Exodus 2
Notes
Transcript
1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
Interestingly, we see that not only was Moses from the tribe of Levi from his dad, but his mother also
full blooded priestly line
2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3 months - notice the “3”, imagery and typology written all over moses
we also think about some of the children born in either miraculous or very difficult situations, often in the Bible these people go on to become heroes or important characters
his mother had hope in God’s promise to the Israelites, and acted accordingly by hiding and preserving moses
she took the risk, she could have likely been killed or imprisoned if caught
to her, it just seemed like she was doing what was right in the face of adversity, doing the right thing in the darkness, not knowing what may or may not become of it
but her faith in the promises and providence of God led her to an action that would ultimately make it possible for them to leave Egypt
3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.
“flags” = reeds
we see a parallel with noah here, in that deliverance was to come through one floating in an ark
what a true act of faith this was! it must have truly been difficult for her as a mother
4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
Now we see how this is worded, “to wit what would be done to him”, it seems like they had a plan or knew that something would happen to him while she was watching
We talked last week about the Egyptian capital at the time called Avaris
The palace at Avaris, where the royalty stayed, was located right near the river
The egyptians practiced ceremonial washing for certain things as well
it’s thought that Moses’ mother and sister put the basket in the river close to the palace, so that Pharoah’s daughter would have a good chance of seeing Moses
of course we don’t know for sure, we only know for sure what is said biblically
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
How amazing is the providence of God!
We know His guiding hand is all over the place, and no matter what the situation was, Moses was noticed by Pharoah’s daughter nonetheless
Even though Moses’ family did not know what would happen when they put moses in the Nile, something that must have been so tough for them, they believed that God would help get them through
The Bible spreak of the great providence and guiding hand of God, and how we can be confident in trusting in it
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Instead of constant worry, we’d be better off replacing all of that worry with faith
we can think of how much God know, and how He knows all our hearts and everything about us
surely He knows about our needs and how we feel about them
So just like Jochebed, Moses’ mother, cast Moses into the river, we should cast away our worries to God
of course it’s not easy, for some reason, we often want to hang on to our worries - at the end of day, it’s a lack of faith, which is why Jesus calls those who always worried as “ye of little faith”
our God is all powerful, all loving, His hand guides the universe, He wants us to cast our burdens upon Him
ask yourself an honest question - am I lacking this faith? am I just sitting around worrying instead of just handing it over to God?
this is not exactly an easy one, to drastically cut down or stop worrying
imagine the disciples early on after Jesus left - they had a lot to worry about
or even during Jesus’ lifetime - they could have potentially worried then too, about persecution or this that and the other
true, big faith says to hand it all over to God, and that God will see you to the end of it at the end of the day.
often, sopmeone can know that the above is true, but STILL worry
we must live out our faith, because if we don’t live it out, what really is our taith in God?
And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.
Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.
yet another story from the Bible of the small man being raised up to become great
God truly shows His greatness in this way - if someone great did something great then whoever did the great thing might think it was because of himself that he was able to do it
when God does something great from humble beginnings, there’s really no questioning that God had His hand in the situation
look at the amount that God would accomplish through Moses from these beginnings, things that affect us to this day
More things regarding God’s providence - Egypt was supposed to be killing the Hebrew first born
but when the Pharoah’s daughter finds Moses, this is not how she reacts at all - she wants to keep and protect Moses
The Spirit of God intervenes and makes the Pharoah’s daughter act in such a way that in theory she shouldn’t be
And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
WET NURSES - back in these days in Egypt, if I a child was abandoned or for various other reasons, a wet nurse could be employed - the standard period being roughly 3 years
she did not just save Moses’ life, but kept him and raised him as well.
So not only was Moses’ life saved, but he end up being put into a great position in multiple ways
think about what he would go on to do in the future - he would become a leader who leads his people out of Egypt
by being raised in Pharoah’s house, he would have been well educated
And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
also would have had good connections
he would be familiar with many things about both Egypt and Pharoah’s family
it’s as if he was being prepared all of his life for the role he would eventually take on
FIN
And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
One thing we see from this verse is that even though Moses was surrounded by the Egyptians, their awful practices, false gods, and all of these kinds of things, he was not like them
Additionally, we see that Moses hated the injustice with which his bretheren were being treated, he had a proper moral compass which guided him in his life, even early on
And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
What made Moses do this act in the first place was his want for the good of his own people, and he seems to be concious of and is taking on his role as a deliverer for them
“he would not have slain the Egyptian if he had not first destroyed in himself the Egypt of spiritual wickedness”
And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
If we look at something Stephen said in the book of Acts, we see the following:
For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
Moses ends up in a sticky situation - he has done this act with a heart for avenging his people and at great risk to his own self
but those who he risked so much for do not understand or appreciate what moses did for them.
Jesus went through this very same thing
really, anyone who takes up the cause of Christ or seeks to conform to His image will endure the same kind of stuff
sometimes, people just will not understand or appreciate things
but also many times it can also backfire in some way,
how many times have you tried to do something good only for things to end up getting harder?
Jesus dealt with this all the time, the more good He did, the harder things got for Him
So Moses here has tried to do something good in his mind, but ends up having to leave his homeland and become a stranger in a strange land
However, though he’s been through some ups and downs already, his heart and his heart for his people would not change
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
Moses’ old life as a royal is now going to be completely a thing of the past
he has given up royalty and luxury in the greatest country on earth at the time
imagine the adjustement that he’d have to go through, perhaps learning a new language, getting to know all new people, all kinds of things
“He who hated the pomp of royalty returned to the lowly state of his own race. He preferred to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of sin.”
Though Moses finds himself in these hard times he’s resolute in standing up for what’s right as can be seen in the following verses.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
So Moses practiced well equally, whether to the midianites or to the hebrews, to the people of God and everyone else
God does not let Moses’ hardship and good intentions go by unseen, however, and he is rewarded with a family and a place to stay in the following verses
Throughout all of these events, whether it be Moses’ mother with her great faith or whether it be Moses fighting for what is right, God had His hand in all of this
for instance, because of Moses’ exile in Midian, it would make it possible for him to encounter God at the burning bush
God’s hand was in their lives, and it’s in our lives just as much, and it’s our responsibility to just live for Him, put our faith in Him, and He will lead the way for us
He will make things work, He’s the one who makes things work periods
it’s simply for us to act like God wants and to put great faith in Him
Moses did this, his mother did this, and it would ultimately lead to an incredible work of God
this work was done because they allowed God to work in their lives and use them
let’s allow God to work in our lives as much as possible, to just live for Him, to not doubt, and to just go forward for Him knowing that He will provide for us