As today we fight religious wars over oil resources, in the times of Moses, water was the contested resource. True power came not from the people that lived in the region, but rather the waters of principal rivers like the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates that provided for them, for you cannot have a civilization without fresh water. At the geographic center between the Nile and Euphrates are the people of Canaan. This region stands as the gateway to the economic power and wealth of the Nile River, the object of conquest from before the time of Moses to after that of Jesus Christ. All armies attempting to control the Nile would need to cross through Canaan and its inhabitants. Instead of a well-intended concept for saving an enslaved people, you may consider the story of the Exodus as a brilliant plan to protect the Egyptian state. How could we overlook the benefit of moving a population, or just using the preexisting inhabitants, then instilling in them a religious requirement to defend their land, and of all lands, Canaan. B-4-3 -398