him credit for the victory, lauding his name. He sang of Jehovah as “king to time indefinite, even forever.”—Ex. 14:26-31; 15:1-19; Ps. 136:15.

Jehovah had shown great respect for his name and for that which was bound up with his name. Now the Israelites knew Jehovah in a way different from what they had known him before. They saw at last the fulfillment of his promise to Abraham to deliver them with a high hand and to judge that oppressor nation. This exalted his name to new heights. But there was more yet that Jehovah would do, and in later issues of this magazine we will see how he went on to establish them as a great and mighty nation that endured for centuries and served as a steppingstone to the final and great complete fulfillment of his covenant promise to his beloved friend Abraham, in which he will bring a glorious brilliance to his name that will make his mighty deliverance from Egypt seem small by comparison.

From Small Beginnings to Spiritual Prosperity

as told by Lloyd Burtch

I GREW up as a barefoot boy among maples, oaks and pine trees in the midwestern part of the United States. But the old log house where I lived, the log barn and the oaken bucket hanging in the well disappeared a long time ago. After living on the farm for a few years, we moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where mother died. I then moved to South Dakota to live with my brother.

While working on ranches in South Dakota, I read one of Pastor Russell’s sermons in a farm newspaper. As I recall, the subject was about “Armageddon and the End of the World.” This aroused my interest greatly, stirring up a desire to learn more about the Bible. The year was 1912. The following year found me in Oregon working on a dairy farm. While I was there a young man came out from the city of Portland to talk to the family on the farm about the truths of God’s Word. I listened with rapt attention and was soon convinced that what he said was the truth. Not long after that I dedicated my life to the service of God, symbolizing