Long Ago and Far Away
A curriculum by Dan Harper currently in development, v. 0.1
Copyright (c) 2026 Dan Harper
How Moses Gained Freedom from Pharaoh
The Israelites lived in slavery in the land of Egypt. One of the Israelites, a man named Moses, had become an advisor to the king of Egypt; this king was called the Pharaoh.
The God of the Israelites came down to speak to Moses, telling Moses to go to Pharaoh and say, “Let my people go, let them go free from slavery.” Although Moses didn’t want to do this, God told him to. Moses trusted his God, so he went to Pharaoh.
Moses went and said to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” But Pharaoh was a hard-hearted man. He wouldn’t let the Israelites go free.
So with God’s help, Moses took his staff while Pharaoh was watching, lifted it up, and struck the water of the Nile River. Immediately all the water in the river turned to blood, and that made all the fish in the river die. It did not smell good. And because the Egyptians got their water from the Nile, there was not enough water to drink.
That first plague should have convinced Pharaoh not to defy the God of the Israelites. But when Moses came to Pharaoh to say, “Now will you let my people go?” — Pharaoh again said no.
Moses stretched out his staff over the river, the ponds and lakes and all the water, and with God’s help he let loose a plague of frogs. There were frogs in Pharaoh’s palace, frogs in everyone’s houses, frogs in people’s beds, so many frogs that the bakers put them into bread by mistake.
Pharaoh should have learned, but he was a hard-hearted man. Moses said, “Let my people go!” Pharaoh again said no.
Moses stretched out his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and with God’s help released a horde of gnats, tiny insects that bite like mosquitoes, but are so small they can’t be seen. It was a plague of gnats, biting everyone all the time.
Pharaoh should have learned, but he was a hard-hearted man. Moses said, “Let my people go!” Pharaoh again said no.
So with God’s help, Moses sent a swarm of flies to plague the land. Flies everywhere — in people’s food, in people’s eyes, everywhere. This was the fourth plague Moses and his God let loose on Egypt.
Yet when Moses said, “Let my people go,” Pharaoh again said no.
So with God’s help, Moses made all the cows and chickens and other livestock get sick. Throughout Egypt there was no milk to drink, and no eggs to eat. Everyone was hungry.
Yet when Moses said, “Let my people go,” Pharaoh again said no.
So with God’s help, Moses inflicted pimples and boils on everyone in Egypt. This was the sixth plague.
Yet when Moses said, “Let my people go,” Pharaoh again said no.
So with God’s help Moses let loose thunderstroms and large hailstones that damaged all the crops. This was the seventh plague.
But when Moses said, “Let my people go,” Pharaoh just said, no.
So with God’s help Moses brought locusts into the country of Egypt. The locusts covered every inch of the land, and if there was anything left in the fields that the hail had not damaged, the locusts ate it up.
But when Moses said, “Let my people go,” Pharaoh again said no.
So with God’s help Moses brought a dense darkness over the entire land of Egypt, except for the little bits of light that were in the houses of the Israelites. This was the ninth plague.
But when Moses said, “Let my people go,” Pharaoh again said no.
This time God told Moses: “Tell Pharaoh that I, God, will make every first-born child die throughout the land of Egypt.” God also told Moses that all the Israelites should make a mark over their doors with the blood of a lamb. That way God would know to pass over those houses, and not make the firstborn child die. This is where the holiday of Passover comes from — God passed over the houses of the Israelites. This was the tenth, and the very worst, of the ten plagues.
Finally this time when Moses went to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go,” Pharaoh replied: “Go! Go! You bring nothing but disaster to me and my kingdom.” Even though it was all Pharaoh’s fault, because he should have set the Israelites free from slavery long before.
And that is how the Israelites received their freedom.
SESSION 1: How Moses Gained Freedom from the Pharaoh
Top-level educational goals:
(1) Have fun and build community;
(2) Increase “Biblical literacy”;
(3) Build skills associated with liberal religion, e.g., interpersonal skills, introspection, basic leadership, being in front of a group of people, etc.
Educational objectives for this session:
(1) Get to know other people in the class;
(2) Hear a story from the Hebrew Bible;
(3) Be able to talk about one or more incidents or themes from the story, e.g., if parents ask what happened in Sunday school today.
Preparation:
Coming soon.
I/ Opening
Take attendance.
Light chalice with these or other words: “We light this chalice to celebrate Unitarian Universalism: the church of the open mind, the helping hands, and the loving heart.”
Check-in: Go around circle. Each child and adult says their name, and then may say one good thing and one bad thing that has happened in the past week (anyone may pass).
II/ Read the story “How Moses Gained Freedom from the Pharaoh”
Read “How Moses Gained Freedom from the Pharaoh” out loud.
III/ Act out the story
We will help the children internalize the story by acting it out.
Ask: “Who are the characters in this story?”
Set up the stage area, and have the audience sit facing the stage area. The lead teacher reads the story, prompting actors. At appropriate moments in the story, you may want to prompt the children to think through the following things:
Coming soon.
IV/ Conversation about the story
Sit back down in a group. Now ask some general questions: “What was the best part of the story? Did the story make sense to you?” — or questions you come up with on your own.
Now some questions specific to the story.
Now open-ended questions about the moral of the story. Note that I’ve chosen Bible stories that are also great literature; and great literature resists easy interpretations.
V/ Other activity or free play
Activity specific to the story.
Free play.
VI/ Closing circle
When time is almost up, have the children stand in a circle.
When the children are in a circle, ask them what they did today, and prompt them with questions and answers, e.g.: “What did we do today? We heard a story, right?” — etc. You’re not trying to put any one child on the spot, but rather drawing on the wisdom of the group as a whole.
If any parents have come to pick up their children, invite them to join the circle (so they can know what it is their children learned about this week).
Say the closing words together, or other words of your choice:
Then tell the children how you enjoyed seeing them (if that’s true), and that you look forward to seeing them again next week.
If any children left any drawings or completed coloring pages, post them on the bulletin board before you go.
LEADER RESOURCES AND BACKGROUND:
1. Source of the story
Source: Hebrew Bible, Exodus 7-11.
2. Other
Coming soon.