The second book of the Holy Bible is called Exodus. The book of Exodus has 40 chapters. It takes place about 350 years after the events described in the last chapters of the book of Genesis - how Joseph came to power in Egypt and his brothers and their families moved into the region. About 70 of the
children of Israel moved into Egypt in Joseph’s time. By the start of Exodus, there were almost 3,000,000 Hebrews enslaved in Egypt. Exodus tells the story of Moses, the man chosen by God to deliver the children of Israel from bondage.
Exodus means ‘exit’ or ‘way out’. The Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews out of fear. Pharoah, the Egyptian king commanded that the newborn Israelite boys be thrown in the nile. Moses mother put him in a basket before placing him in the river. Pharoah’s daughter found him and adopted him. When Moses grew up, he became upset about the treatment of the Hebrew slaves. Eventually he fled to Midian where he met his wife Zipporah. While Moses was working on his father in law’s lands, he saw a burning bush. When he went to investigate, God told him to go back to Egypt and lead the children of Israel to the promised
land.
When Moses first went to Pharoah, the king refused to free the Israelites. God brought ten plagues to the Egyptian people. The nile ran red with blood, frogs invested the land, then gnats, then flies, then the Egyptian livestock caught some disease, then the Egyptians broke out with festering boils, then flaming hail fell throughout Egyptian fields, then locusts devoured the remaining corps, then darkness covered Egypt for 3 days, and then the first born sons of all the Egyptians died. The Egyptians then pleaded with the king to let the slaves go.
Pharoah released the slaves. God led the Israelites through the desert with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Pharoah changed his mind and sent his army after the children of Israel. God parted the red sea and the Hebrews walked through on dry land. When Pharoah’s army tried to follow, they all drowned. God gave the ten commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The people rejected God’s law and spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. The Israelites ate Manna that fell from heaven every day.
Moses led the children of Israel from the time they left Egypt until they reached Canaan, the promised land.