The Promised Land Series covers the books in the Bible from Exodus to Judges. These books describe events from the birth of Moses to the end of the era of the judges of Israel.
In Genesis, God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan, so Canaan became known as The Promised Land. Modern Israel and Palestine encompass the majority of Canaan.
Abraham’s grandson was Jacob, whose name was changed to “Israel” by God. His descendants became known as the Hebrews or Israelites. During the later life of Jacob, the Hebrews moved to Egypt during a famine. The book of Exodus opens about four centuries later with the Hebrews still in Egypt, having become slaves of the Pharaoh.
The book of Exodus is primarily about Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt and into the wilderness, their covenant with God, and the construction of the Tabernacle.
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy tell of the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness, the laws given to the Hebrews by God, and their adventures on the way to the Promised Land. These books end with the Israelites poised to enter the Promised Land, and the death of Moses.
This episode covers only eleven verses, but a lot can be gleaned from them. These verses follow Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush. In that experience, God reveals that Moses will lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Pharaoh will resist until God prevails, Moses will be an unwilling participant, and the soon-arriving Aaron will be chosen as Moses’ assistant.
In this lesson, Moses returns from the burning bush to his home with his father-in-law, Jethro. Apparently, Moses is secretive about the burning bush experience, because he requests permission to return to Egypt to see if his enemies are dead, even though God had already revealed this to Moses. Moses is asking permission as a courtesy, because he is taking Jethro’s daughter and grandchildren with him.
Jethro would not have noticed such a mundane thing as Moses taking his staff with him on the trip. Jethro does not know that Moses’ staff has been converted into the staff of God, useful for performing wondrous signs.
Shiphrah – Eleanor Threatt Hardy
Zipporah – Giovannie Cruz
First Israelite Elder – Bill Jenkins
Second Israelite Elder – Sean McGraw
Aaron – Phil Mendoza
Moses – Eric Starkey
Bezalel – Kenny Gardner
Nadab – Philip Ngorima
Caleb – Lynn Miller
Phinehas – Parker Gray
Rahab – Ashton DeGroot
Joshua – Marcus M. Mauldin
Paul – Brian Shoop
King Solomon – Todd Terry
Deborah – Sally Vahle
Gideon – Cody Bagshaw
Delilah – Vanessa DeSilvio
Eli – Donald Hampton