Bible Story Lessons

Long ago there was this lovely princess who lived in a beautiful palace in Egypt.  The Bible does not tell us her name, only that she was Pharaoh's daughter.  The king of Egypt was called Pharaoh and he also lived in the palace, but he was a wicked king.  The princess wasn't like her father at all and was warm and kind.

Pharaoh hated the people of Israel, so he forced them to become slaves.  He made their lives as hard as he could, by making them work in the fields and build large cities. One day he decided to get rid of all their baby boys.  So he made a rule that all the boy babies born to God's people were to be thrown into the Nile river, and only girl babies were allowed to live.

What would you do if someone wanted to throw your baby brother in a river?  (Let the children respond).  I'm sure this made the Princess very sad.  But, one mother hid her boy child for three months after he was born.

When she could hide him no longer at her home, she was anxious to save him from Pharoah's soldiers.  The day came when the soldiers came searching for babies and the mother knew they would find him because all babies cry, don't they? (Let the children respond).

She knew her baby was very special and had to be saved, and so after much thought, she decided to weave a basket out of bulrushes.  She made it waterproof by coating the outside with mud and tar.  She then wrapped her baby carefully, and put him in the basket and carried the basket down to the river and placed it among the bulrushes at the Nile River's edge.

As she sadly walked home, she whispered, "God, please take care of my little baby".  She left his sister sitting on the bank to see what would happen to him.  Would her baby boy be saved?   After all, there were many hungry crocodiles in the river that could eat him or perhaps the basket would sink and drown the baby.

What do you think happened?  (Let the children respond).  No, he wasn't eaten by a huge crocodile, and no, he didn't sink in the water and drown!

God guarded the baby and that day Pharaoh's daughter, the princess came down to the river's edge to bathe.  As she walked along the bank she saw the basket.  "Look!" she cried, "There's a basket floating in the reeds.  Please bring it to me!"

One of her servants rushed to bring the basket to her, and when the princess looked inside, she found a baby boy and he was crying.   The kind princess said, "This baby must belong to one of the people of Israel."  She felt sorry for him and decided to keep the baby as her own.

Just then a young girl ran up and asked, "Princess, would you like me to find someone to nurse the baby for you?"  "Yes, please," replied the princess.  She didn't know it, but the girl was the baby's sister and the woman she brought was the baby's mother.  "Take care of this baby for me," the princess ordered, "And I will pay you wages."

So the woman took the baby home and nursed him.  When the child was four or five, she brought him to the palace and the princess adopted him as her own son.  She named him Moses, because she said, "I drew him out of the waters."

That little boy grew up to be Moses, the mighty leader of God's people and helped them to escape from Egypt.  Just by being kind to a little baby, the princess played an important part in God's plan for Israel.

God also wants to protect and guide you, just as He kept Moses safe from Pharaoh's soldiers and the hungry crocodiles!  You can ask Jesus every day to guide you and keep you safe from all harm.

And as you grow up to love and serve God, someday God may use you in a special way, just as He used that kind princess.

God bless!