Centuries after Jacob’s sons first settled in Egypt, their descendants—called the Israelites—are increasing and thriving. When a new Pharaoh comes to power, he fears that the Israelites outnumber the Egyptians and will turn against them, so he enslaves the Israelites and oppresses them with hard labor. He even decrees that newborn Israelite boys be killed and thrown into the Nile.
A Hebrew woman hides her infant son in a basket along the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter discovers and later adopts the baby, whom she names Moses. When Moses grows up, he kills an Egyptian for mistreating a Hebrew and then flees to Midian to escape Pharaoh’s wrath. Meanwhile, the Israelites in Egypt cry out to God because of their suffering. God hears them, remembering his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God appears to Moses in a burning bush, telling him that he intends to deliver his people from Egypt—and for that purpose, he’s sending Moses to confront Pharaoh. Though Pharaoh will resist, God will display wonders through Moses to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go and worship God in the wilderness. Never an eloquent man, Moses is reluctant, so God assigns Moses’s brother Aaron to be his spokesman.
When Moses and Aaron appear before Pharaoh the first time, Aaron performs the wonder of making his staff turn into a snake, as God commanded him. However, Pharaoh’s magicians perform the same wonder, so Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites go. When Aaron turns the Nile’s water into blood—the first of God’s 10 “plagues”—the magicians again perform the same wonder, and Pharaoh refuses to free the Israelites. Indeed, each time the brothers warn Pharaoh and perform a wonder—causing frogs, gnats, or flies to cover Egypt, or hail or locusts to devastate the land—Pharaoh briefly reconsiders, even claims to acknowledge God’s power at times, but ultimately “hardens his heart” and refuses to release the Israelites from bondage.
In the last and most terrible plague, God strikes down all firstborn males in Egypt. After this, Pharaoh orders Moses to take his people out of Egypt. Meanwhile, Moses instructs each Israelite family to slaughter a lamb and mark their doors with its blood. When the angel of the LORD passes over, he will see the blood and spare the Israelites from the deadly plague. The people should eat the roasted lamb that night and be ready for a long journey. (This meal should be celebrated annually as part of Passover, in remembrance of God’s deliverance of Israel.) God leads the Israelites out of Egypt toward the Red Sea, traveling before them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
After the Israelites have left Egypt, however, Pharaoh changes his mind and decides to pursue them. When the Egyptian chariots are just about to overtake Israel in the wilderness, God tells Moses to lift his staff over the Red Sea. Overnight, a strong wind blows the waters into great heaps, allowing the Israelites to walk through the sea on dry ground. But as the Egyptians pursue the Israelites into the parted sea, God causes the waters to rush back and drown the Egyptians.
In the wilderness, the Israelites must depend on God for food and water. Each morning, God rains manna, a bread-like substance, on the camp, and the people gather enough manna for one day at a time, as per God’s instructions. When there’s no water, the people accuse Moses of bringing them into the desert to die. But when Moses strikes a rock, God causes water to gush out of it.
The Israelites arrive in the Sinai wilderness and camp before the mountain there. God addresses Moses from Mount Sinai and tells him that because the LORD has delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians, they must obey him and keep his covenant. The people promise to obey the LORD. God calls Moses to the top of Mount Sinai and gives him Ten Commandments the people must follow. The Commandments cover the people’s relationship with God (such as worshiping no other gods, not misusing God’s name, and observing the Sabbath) and their relationships with one another (e.g., honoring parents, not killing, committing adultery, stealing, lying, or coveting). God also gives additional laws relating to treatment of slaves, willful and accidental killing, and property disputes. God demands that foreigners, widows, and orphans be treated justly. When God brings the Israelites into the promised land, they must be especially careful not to adopt any foreign religious practices.
Moses spends 40 days and 40 nights at the top of Mount Sinai, receiving God’s instructions about how the people must worship him. The people should bring offerings of gold, silver, and bronze, yarn, fine linen, acacia wood, spices, and gems. With these objects, they are to build God a tabernacle so that he can dwell among the people. God shows Moses specific patterns for the tabernacle’s construction, including the ark of the covenant. God also prescribes patterns for the vestments that Aaron and his sons will wear when they serve as priests for Israel and for their ordination ceremonies. God also commands that daily burnt offerings be made so that he can dwell among the people and be their God.
While Moses is on the mountain, the people grow impatient and demand that Aaron make gods for them to worship. So Aaron makes a golden calf and tells the Israelites that this is the god who brought them out of Egypt. The people revel in front of the golden calf. Meanwhile, God tells Moses what’s happening below and threatens to wipe out the Israelites in his wrath. When Moses intercedes on the people’s behalf, reminding God of his covenant, God relents. After Moses descends Mount Sinai, he orders Levi’s loyal sons to slaughter rebellious Israelites.
Before Moses leads the Israelites out of Sinai toward the promised land, Moses wants to see God’s glory firsthand. God passes before Moses, allowing him to get a glimpse of his divine glory. Then, God makes a covenant with the people through Moses, emphasizing the need to worship God, refrain from idols, and observe Passover and the Sabbath. Afterward, Moses’s face shines from the encounter with God. The people give offerings of fine materials, and artisans use these to construct the tabernacle and vestments. Everything is done just as the LORD commanded, and Moses sets up the tabernacle. When the LORD’s glory fills the tabernacle, the people see it in the form of a cloud. Each time the cloud goes up, the people set out on the next stage of their journey toward the promised land.
