Jesus Christ Stories | Moses & The Red Sea | The Death of Moses | Bible Stories

The story of how Moses crossed the Red Sea takes place many years ago, in the great and powerful kingdom of Egypt, which was ruled over by the mighty Pharaoh. Years before Moses was born, the Israelite Joseph had achieved great respect in Egypt and brought his family to live there. Over the years, the Israelite descendants of Joseph continued to grow and grow, which led the Pharaoh to fear that they might eventually have too much power. To make sure that the Israelites never had too much power, the Pharaoh declared that all of the Israelites would from now on be slaves. He worked them hard and they suffered greatly. It was at this time that Moses was born. Making the Hebrew slaves was not enough for the wicked Pharaoh. Still fearing that the Hebrew people were growing too large in number, he ordered that every male child should be killed. But Moses' mother sent him down the river, where he was saved by an Egyptian princess. And so the baby Moses lived. God had spared his life. He grew up with the royal family and was raised to be a prince of Egypt. Moses was very happy as a prince of Egypt, until one day he left the palace and witnessed one of the Egyptian guards beating an Israelite slave. He beat him very cruelly until he died and then left him in the sand. The next day Moses fled Egypt for the land of Midian. There he got married and lived amongst Israelites, his true people. He was happy in this new life. Moses was content in his life farming his father-in-law's sheep, until one day he came across a bush that was covered in fire, but yet did not burn. The burning bush was a miracle of God. And God's way of revealing himself to Moses, God brought Moses an important message. But while Moses was stunned that he was being spoken to by God, he did not want to accept God's mission. But God was firm in his word. The Pharaoh's heart will be hard, and he will not accept it when you tell him you have spoken with God and that God has instructed you to set your people free. It will not be easy, but you must do it. And so, understanding the power of God's word, Moses went on his mission to free his people just as God had instructed. Moses returned to Egypt for the first time since he fled, bracing himself for the difficult task ahead. Just as God had promised, his brother Aaron accompanied him. They went to the Pharaoh, and Moses told the tale of how he encountered the burning bush, and that God had revealed himself. Moses explained that God had instructed him to set the Israelites free from their slavery in Egypt. But God was right, and the Pharaoh did not listen. Please, Pharaoh, listen. This is truly the word of God. You must not let your heart be hard. Please, let us free the Israelites. Let us talk to your priest. We will reveal to them that our God is powerful and that his word should be respected. But the Pharaoh would not listen. Even as Moses and Aaron spent much time with the Pharaoh's priests, trying to demonstrate the power of their God, nothing was enough to make the Pharaoh listen and agree to free the Israelites. Moses continued his efforts, but it was no good, as the Pharaoh would not budge on his decision to let the Israelite people go free. God began to show his wrath through a series of plagues that hit Egypt. One by one, ten different plagues struck the people of Egypt, causing great tragedy and destruction. The people of Egypt were already suffering greatly under God's plagues. Then God struck Egypt with the tenth and final plague, killing all of the eldest sons in every Egyptian family. Losing their sons, as they had once killed the Israelite baby boys, was too much for the people of Egypt. They were terrified of what God's next plague might be. The Pharaoh finally gave up and agreed to let the Israelites be free from their slavery. The Israelites all gathered and prepared to take their new freedom to their own land, the land of Canaan. Just as God instructed, they gathered as many valuables from Egypt as they could. Lots of gold, silver, and other fine materials. The Israelites packed all of these precious items up and got ready to begin their journey to their new home. But although the Pharaoh had agreed to let the Israelites go free, seeing them leave with so many riches, he began to change his mind. With the Israelites gone, who will do all our work? Who will build back our houses, our monuments, our pyramids? We must stop them. Bring them back! The Pharaoh demanded that his men get his finest chariot ready, so that he may race after Moses and prevent him and his people from leaving. He also commanded that several hundred of his finest fighters ready their weapons and chariots too, so that they may assist the Pharaoh in recapturing the fleeing Israelites. Little did Moses and his people know, time was running out, as the Egyptian army was fast approaching them as they made their way to the Red Sea. Everybody, look! The Egyptians are coming! They're riding their chariots right towards us! Hundreds of the Pharaoh's chariots approached the fleeing Israelites, leaving them nowhere left to run. Behind the chariots marched the entirety of the Pharaoh's army, wielding their weapons and brandishing their armor. When the Israelites saw this terrifying sight, they quickly began to panic. Moses, what should we do? You brought us here to die. We're doomed! Although he had led them away from their lives as slaves in Egypt, his people quickly turned on Moses when they saw that the Egyptians were coming. They feared for their lives and believed Moses had led them to certain doom. Calm your anger. We will not die. God is on our side. We are his chosen people, and I have promised to lead us to freedom for him. Moses turned to the water and used God's power to part the mighty sea. The water split in half, providing a safe path for the Israelites to make their escape, just as the Egyptian army was about to reach them. The Egyptian army reached the waters and attempted to follow the Israelites, meaning to capture them and bring them back to slavery. But Moses' miracle was to save them. He let the water close behind them, causing it to swallow up the Egyptian army and saving the lives of the Israelites. When they reached the other side, they emerged from the sea in the desert. On and on through the desert the Israelites marched, filled with a sense of hope as God brought them closer and closer to Canaan. It was on this journey that Moses was led up to the top of Mount Sinai, which is where God gifted him the Ten Commandments that serve as the basic rules for how to live in accordance with God. Leading the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea to freedom is one of the reasons Moses is one of the most important figures in the Bible, as he remained loyal to his people and trusted in the Word of God. Today, we continue the story of one of the most important prophets in the Bible, Moses. We've already learned the tale of how Moses escaped death and enslavement in Egypt and was adopted and raised by the royal family. Eventually, Moses could no longer stand witnessing the enslavement of the Israelites by the Egyptians and he ran away. That's when Moses first encountered God, who instructed Moses to return to Egypt and free his people. Through his faith in the Word of God, Moses led his people, the Israelites, to freedom. God made himself known through Moses, who performed many impressive miracles, such as famously parting the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape the Egyptian Pharaoh's army, who were trying to block their path to freedom. While in the desert on the other side of the Red Sea, Moses climbed to the top of Mount Sinai, and it was there that God spoke to Moses and revealed to him the Ten Commandments. Moses again shared with his people the instruction that God had given him to make their way to Canaan, the famous Promised Land, which the Bible tells us was a land flowing with milk and honey that would make a rich homeland for his chosen people. My people, God has once again spoken to me. We must make our way through the desert to the Promised Land of Canaan. It is God's will and we must follow his word. And so they made their way through the desert towards the Promised Land. When God's chosen people arrived at Canaan, Moses selected twelve spies to enter the land and survey it and its people. Among those twelve spies was a warrior named Joshua, who would later become very important to the story of Moses and the Israelites. Now we wait for the spies to return and tell us of their findings. And so the Israelites waited for forty days and forty nights for the spies to return. While they waited, God provided them with all that they needed to stay alive as he waited for them to fulfill his instruction to enter the Promised Land. After the forty days, the spies returned. We have finally returned from our mission to Canaan. The land is indeed beautiful. It is lush and filled with many wondrous fruits and vegetables. But there was a problem. The only problem is that there are already many people there. They are a strong people and there is no way we can fight them and win. No matter what we do, it seems we will not be able to conquer the Promised Land from those already living there. There are many people already living there, Moses. How can we possibly get them to leave? We will never be able to return to the Promised Land. Moses tried to explain to his people that they must maintain their faith. God promised that they should come to the Promised Land and they must obey his word. Fear not, my brothers and sisters. God has willed us to do this. We must settle in the Promised Land. But the Israelites remained unconvinced. They would not follow God's word and try to settle the Promised Land. Of all the spies, only Joshua and one other, whose name was Caleb, believed what Moses said. Joshua tried to convince his fellow Israelites to follow the word of Moses. Moses led us here to freedom. He helped us to escape the slavery of the Egyptians. God has spoken to him. We must trust that he is guiding us according to God's plan. But it was not enough. The Israelites were scared and they listened to the unconvinced ten spies and refused to try to enter the Holy Land. The Israelites did not realize the giant mistake they were making by ignoring Moses and Joshua. It would not be until Moses' death that they would come to truly understand their mistake. And it was so for many years that the Israelites wandered the desert. God provided the Israelites with the food and water they needed to stay alive for these long, difficult years. Even as they disobeyed his orders, God still showed his chosen people love and compassion by providing them with what they needed to survive. But the Israelites were not grateful. Throughout their years in the desert, they constantly complained about their hunger, about their lack of shelter, about just about everything they could think of. You promised us a homeland in Canaan. You said we would be at home in the land of milk and honey. You doomed us to walk in this desert forever. At least in Egypt our masters fed us and we didn't have to wander the desert with no home to go to. But Moses did not let their complaints stop him from keeping faith in God's word. No matter how much the Israelites complained, Moses believed firmly in the power of God's promise. You have seen yourselves God's power at work when he helped to free us from Egypt. If he has promised us this land, the land is already ours. We must simply trust in his word and take it. But again, the Israelites did not have faith in Moses' word. Only Joshua and Caleb maintained true faith in what Moses said. They remembered Moses' miracles that had led them to escape Egypt and believed that it was truly God's plan for them to take the holy land of Canaan. The Israelites complained so much that one time even Moses could not stand it anymore. Moses and the Israelites were at Meribah and they were so thirsty that they began to cry out to God. Give us water! We are so thirsty. Please! And so God instructed Moses on what he should do. God ordered Moses to speak to the rock before them, and that water would then come forth. But Moses was so sick of the constant complaining and whining of the Israelites, Listen to you rebels constantly complaining. Should I really bring you water from this rock? that he did not speak to the rock. Instead, he hit it with his cane. By doing this, Moses had disobeyed God's command. He had hit the rock instead of speaking to it. And he even took personal credit for bringing the water that God was about to give. Even though they had a special relationship, God could not forgive Moses for going against his word. God told Moses that for his disobedience, Moses would not reach the promised land. He said, Because you have not believed me, you will not be the one to lead the Israelites into the land which I had promised them. It was then that Moses accepted his fate, and he knew he needed to find a new leader for the Israelites, one that could lead them to the land of Canaan, even if he could not. He knew just the man who could do this, the strong warrior who had always supported him, Joshua. From this moment onwards, Moses began to mentor Joshua so that he could one day be a leader. And so it was for 40 long years that God cursed the Israelites to wander the desert, a curse they earned because they did not believe in his word. After 40 years and several plagues that struck down non-believers, there was a new generation of Israelites waiting to finally enter Canaan. When 40 years had passed, Moses addressed the Israelites. Only two of those who had entered the desert with him remained, Joshua and Caleb. All those who doubted Moses and therefore doubted God had perished in the desert. Moses himself was incredibly old at this point, 120 years old. Moses climbed to Mount Nebo and addressed his people. Brothers and sisters, we are God's chosen people. He has promised us this land and so this land will be ours. You must only trust in his word and he will take care of us. He has taken care of us all these long 40 years in the desert and he will take care of you once you have entered the promised land. But I cannot join you there. I disobeyed God's word and now I must die here, outside the Holy Land. But Joshua will lead you. I lay my hands on him and give him God's wisdom. Enter the Holy Land and fulfill the plan that God has created for his people. And so Moses looked across the river Jordan from Mount Nebo. He saw the land that God had promised, but he would never enter. Moses died there and the Israelites spent 30 days and 30 nights in the desert grieving. After they finished grieving Moses, they moved forward to fulfill his word. Now with Joshua as their leader. For three days they camped by the river Jordan, which then parted for Joshua and the Israelites, just as the Red Sea had done 40 years before for Moses.