015 The Burning Bush - A Bible Story for Children

Exodus 1-4

Years went by. Joseph and all his brothers died, but their children had many children, and the Israelites--as the children of Jacob were called--grew strong in numbers and in power. After many more years passed, a new Pharaoh came to rule over Egypt, who knew nothing about Joseph. This Pharaoh worried that there were too many Israelites in Egypt.

"The Israelites have grown too strong and too many for us," he said. "If there were a war, they might join our enemies and fight against us, and become the rulers of our country." So the new Pharaoh made the Israelites into slaves, and put strict taskmasters over them. The Egyptian taskmasters ordered the Israelites to make bricks and work in the fields and to build great cities for Pharaoh. But no matter how cruel the Egyptians were or how hard they made the Israelites work, the Israelites continued to grow in number.

Pharaoh then decided to kill all the boys that were born to the Israelites. "I command you," he told the Egyptians, " to throw every baby boy born to an Israelite into the Nile River."

Now it happened that an Israelite woman had a baby boy. Because she did not want him to be killed, she decided to hide him. But after three months, he began to move around and make too much noise. So his mother made a large basket out of bulrushes, and sealed it carefully, Gently, she laid the baby in it, put the basket at the edge of the Nile, and told her daughter, Miriam, to watch from a distance to see what happened to the baby.

That day Pharaoh's daughter came to the river to bathe. As the princess washed, she saw the basket in the rushes at the river's edge.

"Bring that basket to me," she told one of her servants.

When the princess looked into the basket, the startled baby began to cry. The princess felt sorry for him. "This must be an Israelite child," she said.

To cheer the baby up, the princess began to play with him. When Miriam saw this, she went up to the princess and asked, "Would you like me to find an Israelite woman to take care of the baby?"

"Yes," answered the princess.

So Miriam hurried back to her mother to tell her what had happened and to bring her to the princess. "Here is a woman who will take the baby away and care for him," Miriam told Pharaoh's daughter.

"Take good care of him," the princess said.

When the baby grew up and could walk and talk, his mother brought him back to the princess, who treated him like her son and called him Moses, because that name means he was drawn out of the water.

Although Moses was brought up in the Egyptian palace, he always knew that he was an Israelite. One day, when he was a young man, Moses went out to see how the Egyptians treated his people. The first thing he saw was an Egyptian beating an Israelite worker. Sure that no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian, and buried his body in the sand.

The next day, when Moses went out walking, he saw one Israelite attack another. Quickly he pulled the two men apart. "Why did you hit him?" he asked the first man.

"Who gave you the right to tell us what to do?" the first man answered angrily. "Are you going to kill me the way you killed that Egyptian?"

Then Moses knew that someone had seen him, and he was afraid. "If this man knows," he thought, "Pharaoh must know." So Moses decided to leave Egypt and flee to the land of Midian. There he lived safely and peacefully as a shepherd for many years.

One day while he was tending his sheep, Moses came to a mountain called Horeb, a holy place, As Moses stood watching his flock, a bush suddenly burst into flames. The fire burned and burned, but the leaves stayed green. "I must find out why this bush does not burn up," said Moses.

When Moses came toward the bush, he heard a voice call from its midst, "Moses, Moses!"

And Moses said, "Here I am."

"Do not come any closer, and take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground," the voice said. "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Moses covered his eyes, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, "I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries, and I know their pain. I wish to set my people free, to lead them out of Egypt to a good land, a land of milk and honey--the land of Canaan. Come, I am sending you to Pharaoh, so you can lead my people out of Egypt."

"Who am I, O Lord, that I should lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Moses asked.

"I have chosen you, and I shall be with you," God answered.

"But what if the children of Israel do not believe me when I tell them that God has sent me?" said Moses. "What if they do not listen to me?"

"What are you holding in your hand?" God asked.

"A rod," Moses answered.

"Throw it down," God commanded. And as Moses threw it down, the rod became a hissing snake. Moses jumped away.

"Stretch out your hand, and take the snake by its tail," God ordered. As Moses grasped its tail, it became a rod again.

"If the Israelites do not believe you," God said, "show them this sign. If they still do not believe you, take a jug of water from the Nile, and empty it on the ground. The water will change to blood on the land, and then they will surely believe you."

"O Lord," said Moses, "I do not speak well. Sometimes I stutter, and my speech is slow."

Then God was angry at Moses. "Your brother Aaron speaks well. I will tell you what to say, and you will tell him what to say. He will speak for you in front of the people."

So Moses took up the rod that was his sign and left Midian to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Category: Children's Bible Stories