News 86, Bible Story
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Hsihu Center, Formosa • June 17, 1990
(originally in Chinese)

One of Abraham’s descendants was Jacob, who had many descendants. When his country “Israel” was passed on to one of his descendants, his country became very big, famous, powerful and wealthy. At that time, there was another country called Egypt and the Egyptians started to be afraid of the Israelites. Therefore, the newly enthroned Egyptian king decided to deal with Israel before it was too late. He wanted to attack them before they would fight against his country.

So the king took all the Israelites back to be his slaves. He sent many fierce taskmasters to ruthlessly watch over the slaves. Each day, the slaves were forced to build houses and palaces with stones for the king and the royal family. They had to work from morning till night and couldn’t rest. Although they worked hard, they still bore many children. Well! It was strange. So the Egyptian king was afraid and gave an order: “Cast all new born Israelite boys into the Nile and drown them.”

The Birth Of Moses

At that time, there was an Israelite woman called Joahebed. She had just given birth to a son. She had two children already — a boy called Aaron and a little girl called Miriam. When the woman saw that her newborn baby was a boy, she was worried for his life. So she hid her baby in a small house for three months. However, the baby couldn’t just lie there all day long and wouldn’t always be a baby. What would she do if he grew up and ran around? So she kept thinking about it and then came up with an idea.

She found a basket and daubed its exterior carefully with pitch so that it wouldn’t sink when it was put into water. She made the basket into a small boat and put her baby in it. Then she brought the basket to the river bank and hid it in high reeds. She let her daughter watch over it, because she knew that the king’s daughter would come to take a bath there.

As expected, when the princess came to take a bath, she saw the basket. When she picked up the basket and opened it, she saw the baby in it. Oh! It was a very beautiful baby boy. She had never seen such a beautiful baby before. Although she knew that he was an Israelite baby, she liked him very much. It happened that she didn’t have a child, so she took the baby home to raise it. She named him Moses. When she found the baby, she also saw Miriam, the daughter of the woman. Miriam went to the princess and said to her, “I’ll find a woman to nurse him.” The princess was pleased about this. Of course, the daughter went to get her mother to nurse the baby. Great! (Master laughs) It was truly convenient.

So Moses grew up in the palace. He learned all that he could learn there and he learned from the Egyptians very well. Gradually, he grew up and became a person who had good manners and who was handsome, tall and big. However, one day, he found out that he was an Israelite. Seeing that his countrymen were treated so ruthlessly by the Egyptians every day, he was annoyed.

One day, he saw an Egyptian soldier beating an Israelite worker and treating him cruelly. When the soldier almost beat the worker to death, Moses couldn’t resist fighting with the soldier and in fact killed him. Oh! Moses was now in danger, and he was afraid that the king would create trouble for him. So he ran away into the desert and became a shepherd. He then married a shepherd’s daughter and took care of his father-in-law’s sheep.

The Messenger Chosen By God

One day when he was taking care of the sheep, he saw a fire constantly blazing around a bush. However, it was strange that the bush wasn’t burnt. He felt curious about it and went closer to have a look. Then there was a voice that told him, “Don’t come near! Take off your shoes. You’re now standing on holy ground.” Upon hearing this, Moses was afraid. Trembling, he backed up a few steps and took off his shoes. Then the voice said to him again, “I’m the God that your ancestors worshipped frequently. Since I see that the Israelites are suffering a lot, I choose you to be my servant. Go to Egypt, free the Israelites, and bring them here to see me.”

Moses answered hesitantly, “What shall I tell them? What shall I do? They won’t listen to me. Please choose someone else!”

God said, “No. I’ve chosen you. Find your brother Aaron. He will speak for you.” (He was more eloquent.) “However, I’ll give you another language” (This meant the sound stream.) “This language, a special sound, will give you great magical power and you will be able to do anything with it.” What God meant was that Hes could do anything with it and there was nothing that Hes could not do.

Then Moses and his brother Aaron went to the Egyptian king and said, “We have a demand. Our God said that you should let our people go into the desert and give them a farewell party.”

The Egyptian king answered, “I don’t know your God. What does your God have to do with me? What use is Hes to me? I won’t let the Israelites go.”

The king became more and more angry and unreasonable. He gave an order that from that day on no straw was to be given to the Israelites. The Israelites mixed straw with clay to make bricks. That was why the king gave the order not to give straw to the Israelites anymore. Instead he made them find the straw themselves. However, he still required them to produce the same amount of bricks as before. He deliberately made trouble for the Israelites.

Moses was very disappointed. He asked God for help. Then God said, “Just wait and see what I shall do to the hard-headed Egyptian king. I shall let him know that I’m God and I shall make him release my children. Now go to see the king again and tell him that if he doesn’t free my children, I shall make many disasters for the Egyptians and Egypt.”

Then Moses and his brother went to the king again. The king said to them, “You should show me your magical power to make me believe you.” So Moses or his brother Aaron cast a rod onto the ground and then the rod became a serpent. They thought that this would be enough but some Egyptian wizards could also do the same thing. So the king laughed at them and said good-bye to them. (Master and audience laugh) He drove both of them away.

Very Stubborn King

Then God got angry. Because Hes said that Hes would make all kinds of disasters, many terrible things truly began to happen. Each time before a disaster happened, God warned the Egyptian king. However, he neither listened to God nor believed God because he believed in another god of war.

First, the water in the Nile became like blood — red, dirty and smelled stinky. Then the fish in the river all died. This meant that the water had become poisonous. One week later, frogs were crawling all over the country. So the king asked Moses to take the frogs away. After Moses got rid of the frogs, the king still wouldn’t free the Israelite slaves. Therefore, later, God sent many insects down to eat all the crops and destroy everything. There were insects, flies and damaged crops everywhere except where the Israelites lived.

At that time, the king cried and said, “All right! All right! You can go!” Then the insects disappeared. However, the king went back on his promise and said that they couldn’t go. He always deceived the Israelites like that. Ordinary people all behave capriciously like that. So God sent another disaster. This time many cows, sheep and other animals died of pestilence. All the animals died except those that were where the Israelites lived. However, the Egyptian king still insisted on not letting the Israelites go.

Then another disaster happened. God made all the people in the country get painful and dirty boils all over their bodies. Even the wizards had boils. However, the king still wouldn’t let the slaves go. Oh! This king was truly terrible. I don’t know what his head was made of. His head must have been harder than our fellow initiates’ heads. (Audience laughs) Fortunately, he didn’t come to get initiation. (Audience laughs) Otherwise, what could we do with him?

Then Moses and his brother Aaron went to see the king again. They told the Egyptian king, “Now you’ve seen the power of God. If you don’t listen to Hiers instructions and let the Israelites go, bigger and greater troubles will befall your country.” Moses told the king, “There will be a typhoon tomorrow.”

Truly! People had never seen that kind of typhoon. Well! It destroyed everything and killed all the animals. Of course, nothing happened where the Israelites lived. Right after this, many locusts appeared all over the country except where the Israelites lived, of course. The locusts ate up all kinds of things and all the green plants. Then there was no sun for three consecutive days. It became very very dark everywhere, except where the Israelites lived. (Master and audience laugh) Maybe the Israelites were initiated. It might have been.

At that time, the king began to feel frightened. However, he still wanted to bargain with God and didn’t want to release the Israelite slaves. Well! He was so strange. How could this kind of person become a king? Even until that time, he still wouldn’t let the Israelites go. Then an even more frightening thing happened. In one night only, the eldest sons of all families suddenly died, including the eldest prince who couldn’t escape even through good fortune. This happened as well to the eldest sons of the Egyptian lowest class slaves. Of course, the Israelites were not affected by it.

The next day, the Egyptians couldn’t wait to drive the Israelites away, because they couldn’t bear it anymore and couldn’t do anything about it. What happened was already too much for them. If they kept the Israelites one more day, they would have more disasters. So they were frightened. They not only drove the Israelites away, but also gave them many gold and silver vessels, good material for clothing, good clothes and good food upon the Israelites’ request. However, by the time the Israelites had walked half the way, the Egyptian king changed his mind and sent his army to try to capture them.

By then, the Israelites already had come to the ocean. There was no road in front of them and there was the Egyptian army chasing after them. So the Israelites were scared and cried. Moses waved his hand over the ocean and God sent a wind from the east that suddenly made the ocean part. The Israelites quickly ran across the ocean. When the Egyptian army chased them and were crossing the ocean, it closed and all of them were drowned. Therefore, the Israelites all escaped.

Settled In The Desert And Began A New Life

The Israelites were not slaves anymore. They had money and food. When they came to the desert, they sang and danced very happily and had a banquet to show their gratitude to God. They worshipped God, sang for many days, and kept dancing. After a period of time, they forgot their miserable lives of the past, but began to complain and miss Egypt. They forgot God but thought about onions, fish and meat. They said, “Well! The fish in Egypt tasted good. Oh! The watermelons in Egypt were juicy. The onions in Egypt were delicious!” (Master laughs) They even missed onions. For them, onions were more important than God. They said, “Oh! Don’t forget the cucumbers there. Well! What can we eat in the desert?”

Since they had eaten all the food, they started to complain. They forgot about the rods that had beaten them in Egypt before. They forgot about the fierce hearts of the Egyptians. They even forgot the time that they shed tears, sweat and blood, and were beaten almost to death and oppressed. They only thought about food and drink. They began to blame Moses and Aaron for taking them to this remote place where there was no food to eat. Of course they had water to drink. When God took them to the desert, Hes produced water in the wilderness. However, the Israelites were not satisfied with that. They all complained, “Oh! We’d rather die in Egypt than die of hunger here.”

When God heard their complaints, Hes told Moses, “Tell your people that I shall give them everything that they ask for. I saved their lives. How can I not provide food for them to eat? Do not complain too much. Today I shall give them a lot of food. Tomorrow I shall give them bread. Each morning, I shall make food for them to eat. However, on Friday I shall give them double the amount, because I shall take a break on Saturday and you won’t have to work either.” So Moses conveyed what God had said to the people. That night, God truly gave them many things to eat. From that day on, each morning, bread and other food appeared for them. They just lived on like that. They wouldn’t starve to death and didn’t have to work.

However, they encountered another problem. Since the sun was very hot, they didn’t have enough water, so they complained again. Upon hearing this, God told Moses, “Go to such-and-such place and hit the stone with your walking staff. Then water will come out.” As expected, water did come out. There was enough water no matter how much they drank. It was no problem. The author of the story writes, “They shouldn’t have tested God!” Even though they did, God forgave them and gave them food to eat and water to drink for forty years. Hes took care of them like this every day. Hes gave them food to eat and all they asked for, because Hes wanted them to believe in Hirm. Gradually Hes taught them to have faith in Hirm so that they wouldn’t have any more problems.

I don’t know why God liked the Israelites so much and had such patience. Hes gave them food to eat for forty years and gradually taught them to have faith in Hirm. However, do you think they would have faith? (Someone answers: “They would.”) For how many days would they have faith? All right, whether they had faith or not, I’ll tell you about it next time. If we have faith in God, we’ll have everything. People will suddenly give us food, come to chat with us and resolve our problems and difficulties. All these will be done by God. If we truly have faith in Hirm, Hes will take care of everything for us, no matter whether it is a big or small thing. Hes truly will.

God’s Grace Is Infinite

Otherwise, how can we take care of ourselves? Where are we from? Do you know that? You don’t know it at all! You also don’t know where you’ll return to. Some people know it and some don’t. Those who practice more and have attained higher levels know it. Those who don’t practice much don’t know, but only have some ideas about it and know that there must be a safe place for them to go. Now we’ve repented and been saved. Even if we did something bad in the past, it’s no problem, because we were ignorant at that time. Now we’ve been enlightened and know that we should repent. So God will forgive us and help us.

Although there were so many Israelites, God took care of the whole country for forty years. It was even in the desert, and yet Hes bestowed everything on them, not to mention living in a city. Why won’t Hes take care of us? It’s just that our situation isn’t urgent and we can take care of ourselves. So God doesn’t have a hand in it. But Hes has been silently taking care of us. If Hes hadn’t done it, we wouldn’t be alive. Even if people in the world who don’t believe much in God occasionally have difficulties and ask God for help, Hes will help and do it for a long time. However, later we forget and complain again. Then we’ll have difficulties again.

The reason that we have difficulties sometimes is because God wants to remind us to look for Hirm inside: “It’ll be all right if only you ask me! Why don’t you call me?” Hes lets the situation develop and forces us into difficult circumstances where we have nothing to depend on; when doctors can’t even cure us, and our relatives and friends can’t help us. Only at that time, will we kneel down in front of God and beg for something. Hes is waiting for us! Hes has many gifts (Master laughs) and will give them to us at any time, but it’s a great pity that most people don’t believe in Hirm.

One Person Practices, Many Generations Are Blessed

Why did God take care of the Israelites so well? It was because their ancestors practiced spirituality and believed in God. The Israelites were Noah’s descendants. Remember that in the stories of Noah and Abraham, God promised to take care of their descendants. That’s why we say that if one person practices, his five, six, seven, eight or one hundred generations will be liberated. God will take care of our many generations, not only this one. That’s why even though the Israelites didn’t practice spirituality, were not even vegetarians, and they thought about God for a while, then about fish for a while, God still took care of them.

God is very merciful! If your father believes in Hirm, Hes will take care of you and your children, because Hes is very merciful and generous. Hes gives us things endlessly. Unless we truly refuse Hiers love, then Hes can’t help us. Because of these stories, the Israelites believed in God very much. Each time God appeared, Hes would remind them: “I was the God worshipped by your ancestors!” This means the inner Master’s or God’s loving power. Since God promised to take care of their five or six generations of descendants, Hes just continued to do it. But later, the descendants became more and more degenerate and did more and more excessive and unforgivable deeds, so their merit and loving power became less and less, and gradually disappeared.

One day another person who practiced well emerged from their country and reminded the people to believe in God again and to be connected with God. Then God promised to take care of them again. Otherwise, why did God love the Israelites so much? It was because Noah, Abraham and his wife worshipped God, so his sons, grandsons and later generations also received the bounty. That’s why people say, “If one practices spiritually, his nine generations will go to heaven.” Those stories are not ordinary. Even the Israelites knew them. Although the Israelites didn’t have a master now, they continued to believe in God because of these stories. It was just that they couldn’t communicate with God. So it was a pity. Some Israelites may have been able to communicate with God. If they found a master and the method, they definitely could; but not everyone in the country could.

Even until now, the Jews still roam about in many countries and not every country welcomes them. This is because they haven’t really been able to communicate with God. Besides, they’ve done many nonsensical things and killed too many, which doesn’t comply with God’s rules. So their merit has been greatly reduced. God doesn’t seem to take care of them much. Besides giving them a lot of money, Hes doesn’t give them many other things. God has said that since they did many bad deeds, they wouldn’t have their own country for a long time and would become a roaming race. That truly happened and it’s recorded in the Bible. If the Jews can really find God like their ancestors Abraham and Noah did, they will definitely regain their position and their country’s reputation.

Those Who Truly Believe In God Are Rare

Most of us haven’t learned to believe in God. That’s why we have many problems. Sometimes we say that we believe in God, but we don’t. It’s just like when you say that you believe in me, but you don’t. How many of you believe in me? Very few! When you’re tested a little, you’ll be different. If I personally test you, you’ll be even more different. When I scold you, how many of you are glad about it? Raise your hands and let me see. Right! Only two or three people are. It’s good that you’re honest. I admire you for this merit, (Master and everyone laugh) to be true to people and not to deceive others. Only those who were truly glad about it raised their hands. (Master laughs) There were only five, six, seven or eight of you. As for the other people, you may become angry; but do not be angry for too long. (Laughter) The longer you’re angry, the less your merit will be. Remember to repent after you calm down, all right?

Ordinary people can beat and scold you, but why can’t I do the same? Sometimes gangsters have nothing to do with you but when they see you, they beat you. You don’t dare to do anything to them and don’t dare to get angry, but beg them for your lives. (Laughter) I’ve saved your lives and taught you many things, but you get angry when I scold you only once. This is a contradiction within human beings.

Therefore, you say that you believe in me, but you don’t believe in me for long and don’t believe in me much. Your faith is very thin. (Master laughs) It’ll break when touched. It’s hard to take care of your faith, but that’s why you should take care of it. The more faith you have, the more comfortable and happier your lives become. Then when you encounter any situation, your faith won’t shake, which is a very comfortable state. However, I know that it’s hard to attain this state, so I have to train you. God took good care of the Israelites and gave them all kinds of food to eat for forty years, but they still had problems. Later, God had to slowly teach them to believe in Hirm.

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