Welcome to Egypt, now get to work.

The Hebrews are having a tough time. They are breeding far quicker than the natives, and the Pharaoh worries that they could turn against him, so he enslaves them, and tells the midwives to kill every newborn boy. Pretty harsh. They don’t, so he then tell the people to cast their sons in the river.

An unnamed man and woman have a child, whom they hide for three months, and then put in a basket on the river. A daughter of the Pharaoh finds him and hires his mother to nurse him. His name: Moses.

When Moses is older, he kills an Egyptian who was smiting a Hebrew, thinking that no one saw him. He was seen, and rather than have the Pharaoh execute him, he runs away, stands up for a local girl, and marries her.

Later he is visited by The Lord who appears on a burning bush. He is told to go back to Egypt and tell his people that The Lord is coming.

So why should they be following this god? He’s already led them into egypt, and that isn’t working out so well. He’s promise them a lot of land, but it’s already owned by other people. Maybe it’s not that the Hebrews are naturally nomads, but God makes them so.

Tomorrow: Exodus 4-6