Ancient Jewish History Essay

Amram and Yochebed thus took their son and placed him in a woven basket and hid him in the grasses of river Nile. The daughter of Pharaoh heard the cry of the baby and rescued him. She had the desire to have a son and it was thus fulfilled making sure to give him the best she could. She named the boy Moses which meant drawn from the water. Even though Moses grew in the Egyptian court's splendor as the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, he did not forget his roots. However, God assured him that his more talkative brother Aaron would act as his spokesperson while in Egypt. When Moses informed Pharaoh what God's command was regarding the release of the Israelites, he refused to obey and thus God struck them with nine plagues.

After the last plague in which the angel of death killed all the Egyptian firstborn sons, Pharaoh's heart was softened and thus let the Israelites free (King James Study Bible, 2008). During the exodus, he was given the tablet containing the Ten Commandments. The journey in the wilderness took them forty years led by Moses. The book of Covenant which was an addition to the Ten Commandments contained a code of laws that were meant to regulate both the social as well as the religious lives of the Israelites. The Ark of the Covenant was a special box that was designed to protect the Book of the Covenant. Through Moses, God spoke all the specific details of the Covenant to the people of Israel.