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Most of the people sort of understood in terms of their gods and their religion. >> can we account for the plagues naturally? probably. is that the point of the story? certainly not. in the space of a year these ten disasters destroyed egypt. and that's the point. it's a miracle. miracles don't beg natural descriptions. miracles are miracles. they are when god intervenes in the order of nature. >> then god told moses to prepare the people for the coming of the tenth and worst plague. the killing of all the first-born. >> moses instructed the jews to sacrifice a lamb and to paint its blood on t...

Am." >> basically, moses is given the mission. go down. shall we sing it? go down moses? go down and tell pharaoh to let my people go. >> you know, moses is very reluctant when god signals to him that he has to be the leader of the jews. and his first response is effectively i don't want to be or i wouldn't be good at it. >> he is an unsure leader. don't pick me, god. how many of us have -- you know, if some finger came out of the sky and said you, we would say no, not me, not me. >> reporter: but it turns out there was another figure in ancient egypt who didn't hesitate to give everything up ...

>> the egyptians effectively laugh at him and the magicians say this is a little piece of trickery, forget about it. >> reporter: unimpressed, pharaoh still refused to let the israelites go. it was at this point that god unleashed a series of disasters known as the ten plagues. >> these are absolutely horrible. you know, as horrible as anything you can imagine. >> and every spring jews commemorate the exodus story in the passover seder. they remember the ten plagues by placing on each plate a drop of wine for every plague. >> hail, gnats and flies and things of that sort. >> wild beasts. plagu...

Banks of the river nile the bible says that moses' brethren, the israelites, were still enslaved by the pharaoh, building his grand palaces and temples. after many years of suffering, the bible says, they were fed up and began to grown and cry out to their god. >> you know, jews have been at the forefront of almost every social justice movement of the 20th century. when you look at, you know, the civil rights marches, there were very often jews in the front row and second row. and i think there's a straight line from that groaning in the story of the exodus to that. the idea that we speak up. ...

A permanent place to settle. according to the bible, the israelites were constantly on the move, spending 40 arduous years wandering in the desert. >> for 40 years in the wilderness the jews just bitched at each other constantly. it is a nonstop rant. we are human. we complain. we kvetch. the israelites actually had the temerity to say maybe it would have been better to stay in egypt. can you imagine? >> good morning. >> welcome to mount nebo. >> thank you. nice early morning to see the promised land. >> it is indeed. moses i'm not sure if he came early morning or evening. >> reporter: we met ...