Lesson 039 The Exodus Exodus 12:31-51
MEMORY VERSE EXOD US 15:13 You in Your m erc y hav e led forth the people w hom You hav e redeem ed; you hav e guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation. WHAT YOU WILL NEED: Two pieces of bread in a baggy, a candy bar, a hairbrush, a T-shirt, a teddy bear, a photo album, car keys, a small toy, and a Bible. Two coats, two back-packs, and two sets of keys. As many square pieces of construction paper as the number of children in your class. ATTENTION GRABBER! Run For Your Life Arrange on a table the following items: two pieces of bread in a baggy, a candy bar, a hairbrush, a T-shirt, a teddy bear, a photo album, car keys, a small toy, and a Bible. Explain to your class that if they could only run into their homes for one thing to take on a long journey, what would it be? Ask for a couple of volunteers to go and choose and come back. Ask your students why they chose what they chose. Explain that the children of Israel had to be ready to leave very fast in our lesson today. What kinds of things do you suppose they took with them?
LESSON TIME! The last few weeks we ve learned about the plagues God brought upon the land of Egypt and how and why God instituted the first Passover. Today, we are going to learn about Israel's exodus or liberation from Egypt. We are going to learn that God is Israel's deliverer and God is our deliverer. Now keep in mind that God wrote this book, "The Bible," for you and me and every scripture or Bible study we do has application for our lives. So, be thinking today about how this applies or how does God want me to live my life? Pray that He will help you understand and live the life He wants you to live. After all, He wrote this for you. EX O D U S 12:31-36 T h e n h e (Ph ar ao h ) c al l e d f o r M o s e s an d Aar o n by n i gh t, an d s ai d, " R i s e an d go o u t f r o m am o n g m y p e o p l e, bo t h y o u an d t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l. An d go, s e r v e t h e L O R D as y o u h av e s ai d. " Al s o t ak e y o u r f l o c k s an d y o u r h e r d s, as y o u h av e s ai d, an d be go n e ; an d bl e s s m e al s o. " An d t h e Egy p t i an s u r ge d t h e p e o p l e, t h at t h e y m i gh t s e n d t h e m o u t o f t h e l an d i n h as t e. F o r t h e y s ai d, " We s h al l al l be d e ad. " S o t h e p e o p l e t o o k t h e i r d o u gh be f o r e i t w as l e av e n e d, h av i n g t h e i r k n e ad i n g bo w l s bo u n d u p i n t h e i r c l o t h e s o n t h e i r s h o u l d e r s. N o w t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l h ad d o n e ac c o r d i n g t o t h e w o r d o f M o s e s, an d t h e y h ad as k e d f r o m t h e Egy p t i an s ar t i c l e s o f s i l v e r, ar t i c l e s o f go l d, an d c l o t h i n g.
An d t h e L O R D h ad gi v e n t h e p e o p l e f av o r i n t h e s i gh t o f t h e Egy p t i an s, s o t h at t h e y gr an t e d t h e m w h at t h e y r e qu e s t e d. T h u s t h e y p l u n d e r e d t h e Egy p t i an s. Get Ready Relay You will need two coats, two back-packs, and two sets of keys. Form two relay teams. Have each racer put on the coat, the backpack and carry the keys from the start line to the wall and back again. They must then change with the next person in line. The first team to accomplish the task wins. Explain that the children of Israel had to move quickly to flee Egypt in the time the Lord had arranged for them. Here we have Pharaoh coming to Moses and Aaron by night, the same night that the first born babies were killed. Pharaoh released the Israelites without restrictions; in fact, he even asked them to leave. Here was this hard-hearted man who was now, after losing his son, broken. Pharaoh was considered a god in those days. How humbling to come to Moses and Aaron and ask them to leave Egypt. Proverbs 28:14 says, "Happy is the man who is reverent, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity." We must be reverent, respect the word of the Lord and what He says, whether it s honoring our parents or loving one another. We must not have a hard heart toward people, but most of all we must never have a hard heart towards God. A hard heart is a dangerous thing, for with a hard heart we will do and say things that we never thought we would do. It destroys us spiritually and God does not want that to happen to us, His children.
God predicted that Pharaoh would let the children of Israel go, and His promise came to pass. Pharaoh then asked for God's blessing, not wanting to be put under His curse. The Egyptian people even asked or rather urged the Israelites to leave quickly for fear that they would all die. This happened so quickly, that the children of Israel took unleavened bread dough, they didn't even have enough time to bake it. The Egyptians, seeing God's power through the plagues, were doing anything to get the people to leave. They gave them valuable jewelry and clothes to leave. It says the Israelites plundered the Egyptians and that God gave the Israelites favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Could it be they were receiving some of the wages for working for four hundred years as slaves? Isn t God the best deliverer! He always goes before us and makes our paths straight. He provides for us, His children, like a loving father. There is no situation too big for God. Just think, He flung all the stars into heaven. With that unlimited awesome power, can t God deliver us from any situation? We need only to trust Him. God is our deliverer. EX O D U S 12:37-42 T h e n t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l j o u r n e y e d f r o m R am e s e s t o S u c c o t h, abo u t s i x h u n d r e d t h o u s an d m e n o n f o o t, be s i d e s c h i l d r e n. A m i x e d m u l t i t u d e w e n t u p w i t h t h e m al s o, an d f l o c k s an d h e r d s --a gr e at d e al o f l i v e s t o c k. An d t h e y bak e d u n l e av e n e d c ak e s o f t h e d o u gh w h i c h t h e y h ad br o u gh t o u t o f Egy p t ; f o r i t w as n o t l e av e n e d, be c au s e t h e y w e r e d r i v e n o u t o f Egy p t an d c o u l d n o t w ai t, n o r h ad t h e y p r e p ar e d p r o v i s i o n s f o r t h e m s e l v e s.
N o w t h e s o j o u r n o f t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l w h o l i v e d i n Egy p t w as f o u r h u n d r e d an d t h i r t y y e ar s. An d i t c am e t o p as s at t h e e n d o f t h e f o u r h u n d r e d an d t h i r t y y e ar s --o n t h at v e r y s am e d ay --i t c am e t o p as s t h at al l t h e ar m i e s o f t h e L O R D w e n t o u t f r o m t h e l an d o f Egy p t. I t i s a n i gh t o f s o l e m n o bs e r v an c e t o t h e L O R D f o r br i n gi n g t h e m o u t o f t h e l an d o f Egy p t. T h i s i s t h at n i gh t o f t h e L O R D, a s o l e m n o bs e r v an c e f o r al l t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l t h r o u gh o u t t h e i r ge n e r at i o n s. The Bible tells us the children of Israel journeyed from Ramses, which is probably where they were most concentrated. The number of Israelite men was 600,000. So, with women and children, they numbered over two million people. Now it says they were a mixed multitude. That means people of many different races other than Israelites went with them. These were probably Israelites and Egyptians inter-married and others from Egypt, who seeing God's power and recognizing Him as their God also went with them. There were the people who went because they didn't want to stay in Egypt for fear of dying. There is something interesting in this "mixed multitude." In the wilderness they caused the children of Israel to complain against Moses. They brought their Egyptian ways with them. We should be very careful about the people we hang out with. If they are not Christian, or not walking down God's path, then they are going to try to get us to follow them instead of God. What a blessing to be able to come to church and have friends who love Jesus with all their heart and to be able to talk about God with them. Something else to note is God's invitation to salvation is for everyone. God is "willing that none should perish, but that all
should come to repentance." He delivered even this mixed multitude and was merciful and patient towards them. God is our deliverer. On the way, the people baked the unleavened bread because they had left Egypt so quickly. Now the Israelite s time in Egypt is concluded in this section and Moses, writing this book of the Bible wrote a reminder of God's faithfulness. It says Israel's time in captivity was 430 years, and God had brought the whole nation out of that land, thus keeping His promise. We can be reminded that if God says something in His word, then it will undoubtedly come to pass. The fact of God's care over His people on the night of the exodus was to be remembered by them, not just for a few days, or months, but throughout all generations shows the importance of that night and His faithfulness. God was showing them that He could deliver them from the hardest of places and He wanted them to remember that. When they went into the Promised Land and had to fight all the enemies, they would know that God would take care of them and deliver the enemy into their hands. God wants us to know that He can deliver us from any situation, if we just trust Him. Those times when we see His faithfulness, we should not forget, because the memory of His faithfulness will help us when we are once again struck in a difficult situation. God is our deliverer. EX O D U S 12:43-51 An d t h e L O R D s ai d t o M o s e s an d Aar o n, " T h i s i s t h e o r d i n an c e o f t h e Pas s o v e r : N o o u t s i d e r s h al l e at i t. " B u t e v e r y m an ' s s e r v an t w h o i s bo u gh t f o r m o n e y, w h e n y o u h av e c i r c u m c i s e d h i m, t h e n h e m ay e at i t. " A s o j o u r n e r an d a h i r e d s e r v an t s h al l n o t e at i t.
" I n o n e h o u s e i t s h al l be e at e n ; y o u s h al l n o t c ar r y an y o f t h e f l e s h o u t s i d e t h e h o u s e, n o r s h al l y o u br e ak o n e o f i t s bo n e s. " Al l t h e c o n gr e gat i o n o f I s r ae l s h al l k e e p i t. " An d w h e n a s t r an ge r s o j o u r n s w i t h y o u an d w an t s t o k e e p t h e Pas s o v e r t o t h e L O R D, l e t al l h i s m al e s be c i r c u m c i s e d, an d t h e n l e t h i m c o m e n e ar an d k e e p i t ; an d h e s h al l be as a n at i v e o f t h e l an d. F o r n o u n c i r c u m c i s e d p e r s o n s h al l e at i t. " O n e l aw s h al l be f o r t h e n at i v e -bo r n an d f o r t h e s t r an ge r w h o s o j o u r n s am o n g y o u. " T h u s al l t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l d i d ; as t h e L O R D c o m m an d e d M o s e s an d Aar o n, s o t h e y d i d. An d i t c am e t o p as s, o n t h at v e r y s am e d ay, t h at t h e L O R D br o u gh t t h e c h i l d r e n o f I s r ae l o u t o f t h e l an d o f Egy p t ac c o r d i n g t o t h e i r ar m i e s. At Succoth, Moses and Aaron were given regulations about celebrating the Passover. The regulations that the Lord gave them were for the Israelites. It was OK for the stranger or sojourner to partake (mixed multitude), but they had to identify with the true and the living God and His covenant promises. If a man did not identify with the covenant by the right of circumcision, he could not celebrate the Passover. The feast of Passover shows the people s faith and trust in God so it wouldn t make sense for people to partake who didn t place their faith in the Lord. We see that the feast was to be centered in the home and observed by the entire community. This is just like our worship of the Lord which should be within our homes and together with our brothers and sisters as we gather at church. When we partake of
communion today it is kind of like when the Israelites celebrated Passover. We are celebrating the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) that was shed for us so that we could be delivered from sin. Just like the blood of the lamb that was placed over the doorposts of the people s homes to protect them from God s judgment on Egypt. What a beautiful picture is given to us of God's love and faithfulness to mankind. We will all face difficult situations and hard times, but we can always rest in the fact that God is always with us and that He is a wonderful and faithful deliver. If we place our faith and trust in Him, He will deliver us. God is our deliverer. Paper Airplanes Pass out a square piece of construction paper to each student. Have them follow your verbal instructions very carefully. Tell them that they need to follow your instructions perfectly to make the next project you have for them. Verbally give them step by step instructions on building a paper airplane. Inspect their work when they are done. Did they follow instructions well? When they are all done, each student should have a paper airplane. Explain that God had given very specific instructions to the children of Israel so they would succeed with His will for them. PRAYER Lead the children in a prayer of thanksgiving for the deliverance Jesus has provided. If there are any children who have not yet responded to the gospel, give them opportunity to do so.