BEFORE WATCHING: Knowledge and Understanding

SETTING THE SCENE:

The time: from about 1250 BCE to approximately 1200 BCE

The place: Northern Egypt, the most powerful and advanced civilization of the day, and
the Sinai Peninsula, a vast, arid, desert region to the east

The plot: The Israelites,

welcomed into Egypt in the time
of Joseph, had become slaves and
had been forced to work on the
pharaoh’s vast building projects.
God, remembering the promise
made to Abraham and his
descendants, calls Moses to free
the people. Aided by powerful
acts of God (the plagues, the
Passover event, the parting of the
Red Sea), the Israelites make
good their exodus from Egypt
into the Sinai Desert. There, God
forms an official covenant with
the people at Mount Sinai. The
people, out of fear and
uncertainty, respond to God by
complaining, and they sin against
God. For this, they must wander
forty years in the desert before
they arrive at the borders of
Canaan, their homeland. It is at
this border that they prepare to invade the land occupied by the Canaanites and other tribes.

The characters:

Moses- the most famous hero of this period of Israelite history

Zipporah- the wife of Moses
Joshua and Caleb- Moses’ military leaders
Pharaoh- the leader of Egypt