Dominique
The story of Moses
30/9/02
When Moses was born the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh
was afraid of them because he thought
they might take over his country. He
ordered that all Hebrew baby boys be killed
at birth. He did not want them to grow up
and fight against him. Moses should have
been killed, but his mother made a plan to
save him. She hid him in a basket by the
side of the River Nile.
Moses' sister Miriam watched over the baby
until Pharaoh's daughter came to the river to
wash. She found Moses in his basket. Miriam
told her she knew a woman who could be a
nurse for the baby. It was his mother.
Pharaoh's daughter took him back to live with
her as though he were her son.
Moses grew up as an Egyptian prince, but he
never forgot he was a Hebrew. One day Moses
lost his temper and killed an Egyptian who had
beaten a Hebrew slave to death. He had to run
away to another land. God spoke to him from a
burning bush and told him he must go back and
free the Hebrews from slavery.
Moses went to Pharaoh to ask him to set the Hebrews
free. Pharaoh did not want to lose his slaves. He
would not let them go, because they worked on his
grand buildings. Awful things began to happen in
Egypt. There were ten plagues. Including, a plague of
locusts, the sea turned to blood and the sun did not
shine for three days, there was total darkness. Before
each one, Moses had warned Pharaoh what would
happen. Moses told him God had sent the disasters.
The last plague was the worst. The eldest son
in every Egyptian family, including Pharaoh's,
died. God had warned Moses to mark the
doorposts of all Hebrew houses so that Hebrew
boys would be safe. Pharaoh was so upset by
losing his son that he said the Hebrews could
leave Egypt.
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Dominique
The story of Moses
30/9/02
The Hebrews knew they must leave
Egypt quickly. They needed food to take
with them. There was no time to let the
bread rise before it was cooked. They
had to take the dough as it was.
Pharaoh changed his mind again and
sent his army after them to bring them back.
The army chased them to the banks of the
Red Sea. They would have been trapped but
a miracle happened. God told Moses to lift
up his rod and as he did so the waters
parted to make a dry path. The Hebrews
were able to make their escape.
When all the Hebrews were safely at the
other shore, Moses lifted up his rod again and
the waters of the sea closed on Pharaoh's
army who had been chasing them. God had
saved the Hebrews.
Even though the Hebrews were free, they were
still in the desert. They wanted to find a land
called Canaan, which God had promised them.
The journey was long and they soon ran out of
food. They were very hungry and blamed
Moses for taking them out of Egypt. Moses told
them that God would give them food.
God told Moses, "I will give the people food."
The next day the ground was covered with a
white food, which tasted like honey. Moses
called this strange food manna. God also sent
flocks of birds called quails that they cooked
and ate. As the days went by, they ran out of
water. God told Moses to strike a rock with his
rod. As he did so water rushed out and they
all had enough to drink.
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Dominique
The story of Moses
30/9/02
After three months of travelling the Hebrews
came to the foot of Mount Sinai. God called
Moses to meet him on the mountain. As he
climbed there was thunder and lightning.
When he was up the mountain God gave
Moses ten laws, which told the people how to
live.
These Ten Commandments were written on
two tablets of stone. Moses stayed so long on
the mountain that the people waiting at the
foot of the mountain grew angry. They decided
to make another God for themselves. It was a
golden calf.
When Moses returned he was shocked to see
the people dancing and worshipping the golden
calf. He broke the tablets God had given him
and destroyed the golden calf. God forgave his
people for worshipping the statue and told
Moses to cut two more tablets of stone.
Moses took the stone tablets up the mountain
and God gave him the Ten Commandments
again. When he came down all the people
listened to Moses as he told them what God
had said. Moses promised God that the
Hebrews
would
keep
all
of
the
Commandments.
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