People of the Bible – Moses
It starts in the Garden
Moses was a great man for God. To understand how is story starts, we have to back to the Garden of Eden. We all know that Satan tricked Eve into eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had warned that they would die if they ate from but Satan convinced Eve that she wouldn’t die and that she would be like God if she ate from it. After he fooled her, she got Adam to eat from it as well and they were both punished by God. But God also punished the Serpent for doing what he did. And here is one of the things God said.
Genesis 3: 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Enmity — 1. The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence.
In this prophesy, God made the first prediction that one day there would be a “seed” or a child of a woman who would be born into the Earth who would one day defeat Satan.
1. Who is this child that God was referring to? ___________________________________________________________________________
So since Satan knew that this Savior would be born one day, he was on the clock. He had to find out who would give birth to this child and try to stop the plan. God later on decided to take Abraham and make him the father of God’s nation: Israel. The Children of Israel were God’s Chosen people to receive His laws and be an example to the world on how to live a godly life. And they would be the people from where the Messiah would come out of.
The Birth of Moses
At the time when Moses was born, The Israelites were being enslaved by the Egyptians. They worked hard and were treated poorly. The Pharaoh of Egypt, the most powerful, wealthy man on the planet was sinning left and right. He worshipped idols, told the people he was god and constantly showed himself off because he was rich and had lots of nice possessions. When you are living your life in constant sin, it becomes easy for Satan to use you. And so Pharaoh decided that he wanted to have every newborn baby son of an Israelite woman to be killed.
2. How would this order by Pharaoh help Satan? ________________________________________________________________________
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Moses’ mother of course was devastated by the news. She could not let her baby be killed. So knowing the authorities would come and make sure it was done, she took her baby and put him in a basket and placed him in the river near her home. It would be better to have him live that way than die from an Egyptian soldier.
3. When you read about someone entering a boat to be saved from certain death, who does this remind you of in the Bible? _____________________________
The Fresh Prince Of Egypt
While the baby Moses was floating down the river, he entered a courtyard where the Pharaoh’s daughter was relaxing. When she and her maid saw the baby, they picked him up out of the water. Pharaoh’s daughter immediately loved the beautiful baby and knew it was one of the Hebrew kids. But she felt sorry for the baby and wanted to take care of it so she told her maid to find a woman who could care for the baby every day. But she would adopt the baby and told Pharaoh who officially declared him a son. And the daughter named him “Moses” because she “drew him out of the water.”
So Moses was raised as a prince of Egypt. He lived in the royal palace, had lots of servants, all the gold he could want and a life of luxury. All the while, everyone thought he was an Egyptian (since his adopted mother did not tell anyone his secret). He had was living the good life by hanging with the people who were enemies of his own people and enemies of God.
4. How often do you hang out with people who choose to sin and don’t ever try to follow God (meaning they don’t go to church, don’t read the Bible, don’t ever talk about being saved)?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often
5. Do you find yourself acting more like them or like a Christian? Like them Christian
A Tough Decision
As Moses grew up into a man, he knew that he was in a tough position. He was living well with people who were mean to his real family and friends. He was basically being compromised: he knew he should be with God’s people but it meant giving up his great lifestyle. One day he saw an Egyptian beating up one of his Israelite brothers. This threw him into a rage. So he followed the Egyptian and when no one was looking or around, he ran up behind him, attacked the Egyptian and killed him. He then took the body and buried it in the sand.
6. Have you ever had a chance to tell one of your unbelieving friends or family members who were in sin, what God would want them to do? _________________________
7. How often are you willing to potentially criticize or not support your friend’s behavior because you know God doesn’t want you to act like that?
Never Rarely Sometimes Often
Moses Becomes a Fugitive
Moses knew that with his power and influence he should help the Israelites. As a prince of Egypt, he was trained by the best soldiers in how to fight, so killing that man was no problem for him. He was certain that God wanted him to help his own people. And he thought that getting revenge on the Egyptian and killing him was the first step. The next day he saw two of his Israelite brothers arguing with each other and he tried to speak to them by telling them to break it up. And here is what they said:
Exodus 2: 14And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
Moses was busted! He thought no one knew about the killing, but people had found out. And plus, his own Israelite brothers didn’t even appreciate what he did to try and help him. Soon Pharaoh had heard about the murder and put out a warrant to arrest Moses. So Moses had to flee Egypt.
8. Even though Moses was trying to help his people, he did it the wrong way. What did Moses do that would have offended God in trying to help the Israelites? What laws of God did Moses break?
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9. Even though we want to do the right thing, we have to do it God’s Way. How often have you been mad at someone and handled it God’s Way (forgiving, being kind to the person who offended you..acting like Christ)?
Often Sometimes Rarely Never
10. How many times have you been around friends who wanted to resolve a conflict Satan’s way and you go along with it?
Often Sometimes Rarely Never
11. If you did NOT answer “Never” to number 10, then answer this: why do you go along with friends who want to do things Satan’s way?
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Moses had to flee Egypt altogether. He gave up all his wealth and fame and fortune and now had nothing and a was a man on the run. But he had done it because he wanted to serve God. And when he fled, God was going to train him up to become one of the greatest leaders of all time.
