BIBLE STORIES

  God had had enough of the wicked King of Egypt. Life in Egypt had become really difficult. So the people who lived there began to move away. God decided that somebody needed to speak to the King. He chose Moses. Moses went and spoke to him, but the King didn’t listen. In fact the King of Egypt didn’t listen to anyone, even God! The people of Israel did and they did what he asked them to do.

 

  So God began to punish Egypt. He sent plagues of frogs, flies and locusts. He also sent storms and darkness. But the King still did not give in. He didn't want to let the people go. This made God very angry. He killed a few Egyptians and this make the King begin to listen to him. The King agreed to let the Israelites go. Moses gathered them together and they prepared to leave. They were going to travel together across the desert, to the Red Sea. God was going to show them the right way to go. He was going to be a pillar. By night he would be a pillar of fire, by day, and pillar of cloud. That way they would always be able to see which way to go.

 

  Just when the Israelites had finally left and travelled for a few days, the King of Egypt changed his mind. He got very angry and sent his army on chariots to go and catch the Israelites. But the Israelites had got quite far away. They had reached the Red Sea. They looked behind them and saw clouds of dust. They knew then that the Egyptians were following. They began to be scared. They began to panic, and asked Moses why he had brought them there, surely it meant that they would all die. Moses told them to stay calm, he knew that they should put their trust in God and he would save them.

 

  God spoke to Moses. “Lift up your stick and put out your hand over the sea. It will divide in two and you can let the people through.” That night, the pillar of cloud moved. It was now between the Israelites and the Egyptians. It caused so much cloud in the darkness that the Egyptians couldn’t see where they were going. They had to stop.

 

  Moses put his hand out towards the sea. God drove the water back with a strong wind. The sea split in two. That meant that there was enough dry land down the centre for the people to cross safely to the other side. But then the Egyptians began to catch them up. They started to cross the river in the gap too. But as they Israelites all reached the other side in safety, the sea closed in on the Egyptians. There was no longer a path and the Egyptians were swept away with the water.

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CROSSING THE RED SEA