The children of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. After Joseph died, there
arose a ruler who did not remember how kind Joseph had been, and the
people of Israel became slaves to the Egyptians.
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Ten plagues had been sent on the Egyptians so that Pharoah would
let the Israelites be free.
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In the last plague that came upon them, the firstborn of every
Egyptian family died. Pharoah finally agreed to let them go.
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But when he realized that he was losing all his slaves, he decided
to go and bring them back. He took his soldiers and 600 of the best
chariots along with all the chariots in Egypt.
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The Israelites were afraid when they saw the chariots coming.
The Red Sea was in front of them, and the Egyptians were following
behind them. There seemed to be no escape.
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Moses told them, " The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still."
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God told Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea
to divide it, and the children of Israel could cross.
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The angel of the Lord moved from in front of the Israelites to a place behind
them. The cloud also moved. It was light on Israel's side, and dark on the
Egyptian's side.
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And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.
All that night the Lord caused an east wind to blow. The Israelites went through the sea
on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
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The Egyptians ran after them and followed them into the sea. They saw
the Israelites crossing on dry land, and they thought they could, too.
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The people of Israel all got across to the other side. Then the Egyptian army
became confused and the wheels started coming off the chariots. They could not overtake the
Israelites.
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The water came crashing down on the soldiers, and they were all
lost in the sea.
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Moses sang a song of praise to God for the great blessing that had
come to his people that day.
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Think about this:
Where did the help come from when there seemed to be no way of escape?
Their help came from God, and He was the one who made a way for them to
escape the danger.
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Today God helps us to live our lives for Him. He will show us a way out
of our troubles if we ask Him for help.
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This story can be found in the Bible in
Exodus 14.
Press "Go" to search for books about Moses.
Joseph
Jericho
