One day, when Moses came to his blood brothers, he saw an Egyptian overseer mercilessly mocking an Israelite who, probably because of weakness of strength, could not do what he was commanded. Moses stood up for his fellow tribesman and, seeing that there was no one around, killed the cruel torturer, and buried the body in the sand. The day after the murder, he witnessed a fight between two Israelis. Moses separated the enraged opponents and asked the stronger one, "Why do you strike your neighbor?" (Exodus 2:13). The Jew did not like Moses' interference, and defiantly said to him: "Who has made you ruler and judge over us? Do you not think to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?" (Exodus 2:14). At these words, Moses' heart trembled, he realized that if many already knew about the murder of the Egyptian, then spies would not hesitate to inform Pharaoh about it. And indeed, good people soon warned Moses that Pharaoh had ordered the palace guards to seize him and put him to death. Fleeing from the persecution of the guards, Moses secretly leaves the capital, and then the country, and takes refuge in the desert on the Sinai Peninsula.

Moving further and further east from Egypt, Moses found himself in a land inhabited by the Midianite tribe. Tired from the long journey, he sat down by the well to rest and began to watch with curiosity how seven shepherd girls watered the sheep. But then a gang of shepherds came to the well; They rudely pushed the girls away and began to water their cattle. Indignant at the action of the shepherds, Moses stood up and, despite his fatigue, swung at them menacingly. The impudent people got scared and left. Moses helped the girls to water the sheep, and they returned home safely. It turned out that the shepherdesses were the daughters of a Midianite priest named Jethro. The grateful father invited Moses to his house, and when he learned that the stranger, among other things, was distantly related to him, he received him into the bosom of his family and gave him his daughter Zipporah, from whom were born two sons: Gersham and Eliezer. Moses helped his father-in-law with the housework, grazed his cattle.

The Calling of Moses

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Slowly and gradually, the Lord prepared His chosen one for the great mission. Forty years of Moses' life in exile passed. He was already eighty years old. But finally, the time came when Moses had to fulfill his calling. Once he was tending sheep at the foot of Mount Horeb, which the Midianites called the mountain of God. Not far from the place where he was, Moses saw a miraculous phenomenon: a thorn bush flared up with fire and did not burn. Wishing to take a closer look at this mysterious phenomenon, he decided to approach the thorn bush, but suddenly from the flaming bush he heard the voice of God: "Moses! Moses!.. do not come here; take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:45). Struck by the sudden appearance of God, Moses took off his shoes and reverently stood before the flaming bush, trembling listening to the voice of God: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," continued the Lord. "I have seen the sufferings of my people in Egypt, and I am going to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of this land into a good and spacious land, flowing with milk and honey, into the land of the Canaanites. In response, the Lord said to him: "I will be with you, and this is a sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring [my] people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain" (Exodus 3:612).

According to the behavior of the Lord, Moses had to come to Egypt to his fellow tribesmen and announce to the elders the Divine decree about the liberation of the people from Egyptian slavery and about their migration to the promised land. Moses had to declare that this was the will of the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - the God whose name is Yahweh, which means the Eternal. Then Moses and the elders were to go to Pharaoh and ask his permission to let the Hebrew people go into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to God, and when Pharaoh allowed the people of Israel to go into the wilderness for three days' journey, then they could take advantage of this opportunity to leave the land of slavery forever.

The Lord warns Moses that Pharaoh will not let them go voluntarily, but only after the terrible punishing miracles that will take place over Egypt. In order for the children of Israel to believe Moses, the Lord gave him the power to perform miracles: from that moment on, Moses could turn a rod into a serpent at will, cause and heal leprosy in the hands and turn water into blood. And although the Lord endowed Moses with the power of miracles, he still continued to refuse such an extremely difficult mission, referring to his tongue-tied and lack of eloquence, which is so necessary for the leader of a large people. The Lord was angry with Moses for his disobedience and said that he would give Moses to help his elder brother, Aaron, who was very eloquent and would speak on his behalf. Only on this condition did Moses obey the will of God. After saying goodbye to his father-in-law, Moses put his wife and children on a donkey and went to Egypt with an anxious heart. On the way, a terrible adventure awaited him. Because he had not yet circumcised one of his sons, the Lord wanted to kill Moses. But Zipporah, his wife, took a stone knife, quickly performed circumcision and thereby saved Moses from certain death. After this event, Zipporah and her sons returned to their father's house, and Moses continued his journey to Egypt alone. On the border of Egypt, Moses met with Aaron, whom the Lord had sent to meet him. Moses revealed to his brother the will of God and showed signs. In turn, Aaron told Moses in detail about the sad situation of the Jews in Egypt.

When they came to the land of Goshen, they first of all gathered the Israelite elders and revealed to them the will of God for the Jewish people, backing up their words with miracles. The Jewish elders, hearing that the Lord had visited them and granted them freedom, rejoiced at the news. With the speed of lightning, this news flew around all tribes, tribes and families. The people cheered up and rejoiced that at last "the Lord has visited the children of Israel" (Exodus 4:31). After that, all that remained was to communicate the will of God to Pharaoh and ask him to release the people for sacrifice.

The Plagues of Egypt

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Forty years have passed since that memorable day when Moses killed the Egyptian in a fit of rage. In Egypt, another pharaoh already ruled, a new generation of officials served at his court. It might have been thought that Moses' transgression had faded from the memory of the people, and that the former exile was no longer in danger. However, who would have recognized in the bearded Asiatic in a coarse, long cloak with a shepherd's staff in his hand a refined young Egyptian, the adopted son of the princess, about whom there was once so much talk!

And the chosen man of God went boldly with his brother to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may make a feast for me in the wilderness. But the Egyptian ruler rejected the request of Moses, he sharply answered the petitioners: "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice and let [the sons of] Israel go? I do not know the Lord Israel, I will not let him go" (Exodus 5:12). With these words, Pharaoh expelled the intercessors for the oppressed people, and told his officials that the Hebrews had such idle thoughts from idleness, so they should be further enslaved.

As a punishment, he commanded the Israelites not only to work out the previously established norm of bricks, but in addition to bring straw for their manufacture. This required additional working time, since there was not too much straw in Egypt and it was necessary to look for it throughout the country. And if someone did not have time to make the established number of bricks for this reason, he was threatened with a heavy punishment. The Israelites, depressed by this turn of events, complained to Moses that his intercession with Pharaoh had done more harm than good.

Then Moses and Aaron, by the command of God, again appeared before the king. To convince him that they were indeed God's messengers, Aaron threw his rod on the floor, and he instantly turned into a crawling serpent. But Pharaoh looked at Moses and Aaron with a smile of regret, ordered his sorcerers to be brought, and they did the same as Aaron. Pharaoh was not particularly impressed even by the fact that Aaron's serpent devoured the serpents of the Egyptian Magi. Pharaoh's heart hardened, and he ordered the brothers to be escorted out of the palace.