CONTENT
- MOSES AS A LEADER Exodus 1, 2, 3, 4:1-17
The Birth and Call of Moses
After the death of Joseph in Egypt, a new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph arose. He was exceedingly afraid of the increase in the population of the Israelites in the land of Egypt. The king therefore devised obnoxious ways of dealing with them. He made the Israelites to serve with rigour and bitterness. As if this was not enough, he instructed the midwives to kill their sons at birthstool. The midwives feared God and did not hearken to this instruction. He, therefore, commanded his people that every son born to the Israelites should be cast into the river Nile.
EVALUATION
Discuss the enslavement of the Israelites by the Egyptians.
It was at this critical period that Moses was born by a couple from the tribe of Levi. His father’s name was Amiram, and his mother Jocebed. When Moses was born, his mother tried to hide him for three months, but when she could no longer hide him, she made a basket of bulrushed daubed with was bitumen pitch before she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at river bank. Pharaoh’s daughter and her maidens came to wash themselves at the river, she saw the child picked him and adopted him as her own son. Miriam, Moses sister who was watching close by, called a nurse for her i.e her mother to nurse the child for her. Moses was therefore nursed by his own mother afterwards was returned to the palace.
EVALUATION
Narrate the call of Moses.
Moses grew up in the house of Pharaoh, but was conscious of the fact that he was a Hebrew and he hated the wicked treatment of his people by the Egyptians. This made him to kill an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. He wanted to settle a quarrel between two Hebrews, having discovered that his sin was known; he fled to Midian and was taken care of by the priest of Midian (Jethro) and his seven daughters. He married Zipporah one of the daughters of Jethro, they had a son and named him ‘’Gershom’’, meaning ‘I have been a sojourner in a strange land’.
Moses had an encounter with God when he was keeping the flocks of Jethro in Mount Horeb. He saw a bush burning but which was not completely consumed. God spoke to him and commanded him to go and rescue the Israelites from the hand of their taskmasters. He was relunctant initially, but God promised to be with him. Eventually, he went.
EVALUATION
1. What were the political and religious roles of Moses.?
2. Do you agree that Moses was a good nationalist? Why?
The Leading of the Israelites by Moses
God told Moses that he would harden the heart of Pharaoh so that he will not allow the children of Israel to go. After the series of plagues, Pharaoh eventually allowed the Israelites to go. As soon as he let them go, he pursued them again because God had hardened his heart. The children of Israel were faced with crossing the Red sea before them and the Egyptians behind them. God commanded Moses to stretch forth his rod towards the water which he did, the water parted right and left. They walked on dry ground. After they had crossed, God told Moses to stretch out the rod again; this time the water covered up with the Egyptians drowning in it.
Moses quality as a Leader
1. Moses was a very Patriotic nationalist that rendered selfless services to his people.
2. All that mattered to him was the interest of his people and not his own interest.
Twice, God threatened to wipe the Israelite out and make a great nation of the
descendant of Moses, but, he refused this and interceded for the people.
3. He was courageous in facing the challenges from Pharaoh.
4. He was very obedient and had strong faith in the God he was serving.
Lessons to Learn
1. Like Moses, Christians should demonstrate high sense of patriotism and render selfless service whenever they are called upon to lead people.
2. As Christians, we should respect fear and depend on God to guide us in all our ways.
THE CHILDHOOD AND FLIGHT OF MOSES (Exodus 1 and 2)
Moses was born at a critical period in the history of Hebrew during the period when the Israelites were being oppressed by the new Egyptian government who did not know Joseph. The new Pharaoh was hostile to Israelites as well as with other foreigners living in Egypt. As at that time, the Israelites had become a strong minority and Pharaoh was afraid thinking that the Israelites would support their enemies against them In time of war. To overpower the Israelites, the Egyptian made them their slaves. They were made to engage in building projects. They built store cities in Pithom and Ramses. They were used to do all menial work in Egypt. They were given an assignment of making bricks without given them straws. Whenever they failed to make the required number of the brick for the day, they were punished. The more they were being oppressed, the stronger and plenteous they became. Then the Egyptians were afraid of them because they kept on increasing in population.
Then Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah to kill all the male children given birth to by Hebrew women at birth. But the midwives could not do it because they feared God. When the king got to know, he asked them the reason why they spare the male children and the midwives replied that the Hebrew women unlike the Egypt women were more vigorous and give bith before the arrival of the midwives.
God dealt well with them and gave them families of their own because they refused to kill. Pharaoh then gave an order that every male child born by the Hebrews should be thrown into the River Nile but the female children should be spared. Moses was born during this time. Moses parents were Levites. His mother refused to thrown him into the River Nile, she hid him instead for three month, but she realized she could not hide him any longer and she made a basket of bulrushes, put the baby inside it and placed it among she reeds at the riverbank in the place where Pharaoh’s daughter always took her bath. Pharaoh’s daughter saw the baby in the basket and compassion to him, she asked that the baby be brought to her. Moses sister who was around living in wait to see what would happened, come out and asked to be allowed to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for Pharaoh’s daughter. The girl went and call the mother of Moses. The mother nursed him for Pharaoh’s daughter. Pharaoh daughter named the child Moses saying, “Because she drew him out of the water”.
Moses was raised In the place of Pharaoh, but he knew his own people. He knew the hardship they were going through. One day, she saw an Egyptian beating an Hebrew and he killed Egyptian and buried him in the sand. The following day, he also saw two Hebrews fighting and wanted to settle the dispute between them; but the guilty one referred to the case of the Egyptian that Moses killed the previous day. Moses became afraid and realized that his action had been known. He feared that Pharaoh might kill him if he got to known about it and he fled to the land of Midian.
When he got to Midian, he rested by a well, he defended Reuels’ (jethro) seven daughters from shepherds who drove the girls away the well. This made their father (Jethro) to invite Moses. Moses was contented to live with them and married one of the daughters called Zipporah. Moses had a son with Zipporah who they named Gershom. He named his GErshom to remind him of his stay in a strange land. Moses helped his father in-law to keep his flock.
THE CALL OF MOSES (Exodus 3:6-28-30)
Moses was assisting Jethro, his father in-law who was the priest of Midian to tend his flock. One day, he tended the flock to the west part of the wilderness until he got to Horeb, which was called “The Mountain of God”. Then the angel of God appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush. As Moses looked up, he discovered that the bush was burning without being consumed. Moses moved closer to see the strange sight. God then called him and when he answered, he was warned not to come nearer and was also instructed to remove his sandals because the place where he stood was regarded as a holy ground. God then told him that he was the God of his father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He therefore hid his face. God then said to him that he has the affliction of His people in the land of Egypt and that their cry had come to him and He had come to deliver them and bring them out of the land of Egypt to a good land, which is flowing with milk and honey. God was referring to the land of Canaan. God then called Moses and asked him to deliver the Hebrew from Egyptian slavery. He said.
“Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you man bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt”.
Moses replied and said:
“who am I to go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
Then God promised to be with him. He then gave Moses to signify His call to liberate the Hebrews. The sign was to bring the Hebrews to worship God on Mount Horeb after their deliverance.
Moses then asked God for His name in order to make it know to the Hebrew in case they doubt his calling. God said His name was: ”I Am who I am.”
God told Moses to tell the Hebrews that He had sent him to deliver them from oppression by the Egyptian. He also told Moses to identify Him as the God of their fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God said, after Moses had delivered His message to the Hebrew, the elders of the Hebrews should go to Pharaoh and ask him for a three days permission to go on a journey and sacrifice to their God. He said that Pharaoh would reject their request. God said on the eve of the exodus from Egypt, the Hebrews were to ask their Egyptian neighbors thing such as jewel, gold, silver and clothing. Then Moses said to God that the Hebrews could not believe him nor hearken to him. God then decided to perform a miracles to convince them. The first miracle was to turn Moses’ rod into a snake ; if they are not convinced by this, Moses should collect some of the water of the Nile and God promised to turn it into blood on dry ground.
Moses also complained to God that he was a stammerer, and could not speak clearly. God promised to take care of that by being with his mouth and teaching him what to say. But Moses still did not want to g. then he asked God to send another person. God said his brother Aaron would go with him and be his spokesman. God then reminded Moses to take care the rod with him which he would use to perform miracles in Egypt.
When Moses came back, h e told Jethro of his desire to visit his people in Egypt and Jethro agreed. Moses left for Egypt together with his family in obedience to God’s call.s
MOSES’ CONFRONTATION WITH PHARAOH (Exodus 5:1-5, 5:22-23)
Moses and his brother Aaron came to the land of Egypt to confront Pharaoh. They ask him to allow the Israelites to go into the wilderness to sacrifice to their God. But Pharaoh did not grant their request. All the efforts put in place by Moses and Aaron to free the Israelites did not work. Then God performed the miracles of the ten plagues. This made the Egyptians to send the Israelites out of their land.
MOSES LED HIS PEOPLE OUT OF EGYPT (Exodus 14:1-31)
When Pharaoh discovered that the Hebrews had gone, he regretted given them permission to go. He quickly organized his troop and chase the Israelites. The Israelites were over taken by the Egyptian army when they encamped at Pihahiroth. When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army coming behind them, they cried to God. They were so frighten to the extent of accusing Moses of bringing them: “fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the lord which he will work for you today; for the Egyptian whom you see today, you shall never see again. The lord would fight for you, and you have only to be still”.
Moses then cried to God and He told him to lift up his rod and stretch his hand over the red sea to divide it in order for the people of Israel to cross the sea on dry ground. Then the angel of God who went before them relocated and went behind them. The pillar of cloud which was leading them also changed position and move behind them. As a result, the Egyptians did not know what was happening ahead of them.
After this, Moses, stretched out his hand towards the sea as God commanded and God droved back the waters by an eastern wind. The Israelites crossed the sea on dry ground. When the Egyptians army saw the Israelites passing through the sea, they also rushed into the sea. When the Israelites had crosses the Red sea, and the Egyptian were still at the middle of the sea, Moses waved his hand again towards the sea according to the commandment of the God and the water fell upon them with force. The Egyptian army perished in the Red sea. The Egyptian dead body were seen the following morning on the shores. Thus, prevailed over Pharaoh.
EVALUATION
1. Mention three leadership qualities of Moses.
2. Describe the faith of Moses.
GENERAL EVALUATION/REVISION QUESTIONS
- What were the political and religious roles of Moses.?
- Do you agree that Moses was a good nationalist? Why?
- What advice did Paul give on the use of individual talents in his epistle?
- Identify any two ways of applying your talents.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Comprehensive Christian Religious Knoledge for SS 1-3. By Martins I. Amaechi, pgs: 28-32
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
1. Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law on mount……..
(a) Gilboa (b) Horeb (c) Nebo (d) Camel
2. “Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord”. This statement was made by
Moses at ……….(a) wilderness of sin(b)Pihahiroth(c) Meribah (d) Mount Horeb
3. The father of Moses was_____. A. AAbimelech B. Balaam C. Jonas D. Amiram
4. The intended number of years the Israelites ought to be in slavery was/ is______ years.
a. 400 b. 420 c.430 d. 410
5. What was the Name of Moses’ son?
(a) Levi (b) SIMEON (c) Gershom (d) Esau
THEORY
1. Give an account of Joseph’s final reconciliation with his brothers.
2. Indicate some lessons which we can learn from Joseph’s forgiving spirit.
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