Back to: Bible Knowledge Primary 1
It’s another bible knowledge lesson today. Hope you are excited.
Crossing of the Red Sea
God’s people, the Israelites, had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years! Now they were finally free to leave and go make a home in their very own land. God’s people were finally on their way to their own land—Canaan! A pillar of cloud led the way by day and a pillar of fire guided them at night.
God had chosen Moses as their leader so they packed everything they owed and followed him of Egypt. Over a million Israelites set off. Moses always knew which direction go because God put a big tall pillar of cloud in front of them to point the way. At night they followed a big tall pillar of fire. They never got lost because God always showed the correct way to go.
Eventually, the pillar stopped by the water called the Red Sea. The Israelites camped by water and waited for what God wanted them to do next.
Meanwhile, back in Egypt, the Pharaoh and his officials began thinking about how all of the Israelites had left. God had proven, through the ten plagues, that he was more powerful than the King of Egypt and all of the Egyptian gods. At that time Pharaoh and the people had told the Israelites to leave Egypt but now they were having second thoughts. If all the slaves left Egypt, they thought, then who would do all the work?
So Pharaoh decided to chase after the Israelites and make them come back. He sent all of his horses and chariots and all of his horsemen and troops. He must have thought, “NO ONE would be able to stop this army!” When God’s people saw the Egyptian army approaching in the distance they became very afraid. There was nowhere to go to get away. The army was behind them and the Red Sea was in front of them. They were trapped!
The people complained to their leader, Moses. They said, “Why did you lead us out of Egypt into the desert to die? We would have been better off to have stayed in Egypt.
The Israelites in great fear, cried to Moses ‘it would have been better for us to stay than to die in the wilderness. But Moses told them that God would help them. Now amazing things began to happen right before their very eyes. The people had thought that they were trapped because of the water. But they were about to see that God is so powerful he can do anything!
An angel of God had been travelling in front of the Israelites and he moved back behind them along with the pillar of cloud. They cloud blocked the view of the Egyptians and they could only see night and darkness.
But the cloud provided light for God’s people so they could see everything. They could see the Red Sea in front of them and wished they could get across the sea.
At God’s command Moses stretched out his big staff (stick) over the water and it began to change. A strong wind blew the water up into two walls so that there were walls of water on each side and dry land down the middle. God had provided a way to cross the sea to the other side!
When the Egyptians saw the dry land they followed the Israelites. Do you think they caught up with them? No, they did not. Strange things began happening to them. The wheels of their chariots began falling off and it became very difficult to drive. By the time the Egyptians realized God was fighting against them it was too late.
Now that the Israelites were all safely on the other side God told Moses to stretch his staff over the water again. Soon all of the Egyptian army was drowned in the water. The people were so happy that God had save them from their enemies. Moses wrote a song about what happened and everyone sang it. And Moses’ sister, Meriam sang another part of the song. Then she got a tambourine and began to dance. Soon all of the women were dancing with joy for all God had done that day. If you were one of the people there would you join in the celebration?
God ordered Moses to stretch out his staff over the Red Sea, and the sea parted. This allowed the Israelites to escape across the sea, and away from Egypt unharmed. Meanwhile, the Pharaoh and his army followed them by charging into the sea. But Moses waved his staff, and the sea returned to its normal height, swallowing up the entire army of Pharaoh.
And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. God’s power saved His people!
God protection and provides for the Israelites in the desert. (Exodus 15 – 17)
Moses and the Israelites then went to the wilderness. They travelled through the desert for three days, but they could not find a place where there was water. From there they went to a place called Mara. There was water, but they could not drink it. The water tasted bitter.
Then the people came to Moses to complain; What shall we drink? Moses asked for help from the Lord. The Lord then showed him a piece of wood that he had to throw in the water. After he did, the water became drinkable. It was also there where the Lord gave them ordinances. He wanted to test them to find out if they were willing to listen to Him. On the fifteenth day of the second month, they began to complain to Moses and Aaron about the food; The Lord could only have killed us in Egypt. When we stayed there, there was at least plenty of food to eat. You brought us here to die of hunger.
The Lord then told Moses; I’m going to give you food from above. That night quails came and they sat everywhere in the camp. Then there was meat to eat. The following morning there was dew around the camp. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other: Manna, what is it? They did not know what it was. Moses said to them; This is the bread that the Lord gives you to eat.
Moses said to them; No one should leave the food until the next morning. But the Israelites did not listen to Moses. They left the food until the next morning. Then worms came into the food, and the food became bad. Moses was very angry with them. Moses told them to pick up manna for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath day. Then there will not be manna. On the seventh day some of the people went to pick up manna, but they did not find anything. The Lord said to Moses, How long will you be disobedient and do not what I say? Remember, I gave you the Sabbath day. Therefore, on the sixth day, I give you enough food for two days. The Israelites called the food manna. The manna was white and it looked like coriander seed. It tasted like honey cake. The Israelites ate manna for 40 years, until they came to the land of Canaan.
After leaving the desert they came to a place where there was no water.
They accused Moses and Aaron and said to them; Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die? Moses prayed to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses; Walk in front of the people and take your rod with which you struck the Nile River and hit the rock, and then water will come out for the people to drink. Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and water came out of the rock for the Israelites to drink.
Quiz
- After the tenth plague, did the Egyptians want the Israelites to leave Egypt? Yes
- How did the Israelites know which direction to go when they left Egypt? They were led by a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night.
- How did the Israelites get across to the other side of the Red Sea? God told Moses to hold his staff (shepherd’s rod) over the sea. Then God caused a strong wind to hold back the water so they could cross.
- What happened when the Egyptian army tried to cross the sea? They became confused, the wheels fell off their chariots, and the water came down on them and drowned them.
We have come to the end of today’s class. Should you have any question, ask using the comment section.
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