Feder, Inspiring for Liberation – Legitimizing for Occupationthe Boers and not to surrender to the British. Clearly, Kruger worked
with the scheme of reward – when believing in God – and with punish-
ment – when losing faith. The word ‘fight’ shows that Kruger expected
his officers to fight for the Boers’ concerns and that his main wish was
to motivate his officers not to give up. The linkage of ‘fight’ and ‘faith’
demonstrates Kruger’s attempt to relate two themes which do not belong
together per se. In his dispatch it becomes obvious that you must believe
and that you must fight. Not fighting means to lose faith and to not
“enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Kruger 1902:399).
Most interesting is the usage of the Exodus motif. Kruger referred to it
three times: “Is not our God the same God who led Israel under the
power of His miracles out of the land of Pharaoh? Did He not lead them
safely through the Red Sea? Did He not hide them in the thick cloud
which was darkness to the enemy, but light to His children” (Kruger
1902:399f). “Is not our God the same God who made fresh water flow
from a rock, refreshing all Israel?” (Kruger 1902:400) “He often leads
His children through the barren desert, where it seems as if they could
never get through” (Kruger 1902:402).
Of the biblical stories mentioned by Kruger in this dispatch, the Exodus
is the most frequent. The examples given from the Exodus are interest-
ing since they refer to different aspects. Firstly, Kruger wanted to high-
light the miraculous power of God. That is why he probably referred to
the story of water flowing from the rock (Ex. 17:1-7). This story could
also be seen as a reference to a God who provides his people with all that
is necessary. Secondly, as in the metaphor of the barren desert, he used
strong images from biblical texts to show the despair of the Israelites.
The officers and commandants were probably in a similar kind of de-
spair and a reference to a biblical story like the Exodus could motivate
them to keep going. The first quotation from the dispatch is interesting
since the Red Sea, the most common metaphor from the Exodus, is
mentioned. Although Kruger is again concerned with miracles, he was
also using the cloud as a double image. On one hand, it reminds the
readers of the dispatch of a sign giving orientation. On the other, Kruger
converted the images of the cloud into a negative image for the unbe-
lievers. The metaphors used point directly towards the Book of Exodus
but were transformed into other images which were more significant to
the situation the Boers were in.