The talents of Moses

SCRIPTURE:

Exodus 2:1; 3:7-21; 14:5-23

OBJECTIVES OF THE LESSON:

1. Discover the talent of Moses and how he used it to help the community;

2. Encourage the children not to minimise their abilities, no matter how small it may be;

3. Show that while using the leadership skill Moses acquired in the royal palace, he was able to free his people from slavery.

INTRODUCTION:

Start the lesson with a short song and/or a prayer.

PRESENTATION:

After the death of Joseph and his brothers, there was a new pharaoh on the throne; he did not acknowledge the people of Israel. He decided to make them slaves and prevent them from multiplying. It was during those difficult moments of slavery that Moses was born. His mother could not raise him because of the barbaric law set by pharaoh; she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, saw the child and took him in. He was named Moses. He grew up in the palace with all the advantages of the royal court; this enabled him to acquire a sense of leadership at an early age. Moses became a man. He felt bad for his brothers, the Hebrews, who endured the difficulties of slavery and tried all means to rescue them. One day he killed an Egyptian whom he found torturing a Hebrew. He was afraid of Pharaoh’s anger and fled from Egypt. He went to Midian. There he lived with the priest of that area who gave him his daughter in marriage.

Pharaoh died, but the children of Israel were still in bondage and prayed to God, asking Him to deliver them. God appeared to Moses, in the land of Midian, while he was feeding his father-in-law’s cattle and asked him to go to Egypt and deliver his people from slavery. Moses replied: “Who am I that I should go to pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He wanted to refuse that mission, claiming that he did not know how to talk and that his brothers may not welcome him. God gave him Aaron, his brother, as spokesperson for this tedious mission and promised to be with him.

The Hebrews saw them as liberators and welcomed them with joy. Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh who, after many trials, finally accepted to let the people go.

SUBJECTS OF DISCUSSION:

1. Is Moses an Egyptian or a son of Israel?

2. Does Moses have one or many talents? If yes, which one/ones?

3. How does Moses show his leadership talent in Egypt?

4. Why does Moses flee from Egypt?

5. How does Moses show his leadership talent in the land of Midian?

6. Do you have Moses’ talent?

ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN:

1. Make a drawing of Moses as he feeds the cattle and God appearing to him in the burning bush;

2. Ask the children to role play as Moses attempts to convince Pharaoh to let the people go;

3. Organise an outdoor session or a picnic to admire the wonders of God’s creation (hills, savannah, etc.).

RESOURCE PERSON:

Invite somebody to talk about the link between a shepherd of cattle and a shepherd of men.

ACTION TO ENCOURAGE:

Invite the children to take care of younger ones, both at home and at school.

MEMORY VERSE:

“By faith, Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Heb. 11: 27).

CLOSING:

Close by interceding for those who lead us so that they exercise their talent of leadership according to the will of God.