Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 122 - Bedtime Stories

"Once upon a time, a group of people from another land were living in Egypt, an ancient kingdom ruled by a man known as the Pharaoh. Long ago, the people who were the descendants of Abraham were invited to the land during a time of famine by Joseph, the son of Jacob, who at the time was an official in the government of a much kinder king. But this Pharaoh was cruel. He made slaves of the people from the foreign land and they were treated very badly. These were the people chosen by God, and most among them knew His name. They cried out to the Lord their God for deliverance," Greg read, before passing the storybook to Alan.

Alan looked at his father in surprise, but he took up the story. Looking to the paragraph Greg pointed to, Alan continued reading.

"The Lord God heard the cry of the people, and He had a plan," Alan read.

He paused for a moment, looking up at the children. Jessie, Noah, Olivia, and Melody were all listening, but Melody in particular was staring at him intently.

"For who?" she asked.

"For His people," Alan said. "He decided on a person and gave him the job of leading his people from Egypt. His name was Moses."

"Moses," Noah repeated.

"Baby Moses?" Olivia asked.

"That's right. We read a story at home about baby Moses and how he was left in a basket along the river by his mother when he was born. He was found by the sister of the king and grew up in the palace there," Alan said. "This story happened after he was grown up. God showed him how His people were being treated. Moses met his family ... the people he was born to."

"He was adopted," Jessie added. "Like me."

"He was," Greg agreed. "By Moses being adopted into the family who raised him, he had a better education than he would have had otherwise. He escaped being a slave and had more privileges than most by being raised in the house of the Pharaoh. He also had more resources than most at first, when he tried to carry out the plan of the Lord."

"Did He tell him, Papa?" Melody asked.

"Did who tell him?" Alan asked.

"Father. Did He tell Moses His plan?" Melody asked anxiously.

Alan glanced at the next passage in this children's version of the story.

"He did," Alan told her. "Though I'm not sure the Lord told Moses everything right at the beginning. The Lord appeared to Moses on a mountain, as a fire in a bush that did not burn. He told him he would be the one to deliver the Children of Israel from their slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. The Lord would help him along the way, but it was Moses that must do it, and he must start by telling the children what the Lord said."

Melody nodded seriously. "Tell them. Father said," she agreed.

"Do?" Cindy questioned.

"Moses listened," Melody told her.

"Yes, I suppose he did," Cindy agreed. "It couldn't have been easy for him to do that though."

"Why?" Melody said.

"Because, Moses was known to have a speech impediment of some kind," Cindy said.

"Was he handicapped?" Jessie asked. "Like Melody?"

"He may have been, by modern day standards," Greg said. "From scripture it is hard to be certain what Moses's problem was, only that he was slow of speech and didn't consider himself good with words."

"But the story says, God promised to tell him what to say. He did miracles to convince Moses, and told him to go to the Pharaoh and demand he let the Children of Israel go," Alan read.