Abraham: A Great Nation, Promised Land (Canaan)
Abraham (Abram) was the son of Terah a descendant of Shem. He had two brother, Nahor and Haran.
His brother, Haran, died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living. Meanwhile, Abraham and Nahor both married. The name of Abraham’s wife was Sarah (Sarai), and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.)
Sarah was unable to become pregnant and had no children. One day Terah took his son Abraham, his daughter-in-law Sarah, and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. Terah died while still in Haran.
The Lord had said to Abraham, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
He took his wife, Sarah, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abraham traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abraham to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. So Abraham left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned. From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and Ai, where they had camped before.
His nephew, Lot, who was traveling with him had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. But the land could not support both Abraham and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)
Finally Abraham said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar.
Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abraham. So Abraham settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain.
After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abraham, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.”
So Abraham moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre, whose brothers were Eshcol and Aner, were his allies.
About this time war broke out in the region. King Amraphel of Babylonia, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Kedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim fought against King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar).
Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela prepared for battle in the valley of the Dead Sea. They fought against King Kedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against five.
As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains. The victors then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and headed for home, taking with them all the spoils of war and the food supplies. They also captured Lot—Abraham’s nephew who lived in Sodom—and carried off everything he owned.
But one of Lot’s men escaped and reported everything to Abraham the Hebrew, who was living near the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite.
When Abraham heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. He was joined by his allies Mamre, Eshcol and Aner.
Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. There he divided his men and attacked during the night.
Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abraham chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. Abraham recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.
Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abraham in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abraham, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”
Then the Lord took Abraham outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
But Abraham replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?
“I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” [...] “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”
So the Lord made a covenant with Abraham that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Now Sarah, Abraham’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarah said to Abraham, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abraham agreed with Sarah’s proposal.
So Abraham had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat Sarah, with contempt.
Then Sarah treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The said to her, “Hagar, Sarah’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress, Sarah,” she replied.
“Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.”
The angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.” So Hagar gave Abraham a son, and Abraham named him Ishmael.
God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarah, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”
“Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
On that very day Abraham took his son, Ishmael, and every male in his household, including those born there and those he had bought. Then he circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, just as God had told him.
The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Abraham named their son Isaac. Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded.
When Isaac grew up and was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion. But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of her son, Isaac.
So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!”
So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba.
And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer, and he settled in the wilderness of Paran. His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt.
Ishmael had twelve sons of Ishmael became the founders of twelve tribes named after them, listed according to the places they settled and camped.
12 Tribes of Ishmael
Ishmael’s descendants occupied the region from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of Ashur.
Soon after, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor’s wife, had borne Nahor eight sons. The oldest was named Uz, the next oldest was Buz, followed by Kemuel (the ancestor of the Arameans), (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, Nahor had four other children from his concubine Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Abraham’s wife. Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
Abraham bought the plot of land belonging to Ephron (son of Zohar) at Machpelah, near Mamre. He paid 400 pieces of silver, weighed according to the market standard. The Hittite elders witnessed the transaction.
This included the field itself, the cave that was in it, and all the surrounding trees. It was transferred to Abraham as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate. Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there in Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron). So the field and the cave were transferred from the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place.
Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh. Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”
So the servant took an oath by putting his hand under Abraham’s thigh. He swore to follow his instructions.
Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim. There he went to the town where Abraham’s brother Nahor had settled.
“O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.
Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah.
Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.”
“Yes, my lord,” she answered, “have a drink.” And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink.
“Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “And please tell me, would your father have any room to put us up for the night?”
“I am the daughter of Bethuel,” she replied. “My grandparents are Nahor and Milcah.
The man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. The young woman ran home to tell her family everything that had happened.
Early the next morning, Abraham’s servant said, “Send me back to my master.”
“Are you willing to go with this man?” they asked Rebekah. And she replied, “Yes, I will go.”
Meanwhile, Isaac, whose home was in the Negev, had returned from Beer-lahai-roi. One evening as he was walking and meditating in the fields, he looked up and saw the camels coming.
When Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac, she quickly dismounted from her camel. “Who is that man walking through the fields to meet us?” she asked the servant.
And he replied, “It is my master.” Rebekah covered her face with her veil.
Isaac married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
Rebekah became pregnant with twins. The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau. Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob.
Abraham married another wife, whose name was Keturah. and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
This was the field Abraham had purchased from the Hittites and where he had buried his wife Sarah. After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer-lahai-roi in the Negev.
As Esau and Jacob grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home. Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.
Isaac blessed Jacob as firstborn, and said, “You must not marry any of these Canaanite women. Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle Laban’s daughters. So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle Laban, his mother’s brother, the son of Bethuel the Aramean.
It was now clear to Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women. So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son.
The prophet Mohammed traces his descent from Abraham and Ishmael through Kedar.
When Jacob arrived to Paddan-aram, he asked “Do you know a man there named Laban, the grandson of Nahor?”
“Yes, we do,” they replied.
“Is he doing well?” Jacob asked.
“Yes, he’s well,” they answered.
“Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock now.”
Jacob worked 20 years for Laban’s two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel.
Jacob returned, settling again in the land of Canaan, where his father Isaac, son of Abraham, had lived as a foreigner.
His 12 sons became the founders of twelve tribes named after them.
12 Tribes of Israel
- Reuben, son of Leah
- Simeon, son of Leah
- Levi, son of Leah
- Judah, son of Leah
- Dan, son of Bilah
- Naphtali, son of Bilah
- Gad, son of Zilpah
- Ashur, son of Zilpah
- Issachar, son of Leah
- Zebulun, son of Leah
- Joseph, son of Rachel
- Benjamin, son of Rachel
Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children. One day he had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. Joseph’s brothers hated him.
One day, his brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”
“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.
When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said.
Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed.
When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home. Then she told him her story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our house tried to come in and fool around with me,” she said.
Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.
Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker were also put in jail. While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning.
“We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.”
“Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.”
Joseph interpreted both dreams, and said “...please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”
Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned his chief cup-bearer and chief baker to join the other officials. He then restored the chief cup-bearer to his former position, so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup.
But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream. Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.
Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River. He was very disturbed by the dreams so he called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt.
When Pharaoh told them his dreams, not one of them could tell him what they meant.
Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh.
Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh.
Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. The seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine.
“This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt. But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land. This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased.
As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen. Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials.
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck.
Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt.
Pharaoh gave Joseph a new Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah. He also gave him a wife, whose name was Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. So Joseph took charge of the entire land of Egypt.
As predicted, for seven years the land produced bumper crops. During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On.
Joseph named his older son Manasseh and his second son Ephraim.
At last the seven years of bumper crops throughout the land of Egypt came to an end. Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. The famine also struck all the surrounding countries, but throughout Egypt there was plenty of food.
Eventually, however, the famine spread throughout the land of Egypt as well. And when the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told them, “Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you.”
When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he sent Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him.
The brothers made their journey with their loaded donkeys.
After a second visit to Egypt for grains, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers.
“I am Joseph!” he said. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them.
Now hurry back to my father and tell him, “This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. So come down to me immediately!”
So the sons of Jacob did as they were told. Joseph provided them with wagons, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them supplies for the journey.
Jacob set out for Egypt with all his possessions. And when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.
During the night God spoke to him in a vision.
“Jacob! Jacob!” he called.“Here I am,” Jacob replied. “I am God, the God of your father,” the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.”
So Jacob left Beersheba, and his sons took him to Egypt. They carried him and their little ones and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had provided for them. They also took all their livestock and all the personal belongings they had acquired in the land of Canaan.
Jacob and his entire family went to Egypt— sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters—all his descendants.
As they neared their destination, Jacob sent Judah ahead to meet Joseph and get directions to the region of Goshen. And when they finally arrived there, Joseph prepared his chariot and traveled to Goshen to meet his father, Jacob. When Joseph arrived, he embraced his father and wept, holding him for a long time. Finally, Jacob said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen your face again and know you are still alive.”
So Joseph assigned the best land of Egypt—the region of Rameses—to his father and his brothers, and he settled them there, just as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided food for his father and his brothers in amounts appropriate to the number of their dependents, including the smallest children.
Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population grew rapidly.
As the time of his death drew near, Jacob called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt. When I die, please take my body out of Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.”So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”
One day not long after this, word came to Joseph, “Your father is failing rapidly.” So Joseph went to visit his father, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations. And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
“Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are. But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.
Then Jacob said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors. And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of the land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. This is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site. There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah. It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.” When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.
Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body. The embalming process took the usual forty days and Jacob’s death was mourned for seventy days.
So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them. They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite. After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial.
“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Then Joseph made the sons of Israel (Jacob) swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.”
When he died, Joseph’s body was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.
The Exodus begins after the children of Jacob (Israel) had been in Egypt for 400 years, is dated between c. 1445 BC to 1200 BC.
A new pharaoh was in power and said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.”
He gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.”
A man and woman, Amram and Jochebed, from the tribe of Levi got married. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She kept him hidden for three months.
But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her.
The baby was Moses, the princess may have been the future Pharaoh Hatshepsut. His sister approached the princess. “Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked.
“Yes, do!” the princess replied. So the girl went and called their mother.
“Take this baby and nurse him for me,” the princess told the baby’s mother. “I will pay you for your help.”
So the woman took her baby home and nursed him. Later, when Moses was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son.
Many years later, Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work.
During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.
Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.” And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian.
There, Reuel gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife. Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he explained, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”
Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.
God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel).
He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.
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About the Author: Lawrence Jean-Louis is the founder of eBrand Me, a digital marketing agency offering marketing & consultative services to CPAs and tax professionals. She aspires to start a money management firm by 2030.
