Following the death of Joseph and his brothers, a new Pharaoh came to power. Threatened by Israel’s population explosion over a few hundred years, Pharaoh made the Israelites slaves of Egypt. Through God’s provision, Moses, the son of Hebrew slaves, was raised in Pharaoh’s household as his grandson. However, because of Moses’s compassion for his fellow Hebrews (and his hot temper), he killed an Egyptian slave master, and then fled to the desert. Forty years later, God appeared to Moses, declaring that He had heard the cries of His people and was about to free them from their slavery. In an amazing demonstration of His power and compassion, God showed His people that He was aware of their suffering, just as He is aware of ours today.