TEXT: Exodus 14:1-31
THERE were some people whom God loved very much. They were called Israelites, just like you are called an American.
These Israelite people lived in a country where there was a bad, bad king. He made them work and work. They worked so hard they were almost sick. If they did not do as much work as the bad king said to do they were hit and slapped and hurt.
The king was mean to these Israelites just because they loved God. He did not love God and he did not want anyone else to.
Do you remember Moses, that little baby who was put into a basket-boat in the river and the king’s girl found him? This baby was a big man now. He loved God, too.
God told Moses to go help these people get away from that mean king. Moses asked the king if the people could go into the wilderness to worship God. The king said, “No!” They could not go because he wanted them to work for him.
God sent all kinds of trouble to the king’s people until one day the king said that the Israelites could go and take their children and their cattle with them and never come back.
Moses got all the Israelite people together and started to show them the way to a place God had said they could have for their own.
Have you ever been so happy that you felt like singing? That must have been how the Israelite people felt to be getting away from that mean king and all that hard work. They were on their way at last to the Promised Land, the place God had said they could have.
The bad king got mad then. He wished he had not said that the Israelites could go. He wanted them back. He called all his soldiers. Soldiers are men who fight for their
country. These soldiers helped the mean king.
They hurried real fast, got their horses and chariots ready, and off the soldiers went, as fast as they could go. Chariots are wagons with only two wheels and horses can pull them real fast. The poor Israelite people had to walk all the way, so could not go very fast. Do you think the soldiers will catch them?
The people of God were camped beside the big waters of a sea. A sea is much bigger and has lots more water than a river. Here they were resting after the long walk.
They looked up and saw all these soldiers coming after them. They were so afraid. What would they do? They could not swim across all that water. Little boys and girls were there. How could they get them across to the other side?
Moses said, “Don’t be afraid. God will take care of us.” God told Moses to hold out the rod in his hand over the water of that sea. Moses did, and do you know what happened?
When Moses held out his hand, God made a strong wind to blow. It blew so hard it pushed all the water away from the bottom of the sea. There was a dry path there for the Israelites to walk across to the other side. The water backed up and stood tall like a wall. Did you ever hear of water standing up tall all by itself? No, you did not. But God made it do it there that day.
Quick, quick, the girls and boys and big people went on that path to the other side. Now they were afraid again. The soldiers were coming after them. The mean king might catch them after all. They came right into the Red Sea and walked on that dry path, too.
Moses told the people that God would take care of them. The Israelite people of God stood there and watched. Closer and closer came the king and all those soldiers, driving their chariots along that dry path. Here they come! Then God made the wheels come off the chariots, and the horses couldn’t pull them.
God told Moses to hold out his hand again. Moses did. The strong wind stopped blowing. The high wall of water fell down all over the path. The water covered the bad king and all his soldiers. God had taken care of His people. He will take care of you, too, if you need help sometime. Just pray and say, “Jesus, I need You to help me” and He will help you.
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