Terrible troubles had come upon God's people in the land of Goshen.[1] For the most selfish and cruel Pharaoh who ever reigned over Egypt had determined to treat the people who had come to live in Egypt, at the invitation of a former Pharaoh, just as though they were captives taken in battle. Many of the old ruins in Egypt are covered with writings describing his cruelties. He killed all who rebelled against him, and condemned whole nations to wear out their lives by working for him in the gold mines, or granite quarries, or by making endless stores of bricks; he cared for no man's life if only he could be called the richest king in the world. '_And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses,_' (Exodus i. 11) that is, store-cities. In Egypt many store-cities were needed because corn was more plentiful there than in any other country. 'Pithom--where was Pithom?' So people were asking a few years ago, and because there was no answer to that question they began to doubt. Had there ever been such a city? But in the year 1884 the earth gave up another of its secrets--the ruins of Pithom were found, buried deep in the dust; and the remains of great store-houses built of rough bricks, mixed with chopped straw (Exodus v.) and stamped with the name of the cruel Pharaoh (Ramesis the Second) were laid bare once more.[2] What a pity some readers had not waited a little longer before doubting the truth of the Bible! '_And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words._' (Exodus xxxiv. 27.) So it was at last that God called Moses to begin the great work of writing the Bible, just as He had called him to lead the people out of Egypt; just as by His Spirit He calls men and women to do His work to-day. How did Moses write the first words of the Bible? What kind of letters and what language did he use? These are great questions. We know at least that he could have his choice between two or three different kinds of letters and materials. Perhaps he wrote the first words of the Bible on rolls of papyrus paper with a soft reed pen, in the manner of the Egyptian scribes. Hundreds of these rolls have been found in Egypt: poems, histories, novels, hymns to the Egyptian gods; and some of these writings are at least as old as the time of Moses. The Egyptian climate is so fine and dry, and the Egyptians stored the rolls so carefully in the tombs of their kings, that the fragile papyrus--that is, reed-paper--has not rotted away, as would have been the case in any other country. Certainly in after years the Jews used the same shaped books as the Egyptians. Indeed, the Jews' Bible--that is, the Old Testament--was still called '_a roll of a book_' in the days of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah xxxvi. 2.)