MOSES & THE MIRACLES
(The Book of Exodus)

Moses was chosen by God to take a message to the leader of Egypt, the Pharaoh.

Moses was to tell the leader of Egypt that God said, “LET MY PEOPLE GO!”

In those days God’s people, the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians.  And the Israelites were suffering greatly. God did not like this and wanted His people to be set free.

Pharaoh did not listen to what Moses (and Aaron, Moses' brother) said, so God allowed some things called plagues to happen to Pharaoh’s country, Egypt.

The water turned to blood so the fish died and the Egyptians had no water to drink.

Frogs covered the nation of Egypt.  They were in their houses and beds.

Pharaoh asked for the frogs to be taken away and said he would let the people go.  God took the frogs away, but Pharaoh did not keep his promise.

Then the dust turned to small insects called lice.  But, Pharaoh's heart was wicked.  He would not let the people go.

Then there were swarms of flies. Pharaoh was upset about the flies. So he said he would let the people go. When God removed the swarms of flies. Pharaoh told a lie again, and he refused to obey God.

Next, the cows and the sheep and the horses got sick.  Still, Pharaoh would not let the people go.

Then the Egyptians and the animals got full of soars.  But Pharaoh would still not let the people go

Next there was a big hailstorm, where large pieces of ice fell from the sky. The hail destroyed plants, animals and the Egyptians. But Pharaoh's heart was still wicked and he would not let the people go.

After this there were locusts that look like grasshoppers.  The locusts ate up plants. They were all over Pharaoh’s palace and in the houses of the Egyptians.  The locusts ate everything the hail left.  

Pharaoh asked Moses (and Moses brother, Aaron, who was with Moses while all these things were happening to the Egyptians) to take the locusts away.  But when the Pharaoh saw that the  locusts were gone, he would not let the people go.

Then, because Pharaoh would not free the people, there was darkness over Egypt for three days.  But Pharaoh was still not willing to let God’s people go.

Finally, the last plague was that the first-born son of every family would die.

In order that the first-born sons would not die , God's people were told to put blood on the tops and sides of the door frames of each family’s house and each family was to eat a lamb.  This is known as the Passover, because the Lord passed over each house that had the blood on the doorframes and he kept death from coming into that house.

While all these plagues were happening  to the Egyptians, none of these plagues happened to the Israelites, God’s people who obeyed his instructions.

Finally, after the first-born son’s of the Egyptians died, Pharaoh let God’s people go.

So God's people left Egypt and He showed His kindness  to them because He loved them very much.  By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. The cloud also protected them from the hot sun during the day and the pillar of fire kept them warm from the cold at night.

The Red Sea parts after Moses lifts his staff.

After the Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh and his officers were very angry that they let them go.  So, Pharaoh and his soldiers got in their chariots and chased after the people of Israel.  They caught up with them as they were by the Red Sea.

The Israelites saw the Egyptians coming and were afraid and cried out to God.  Then they blamed Moses for getting them into this trouble. They told Moses that they thought that it would be better to be in Egypt than to be killed in the desert.

Moses told them not to be afraid and that the Lord would fight for them.  Moses said that Pharaoh and his army would not be seen again and that the Lord would fight for them.

God told Moses to tell the people to march toward the sea.  When they get to the sea, Moses was to point his staff toward the sea, and a path would open up through the water, and the people would go across on dry land.  So the Israelites walked through the path that opened up through the sea.

The Egyptians also tried to cross through the path of dry land through the sea like the Israelites did, but God told Moses to point his staff toward the sea again.  When Moses did this the water came together and Pharaoh and his soldiers were covered by the Red Sea.  Not one soldier was left alive.

The Israelites were free and the Lord was with them in the desert.  He gave them laws to follow called the Ten Commandments.  He also performed miracles for them like providing them food and water when they could not find these things in the dessert.

If we obey God, He will help us and keep us safe, too.