Lesson 13

Moses Leads the Jews Out of Egypt

Exodus 5-13

The Jews worked as slaves in Egypt.  The Egyptians made the Jews work very hard.  The Egyptians treated them cruelly. 

God sent Moses to Pharaoh.  Moses said to Pharaoh, “The God of the Jews says, ‘Let my people go so that they can worship me in the desert.'”                        

Pharaoh said, “Why should I obey your God?  I do not know your God.  I will not let your people go!”

Moses told Pharaoh, “God will punish you if you do not let His people go.”

But Pharaoh would not let the Jews leave Egypt.  He said, “The people are lazy.  That is why they want to stop work and worship their God.”

One of the jobs of the Jewish slaves was to make bricks out of straw and clay for Pharaoh.  These bricks were used to build buildings.  Before Moses talked to Pharaoh the Egyptians had supplied the straw for the slaves to use.  But now Pharaoh was angry.  He told the slave-drivers to quit supplying the straw for the slaves.  Pharaoh said that the slaves must gather their own straw now, but they must make as many bricks as before. 

The Jews could not make as many bricks now because they also had to gather their own straw.  The slave-drivers beat some of the Jews because of this.

Moses asked God, “Why have You brought this trouble on us?  Ever since I talked to Pharaoh he has made our people work harder than before.  But he will not let our people go.” 

God told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh.  Because of what I do, Pharaoh will let my people go.”

God caused ten plagues to happen in Egypt.  After each plague Moses would go to Pharaoh and say, “Let my people go!”

Sometimes Pharaoh would say, “No.  I will not let your people go.”  Sometimes he would agree to let the Jews go, but after the plague was over he would change his mind.  Then he would refuse to let the people go.

Vocabulary

Irregular Verbs

Questions

1.  When Moses first told Pharaoh that God wanted him to let the Jews leave Egypt, did Pharaoh want to let them go?

2. Pharaoh said the Jews wanted to leave Egypt because they were lazy. Was that true?             .

3.  How did Pharaoh make the job of the Jewish slaves harder after Moses talked to Him?

These were the ten plagues that God brought to Egypt. 

1.  All of the water in Egypt was turned to blood.

2.  Frogs covered the land.  Frogs were in every part of every house and all over the land.

3.  Gnats came and flew around all the people and animals.

4.  Swarms of flies filled the houses of the Egyptians, but they did not go into the houses of the Jews.

5.  A disease killed all of the livestock of the Egyptians.  But the Jews’ animals did not die.

6.  All of the Egyptians got painful sores all over their bodies.

7.  Hail fell all across Egypt, except in the place where the Jews lived.  It was the worst hailstorm that had ever happened in Egypt.  The hail killed most of the Egyptians’ crops.

8.  Swarms of locusts covered the ground until it was black.  The locusts ate all of the crops that were left after the hail.

9.  Darkness filled Egypt for three days.  The Egyptians could not see anything.  But the Jews had light in their homes.   

10.  This last plague was the worst.  God told Moses that Pharaoh would let the people go after this plague.  During this plague every firstborn child of every family would die.  Even the firstborn animals would die.  There was only one way to protect the firstborn children.  God told the Jews that the father of each family must kill a lamb.  Then he must put some of the lamb’s blood on the top and sides of the door to their house.  In the night God would kill the firstborn of every family.  But He would pass over the homes that were protected by the blood.  He would not kill the firstborn in those houses.

At midnight God passed over Egypt.  Every firstborn child died who was not in a home with blood on the tops and sides of the door.  Pharaoh’s firstborn son died, too. 

When Pharaoh found out that his son was dead, he called for Moses to come to him, even though it was still night.  “Your people may go,” he told Moses.  “Hurry up and leave!”

The Egyptians all wanted the Jews to leave.  They told the Jews, “Hurry up and leave us before we all die.”  The Egyptians gave the Jews gold and silver and clothing.

The Jews gathered their belongings and immediately began to leave Egypt.  There were about six hundred thousand (600,000) men who left besides women and children and livestock.

Finally the Jews could leave Egypt.  They would never have to work as slaves for the Egyptians again.  But there was still plenty of trouble ahead.

Vocabulary

Questions

4.  How many plagues did God bring to Egypt?

5.  How could a man protect the firstborn in his family during the last plague?

6.  What happened that made Pharaoh decide to let the Jews go?

7.  About how many Jews were there when they left Egypt?

To Think About

On the night that the firstborn sons died, the Jews put lamb’s blood around their doors.  Then their sons did not die.  That night the lamb’s blood was the most valuable* thing in Egypt.  It saved the life of the firstborn son in each home.

The lambs the Jewish families used were a symbol of Jesus.  The Bible calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  Every person alive today has sinned and offended* God.  Every person deserves to die for his sin.  Everyone deserves to be separated from God forever.  But Jesus died for us.  If we believe in Jesus, God sees Jesus blood and “passes over” us.  If we believe in Jesus, God will not punish us forever for our sin.  Today Jesus’ blood is the most valuable thing anywhere.

Vocabulary