Intermediate Level, Block 4—Egypt to Good Land
Week 34
The Exodus from Egypt—the Passover
Point to Emphasize: We can be those who follow the instructions of those who care for us.
Reference Reading: Exodus 12—13
Memory Verse: Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise at the end of your days. (Proverbs 19:20)
Story Sample
Have any of you ever gone on a trip? Now, do you just jump in the car and go? Don’t you need to make a lot of plans and do a lot of things before you go? My grandson’s family went on a trip recently. They needed to decide where to go (the Grand Canyon), how to get there (they took their car and used GPS to find their way), what to pack (warm clothes for the day they had snow, and cool clothes for the day it was hot), who will take care of their pets (Grandma and Grandpa) and water the plants, and get the mail (again Grandma and Grandpa), and so on. It takes a lot of planning to go away on a trip! [Storyteller, use your own plans for a trip.]
Well, God needed to get His people out of Egypt. So He had a plan. God had a very exact plan for getting His people out of Egypt. Now, that plan was very detailed and each step was very important. You may think some parts of this plan do not make sense or are not needed or they are too complicated to follow. However, it was God’s plan and His people needed to follow it.
So the children of Israel did everything just as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron. They carried out God’s plan exactly. Each household chose a lamb and roasted it. It was a lamb without blemish. Along with the roasted lamb each family prepared bitter herbs and unleavened bread to eat. And how were they dressed as they ate this meal? With their loins girded, sandals on their feet and staff in their hand. While they were eating, they were expecting to leave soon. Also, as God had instructed, before they started eating, they took the blood of the lamb and applied it on the outside of their house, upon the doorpost and the lintel.
At midnight, when all the children of Israel had finished eating the lamb in their houses with the blood on their doorpost, God’s last plague began. Jehovah struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, to the firstborn of cattle. All the firstborns in all Egypt died. Only those in the houses who ate the lamb and had the blood on the doorpost were passed over. And who was in the houses eating the lamb with the blood on the doorpost? God’s people! They were in their houses with their families. So God’s judgment passed over them. Not one of them was touched.
This was the last of the plagues we talked about last week. In every Egyptian home the firstborn died. Pharaoh, all his servants, and all the Egyptians arose that night and all of the firstborn in their families were dead. There was a great cry in Egypt! Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in the middle of the night and commanded them to get out of Egypt. He told them to take all their families, all their cattle and go to serve Jehovah. And all the Egyptians urged the people of Israel to go quickly. They wanted them to go as fast as they could. The Egyptians were afraid that if the children of Israel did not leave Egypt they all might die.
And the children of Israel took their dough, their kneading bowls and their clothes upon their shoulders. And they asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and clothing just as Moses had told them to. It was counted as their pay for all their years of slave labor. And Jehovah gave the people of Israel favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they let them have what they asked for. Thus the children of Israel plundered the Egyptians.
Those were really detailed plans, weren’t they? And some of them didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense, did they? Often times, adults have a plan for us and we might want to omit steps or skip parts of it thinking that they are not needed or they are too complicated.
The other day, I was in a building and there was a fire drill. Right away, I just wanted to get out of the building! But I wasn’t sure where to go. Suddenly, a fire marshal showed up and told me the plan to get out of the building. It was a longer way than I would have taken, but once I got outside, I saw that it was the safest way and the best place for me to be safe. I’m so glad that someone came up with a plan, and that by following it I was safe!
We need to be those who can follow the plan established in a detailed way, exactly the way it was given, whether that plan is given by our parents, teachers, policeman or whoever is responsible. They know the best way.
So, in the end, because the Israelites followed the plan exactly, the result was that their firstborn lived and Pharaoh let them go. They were finally free from Pharaoh! Just like God had told them! God will always do what He says He will do! We just need to follow His plan!