09. God Calls Moses

What the Story Says

1. Why did the Egyptians make the Israelites slaves?

   They were afraid of the Israelites because there were so many of them (#09-02).

2. What did God do for the Israelites while they were slaves in Egypt?

   God blessed them so they had even more children (#09-03).

3. How did Pharaoh try to stop the Israelites from having larger families?

   Pharaoh ordered his people to kill all the Israelite baby boys (#09-04).

4. Why did the Israelite woman put her baby boy in a basket in the river?

   She did not want to kill him. Perhaps she hoped someone would find him floating in the basket and rescue him (#09-06).

5. Who did Pharaoh’s daughter hire to nurse the baby boy?

   Pharaoh’s daughter hired the baby’s own mother to nurse him, although she did not know that she was his mother (#09-07).

6. Why did Moses kill the Egyptian?

   He was trying to save the Israelite whom the Egyptian was beating (#09-08), (#09-09).

7. How did God appear to Moses?

   God appeared to Moses in a bush that was on fire, but which did not burn up (#09-12).

8. Why did God send Moses to the Israelites?

   God told Moses to bring the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and to lead them to the land of Canaan (#09-13).

9. What did God say that his name was?

   God told Moses that his name was “I AM WHO I AM” or “I AM” (#09-14).

10. Why did God send Aaron to help Moses?

    Moses said he did not speak well, so God send his brother Aaron to help him (#09-15).

What the Story Means to Us

1. God led the Israelites to Egypt. Why did they suffer there?

   God sent the Israelites to Egypt to protect them during the famine (#08-12). However, the Egyptians later began to treat them badly and made them slaves. They suffered even though they had obeyed God. But God blessed them even while they suffered in Egypt.

2. Why did Moses parents defy Pharaoh’s order to kill all the Israelite baby boys?

   Moses parents knew that it was wrong to kill their son. Therefore, they did not obey Pharaoh. They hid Moses as long as they could, and then placed him a basket in the river so that someone might rescue him. By doing so, they made it possible for Moses to later rescue Israel from Egypt.

3. How was Moses mother able to care for Moses?

   God caused Pharaoh’s daughter to find Moses and want to keep him as her son. Then God caused her to hire Moses own mother to nurse him. In this way, God blessed Moses’ mother for refusing to obey Pharaoh and for doing what was right.

4. What happened to Moses when he tried to rescue his fellow Israelite?

   Moses killed the Egyptian in order to save an Israelite. But then he had to flee from Egypt so Pharaoh would not kill him. It was not yet time for Moses to help the Israelites. And God did not want Moses to save them by his own power. Instead, God sent Moses into the wilderness until God was ready to send him to deliver the Israelites.

5. What did God tell Moses was his name?

   God said he was “Yahweh” which means “I AM WHO I AM.” That means God always exists and does not depend on anyone else. He also said he was “the God of your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” That mean he is the same God that they worshipped hundreds of years before Moses. And he is the same God who made a lasting covenant with them.

6. How did Moses respond when God told him to go to Egypt?

   Moses was afraid and did not want to go. Even though he was raised as part of the royal family of Egypt, he was not sure he could do what God told him to do. But God was kind to him and send Aaron to help him.

Summary

Even while the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt, God was blessing them. He was also preparing Moses to rescue them, even while Moses was only a baby. He guided what happened to Moses so that he could meet Moses in the wilderness and send him to rescue the Israelites. He told Moses that he was Yahweh, their God and the God who had promised to their ancestors to continue to bless them and to give them the land of Canaan.