25 lesson plans for children, young people and their teacher.
Lesson 8 God brings them out of captivity, after the Passover -
Exodus and Moses
Bible reference – Exodus 12 verses 1-51.
Living as foreign workers in Egypt, ‘God’s special family’ grew large in numbers. Joseph and his brothers died. After about 135 years the Egyptians had forgotten the help given to them by Joseph in the past.
Exodus 1 verses 6-8.
Pharaoh, the new king of Egypt, tries to stop the population growth of the Israelites.
Stop and discuss (1) Can you find three orders the king gives to people which aim to stop the growth of God’s special family? Read Exodus chapter 1 verses 6-22. God looked after His people. God was working – in the individual lives of common people and of national leaders – to keep His promise to Abraham. God works out His own purpose through human history. Midwives who “feared God” saved many children from death. Among them God protected one special baby boy whom He had chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and back into their Promised Land. Exodus 2 verses 1-11.
Stop and discuss (2) How many people did God use to protect baby Moses and then to help him grow into a young man? Write a list of them all. Ask three people to read Exodus 2verses 23-25 aloud to the class.
Stop and discuss (3) Ask the class: 1. How do you know it was a very long and a very hard time for the people of God? 2. What do you think they cried out to God? In the past, God called Abraham. Now God calls Moses. Exodus chapters 3 and 4 tell us about this. God makes Moses come and look at a bush that was on fire but did not burn away. He speaks to Moses by name from the bush and warns him to be careful because of God’s own burning holiness. God reminds Moses He is “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”. God tells Moses that He will rescue the people and answer their prayers, Exodus 3 verse 8. Moses is surprised and afraid when God tells him that he is going to be the leader of Israel. Moses will have to meet with the Pharaoh of Egypt. He makes excuses because he does not want to do it, but God answers them all one by one.
Stop and read (4) Divide the class into two. p.26
Tell one half to read aloud and altogether the words of God. Tell the other half to reply aloud and altogether by reading the words of Moses. This is the script for the two sides (God/Moses) to read: God: Moses, Moses. Moses: Here I am. God: I am going to rescue My people, and you are to help Me. Moses: I am not a big, important, person. I can’t do that. God: I’ll be with you. Bring My people to worship Me here on this mountain.
Moses: Who do I tell the Israelites is calling me to be the leader of Israel?
God: I am Who I am! The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. Moses: What if they don’t believe me? God: I’ll turn your walking staff into a snake – like this, and when you pick it up it will change
back – like this. This miracle sign will help them believe. Moses: O.K. God: Your arm will turn leprous, and then be cleansed, as a second sign. Moses: O.K. God: When you pour Nile river water on to the ground it will turn to blood, as a third sign. Moses: O.K. God: Is there anything else, Moses? Moses: I’m not a good speaker. Don’t send me. God: I’ll help you talk, Moses. Moses: No, Lord, please send someone else. God: I’m getting angry with you, Moses. I’ll tell you what to say. You tell it to your brother Aaron, and he can speak to the people. In Exodus chapters 5 and 7 verse 14 to chapter 11 verse 10, Moses and Aaron go and see Pharaoh. They ask his permission to lead Israel into the desert and worship God. Pharaoh either says: ‘No’, or, if he says ‘Yes’, he soon changes his mind! God responds by sending plagues– disasters – one after another on to Egypt and Pharaoh the king.
First the river turns to blood.
Next, frogs cover the land.
Then, gnats and
Then, flies cover everything and everybody.
Disease brings death to Egyptian animals (not to Israeli ones, chapter 9 verse 6).
Boils painfully break out on the skins of people and animals.
A heavy storm of hail stones– ice like rain – kills many people and destroys crops.
Locusts come and eat whatever is left.
And darkness covers the Egyptians (but not the Israelis, chapter 10 verse 23) for 3 whole days.
Stop and discuss (5) Ask the class: 1. How many ‘plagues’ (or disasters) have I just told you about 2. Which ones can you remember?
p.27
God was proving He was the Saving God and He was giving the Israelites something to tell their children and grandchildren about, Exodus 10 verses 1-2. Even one of the most powerful men in the world could not stand against God. Pharaoh’s work against God’s people only proved how great God’s power to save His people really was! In this story there is one final disaster to come in Exodus 11 and 12. God tells Moses He is going to kill the first-born sons of every Egyptian family. God’s own people must protect themselves by carefully obeying God’s command. If they don’t obey they will suffer death as well. God’s people must kill a perfect lamb and paint the blood on to the door posts and over the top of the doors of their homes. They are also to eat a special meal and pack up all of their belongings ready for a long journey. The Israelites obey God. When God kills the first-born, He ‘passes over’ all of the homes where the blood had been painted. God’s people are saved by their obedience. The sign of the blood keeps them safe. 430 years after coming to Egypt to escape famine the Israelites left Egypt. Pharaoh said they can go. Other Egyptians urge the Israelites to leave before any more death comes on them. More than half-a-million men, plus their families and their animals, leave Egypt. Moses led the people by faith, (Hebrews 11 verse 28). “The Lord kept watch to bring them out of Egypt”, Exodus 12 verse 42. The Jewish people have a ‘Passover’ feast to remember this event even today. Answers to ‘Stop and discuss’ 1. order 1: ‘work the Israelites very, very hard’, verses 10,11
order 2: (to midwives) ‘kill their baby boys at birth’, verse 16 order 3: (to anyone) ‘throw their baby boys into the Nile river’, verse 22. 2. Five people we know about in this Bible story: his mother and father, (Hebrews11 verse 23)
his sister the king’s daughter, (a princess)
one slave-girl Probably we should add: a midwife, the princess’s other servants, and a few neighbours and close friends as well. God uses people for His purposes. 3. 1. The verse 23 reads, “years later”.
And we know Moses had grown from a baby into a man. 2. ‘God, please get us out of here!’ ‘God, are you going to keep your promise?’
p.28.
5. There were nine plagues up to this point in the story:
blood, frogs, gnats, flies, boils, animals' deaths, hail stones, locusts, and darkness.
p.29.