Moses & The Exodus

BIG IDEA: God provides a way.

This free Bible lesson, Moses & The Exodus, will teach preschool and elementary students about the true story of Moses’s birth, being raised as an Egyptian, being spoken to by God through a burning bush, the 10 plagues of Egypt, The Exodus of the Israelites, and the parting of the Red Sea.

FOCUS BIBLE PASSAGE: Exodus 1-17

All of the printable activities and digital slides needed for the lesson, as well as a full printable lesson plan for both elementary and preschool are available.

Below is the outline of the free elementary Bible lesson.

PREP & SUPPLIES

• printed “Spotless Passover Lamb” coloring pages
• crayons/markers

LESSON HOOK ACTIVITY

Leader Note: This game will be much simpler if you use the provided slides. However, if you are unable to use the slides, all of the questions and answer choices are pictured on the following pages. All of the statements are “FACT”. This is intentional because so many incredible and unbelievable events happen during this story. The idea is to bring the students’ attention to these details ahead of time.

For each statement, there are 2 slides:

(1) statement and action answer choices, and (2) answer/discussion

The Exodus of the Israelites led by Moses is a very special time in history.

Before we learn about this time in Bible history, we are going to play a game to get our minds ready, and to see how much you already know about this true story from the Bible.

(SLIDE) This game is called “Fact or Fiction?”.

Let’s first make sure that everyone understands these two words.

What is a fact? (something that is true; it can be proven)

What is fiction? (something that is false/not true; it is made up)

To play the game, I am going to read (and you will see on the screen) a statement. It is your job to decide if the statement is a FACT (true) or FICTION (false). There will be an “action” for you to perform to make your choice. Then, when I tell you the whole story, we will discuss each of these events in more detail.

Read each statement and answer choice “actions”. Allow time for students to make their choices before moving to the answer slide. There will be discussion during the lesson, so you can plan to reveal the answer and then move on to the next statement after reading the short explanation.

What did you notice about all of the statements we read during this game? (allow responses and discussion)

They were all facts!

The story of Moses and the Exodus is amazing and so many of the things that happened seem unbelievable!

Today we are going to learn all about the Exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

BIBLE LESSON

(SLIDE) Over the past several weeks we have learned about a promise that God made to Abraham and his family. We learned about Abraham, his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob, and his great-grandson Joseph. Can someone give us a summary about the lessons we have learned about this special family chosen by God? (allow responses but be sure to read the summary below)

[Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of many nations, which means he would have a large family of important descendants, including Jesus. God made a covenant promise with Abraham, and when Abraham and his wife Sarah were very old God gave them a baby boy whose name was Isaac. Abraham trusted God and was prepared to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to show his love to God. An angel appeared to Abraham to stop him from sacrificing Isaac, and God provided a ram to take the place of Isaac on the altar. Isaac is a “type”, or symbol, of Jesus. Isaac and his wife, Rebekah had twin boys named Jacob and Esau. Jacob deceived, or tricked, his brother and his father into receiving the rights of the first born son that Isaac thought belonged to Esau. However, Jacob was already blessed by God and didn’t have any reason to trick his father and his brother. Jacob became the father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel through his sons. Joseph was one of Jacob’s sons who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Joseph became a great leader in Egypt and was given the ability to interpret dreams by God. Through his gift, he was able to save many lives because Pharaoh’s dream predicted seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. Joseph stored up food for the people and eventually brought the Israelites to live in Egypt. Abraham’s family is blessed by God, which means that all the people in Abraham’s family have special favor with God. Because Jesus is part of Abraham’s family, all people who believe in Jesus receive the same promise that God gave to Abraham of special blessing through Jesus. When a person believes in Jesus and puts their trust in Him, they will receive salvation and new life in Him.]

God made a promise to Abraham that his family would be blessed. What do we know about God’s promises? (allow responses)

When God makes a promise, we can trust Him because He always keeps His promises.

Where can we read and learn about the promises that God has made to us? (The Bible)

(SLIDE) Last week we learned about Abraham’s great-grandson, Joseph.

Joseph was sold into Egyptian slavery by his jealous brothers. He rose to power because God was using him to provide for the Israelites, God’s chosen people. Joseph brought his people down from Canaan into Egypt to live and be provided for. The Israelites were given part of the land in Egypt. The land in Egypt is NOT the Promised Land, but it was the land that the Israelites were going to live in for the next 400+ years.

(SLIDE) The Israelites lived in Egypt and their families grew in size over the years. A new Pharaoh (leader of Egypt) came into power who was afraid that the Israelites were becoming too great and he thought they might fight against the Egyptians if there was ever a war. (Exodus 1:7-10)

(SLIDE) So the Egyptians put the Israelites into slavery and made them start working for Pharaoh. The Egyptians treated the Israelites terribly. (Exodus 1:11)

Pharaoh even ordered that all of the baby boys born to the Israelite people should be thrown into the Nile River. He was trying to control the population growth of the Israelite people by not allowing the baby boys to live.

(SLIDE) Pharaoh said to his people: “You must throw every Hebrew baby boy into the Nile River. But let every Hebrew baby girl live.” (Exodus 1:22)

“Hebrew” is another way to say “Israelite”. Pharaoh was talking about the Israelite people, God’s chosen people, Abraham’s descendants.

(SLIDE) This brings the story to Moses. Raise your hand if you had ever heard of Moses before today.

Moses was a special man, a prophet of God. What is a “prophet”? (allow responses)

A prophet was a man who God spoke to directly. Many of the prophets wrote down God’s Words. That is how we got our Bible. God would speak to the prophets and give them instructions and tell them what was going to happen in the future. He also gave special powers and abilities to some of the prophets. God gave Moses many special messages and powers.

Pharaoh had just given an order for all of the Hebrew baby boys to be thrown into the Nile River. Moses was a baby boy. Does anyone know what happened to Moses? (allow responses but be sure to continue with the lesson details below)

(SLIDE) Moses’s mother hid Moses for three months, but after that she couldn’t hide him any longer. She got a basket and placed Moses into the basket and then she placed the basket into the grass that grew along the bank of the Nile River. (Exodus 2:2-3)

Pharaoh’s daughter found baby Moses. She allowed his mother to continue to feed him, and then Pharaoh’s daughter took him to her home and raised him as her own son.

So Moses, a Hebrew boy, grew up in an Egyptian home.

One day Moses saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew man, so Moses killed the Egyptian to protect the Hebrew man. Moses got scared and ran away because Pharaoh was trying to kill him after he heard about this.

(SLIDE) Moses lived in a place called Midian for forty years after he escaped from Egypt.

During this time the Israelites continued to be in slavery in Egypt. The Israelites cried out to God. The Bible says:

(SLIDE) Exodus 2:24-25 NIrV

[God heard their groans. He remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites with concern for them.]

God had not forgotten the Israelites. What was the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? (allow responses)

(SLIDE) God had promised Abraham that He would bless Abraham and all of his family with a new land, special blessing, and many descendants (a large family of people). (Genesis 12:1-3)

Who remembers the important person who was born into Abraham’s family many years later? (allow responses)

(SLIDE) Jesus was born into Abraham’s family, God’s chosen family, many years later!

The Israelites had been in Egyptian slavery for 400 years since the time when they arrived under Joseph’s protection.

They had been given their own land in Egypt, but then they had been put into slavery. The land they were given in Egypt by the Pharaoh in Joseph’s time was not the land that God had promised them.

Now the Israelites were in slavery and crying out to God.

Moses was taking care of his father-in-law’s flock in the desert when he came to a place called Horeb.

(SLIDE) Exodus 3:2 NIrV

[There the angel of the LORD appeared to him from inside a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire. But it didn’t burn up.]

Imagine walking next to a bush that is on fire and noticing that the leaves are not burning up. Moses was confused by this, so he went to see why the bush was not burning up.

That is when God spoke to Moses from inside the bush. The Bible tells us that God said:

(SLIDE) Exodus 3:4-8 NIrV

[Moses! Moses!…Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals. The place you are standing on is holy ground. I am the God of your father. I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob. I have seen how my people are suffering in Egypt…so I have come down to save them from the Egyptians.]

(SLIDE) Exodus 3:8 NIrV

[I will bring them up out of that land. I will bring them into a good land. It has a lot of room. It is a land that has plenty of milk and honey.]

The land God was speaking about is the Promised Land that He had told Abraham about over 400 years earlier.

Then God told Moses His plan:

(SLIDE) Exodus 3:10 NIrV

[So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh. I want you to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. They are my people.]

God wanted Moses to go to Egypt and convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free so they could live in the land that God had promised to Abraham for his family over 400 years earlier.

How do you think Moses felt? (allow responses)

Moses was afraid. He didn’t feel like he could do the job that God was telling him to do.

(SLIDE) But God promised Moses that He would be with Moses. (Exodus 3:12)

God told Moses what to say and what to do. God even gave Moses the ability to perform signs to prove to the Israelites and Pharaoh that he was sent by God.

(SLIDE) Moses and his brother Aaron went to Pharaoh as God had commanded them. But Pharaoh refused to let the Israelite people go. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh many times over the next several weeks. Each time Pharaoh refused to let the Israelite people go, God would send a plague to the land of Egypt.

What is a “plague”? (allow responses)

(SLIDE) A plague is a major disaster or sudden terrible sickness sent by God as a warning for disobedience.

(SLIDE) While Moses and Aaron were trying to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelite people from slavery, God sent 10 plagues onto the Land of Egypt. Some of the times when a plague would come Pharaoh would agree to let the people go, but then as soon as the plague was gone, he would change his mind.

These are the 10 different plagues God sent to Egypt as warnings to Pharaoh.

(SLIDE) Exodus 7:14-24

The Plague of Blood: God gave Moses the ability to turn the water of the Nile River into blood. The fish died and the people did not have drinking water.

(SLIDE) Exodus 8:1-15

The Plague of Frogs: God gave Aaron the ability to send frogs over the whole land of Egypt. Frogs were in the river, the palace, in Pharaoh’s bed, in all of the homes, in ovens and bread bowls, and on all of the people.

(SLIDE) Exodus 8:16-19

The Plague of Gnats: God gave Aaron the ability to turn the dust into gnats. What is a gnat? (a small fly that is very annoying because it usually flies around faces and hair)

(SLIDE) Exodus 8:20-32

The Plague of Flies: God sent huge numbers of flies into Pharaoh’s palace and the homes of the Egyptians. The flies destroyed the land in Egypt.

(SLIDE) Exodus 9:1-7

The Plague on Livestock: All the livestock (horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats) of the Egyptians died, but none of the Israelites animals were harmed.

(SLIDE) Exodus 9:8-12

The Plague of Boils: Boils are painful sores on skin. God gave Moses the ability to turn ashes into a dust that caused boils to break out on all Egyptian people and animals.

(SLIDE) Exodus 9:13-35

The Plague of Hail: What is hail? (ice that falls like rain)

God sent the worst hailstorm ever to fall on Egypt. Hail fell onto people, animals, and everything growing in the fields.

(SLIDE) Exodus 10:1-20

The Plague of Locusts: Does anyone know what a locust is? (allow responses)

A locust is like a grasshopper. God gave Moses the ability to send locusts to cover all of the land in Egypt. The locusts covered the ground until it was black, and they ate all of the crops growing in the fields that were still left after the hailstorm.

(SLIDE) Exodus 10:21-29

The Plague of Darkness: God gave Moses the ability to send darkness over all of Egypt. Complete darkness covered Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone or go anywhere during this time, but the people of Israel had light where they lived.

After these 9 plagues, God told Moses:

(SLIDE) Exodus 11:1 NIrV

[I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you and your people go. When he does, he will drive every one of you away.]

The tenth plague was the most severe and did finally convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

Raise your hand if you have heard of The Passover.

(SLIDE) After many failed attempts at asking Pharoah to release the people, God finally told the Israelites that He was going to do something that would make Pharoah release the people.

He told each family to choose a spotless, male lamb from their flock to sacrifice (give up and kill). God told them to take some of the blood from the lamb and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they were eating the lamb.

He called this “Passover”, because that night He passed through Egypt and killed all of the first born among the people and animals. But the Israelite people who had blood on their houses were “passed over”. The blood was a sign to God that they were His people, so He did not kill the first born in any house that had the lamb’s blood on the doorframe.

This tenth plague finally made Pharaoh release the Israelites because:

(SLIDE) Exodus 12:29-30

[At midnight the LORD struck down every oldest son in Egypt. He killed the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne. He killed all the oldest sons of prisoners. He also killed all the male animals born first to their mothers among the livestock. Pharaoh and all his officials got up during the night. So did all the Egyptians. There was loud crying in Egypt because someone had died in every home.]

God killed all the first born among people and animals in Egypt except for the Israelites who had the lamb’s blood on their door frames.

(SLIDE) After the Israelites were freed, God led them to the Red Sea on their way out of Egypt. But Pharaoh and his army changed their minds about letting them go free and they chased the Israelites.

Then, God did something truly amazing.

(SLIDE) God gave Moses the ability to part the waters of the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk through on dry ground. All night God caused a strong wind to keep the waters of the sea back so that there was a wall of water on the right and left of the people walking through. (Exodus 14:21-22)

As the Israelites were walking through on dry ground, the Egyptian army followed them. God gave Moses the ability to send the water onto the Egyptians and all of them were killed.

(SLIDE) God sent Moses to rescue His people from Egyptian slavery, and through plagues and miracles the people were released safely. BIG IDEA: God provides a way.

The Israelites are God’s chosen people that He promised would be blessed with land and a large family. God always keeps His promises. Jesus was born into this chosen family as God had promised.

In Genesis 12:3 God told Abraham:

(SLIDE) Genesis 12:3 NIrV

[“…All nations on earth will be blessed because of you.”]

(SLIDE) Jesus is the reason that ALL NATIONS ON EARTH will be blessed.

(SLIDE) Romans 4:13 says:

[Abraham and his family received a promise. God promised that Abraham would receive the world. It would not come to him because he obeyed the law. It would come because of his faith, which made him right with God.]

This verse is talking about Jesus!

(SLIDE) Jesus is the promised blessing to all who believe in Him.

All people who believe in Jesus receive the same promise that God gave to Abraham of special blessing through Jesus.

Dear God,

Thank You for the true story of Moses and the Exodus of Your chosen people from Egyptian slavery. We thank You that You always provide a way to make Your plan work out. We thank You that Jesus is a part of Your plan and that You sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and raise back to life so that we can have eternal life with You.

We love you and we pray all of these things in Jesus’ sweet name, Amen.

LARGE GROUP ACTIVITY

We learned about how God sent a plague of the death of all first born males in Egypt. But He made a way to protect the Israelite people.

He told each family to choose a spotless, male lamb from their flock to sacrifice, or give up. God told them to take some of the blood from the lamb and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they were eating the lamb.

He called this “Passover”, because that night He passed through Egypt and killed all of the first born among the people and animals. But the Israelite people who had blood on their houses were “passed over”. The blood was a sign to God that they were His people, so He did not kill the first born in any house that had the lamb’s blood on the doorframe.

Then, God told the people: “Always remember this day. You and your children after you must celebrate this day as a feast to honor the LORD. You must do this for all time to come. It is a law that will last forever.” (Exodus 12:14 NIrV)

(SLIDE) God told the Israelites to use the blood of a spotless lamb as a sign, and He “passed over” their houses. The judgement that He sent on the Egyptians by not “passing over” their houses was the reason that Pharoah finally freed the Israelites from slavery. So, the Passover Feast is celebrated to remember the blessing by God when He freed the people from slavery in Egypt.

(SLIDE) At the time right before Jesus died on the cross, Jesus and His disciples were in Jerusalem celebrating the Passover Feast. The Jewish people celebrate Passover every year just like God told them to all the way back in the book of Exodus to remember what He did for them that night in Egypt.

(SLIDE) Today, I want you to work with a partner or a small group of friends to make a connection between the “spotless Passover lamb” and Jesus. (allow time for students to discuss in partners/small groups and then come back together to review the Truths)

(SLIDE) Jesus is the ULTIMATE SPOTLESS LAMB who died on the cross as THE PASSOVER LAMB!

Jesus lived a sinless life, so He is spotless.

God told the people to sacrifice a “spotless” lamb during Passover.

An animal “without any flaws” is one that is healthy, uninjured, and has nothing wrong with it. It is “spotless”.

And remember, sin SEPARATES US FROM GOD. In the Bible it tells us that the price for sin

is death. So when we sin, the punishment that we deserve is death, and to be apart from

God.

When a person during Old Testament times would sacrifice the “spotless” animal, that animal would die in the place of the person, because the price of sin is death.

So, the animal would die instead of the person.

God told the people to celebrate Passover every year to remember His blessing on their people when He rescued them from Egyptian slavery.

So many years ago, a yearly celebration was started, and Jesus died on the cross on the EXACT DAY of Passover, as our PASSOVER LAMB to take away our sins!

This means that we can trust in Jesus because when He died on the cross and came back to life, He PAID THE PRICE for our sins. When we believe that He did that for us, He will save us. That means we will live forever with Him in heaven after we die!

SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY

Today as you review the story of the Exodus there is a coloring page for you to help you remember the amazing Truth that we learned about how Jesus is our Spotless Passover Lamb.

BREAK INTO SMALL GROUPS TO COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY.

Discussion Prompts for Leaders:

• Who raised Moses as a child? (Pharaoh’s daughter)
• How did God speak to Moses when He told him to go to Egypt to release the Israelites? (through a burning bush)
• Why were the Israelites in Egyptian slavery? (they lived there from the time of Joseph; Pharaoh thought that they were getting too large as a nation and he was afraid they would fight against him)
• How did Pharaoh respond when Moses told him to let the Israelite people go? (he refused; he would agree and then change his mind)
• Why did God send plagues onto Egypt? (to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free)
• How many plagues did God send to Egypt? (10)
• Name one of the plagues that God sent to Egypt. (blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of first born males)
• What happened during the final plague that made Pharaoh decide to let the Israelites go? (his son died; all of the first born males of every house in Egypt died except for the Israelites who had lamb’s blood on their door frames)
• Why did the Israelite people put lamb’s blood on their door frames? (as a sign to God to “pass over” their homes when He came to kill all of the first born males)
• Why did God tell the people to celebrate Passover with a feast every year? (to remember how He rescued them from Egyptian slavery; to help their ancestors remember the time He rescued them from Egyptian slavery; to honor the Lord for blessing them)
• How is Jesus our Passover Lamb? (He died on the cross at Passover; the people sacrifice a spotless lamb at Passover; Jesus is the spotless Lamb because He is sinless and He died to save us from our sins)
• Does anyone have any questions about today’s lesson?
• Use any extra time to discuss the lesson and/or the memory verse.

CLOSING REFLECTION

We learned that God led the Israelite people out of Egyptian slavery through Moses. God provided a way for the Israelite people to be released from Egypt through many miracles, signs, and plagues that He sent to the people and Pharaoh. Jesus is part of the chosen family of God, the Israelites. The tenth plague God sent to Egypt was the beginning of what is called “Passover”, a yearly celebration that Jews have to remember their ancestors’ release from slavery. God “passed over” all of the Israelite houses that had lamb’s blood on the door frames saving them from the death that was coming over Egypt. Jesus died on the cross on Passover as the Lamb who saves us from our sin.

Reflection Questions:

• How did God provide a way for His people to be released from Egyptian slavery? (He sent Moses; He sent plagues; He allowed the people to cross through the Red Sea)
• Why did God protect the Israelites? (they are His chosen people; He made a covenant promise to bless them)
• Does anyone have any questions about today’s lesson?

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