Lesson Eight: Moses & the Exodus
Directions: Print the following questions. File is below. They print on 8.5 by 11 paper. If your printer is broken, they are found at the bottom of the page. Read the essay, and then answer the questions. Make up is from 6:15 to 6:45pm.
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The book of Exodus is the second book of the bible. The Exodus is the event in which God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to freedom.
Egypt became the home of the Israelites.
The first chapter of the book of Exodus continues the story from the final chapter of Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
The book of Genesis ends with Jacob (Israel) and his 12 sons settling into Egypt. Joseph told the pharaoh, "My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan, with their flocks and herds and everything else they own; and they are now in the region of Goshen" (Genesis 47:1). The pharaoh told Joseph that they could settle there. He said, "the land of Egypt is at your disposal" (Genesis 47:6).
So Jacob's family became honored guests in Egypt. They were given the best land in Goshen, a fertile area in northern Egypt. At the time Egypt was divided into two kingdoms. The southern part of the country was ruled by Egyptian kings. A separate kingdom in the north ruled by people who came from regions to the east of Egypt.
Change in Egypt
In Goshen, Jacob's family prospered and God's people grew in number. At first they lived there in safety and comfort. But in time the Egyptians gained control of the northern kingdom. Egypt entered a period of great wealth and power.
As time passed, Joseph and his generation died. A new pharaoh came into power. He did not know of Joseph and did not look upon the Israelites as honored guests. In fact, he feared them, saying, "Look how numerous and powerful the Israelite people are growing. in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave our country" (Exodus 1:9-10).
Eventually the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. The pharaoh forced them to build monuments, and to work long hours in the fields. The Israelites were no longer free to worship the one true God and to follow his laws. And the lives of the Israelites became so unbearable that they cried out to God to be rescued from Egypt.
God chose Moses to lead his people.
The Israelites were also called Hebrews, since their language was known as Hebrew. The pharaoh noticed
that despite all the difficulties in their lives, the number of Hebrews was still growing. He told some of the Hebrew women that all the newly born sons of the Israelites must be killed. But these women did not listen to the pharaoh. So the pharaoh gave a new command: "Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews" (Exodus 1:22).
To save her son, one woman made a basket out of reeds from the river. She coated it with tar to prevent it from sinking and then put her son in it. She placed the basket in the shallow water near one of the riverbanks. The pharaoh's daughter found the child and took him home with her. She named the child Moses and raised him as an Egyptian.
Life in Midian
When Moses was an adult, he often visited his fellow Hebrews. One day he saw a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian, and got so angry that he killed the Egyptian. Moses had to run away to the desert region of Midian because he pharaoh wanted Moses put to death. Moses settled there and lived the life of a shepherd. He married a woman named Zipporah and they had children.
One day while Moses was tending his flocks, God appeared to him in a burning bush. The fire was flaming from the bush but not destroying it. God called out to Moses from the bush and Moses answered, "Here I am" (Exodus 3:4). God told Moses that he wanted him to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrews out of slavery. Moses asked God how he would be able to do this, and God told Moses that he would be with him.
Moses asked God what he should say when the Israelites asked him who sent him to them. "God replied, 'I am who am.' Then he added, 'This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). This name that God gave was the source of the word Yahweh. "I AM" was a name that described God as ever-present to his people. This name was so holy that out of reverence the Israelites did not even speak it. Instead they used the title Adonai, which means "my Lord."
Again God spoke to Moses. "Go and assemble the elders of the Israelites, and tell them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into the land of the Canaanites,. . a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:16-17). Moses did as God commanded.
God helped his people
After Moses returned to Egypt, Aaron, his brother, helped him to explain God's message to the Israelites. Gradually, Moses gained the support of the people.
Moses and Aaron met with the pharaoh. They said, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may celebrate a feast to me in the desert" (Exodus 5:1). The pharaoh refused. Worse still, the pharaoh now would not give the Israelite slaves the materials they needed for their work. It became impossible for the Israelites to complete their required work. They blamed Moses for this hardship. Moses told God how the people were suffering, and God replied, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. . . compelled by my outstretched arm, he will drive them from his land" (Exodus 6:1).
The Plagues
God knew that it would be difficult to convince the pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt. So God said to Moses, "I will lay my hand on Egypt and by great acts of judgment I will bring the hosts of my people, the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt, so that the Egyptians may learn that I am the LORD" (Exodus 7:4-5).
These "great acts of judgment" were the plagues. Some of these plagues were diseases on the animals, hailstones, locusts, all the water of Egypt turning to blood, and darkness. Despite the 9 plagues Pharaoh refused to let the people go free.
The Tenth Plague: Dead of the First Born
After the ninth plague, God told Moses that he would bring one more plague onto Egypt, and after the plague the Pharaoh will let the people. This tenth plague is that every first born in Egypt will die including animals. To protect the Israelites from the angel of death, they were to kill a lamb and mark the doorframes of their houses with its blood. This would be a sign that the people inside the house were Israelites, not Egyptians.
Then, the Israelites were to remain inside their houses. They were to cook the lambs and eat them with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Unleavened bread, made
without yeast, does not need to rise and so takes less time to prepare. They did not have the time to let the bread rise. They were also told to eat this meal every year as a way to remember how God had saved his people from slavery in Egypt.
The Israelites obeyed God's instructions. At midnight God passed over all of Egypt, taking the lives of every firstborn Egyptian, including the son of the pharaoh. Only the Israelites and their animals were spared.
This event was called the Passover, since God passed over his people.
The Feast of Passover
Ever since the Exodus, for more than three thousand years, the Jewish people have remembered the night when their houses were "passed over." They celebrate the event each year in the feast of Passover. There are many preparations for Passover. Houses are cleaned from top to bottom. Tables are set with the best tablecloths, plates, wineglasses, and silver. Candles are placed on the tables, too. There is a special family meal called a seder. Seder is the Hebrew word for "order of service." In the seder, families praise God and tell again the story of his saving love in the Exodus. Foods that symbolize the hardships the Israelites endured in Egypt are carefully arranged on the seder plate.
Leaving Egypt
Horrified by what had happened, the pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. He told them to take the Israelites out of Egypt immediately. The Exodus was finally underway.
Moses led the Israelites toward the Red Sea which separates Egypt from the Middle East. During their escape, "The LORD preceded them, in the daytime by means of a column of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a column of fire to give them light" (Exodus 13:21).
The Parting of the Red Sea: Exodus 14:10-28
As soon as the Israelites were gone, the pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army to recapture them. By this time, the Israelites were at the Red Sea, and God again caused a wonder that saved his people.
As the Egyptian army closed in on the Israelites, God parted the Red Sea, and the Israelites escaped over the dry path God had made through it. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, the waters closed over them, and they drowned.
God Saves
Through his actions in history as recorded in the book of Exodus God saved his people from slavery in Egypt and eventually brought them to freedom in the Promised Land. The Exodus was the great turning point in the history of God's relationship with his people. For the Israelites the salvation of the nation came about as they passed through the waters of the Red Sea. Through their experience of the Exodus the Chosen People came to recognize that their God is a God of salvation. This is the lesson they learned from the Exodus which they remember and celebrate in the annual celebration of Passover.
Egypt became the home of the Israelites.
The first chapter of the book of Exodus continues the story from the final chapter of Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
The book of Genesis ends with Jacob (Israel) and his 12 sons settling into Egypt. Joseph told the pharaoh, "My father and my brothers have come from the land of Canaan, with their flocks and herds and everything else they own; and they are now in the region of Goshen" (Genesis 47:1). The pharaoh told Joseph that they could settle there. He said, "the land of Egypt is at your disposal" (Genesis 47:6).
So Jacob's family became honored guests in Egypt. They were given the best land in Goshen, a fertile area in northern Egypt. At the time Egypt was divided into two kingdoms. The southern part of the country was ruled by Egyptian kings. A separate kingdom in the north ruled by people who came from regions to the east of Egypt.
Change in Egypt
In Goshen, Jacob's family prospered and God's people grew in number. At first they lived there in safety and comfort. But in time the Egyptians gained control of the northern kingdom. Egypt entered a period of great wealth and power.
As time passed, Joseph and his generation died. A new pharaoh came into power. He did not know of Joseph and did not look upon the Israelites as honored guests. In fact, he feared them, saying, "Look how numerous and powerful the Israelite people are growing. in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave our country" (Exodus 1:9-10).
Eventually the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. The pharaoh forced them to build monuments, and to work long hours in the fields. The Israelites were no longer free to worship the one true God and to follow his laws. And the lives of the Israelites became so unbearable that they cried out to God to be rescued from Egypt.
God chose Moses to lead his people.
The Israelites were also called Hebrews, since their language was known as Hebrew. The pharaoh noticed
that despite all the difficulties in their lives, the number of Hebrews was still growing. He told some of the Hebrew women that all the newly born sons of the Israelites must be killed. But these women did not listen to the pharaoh. So the pharaoh gave a new command: "Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews" (Exodus 1:22).
To save her son, one woman made a basket out of reeds from the river. She coated it with tar to prevent it from sinking and then put her son in it. She placed the basket in the shallow water near one of the riverbanks. The pharaoh's daughter found the child and took him home with her. She named the child Moses and raised him as an Egyptian.
Life in Midian
When Moses was an adult, he often visited his fellow Hebrews. One day he saw a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian, and got so angry that he killed the Egyptian. Moses had to run away to the desert region of Midian because he pharaoh wanted Moses put to death. Moses settled there and lived the life of a shepherd. He married a woman named Zipporah and they had children.
One day while Moses was tending his flocks, God appeared to him in a burning bush. The fire was flaming from the bush but not destroying it. God called out to Moses from the bush and Moses answered, "Here I am" (Exodus 3:4). God told Moses that he wanted him to return to Egypt and lead the Hebrews out of slavery. Moses asked God how he would be able to do this, and God told Moses that he would be with him.
Moses asked God what he should say when the Israelites asked him who sent him to them. "God replied, 'I am who am.' Then he added, 'This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). This name that God gave was the source of the word Yahweh. "I AM" was a name that described God as ever-present to his people. This name was so holy that out of reverence the Israelites did not even speak it. Instead they used the title Adonai, which means "my Lord."
Again God spoke to Moses. "Go and assemble the elders of the Israelites, and tell them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into the land of the Canaanites,. . a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:16-17). Moses did as God commanded.
God helped his people
After Moses returned to Egypt, Aaron, his brother, helped him to explain God's message to the Israelites. Gradually, Moses gained the support of the people.
Moses and Aaron met with the pharaoh. They said, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may celebrate a feast to me in the desert" (Exodus 5:1). The pharaoh refused. Worse still, the pharaoh now would not give the Israelite slaves the materials they needed for their work. It became impossible for the Israelites to complete their required work. They blamed Moses for this hardship. Moses told God how the people were suffering, and God replied, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. . . compelled by my outstretched arm, he will drive them from his land" (Exodus 6:1).
The Plagues
God knew that it would be difficult to convince the pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt. So God said to Moses, "I will lay my hand on Egypt and by great acts of judgment I will bring the hosts of my people, the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt, so that the Egyptians may learn that I am the LORD" (Exodus 7:4-5).
These "great acts of judgment" were the plagues. Some of these plagues were diseases on the animals, hailstones, locusts, all the water of Egypt turning to blood, and darkness. Despite the 9 plagues Pharaoh refused to let the people go free.
The Tenth Plague: Dead of the First Born
After the ninth plague, God told Moses that he would bring one more plague onto Egypt, and after the plague the Pharaoh will let the people. This tenth plague is that every first born in Egypt will die including animals. To protect the Israelites from the angel of death, they were to kill a lamb and mark the doorframes of their houses with its blood. This would be a sign that the people inside the house were Israelites, not Egyptians.
Then, the Israelites were to remain inside their houses. They were to cook the lambs and eat them with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Unleavened bread, made
without yeast, does not need to rise and so takes less time to prepare. They did not have the time to let the bread rise. They were also told to eat this meal every year as a way to remember how God had saved his people from slavery in Egypt.
The Israelites obeyed God's instructions. At midnight God passed over all of Egypt, taking the lives of every firstborn Egyptian, including the son of the pharaoh. Only the Israelites and their animals were spared.
This event was called the Passover, since God passed over his people.
The Feast of Passover
Ever since the Exodus, for more than three thousand years, the Jewish people have remembered the night when their houses were "passed over." They celebrate the event each year in the feast of Passover. There are many preparations for Passover. Houses are cleaned from top to bottom. Tables are set with the best tablecloths, plates, wineglasses, and silver. Candles are placed on the tables, too. There is a special family meal called a seder. Seder is the Hebrew word for "order of service." In the seder, families praise God and tell again the story of his saving love in the Exodus. Foods that symbolize the hardships the Israelites endured in Egypt are carefully arranged on the seder plate.
Leaving Egypt
Horrified by what had happened, the pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. He told them to take the Israelites out of Egypt immediately. The Exodus was finally underway.
Moses led the Israelites toward the Red Sea which separates Egypt from the Middle East. During their escape, "The LORD preceded them, in the daytime by means of a column of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a column of fire to give them light" (Exodus 13:21).
The Parting of the Red Sea: Exodus 14:10-28
As soon as the Israelites were gone, the pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army to recapture them. By this time, the Israelites were at the Red Sea, and God again caused a wonder that saved his people.
As the Egyptian army closed in on the Israelites, God parted the Red Sea, and the Israelites escaped over the dry path God had made through it. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, the waters closed over them, and they drowned.
God Saves
Through his actions in history as recorded in the book of Exodus God saved his people from slavery in Egypt and eventually brought them to freedom in the Promised Land. The Exodus was the great turning point in the history of God's relationship with his people. For the Israelites the salvation of the nation came about as they passed through the waters of the Red Sea. Through their experience of the Exodus the Chosen People came to recognize that their God is a God of salvation. This is the lesson they learned from the Exodus which they remember and celebrate in the annual celebration of Passover.
Moses & the Exodus
1) How did the Hebrew People becomes slaves in Egypt?
2) Who was Moses?
3) What was the mission that God had given to Moses?
4) How did Moses receive this mission?
5) Why did God send the plagues?
6) What was the 10th plague? What were the Hebrews told to do to protect themselves from it?
7) Why do the Jewish people remember and celebrate with the feast of Passover?
8) What is the Exodus?
9) What does the Exodus reveal to us about God? _
Find in your bible the answer to the following questions
10) What 2 cities in Egypt were built by Hebrew Slaves? (Ex 1: 11)
11) How many years had the Israelites been in Egypt? (Ex 12: 40)
12) What is the name of God revealed to Moses? (Ex 3: 14)
13) What is the first plague? (Ex 7:17)
14) What is the ninth plague? (Ex 10: 21)
15) Who is Aaron and what did he do for Moses? (Ex 7: 1-2)
1) How did the Hebrew People becomes slaves in Egypt?
2) Who was Moses?
3) What was the mission that God had given to Moses?
4) How did Moses receive this mission?
5) Why did God send the plagues?
6) What was the 10th plague? What were the Hebrews told to do to protect themselves from it?
7) Why do the Jewish people remember and celebrate with the feast of Passover?
8) What is the Exodus?
9) What does the Exodus reveal to us about God? _
Find in your bible the answer to the following questions
10) What 2 cities in Egypt were built by Hebrew Slaves? (Ex 1: 11)
11) How many years had the Israelites been in Egypt? (Ex 12: 40)
12) What is the name of God revealed to Moses? (Ex 3: 14)
13) What is the first plague? (Ex 7:17)
14) What is the ninth plague? (Ex 10: 21)
15) Who is Aaron and what did he do for Moses? (Ex 7: 1-2)