Moses in Egypt

Jim and Bob learn about...

...Moses in Egypt

(Puppets up)

Jim: Hey, Bob! What’cha doing?

Bob: Hey, Jim! I’m reading about Moses in the Bible.

Jim: Mosses? Sounds like the name of a plant.

Bob: Not MOSS-ES. MO-SES! He was a very important character in the Bible! I learned all about him at church.

Jim: Oh. Well, what did he do?

Bob: A whole BUNCH of stuff! It’ll take me a few days to tell the whole story…today, I’ll just tell you about his life in Egypt and Midian.

Jim: Oh! Egypt! I’ve heard of that place. Isn’t that where Narwhals live?

Bob: Nar-whats?

Jim: Narwhals. They’re whales with unicorn horns.

Bob: (Holds up phone) Um, no. Actually, this says that Narwhals live in the Arctic, and Egypt is mostly desert! So, no, there are no Narwhals in Egypt.

Jim: (Scoffs) You can find anything on the Internet. I once found a website that said that the moon was NOT made of blue cheese, even though it totally is!

Bob: (Sigh) No, it’s not, Jim. Now, let’s get on with the story!

Jim: Okee-Dokee!

*Bob: Well, the story begins in Exodus chapter 1. Here, let me pull it up on my phone. (Holds up phone) Verses 9-11 read: “And he (that’s Pharaoh, the Egyptian King) said to his people, ‘Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.’ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.”

Jim: Whoa whoa whoa! Too many words, not enough explanations! What’s going on in these verses?

Bob: Well, the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was talking to his people. He was growing afraid of the Israelites that lived in Egypt.

Jim: Why was he afraid of them?

Bob: Because there were more of them than there were Egyptians! Pharaoh was afraid that the Israelites would take over Egypt!

Jim: So what did this Ferret guy do?

Bob: Not “FERRET.” “PHARAOH.” And what he did was put all of the Israelites into slavery!

Jim: OH! (Hesitates) What’s that?

Bob: That means the Israelites had to work for Pharaoh, without getting paid!

Jim: Yikes! So where does this Moses guy come in?

Bob: He comes in in Exodus 2. Once he is born, his mother hides him for three months, but-

Jim: Whoa, hold up! She HIDES him? Was he that ugly?

Bob: No, that’s not why she was hiding him! Remember? The Pharaoh was getting scared, because there were too many Israelites. So he decreed that all Israelite boys be thrown into the Nile River!

Jim: What?! That’s not fair!

Bob: I know. But if the Pharaoh said it, the people had to do it.

Jim: So what happened to Moses?

Bob: That’s what you’re about to find out! The Bible tells us in Exodus 2:3. (Holds up phone) It reads: “But when she (that’s Moses’s mother) could no longer hide him (that’s Moses), she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s far bank.

Jim: Ok, WHAT? All I heard what that someone took an ark of walruses, dabbed in a smash-ball, put a kid in something, and started to read by the river by the bank.

Bob: (Sigh) No, Jim. There were no walruses. Moses’s mother made him an ark of BULRUSHES. It’s a kind of plant.

Jim: Oh. But then-

Bob: AN ARK WAS LIKE A BOAT! Ok, are you done asking questions?

Jim: I dunno. AM I done asking questions?

Bob: Ok, back to it. What this verse is saying is that Moses’s mother made him an ark, or a mini-boat, out of bulrushes, a kind of plant. She daubed it with asphalt and pitch, which were like glue to keep it together and to help it float. And finally, she put the baby in the basket and hid it in the Nile River.

Jim: Oh. That was a good idea!

Bob: You’re right. And it turned out to be a terrific idea, because Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses.

Jim: Oh. Good. (Hesitates) WAIT! WHAT?! HOW IS THAT A GOOD THING?!

Bob: Because the Egyptian Princess had pity on the Israelite baby. She took care of Moses until he was old enough to take care of himself.

Jim: Oh. Then that was a good idea!

Bob: Exactly. You say that a lot.

Jim: Yes. Yes I do. So is that the end of the story?

Bob: No, but I’m close!

Jim: So what happened next?

Bob: One day, after Moses was all grown up, he came across an Egyptian hurting an Israelite slave. Moses knew that this was wrong, and helped the Israelite.

Jim: Oh. That was a good idea!

Bob: Welllllll…

Jim: Are you telling me that helping the Israelite was NOT a good idea?

Bob: Of course not. But it was what got Moses kicked out of Egypt.

Jim: What?! Fair Hole kicked him out?

Bob: I think you mean Pharaoh. And the answer to your question is no. He didn’t want to kick Moses out of Egypt. He wanted to kill Moses!

Jim: What?! Just because he helped an Israelite?

Bob: Just because he helped an Israelite. So Moses had to flee to Midian.

Jim: Isn’t that place a planet in Star Wars?

Bob: No, but it sounds like it should be, doesn’t it?

Jim: Totally. So what did Moses do in Midian?

Bob: The last 13 verses of Exodus 2 tell us. They tell us about how Moses helped some women who were trying to get water from a well. In return for his help, the girls’ father gave Moses his daughter Ziporah as a wife. He lived in Midian for a very long time.

Jim: Oh. That was a good story, Bob!

Bob: It’s not over.

Jim: Oh. But it had a happy ending!

Bob: Not quite. if you remember, the Israelites were still in Egyptian captivity. And God didn’t want them to remain like that. And He wanted Moses to free His people.

Jim: So how did He tell Moses what to do?

Bob: In a supercool way! Exodus 3:1-4 read: “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’. And he said, ‘Here I am.’”

Jim: Whoa whoa whoa! Too many words, not enough explanations.

Bob: These verses tell us how God told Moses to save Israel. He spoke through a bush that was on fire.

Jim: Oh. That must’ve been a short conversation.

Bob: How d’you figure?

Jim: ‘Cause the fire would’ve burned the bush to a crisp after a little bit of time!

Bob: That’s what made this instance so amazing: THE BUSH DIDN’T BURN! It was on fire, but it didn’t show signs of being damaged. And through this verse, God told the man He had provided for for so long to save His nation.

Jim: Wow. That was a good story, Bob. It truly shows that God takes care of his people.

Bob: How so?

Jim: Well, first, He saved baby Moses from Flairoh.

Bob: Pharaoh.

Jim: And then, He helped Moses out of Egypt safely. And then He sent Moses to save His people!

Bob: Exactly, Jim. The story of Moses’s life in Egypt shows that God provides for His people. Well, that’s all the time I’ve got for today.

Jim: Alright, Bob. See you tomorrow!

Both: BYE!!

END SKIT