GOD SPEAKS TO HIS CHILDREN

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12. God saves Moses

Joseph and his brothers died. Their children and grandchildren, the Israelites, lived in Egypt. There they became a great nation. Many years passed. A new Pharaoh ruled in Egypt. He knew nothing of Joseph or of how he had helped the Egyptians in a time of great famine. He was afraid of the Israelites and said: They are strong. Soon they will be stronger than we Egyptians. But I will stop them. First this Pharaoh had the Israelites do forced labour. They had to build cities. Then he commanded that all the first-born sons of the Israelites be drowned in the Nile river. When there are no more sons growing up, he thought, the nation will soon die out.

There was a mother who wanted to save her little son. First she hid him in the house, but then after three months she could hide him there no longer. So she wove a basket out of reeds and coated it with pitch, so that it was watertight. Then she put her little boy in the basket and hid him among the reeds on the Nile. Her daughter Miriam stayed on the bank to see what would happen to the basket.

Pharaoh’s daughter came to the Nile. She wanted to bathe in the river. She noticed the basket and had her maid bring it to the shore. She saw the child and took pity on it. Then Miriam came out of hiding and asked: Should I look for a woman to nurse the small child for you? Yes, do that, said Pharaoh’s daughter. So Miriam fetched her mother. Pharaoh’s daughter gave the child to her to look after. She gave him the name of Moses.

When Moses was older he lived in the royal palace. He was brought up as if he were an Egyptian. But he never forgot that he belonged to the Israelite people, who were forced to do hard slave labour. Once he saw an Egyptian strike an Israelite. Moses was overcome with rage. He killed the Egyptian. So then he had to flee. He went into the land of Midian and worked as a shepherd in the house of the priest Jethro.

(Ex 1 – 2)

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