Moses and Aaron Speak To Pharaoh ... The Israelites Suffer

Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh and told him that God demanded that he must set the Israelites free.

Pharaoh refused and said to them that he didn't acknowledge God's authority and that he will never set them free.

Instead he turned the nation's life into a hell.

He commanded his taskmasters to deny them straw to build bricks.  He further doubled their working hours, so that they don't have time to praise or talk to God.  The Israelite overseers were beaten every day for not getting the workers to make more bricks for Egypt.

When they spoke to Pharaoh over the injustice, he told them that although there was no more straw, that they must deliver their daily quota.  The Israelites were scattered all over Egypt to gather straw.

They complaint to Moses and Aaron about how they were treated since Moses spoke to Pharaoh to release them in God's name, and Moses went to speak to God.

The Lord the said to Moses: 'Now thou shalt see what I do to Pharaoh ... for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.'

The Lord further said to Moses: ' I am the Lord ... and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob [Israel] by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.  And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of

their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.'

'And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant ... and I will give Canaan to you as an heritage ... I am The Lord.'

When Moses told the Israelites what God had said, they didn't hear, because of their cruel bondage and their anguish of spirit.

And The Lord spoke unto Moses again: 'Go, and speak unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go, out of this land.'

Moses then asked The Lord that if the Israelites didn't hear him, how will Pharaoh hear him?

And The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and put them in charge of the whole nation of the Israelites ... and He put them in charge of Pharaoh to release the children of Israel of their bondage.

Moses then said before The Lord: 'Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?'

The Lord said unto Moses: 'See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh ... and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.'

The Lord further said that He will harden Pharaoh's heart and He will multiply His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt ... so that the Egyptians would know the He is The Lord, and that He was going to free the children of Israel from their bondage.

Moses and Aaron did as God commanded them, so did they.

Moses was 40 years of age and Aaron 43 years of age, at that time, when they spoke unto Pharaoh.

The Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron, saying: 'When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, 'Shew a miracle' to you ... then thou shalt say unto Aaron, 'Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh', and it shall become a serpent.'

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Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh, and did as The Lord had commanded ... Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.

Pharaoh called his wise men and sorcerers, and they did the same thing with their enchantments.

Every one cast down his rod and the rods became serpents ... but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't hear unto them ... as The Lord had said.

And then God sent His 10 plagues ...

Source: Exodus Chapter 6

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The Conversation Between God and Moses ... Moses Returns To Egypt

And God said moreover unto Moses: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you, saying: I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt.

'And I have said that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.'

'And they shall hearken to thy voice; and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him: The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go, we beseech thee, three day's journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'

'I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.  And I will stretch out my hand with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go.

And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not be empty. But every woman shall borrow from her neighbour, and of her that so journeth in her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment; and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

'I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.  And I will stretch out my hand with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go.

And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not be empty. But every woman shall borrow from her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment; and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

And Moses answered and said: 'But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say: The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.'

And The Lord said unto him: 'What is it in thine hand?'  And he said: 'A rod.' And He said: 'Cast it on the ground.'  And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent ... and Moses fled before it.  And The Lord said unto Moses: 'Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail.'  And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand ... 'so that they may believe that The Lord God of their fathers hath appeared unto thee.'

And The Lord said furthermore unto him: 'Put now thy hand into thy bosom.'  And he put his hand into his bosom ... and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.  God then ordered him to put his hand again into his bosom.  And he put his hand again into his bosom, and plucked it out of his bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

'And it shall come to pass it they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.'

And The Lord said furthermore: 'If they do not believe these two signs, you must take water from the river, and pour on dry land ... and the water will become blood.'

Moses said to The Lord: 'Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.'

The Lord then said to Moses: 'Who hath made man's mouth? Or who hath maketh the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I The Lord?'

Again Moses murmured against the Will of The Lord, and He became angry with Moses.  He then told Moses: 'Is not Aaron, the Levite, thy brother?  I know that he can speak well.  And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee ... and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.  Thou shall speak unto him, and put words in his mouth ... and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.  And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people ... and he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.  And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.'

Moses then went and returned to his father-in-law Jethro, and said to him: 'Let me go, I pray thee, and return to my brothers which are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.' Jethro answered Moses: 'Go in peace.'

The Lord then said to Moses in Midian: 'Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead which sought thy life.'

Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt ... and Moses took the Rod of God in his hand.

And The Lord said unto Moses: 'When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand ... but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.'

'And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh: Thus saith The Lord: Israel is My son, even My firstborn.  And I say unto thee: Let My son go, so that he may serve Me ... and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.'

The Lord then instructed Aaron to go into the wilderness to meet Moses.  Aaron went and met Moses in the mount of God, and kissed him.  Moses then told Aaron all the words of The Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.

Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.  Aaron spoke all the words that God had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

And the people believed ... and when they heard that The Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He looked upon their afflictions, they bowed their heads and worshipped Him.



Exodus: Chapter 4

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Moses Fled Egypt ... The Burning Bush

And it came to past, when Moses became an adult, that he one day went out to visit his Hebrew brothers, and he saw how they suffered.

He saw an Egyptian swearing at one of his brothers, and he became so angry that he killed the Egyptian, when they were alone, and buried him in the sand.

On the second day, when he went out to his brothers, he saw that two of his Hebrew brothers fighting with each other.  He asked the one why he would talk in such a manner to his brother.  His brother replied: 'Who made you prince and judge over us? Are you going to kill me too, like you killed the Egyptian?'  Moses got scared, because he didn't know that anybody saw him, and he knew that it was not a secret.

The story of the killing reached Pharaoh, and he was extremely angry at Moses. He sought to slay Moses.

So Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and went to dwell in the land of Midian.  Then, one day, he sat down at a well to rest.

Now, the priest of Midian had seven daughters, whom would go this well to drew water for their father's throughs, to water their father's flock.

And the sheperds came and wanted to drive them away, but Moses stood up to them and helped the daughters, and watered their flock.

When they came to Reuel, their father, he said: 'How is it that you came so soon today?

So they answered: 'An Egyptian delivered us out of the hands of the sheperds, and he also drew enough water for us and the flock.'

And he said to his daughters: 'And where is he?  Why is it that you left the man? Call him that he may eat bread.'

And Moses was content to dwell with Reuel [Jethro], and the priest gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife.

And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said: 'I have been a stranger in a strange land.'

And as time went on, it came to pass that the king of Egypt died.

And the children of Israel sighed by reason of their bondage, and they cried, and their cry came unto God by reason of His bondage with Israel [Jacob].

And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Now, Moses kept the flock of his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

And the angel of The Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ... and he looked, and, behold, the bush burning to fire, and the bush was not consumed.

And Moses said: 'I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.'

And when The Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush ... and said: 'Moses, Moses.'  And he said: 'Here I am.'

And The Lord said: 'Draw not thy hither ... put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.'

Moreover, He said: 'I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

And The Lord said: 'I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters ... for I know their sorrows.  And I come to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them up of that land unto a good land and a large,

unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites.

Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me ... and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

Come now therefore, behold, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.'

And Moses said unto God: 'Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?'

And The Lord said: 'Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee ... when thou hast brought forth the

people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.'

And Moses said unto God: 'Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and say unto them ... The God of thy fathers hath sent me unto you ... and they shall say to me: 'What is his name?' ... what shall I say unto them?'

And God said unto Moses: 'I AM THAT I AM.' ... and He said: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent Me unto you.'

Source: Exodus 2-3

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