The Exodus Begins

Exodus 12:30-42
(30)  And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; ....
(31)  And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.
(32)  Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.

The boys got their "flocks" and "herds" - sheep and cows:

(33)  And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
(34)  And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

The boys gathered their ingredients (some of their own choosing :-), made dough, and wrapped it in some plastic and then in their clothes to carry on their shoulders.

(35)  And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
(36)  And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

They gathered things from daddy - silver and gold things :-)

(37)  And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
(38)  And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.
(39)  And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

The boys shaped their dough and baked it.  5 year old made cookie shapes, 2 year old made "one big one" :-)

(40)  Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
(41)  And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

We gathered rocks.  We counted 430 rocks to get an idea of how many years Israel was in Egypt.

We compared 430 years with our own ages - 5 rocks for Caleb, 2 rocks for Joshua, and ____ for mommy :-) (anyone want to guess?)

We compared 430 to 5 and 2 ... the boys are getting a concept of time, "greater than", and "less than".

We talked about when the Israelites went to Egypt (when brothers put Joseph in pit, then sold him to the traders who took him to Egypt, about Joseph's experience in Egypt, about when his brothers came to get corn, about when "daddy Jacob" came with the whole family to live there and the 430 years began).  We talked about whether Jacob and Joseph were still alive 430 years later.  We talked about how Joseph asked that his bones be carried to the land of Canaan and how when Jesus comes and wakes Joseph up from the sleep of death, Joseph will wake up in the land of Canaan and go to heaven.

(42)  It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.

With God's blessing this "build-a-Bible-story" will be well remembered by my boys as was the night of the Exodus to the children of Israel..

Can we do another one?

Near the end of the afternoon, my oldest son said to me, "Mom can we build a Bible story?"

"We already did, son.  Remember the frogs?"  I replied.

"Oh yea, now I remember" he said.

After a pause, "Can we do another one?"

"Sure, let's do it tomorrow ... it's bath time right now."

God has answered my prayer - building Bible stories is more fun than play to my children.

Frogs

Exodus 8 continues the story of the plagues that came to Egypt.  In one of the plagues, frogs came from the river and went everywhere - in the houses, on the people, in the ovens, in the bread dough troughs, in the bedrooms, and even in the beds.

We colored pictures of frogs and cut them out:

We put the frogs in the beds:

We put the frogs in the oven:

We put the frogs on people:

Red Water

Exodus 7 begins the story of the plagues that came to Egypt when Pharoah wouldn't let Israel go.  In one of the plagues the water became red, the fish died, and the Egyptians could not drink the water.

We got a stick for Moses rod.

We got clear clean water.

We poured beet juice in ...

We talked about the red water.

Making Bricks

Exodus 5 tells the story of how the children of Israel were making bricks.  The Egyptians taskmasters provided the straw.  Then when Moses and Aaron asked king Pharoah to let them go a 3 days journey into the wilderness, Pharoah told the taskmasters to stop giving straw to the Israelites slaves.  Instead they would have to gather stubble for straw and still make the same number of bricks.

Today we read the story and the boys got to work:

1st they made the mud - what delight for two boys!

I gave them the straw:

Using mud & straw, the boys made "bricks":

Next they went to gather stubble instead of straw:

Making bricks again!

A Blessing In The Hay Barn

On Sabbath afternoon, I took our 3 boys for a Sabbath afternoon walk (one in the stroller, of course).  We love the hay barn.  It's cozy with lots of places to climb on the hay and straw bales.  We talked together and wondered what Bible story we might be able to do in the hay barn?  "Too bad we didn't bring our Bible" I commented.  Then we looked down and saw a Bible in the stroller.  "Wonderful!"  I commented, "Let's read our next chapter about Moses in Exodus and just see what its about."  Opening to Exodus 5, we read about, you guessed it, making bricks from straw!  Now how does God coordinate things like that?  I don't know, but it sure is wonderful!

Going to Talk to King Pharoah

Exodus 3:10-22

(10)  Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

…

 (18)  …. And … ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

When I read this, my oldest boy jumped up and said, "3 days journey"!  I hadn't planned to do anything for that part, but as soon as I read it, they were ready to do something, so we walked around designated pathway 3 times and talked about how far a days journey is.  (BTW, when God says we need to be like little children, it might have something to do with the fact that children think in terms of action, not theory.  God's word is active ... not passive)

 

Exodus 4:1-31

(1)  And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.

(2)  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

(3)  And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

The boys both held their walking sticks:

 

They threw the sticks on the ground and fled from the plastic snake (they loved the running part!):

 

(4)  And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

(5)  That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

(6)  And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

(7)  And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

For the white hands, the boys dipped their hands in a container of water and then into a container of starch (cornstarch works great).  

(10)  And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

(11)  And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

(12)  Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

(13)  And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

(14)  And the … LORD … said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

(27)  And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.

 The boys took two separate routes and met at "the mountain".  We talked about how both Moses and Aaron followed God's instructions.  Quick obedience to God's commands enabled them to meet up at the right time and place.  So it's important for us to obey quickly so we can know God's plans for us.

(28)  And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.

(29)  And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:

(30)  And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

(31)  And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.