Moses and the Bulrushes

God will guard us and use us one day in a special way.

Bible Text:

Exodus chapter 1 and 2:1-10.

Age Group:

Preschool to Grade 2.

Long ago there lived a very wicked Pharaoh in Egypt.  Pharaoh, hated God's people, the Israelites, so much that he made them slaves.  He made their lives as hard as he could by forcing them to work in the fields and to build cities. One day he decided to get rid of all their boy babies.  So he made a rule that all the boy babies born to God's people had to be killed.  They were to be thrown in the Nile river and only the girls were to be allowed to live.

What would you do if someone wanted to throw your baby brother in a river?  I'm sure it made the Princess very sad.  But, one mother hid her child for three months after he was born.  When she could hide him no longer she was anxious to save him.  Pharoah's soldiers would come searching for babies and the mother knew they would find him because all babies cry, don't they?

A Special Baby:

She knew her baby was very special and had to be saved from death.   After much thought, she decided to weave a basket of bulrushes.   She made it waterproof by coating the bottom of it with mud and tar.  She then put the baby in it and placed the basket in the bulrushes at the Nile river's edge.  She had down her best for her baby and with a prayer for his safety, she left him there.  His sister kept watch on what would happen to him.  Would her baby be saved?

After all, there were many hungry crocodiles in the river that could eat him or perhaps the basket would sink and drown poor Moses.  Well, what do you think happened?  No, he was not eaten by a huge crocodile, and no, he did not sink in the water and drown!

A Good Child:

God guarded Moses and one day Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river's edge to bathe.  As she and her maidservants wandered along the bank she saw the basket and the baby in it.  She sent one of her maids to fetch the basket.  When she saw that he was a good child, she took pity on him.  "This is one of the Israelite's children," she said.

Just then the babies sister came up.  "Shall I go and fetch a nurse from the Israelite people to nurse the child for you?" she asked.  "yes, go!" replied Pharoah's daughter.  And so she fetched the babies mother to care for the baby.  "Take the child and nurse him for me," ordered Pharoah's daughter, "And I will pay you wages."  She did so and when he was a toddler she brought him to the palace where Pharoah's daughter adopted him as her own son.  She named him Moses, because she said, "I drew him out of the waters.

Special Children:

And that little baby boy grew up to be Moses, the mighty leader of God's people.  Moses helped them escape from Egypt.   So just by being kind to a little baby, the princess played an important part in God's plan for Israel.  Someday God can use you in a special way, just as He used the kind princess.

God will also keep you and guard you, just as He kept Moses safe from Pharaoh's soldiers who went from house to house to kill off all the baby boys.  There were also many hungry crocodiles in the River Nile, but God kept Moses safe while he in the basket.  We can also pray every day and ask Jesus to keep us safe from all harm.

God bless!

Extract from our "Fascinating Paper Cutting Object Lessons"

Copyright © 2007 Sharon Children's Ministries