The Book of Exodus for Beginners: Chapters 1-4

Sons of Israel

Exo 1:1-7

Israel

>Simeon

>Levi

>Judah

>Issachar

>Zebulun

>Benjamin

>Dan

>Naphtali

>Gad

>Asher

>Joseph

(> = one descendant down the blood line)

* All the descendants of Jacob were 70

The people of Israel were fruitful and multiplied; they eventually fill up the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh Makes Israel Slaves

Exo 1:8-22

A new Pharaoh came to the throne of Egypt who did not like the people of Israel. The Pharaoh wanted to show the people of Israel who was in control before they became too many to handle if a war broke out between them. Pharaoh put the people of Israel under task masters who put them to hard labor.

Despite the slave labor that Pharaoh put the people of Israel through, they multiplied greatly. Pharaoh did not want the people of Israel to grow any further so he ordered the Egyptian midwives to kill all male boys who were born from a Hebrew (people of Israel) woman. The midwives feared God and did not kill the Hebrew baby boys.

Pharaoh asked the midwives why they did not kill the Hebrew baby boys. The midwives told Pharaoh that they feared God too much to kill them. Pharaoh dealt with the midwives and ordered the people of Egypt to kill all the baby Hebrew boys. The order of death was to put the baby Hebrew boys in the Nile River, but to let the baby Hebrew girls live.

Moses is Born

Exo 2:1-10

A Hebrew man and woman conceived and the Hebrew woman bore a baby boy. The Hebrew woman did not want her child to be killed so she hid him for three months. When the Hebrew mother could no longer hide her baby boy, she had no choice but to put the child in a basket and put him in the Nile River.

The sister of the Hebrew baby boy watched her brother go down the river to see what would happen to him. The Pharaoh’s daughter happened to be bathing in the Nile River at the time when the Hebrew baby boy was drifting down the river and saw the basket. The Pharaoh’s daughter told her servants to go and get the basket so she could see what was in it.

Pharaoh’s daughter saw that there was a crying Hebrew baby boy in the basket and took pity on him. Pharaoh’s daughter told her servants to take the Hebrew baby boy so he could be nursed and cared for. The Hebrew baby boy’s sister came up to the servants and asked them if they wanted her to find a suitable nurse for the Hebrew bay boy – they agreed to let her find a nurse.

The Hebrew baby boy’s sister brought her mother to Pharaoh’s daughter’s servant to let them know that she would be the baby boy’s nurse. Not knowing that the nurse was the baby boy’s mother, the servants agreed to let her nurse the baby boy. The Hebrew baby boy was nursed until he was old enough to be cared for by Pharaoh’s daughter. The Hebrew boy became Pharaoh’s daughter’s son; she called him Moses.

Moses Flees

Exo 2:11-22

Moses grew up and knew about his Hebrew heritage. One day Moses was walking around and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. Moses got angry and killed the Egyptian for beating his people. The next day, Moses saw two Hebrews fighting each other and tried to break up the fight. The Hebrews asked him if he was going to kill them like he killed the Egyptian.

Moses got scared and fled from Egypt in fear of being caught for the murder of the Egyptian man. Moses fled to the land of Median where he met some women at the well. The women wanted to fetch water from the well for their flocks, but some shepherds tried to cause trouble.

Moses saved the women from the shepherd’s attacks so they could fetch water from the well. The women came back to their father, Reuel, and told him what had happened. Reuel told his daughters to bring Moses to him so he could thank him. Moses came and Reuel blessed him with one of his daughters, Zipporah, and asked him to live with them – Moses agreed. Moses and Zipporah had a boy named Gershom while living with Reuel.

God Hears Israel’s Plea

Exo 2:23-25

The Pharaoh died and life got worse for the People of Israel. The people of Israel cried out to God for Him to save them from the slavery and God heard their cries.

Moses Sees a Burning Bush

Exo 3:1-22

Moses was tending his father-in-law’s, Jethro, sheep near mount Horeb and came across a bush that was burning. Moses noticed that the burning bush was not being consumed by the fire so he went closer to take a better look at it. When Moses came near the burning bush, God spoke to Moses from the burning bush. God told Moses to not come too close to the burning bush because it was a sacred place and that he needed to take his sandals off out of respect. Moses became afraid of God and hid his face from the burning bush.

God told Moses that He had heard the suffering from the people of Israel in the land of Egypt and would deliver them from the hand of Egypt. God told Moses that he will put His people in a good land called the land of Canaan and it will flow with milk and honey. God said that Moses would be the one to go to Pharaoh and bring God’s people out of Egypt.

Moses did not feel that he was worthy enough to go to Pharaoh, but God assured him that it would take place. God told Moses to go to the elders of the Hebrews and tell them that God heard their cries and was going to take them out of Egypt and put them in the land of Canaan that would flow with milk and honey. God told Moses to ask Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go on a three days journey to make sacrifices to their God.

God told Moses that Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go and God would show His might as a result. Pharaoh would then let the Hebrews go and they would take all the prized possessions of the Egyptian people away with them on their journey to the land of Canaan.

Moses’ Serpent Staff

Exo 4:1-17

Moses told the Lord that he was afraid that the people of Israel would not believe that God had sent him. God told Moses to throw his staff to the ground and he did so. The staff turned into a serpent. God told Moses to pick up the serpent by its tail and Moses did so. The serpent turned back into a staff.

God told Moses to put his hand inside his cloak and then pull it back out; Moses did so and his hand was white as snow with leprosy. God told Moses to put his leprous hand back in his cloak and then pull it out again. Moses did as The Lord had commanded and his hand was back to normal again.

Moses told God that he did not speak well and wanted God to choose someone else to do the task, but God told Moses that he was to do the task. God told Moses to get his brother Aaron to go with him to speak for him to God’s people. Moses would tell Aaron what to say and Aaron would tell the people of Israel what Moses said.

Moses Goes Back to Egypt

Exo 4:18-31

God told Moses to go back to Egypt and not worry about being captured because the men who wanted him punished were dead. Moses took his wife and children with him to the land of Egypt as God commanded. On the way to Egypt, Moses and his family rested at a lodging place. God wanted to kill Moses for not circumcising his son. But Moses’ wife circumcised his son before God could kill him.

God told Aaron to meet with Moses in the wilderness and he did so. Moses told Aaron what God had told him to do and Aaron’s part in it too. Moses and Aaron went to the Elders of Israel and spoke to them about what God said. Moses showed them the signs from God and they believed that God heard their cries and would rescue them.