When Moses was born, the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt.
Pharaoh was afraid of
them because he thought they might take over his country. He ordered his soldiers
to kill all the baby boys at birth so they would not grow up and fight him.
To save Moses, his mother made a plan. She put him in a basket and set him adrift
on the River Nile and left his fate to God’s will.
Moses floated down the river where the
Pharaoh’s daughter found him and rescued
him. She brought him back to the palace and
raised him as a son.
Moses grew up in the palace as a royal prince.
One day, he lost his temper and killed an
Egyptian who had beaten a Hebrew slave to
death. He had to flee to another land.
He lived in the land of Midian and worked as a shepherd
for forty years. One day, when he was in the desert, Moses
heard the voice of God from a
burning bush. God asked Moses to lead his
people out of slavery in Egypt to the
Promised Land.
Moses went back to Egypt and asked the Pharaoh to free his people. Pharaoh did
not want to lose his slaves so he refused. God unleashed ten plagues on the
Egyptians.
It was the tenth plague that finally made the Pharaoh let them go. The eldest son in
every family, including the Pharaoh’s, died.
The Hebrews marked their doorposts with
lamb’s blood so that they would be safe.
The Hebrews fled but soon after, the
Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his
army after them.
The army chased the Hebrews to the banks of the Red Sea, where they were
trapped. God told Moses to lift up his rod and so he did. The waters parted to make
a dry path.
When all the Hebrews were safely at the other shore, Moses raised up his rod
again and the water closed on the Pharaoh’s army who had been chasing them.
God saved the Hebrews.
Even though the Hebrews were free, they were still in the desert. They wanted to
find a land called Canaan which God had promised them.
The journey was very long and they soon ran out of food. They were hungry and
blamed Moses for taking them out of Egypt. Moses told them that God would
provide food.
The next day, the ground was covered with a white food that
tasted like honey. God also sent a flock of birds called
quails, which they cooked and ate.
When their water ran out, God told Moses to strike a rock with his rod. As he did,
water rushed out and they all had enough to drink.
After three months of travelling, the Hebrews arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai.
God called Moses to meet him at the top of the mountain. As he climbed up, there
was a thunderstorm.
At the top of the mountain, God gave Moses ten laws which told the people how to
live. These Ten Commandments were written on two stone tablets.
Moses was gone for a very long time,
and the people waiting at the foot of the
mountain grew impatient. They decided
to make themselves another god to
worship. It was a golden calf.
Then Moses returned to find the people worshipping
the calf. He was very shocked. He broke the tablets
God had given him and destroyed the calf. God
forgave the people for worshipping the statue and
told Moses to cut two more tablets of stone.
Moses took the stone tablets up the mountain and God gave him the Ten
Commandments again. When he came down, all the people listened to Moses as
he told them what God had said.
Moses promised God that the Hebrews would keep all of the commandments.
