Bible Story Lessons

One day when Moses was eighty years old, he saw a fire burning in a bush.  He was frightened, because the bush was not being burnt up by the flames!  As Moses watched this strange sight, God called to him and told Moses that He had come to deliver His people Israel from the Egyptians.  God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people go, so that they could leave Egypt with all their cattle and possessions.

God told Moses to throw his staff on the ground as a sign.  When Moses did so, it became a snake.  The Lord told to pick up the snake!  Mose's knees shook as he gingerly picked up the snake by the tip of its tail, and to his surprise, it became a staff again in his hand!  Moses asked God for someone to help him, so God said that he could have the help of Aaron his brother.

Moses left the land of Midian where he lived and returned to Egypt and went with Aaron to see Pharaoh.  Moses said, "The Lord God of Israel says you must let His people go".  Pharoah said, "Who are you, and who is this Lord?  I will not let His people go!"   Pharaoh then punished the people of Israel with even harder work.   They had to make more bricks - thousands and thousands of them, and build huge temples and statues!

When Moses and Aaron went again to Pharaoh, he demanded, "Now, prove that you speak for the Lord by working a miracle!"  So Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it became a snake.  Pharoah laughed and said, "Magicians, do the same!"  They did the same and turned their staffs into snakes, and so Pharaoh wouldn't let the people of Israel go.

Next day, Moses and Aaron caused the water in the river Nile to turn into blood, and all the fish in the river died and stank, and all the water in Egypt became blood.  But Pharoah's magicians also turned water into blood.  "I'm not impressed! roared Pharoah and refused to let Moses' people go.  Then the Lord sent other terrible plagues to convince Pharaoh that he should listen to Moses.

The Lord sent millions of frogs to cover all of Egypt - in their food, under their feet and in their beds!  And then millions of gnats to bite the people and animals of Egypt, and then millions of flies swarmed everywhere and got into everything.  But still Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and let the people go.

And then the Lord caused all the cattle of the Egyptians to die, and He caused painful boils to grow on every man in Egypt.  Then He sent fire and hail to strike down and burn up and kill everything in the fields of Egypt.  Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel lived in slave camps, were there no plagues.  But still Pharaoh would not let them go.

Then the Lord sent a plague of locusts to eat every remaining plant in the land, so that not a single green thing remained in all of Egypt.   And then He sent a thick darkness over all the land.  And this darkness lasted three whole days and everyone went around feeling where they were and getting lost!  But, Pharaoh still would not let the people of Israel go.

And then the Lord told Moses to prepare for the most terrible punishment of all for this wicked king.  He told Moses that all the first-born in the land would die, but the people of Israel would be safe.  The Lord told Moses to have each family kill a perfect lamb, and mark their doorposts with blood from the lamb.  In that way, the angel of death would know which houses to spare, when he came to kill the first-born of Egypt.

The next day, just as God had said, all the first-born of Egypt were dead, and in each household there was great sorrow.  Even Pharoah's first born child was dead and so he finally let the people go, and so thousands of men, women, and children went out of Egypt!

But, Pharaoh once again changed his wicked mind!  He ordered the Egyptian army to chase after the Israelites and recapture them.   The people of Israel were trapped at the edge of the Red Sea.  What were they to do?  They could not run away, because the Egyptian army and chariots were fast approaching them.

But, God had a plan and told Moses hold his staff over the Red Sea.   Moses did so and the waters of the sea parted.  The people of Israel were then able to pass through the sea on dry land and reach the other side safely.  When the army of Pharaoh tried to follow them, the Lord caused the waters of the Red Sea to close again and all the horses and chariots, and the whole army were drowned!

The people of Israel were then led by God into the desert where God provided food for all the thousands of people.  The Lord led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  After many years of wandering, the people of Israel eventually came to the land that God had promised to them.  By this time Moses was a very old man, but he did see the promised land even though he didn't live to enter it.  He had saved and led the people just as God had commanded him, and now it was time for other great leaders to guide the people of Israel into their new land.

Did you know that God also has a plan for each of your lives?  Just as God planned to use Moses even before he was born, so God has prepared a plan for each of your lives.  God knows each of you, and if you will obey God and let Him guide you each day, He will use you at the right time to help and care for other people.

God bless!