Title: Moses
Subject: 
Publisher: 
Description: The man. The story. The wonder. Behold, Prince Moses!
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Effective_date: None
Expiration_date: 9998-12-31 00:00:00
Type: Document
Format: text/plain
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SafetyBelt: 1073084149.15

 It was a long time ago, in Egypt.
Back when Pharaoh was the king.
The king's astronimers told of how a baby boy would be born. The baby would grow to be the savior of Israel, and would free all the Israelite slaves.
Pharaoh decreed that all the baby boys born on that day should be killed, both Egyptian, and Israelite.
One woman, fearful of loseing her newborn son, put him into a basket, and set him on the Nile. She told her oldest, Miriam, to follow the basket, and watch from the reeds, to see where he went.
So the baby's big sister watched over him while he slept in his basket.
The basket drifted to Pharaoh's palace, where his daughter, who's husband had passed away, found the basket.
She took him as her own son, and named him Moses.
But Moses was hungry. 
And he wouldn't let any of Bayta's hand maidens nurse him.
So Miriam came out of the reeds, and told the princess that her mother would nurse the baby.
And so, Moses was left in the care of his own mother for two years.
Pharaoh didn't object to the baby, because his astronimers had assured him that the baby had died of the water.
So Moses became the Prince of Egypt, next to his brother, Ramses.
Once, the baby was playing on Pharaoh's lap, and he saw the kings crown, studded with jewels. He reached up and took it off.
The king was superstitious about how his throne could be taken by a Jew.
The astronimers told him to kill Moses before anything happend, but one of his Wise Men asked to give Moses a test, to see if he was just attracted to glittering objects like any toddler.
So they brought two bowls, one was gold, and the other held hot coals.
Moses started to reach for the golden one, but an angel directed his hand to the hot coals. 
Moses grasped one, and put it into his mouth, and burned both his hand and his tounge, which gave him a speech inpediment for the rest of his life.

 As Moses grew older, he began to go to Goshen, where the king was making a treasure city. Moses felt horrible for the way his people were being treated.
He went to talk with them, and often he helped an aged Hebrew work.
Moses had already won favor from Pharaoh, over his brother Ramses. So in order to help the Hebrews, Moses introduced to Pharaoh little plans to make thier lives and workloads a little easier. He did this a little at a time, so that he didn't arouse Pharaohs suspisions.

 One day, he saw an Egyptian overseer hit one of his charges.
Seeing that the Egyptian was treating the Hebrew unfairly, he came to the rescue, and killed the Egyptian.
He thought no one had seen him do this, so he buried the body in the sand, and returned to Pharaohs palace.
One day, he came upon two Hebrews quarralling, and he told one not to raise his hand against his brother. 
The man retorted: "Would you kill me as you did the Egyptian?"
Moses was frightened. His life was in danger.
He was sentanced to death, but escaped to the land of Cush.

 After a while, the government of Cush made Moses flee again, this time, into the land of Midian.
Now, here in Midian, there was a man named Jethro, who had become the 'Important Guy' in Midian. But people didn't like him, because he saw the silliness in worshiping idols, and began worshiping God, instead, which is a good thing.
Jethro's daughters (no sons) were not allowed at the community well, and were often forced to go last to water Jethro's sheep.
One particular day, Moses made it to the laand of Midian, and was very thirsty. As he went to the well, he saw the shepereds push the girls away from the well.
Moses stood up for the girls, and they got thier sheep watered first that day.
When they came home early, Jethro was surprised.
They told him of Moses, and Jethro imeadiatly invited him to stay with his family.
Shortly thereafter, Moses married Zepporah, Jethro's oldest daughter.
She gave birth to two sons, Gershom, and Eliezer.

 Moses became a shepherd for his father-in-law, Jethro.
Once, a lamb got lost, and Moses searched high and low for it, and even went up into Sinai, to find the lamb. When he did, a strange sight caught his eye.
A bush had burst into flame, but it didn't turn into ash. 
He went for a closer look, and heard God calling:

 "Moses! Moses!"

 "I am here." Moses replied.

 God continued to speak, saying: "Do not draw closer! Take your shoes from your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

 Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look up at God.
God proceeded to tell Moses that He had heard Israels prayers, and had seen thier persicutions. He told Moses that he had been chosen to go to the king, and tell him to let the people go.
Moses hesitated to accept the mission. God told him that he would be protected from any harm that might befall him.
But Moses was afraid that he was not worthy. He begged God to send someone else.
God told Moses that no other should go.
Moses told God that if he should go to Egypt, and tell the Hebrews this, they would want to know his name.
And God said:

 "I am that I am. You shall tell them, I am that I am."

 Moses went back to Jethro to ask to go to Egypt. Jethro gave Moses his blessing, and Moses went out.
God then told Moses' brother Aaron to meet Moses in the desert.
When the brothers met, Moses told Aaron about thier mission, and they went forth into Egypt.
As God had promised, the Hebrews belived Moses, and accepted both Moses and Aaron as thier leaders.
  
 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, who was now Ramses.
They went fearlessly into the palace, past gaurd and dogs that protected the palace.
As God had promised, they were not harmed.
No one ever saw Pharaoh except his astronimers or Wise Men, so you can imagine his surprise, when two Hebrews walked in.
Moses went to his former brother, and told him:

 "Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel: Let my people go, that they mey feast unto me in the desert."

 Pharaoh refused. He said that he knew no God, and His name was not listed in the gods of other countries. And the miricals shown to him by Moses did not impress him, for his magicians could do almost as well.
Pharaoh decreed that the workload on the Hebrews be doubled.

 Moses went to God for help. God assured Moses that his mission would not be in vain.

 First, Moses went to the river, and told Aaron to raise his staff over the water. When Aaron did so, the water turned to blood, and man and beast suffered terrible thirst.

 After this, God enabled Moses to send hail, sickness, frogs, bugs, locusts, even three days of darkness, but Pharaoh would still not give in.

 
 So Moses talked to God, and God told him that every eldest child would die, unless they had smearings of lambs blood on thier door frame.

 Moses commanded the people of Israel to kill a young sheep, and paint their doors with it's blood. The people obeyed, and that night, the Angel of Death came upon all of Egypt, and every first-born Eygptian child was killed.

 This also included Pharaoh's first-born, who was heir to the throne. Pharaoh called Moses to him, and said, "I hereby let your people go."

 And the people of Israel rejoiced, and began to load their carts, and herd their flocks, to get ready to flee from the land of Egypt.