In our study, it is important that we understand some of the history before Moses.
Why is Abraham important in the story of Moses:
God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants. God promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations and his descendants will be fruitful. The whole land of
Canaan shall be theirs and God shall be their God for all time. (Gen 17)
In Geneses 15, in another covenant between God and Abraham, God openly tells Abraham that his descendants will be enslaved for 400 years. This is important to understand because the story of Moses occurs during the 100 years of the enslavement.
Where did Israelites come from:
Abraham & Sarah Isaac & Rebecka
Isaac Jacob
The foundation of the Israelites (or Hebrews) and Christian beliefs start with:
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
***God renamed Jacob to Isael***
Jacob had 12 sons:
Reuben
Simeon
Levi -- this is the priestly line, which Moses descends
Judah -- this is the line in which Christ is born
Zebulun
Issachar
Dan
Gad
Asher
Naphtalli
Joseph -- is responsible for getting the Israelites to move to Egypt
Benjamin

Exodus Ch1:
The descendants of Israel (Jacob) that move to Egypt totaled 70 in all. Joseph was the only one not counted because he was already in Egypt.
Midwives – are women who help other women to deliver babies.
Shiphrah and Puah were Hebrew midwives who feared God. The king of Egypt ordered these two midwives to kill any baby that was a boy, but let the girls live; however, they feared the
Lord more than the king and did not kill any child. When king asked why they had not done what they were ordered to, they answered that the Hebrew women were “vigorous” and gave birth before the midwives could come.
Then Pharaoh gave the order to ALL his people – Throw every boy born to the Hebrews into the
Nile, but every girl lives.
Exodus Ch2:
Moses’ parents were from the tribe of Levi (the son of Jacob / Israel)
When Moses was born, his parents hide him for 3 months. The mother made a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch and set the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen.
Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe. When she saw the basket, she ordered a slave girl to go and get it. Pharaoh’s daughter recognized the baby as a Hebrew baby. Moses sister stepped up and asked if she should get someone to nurse the baby. Pharaoh’s daughter said yes. So, Moses’ sister got the baby’s mother to nurse him. This meant that Moses lived with his mother for the first 5-6 years of his life. He grew up knowing he was a Hebrew and not
Egyptian.
Moses – means “I drew him out of the water”
After looking this way and that, Moses killed an Egyptian man who was beating a Hebrew. In fear of his life, he goes to Midian. There, he decides to stay with the priest of Midian, who gives him his daughter (Zipporah) in marriage.
The Priest of Midian is also known for:
Reuel
Jethro
Moses’ father-in-law
Zipporah gave birth to a son and Moses named him Gershom – which means “I am an alien in a foreign land.
God heard the groaning of the Israelites and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and He was concerned for them.