Behold

A Behold picture book

Let Them Go

The ruler kept saying no. Someone kept making sure he would.

  1. In a rich country, the ruler made a whole group of people work as slaves. He was so afraid of them that he ordered every one of their baby boys thrown into the river.

  2. The Voice told a man named Moe, "Go tell the ruler: let my people go. But I will make his heart hard, so he won't let them go."

  3. Moe went to the ruler. "The Voice says, let my people go." The ruler said no. So the Voice sent disasters on the whole country, one after another. Blood in the river. Frogs. Bugs. Sick animals. Sores. Hail. Locusts. Darkness.

  4. Sometimes, when a disaster stopped, the ruler made his own heart hard. Other times, the Voice made it hard for him. Either way, the answer was always no.

  5. Then the Voice said: "At midnight, every oldest child in the country will die. From the ruler's son, to the son of the poorest worker, to the son of the prisoner in jail. Even the oldest of the animals."

  6. The Voice's people put lamb's blood around their doors, so death would pass over their homes.

  7. At midnight, it happened. There was a great cry in the land. There wasn't a single house where someone wasn't dead.

  8. Then the ruler let the people go. But the Voice made his heart hard one more time, so he would chase after them.

The End.

The source, revealed

The Fine Print

Exodus 1:22; 4:21–23; 7–12; 14:4–8

Read it yourself

Where it's from

Exodus, chapters 1 to 14. It's the story of Moses and the ten plagues, and the first Passover.

Who's who

In our story In the Bible
The rich country Egypt
The ruler Pharaoh
The slaves The Israelites (the Hebrews)
Moe Moses
The glowing bush The burning bush
The disasters The ten plagues
The Voice God (the LORD)

What the text says

  • Plain words: Before Moses even went, God said he would make Pharaoh stubborn.

  • KJV (Exodus 4:21): "but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go."

  • Plain words: At midnight, God killed every firstborn in Egypt, from the king's son to the prisoner's.

  • KJV (Exodus 12:29): "And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle."

  • Plain words: There wasn't a house without someone dead.

  • KJV (Exodus 12:30): "for there was not a house where there was not one dead."

What we kept

  • Israelites are slaves in Egypt; Pharaoh orders their newborn sons thrown into the river.
  • God sends Moses and says ahead of time: "I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go."
  • Plagues, one after another.
  • Sometimes Pharaoh hardens his own heart; other times the text says the LORD hardened it.
  • The final plague is announced: every firstborn, from Pharaoh's son to the servant's and the prisoner's, and the firstborn of animals.
  • Blood on the doors, so the plague passes over.
  • At midnight, "a great cry," and not a house without one dead.
  • Pharaoh lets them go. Then God hardens his heart again so he chases them.

What we changed

  • Names, and today's world: a ruler and a rich country.
  • The Bible lists ten plagues. We named nine and left the last for its own pages. "Bugs" stands for lice and flies.
  • In the Bible, the firstborn are "from the firstborn of Pharaoh… unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill" (11:5) and "the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon" (12:29). We said "the poorest worker" and "the prisoner in jail."

Look closely

God says why he hardens Pharaoh's heart: "that I might shew these my signs before him" and so the Israelites can tell their grandchildren (Exodus 10:1–2). The New Testament repeats it: "whom he will he hardeneth" (Romans 9:18).

How it's usually taught

Many teachers say Egypt was being judged for slavery and for drowning Israel's baby boys, so the punishment fit the crime: firstborn for firstborn ("Israel is my son, even my firstborn," Exodus 4:22–23). They point out that Pharaoh hardened his own heart first (Exodus 8:15, 8:32), and say God's hardening was him confirming what Pharaoh already chose. The Passover is still celebrated today as the story of freedom from slavery.

What the story doesn't say

It doesn't say the prisoner's son or the servant's son had any say in the slavery. It says God made sure the ruler would keep saying no, and gave his reason.

Talk about it

  1. Was the ruler wrong to keep people as slaves? (Yes!) What would be a fair punishment?
  2. If someone makes you say no, is it your fault that you said no?
  3. What did the prisoner's son do?
  4. Why do you think the Voice wanted more disasters?
  5. Do you believe this is good advice?

One last question

If you could have freed the slaves without hurting a single child, would you?

Read Exodus 1:22; 4:21–23; 7–12; 14:4–8 yourself