Chapter 1
Exodus 1:1-2:101Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. 6And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor: 14And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor. 15And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 16And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. 18And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? 19And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. 20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive. 1And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. 4And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 6And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. 7Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? 8And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. 9And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. 10And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. (Exodus 1:1‑2:10)
It was evening; supper was over and the toys had been put away. The favorite hour had come for two happy, intelligent-looking children as they climbed up alongside Mother, who, with Bible in hand, had taken her usual place on the sofa. Sophy and her little brother Arthur were always eager for one of Mother’s bedtime Bible stories.
Mother’s last story from the book of Genesis was about the death of Joseph and of how God had said He would surely visit the children of Israel and bring them again into the land of Canaan, as He had promised Abraham.
“Now, Mother,” said Sophy eagerly, “do tell us more about the children of Jacob. How long did they stay in Egypt?”
So opening her Bible to the first chapter of Exodus, Mother began:
“From the time that God gave the promises to Abraham until the children of Israel left Egypt was about four hundred and thirty years. After Joseph and all his brothers were dead, the number of their children became great and they were very strong. The good king Pharaoh died and another king arose who did not remember what Joseph had done for Egypt. When he saw that the children of Israel were getting to be so numerous he began to be afraid that if there were to be a war that they would join with the enemy against his people. In order to keep them from doing that, the king made the children of Israel his servants and set taskmasters over them to make them work and, to build cities where the king might keep his treasures.”
“What was that king’s name, Mother?” asked Arthur.
“He, also, was called Pharaoh, as all the kings of Egypt were in those days, Arthur. But he was not like the good king Pharaoh who was kind to Joseph, for he was very cruel to the children of Israel. He made them work very hard with mortar and bricks to make fine buildings for the Egyptians. However, the more unkind the Egyptians were to them, Arthur, the more they increased in number and the stronger they became.
“Then Pharaoh thought of a very wicked plan. He told the nurses to kill all the newborn boy babies but to save the girl babies. The nurses feared God though, so they saved the boy babies, too. This made Pharaoh very angry, but God blessed the nurses because they feared Him more than the king of Egypt. Now Pharaoh thought of another way to carry out his scheme. He ordered the Israelites to throw every newborn son into the river.
But there was a man of the house of Levi who married a daughter of Levi. They had a baby boy who was a beautiful baby and they just couldn’t throw him into the river. They had faith in God so were not afraid of the king’s command. What do you think they did? They hid him for three months, but after that they thought he was too big to be hidden any longer.”
“Did they ask God not to let the king find him, Mamma?” inquired Sophy.
“I dare say his parents did ask God to take care of their little son, Sophy. There is a great river in Egypt called the Nile, and quantities of bulrushes grow along its banks. The poor mother gathered some of these rushes and made a basket, which was called an ark, covered it with pitch and slime and put her little baby in it. Then she left it floating among the rushes at the edge of the river.”
“Oh, the poor baby!” exclaimed Arthur. “Wouldn’t he cry when left all alone?”
“Yes, he did, Arthur,” replied Mother. “His sister stood afar off, watching to see what would happen to him. What do you think did happen to him? I will tell you. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the river. As she walked along she saw the little ark among the bulrushes, so she sent her maid to bring it to her. When she looked in and saw the baby, he was crying. She felt sorry for him and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children.’ The little baby’s sister came up to Pharaoh’s daughter and said to her, ‘Shall I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for thee?’ Pharaoh’s daughter said, ‘Go.’ So she went and told her mother how Pharaoh’s daughter had found the baby. I think Pharaoh’s daughter thought what a nice kind nurse the mother was, though she did not know she was the baby’s real mother. She said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.’ So the mother took the child and raised him. Then she took him back to Pharaoh’s daughter. He became her son and she called him Moses because she drew him out of the water.”
“Did he live in a palace like a little prince?” Sophy asked.
“Yes, he did, and he was taught all the learning of the Egyptians for they were the most educated people of the world in those days. Moses was very clever and very strong, for he was mighty in words and in deeds. But that is all for tonight. You must go to bed now.”