Introduction             Task              Resources              Process

Task

Imagine, for a moment, what it would have been like if Moses and Pharaoh had lived in modern times rather than ancient Egypt. Would Moses have marched into the court of Pharaoh to demand the release of his people? Of course not, he would have sent Pharaoh an email. In this exercise, you are going to compose a series of email correspondence between Moses and Pharaoh.

Resources

To fully understand the sequence of events of this historical event, we must go to the only primary source material readily available to us. It is believed that Moses wrote the Book of Exodus between 1450-1410 B.C. after the Hebrews had escaped from Egypt. The following is an abridged version of this event taken from the Book of Exodus.

The Exodus
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"  But Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should heed his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go."  And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,  "When Pharaoh says to you, 'Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'"  So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the LORD commanded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.  Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.  For every man cast down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.  Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said.

Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; wait for him by the river's brink, and take in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent.  And you shall say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness; and behold, you have not yet obeyed." Thus says the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it shall be turned to blood,  and the fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become foul, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the Nile.   Say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood.  And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.   But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs;  the Nile shall swarm with frogs which shall come up into your house, and into your bedchamber and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and of your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls;  the frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.'"  And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there came gnats on man and beast; all the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and wait for Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.  Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me.  For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,  behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your cattle which are in the field, the horses, the asses, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.  And on the morrow the LORD did this thing; all the cattle of the Egyptians died, but of the cattle of the people of Israel not one died.  And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the cattle of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of ashes from the kiln, and let Moses throw them toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.  And it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt."  So they took ashes from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw them toward heaven, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. Then the LORD said to Moses, "  Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.  Now therefore send, get your cattle and all that you have in the field into safe shelter; for the hail shall come down upon every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home, and they shall die." And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt;  there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.  The hail struck down everything that was in the field throughout all the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and the hail struck down every plant of the field, and shattered every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, there was no hail.

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.  For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,  and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land; and they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours which grows in the field,  and they shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians; as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.'" Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.   So Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning the east wind had brought the locusts.  And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt, and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever shall be again.  For they covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt."  So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;   they did not see one another, nor did any rise from his place for three days; but all the people of Israel had light where they dwelt.

And Moses said, "Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go forth in the midst of Egypt;  and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits upon his throne, even to the first-born of the maidservant who is behind the mill; and all the first-born of the cattle. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever shall be again.  Then Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, "Select lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the passover lamb.  Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two door posts with the blood which is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.  For the LORD will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two door posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to slay you.  At midnight the LORD smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle.  And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where one was not dead.  And he summoned Moses and Aaron by night, and said, "Rise up, go forth from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said.  Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!"

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"  So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,  and took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the people of Israel as they went forth defiantly.  The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-ha-hi'roth, in front of Ba'al-ze'phon.  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.  And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."  So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its wonted flow when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled into it, and the LORD routed the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.  The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not so much as one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

1. Who is the author?
2. What do you know about him/her?
3. When and where was the document created? What do you know about this time and place?
4. Who is the intended audience for the document? (If unknown, who are the possible audiences for this document?)
5. What was the author's purpose in writing the document?
6. How might the intended audience and purpose have influenced what the author wrote? (Are there some things that might be exaggerated? Ignored? Misconstrued?)
7. Beyond the obvious facts in the document, what characteristics of society at this time document shed light upon?
8. What are the strengths of this document as a historical source? (What makes it especially reliable?)
9. What are the limitations of this document as a historical source?

Step 2:  Now that you have studied the primary source, you must compose the an email exchange between Pharaoh and Moses. The e-mail should follow this sequence

 v      Email #1: From Moses to Pharaoh  o
         Explain why it is that you are returning to Egypt
o        What it is that you hope to accomplish
o        Why the Pharaoh must cooperate

v      Email #2: From Pharaoh to Moses
        Explain to Moses your position
        Outline specifically your reasons for not cooperating

       Email #3 From Moses to Pharaoh
        Outline what the possible consequences for Egypt if they don't do free the Hebrews

       Email #4 From Pharaoh to Moses
        Written after the plagues and after the Hebrews have left Egypt
        What were Pharaoh's mind set be after all that Egypt had been through?
        What future actions if any does Pharaoh plan to take?

Step 3: The follow components must be handed in;

 A thorough analysis of the primary source document
 Four properly formatted emails each reflecting the information suggested in Step 2  For both Pharaoh and Moses, an original email address must be given to each character and appear at the top of the correspondence. (i.e.: Moses@Deliverer.com. or Pharaoh@Nilegod.com).  In addition, each email must include a subject line that indicates what the correspondence is about

Concept by: John Beasley and Mark D. Gouwens
Created by: Mark D. Gouwens

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