God's Creation
Do you know who God is? God is the creator of everything! That means He
made everything in the whole universe, and that includes you and me and
everything that you can see!
Long, long ago, God made Heaven and earth. The earth was empty and dark
and it didn't have any shape to it. It was just like a big blob in the
darkness. So first, God made light, and then there was light and
darkness. That was the end of the first day.
Then, God made the sky, and He made it so very big that you can't even
imagine how far it goes. The sky is infinite, do you know what that word
means? The word infinite means that it never ends! That was the end of the
second day.
Then, God made oceans and land. God took the water and gathered it
together in certain places and He put the land in other places, so now
that big old blob was starting to take shape. On the land, God made grass,
trees, flowers, and all kinds of plants that grow fruits and vegetables.
And God thought that it was good. That was the end of the third day.
Next, God made two different lights. The sun for the daytime, and the
moon for the night. Did you know that the moon is the night light? He made
all the stars too, and He put them all up in the sky. Did you know that
stars are really angels? That's right! And that was the end of the fourth
day.
After that, God made all kinds of fish and birds. He told them all to
have babies and fill up the oceans and the earth with more and more fish
and birds just like them. And that was the end of the fifth day.
Then God made animals of all kinds. Every kind of animal you can think
of. Can you think of lots of different kinds of animals? He told them all
to have babies and fill up the earth, just like the fish and the birds.
Then God made man to rule over all the other things that God made. Guess
what God made him out of. Dust from the earth! It's true! And God blessed
man, and told him to have babies and they will grow up and have more
babies and fill the earth with people. And God saw that everything He made
was very good! That was the end of the sixth day.
At last, God was done with His work. Heaven and Earth and all the
living things in it were finished. And the seventh day was a special day
and God blessed it, because that was the day that that He rested from all
the work that He had done.
Adam and Eve
God planted a very beautiful garden on His brand new earth and it was
called the Garden of Eden, and He put the man that He made, into the
garden to take care of it. God named him Adam. But, God thought it wasn't
good that Adam was alone. So He put Adam to sleep, took a rib out of his
side and made a woman with it. Her name was Eve. Now Adam had a helper.
God told them that they could eat fruit from any of the trees, except
for the one in the middle of the garden and if they even touched it, they
would die. This was a very terrible thing, because when God first created
man, He created him to live forever and never die.
Now, there was a sneaky snake in the garden, that was very bad. Do you
know why? Because one of God's most beautiful angels named satan, thought
he was special because of his beauty, and he wanted to be better than God,
because he's jealous of Him. You may have heard of another name that satan
is called, and that is the devil. So anyway, he became very bad and now he
tries to make people do bad things and win their hearts away from God.
Now, back to our story.
The devil got into this snake in the garden of Eden, and He lied to Eve
and told her that if she ate from the tree in the middle of the garden,
that she would become very smart, like God. So Eve took fruit from the
tree and ate it. Then she gave some of it to Adam.
Adam and Eve knew right away that they had done wrong and they hid in
the trees. After a while they heard God looking for them. Why are you
hiding? God asked. Adam answered, I was afraid because Eve gave me fruit
from the tree in the middle of the garden and I ate it. Then God asked
Eve, Why did you do that? Eve answered, The snake tricked me.
God punished them all for not obeying Him. He said, from now on snakes
will crawl on their bellies and eat dust. When women have babies it will
hurt and they will obey their husbands. And man will have to work hard to
make things grow in the land. Then God made them leave the Garden of Eden
and He put angels in His garden to keep it safe.
Cain and Abel
Adam and Eve had two sons. Their names were Cain and Abel. Cain was a
gardener and Abel took care of sheep. One day, Cain gave God a piece of
fruit for a present. Abel gave God a present too, he chose the very best
of his sheep as his gift, because he loved the Lord so much. God was very
happy with Abel's present, but He wasn't very pleased with Cain's gift.
This made Cain very angry, so he killed his brother Abel out in the field
when nobody was looking.
God knew what happened, because God knows everything, and He asked
Cain, Where is Abel? Cain was very sassy to God and said, I don't know, do
I look like my brothers keeper? God didn't like that.
God said to Cain, I know you killed Abel, and now, to pay for what
you've done, whenever you plant something, it won't grow. You will not
have a home and you will run from place to place on the earth and hide
your face from me. Cain begged God, Please don't punish me so hard, it's
more than I can take. Anyone that finds me will want to kill me.
So God put a mark on Cain to protect him from being killed. Adam and
Eve had another son after that, and called his name Seth. 1,056 years
after Adam was created, his great, great, great, great, great, great,
great-grandson was born, and his name was Noah.
Noah's Ark
As more and more people filled the earth, God saw that many of them
were doing bad things. God was sorry that He made man, and this made Him
sad in His heart. So God decided that He would make it rain for a long
time, flood the earth, and get rid of all of the bad people and all the
other living things on the earth, that He made.
But there was one man named Noah, who God really loved. Noah was a good
man, and he obeyed God. So God told Noah to make an ark which is a very,
very big boat. All the people who saw Noah and his family building the
ark, laughed at them and said they were crazy. The ark wasn't even near a
lake or an ocean.
God gave Noah orders of exactly how to do everything, and it took Noah
a very long time to build it. When the ark was finished, Noah brought
everything on board that God told him to. Noah and his family were the
only people on the ark. There were eight of them all together. There was
Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives.
Now, most people don't know this, but there weren't only two of every
kind of animal that God brought to the ark, but the animals that people
used in those days to give as gifts to the Lord were called "clean"
animals, and there were seven of each of those. There were only two of
each of the unclean animals, but somehow, on that ark there was every kind
of animal on earth! That was because after the flood, they could have
babies and fill up the earth again, and God's earth could start fresh with
new people and new animals. Noah also had to take enough food for them
all.
Once everything was loaded onto the ark and the door was closed, it
began to rain. And it rained, and rained, and rained. All of the people
who laughed at Noah for building the ark, didn't think he was crazy
anymore! It rained for forty days and forty nights! The water covered the
mountain tops. Anything that wasn't on the ark, died in the Great Flood.
Then God made the wind blow and the water started to dry up. Noah sent
a dove out of the window of the ark to see if the water was dried up. He
did this three times until the dove finally didn't return to the ark. Now
Noah knew that the land was dry, because he knew the dove wouldn't come
back if she could live on the earth again.
After being on the boat for over a year, God told Noah to leave
the ark, and let the animals go live on the earth again. Noah gave
presents to God and God was happy.
God made a promise that He would never send a flood to kill everything
on the earth ever again. And now, after it rains, God puts a rainbow in
the sky, as a sign of His promise. Did you know that's where rainbows come
from? Now, every time you see a rainbow, you'll be reminded of God's
promise and the story of Noah's ark.
Noah's three sons were named Ham, Shem and Japheth, and everyone in the
world came from one of their families. Noah lived for a very long time, he
was 950 years old when he died.
The Tower of Babel
After the Great Flood, God told Noah's sons and their wives to have
children, and for their children to have children and to fill up the earth
with people, just as He told Adam and Eve. So Ham, Shem and Japheth had
many children, and at that time, everyone on the earth spoke the same
language.
Now, Ham had a grandson named Nimrod and he was a hunter. He was not a
good man. Nimrod had an idea. Nimrod wanted all the people to stay close
together instead of spreading out and filling the earth, as God said. So
Nimrod said, Let's build a city and a tower that can reach up to Heaven.
Let's become famous!
God came down to see the tower. And God thought, If the people do this
because they all speak one language, nothing will stop them from doing
more bad things. I'll make them speak different languages so they won't
understand each other and they won't be able to finish the tower. Then
I'll scatter them around the earth. And that's why people in different
countries speak different languages. The tower that they were building was
then named the tower of Babel because all the people sounded like they
were babbling to each other.
Abraham and Lot
Many years later, there lived a good man named Abraham. And God told
Abraham, Leave your father's house and go to a place where I will show
you. You will have children and they will have many children and
grandchildren and you will all be blessed.
So Abraham left, as God told him. He took his wife named Sarah and his
brother's son, named Lot, because he had no children of his own, and they
took all that they owned along with all the people who wanted to go with
them. They went to a place called Canaan.
Abraham had a lot of gold, silver, and animals and many people that had
followed him to Canaan, and Lot had his own animals and people who had
followed, too.
After a while, there wasn't enough food and water in Canaan because
Abraham and Lot each had so many people and animals to take care of. They
even started to fight with each other. So Abraham said to Lot, There's
plenty of land here. Let's move apart a little bit and live in peace.
Then God made a promise to Abraham. God said, Look all around you as
far as you can see. I will give you and your family all this land,
forever, and you will have so many children and grand children and great
grandchildren, that you won't be able to count them all.
Soon after that, there was a war where Lot lived, so Abraham took his
friends and saved Lot from danger until there was peace again. Lot and his
family lived in the city of Sodom. There was another city nearby called
Gomorrah. There were a lot of bad people in Sodom and Gomorrah.
One day the Lord visited Abraham! It was Jesus with two of his angels!
What would you do if Jesus came to your house to visit you? Well, Abraham
and Sarah made a nice meal for them. While they talked, Jesus told Abraham
that Sarah would have a son, but they were both very old, and when Sarah
overheard what Jesus said, she laughed to herself. Then the Lord asked
Abraham, Is anything too hard for the Lord?
The Lord and the two angels were getting ready to leave, and they were
headed to Sodom and Gomorrah to burn it all down because of all the bad
things that people did there. Abraham was afraid because he knew Lot and
his family lived there and he knew that they were good people.
So Abraham stopped the Lord and asked that if there were 50 good people
there, if He would change His mind. And the Lord said yes. Abraham asked
again, If there are 45 good people, will you change your mind? And the
Lord said, Yes. Again, Abraham asked about 40 people, then 30 people, then
20 people and finally, Abraham asked one last time. Lord, what if there
are 10 good people there? And the Lord said, I will not burn it if there
are 10.
The two angels went to Sodom, and Lot invited them to his house. Before
long, the bad people from the city knocked on Lot's door and wanted to
hurt the angels. The angels told Lot that if he wanted to save his family,
to sneak them out of the city because the Lord was going to burn it down.
The angels said, Run for your lives and don't look back or you will die
too.
So Lot did as he was told. And as Lot and his wife and his two
daughters were running from the city, Lot's wife turned her head and
looked back at the city that was burning with fire from Heaven, and she
turned into a pillar of salt.
Sarah Will Have a Son
Abraham and Sarah were getting even older now. Sarah was sure that she
was too old to have babies, even though God told Abraham that one day he
would have so many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren that
you wouldn't even be able to count them. When Abraham was 99 years old he
saw God again. God promised Abraham that Sarah would still have a baby,
and to name him Isaac.
The Lord didn't forget Sarah, just as he had promised, and Sarah and
Abraham had a son. They named him Isaac, which means laughter, because
Sarah laughed when she heard the Lord tell Abraham that they would have a
son in their old age.
One day, God tested Abraham to see how much Abraham loved God. He told
Abraham to give Isaac to God for a present. If Abraham did this, he knew
he would never see his son Isaac again. Abraham loved Isaac, but he loved
God more. Just as Abraham was about to give Isaac to God, an angel said
... STOP!
God saw that Abraham loved God more than his own son, so God let
Abraham keep Isaac. Abraham, Isaac and God were all very happy.
Abraham was a very old man now. He didn't want Isaac to marry anyone from
Canaan, so he told his favorite servant to go back to the place where he
grew up and find a wife for Isaac. Abraham told his servant that the Lord
would send an angel ahead of him to lead him to the woman that God wanted
Isaac to marry.
So Abraham's servant went where Abraham told him to go. When he got
there, he went to the well where the women of the city go to get water.
And he prayed that the woman he asked to get water for him would ask him
if she could get water for his camels too, and that she would be the one
that God wanted Isaac to marry ... And before he was even finished with
his prayer, a girl named Rebekah came out with a pitcher on her shoulder
and asked him the very thing he asked for in his prayer! Rebekah and her
family agreed that she should go with him. Isaac loved Rebekah the moment
he saw her, and they were married.
Jacob and Esau
Isaac prayed to God because his wife Rebekah couldn't have children.
The Lord answered Isaac's prayer and Rebekah was going to have twins. God
told Rebekah that her sons would be two very different kinds of people.
One would be stronger than the other and the younger one would be in
charge of the family one day.
When the twins were born, the first one had lots of red hair all over
him and they named him Esau. The other took hold of Esau's heel as he was
being born and they named him Jacob. Do you know why he did that? Because
the one who is born first, the oldest son, is usually the one who is the
head of the family one day. It's called a birthright. So because of what
God told Rebekah about the younger of the twins getting the birthright,
when Jacob took hold of Esau's heel, he was kind of saying, Hey, I'm
supposed to be born first!
The boys grew up and Esau became a hunter. Isaac loved him. Jacob
didn't like the outdoors, and he was more special to Rebekah.
One day Esau came home from hunting and he was very very hungry and
tired . . . so hungry and tired that he was ready to faint! Jacob had just
made some soup and Esau said to him, I beg you, please give me some soup
before I faint. Jacob said to Esau, I'll give you a bowl of soup if you
give me your birthright. So Esau agreed because he didn't think that his
birthright would help him at that moment.
As time passed, Isaac grew old and blind. He called Esau to him and
told him to go hunting to get some meat and cook it for him so that he
could eat and give Esau a blessing and his birthright before he died. But
Rebekah heard this, and she remembered what God told her before the twins
were born, so she told Jacob how to trick Isaac into giving Jacob the
blessing instead of Esau.
The plan worked, and Isaac passed the blessing down to Jacob, the same
blessing that God gave to Abraham, and that Abraham passed down to Isaac.
So, it happened just as God said, before Esau and Jacob were even born,
that the younger one would be in charge of the family. God knows
everything.
Esau was very angry with Jacob because he didn't want Jacob to be in
charge of the family, and because Jacob took away his blessing, but that's
what God had in mind all along. Esau planned to kill Jacob, so Rebekah
sent Jacob to live with his uncle until Esau wasn't angry any more.
While he was on his way, Jacob had a dream about a ladder that reached
all the way up to heaven. There were angels climbing up and down the
ladder and God was standing above it. God said, I am the Lord God of
Abraham and Isaac. This land is a present to you and your children and
your grandchildren and all the children in your family after that, and you
will all be blessed. When Jacob woke up, he said, God is here! This must
be the gate to Heaven.
When Jacob got to the city where his uncle lived, he came up to a well
where people let their sheep drink water. He asked if anyone knew his
Uncle Laban. Just then, Laban's daughter Rachel, came to the well with the
sheep that she took care of. Jacob fell in love with her as soon as he saw
her, and helped her get water for the sheep. She took Jacob to meet Laban
and Jacob said, I will work for seven years for you if you let me marry
Rachel. Laban said, Yes!
Rachel had an older sister named Leah. And after Jacob worked for Laban
for seven years, there was a wedding. After the wedding, Jacob found out
that under the bride's veil was Leah, not Rachel! Jacob was tricked! Laban
said, In our country, the oldest daughter must marry first. If you stay
with Leah for one week, then I will let you marry Rachel too, and you will
work for another seven years in exchange for her. Jacob agreed because he
loved Rachel so much. So, Jacob worked for Laban another seven long years.
Jacob had a big family by now, and God told him to take his family and go
back to the land where he was born. On the way, a man told Jacob that his
name would no longer be Jacob, but from now on, he would be called Israel.
When they were getting close to home, Israel sent some people ahead of him
to find out if Esau was still angry with him. But when Israel saw Esau
again, Esau wasn't angry anymore and Israel was very happy.
Joseph
Israel had twelve sons. His favorite son was named Joseph. Israel made
Joseph a coat of many colors. When Joseph's brothers saw that their dad
loved Joseph more than the rest of them, they didn't like Joseph anymore.
Joseph had a dream, and he told his brothers about it. He said, In my
dream we were tying bundles in the field. And my bundle stood up straight,
and all of yours bowed to mine! Joseph's brothers hated him more now
because of his dream. Joseph even had another dream and he told it to
Israel and his brothers. He said, In my dream the sun and the moon and
eleven stars bowed to me! Joseph's dreams were a sign from God that one
day he would be very important.
One day Israel sent Joseph to check on his brothers, who were taking care
of animals in another town. When they saw Joseph they said, Let's kill the
little dreamer boy and throw him in a pit and we'll say that an animal
killed him. But Reuben, who was Joseph's oldest brother, said, No, don't
kill him, just put him in the pit. They took Joseph's coat of many colors
and threw him into a pit. Reuben knew how much his dad loved Joseph and
wanted to rescue him later and bring him back to Israel.
Then Joseph's brothers saw some people who were on their way to Egypt.
Without telling Reuben, Joseph's other brothers sold him to the people.
Then they killed an animal and covered Joseph's coat with it's blood and
took it back to Israel. They lied and said, Look, we found Joseph's coat
of many colors, but we can't find Joseph. A wild animal must have killed
him. Israel was so sad, and nobody could make him feel better.
In Egypt, where Joseph was taken, he was sold again to a man named
Potiphar who worked for the ruler of Egypt called Pharaoh. Potiphar knew
that Joseph was a good man and that God liked him, so he made Joseph the
manager of his house. God blessed Potiphar's house because Joseph was
there. Potiphar's wife didn't like Joseph, and she made up lies about him
and made Potiphar believe that Joseph was bad. So Joseph was taken to
Pharaoh's prison. But, the Lord knew that Joseph was good, so He made the
prison guard be kind to Joseph. Soon after that, Pharaoh's butler and his
baker had upset Pharaoh, and they were put into the prison where Joseph
was at.
One night, the butler and the baker both had dreams that they didn't
understand. Joseph told them that God would tell him what the dreams
meant. So they told Joseph their dreams. The butler said, In my dream
there was a vine with three branches and it grew beautiful grapes. I had
Pharaoh's cup in my hand, and I pressed the grapes into the cup and gave
it to Pharaoh. Joseph told the butler, that in his dream, the three
branches stand for three days. And in three days, he will take you out of
this prison and you'll be his butler again. Joseph said to the butler,
Please be kind to me and tell Pharaoh what happened to me. I was sold from
my home and there is no good reason for me to be here and in prison.
When the baker heard that the butler's dream meant that he would get out
of prison, he wanted to tell Joseph about his dream too. The baker said,
In my dream I had three white baskets on my head. The top basket had all
kinds of bread and cake and pie for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of
the basket on my head. Joseph told the baker, that in his dream, the three
baskets stand for three days too. But in three days, Pharaoh will hang you
on a tree and the birds will eat you! These things happened, just as
Joseph had said. But, when the butler was set free, he forgot to tell
Pharaoh about Joseph.
Two years later, the Pharaoh had a dream. He was standing by the river and
seven fat cows came out of the river. After that seven skinny cows came
out of the river and ate up the seven fat cows. The dream woke Pharaoh up,
but the same night Pharaoh had another dream. Seven ears of corn grew on
one stalk and they were all big and fat. Then a stalk grew with seven
skinny ears of corn on it, and they ate up the seven fat ears of corn.
When Pharaoh woke up, he was worried about the dreams. He asked all the
magicians and wise men of Egypt, but none of them could tell him what his
dreams meant. The butler then finally remembered Joseph and that he had
told him what his dream meant, so the butler finally told Pharaoh about
Joseph.
So Pharaoh called for Joseph to be brought to him out of the prison and
said, I heard that you can tell me what my dreams mean. Joseph said, It is
God that gives the answer of what your dreams mean. So, Pharaoh told
Joseph about his dreams and then Joseph said to Pharaoh, God is showing
you what He is about to do. Both of your dreams mean the same thing. The
seven fat cows and the seven fat ears of corn are seven good years with
plenty of food. And the seven skinny cows and the seven skinny ears of
corn are seven years when there won't be enough food for people to eat. It
will be very terrible, and that is why God showed you twice. You should
plan to store up food during the seven good years so that Egypt will have
enough food for the seven bad years. Pharaoh said to Joseph, You are a
very wise man. You will be in charge of my house and I will listen to all
your ideas, and all my people will do what you tell them to do. So Joseph
became a very important man in Egypt.
During the first seven years while there was plenty of food, Joseph stored
up extra food. In the next seven years, when the people of Egypt didn't
have enough food, Pharaoh sent them to Joseph. Joseph sold the food that
he had stored to the Egyptians. Then other countries sent their people to
Joseph because there wasn't enough food anywhere. Back in Joseph's home
town where Israel and Joseph's brothers still lived, Israel told his sons,
I heard that they have food in Egypt. Go there and buy some, so that we
aren't hungry. Ten of Joseph's brothers left for Egypt to buy food. Since
Joseph was gone, Benjamin, the youngest brother, became Israel's favorite.
He wouldn't let Benjamin go with his brothers because he remembered what
happened to Joseph, and was afraid something might happen to Benjamin.
When Joseph saw his 10 brothers, he knew who they were, but they didn't
know him. They bowed down before Joseph and he remembered his dreams about
their bundles bowing to his and the stars bowing to him. Joseph said,
You're spies and you have come to spy on Egypt! They said, No sir, we came
here to buy food. We are all the sons of one man. Our youngest brother is
at home with our dad and one of our brothers has died. Joseph said to
them, One of you will stay here in prison while the others go and get your
youngest brother. Bring him back here and that will prove to me that
you're telling the truth. If you don't do this, I'll know then, that
you're really spies and you will die.
So they left their brother Simeon there in prison, and they took food home
and told Israel what happened. Israel was very upset. He said, You didn't
take care of Joseph and he's gone, you just left Simeon, and now you want
to take Benjamin away too! Israel wouldn't allow Benjamin to go.
It didn't take long until all the food they brought back from Egypt was
gone and they were hungry again. Israel told his sons to go again and buy
a little more food. But the brothers said, The man in Egypt said that if
we don't bring our youngest brother back with us, that he won't sell any
food to us. Israel was sad, but he finally let Benjamin go with his
brothers and sent gifts with them for the man in Egypt, and he prayed that
they would all come back safely.
The brothers returned to Egypt. When Joseph heard they were there, he told
his servants to send them to his house. When Joseph met them at his home,
they gave him the gifts that their father had sent. Joseph asked them if
their dad was in good health. They told Joseph that he was alive and well.
Joseph was looking at all his brothers, and then he saw Benjamin. He was
so happy to see them all again, and to know that his Dad was alive and
well, that he had to leave the room because he started to cry. Just then,
Joseph came up with a plan. He told his servant to fill the brothers'
sacks with as much food as they could carry, and to put each man's money
back in their sacks. Then he said, Put my silver cup in the youngest
brothers sack.
When morning came, the brothers all left, and before they had gone far,
Joseph sent his servant after them. His servant caught up with Joseph's
brothers and said, My master's silver cup has been stolen! The brother's
were surprised. We wouldn't do anything like that! If you find it with any
one of us, you can kill him, and the rest of us will be servants. But the
servant said, Whoever I find with the cup, he will be the servant and
nothing will happen to the rest of you.
So, all of them opened their sacks from oldest to youngest and lo and
behold, there was the cup, in Benjamin's sack. They couldn't believe it!
They all went back to Joseph's house and they bowed to him on the ground.
Joseph said, leave Benjamin here, he will be my servant. The rest of you
go home to your dad.
The brothers just couldn't bear the sadness that this news would bring to
Israel, and Joseph's brother Judah begged to talk with Joseph. He said,
Our dad is an old man, and his favorite son has died. Benjamin is his
favorite now. When you told us that we couldn't buy food if we didn't
bring Benjamin and prove that we weren't spies, he didn't want to let
Benjamin come with us, because he was afraid of losing him too. But we
needed food, so he allowed us to bring him. If we go back without
Benjamin, our dad will surely die of sadness. Please let me stay and be
your servant instead of Benjamin.
All of this was breaking Joseph's heart. Joseph couldn't keep his secret
any longer. He started to cry and said, I am Joseph your brother! At
first, they were all worried because they thought he was mad about them
selling him so many years ago. But Joseph said, Don't worry, It was God's
plan that I ended up in Egypt. There will be five more years left without
food, and God showed me what to do so that our lives would be saved. Now
go and get our dad and come back to live here in Egypt with me. And so
they did, and Joseph took care of them all.
The Story of Moses
Hundreds of years after Joseph and all of his brothers died, there was
a new Pharaoh in Egypt. He was afraid that soon there would be more people
from the children of Israel (they were called Hebrews) living in Egypt,
than there were Egyptians. He was also afraid that one day the Hebrews
would want to take over Egypt. Pharaoh ordered that all the people of
Israel be slaves and he made them build fancy cities for him in Egypt. But
the harder the Egyptians made the Hebrews work, the more they grew! So
Pharaoh thought of another plan to stop the Hebrews from growing. He
ordered his people, that every Hebrew baby boy that is born must be thrown
into the river to die.
There was one Hebrew woman who had a baby boy and she was able to hide him
for three months. When she thought she couldn't hide him any more, she
made a basket and put the baby in it, and then put the basket in the
river. The baby's sister hid and watched to see what would happen to him.
Soon after, the Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river and found the
basket with the baby boy in it. She kept the baby and named him Moses. He
grew up in Pharaoh's house and one day when he became older, he saw an
Egyptian beating an Hebrew. When Moses was sure no one was looking, he
killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
The next day, two Hebrew men asked Moses, Why did you kill the Egyptian
yesterday? Moses was afraid that people knew what he did, and Pharaoh
heard about it. Pharaoh ordered that Moses be killed, but Moses left there
quickly and went to live in another place called Midian. There he married
a woman named Zipporah, and they had a son.
The Hebrews were very sad being slaves in Egypt, and God heard their
cries and He remembered the land that he promised to give to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. God wanted to get the Hebrews out of Egypt so they could
go to the Promised Land. So God chose Moses to do the job.
One day, while Moses was taking care of the animals that belonged to
Zipporah's dad, Moses saw a burning bush. When he looked closer, he heard
God say, "Moses, Moses." And Moses said, Here I am. God told Moses not to
come any closer and to take off his shoes because the place where he was
standing was holy ground. And God told Moses that He was the God of his
father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that He knew how sad the
Hebrews were, being slaves in Egypt, and that He was sending Moses to
Pharaoh, to get His people out of Egypt. Now Moses knew that he was really
a Hebrew, and it all made sense why it upset him so much to see that
Egyptian beating the Hebrew. God told Moses that the Hebrews would listen
to him, and God wanted him to lead the Hebrews three days journey into the
wilderness to pray to God.
Moses was afraid, but God promised that He would tell him exactly what to
do. But Moses was still afraid. So, God told Moses to throw his staff down
on the ground, and when he did, it became a snake. Then God told Moses to
pick it up, and when he did, it became a staff again. Then God told Moses
to put his hand on his chest, and when he did it became covered with
sores. Then God told Moses to put his hand back on his chest again, and
when he did, the sores disappeared again. Moses was still very nervous. He
told God that he couldn't speak very well and was afraid he couldn't do
the job. God became angry with Moses and told him that his brother Aaron
would go with him, and that God would tell Moses what to do, and Aaron
would do the talking. God said, Use the staff to show that I have sent
you. But I will make Pharaoh's heart stubborn, and he will not let the
people go.
So, Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and called all the Hebrews, together.
Aaron told them everything that God said to Moses and they believed and
bowed their heads and thanked God. Then Moses and Aaron went to talk to
Pharaoh and told him, The Lord God of Israel said, Let my people go.
Pharaoh said, I don't know the Lord, and I won't let the people of Israel
go. How dare you take my slaves away from their work! Then Pharaoh ordered
that the Hebrews work even harder and if they didn't, they were beaten.
The Hebrews began to think it was better to just stay where they were.
They thought it was all Moses' fault that they were working even harder
and thought they would end up dying if Moses didn't stop asking Pharaoh to
let them go. God told Moses what to do next.
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh again, and Aaron threw the staff on the
ground. Once again, God turned it into a snake so Pharaoh could see. So,
Pharaoh called his magicians and they threw their staffs on the ground and
they all became snakes, but Aaron's snake swallowed up the other snakes.
This didn't change Pharaoh's mind. His heart was still stubborn and he
wouldn't let the people go.
God told Moses, Go to Pharaoh in the morning, wait for him at the river
with the staff in your hand and say to him, God sent me to you, and said,
Let my people go, but you would not listen. Now I'll strike the river with
my staff and the water through all of Egypt will turn to blood. The fish
will die and the river will stink and the Egyptians won't want to drink
the water from the river. Moses did as God ordered, and all the water in
Egypt turned to blood for seven days. Pharaoh's magicians did the same
thing. So, Pharaoh's heart was still stubborn and he still wouldn't let
God's people go.
Then, God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him, God says, Let my
people go or I will bring lots of frogs into Egypt. There will be so many
that they will jump into your homes and your beds and your ovens and all
over the people. Ewwwww! Can you imagine that? But Pharaoh of course,
still wouldn't listen. So Moses told Aaron God's words and Aaron held the
staff over the water in the river and the frogs came up out of the river
and covered Egypt! Pharaoh's magicians made frogs come out too.
Now Pharaoh didn't like the frogs, so he called for Moses and Aaron and
said to them, Ask the Lord to take the frogs away and I'll let the people
go. Moses said, When the frogs go away, then you will know that there is
nothing greater than God. So Moses asked God to take the frogs away and
the frogs died. They piled them all up and they smelled absolutely
terrible! But when Pharaoh saw that there was a little rest from the
things that were happening, his heart was stubborn again.
Next, God told Moses, Tell Aaron to strike the dust of the land of Egypt
with the staff and it will become lice that will crawl on all the Egyptian
people and all their animals. So, Aaron struck the dust with his staff,
and all of the dust in Egypt became lice and crawled on all the people and
animals and they itched very badly! Pharaoh's magicians tried, but they
couldn't make dust turn into lice. The magicians told Pharaoh, it is God
that made this happen, we cannot do this thing. But Pharaoh's heart was
still stubborn.
God told Moses then to go to Pharaoh the next morning and warn him that if
he didn't let the people go, that He would send swarms of flies on him and
the Egyptians. But of course, Pharaoh wouldn't let God's people go. Then,
just as God had told Moses, swarms of flies were all over Pharaoh's house
and all over Egypt, in the houses and everywhere except where God's people
were. Not one single fly bothered the Hebrews! Pharaoh called for Moses
and Aaron and said, Okay, pray to your God, but pray to Him here in Egypt.
Moses answered Pharaoh, We will go three days into the wilderness to pray
to God, just as He told us to. So, Pharaoh asked Moses to ask God to take
the flies away, and then he would let God's people go. Moses said, I will
ask God, but don't try and trick God anymore and lie about letting His
people go. Moses left and asked God to take the flies away, and God did,
and there wasn't one single fly left. But Pharaoh's heart was stubborn,
and he still wouldn't let God's people go.
God ordered Pharaoh to let his people go, ten times! And each time he
wouldn't let them go, God made something terrible happen to Pharaoh and
the Egyptians. After the water was turned to blood, He sent the frogs,
then the lice, then the flies, then God killed all of the Egyptians
animals. After that, God put sores on all the Egyptian people, then He
sent hail and fire into Egypt, and then locusts, and then He made it dark
for three days straight. But Pharaoh's heart was STILL stubborn, and he
still wouldn't let God's people go. God told Moses, I will do one more
thing to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and then he will let my people go and
everyone will know that there is a difference between the Egyptians and
the Hebrews. So, Moses got all the Hebrews ready to leave Egypt.
Then one night, at midnight, the Lord passed through Egypt and killed all
of the firstborn in every family of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. And all of
the people cried in Egypt because there wasn't a single house where there
wasn't one that died. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron while it was
still night time and said, Go, take your people, and travel three days
into the wilderness and pray to God. Take your animals and all of your
things, and go! The Egyptians were glad because they didn't want any more
bad things to happen because of Pharaoh's stubborn heart. So the Hebrews
left Egypt very quickly. From the time Joseph was in Egypt, until the time
Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt was 430 years, and Moses took Joseph's
bones up out of Egypt with him.
God led Moses and His people through the wilderness. He put a cloud in
front of them to show them which way He wanted them to go during the
daytime and He put fire in front of them to show them which way to go at
night. He led them to the Red Sea. And God told Moses that Pharaoh would
think they were trapped in Egypt because of the sea. God told Moses,
Pharaoh's heart will be stubborn once more and he'll bring his army and
follow you there. And I will show Pharaoh once and for all that I AM the
Lord. When the children of Israel saw that Pharaoh and his army were
nearby and wanted to take them back as slaves again, they were very
afraid. They cried to God. Then they told Moses, it would have been better
for us to remain slaves than to die, just as we told you before.
And Moses said, Don't be afraid. Stand still and see how God will save you
today. And God told Moses to lift his staff over the sea. The water split
apart and there was a great path of dry land. The waters were like walls
for God's children on their left and their right for God's people to cross
the Red Sea. God put the cloud behind them as they crossed so Pharaoh and
the Egyptians couldn't see them, but they followed the Hebrews into the
path through the sea. When the Hebrews were all across, God told Moses to
lift his staff over the sea again, and then the waters closed, crashing in
on Pharaoh and the Egyptians and not a single one of them lived. And that
was how God saved His people from the Egyptians, and they believed in the
Lord and his servant Moses.
The Ten Commandments
Moses brought God's children out of Egypt and they traveled three days
into the wilderness, but they couldn't find any water that was clean
enough to drink. So, Moses prayed to God, and God led Moses to a tree.
When Moses threw that tree into the water, God made the water clean. Then
they ran out of food, and the people were upset with Moses again! The Lord
knew the people were hungry so every morning, bread from Heaven, called
manna, came raining down. Manna is what angels eat! In the evening, there
were birds called quail that God sent to them to eat. The Hebrews ate
manna like this for 40 years, and they traveled in the wilderness wherever
God led Moses to take them.
They came to another place where there was no water to drink, and they
cried to Moses again. Moses asked them, Why do you blame me, and why do
you doubt the Lord? Moses prayed to God and asked, What should I do? The
people are ready to kill me because there is no water. And God led Moses
to a rock and told him to hit the rock with his staff, and the people
watched as water came flowing out of the rock!
Three months after the Hebrews left Egypt, they were in a place called
Sinai, which is the mountain of God. God called Moses up on the mountain
and gave him rules to give to the people, called commandments. These are
the ten commandments that God gave to Moses.
The Ten Commandments
I am the only God, believe in no others.
Do not pray to statues.
Use my name with respect.
Keep the day of rest holy.
Obey your mom and dad.
Do not kill.
Do not take someone else's wife or husband.
Do not steal.
Do not lie.
Do not want things that belong to someone else.
God told Moses to come up onto Mount Sinai and He would write the
commandments on two blocks of stone so that Moses could use them to teach
His people. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights
because God was teaching him other rules too, and explaining everything
very clearly to Moses. While Moses was gone, the people got tired of
waiting and they told Aaron, Let us make our own God, because we don't
even know what happened to Moses, he's been gone so long. They took all
their gold jewelry and brought it to Aaron. Then Aaron made a gold calf
out of the jewelry and they put it up on a big stand. Then they prayed to
it and they had a big party.
Oh my, you can bet that God would be angry about that, and Moses too!
When Moses came down from the mountain, he heard the people singing. As he
came closer to the people, he saw the golden calf that they had made as
their new god and was so angry that he threw the blocks of stone with the
commandments on them, down on the ground and broke them all to pieces.
Then he took the golden calf and burned it all up and ground it into
powder. He threw the powder into the water and made the Hebrews drink it.
Some of the people were sorry for what they did. Then Moses said, Whoever
is on the Lord's side, come to me. And the people that came to him fought
with those that were against God and 3000 people were killed that day.
Moses prayed that God would forgive the children of Israel who sinned
against Him and were sorry for it.
God told Moses to bring two more stone blocks up on the mountain so
that the commandments could be written again. He told Moses that He would
lead the children of Israel to the Promised Land and that he would make
the people that live in Israel now, leave the Promised Land, because they
didn't believe in God.
Moses was on the mountain, alone with God for another forty days and
forty nights. When Moses returned to the people, his face was shining so
brightly that the people were afraid to come near him and he had to cover
his face while he told them all that the Lord said.
The Hebrews left Sinai and began their trip to the Promised Land once
again. Whenever they weren't happy about something, they started to doubt
in God and again they would cry to Moses. Many many times, Moses asked God
to forgive them. In fact, this happened ten times! There's a lot of tens
in the Bible aren't there?
God told Moses to send messengers to spy on the land of Canaan. Did you
remember that the name of the Promised Land was Canaan? The land was
flowing with milk and honey and many good things. The messengers came back
40 days later and said that the people who lived there were too strong to
fight against, and, there were even giants there! It's true! There were
really giants in those days!
The Hebrews were afraid they couldn't win if they fought for the land.
But there were two holy men, named Joshua and Caleb, who believed that God
would help the Hebrews through anything, and if they weren't afraid, they
could win the land.
But the people were afraid and they said bad things about Moses and
Aaron to each other and still once again they said that they'd rather be
back in Egypt, than where they were now. Moses asked God to forgive them,
still again. But God was angry and said that all the people who talked bad
about Moses and Aaron, would die, and only their children, and Joshua and
Caleb would live for 40 years in the wilderness, one year for each day
that was spent spying on Canaan, and then they would be allowed to enter
the Promised Land.
Some of the Hebrews believed that it was Moses' idea, not God's, to
bring them into the Promised Land of Canaan. Moses brought all the people
together that didn't believe that the Lord sent him, and he told them that
the Lord would show them. Just then, the earth split open like a big
earthquake, and swallowed up all the people who didn't believe!
Many things like these happened on the way from Egypt to the land God
promised to the Hebrews. For forty years, God tested the Hebrews in the
wilderness, to find out who believed in Him, and those who were good,
earned the land that God had promised.
Joshua
After Moses' days, God put Joshua in charge of bringing the Hebrew
people into Israel. There was city called Jericho and this city had walls
of stone all around it. The people there were afraid because they knew the
children of Israel were going to try and take over the city, so the gates
of the city were closed up tight.
Joshua sent two messengers to spy on the city and the king of Jericho
found out they were there. A woman named Rahab hid the messengers on the
roof of her house and when the king came to find them they were out of
sight. They were able to get back to Joshua safely and tell him about the
city.
Joshua gave the people God's orders and this is what they did. They
very quietly marched around the city every day for six days, and on the
seventh day they marched around it seven times. Then seven priests blew
trumpets and Joshua told them, When you hear the trumpets, shout at the
top of your voices as loud as you can. When they did, the sound was so
loud that it shook the walls of Jericho, and they fell down flat! The
children of Israel destroyed the city and everyone who lived there died,
except for Rahab and her family because she was kind to Joshua's
messengers.
Joshua led the Hebrews into many cities to take them over and give the
land to God's people, as He had promised. In one city, Joshua spoke to
God, saying, Sun, stand still over the children of Israel, and darkness,
stay over the people we are fighting against. So it was light where Joshua
and his people needed light to win against that city and it stayed dark
where the enemies were, so they couldn't fight back. There was never
another day like it. God wanted all the different families of the children
of Israel to live in certain places, and he told Joshua who he wanted to
live where. Joshua worked all of his life for God, taking over all the
cities of Israel, and getting God's children to the places where He wanted
them in His Promised Land.
Samson
For many years there wasn't a leader for the children of Israel and a
lot of them didn't obey God's commandments when nobody reminded them. Now
Philistine was a city in the Promised Land, with strong armies, but they
didn't believe in God. So, when the Hebrews continued to disobey the laws
of God, He made them slaves to the Philistines for forty years.
One day an angel told an old Israelite woman who didn't have any
children, that she would have a son who will be very strong and save
Israel from the Philistines. The child was born, and his name was Samson,
and he grew up, and the spirit of the Lord was with him. One day a lion
tried to attack Samson, and he killed the lion with his bare hands. Some
time later, he saw the dead body of the lion and it had a bee hive full of
honey in it!
Samson married a Philistine girl, and they had a big party for seven
days. Samson was talking to thirty Philistine people at the wedding and
said, I have a riddle for you. If you can figure it out before the party
is over, I will give each of you new clothes, and if you can't, you will
each give me new clothes.
The people said, Tell us your riddle. So, Samson said, Out of the eater
came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. After three
days, they couldn't figure out the riddle and they told Samson's wife that
if she didn't find out the answer to the riddle by the seventh day, that
they would burn her and her family and their house with fire! Samson's
wife pouted and said to him, If you don't tell me the answer to your
riddle, that means you don't love me.
Samson didn't even tell his Mom or his Dad, so he surely wouldn't tell
her. She cried for the rest of the seven days and finally Samson told her
the answer to the riddle. She told the Philistine people the answer, and
they told Samson that they figured out the answer to the riddle. Out of
the eater (the lion) came forth meat (honey), and out of the strong (the
lion) came forth sweetness (honey). What is sweeter than honey? And what
is stronger than a lion? Samson said to them, you would never know the
answer if you didn't scare my wife.
Samson was mad at all of them. He went back to his Mom and Dad and
after a while, he went back to see his wife, but her father thought that
Samson hated her for telling the riddle, so her dad gave her to someone
else to marry. Now Samson was very mad! He caught 300 foxes and tied them
together, tail to tail, then set their tails on fire! Then the foxes ran
through the Philistines cornfields and vineyards and olive trees and
caught them all on fire!
The Israelite people were upset because Samson was Hebrew and they
thought the Philistines would be mean to all the Hebrew slaves, because of
what Samson did. So, the Hebrews tied Samson up and were taking him to be
punished by the Philistines when Spirit of the Lord came to him and gave
him the strength to break the ropes. Then he took a jawbone of a donkey
and killed 1000 men with it! After that, Samson was very thirsty and tired
but there was no water around. He asked God for water and it started
flowing out the jawbone that Samson had just used, and he drank until he
got his strength back. God does some cool stuff, doesn't He?
Samson loved a woman named Delilah. The Philistines were always trying
to destroy Samson, but they were afraid of his strength. One day, the
leaders of the Philistines told Delilah that if she could find out how he
gets his strength, they would give her a lot of money. Samson tricked her
and told her that if he was tied with seven fresh ropes, then he would
lose his strength. So the Philistines brought Delilah seven fresh ropes
and she tied Samson up with them, but Samson easily broke the ropes.
Delilah tried again and again to find out where Samson got his
strength. Finally she said, If you don't tell me, that means you don't
love me. Samson fell for the same trick again. Samson was so tired of her
asking that he finally told her that God gave him his strength in his hair
and that if his hair was cut, he would become as weak as a normal man.
Delilah knew that he was telling the truth from his heart and she told the
Philistines. They brought her money and then she cut Samson's hair while
he was asleep. What a dirty trick! Once his hair was cut, Delilah woke him
saying, The Philistines are here, Samson! They took him in chains, poked
out his eyes, and put him in prison.
But that's not the end of this story. Samson's hair began to grow back!
The Philistines had a big party because they were so happy that they had
taken Samson's strength and they put him in prison. All the important
Philistines were there at the party. There were about 3000 people in the
building. During the party, they brought Samson in to make fun of him.
Samson asked if he could stand by the pillars to lean on them. Samson
prayed, Lord please remember me and give me strength just one more time so
that I can punish the Philistines for taking my eyes, and let me die with
the Philistines. He pushed on the two middle pillars that held the
building together with all of his might, and the roof fell in and killed
Samson and all the Philistine people that were there.
Samuel
Once there was a woman named Hannah, who was very sad because she
didn't have any children. She prayed to God and promised Him that if He
gave her a son, that she would give him to the Lord to serve Him all his
life and that she would never cut his hair. God blessed her with a son,
and his name was Samuel. To keep her promise, Samuel's mother took him to
live with a man named Eli. Eli was a priest, who lived in a place called
Shiloh. People went to Shiloh at a special time every year and gave
presents to God to show Him how much they loved Him. God's treasure box,
called the ark, was in Shiloh where Samuel and Eli lived. The ark was very
special to Eli. It had things in it that were special to God, like Moses'
staff, and the stone blocks with the ten commandments written on them, and
things like that. Eli had two sons, and they did not follow the
commandments of God.
Samuel became Eli's helper. One night Samuel heard a voice say, Samuel.
So, Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, Here I am. Eli said, I didn't
call you, go back to sleep. Samuel did, and he heard the voice again, say,
Samuel. He got up again and went to Eli and said, Here I am. I didn't call
you, go back to sleep, said Eli. So Samuel went back to sleep, and it
happened again, a third time. Eli knew then, that it was the Lord calling
Samuel, so he told Samuel, The next time you hear the voice, say, Speak
Lord, your servant is listening. So, Samuel went back to sleep.
Soon Samuel heard the voice again, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel answered,
as Eli had told him to, Speak Lord, your servant is listening. And the
Lord said to Samuel, I will do something in Israel that will surprise
everyone. I will punish Eli, because he knows that his sons have done
wrong, and Eli didn't stop them. Samuel told Eli everything the Lord had
said, and Eli said, He is the Lord, let him do what seems is good. After
that, each time the Lord would speak to Samuel, Samuel would tell about
it, and all of Israel knew that Samuel was chosen to be a prophet of the
Lord. A prophet is someone who God talks to and gives them messages about
things that are going to happen.
When Samuel was older, the Philistines went to war with Israel again,
because the Hebrews were going back to their old ways of misbehaving and
God wasn't happy with them. Israel had lost some of their cities of the
Promised Land to the Philistines before and they were was losing a lot of
people again in this war. Eli's two sons went to get the ark and brought
it with them to where they were fighting against the Philistines because
the people of Israel thought the ark would protect them and help them win.
When the Israelites saw the ark, they all shouted with loud voices just
like they did in Jericho.
Now, the Philistines remembered hearing all the terrible things that
happened to the Egyptians when God helped Moses, so they fought really
hard and beat Israel and took the ark away from them and Eli's two sons
were killed. One of the Hebrew soldiers ran back to tell Eli what had
happened, and when Eli heard that the ark was stolen, he fell back out of
his chair, broke his neck, and died.
The Philistines took the ark to a place where they prayed to a statue.
God didn't like that. As soon as the ark was put there, the statue fell
over and was broken to pieces. The Philistines moved the ark to all
different cities and wherever they took it, people who didn't believe in
God, got sick and died. They finally figured it out, and gave the ark back
to the Israelites.
After the Philistines won the war, the Israelites went to Samuel for
help. Samuel told them that if they would love the Lord with all their
hearts, and stop doing wrong, that God would save them from the
Philistines. The people told God they were sorry that they had sinned and
promised to be good. The next time the Philistines tried to attack Israel,
God helped them and Israel won back all the cities they had lost to the
Philistines and there was peace for a while in the Promised Land.
Saul ... 1st King of Israel
Samuel was very wise and always told the people of Israel the right
things to do, just as God told him to. When Samuel was old, the people of
Israel said they wanted a king because all the other countries had kings.
Samuel was sad that the people weren't satisfied with the way things were.
Samuel prayed, and God told him to listen to His people and do what they
wanted, but the real reason they wanted a king was not that they didn't
like Samuel any more, but they didn't want God to be their king.
God told Samuel to warn the people of Israel that if they choose a
king, that he will take their children to work hard for him, and he will
take their best animals and their best food, and the best of everything
they have, and keep it for himself. The people didn't believe Samuel and
still wanted a king. Samuel told God, and God said, Listen to them, and
find them a king.
One day there was a man named Saul looking for his Dad's lost donkeys.
When he couldn't find them, he went to ask Samuel for help because he knew
Samuel was a prophet of God. When Samuel saw Saul, God told Samuel that
this was the man that would be the first king of Israel. Samuel told Saul
that his dad's donkeys had already been found, before Saul ever even asked
about them. Then Samuel told Saul that he would be the first king of
Israel. Saul didn't believe it. Samuel poured oil on Saul's head to show
that God had chosen him to be the captain of His people, and Samuel told
Saul three things that would happen so that Saul would believe that it was
true.
First he told Saul that he would meet two people on his way back home
and they would tell him that his dad's donkeys had been found. Then he
would meet three men who would give him two loaves of bread. And third, he
would meet some prophets playing all kinds of instruments and he would
feel the Spirit of God, and he would be like a different person, because
God would be with him. All of this happened to Saul, just as Samuel told
him.
When Saul was king, there were wars again in the land of Israel, and
after a while, Saul disobeyed God's commandments. Samuel always told Saul
to listen to God and to do exactly what God told him to do. Samuel told
Saul that God wanted him to go and fight against some people who were mean
to the people of Israel when they first came out of slavery in Egypt. God
said to kill them and all that they have. Saul took his army and they
killed all the people, but they kept all of the best of their animals
alive, and they didn't kill their king either. God was angry because Saul
didn't listen to Him. Saul told Samuel that they kept the animals to give
to God as a present. Samuel asked Saul, Is it better to give a present, or
to obey the words of God? Samuel told Saul, that because he didn't listen
to God, that God would be looking for a new king.
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