Now that Grandad and Nanna have told some of the early stories in the Bible, we are going to go through the rest of God’s book of truth, very briefly.

“This way, you will gain an over view of God’s Word and God’s Plan for you and everyone on Earth”, says Grandad.

“Yes, and then we will come back to fill in the rest of the wonderful stories in the Bible in more detail. When we do that, you will understand better, how you and everyone else fits into God’s good Plan”, says Nanna.

So, where are we now in the Bible story?

Do you remember how Abraham and his wife Sarah had a baby boy, who they called Isaac?

Well, when Isaac grew up he married Rebekah and they had twin sons. One was called Esau and the other was called Jacob.

Jacob married and he had 12 sons and one daughter. God changed his name to “Israel”, which means “he strives with God” or “he rules with God”.

Israel loved God and tried to live by God’s commandments and laws of living.

He taught his sons and daughter to follow God, too. Some followed God faithfully and some less.

Joseph was his favourite son and Israel gave him a coat of many colours.

Joseph’s 11 brothers were very jealous of him and they sold him as a slave.

He was taken to Egypt and was even wrongfully thrown in jail.

But God loved Joseph too, and made him the Prime Minister in Egypt, second in charge, under the Egyptian Pharaoh king.

When Israel and his sons suffered a terrible drought and had no food, they travelled down to Egypt, where Joseph had wisely stored 7 years of food for everyone.

So Israel (Jacob) was happily reunited with his son Joseph, and Joseph forgave his brothers and helped them and their families.

Over 400 years in Egypt the Israelites had many children and grew into a small sized nation of over 2 million people.

The Egyptians worshipped many false gods, like the sun, moon, snakes, locusts and frogs, and were very cruel to the Israelites, after Joseph died.

They turned them into slaves to make bricks and build pyramids and other buildings for them.

One of the Pharaoh kings even ordered the killing of Israelite new-born baby boys. But God saved many of them through the courageous Mid-wives, who took the babies away quickly and hid them, before anyone could kill them.

Moses was one of the little boys that was saved alive, by the Egyptian princess.

Many years passed by and the Egyptians used whips to beat the Israelites to make them work faster and harder in the hot sun, making bricks.

The Israelites began to turn again to seeking God and praying for God to help them and to deliver them from the tormenting Egyptians.

So, God called Moses and his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam to encourage the Israelites. God inspired Moses to go to the Pharaoh and ask him to let the Israelites go from Egypt. But Pharaoh was very stubborn and would not let them go.

So, God gave Moses power to bring 10 terrible plagues upon Egypt. He turned the Nile river water to blood. Then God brought millions of frogs, flies, locusts, and death of the Egyptian farm animals. Other plagues like boils, and darkness for 3 days and nights, but still Pharaoh was so stubborn, he would not let the Israelites go.

Worse than that, the Pharaoh ordered the Israelites to make the same number of bricks they had to make every day, but without straw being given to them, or else be beaten up.

So, God said there would be one last plague and then Pharaoh would let them leave Egypt.

To make the Israelites safe in their homes, God told Moses to tell the people to kill a young lamb or a goat and paint some of its blood on the door posts and lintel door heads of their homes. They were to roast and eat the lambs with their families, and God commanded them not to go out of their homes until after sunrise.

God called this 14th of Abib, the Passover, because He said at midnight the death angel would pass over the Israelite homes that showed the blood on the door posts. But, the Egyptian homes without the blood, would lose their first born sons, just as the Egyptian Pharaoh had ordered the death of the Israelite newborn males, 80 years ago.

Even Pharaoh cried when his firstborn son died that night. He was so upset he ordered Moses to take the Israelites away, and get out of Egypt.

So, after sunrise the Israelites left their homes in Goshen and travelled about 20 miles, to gather at Rameses, That afternoon and after sunset on the beginning of the 15th Abib, God began to lead them out of Egypt by a huge pillar of fire and with the full moon, which lit up their way at night.

“Do you know, to this day, our child, it is always a full moon on the Night to Be Much Remembered. It is our starting evening of the 1st Holy Day of the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread, that God wants us to keep?” says Grandad. (Exodus 12:42)

Over the next few days, they walked across the Sinai desert until they came to a large beach area, on the second fork of the Red Sea (we call the Gulf of Aqaba today). But, there was no bridge for them to cross the 9 miles across to the other side of the water, out of Egypt, to the land of Midian.

The Pharaoh and his army with chariots, were now coming quickly to kill the Israelites, who were trapped on the western shore of the Red Sea.

“God caused a fantastic miracle to happen”, says Nanna. “God made a strong hot eastly wind blow all night. In the morning the waters were divided and the sandy ground of the seabed was dry, for them to cross to the other side.”

“Yes, and the walls of water were up to 900 feet high in the middle of that big broad sandy saddle ridge to the other side, and safety” says Grandad. “Do you know, our child, that big sandy underwater land path, is still there today, from the Nuweiba Beach?”

“Do you know what happened next?” says Nanna.

God had made it possible for the Israelites to escape death by the Egyptian army, by walking across on dry ground between the walls of water. This happened on the last Holy Day of the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread.

The Egyptians thought they could do it quickly too, on their horses and in their chariots. But half way across, God caused the wheels to fall off their chariots. Then God allowed the walls of water to slam together, and all the Egyptian soldiers were killed and drowned instantly.

God continued to lead Moses and the Israelites on into the desert, to Mount Sinai, in Arabia. (Galatians 4:25)

God also provided water and Manna, to keep them alive.

When Moses climbed to the top of Mt Sinai, God gave Moses the 10 Commandments, which God had carved on the stone, with His powerful finger. (Exodus 20:3-17, Deuteronomy 5:7-21)

“The first 4 Commandments tell us how to love God, and the last 6 Commandments tell us how to love each other”, says Nanna. “As soon as God, spoke the 10 Commandments, God also spoke His statute laws about keeping God’s Holy Days, such as the weekly Sabbath, Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day”, says Grandad. (Exodus 23:14-16, Leviticus 23)

“God wants us to keep God’s Holy Days, so that God can teach us and remind us of His wonderful Plan for saving all of mankind, and giving us the opportunity to become converted and be in God’s Family, forever”, says Grandad.

He also told us what foods are good to eat and are “clean” and what foods are bad for us and are “unclean”. God tells us not to eat pork, or fish that don’t have fins or scales, and not to eat blood or fat. God has created animals like cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, and many delicious fish we can eat. (Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14)

“God gave us these food laws, so we wouldn’t bring sickness and disease upon ourselves”, says Nanna.

“Can you say the 10 Commandments off by heart, our child?” says Grandad.

To be continued with Chapter 10...