Moses : The Great Big Whammies

Moses went back to Egypt and he and his brother Aaron told the children of Israel everything God had said at the burning bush. When the people heard that God hadn’t forgotten about them, and still loved them, they bowed down and worshipped Him.

The next day, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. “God says to let His people go,” they told the Pharaoh.

“No!” Pharaoh yelled. And he gave the people even harder slave work. Hmm… That didn’t seem to go so well.

“Oh, Moses,” the people cried. “You’ve only made things worse for us! God isn’t saving us!”

But God told Moses, “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I AM saving My people from their slavery. I have heard them, and I AM going to take them out of Egypt with My signs and wonders so that everyone will see that I AM God. So, go back to Pharaoh.”

Moses and Aaron went and told Pharaoh again, “God says to let His people go!”

Then Aaron threw down his staff and it turned into a s-s-s-slithering snake, just like God had shown Moses at the burning bush. But God had made Pharaoh’s heart so hard that Pharaoh would NOT listen.

The next day, Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh again, “God says to let His people go!”

“Never!” Pharaoh yelled.

This time, Aaron touched the Nile River with his staff. The whole river turned to blood. Yuck! The river was SO gross and SO stinky that all the fish died, and no one could drink the water (and that was their drinking water)!

But again, Pharaoh ignored God and wouldn’t listen. So God had to strong-arm Pharaoh with some more whammies. There would be 10 Incredibly Credible Whammies!

God sent frogs (ribbit, ribbit). Then gnats (phhht, phhht). Then flies (bzzz, bzzz). Then all their animals died (plop! plop!). Then all the Egyptian people got owwies all over their skin (ohhh… ohhh…). Then balls of ice started falling from the sky (ooo! ouch! ouch!). Then grasshoppers (boing! boing!). Then darkness covered the whole land of Egypt (“I can’t see. I can’t see.”). Even after all that, Pharaoh still wouldn’t listen — “nope, no way, never!” — was all Pharaoh would say. (Talk about stubborn.)

God had one whammy left. The worst of all. God told Moses, “This time, because Pharaoh is so stubborn, I will go through all of Egypt and make the firstborn son of every family in Egypt die. Every single one. But don’t worry, I will keep you and My people safe — IF you do what I say. The Egyptians will be wailing in tears, but my People’s homes will be so quiet and so peaceful that a dog won’t even bark.”

Next God told Moses something very important. “I want each family to kill a lamb, a perfect lamb, and paint its blood on the doorframe of your house. That way when I come through, I will see the blood and pass over you and not allow the death angel to hurt any of your sons.”

God had decided that the death of a lamb would take the place of the firstborn son in each household. “From now on,” God said, “You will celebrate this night. It will be called Passover, because I passed over you even though so many other people were dying. You will sacrifice a perfect lamb. When you do this, tell your son, ‘This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.’

“Also, from now on, all the firstborn boys and animals will belong to Me. You will need to buy back from Me all your firstborn sons. That will help you remember what it cost to save you from slavery and death.”

Night fell over Egypt, and God came. He passed over the houses with the blood over the door and those people were safe. But not the Egyptians’ houses. It was a sad night for the Egyptians. Many boys died. Pharaoh’s son died, too, and that finally upset the Pharaoh so much that he told Moses to take God’s people and go, go, go — to leave Egypt forever.

It had been hundreds of years since Jacob and his 12 sons had come to Egypt. Now, there were millions in the family. (Plus a bunch of other people who saw that God was with them and wanted to come too!) God was doing just what He’d said He’d do — He was rescuing His children from Egypt and taking them out, out, out of slavery.

And they weren’t just barely escaping. On the way out, God told them to ask the Egyptians for their gold, silver, nice clothes, and anything they needed. And God made the Egyptians want to help, so the Egyptians gave treasures to God’s People as they left!

Out, out, out of Egypt they went!