Lesson 5 The Birth of Exodus 1:1–2:10

Characters: , 1 or more Soldiers, 1 or 2 Midwives, and (Moses’ parents), , Pharaoh’s Daughter, 1 or more Young Women, (everyone else). Assign everyone a part. Costumes: Nametags for all characters (CD). Print 1 sheet of Page 1 Nametags, which features the main characters. Make multiple copies of Page 2 Nametags to add characters. Props: Sign (CD; from Lessons 2–4) and Pharaoh’s Palace Sign (CD; save both signs for Lessons 7–9); large basket or box; baby doll; blue tarp for the River (optional); chair (throne) for Pharaoh Prepare: Copy Leader Notes and Script for yourself. Make Script copies for speakers—Pharaoh, Soldier(s), Midwives, Amram, Jochebed, Miriam, and Pharaoh’s Daughter—and nonspeakers—Young Woman or Women. Highlight parts on scripts or give markers to students to do so. Choose 3 places for action: (1) Pharaoh’s Palace, (2) a home, and (3) the Nile River. Hang up signs and lay down the tarp if you use them.

Leader Notes This drama activity lets all children participate; it is not a performance. Include preparation time as part of the activity so that everyone sees and hears the plans. As Leader, you set up the activity, direct the action, prompt participants to move or speak, keep the activity moving, and lead discussion questions at the end. If time allows, repeat the activity with students playing the same or new parts. Students often relax and enjoy doing the activity again. Children, especially those with language-processing delays, learn a from repeating activities. Choose children who read well for reading parts and give them scripts to review as you prepare the other children (Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s daughter, Amram, Jocebed, Miriam, Soldier, and Midwife). If you have more than one Soldier or Midwife, tell them to read their parts together.

Cross Explorations® Express Skits Old Testament 2 © 2015 Concordia Publishing House. Scripture: ESV®. Reproduced by permission. Purchaser has permission to copy for the intended quarter. Page 1 Choose one or more girls to be Young Women who do not speak. Hand out nametags. Send Pharaoh, Daughter, Young Women, and Soldiers to Pharaoh’s Palace. Send Amram, Jochebed, Midwives, and Miriam to the home with the doll and basket. Ask everyone else to be Israelites (they will end up as Slaves). Seat them between the Palace and the home. Give this group “Israelite” nametags. Tell Israelites that Amram will occasionally cue them to clap; practice cues. Give “Slave” nametags to Soldiers to hold. When ready, ask Midwife to start.

Cross Explorations® Express Skits Old Testament 2 © 2015 Concordia Publishing House. Scripture: ESV®. Reproduced by permission. Purchaser has permission to copy for the intended quarter. Lesson 5, Page 2 Script MIDWIFE: (Stands) Long ago, moved seventy family members to Egypt, including his father, , also known as Israel. blessed the people of Israel and they grew in numbers and strength. SOLDIER: (Stands) The land was filled with them. AMRAM: (Stands) And there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. PHARAOH: (Pointing at ISRAELITES) Look, there are too many Israelite people in our country. They are too mighty for us. Let’s deal shrewdly with them to keep them from multiplying more. If war breaks out, they might join our enemies. SOLDIER: So we set taskmasters over them to give them heavy burdens. And the Israelites worked hard. (AMRAM leads ISRAELITES to clap.) AMRAM: Our people built the cities of Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh. (Leads ISRAELITES to applaud.) PHARAOH: But the more we oppressed them, the more they multiplied! (AMRAM leads ISRAELITES to clap.) SOLDIER: No! (Walks to ISRAELITES, who stop clapping.) We feared the Israelites immensely. So we made them work as slaves. (Take “Israelites” nametags and give them “Slaves” nametags instead.) AMRAM: Our lives were bitter. We worked very hard in fields and building with bricks. The Egyptians were ruthless masters. But God blessed us. Thank You, Lord! (AMRAM leads ISRAELITES to clap to thank God.) PHARAOH motions for MIDWIVES to come stand before him, and they do so. PHARAOH: (To MIDWIVES) When you help Israelite women have babies, kill the sons and let the daughters live. MIDWIVES bow to PHARAOH, then EXIT palace and move to stand by ISRAELITES. MIDWIFE: (To GROUP) We feared God and did not do this. We let our male babies live. PHARAOH again motions for MIDWIVES to come stand before him, and they do so. PHARAOH: Why did you let Israelite boy babies live? MIDWIFE: Because Israelite women are not like Egyptian women. They give birth very quickly, before a midwife arrives.

Cross Explorations® Express Skits Old Testament 2 © 2015 Concordia Publishing House. Scripture: ESV®. Reproduced by permission. Purchaser has permission to copy for the intended quarter. Lesson 5, Page 3 SOLDIER: (To GROUP) And the people multiplied and grew stronger. Pharaoh grew more desperate. PHARAOH: (To ISRAELITES) Throw all the Israelite baby boys into the Nile. Your daughters may live. MIDWIFE: (To GROUP) Moses was born during this time to parents from the tribe of . JOCHEBED: I loved my baby very much, and I hid him for three months. When I could hide him no more, I made a basket of bulrushes, plants that grew along the river. MIRIAM: Mama put tar on the bottom so the basket was waterproof, and we hid our baby boy in the reeds along the river. JOCHEBED and MIRIAM put doll in basket and place basket at the river’s edge. JOCHEBED: Miriam, watch the basket from a little distance away so we know what happens to him. MIRIAM: Yes, Mama. (She hides near the river’s edge.) PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER: (To GROUP as she walks to river with YOUNG WOMEN) I went down to the river to take a bath. (To YOUNG WOMEN) Please walk along the river edge and keep watch so no one sees me. PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER stands in the middle of the river while YOUNG WOMEN walk back and forth along the river’s edge. PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER: (To GROUP) Then, I saw a basket among the reeds! (To YOUNG WOMAN) I wonder what’s in that basket. Get it so we can see! (YOUNG WOMAN gets basket and hands it to PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER, who opens it. She speaks to GROUP) What did I see? A crying baby! It must be an Isra- elite baby. MIRIAM: (To GROUP) Pharaoh’s daughter felt sad for the baby. She knew her father’s rule, but she felt sorry for the boy. So I came out of hiding. (To PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER) Princess, shall I go and call a mother from among the Israelites to feed the child for you? PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER: Go! MIRIAM runs to her mother, JOCHEBED, and they come to PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER. JOCHEBED: What can I do for you, Princess? PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER: Take this child away and care for him for me. I will pay you to do so. When he’s older, bring him to me.

Cross Explorations® Express Skits Old Testament 2 © 2015 Concordia Publishing House. Scripture: ESV®. Reproduced by permission. Purchaser has permission to copy for the intended quarter. Lesson 5, Page 4 MIRIAM and JOCHEBED return home with the basket and baby. PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER: (To GROUP) When the baby grew older, the woman brought him to me, and he became my son. I named him Moses because I drew him out of the water. MIDWIFE: And when Moses grew up, God used him as a leader of the Israelite people. He led many, many people from slavery to freedom.

Cross Explorations® Express Skits Old Testament 2 © 2015 Concordia Publishing House. Scripture: ESV®. Reproduced by permission. Purchaser has permission to copy for the intended quarter. Lesson 5, Page 5 Understand the account and make life applications Ask questions to check children’s understanding of the skit and Bible account. What did you learn by doing our skit today? Encourage several students and adults to respond. Answers may vary, but they will help you check student un- derstanding. If needed, correct misconceptions or challenge students to think again about a topic. Why did Pharaoh and the Egyptians fear the Israelite people? Because they multiplied, growing in numbers and strength. Pharaoh feared they would join Egypt’s enemies in war and defeat them. What happened each time Pharaoh tried to do something to make the Israelites weak and stop their numbers from growing? God sustained them, making them grow stronger and multiply in numbers. How did Pharaoh try to get the Israelite midwives to help? He commanded that they kill every Israelite baby boy at birth. Why did the midwives refuse to kill the babies? Because they feared God and knew it was not right to kill the babies Why did the midwives tell Pharaoh the boy babies continued to live? They said the Israelite women gave birth more quickly than Egyptian women, before the midwife arrived. They implied the babies were hidden from them. Finally, Pharaoh made the Israelites slaves and ordered that all Israelite boy babies be thrown into the Nile River. How did baby Moses survive? God pro- tected him through the creative plan of his mom and sister, who floated him in the reeds along the river in a basket covered with tar. Pharaoh’s daughter found him, sent him home to his mother to be cared for, and then received him in her household as a son when he was older. Where do we hear God’s love and grace in this story? In love, God protected and saved baby Moses through the hands of an Egyptian. God had a plan for Moses’ life, just as He has a plan for the lives of each of us. Our heavenly Father shows us this same love by giving us life, food, water, homes, families, churches that teach God’s truth, protection, and everything we need each day. He also showed His love by using His very own Son, , to save us from death, sin, and the . Jesus loved us so much that He died on the cross as a propitia- tion (1 John 4:10), a reckoning that paid for our sins. Just as God rescued Moses through water, He rescues us from death through the waters of Holy Baptism. He offers forgiveness of sins to all who are baptized and believe in Jesus, His Son.

Cross Explorations® Express Skits Old Testament 2 © 2015 Concordia Publishing House. Scripture: ESV®. Reproduced by permission. Purchaser has permission to copy for the intended quarter. Lesson 5, Page 6