22. Forgetful Followers: Moses, Pharaoh and the Faithful God Part 7

[00:00:00] G'day Dave here, welcome to Stories of a Faithful God for Kids, the podcast where we

[00:00:07] remind ourselves of just how wonderful and faithful and powerful God is.

[00:00:16] How good is your memory?

[00:00:18] Let's find out.

[00:00:19] Try and remember these.

[00:00:22] Cat-dog-chicken-ardvark-elephant-mouse-rabbit-snake-hamster-hypopotamus-leopard

[00:00:28] Now, how many of those animals can you name?

[00:00:31] If there's someone with you, tell them.

[00:00:42] How did you go?

[00:00:44] The animals were cat-dog-chicken-ardvark-elephant-mouse-rabbit-snake-hamster-hypopotamus-leopard.

[00:00:58] Some people have really great memories.

[00:01:02] My son remembers things from when he was two that I don't even remember.

[00:01:07] Some people have shocking memories.

[00:01:10] Like me.

[00:01:11] I have something called ADHD.

[00:01:14] It means my mind is always getting distracted and I forget what I was doing.

[00:01:19] I put something down and 10 seconds later, I've forgotten where it is.

[00:01:24] Sometimes I'll find it days or weeks later.

[00:01:28] No matter how good your memory is, there's something we're all in danger of.

[00:01:34] That is forgetting God.

[00:01:37] Forgetting why God is so important.

[00:01:40] Forgetting why we can trust God.

[00:01:43] Forgetting the great things God's done.

[00:01:46] And that can have really bad results.

[00:01:51] In today's story, people forget and it's a disaster.

[00:01:58] Get ready for our next episode of Oh Look A Banana.

[00:02:03] Wait, what was I saying?

[00:02:06] I forgot.

[00:02:07] Oh yeah, oh yeah.

[00:02:08] Get ready for our next episode of Oh Look There's A Monkey Eating A Banana.

[00:02:13] You don't see that every day.

[00:02:17] Hmm?

[00:02:18] What?

[00:02:19] Oh, yeah, I forgot again.

[00:02:21] Okay, get ready for our next episode of Stories of a Faithful God for Kids.

[00:02:28] Oh look, a banana eating a monkey.

[00:03:00] At the end of our last episode, the Israelite leaders were super excited.

[00:03:05] They'd heard the words of Moses and Aaron.

[00:03:08] They'd seen the miracles that God gave them to do.

[00:03:11] And they believed.

[00:03:13] They believed God when he said he was going to rescue them from slavery in Egypt.

[00:03:18] Now, it's time for action.

[00:03:22] This is the moment we've all been waiting for.

[00:03:25] Moses and Aaron are going to speak to Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt.

[00:03:30] They're going to tell him God's word.

[00:03:33] Here we go.

[00:03:34] It's Exodus chapter five verse one.

[00:03:36] Let's get some dramatic music going.

[00:03:49] After Moses and Aaron talked to the people, they went to the king of Egypt.

[00:03:54] They said, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says.

[00:04:00] Let my people go so they may hold a feast for me in the desert.

[00:04:06] But the king of Egypt said, who is the Lord?

[00:04:12] Uh oh.

[00:04:14] This is a problem.

[00:04:16] Pharaoh's got no idea who the Lord God of Israel is.

[00:04:20] If he did, he'd be saying, oh yes sir, whatever you say sir, would you like to take all our

[00:04:25] golden silver sir?

[00:04:27] But he doesn't know.

[00:04:29] The Egyptians believe in more than 1500 gods.

[00:04:33] So Pharaoh knows a lot of gods.

[00:04:35] He knows Osiris and Isis and Horus and Seth.

[00:04:39] He knows Ptah, Ray, Hathor and Anubis.

[00:04:43] Thoth, Amon, Bastet, Nemtih, Anakhet, Pakhet, Soptu, Keppri, Wadjet.

[00:04:48] The list goes on and on and on.

[00:04:51] Pharaoh himself is considered a God.

[00:04:54] He knows lots of gods.

[00:04:56] But he doesn't know the Lord God of Israel.

[00:05:00] And he's thinking, why would I obey some God I've never even heard of?

[00:05:05] So he says in verse 2, who is the Lord?

[00:05:09] Why should I obey him and let Israel go?

[00:05:13] I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.

[00:05:19] Now, the important thing for Moses and Aaron to do here is not panic.

[00:05:27] They need to stay calm because if they remember, God said this would happen.

[00:05:34] He said that Pharaoh would be stubborn.

[00:05:37] But they don't remember.

[00:05:40] And so they panic.

[00:05:43] In verse 3 they say to Pharaoh, The God of the Hebrews has talked with us.

[00:05:50] Now let us travel three days into the desert.

[00:05:53] There we will offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.

[00:05:56] If we don't do this, he may kill us with a disease or in war.

[00:06:01] Um, no he won't.

[00:06:06] Moses and Aaron.

[00:06:07] If you remember, when God said that Pharaoh would refuse, he said that lots of stuff is

[00:06:13] going to happen to the Egyptians.

[00:06:15] Not the Israelites.

[00:06:18] But they don't remember.

[00:06:20] So they panic.

[00:06:23] Then Pharaoh gets really angry at them and blames them for stopping the Israelites from

[00:06:28] working.

[00:06:30] After they've gone, he comes up with a really evil scheme to make the Israelites

[00:06:35] stop thinking about leaving Egypt.

[00:06:38] It's really nasty.

[00:06:40] As we go through Exodus, don't ever think that Pharaoh is somehow innocent.

[00:06:46] He's not.

[00:06:47] This is what he comes up with.

[00:06:49] The Israelites work as brick makers to build cities.

[00:06:53] One of the key ingredients for their bricks apart from mud is straw.

[00:06:59] So far straw has been given to them so that they can get on with making the bricks.

[00:07:05] And now Pharaoh says they have to get their own straw.

[00:07:09] He's the kicker though.

[00:07:12] They still have to make the same number of bricks as before.

[00:07:17] In verse 9, Pharaoh says to the slave masters, Make these people work harder.

[00:07:23] Keep them busy.

[00:07:24] Then they will not have time to listen to the lies of Moses.

[00:07:31] Have you ever been given a job that's impossible?

[00:07:35] Like your parents say, Move the whole house to another country or we won't give you any

[00:07:40] food for a week.

[00:07:42] Or a teacher says, Sharpen all the pencils in the school in the next five minutes or you

[00:07:48] have to clean the toilets every day until you're 18.

[00:07:53] Those are jokey examples.

[00:07:56] But this was happening for real for the Israelites.

[00:08:00] They go out into the fields to get straw.

[00:08:03] But that takes time which means less time for making bricks.

[00:08:06] Which means they make less bricks.

[00:08:09] And then the Egyptians whip them for not making enough.

[00:08:14] It's so horrible.

[00:08:17] The Israelite foreman, the guys in charge of the brick making, go to Pharaoh and say

[00:08:22] in verse 15, Why are you treating us your servants this way?

[00:08:28] You give us no straw but we're commanded to make bricks.

[00:08:31] Our slave masters beat us, but it's your own people's fault.

[00:08:36] The king answered, You are lazy.

[00:08:39] You don't want to work.

[00:08:40] That is why you ask to leave here and make sacrifices to the Lord.

[00:08:44] Now go back to work.

[00:08:46] We will not give you any straw, but you must make just as many bricks as you did

[00:08:52] before.

[00:08:55] Now the important thing for these foremen to do is not panic.

[00:09:02] They need to stay calm.

[00:09:04] Yes they're having a really hard time, but if they remember God's words, they'll

[00:09:09] know that God's about to rescue them.

[00:09:12] They just need to hang on for a little bit longer.

[00:09:16] Buuuut they forget.

[00:09:19] And so they panic.

[00:09:22] Moses and Aaron are waiting outside to find out what's happened in the meeting.

[00:09:26] And the foremen come out really angry.

[00:09:29] Instead of blaming Pharaoh, they blame Moses and Aaron.

[00:09:34] In fact, they think God should be angry at Moses and Aaron as well.

[00:09:39] They've forgotten that Moses and Aaron were just doing what God told them to do.

[00:09:44] In verse 21 they say, May the Lord punish you.

[00:09:48] You caused the king and his officers to hate us.

[00:09:51] You've given them an excuse to kill us.

[00:09:56] Now the important thing for Moses to do is not panic.

[00:10:03] He needs to stay calm.

[00:10:05] He needs to remember that God said Pharaoh would be stubborn.

[00:10:10] He needs to remember that God will still make the plan happen.

[00:10:17] Buuuut he forgets.

[00:10:21] And so he panics.

[00:10:24] He gets really angry at God and blames him for the problem.

[00:10:31] In verse 22 he says, Lord why have you brought this trouble on your people?

[00:10:38] Is this why you sent me here?

[00:10:40] I went to the king and said what you told me to say.

[00:10:43] But ever since that time he's made the people suffer and you've done nothing to save them.

[00:10:52] So how does God respond?

[00:10:55] And he encourages Moses to remember.

[00:11:00] Remember the plan.

[00:11:02] Remember God's power.

[00:11:04] He says in chapter 6 verse 1, Now you will see what I will do to the king of Egypt.

[00:11:11] I will use my great power against him and he will let my people go.

[00:11:18] Because of my power he will force them out of his country.

[00:11:24] And then he reminds Moses of who he, God is.

[00:11:29] He's not just some liar or trickster.

[00:11:31] He's the Lord.

[00:11:34] And do you remember what we know about the Lord?

[00:11:36] We know he's the great promise maker and the great promise keeper.

[00:11:42] We know he's the powerful promise keeper.

[00:11:45] We know he's the powerful promise keeper who cares about his people.

[00:11:50] And when you hear his name, you should remember all those things.

[00:11:56] And so he reminds Moses about all of this.

[00:11:59] From verse 2 this is what he says.

[00:12:01] He says, I am the Lord.

[00:12:04] I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the name God all powerful.

[00:12:10] But they did not know me by my name the Lord.

[00:12:14] I also made my agreement with them to give them the land of Canaan.

[00:12:18] I lived in that land, but it was not their own land.

[00:12:22] Now I have heard the cries of the Israelites.

[00:12:25] The Egyptians are treating them as slaves and I remember my agreement.

[00:12:30] So tell the people of Israel that I say to them, I am the Lord.

[00:12:36] I will save you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do.

[00:12:40] I will make you free.

[00:12:43] You will not be slaves to the Egyptians.

[00:12:46] I will free you by my great power and I will punish the Egyptians terribly.

[00:12:53] I will make you my own people and I will be your God.

[00:12:58] You will know that I am the Lord your God.

[00:13:01] I am the one who saves you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do.

[00:13:07] I will lead you to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

[00:13:12] I will give you that land to own.

[00:13:15] I am the Lord.

[00:13:19] These are wonderful promises.

[00:13:22] Promises you can trust because the Lord is powerful and caring and faithful.

[00:13:29] But when Moses goes back and tries to remind the people, they don't listen.

[00:13:35] They're just thinking about their hard slavery.

[00:13:38] And when God tells Moses to go back to Pharaoh, Moses starts trying the same excuses

[00:13:44] he used at Mount Sinai.

[00:13:46] He says in verse 12,

[00:13:48] The Israelites will not listen to me.

[00:13:51] So surely the king will not listen to me either.

[00:13:54] I am not a good speaker.

[00:13:58] He's forgotten that it's not about him and his power.

[00:14:02] It's about God and his power and his kindness and his faithfulness.

[00:14:13] Do you know?

[00:14:15] Even though some of us have better memories than others, we all find it pretty easy

[00:14:20] to forget God and his promises.

[00:14:23] Sometimes that means we panic.

[00:14:26] We might be having a hard time.

[00:14:27] We might think no one can help us because we've forgotten.

[00:14:32] Forgotten that if Jesus is our king and savior, then we're in God's family.

[00:14:36] He's our heavenly Father.

[00:14:38] We can ask Him anything and He's always with us

[00:14:41] because He's put His Holy Spirit in us.

[00:14:46] Sometimes our forgetfulness means that we're rude or mean to other people.

[00:14:51] We forget that if we're in the king's family,

[00:14:54] we should love people like the king loves people.

[00:14:58] Sometimes our forgetfulness means that we get worried that God won't want us or like us.

[00:15:04] We forget that God loved us so much

[00:15:07] that He gave His one and only Son

[00:15:10] so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

[00:15:15] Sometimes we forget that Jesus will come back and take us to a better home

[00:15:21] so we get more excited about the stuff in this world

[00:15:24] like Xboxes and cool bikes and phones and apps

[00:15:28] rather than being excited about what's coming next.

[00:15:33] It's easy to forget.

[00:15:36] That's why we need to keep going back and reading or hearing from the Bible

[00:15:41] so we don't forget what's best.

[00:15:44] So we don't forget who's best, our loving, powerful, faithful God.

[00:15:52] That's one of the reasons I started this podcast to help us remember.

[00:15:56] Don't let things that are happening in this world

[00:16:00] let you forget our God.

[00:16:03] Back in Egypt, things are at their worst.

[00:16:07] Pharaohs being stubborn.

[00:16:09] The Israelites don't believe Moses and Aaron anymore.

[00:16:13] Moses has stopped trusting God.

[00:16:16] But remember what God said?

[00:16:18] He said,

[00:16:20] Now you will see what I will do to the king of Egypt.

[00:16:25] I will use my great power against him

[00:16:28] and he will let my people go.

[00:16:33] But that's a story for next time.

[00:16:38] Don't forget to write a review or leave a star rating

[00:16:42] and don't forget to tell other people about the podcast

[00:16:45] so they can be helped to remember too.

[00:16:48] If you have any questions or you just want to say hi,

[00:16:51] go to faithfulgod.net that's faithfulgod.net

[00:16:55] and fill in the contact form.

[00:16:57] Adults, don't forget to check out the other podcast

[00:17:01] Stories of a Faithful God where I cover a wider section

[00:17:04] and go into more detail for you.

[00:17:08] See you next time.

[00:17:17] Thanks so much for listening.

[00:17:19] Adults, if you think this podcast is helpful for your kids and for others,

[00:17:24] please show your appreciation by donating some money

[00:17:27] to help keep the show going.

[00:17:29] You can donate at faithfulgod.net that's faithfulgod.net

[00:17:34] Thanks so much to everyone who already has donated.

[00:17:36] You make all this possible.

[00:17:38] Also, kids and adults, I'd love you to go to the website

[00:17:42] and send me a message.

[00:17:43] Tell me how you're finding the show

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[00:17:50] Bye for now.