Out of Egypt

Cast of Characters:

Moses

Pharaoh, the King of Egypt

Aaron, the brother of Moses

Miriam, Moses’ older sister

Wizards

Slave Bosses

Men in Charge of the Slaves

Egyptians

Israelites

Dancers (with head dancer)

Singers (with lead singer)

Narrator

and The Voice of God

Support Persons:

Reading coaches

Song leader

Musicians

Choreographer

Costumers

Properties master

Video recorder

Properties:

Burning bush (some sort of electric light--a lamp or Christmas lights wound around a hatrack)

Throne

Walking sticks/snakes

Large, clear container of water

Red Kool-Aid

Frogs

Fly swatters

Big red sticky dots

Sticks (from plants)

Ribbons or streamers

Song: I, the Lord of Sea and Sky (752, With One Voice)

(Moses enters and sees the burning bush.)

Moses: This is strange. I’ll go over and see why the bush isn’t burning up.

Voice of God: Moses!

Moses: Here I am.

Voice of God: Don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals - the ground where you are standing is holy. I am the god who was worshipped by your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

(Moses takes off his sandals and hides his face.)

I have seen how my people are suffering as slaves in Egypt, and I have heard them beg for my help because of the way they are being mistreated. I feel sorry for them, and I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians.

I will bring my people out of Egypt into a country where there is good land, rich with milk and honey. I will give them the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. My people have begged for my helped, and I have seen how cruel the Egyptians are to them. Now go to the king! I am sending you to lead my people out of his country.

Moses: Who am I to go to the king and lead your people out of Egypt?

Voice of God: I will be with you. And you will know that I am the one who sent you, when you worship me on this mountain after you have led my people out of Egypt.

Moses: I will tell the people of Israel that the God their ancestors worshipped has sent me to them. But what should I say if they ask me your name?

Voice of God: I am the eternal God. So tell them that the Lord, whose name is I Am," has sent you. This is my name forever, and it is the name that people must use from now on.

Call together the leaders of Israel and tell them that the God who was worshipped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to you. Tell them I have seen how terribly they are being treated in Egypt, and I promise to lead them out of their troubles. I will give them a land rich with milk and honey, where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.

The leaders of Israel will listen to you. Then you must take them to the king of Egypt and say, "The Lord God of the Hebrews has appeared to us." Let us walk three days into the desert, where we can offer a sacrifice to him." But I know that the king of Egypt won’t let you go unless something forces him to. So I will use my mighty power to perform all kind of miracles and strike down the Egyptians. Then the king will send you away.

After I punish the Egyptians, they will be so afraid of you that they will give you anything you want. You are my people, and I will let you take many things with you when you leave the land of Egypt. Every Israelite woman will go to her Egyptian neighbors or to any Egyptian woman living in her house. She will ask them for gold and silver jewelry and for their finest clothes. The Egyptians will give them to you, and you will put these fine things on your sons and daughters. You will carry all this away when you leave Egypt.

Moses: Suppose everyone refuses to listen to my message, and no one believes that you really appeared to me?"

Voice of God: What’s that in your hand?

Moses: A walking stick.

Voice of God: Throw it down.

(The stick turns into a snake and Moses jumps back.)

Voice of God: Pick it up by the tail!

(Moses picks it up and it turns back into a walking stick.)

Voice of God: Do this, and the Israelites will believe that you have seen me, the God who was worshipped by their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Put your hand inside your shirt.

(Moses puts his hand inside his shirt, and when he takes it out, it is as white as snow.)

Voice of God: Put your hand back inside your shirt.

(Moses puts his hand inside his shirt again, and when he takes it out, it looked just like the rest of his body. Use a large, white gardening glove, or talcum powder.)

Voice of God: If no one believes either of these miracles, take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground. The water will immediately turn into blood.

Moses: I have never been a good speaker. I wasn’t one before you spoke to me, and I’m not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.

Voice of God: Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don’t you know that I am the one who does these things? Now go! When you speak, I will be with you and give you the words to say.

Moses: Lord, please send someone else to do it.

Voice of God (Irritated): What about your brother, Aaron, the Levite? I know he is a good speaker. He is already on his way here to visit you, and he will be happy to see you again. Aaron will speak to the people for you, and you will be like me, telling Aaron what to say. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will tell each of you what to do. Now take this walking stick and use it to perform miracles.

(Moses turns away from the bush and walks slowly toward the Egyptian court as the chorus sings. Aaron joins him on the way.)

(As Moses walks away, he hears the voice of God one more time.)

Voice of God: When you get to Egypt go to the king and work the miracles I have shown you. But I will make him so stubborn that he will refuse to let my people go. Then tell him that I have said, "Israel is my first-born son, and I commanded you to release him, so he could worship me. But you refused, and now I will kill your first-born son.

Song: Thy Word (Is a Lamp unto my Feet) (Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith)

(Moses coaching as Aaron speaks to Pharaoh, sitting on his throne, surrounded by Wizards and Egyptians)

Aaron: The Lord God says, "Let my people go into the desert, so they can honor me with a celebration there."

King: Who is this Lord and why should I obey him? I refuse to let you and your people go!

Aaron: The Lord God of the Hebrews has appeared to us. Please let us walk three days into the desert where we can offer sacrifices to him. If you don’t, he may strike us down with terrible troubles or with war.

King: Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping these people from working? Look how many you are keeping from doing their work. Now everyone get back to work!

(Moses and Aaron exit)

(The Work Bosses enter and approach the King, sitting on his throne)

King: Don’t give the slaves any more straw to put in their bricks. Force them to find their own straw wherever they can, but they must make the same number of bricks as before. They are lazy, or else they would not beg me to let them go and sacrifice to their God. Make them work so hard that they won’t have time to listen to these lies.

(Slave boss leaves the king and goes over to speak to the Israelites)

Slave Boss: The king says he will not give you any more straw. Go and find your own straw wherever you can, but you must still make as many bricks as before. Each day you have to make as many bricks as you did when you were given straw.

(Bosses beat the men in charge of the slaves)

Bosses: Why didn’t you force the slaves to make as many bricks yesterday and today as they did before?

(The man in charge of the slaves goes to the king.)

Man in Charge of Slaves: Why are you treating us like this? No one brings us any straw, but we are still ordered to make the same number of bricks. We are beaten with whips, and your own people are to blame.

King: You are lazy - nothing but lazy! That's why you keep asking me to let you go and sacrifice to your Lord. Get back to work! You won’t be given any straw, but you must still make the same number of bricks.

(The men go to see Moses and Aaron)

Men: We hope the Lord will punish you both for making the king and his officials hate us. Now they even have an excuse to kill us.

(Moses goes away from them to pray)

Moses: Our Lord, why have you brought so much trouble on your people? Is that why you sent me here? Ever since you told me to speak to the king, he has caused nothing but trouble for these people. And you haven’t done a thing to help.

Voice of God: Soon you will see what I will do to the king. Because of my mighty power, he will let my people go, and he will even chase them out of his country.

My name is the Lord. But when I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I came as God All-Powerful and did not use my name. I made an agreement and promised them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners. Now I have seen how the people of Israel are suffering because of the Egyptians, and I will keep my promise.

Here is my message for Israel: I am the Lord! And with my mighty power, I will punish the Egyptians and free you from slavery. I will accept you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know I was the one who rescued you from the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I solemnly promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and it will be yours. I am the Lord!

Narrator: When Moses repeated this message to the people, they were too downhearted and downtrodden to believe him.

Song: When Israel Was in Egypt's Land verses 1 - 3 (670, With One Voice)

King: Perform a miracle!

(Aaron throws down his stick, and it turns into a snake. The magicians throw down their sticks, and they also turn into snakes. But Aaron's snake eats them all up. This takes some sleight of hand--the snakes may be kicked quickly off-stage to disappear.)

Moses: Let my people go!

Pharaoh: No!

Aaron Then all the water in Egypt, the river, the lakes, the ponds, the water standing in the jars and pitchers will turn to blood.

(Aaron waves his stick over the jar, and the water turns red--properties person adds Kool-Aid.)

Egyptian: I can't drink this water. It smells awful.

Moses: Let my people go!

King: No!

Aaron: Then all of Egypt will be covered with frogs. The dead frogs will pile up in great heaps and stink.

(Frogs jump all over Egyptians.)

Egyptians: Yucch! Dead frogs. It stinks in here!

King: All right, you can go. Just kidding!

Moses: Let my people go!

King: No!

Aaron: Then all of Egypt will be covered with gnats. They will bite the people, and people will breathe them in and choke.

(Egyptians scratch and sneeze and cough.)

Moses: Let my people go!

King: No!

Aaron: Then there will be swarms of flies everywhere, crawling and biting and buzzing.

(Egyptians swat and swat with fly swatters, but it doesn’t help.)

King: O.K., you can go. Not!

Moses: Let my people go!

Pharaoh: No!

Aaron: Then all your cattle and sheep and goats will die of a terrible disease, and their bodies will rot and stink.

(Sounds of dying animals from off-stage)

Moses: Let my people go!

King: No!

Aaron: Then all your people will be covered with huge, painful sores and boils.

(Egyptians slyly place big red dots on one another.)

Moses: Let my people go!

King: No!

Aaron: Then there will be a terrific hailstorm with lots of thunder, and the flax and the barley will be beaten into the ground.

(Noise of hail and thunder offstage)

King. All right, you may go. No, changed my mind!

Moses: Let my people go!

King: No!

Aaron: Then the land will be covered with locusts, and they will eat every green leaf, plant, and bush, until only sticks are left standing.

(Egyptians show one another locusts and dry sticks)

Moses: Let my people go!

King: No!

Aaron: Then darkness will cover the land and no one will be able to tell night from morning.

(Darkness)

King: Get out and stay out. If you ever come back into my court, you’re dead!

Moses: Have it your way. You won’t see me again.

Narrator: At midnight, the Lord killed the first-born son of every Egyptian family, from the son of the king to the son of every prisoner in jail. He also killed the first born male of every animal that belonged to the Egyptians. That night, the king, his officials, and everyone else in Egypt got up and started crying bitterly. In every Egyptian home, someone was dead.

(Sounds of bitter weeping from off stage.)

Narrator: During the night, the king sent for Moses and Aaron.

King: Get your people out of our country and leave us alone! Go and worship the Lord as you have asked. Take your sheep, goats, and cattle, and get out. But ask your God to be kind to me. 

(Israelites, led by Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, stop at the edge of the Sea of Reeds)

Voice of God: Tell the people to turn back and camp across from Pi-Hahiroth near Baal-Zephon, between Migdol and the Red Sea. The king will think they were afraid to cross the desert and that they are wandering around, trying to find another way to leave the country. I will make the king stubborn again, and he will try to catch you. Then I will destroy him and his army. People everywhere will praise me for my victory, and the Egyptians will know that I really am the Lord.

(Meanwhile back at the court, Pharaoh speaks to the wizards and Egyptians)

Pharaoh: Look what we have done! We have let them get away, and they will no longer be our slaves.

(Pharaoh and his army chase after the Israelites, who see them coming.)

First Israelite: Wasn't there enough room in Egypt to bury us? Is that why you broughtus out here, to die in the desert?

Second Israelite: Why did you bring us out of Egypt anyway?

Third Israelite: While we were there, didn't we tell you to leave us alone?

Fourth Israelite: We had rather be slaves in Egypt than die in the desert!

Moses: Don't be afraid! Be brave, and you will see the Lord save you today. These Egyptians will never bother you again. The Lord will fight for you, and you won't have to do a thing.

Voice of God: Why do you keep calling on me for help? Tell the Israelites to move forward. Then hold your walking stick over the sea. The water will open up and make a road where they can walk through on dry ground. I will make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will go after you. Then I will be praised because of what happened to the king and his chariots and his cavalry. The Egyptians will know for sure that I am the Lord.

Song: Wade in the Water (Negro spiritual in the public domain)

(The Israelites find dry ground, but the Egyptians are stuck in the mud. The Israelites cross a river made of blue streamers and Chinese jump ropes--after the Israelites are safely across, the dancers encircle the Egyptians with the streamers, and they drown)

First Egyptian: Let's leave these people alone.

Second Egyptian: The Lord is on their side and is fighting against us.

Voice of God: Stretch your arm toward the sea - the water will cover the Egyptians and their cavalry and their chariots.

(Egyptians drown.)

Narrator: On that day, when the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the shore, they knew that the Lord had saved them. Because of the mighty power he had used against the Egyptians, the Israelites worshipped him and trusted him and his servant Moses.

Song: Go Down, Moses, verses 4 - 6 (670, With One Voice)