Moses
Does everyone remember the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors? This story takes place many, many years after Joseph - actually it happened about 200 years later!
The people who were from the family of Joseph were called Israelites or Hebrews. As it happens there were more and more Israelites than ever before. The Israelites had children, and their children had children and soon there was too many to count.
Most of the Israelites lived in Egypt where there were also a lot of people called Egyptians. Too bad they couldn't all just see each other as the same. But as you'll soon find out the Israelites and the Egyptians were treated very differently.
Anyway, a new king who was called Pharaoh came into power in Egypt. He didn't like it that there were so many Israelites and he thought they would one day take over the land. So he decided to make all the Israelites into slaves.
He made them work from early in the morning till late at night doing very hard work. Even if they were tired the Egyptians wouldn't give them a break, they would just make them work harder. It was very bad.
Pharaoh did all this and he still wasn't happy. The Israelites were still growing in number so he decided to make a law. If any boys were born to the Israelites he would have them killed.
At this time there was an Israelite couple who were expecting to have a baby. When they had a baby boy (whose name would later be Moses) they decided to hide him because they wouldn't let anyone kill this beautiful, precious baby of theirs.
They hid Moses for three months, but as he got older he didn't sleep as much and he cried louder than before. So his parents did the only thing they could do, they made a strong basket (sort of like a mini baby boat) and put blankets around the baby and placed the basket in some tall grass in the Nile river.
Baby Moses had a sister named Miriam, and she watched from a distance to see what would happen to her baby brother. While she was watching she saw somebody coming, she realized it was Pharaoh's daughter and her servants. They were dressed like they were famous, and she had seen her before and remembered what she looked like.
Pharaoh's daughter had come for a swim. While she was swimming she noticed a basket floating a little ways away in the tall grass. So she asked one of her servants to go see what it was.
The girl brought the basket over to her, and when Pharaoh's daughter opened it, the light startled Moses so he woke up and started to cry. "What a sweet, beautiful little baby. It must be one of the Israelite's," Pharaoh's daughter said to her servants.
Miriam had seen what had happened, and she hurried over and asked, "Would you like me to go find an Israelite woman to feed the baby for you?"
"Yes, go and find someone who can nurse the baby." she answered. Miriam ran as fast as she could and told her mother that Pharaoh's daughter had found him and wanted someone to come nurse him.
They went and found Moses with Pharaoh's daughter, and she asked them, "Please help me and nurse this baby, and I will pay you for helping me." (She didn't realize that this was actually Moses' mother).
Later he became the son to Pharaoh's daughter, and that's when she named him Moses, which means she got him out of the water.
After Moses had grown up, and was probably a little older than your parents, he was getting fed up with how his people were treated by Pharaoh. They still had to work so hard all these years later.
One day Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people, and he became so upset that he killed the Egyptian. After that Moses had to run away from Egypt because the Pharaoh found out what he'd done and was very angry with Moses.
Moses ended up in a place called Midian. He had stopped to rest by a well when seven sisters came by to give their father's sheep some water. In the middle of feeding the sheep some shepherds came by and started to become very rude.
They pushed the women aside and told them to get out of the way, that they needed the water more than they did. Moses saw all this and said to the shepherds, "These women were here first and they need the water just as badly as you do. If you have a problem take it up with me, but leave them alone and wait your turn."
The shepherds listened to Moses, and Moses stayed and helped feed the sheep for the sisters. When the sisters got home their father asked them, "How did you get done so early today?" They answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from some shepherds, and he even drew the water out of the well for us and watered the whole flock."
"Please, go and get him and invite him for supper," the father said. When they found Moses, and had talked with him for a while, they realized he had no place to stay. He ended up staying with them, and later married one of the sisters whose name was Zipporah. Moses became a shepherd, and took care of many animals.
As the years went by the Pharaoh in Egypt died, but the Hebrews were still slaves and they prayed to God for help. God heard them and felt bad for them, He knew just what He was going to do next...(after all God had planned this all along).
Now Moses was out looking after some sheep and after a while ended up near a hill. He was just talking to the sheep, like he always did when there was no one else to talk to, when he noticed a bush on fire. Moses sat and watched it for a while because something wasn't right. The bush was completely on fire, but it wasn't burning up the bush; there was no smoke, just fire.
Moses decided to get closer and take a better look. As he approached the bush a voice came from the inside of it, "Moses! Moses!" Moses thought that this might be God, after all who else could speak from a bush that was on fire, but wasn't burning.
Moses replied, "I am here." He continued to walk closer to the bush but as he got closer God said to him, "Don't come any closer, take off your sandals because you are in the presence of God. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
These were men that Moses had heard about. He knew that God had done great things for these men, and He believed in their God. So when Moses heard God say these words he was afraid and covered his face with his cloak. He thought that if he saw God's face he would die because God is so bright and powerful.
Then God said to Moses, "I have seen all the pain my people have had to go through in Egypt. I have heard their prayers and want to save them from their slavery. I want to take them to another place where there is lots of good land and plenty of milk and honey. So Moses, I am sending you to free the Israelites from Pharaoh."
"Um, pardon me God but I think your talking to the wrong person. This is just me Moses I'm just a regular guy, Pharaoh won't listen to me," Moses said in disbelief.
And God said, "I will be with you and will help you. So go to the Israelites and tell them I have sent you and I have heard their prayers, and will send them to a better place. Don't worry they will listen to you. But be patient because Pharaoh won't listen until he sees many signs and is punished, but after that he will let you go."
Moses still didn't think he was the right man for the job. "God what if the Israelites don't believe me, what if they say, 'I think you're lying, God didn't talk to you.'"
Then the Lord said to him, "Throw your staff on the ground." Moses did as he was told and his staff became a snake right before his eyes. Moses even jumped out of the way, the snake almost slithered right over his foot. Then the Lord said, "Pick it up by the tail." Moses didn't really like snakes but he quickly grabbed it by the tail and it turned from a limp yucky snake, to his smooth wooden staff right in his hand.
God continued to show Moses signs he could show the people so they would believe. Moses would even be able to turn water into blood because God would do it for him. Even after all these signs Moses still didn't think he could do it, and God was starting to get frustrated with his lack of trust. Moses would be able to do anything with God's help.
Finally God said to Moses, "I will send your brother Aaron, in fact he is already on his way to see you. I will help both of you, and give you the words to say." After that the bush stopped burning and God was gone.
So Moses put his sandals back on and made sure to take his staff of God, and went to get his wife and children to go to free the Israelites.
When Moses and his brother Aaron got to Egypt the Lord told them what to do. He said, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites go. He will be very stubborn and it will take many signs and miracles before he will let you go; but everyone will know that I am God when he finally frees the Israelites."
So they did what God asked and they went to see Pharaoh. In front of Pharaoh Aaron threw down his staff and it became a snake (just as God told Moses it would).
Pharaoh didn't look surprised at all, he actually just smiled at Moses and Aaron. Without a word he snapped his fingers and a minute later three men walked in. Pharaoh whispered in one of the men's ears, and he nodded and spoke quietly to the others.
All at the same time they threw the staffs they were carrying to the ground and they became snakes, just like Moses and Aaron's. They turned and looked at each other with disappointment. They realized that these men were Pharaoh's magicians.
Just as Moses was feeling defeated his snake swallowed up all of the other snakes. This made Moses smile, surely Pharaoh would let them go now. But Pharaoh didn't seem to care, he shook his head and said, "Nice try, but the Israelites belong to me, and they work for Egypt I will not let them go."
Moses left disappointed, but excited to talk to God about what they would do next. After all God told them that it wouldn't be easy. So when God spoke next, they listened well, "Pharaoh's heart is hard, he's still not going to change his mind. Go see him tomorrow morning, he didn't listen today but I will continue to show him that I am God."
With their instructions from God, Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh the next morning. Aaron explained to Pharaoh, "Because you still won't listen God is going to change all the water in Egypt into blood. The fish will die, the river will stink, and none of the Egyptians will be able to drink it."
Pharaoh smiled and said, "Go ahead." So Aaron did what the Lord told him and put his staff into the water and it turned to blood. Pharaoh seemed a little surprised but he summoned his magicians and they also turned the water into blood. With that, Pharaoh's heart became hard, and he turned and walked back to his palace.
All the fish died, and the water smelled so bad, no matter where you were you could smell it. Can you imagine turning on your tap at home and having blood come out, what about having a bath, or even the water in your toilet. Of course the Egyptians didn't have sinks and toilets back then, but they still used water to drink, to make food, and to clean with.
After a whole week of this Pharaoh still wouldn't let the people go. But his magicians couldn't turn the blood back into water either. The Lord instructed Aaron and Moses to go see Pharaoh once again and He told them, "Tell Pharaoh to let my people go. If he refuses to let them go, I will plague the whole country with frogs."
They did as God asked and Pharaoh once again refused to let the people go. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered everything. They really were everywhere! In the stoves where they cooked, in their beds, and they even jumped on the people.
The magicians could also make frogs appear - but this would be the last time that their magic would work. After a day of this Pharaoh couldn't take it anymore and he called for Moses and Aaron. (He probably didn't get any sleep with frogs jumping all over him!)
He begged Moses, "Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go." So Moses prayed to the Lord, and all the frogs died. But when Pharaoh saw that all the frogs were dead, he was relieved and he hardened his heart and changed his mind.
There were many other plagues that followed: Gnats and flies, all the livestock got sick and died, the Egyptians were covered in sores, hail came down and killed all the crops, locusts came and ate all the grass and everything green, and then there was complete darkness. Nobody left their homes because they couldn't even see where they were going.
With each of these plagues Pharaoh said he'd let the Israelites go if God put things back to normal, but then he kept changing his mind. You'd think he would've learned his lesson and let the Israelites go. God doesn't give up.
You may have felt sorry for the Israelites during all these plagues, but God made sure they were not touched by them. Only the Pharaoh and 'his people' the Egyptians went through these terrible times. The Israelites lived a little ways away, and God kept them safe, and put a pretend wall around them so none of the plagues could come to them.
If you thought all the other plagues were bad, there was one last plague (the tenth plague) that was way worse than any of the others. The Lord told them, "This will be the last plague on Pharaoh and Egypt, after this they will let you go. Around midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, even the son of Pharaoh, and there will be great sadness." Moses and Aaron warned Pharaoh, but he refused to listen.
The Lord had special instructions for Moses and Aaron, so that the Israelites would be sure to stay safe during this last plague. He told them, "The Israelites must kill their best sheep or goat. Then they are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and tops of the doors on their houses.
On that same night I will pass through Egypt like a ghost and take the life from every first born. If I see blood on the doorway that will be a sign for me to pass over the house and keep all who are inside safe.
This day will always be known as the Passover, because you were passed over and kept safe by God. You will continue to celebrate this day for many years." (Some people still celebrate it today!) They were also to eat unleavened bread (bread that is flat, not fluffy like we eat it). This would always remind them of the hurry that they left Egypt in.
Now you have to remember Pharaoh could have stopped all this a long time ago. God gave him many opportunities to let the Israelites go, but he would not listen. Unfortunately God had to teach Pharaoh a lesson and He did what He said He would do.
After Pharaoh realized what happened in Egypt he called for Moses and Aaron just after midnight and he said, "Leave my people, you and all the Israelites! Go worship the Lord as you wanted, take all your animals and get out of here!" The Israelites gathered up gold and silver from the Egyptians who were glad to see them leave and they left with Moses.
You won't believe what happened next! When Pharaoh heard that the Israelites had left he changed his mind- again! He decided to gather an army of more than 600 people and go after Moses, Aaron and all the Israelites.
So as the Israelites were on their way, they noticed in the distance that Pharaoh was coming after them. They started to get worried and questioned Moses why he would lead them out in the desert to die. Moses knew what to say, and he told them, "Do not be afraid, God has protected you before, He will protect you again."
When the Israelites reached the Red Sea they were trapped with the Sea in front of them and Pharaoh behind them. But God told Moses to reach out his staff into the water, and when he did an amazing thing happened. The water split into two! The water lifted itself and made huge walls of water (they couldn't even see over it, it was higher than a house). They would walk on dry ground, which was actually the bottom the Sea.
Pharaoh's army followed them into the Sea, even though some of the Egyptians were afraid, and knew God was with them. When the Israelites had finally made it through safe God told Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water goes back to normal, and it will swallow up Pharaoh and his army."
Moses did as God had told him and he reached his staff over the water. There was a loud crash as the water came back together, and covered the Egyptians.
That was the day the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptians. When the Israelites saw what God had done for them they trusted Him, and they knew that Moses would be a good leader for them as they traveled to the land flowing with milk and honey.
The Israelites had been traveling in the desert for about 3 months (which is a little longer than regular summer holidays) when they came to Mount Sinai. They were going to stay there for a while plus they excellent shelter from the mountain.
Moses got unpacked and decided to walk up the mountain to talk to God. Remember that this wasn't very easy for Moses, he was already over 80 years old.
God knew that Moses was coming so He spoke to Moses and told him to tell the Israelites to get ready. Moses came down to tell the people to have a bath and to clean all their clothes.
By doing this the people were getting prepared to hear important words from God. That is why we sometimes dress up or make sure we have clean clothes on when we go to church. It makes us hopefully behave a little nicer and shows respect to God.
On the third morning after Moses had talked to God, the Israelites where busy making their breakfast when all of a sudden there was a large rumble and a flash of light over the mountain. Anyone who was still sleeping were startled and woke up suddenly.
Everyone went out to look and just over the mountain there was lightning and thunder, and a very thick cloud hung over the mountain so you couldn't see the top. Even the mountain shook and the sound of trumpets could be heard getting louder and louder.
So Moses went up the mountain to hear from God once again. This time God told Moses, "Go down to the people and tell them not to follow you up the mountain, the mountain is a special place because I am here." So Moses warned the people not to touch or go to close to the mountain.
After that Moses went back up the mountain. But this time he stayed there for a long time (40 days and 40 nights), God sure had a lot to tell him. God wanted to instruct the people on how to live. By following His rules they would have less sadness in their lives. God just wanted to protect them.
It's just like when our parents give us rules to protect us: to look both ways before we cross the street, to not hit our brother or sister... they give us rules because they love us and know what's best for us.
We'll just talk about the first ten commandments God told Moses, otherwise we might be here for 40 days and we don't have time for that. Besides, the 10 commandments are the most important for us right now. Remember as you hear each commandment that they are all equally important, one is not more important than the other.
The first commandment is to put God first. This means that nothing should be more important than God - a hobby you enjoy, tv or video games, even your friends and family should not be more important than God.
The second command is to worship only God. This is like the first commandment in that God wants our love, and He doesn't want us to bow down and worship a statue just because we can't see Him. In other words God is the only one that we should pray to.
The third commandment is broken all the time. God commands us to use His name with respect. Many people use God's name like a swear word, or say it when they're upset. God wants us to use His name when we're talking to Him, or telling others about Him in a nice way. To use His name in these other ways is very disrespectful and hurts God to hear it.
The forth commandment should be easy, we are to remember God's Sabbath. God wants us to take one day of the week and rest. When God made the world in six days, He rested on the seventh day. This gets harder when you get older, there always seems to be something to do, but remember God commands us to take a day off.
The fifth commandment might be a little tricky for some of you, but its very important (like all the other commandments) that you follow it. He tells us to respect our parents. Sometimes you might think you know what's best, or you get frustrated because your parents won't let you do something. Remember your parents were once kids just like you, and they are trying to keep you safe and from making the same mistakes they've already made.
Which commandment is next...oh right, it's the sixth commandment. This commandment says don't hurt others. Now imagine for a minute if everyone in the whole world obeyed this rule like God wants us to. We probably wouldn't have any jails and we would all get along with one another.
The seventh commandment is for those who are married. God tells us to be faithful in marriage. He wants us to love our wife or husband someday (even if they get on your nerves once and a while) and treat them with respect.
The eighth commandment is don't steal. This means that we shouldn't take something that doesn't belong to us.
We are almost done, the next commandment is don't lie. It is always better to tell the truth, and while you're at it don't do anything that would make you want to lie. Usually parents know when you're lying anyway, and if you don't get caught God sees and hears everything and He knows.
The last commandment is don't be envious of others. This means that we shouldn't wish to have things that someone else has. I know there is always a new toy or game - there is always something that we want to get. It's important to remember that these things aren't really important. God is the most important (if you remember the first commandment).
Now I know this list might seem impossible to follow all the time. I know that I don't follow all these commands all the time, and I'm going to pray to God and ask His forgiveness and try to do my very best to not do it again.
Another thing to remember is that if you disobey a commandment God sees the smallest lie just the same as if someone hurt someone really bad. I know sometimes we think if we just told a little lie it wouldn't matter or God wouldn't notice, but it does matter and God does notice. It makes Him sad when we disobey Him, so when we make a mistake we need to say sorry to God and to the person you've wronged and try to be a better person next time.