Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, had made a law that every boy baby of the
Hebrew race should be killed, and there was great sorrow because of it.
But when Moses was born, his mother managed to hide him for three
months; then she made a cradle, or little ark, and putting him into it,
carried him down to a river and hid the cradle among the reeds there.
Soon after this, Pharaoh's daughter came with her maidens to the
river-side, and when she saw the beautiful child, she sent one of her
maidens to bring it to her.
She took the little boy to the palace and named him Moses, and he became
a great man among the Egyptians; he knew, however, that he belonged to
the Hebrew race, and when he saw how badly his own people were treated,
he tried to help them; but at last he was obliged to leave Egypt, and
became a shepherd, taking care of the flocks of a priest called Jethro.
He also married Jethro's daughter.
[Illustration: THE GOOD SAMARITAN.]
After a time, God spoke to Moses out of a burning bush, and told him
that he must go and rescue his people from the cruel Egyptians. Moses
thought he could not do this; but God promised to help him, and to show
him what he would be able to do with that help, God turned the rod which
Moses carried into a serpent. Then God told Moses to pick the serpent
up by the tail, and as he did so, it became a rod again. He showed him
another sign, also; but Moses was still afraid, because he could not
talk well and thought that Pharaoh would not listen to him. So God told
him to take his brother Aaron for a spokesman.
Moses and Aaron, therefore, went into Egypt, where they called together
the chief men among their own people, the Hebrews, or Israelites, and
told them what God had commanded. Moses also did the miracles which God
had given him power to do, and the people believed that God had sent
him.
After this Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and told him that it was the
Lord's command that he should let the Israelites go. Pharaoh knew
nothing about God, and became very angry, saying that Moses and Aaron
kept the people from their work by telling them such things; and he
treated the poor Israelites worse than before.
But Moses had faith in God; so he was able to perform before the king
the wonderful things that he had done before his own people; still,
Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go.
Then Moses turned the waters of the rivers into blood; and after that he
caused large numbers of frogs to run over the land and through the
houses, doing great harm. He also brought locusts and other insects to
be a pest to the people, and caused many of the useful animals which
belonged to the Egyptians to grow sick and die, doing all these wonders
with the rod which God had given him. But Pharaoh would not listen to
him.
Then God commanded Moses again, and he brought other plagues upon the
Egyptians; but Pharaoh would not give up.
At last, however, God sent a still more terrible trouble; for the
first-born of every Egyptian family, and even the first-born among their
flocks, died; although the Israelites, who were constantly praying to
the Lord and making sacrifices, were spared, as they had been all the
time.
Then Pharaoh was frightened into obeying God, and he let the Israelites
go; so they started at once for the land of Canaan, and the Lord guided
them by a cloud, which at night looked like a pillar of fire.
When the Israelites had reached the Red Sea, they found that Pharaoh
was pursuing them with a large army. But God commanded Moses to stretch
forth his rod over the sea; he did so, and the waters parted, making a
high wall upon either side, so that the children of Israel passed
through and reached the other side in safety. Pharaoh and his hosts
followed and were all drowned.
When the children of Israel saw that they were safe, they sang a
beautiful song of praise to God, and then they went on their way again.
After they had traveled for some time, they were in need of bread and
meat, and they complained about Moses because he had brought them to a
land where they had not enough to eat. But God sent them plenty of
quails and also a substance which they could use for bread. Later, when
they wanted water, the Lord commanded Moses, and he struck a rock with
his rod, and pure water poured out of it, so that the thirsty people and
their animals had all that they wanted.
In this way God took care of them as they journeyed through the new and
strange country toward the promised land, and Moses became the law-giver
of the Israelites, receiving his commandments from God.