This is a complete lesson script (plus a fun song and a fun activity!) for your Moses Crosses the Red Sea lesson.
This lesson starts with review of what has happened over the course of the last 4 weeks of The Fire Prince Sunday School curriculum.
The Story of Moses Review
For the last several weeks we have been talking about … ?
Moses, right!
Moses was born a Hebrew slave in Egypt. After being rescued from danger by Pharaoh’s daughter, a princess, Moses spent his growing up years in Egypt.
Eventually Moses leaves, and one day, while watching his father-in-law’s sheep on the side of the mountain, God tells him to go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let all the Hebrew slaves go free.
This request doesn’t go over too well with Pharaoh. Instead Pharaoh, who thinks he’s a god, says ‘no’ to Moses’ God. Then over the next couple months, Pharaoh is shown over and over again how powerless the “gods” of Egypt are. The one true God proves to Pharaoh through 10 different plagues that He rules on high.
The Final Plague of Egypt
Moses tells Pharaoh that the 10th plague is going to come that night and there is nothing Pharoah can do about it. Moses, in the throne room of Pharaoh, describes exactly what will happen during the plague.
He then begins to talk about what will happen after the plague over. Listen to the end of his speech:
(Teacher, read this verse ANGRY…Moses is mad as he says this)
All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.
Ex. 11:8
Moses leaves Pharaoh’s palace, and that night, the plague comes. It’s so bad that in the middle of the night Pharaoh orders Moses to come to the palace. When Moses gets there, Pharaoh commands Moses and all the Hebrew slaves to leave IMMEDIATELY. He doesn’t want them anywhere near Egypt.
Escape From Egypt
That day, for the first time in more than 400 years, the Hebrew people are free. They get their stuff and walk out of Egypt. And on their way, the Egyptians give them all their nice stuff! They so badly want the Hebrews gone that they will do anything to get them out of town.
But the Israelites aren’t as free as they think they are…at least not yet.
As they leave Egypt, Pharaoh realizes what he has done. LIsten to what he says:
“What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!”
Exodus 14:5
Pharaoh, the ruler of all Egypt, has just let all his employees (all his workers) walk out. What’s going to happen to Egypt if all his help leaves??
So Pharaoh does what any of us would do… GO AFTER THEM!!
Moses and Pharaoh at the Red Sea
And it’s not long before they catch up to them. The Bible even tells us where they caught up to them:
“…they pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.”
Exodus 14:9
(Listen to the audio recording of Exodus 14 here for the pronunciation of these names…)
Now, that might not sound so bad until you realize where they were.
Picture this:
On one side of the Israelites is Pharaoh’s army, a group of angry men with chariots, horses, and weapons.
On the other side is the Red Sea – a huge body of water, they can’t exactly swim across.
So no matter where they look it’s bad news..either give up and surrender to Pharaoh’s army and go back to Egypt, or drown in the Red Sea.
So what would you do in this situation?
Well, the Israelites, who are scared, do what we would probably do. They get mad at the guy in charge…Moses.
Listen to what they say:
“Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out to the desert to die?….It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert”
Exodus 14:12
Oh! We see what your plan was Moses. You brought us here to die…
They all look at Moses and say (sarcastically) “Oh! We see what your plan was. You brought us here to die instead of dying as slaves in Egypt! This is ridiculous, we were better off in Egypt.”
The Israelites were scared and afraid. The Egyptians were about to capture them and take them back as slave. The only other choice they had was to drown in the Red Sea trying to escape.
So Moses turns around tells all of them what to do. And what he says to them, is what we all need to hear. Listen to this:
Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:13-14
Moses tells the people:
“What you need to is trust God. The same God who sent all the plagues on Egypt to rescue us is the same one that will deliver us all now! Watch and see!!”
Exodus tells us that a cloud came down between the Israelites and the Egyptian army. On one side of the cloud the Egyptian army was in total darkness, but on the other side of the cloud Moses and all the Israelites could see just fine. It was as bright as the middle of the day.
Moses Crosses the Red Sea
It’s at this point that many of you might know the story. At God’s command Moses stretches his hand over the Red Sea and God parts the water. There is a runway right through the middle of the sea for all of the Israelites to walk through.
What had seemed impossible to the Israelites only a little while ago was now happening. They were escaping the Egyptians one last time…now they were free!
All of this happened, not because Moses was a brilliant leader, or because he was super smart. Millions of former slaves escaped one of the greatest armies on earth because they trusted in God. Even when it looked like God had messed up and they were trapped between an army and an ocean, God had an amazing plan to rescue them.
The same God that rescued these slaves from Pharaoh is the God we can trust today. When our friends let us down, when we feel anxious and afraid, and when life doesn’t turn out the way we want it to, we have a God we can always put our trust in. Because just as He was looking out for the Israelites, He is looking out for you.
Say it with me:
Trust and obey because there’s no other way!
Moses Crosses The Red Sea Song
(How did Moses Cross the Red Sea? song tune)
How did Moses cross the Red Sea?
How did Moses cross the Red Sea?
How did Moses cross the Red Sea?
How did he get across?
Did he swim? No, no
Did he sail? No, no
Did he fly? No, no, no, no
Cross a bridge? No, no
Did he leap? No no
How did he get across?
God blew with His wind
Puff, puff, puff, puff
He blew just enough
‘nuff, ‘nuff, ‘nuff, ‘nuff
And through the sea
God made a path
That’s how he got across.
Moses Crosses the Red Sea Activity (hey that rhymes!)
This game has to do with escaping. Just like the Israelites escaped with Moses out of Egypt we are going to do some escaping of our own today. Except this is going to be a little more fun than running away from an angry man!
Glue full tic-tac containers to each end of a ruler. Have enough rulers for several kids and something to clean the ruler with between kids, if you are sharing the ruler. No sense in passing on germs!
Then, before the game begins, open the tops of the tic tac containers. Once you say go, the object is to empty the tic tac containers by shaking your head back and forth. No turning your head upside down or using any other body parts. Only head shaking is allowed!
Option: instead of gluing tic-tac containers, glue small plastic cups to the end of the ruler.
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