Look, Listen & Live 2: Mighty Men of God

Introduction

Good day. Do you know the one true God? Let me tell you about some of the men who knew Him. Look at the pictures in the orange book while you listen to the tape and remember to turn to the next picture when you hear this music.

Picture 1: Two Brothers

Genesis 25:21-34, 27:1-29

The two brothers in this picture are making a bargain. The one called Esau was a great hunter. Jacob, his younger brother, had prepared some good food. Esau was very hungry. He had just returned from the open country and asked Jacob for some of the food. Jacob said to Esau, "First sell me your birthright." Jacob's name means 'deceiver' and it was his nature to deceive others. He wanted the family inheritance, which should have gone to his older brother Esau. Esau did not care about his inheritance. He only thought of his empty stomach. So he sold his birthright for one meal.

Picture 2: Jacob’s Dream

Genesis 28:10-22

After that day Esau hated Jacob. He wanted to kill him, so Jacob had to flee (run away) from his own home. At nightfall he lay down beside the road and fell asleep. He had a dream. He saw God in heaven and the angels of God coming down a stairway to earth. God said to Jacob, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, ... All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." God loved Jacob in spite of his faults and wanted to change him. Therefore God gave him these wonderful promises.

Picture 3: Jacob and Laban

Genesis 29:1 - 31:55

Jacob went to work for his uncle, Laban. He also wanted to marry Laban's younger daughter called Rachel. He worked seven years for Laban as a bride-payment for her. Then Laban deceived Jacob so that he had to marry his older daughter first. Laban made Jacob work another seven years for Rachel. Jacob also deceived Laban. He gained all the best animals from Laban's flocks as payment for his work on Laban's property. Jacob heard that Laban's sons were saying, "Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father." Jacob also noticed that Laban's attitude toward him was not what it had been. Then God said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

Picture 4: Jacob Meets God

Genesis 32:1-32

Jacob wanted to return home but he feared Esau, because those who deceive others often live in fear of revenge. One night, when Jacob was on his way home, a man came to Jacob. He wrestled with Jacob all night. Just as the sun was rising, the man dislocated Jacob's hip. He said to Jacob, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob answered, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." So the man said to Jacob, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, ..." Israel means 'he struggles with God'. Then he blessed him there. Jacob then said, "... I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

God came to make Jacob the 'deceiver' weak, so that He could change him. Israel returned to his family in peace. He became the father of a great nation of people who worshipped God.

Picture 5: Joseph’s Dream

Genesis 37:1-11

Jacob, whom God had renamed Israel, had twelve sons. His favourite son was Joseph. Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful coat. Joseph's brothers were jealous of him. One night Joseph had a dream which he shared with his brothers: "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the fields when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." The brothers were angry. Did this dream mean that they would bow down to their youngest brother? They hated Joseph and they looked for an opportunity to harm him.

Picture 6: Joseph Is Sold

Genesis 37:12-36

Joseph's brothers were grazing (feeding) their flocks far from home. Jacob said to Joseph, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me." When the brothers saw Joseph coming towards them, they decided to kill him. They stripped him of his beautiful coat and put him in a dry well. Then one brother said, "What will we gain if we kill our brother?... let's sell him." Just then some traders came along. So the brothers sold Joseph (for twenty pieces of silver). Then they stained Joseph's coat with the blood of a goat and took it to their father.

Jacob thought that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. He mourned for him with great sorrow.

Picture 7: Joseph and the Wicked Woman

Genesis 39:1-20

The traders sold Joseph in the land of Egypt. There he became the slave of a man called Potiphar. Potiphar was an official (important man in service) of the king of Egypt. God was with Joseph and he had great success in all he did. Soon he was put in charge of Potiphar's household. Joseph was a handsome young man. Potiphar's wife desired him for herself. She tried to force Joseph to lie with her. Joseph knew that it would be wrong and refused her. So one day she caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and fled out of the house. She took the cloak to her husband and accused Joseph of trying to molest her. So Potiphar had Joseph put into prison.

Picture 8: Joseph in Prison

Genesis 39:20 - 40:23

God was still with Joseph, even in the prison. Soon Joseph was put in charge of all the prisoners. The king's servant who poured out wine for the king to drink, and the king's baker, were also put in prison. One night they both had dreams. They thought nobody would be able to explain the meanings to them. But Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams." So the first servant told Joseph, "In my dream there was a grape vine with three branches. I took the grapes and squeezed them into the king's cup and gave it to the king." Joseph told him the meaning of the dream, "In three days the king will have you released and give your job back to you." The baker also told Joseph his dream, but his dream meant that in three days he would be executed (put to death).

Within three days the servant was released and the baker was killed just as God had shown Joseph.

Picture 9: The King’s Dream

Genesis 41:1-40

Joseph remained in prison for another two years. Then one night the king of Egypt also had a dream. He saw seven fat cows beside the river. Seven thin cows came out of the river and they ate up the seven fat cows. No one could tell the king the meaning of his dream.

Then the king's chief cupbearer (servant) told the king about Joseph. The king had Joseph brought out of prison. Joseph told the king the meaning of his dream saying, "God has revealed to you what He is going to do. There will be seven years of abundance (plenty) and good harvest in Egypt. After that there will be seven years of famine. Look for a wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let that man and a few assistants collect some of the grain during the seven years of good harvest and store it for the seven years of famine in the land." The king saw that the Spirit of God was in Joseph, so he made him ruler over all Egypt.

Picture 10: Joseph’s Rule in Egypt

Genesis 41:47 - 42:28

During the seven years of good harvest in Egypt, Joseph stored up much grain. When the seven years of famine came, he sold the grain to the people of Egypt. There was famine in Canaan also. So Joseph's ten older brothers came to buy grain in Egypt. They did not know that the ruler was Joseph, but he recognised them. He accused them of being spies and he put them in prison. After three days he said to them, "To prove that you are honest men, you must bring your youngest brother, the one you told me about, here to me." He kept one of the brothers in prison and he let the others take grain to their families.

Picture 11: Joseph Revealed to His Brothers

Genesis 43:1 - 45:27

Joseph's brothers were afraid to return to Egypt but soon they needed more grain. So they took their youngest brother Benjamin and went back to Joseph in Egypt. Joseph still did not tell them who he was.

He sold them grain but told one of his servants to return their money in their sacks and to hide his silver cup in the grain sack of the youngest brother. Then he sent his servants after them to accuse them of stealing from him. The brothers immediately returned to Joseph's house. There they all bowed down before Joseph, just like the sheaves in Joseph's dream long ago, and they pleaded for mercy.

Joseph wept and could keep his secret no longer. He told them, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt." He also embraced Benjamin and wept as he kissed him and his other brothers. Joseph gave them and their father great gifts. Joseph told them to return to Egypt and bring their families and their father with them. The brothers went home and told their father, "Joseph is still alive! ... he is ruler of all Egypt!"

Picture 12: Jacob and Joseph in Egypt

Genesis 45:28 - 50:26

Jacob took his whole family and all he owned, and went to live in Egypt. When Jacob saw his son Joseph, he embraced him and they both cried. Later he laid his hands on Joseph's sons and he blessed the boys. They became great leaders among the tribes of Israel. Jacob died in Egypt as a very old man.

Then Joseph's brothers were afraid because of the wrong they had done him. But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. ...You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." ("Don't be afraid. You planned to harm me, but God intended it for good to keep many people alive.")

Introduction

The descendants of Jacob, the Israelites, stayed in Egypt and they became such a great nation, that the king of Egypt started to fear them and forced them to work as slaves. But there was a man named Moses, also an Israelite, who was strong in the Lord and who saved God's people from slavery in Egypt. Look at the pictures while you listen to the tape. Be ready to turn to the next picture when you hear this sound.

Picture 13: Baby Moses

Exodus 2:1-10

Three hundred years after Joseph, Moses was born in Egypt. At this time the Israelites were so many, that the king of Egypt treated them very badly and made them work very hard as slaves. He also gave orders to kill all the Israelite baby boys. But when Moses was born, his mother hid him. When he became a little bigger, she put him in a basket and hid him in the reeds beside the river. His sister Miriam stood nearby to watch. The king's daughter came to bathe in the river. There she found the basket and the baby Moses. Moses began to cry. The king's daughter felt sorry for the baby, so she decided to keep him for herself, to be her son. Moses grew up in the king's palace. He learned all the ways of the Egyptians and he became a very important man.

Picture 14: Moses and the Burning Bush

Exodus 2:11 - 4:17

One day Moses saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave. Moses wanted to help his own people, so he killed the Egyptian. But then Moses had to flee from the king. For forty years he lived in a desert called Sinai. Then one day he saw a very strange thing. He saw a bush that burned with fire, but it was not destroyed. God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, saying, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated. I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of this country."

Picture 15: Moses Returns to the King

Exodus 3:11 - 10:29

Moses was afraid, but he trusted God and returned to Egypt. His brother, Aaron, went with him. They said to the king, "The Lord, the God of Israel says, 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.'" (Ex 5:1) But the king said, "I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go." After this the king treated the Israelites even worse.

God said to Moses, " . . . the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it." God also said, "When Pharaoh says to you 'perform a miracle', then say to Aaron, 'Take your staff (stick) and throw it down before Pharaoh' and it will become a snake." Aaron obeyed, and the king saw the power of God, but he would not let the people go. So God worked many miracles against the Egyptians. He turned all the waters (Ex 7:19) of Egypt into blood so that all the Egyptians dug along the great Nile river to get drinking water. He brought plagues of frogs, gnats, flies, boils on men and animals, hail, darkness and locusts to Egypt. God allowed the Egyptian magicians to do some of these miracles, but the Lord worked more miracles that the magicians could not do. Hereby God warned the king that He was much stronger in power and might than the magicians. But still the king refused to obey God and he would not let the Israelites go.

Picture 16: The Sacrificed Lamb

Exodus 12:1-36

God spoke to Moses again, "Tell Israel that each family is to take a lamb and kill it; they must take some of the blood and put it on and above their doorposts. I will go through the land of Egypt. I will kill every firstborn male. But when I see the blood on your houses, I will pass over you and not harm you." God kept his promise. That night all the firstborn sons of Egypt died. But none of the Israelites' firstborn sons died. Then the king sent for Moses and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites. Go worship the Lord as you have requested (asked)."

Picture 17: Moses on the Mountain of God

Exodus 13:17 - 14:31

Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt. God went before them in a pillar of cloud and fire. When the Egyptian king heard that the Israelites had fled, he and the other Egyptians became angry because they realised they had lost their slaves. So the king and all his army pursued Israel to bring them back. The Israelites came to a great sea that they could not cross. The Egyptians were behind them. The Israelites could not escape. Moses said to the Israelites, "Do not be afraid! Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today (what God will do to save you). The Egyptians you see today you will never see again." Then God opened up a way through the sea and the Israelites passed through the sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried to follow them, but the water flowed back and covered them. All those Egyptians were drowned and Israel was saved.

Picture 18: Food and Water in the Desert

Exodus 16:1 - 17:7

Moses led the people on into the desert. They did not have enough to eat so they grumbled against Moses, Aaron and the Lord. Every evening God sent flocks of small birds for the people to eat. Every morning small flakes like bread from heaven appeared on the ground. The people called it 'manna' .

When there was no water, the Israelites quarrelled with Moses once more. Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?" Moses prayed to God and God answered him, "Take your staff (stick) and strike the rock at Horeb and water will come out for the people to drink." For 40 years God fed and cared for the people of Israel in the desert.

Picture 19: Moses on the Mountain of God

Exodus 19:1 - 20:17; Psalm 19:11; John 14:15

The Israelites came to the mountain of Sinai. God came down onto the mountain with thunder and lightning, clouds and fire. Moses went up the mountain and God spoke to him, saying, "I am the Lord your God, . . . You shall have no other gods before Me. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it. Do not use my name wrongly. Remember the seventh day (of the week) and keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, . . . For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath (seventh) day and made it holy. Honour your father and your mother, . . . Do not commit murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not accuse anyone falsely or tell lies about someone. Do not desire (covet) the possessions of others."

God wrote these laws and other commandments on tablets of stone and Moses brought these down the mountain to all the people to instruct them. Today we find the laws of God in his Word, the Bible.

Picture 20: The Snake on The Pole

Numbers 21:4-9; Deuteronomy 18:18

The Israelites had promised to keep God's laws, but they did not do it. The people again began to complain against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" God punished them by sending poisonous snakes among them. Many of the people died from the snakebites. The people cried out to Moses for help and Moses prayed for them. Then God told Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a snake of bronze and put it up on a pole. And everyone that was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, lived.

Moses was one of the greatest leaders and prophets that Israel ever had. For forty years he led the people through the desert. Before Moses died, God said to him, "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him."

Picture 21: Jesus Feeds the People

John 6:1-58

For many years the people of Israel looked for another prophet like Moses. Then finally Jesus Christ was born in the land of Israel. He taught the people about God as Moses had done.

One day the people went out to a lonely place to hear Jesus speak. They became hungry but they had no food. A young boy had five loaves of bread and two small fish. Jesus took the bread and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then He fed all the people from that food. There were over five thousand of them! The people said, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world!" The next day Jesus said to them, "I am the bread (staple food) of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." In the next few pictures we shall learn more about Jesus.

Picture 22: Jesus Speaks to Moses

Matthew 17:1-8; Luke 9:28-36

One day Jesus led three of his disciples (close followers) up to a mountain by themselves to pray. A disciple is a close follower and friend of Jesus.

As Jesus prayed, his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Then Moses and Elijah appeared before them. Moses and Elijah were both prophets of God who had lived many, many years before Jesus came to the earth. Moses and Elijah spoke to Him about his coming death. Jesus' three disciples heard them talking together. Then a bright cloud came and covered them all. The voice of God spoke from the cloud and said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him." When the voice had finished speaking, the disciples saw only Jesus.

Picture 23: Jesus Died for Us

John 3:14-16

Many people rejected Jesus and they succeeded in killing Him. Soldiers nailed Him to a cross of wood. They killed two other men with Him. These two were thieves and murderers, but Jesus had never broken God's laws.

You and I have broken God's laws. Like all other people on earth we deserve God's punishment of eternal destruction and being shut out from the Lord's presence. But God loves all people. He does not want us to go to hell, away from his presence. So God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sin.

In the time of Moses the blood of the Passover lamb was shed to protect the Israelites from God's punishment in the land of Egypt. In the same way, Jesus, the Lamb of God, died as a sacrifice for us. His blood is the payment for our sin, yours and mine. And just as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on the pole, so Jesus had to be lifted up on the cross so that everyone who believes in Him, may have eternal life, as a gift from God. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Picture 24: Jesus in Heaven

John 19:38; Acts 1:6-11

Jesus' dead body was taken from the cross and laid in a tomb. But on the third day Jesus rose from the dead and 40 days after that his disciples saw Him rise up to heaven. Jesus is still alive today.

Moses and all who died believing in God, are also alive. They are in heaven. Moses was a great leader and prophet of God, but Jesus is the son of God. He is far greater than Moses. Moses led Israel through the sea and they were saved from the Egyptians. But Jesus came to save all people who believe in and follow Him. One day Jesus will return to earth, just as He went up to heaven. He will take all who believe in Him to be with Him in heaven.

Are you ready to go with Jesus? He may come today. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.