The Gospel According To Moses: The Faithfulness Of God When He Seems Silent (Part II)

[Exodus 2:1-25]

Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews’ children." Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, "Because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."

One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, "Why do you strike your companion?" He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known." When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come home so soon today?" They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock." He said to his daughters, "Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land."

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

{Rev. Dwight Yoo}

First of all, Pharaoh and the other Egyptians were afraid of the Israelites. They plotted to kill all the Israelite boys. They told the midwives to kill all the boys, but the midwives disobeyed. They disobeyed because they feared God. So this Levite couple has a baby boy. They kept him for 3 months, but probably realized they could not hide him anymore. So they built this basket and floated him down the river. His basket floated down the river and he was found by Pharaoh's daughter. He ends up being brought up by his mother until he is weaned. Then he enters the Pharaoh's daughter's household. He probably had the best education available in Egypt.

There are also other interesting details. Moses was the son of Levites. So he was born into a tribe that was responsible for spiritual leadership. His life bears lots of parallels with the people of Israel. He is drawn from the water. The Israelites were saved from the Red Sea. He lived as an alien in a foreign land, which also happens to the Israelites. Moses pre-lives Israel's history.

Moses grows up. 40 years later, Moses sees his people. This means Moses had identifies himself with Israel. He had a choice to identify himself with the Egyptians. He was heir apparent to the throne. But he rejects this. He kills an Egyptian and gets rejected by fellow Hebrews. He ends up a shepherd in a foreign land. He knew the suffering of his people and he wanted to free them, but he tried to do it his way. This didn't work.

Principles

1) Despite appearances, God perfectly orchestrates our lives for His purpose.

Our lives are completely under God's control. He takes both good and bad events to fulfill his purposes and also to our good. All of our past prepares us for where we are now and where we will be in the future. There are things we are not proud of, mistakes we've made, but God uses those as well. It doesn't always look like God's doing something, but He works it out. It might not happen the way we want or expect, but God uses all of these things for good.

2) Despite appearances, God perfect orchestrates our lives for His purpose in His time.

Perhaps, we have a timeline in our minds. However, the timeline God has in store might be completely different. We want to graduate at this time. Then get married, then have a kid... ,etc. We are tempted to compare our lives to other people and their success and accomplishments. But God is working and preparing us for the future. Moses was learning to be a shepherd. Herding sheep for 40 years in a foreign land.

3) God humbles those He loves and uses.

Moses is bold. He hates injustice and will stand up for people. These are admirable qualities. But Moses was serving in his own strength. God takes him into the wilderness and humbles Moses. He teaches Moses to rely on God instead of his own strength. It took 40 years for God to work on Moses. This probably speaks of how proud Moses was. God knew of the pain and suffering of his people. But He was readying His instrument. This does not need to be forced upon us. We can humble ourselves. We can look to the cross and see our need of a savior, see what Christ had to do on our behalf. Consider that after we have been humbled, what God can do through us.