Single lesson
The Israelites Leave Egypt
Exodus 12:31–42; Exodus 13:17–22
In this lesson, children follow the order of Israel’s departure from Egypt, notice key choices in the passage, and see how Yahweh brought the people out and led them on the way.
Before you teach
These verses describe the people leaving Egypt in haste after Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to go. The passage names what they carried, who went with them, where they travelled, and how God led them away from the nearer road by a pillar of cloud and fire.
Students will be able to retell five main steps in the passage and explain from the text that Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt and led them on the way.
Welcome: What happened first?
4 minShow a map line or simple board list with these places: Egypt, Rameses, Succoth, Etham, wilderness. Tell children they will listen for the order of events. Explain that Pharaoh told the people to leave, and the Egyptians wanted them to go quickly. Ask children to listen for what the people took and where they travelled.
Exodus 12:31, Exodus 12:33, Exodus 12:37, Exodus 13:20
Read and explain: Leaving in haste
8 minRead Exodus 12:31-39 aloud. Explain simple phrases: unleavened means bread made without yeast, and haste means very quickly. Point out that the people took dough before it was leavened because they were thrust out and could not wait. Notice too that they asked for silver, gold, and clothing, and Yahweh gave them favour with the Egyptians.
Exodus 12:34, Exodus 12:35, Exodus 12:36, Exodus 12:39
Discuss: Who went, and what night was this?
6 minHelp children observe that a very large group left, including children, a mixed multitude, flocks, herds, and much livestock. Then explain that the passage calls this a night to be much observed to Yahweh because he brought them out from Egypt. This keeps the focus on what Yahweh did, not only on travel details.
Exodus 12:37, Exodus 12:38, Exodus 12:42
Make and respond: Sequence the journey
8 minChildren make and arrange five simple sequence cards: Pharaoh says go, people leave in haste, they travel from Rameses to Succoth, God leads by the wilderness, Yahweh goes before them in cloud and fire. As they order the cards, ask why God did not lead them by the nearer road and what the pillar showed about his care.
Exodus 12:31, Exodus 12:37, Exodus 13:17, Exodus 13:18, Exodus 13:21, Exodus 13:22
Closing: Remembering God’s leading
4 minReview the sequence together in one sentence each. Remind children that Moses also took Joseph’s bones, showing that this journey connected with an earlier promise remembered by the people. Finish by naming one truth from the passage: Yahweh brought them out and stayed before them as they travelled.
Exodus 13:19, Exodus 13:21, Exodus 13:22
Questions to explore
Why did the people bake unleavened cakes instead of waiting for the dough to rise?
Look for the reason in the verses about haste: they were thrust out of Egypt, could not wait, and had not prepared food for themselves.
Exodus 12:34, Exodus 12:39
Why did God lead the people by the way of the wilderness instead of the nearer road?
The text says God was considering what the people might do if they saw war.
Exodus 13:17, Exodus 13:18
What showed the people that Yahweh was leading them on the journey?
Find the two signs named for day and night, and notice that they stayed before the people.
Exodus 13:21, Exodus 13:22
Make, think or respond
Journey Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or crayons
- scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Write or draw five scenes from the passage on separate cards: Pharaoh says go, dough carried away, leaving Rameses, wilderness road, pillar of cloud and fire.
- Mix the cards and let children place them in order as a group.
- Read the matching verses after each card is placed.
- Invite children to say one sentence from the text about each card.
This activity helps children sequence the account and connect each step with what the passage actually says.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, prepare the five cards in advance with simple pictures and let them match cards to the verses read aloud.
- For older or stronger readers, ask them to add short captions with exact words from the passage such as 'in haste', 'by the way of the wilderness', or 'didn’t depart'.
An optional closing prayer
'Yahweh, thank you for bringing your people out of Egypt and leading them on the way. Please help us remember what you did in this passage and trust your wise leading.'
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Exodus 12
31 He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said!
32 Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!”
33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We are all dead men.”
34 The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.
35 The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing.
36 Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They plundered the Egyptians.
37 The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, in addition to children.
38 A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock.
39 They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn’t wait, and they had not prepared any food for themselves.
40 Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.
41 At the end of four hundred thirty years, to the day, all of Yahweh’s armies went out from the land of Egypt.
42 It is a night to be much observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yahweh, to be much observed by all the children of Israel throughout their generations.
Exodus 13
17 When Pharaoh had let the people go, God didn’t lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt”;
18 but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.”
20 They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
21 Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night:
22 the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.