Moses Delivers Israel from Egypt

  After a series of nine terrible plagues that came upon Egypt, Pharaoh made the mistake of challenging God one too many times; as a

  result, God chose to bring the tenth and final plague on Egypt. As you may recall in the last story, the angel was to carry out the death

  sentence imposed by God. The night must have been a very frightful time. The Israelites could hear the screams of pain and sadness

  throughout the land as the firstborn male from each Egyptian family died at the hands of the angel of death. The angel even entered

  the house of Pharaoh to put his firstborn son to death.

  But all was quiet in the homes of the Israelites because they had followed God’s instructions. The blood of

  a sacrificial lamb was marked on each doorpost, and each family ate the lamb and unleavened bread. As a

  part of his plan, God told the Israelites to remember this day and celebrate it every year. This celebration is

  known today as the Feast of the Passover because the angel of death “passed over” the houses of the Israelites.

  The first born was spared because of their obedience to God. The feast would be a special time to remember

  how their families were saved from death by the sacrifice of the innocent lamb.

  This special event draws a picture of what Jesus did for us many years later. The innocent lamb represents Jesus. The lamb was sacrificed

  and his blood was used to protect the Israelites who believed and carried out Moses’ instructions from God. God orchestrated a carefully

  laid out plan for the Israelites the night of the Passover that foretold the plan of Jesus’ death for us fifteen hundred years later. Those

  who chose to believe and follow God’s plan were saved from death just as we too are saved from spiritual death (separation from God)

  when we believe that the innocent blood Jesus shed will save us from the punishment for our sins. We escape judgment and punishment

  from God because we follow the instruction that God provides.

  Noah and the Ark

  Did you know that God actually regretted creating man? But there was one man named

  Noah who found favor in God’s eyes. So God spoke to Noah and told him of his plan to

  destroy the earth by a flood.            

  God gave Noah specific instructions to build a large ship called an ark.

  God told him how high, how long, and how wide to make the ark. This

  ark was as big as some of our ships today. The ark was completely

  enclosed with no deck. Even though all the instructions were very

  specific, it is interesting to note that God did not tell Noah to build

  any kind of steering wheel and to make only one small window

  looking upward.

  Why did God do this? God wanted Noah to depend only on him.  It was God who was

  going to steer the ship for Noah—around the trees and mountains—and bring the ship

  safely through the flood. God wants us to let him steer our lives in the same way. The

  one small window was to allow them to look up.  They would not see the destruction

  of the people but only keep their eyes upward toward God.