The Kingdom Promised: His People, Part Two

Week Twelve | March 23-29

By the time we get to Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s descendants have grown numerous in the land of Egypt, fulfilling part of God’s promise. They become known as the Israelites, yet they are without a land of their own. Long after Joseph had passed away and the protection he had ensured for his people was forgotten, a new Pharaoh began to rule Egypt. He sees the Israelites as foreigners and a threat to Egypt. He makes them suffer harshly as slaves. The Israelites cry out to God to remember his promise and save them. God hears the prayers of His people and raises up Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. Through miraculous works and the blood of a sacrificial lamb, God graciously provides a way for them to escape the bondage of slavery! The spark of hope is kindled as we see God’s promise to Abraham continue to be fulfilled. God remains faithful. He will be their God and they will be his people once again. One day, God would send a Savior to give up his life as the sacrificial lamb to save all people from the bondage of slavery to sin. This King would restore eternal hope to the kingdom, just as God designed it to be. 

Memory Verse

“I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” 

Exodus 6:7

Worship

Day One

Read

Here are some verses for your family to read about what happened to Abraham’s descendents, the Israelites, after Joseph died:

Exodus 1:8-13, 22-25

Exodus 1:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves…

22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrew you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.” 23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Pray

Lead your family in a time of prayer over what you read.

Consider the ACTS model:
A – Adoration/ praise God (remember that this is part of worshiping God)
C – Confession (confess sin and your need of God)
T – Thanksgiving (thank God)
S – Supplication (ask God to supply your needs) 

God, You are so good. You hear us when we pray to you and are faithful to act according to your will. There is no one who can help us like you can. Even when the Israelites were in a terrible situation, you were still in control and had a plan to rescue them. We admit we have sinned against you and deserve punishment. Help us to turn away from our sin and draw near to you. We thank you for rescuing us, as you did Israel! Thank you for Jesus! We ask you to help us with the needs we have today. Provide for us according to your will. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

Day Two

Read

Here are some verses for your family to read about Moses and how God chose him to be the one to lead his people out of Egypt. If your children do not know the story of Moses, spend time reading Exodus 2 to see God’s protection and provision in his life.
Exodus 2:11-15, 3:1-8, 10-15; 6:1, 7-8, 10-11

Exodus 2:11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian.

3:1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro… 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 4 …God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians

and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…
10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Exodus 6:1 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.

7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’”

10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.”

Pray

Lead your family in a time of prayer over what you read.

Consider the ACTS model:
A – Adoration/ praise God (remember that this is part of worshiping God)
C – Confession (confess sin and your need of God)
T – Thanksgiving (thank God)
S – Supplication (ask God to supply your needs) 

Heavenly Father, you care for your people. You know our needs and you have compassion on us. You choose unlikely people to accomplish your will, just as we see you do with Moses. Like us, Moses was not perfect, but you chose to show your glory through him. Father forgive us for sinning against you and seeking our own glory instead of yours. Be glorified in us! Thank you for showing us how wonderful you are and how your provision is always perfect. We trust you to meet our needs according to your will. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Day Three

Read

Here are some verses for your family to read about the last of the ten plagues that God sent on Egypt to show them that He is the one true God. This is the Lord’s Passover and symbolizes the way Jesus’ blood would save all from their slavery to sin. If your children do not know about the ten plagues, spend some time teaching them about God’s miraculous works that lead up to this one.

Exodus 12:1-3, 7-8, 11-13, 29-32, 50-51

Exodus 12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.

7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 

11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

29 At midnight the Lord struck down 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, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night,

31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

50 All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Pray

Lead your family in a time of prayer over what you read.

Consider the ACTS model:
A – Adoration/ praise God (remember that this is part of worshiping God)
C – Confession (confess sin and your need of God)
T – Thanksgiving (thank God)
S – Supplication (ask God to supply your needs) 

God, there is none like you! You are mighty in power! When we read about all the ways you demonstrated your power to the Egyptians, we are amazed! You rescued your people from slavery in a way that none could ever do. In the same way you rescue us from slavery to sin through Jesus, as nothing else could ever do. Thank you for the gift of salvation. God please consider our specific needs today and help us by providing according to your well. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Day Four

Read

Here are some verses for your family to read about how God parted the Red Sea and delivered the Israelites out of harm:

Exodus 13:17-18, 2-22; 14:8-9, 11, 13-14, 21-23, 17-18, 30-31

Exodus 13:17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Exodus 14:8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea…

…And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 

27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Pray

Lead your family in a time of prayer over what you read.

Consider the ACTS model:
A – Adoration/ praise God (remember that this is part of worshiping God)
C – Confession (confess sin and your need of God)
T – Thanksgiving (thank God)
S – Supplication (ask God to supply your needs) 

God, you are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. You demonstrated your mighty power to Egypt and still they rejected you. They paid the penalty with their lives. There are consequences for our sins because you are a holy and just God. You sent your son Jesus to pay the consequences for our sins and through Him made a way for us to be near you again. We thank you for not being far off but desiring to be near, just as you were with the Israelites. We ask you to meet our needs today according to your will. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Day Five: Family Sabbath

Be Present

Set aside distractions (electronics, work, chores, etc.) and spend time with God and each other. 

Pray

God, thank you for giving us rest. You created us with limitations and command us to rest to remember You and all You provide. Help us rest in You today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Play

Choose a fun activity to do together as your family rests from work. 

• Take a nap
• Draw a map of your neighborhood
• Pick a country to research and learn about. Choose a traditional food from that country to make. Pray for the country you chose.

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