Sunday, December 9, 2012
December 9 - Moses
Moses was an important prophet and leader of the Children of Israel. While Joseph saved the Israelites by leading them into the land of Egypt, Moses saved them by leading them out of Egypt. Moses is another type of Christ.
Timeline: c. 1571 B.C.
Opening Song: Christmas Bells, Children’s Songbook 54
Have the children ring bells while singing.
Ornament: Burning Bush
I sewed the above ornament from felt. My friend Julie found this burning bush-looking item in the dried floral section of Michael’s and hung a ribbon from it.
Moses was born into a family of Hebrews. At that time, Pharaoh decided to keep the Israelites from becoming any mightier. He told the midwives to kill all of the baby boys right after they were born. When the midwives said they could not do it, Pharaoh decreed that all sons born to the House of Israel were to be drowned in the river. Moses’ mother couldn’t bear to drown her son, so she hid him for three months. When he was too large to hide, she made a basket of bulrushes and coated it with sticky sap to keep out the water, laid her baby inside, and set it in the river. Moses’ older sister Miriam watched from a distance to see what would happen to the baby.
Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river to bathe and saw the basket in the water. She sent her maid to fetch it. When she opened it, she saw the baby, and the baby started crying. She had compassion on him, and knew he was a Hebrew child. Miriam came forward and offered to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby. She returned with Moses’ mother. Pharaoh’s daughter then paid her to take the baby away and nurse him for her. After the child grew, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter so that he could become her son. Pharaoh’s daughter called him Moses because she had pulled him from the water.
The posterity of Israel, the Israelites, grew into a great nation in Egypt. Two centuries after Jacob’s family moved to Egypt, the new pharaoh forgot what Joseph had done for the Egyptians, and did not like the Israelites. He thought that there were too many of them and he was afraid they would take away his land from them. So Pharaoh made the Israelites slaves.
While tending his father-in-law’s flocks, Moses hiked up a big mountain. There an angel of the Lord appeared to him “in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush… and the bush was not consumed” (burned up). The voice of God spoke to Moses saying, “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “Here am I.” God told Moses to move back and take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. When God identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “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 have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land …a land flowing with milk and honey…. 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, 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 he said, Certainly I will be with thee…” Exodus 3:6-12.
God called Moses as a prophet to deliver the children of Israel from slavery saying, “I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior” (Moses 1:6). Moses taught the children of Israel that the Messiah (Jesus) would be like him: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken” (Deut. 18:15).
Show pictures and have the kids figure out the similarities. (I clipped these from the Ensign, printed a few, and cut and pasted them onto black paper. It helps to number them):
This story shows one way the children of Israel learned about Christ through Moses. Tell the story on the back of GAK 123.
Closing Song: “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” Hymns, 209
1. Both Moses and Christ were foreordained in pre-mortal life.
2. Both were saved from death when all the other baby boys in the land were killed.
3. Both were known as the meekest of men.
4. Moses delivered the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Jesus delivers us from the bondage of sin and death.
5. Both were lawgivers and judges. Moses gave the Law of Moses to prepare people for the coming of Christ. This law, with all its types and shadows, testified of the one who would come to save his people. Jesus fulfilled that law and gave us higher laws to prepare us for His Second Coming.
6. Both had control over the elements, especially the waters.
7. Both provided food for their people. In the wilderness, the children of Israel were given water through a miracle by Moses, and were fed manna from heaven. Jesus turned water into wine and fed thousands of people with just a few loaves and fishes. Moses received his power from Jehovah.
The great miracles performed by Moses taught the people about Jehovah’s power and foreshadowed His life. Like all true prophets, Moses testified of Christ and prepared the way for His coming.
Complete Devotionals HERE.
Watch “The Baby Moses” (2:29) or relate the following:
Joseph of Egypt saved the Israelites by leading them into the land of Egypt. Heavenly Father sent Moses to save them by leading them out of Egypt.
Watch “The Prophet Moses” (5:17) or relate this:
Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s court and was raised like royalty. But when he looked on the burdens of his Hebrew brethren and saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew, he slew the Egyptian. When Pharaoh heard about it, he tried to slay Moses, but Moses ran away. Moses met his wife in Midian and started a family. Back in Egypt, the pharaoh died and the children of Israel cried to the Lord for deliverance from bondage.
