On the Run

This story, like so many great stories in history, begins with a man and a woman. Here, we learn of an unnamed Levite who goes out and marries another unnamed Levite. We will learn their names later in the book, but for now, all we know is that there are these two people who are married.

Crisis/Rising Action

Scene 1:

(Vs 2): Now, where we left off last week, Pharaoh had just decided that every male Hebrew two years or under was going to be killed. So you can imagine the panic that Moses’ mother had when she found out that she was late. Here she is, a young Hebrew, probably terrified at the oppression that she can see in this world. And she’s already afraid of what’s going to happen. And she has a child. The one thing that must have been going through her mind those nine long months is, “Please let it be a girl. Please let it be a girl. I don’t know if I can let my baby be killed.” But of course, Moses is born. And she sees that he is a boy, but she does not apparently give him a name, because presumably she is going to have to say goodbye so soon. Can you imagine that? Never giving your child a name because you know they’re going to die? And yet, she she sees him, she knows that she could never willingly give him up, because he is a “find child.” He is “good” the Hebrew text says. So, in her soul, she decides she is going to defy the most powerful person in the world and trust the Lord. This woman’s name, we will later learn is “Jochebed” or “The Lord is glorious.” SHe is not afraid of Pharaoh, the Lord is the glorious one. The book of Hebrews later praises Jochebed as a hero in teh hall of faith…

(vs 3) But she cannot hide Moses forever. So eventually she goes and she gathers her material, and she builds a little basket your English translations say. But what you will be interested to learn, is that in teh hebrew, the same word that is used here is the word “ark.” And the only other place in teh bible that it uses the “ark” is in the story of Noah. Just as Noah built an ark to escape the destruction coming to the world, so Moses’ mother builds an ark for her son to escape Pharaoh’s men. It is an action of defiance, that the Lord can save. it is an action of boldness and trust. it is an act of faith: she will trust the Lord. Now, you might think, well wait a minute, isn’t this foolish, to leave a baby on the side of the river, I mean, in the Nile river there are lots of wild animals: crocodiles, lions, hyppopataumeses. What is going on here? Well, in this day and age, it was very common to abandon a baby by the side of the river where you think someone might pick it up. it’s kind of like leaving a baby at the foot of an orphanage or hospital. So she probably is leaving it in a spot where she knwos someone will see it. NOw, teh daughter of the Pharaohs does not just bathe anywhere. She probably will only go to a safe spot on teh Nile where everybody else knows to stay away from. Certainly, Hebrews know not to go anywhere near where the duaghter of Pharaoh is bathing. So Moses’ mother seems to be very intentional about leaving her son in a place where she thinks that her son will be found. I think we can see this too because Miriam is waiting afterwards to see what’s going to happen.

(vs. 4) So Jochebed goes home after setting her son adrift in the reeds of the Nile. But Moses’ sister Miriam, just a young girl at this point, wants to know what will happen to her baby brother. So she stands at a distance. Do you know how brave this littel girl must have been? How bold? How simple her faith was in teh Lord? She did not fear.

(vs. 5-6) Now, during this time, the daughter of the Pharaoh comes and sees Moses in hte reeds. So she picks him up, and it says that she feels “pity” for him. And she sees that he is a Hebrew child, probably because he was circumcised. And she is not sure what she’s going to do with him.

(vs. 7-8) Well, out steps Miriam from the reeds. Now, just imagine this. Here is hte daughter of Pharaoh, she is probably surrounded by dozens of servants. She probably is very wealthy. She has so much power. And out from the reeds steps Miraim, a little Hebrew peasant girl. She is probably dirty and has calloused hands. She probably is not fed very well. And imagine the sight of tehse two women, and Miriam, so boldly steps forward to help her brother. And she offers to get a nurse for Moses. So Pharaoh’s daughter sends her, and Miriam rushes off and gets Jochebed.

(vs. 9) So Pharoah’s daughter sends Jochebed away to go and nurse Moses and bring Moses back when he is weaned. And Pharoah’s daughter tells Moses’ mother that she will pay her to raise her own son. And so Jochebed goes and raises her son till he is weaned. Now, in this day and age, that would mean that he was somewhere between 3-5. So, Moses was raised as a young Hebrew boy in his mother’s house, and he probably learned all about the God of his fahters, and he probably got to know his family quite well before he was borught to Pharoah. Then she brings him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who takes him as her son, and she says goodbye to him a second time, no longer afraid for his life, but relieved that no matter what happens to the rest of the Israelites, Moses has a safe home. As for pharoah’s daughter, think about how brave she was to stand up to her father in this way. This is quietly subversive, adopting a Hebrew into her household. It would have been very scandalous! Not only this, but she even pays wages to Jochebed. Pharaoh’s daughter could have told her to take care of the boy because she was a slave. BUt we see that Pharaoh’s daughter cares for the Hebrew child, and is probably in disagreement with her father the Pharaoh. So we see that God thwarts Pharaoh using his own daughter!

(vs. 10) Pharoah’s daughter names the boy, “Moses,” which means out of the water I drew him. And it is probably taken from a Hebrew name, and she probably got that name from Moses’ mother. And she raises him up and cares for him as her own son. In fact, the book of Acts tells us that Moses was raised to know all the wisdom of Egypt. Moses was up until his time probably the best educated Jewish person that there ever was. He had a life fully set up for him in power and leisure. His life could have been uneventful, peaceful, and safe. he could have grown to be an Egyptian prince. But that is not what God has for him.

Scene 2

(vs. 11): Now, I find what happens next in Moses’ early life to be very interesting. Because it says that he went down to look on his peoples’ burdens. Why did he do this? I mean here is Moses, he is raised up in all the wealth of Egypt, he is a powerful, educated, wise man. he could have lived an easy, comfortable life. He could have lived in ignorance. He didn’t have to do this. But he knew this was his people that was being oppressed, and their God was his God, and he would never be content to live in comfort while his people were suffering. SO we see that Moses is compelled to go to Israel and wander. says...

(vs. 11-12): But then something will happen that changes Moses’ life forever. Because there he sees an Egyptian “beating” a Hebrew. And this word for “beating” is very violent, so probably this Hebrew’s life was in danger. So Moses springs into action, and he strikes him and he dies himself. So Moses hides his body in the sand. So Moses hides his body in the sand and he thinks he is in the clear and that nobody has noticed. Now, here is the question, did Moses do what was right? It might surprise you to know, I read 9 commentaries on this passage, and only one of themn says he does what is right. And even that commentary says that what he does would have been unjustified in basically any other circumstance, but we can make an exception here, which, to me, is not very good reasoning. Well, why is that? Look at how careful it is to say, Moses looks both ways, and when nobody is looking, that’s when he goes and strikes the man. And then he hides teh body so nobody will see. And not only htat, but the same verb is used by him striking the Egyptian that describes the Egyptian striking the Hebrew. Two wrongs don’t make a right. You see, Moses was probably right in his desire to get justice, but he was wrong in how he went about it. he was rash and foolish. Certainly, Moses, as a royal person with a high rank, could have given the command, and the Egyptian would have stopped. But Moses decides to take justice into his own hands. And we will see, that this is actually a problem for Moses, and it gets Moses into a lot of trouble throughotu his life that he tries to take justice into his own hands.

(vs. 13-14): Well, later, he sees two other Hebrews fighting. So he goes to stop them. And he stops them and probably mediates between them. Of course, the Hebrews resent this. here is this Egyptian prince who was probably rumored to be a Hebrew who is coming in giving them the orders. Who does he think he is? After all, hadn’t he just killed the Egyptian? In fact, they were probably frustrated because the death of an Egyptian soldier might have brought down more heat and trouble for the Egyptians. So they say, “who made you a judge and a ruler over us?” And of course, the answer to that is nobody had. Nobody had told him he could go and judge between teh Israelites, nobody had given him that authority. yes, he had a divine calling to deliver Israel from Egypt, but he had not yet been given permission for the task. So here is Moses, he is living among a people not his own, and he goes to his own people, and he acts rashly and gets himself in hot water and they don’t particularly want him around either.

(vs. 15) So Moses departs and goes to the land of Midian. So now here is Moses. He is bold, he is brash. He was raised by strangers. And his own people don’t want him. He is zealous and has strong convictions, but he is a stranger. And he arrives in the land of Midian. Now, the land of Midian was populated by different nomadic tribes, at least some of whom were related to his ancestor Abraham according to . So we see that Moses is on this quest for some kind of family, some place to call home, some people to call his own.

Moses’

Act 3

(vs. 16) So Moses gets to Midian, and he sits down by this well. And while he is sitting there, there are these seven daughters of a priest. Now, seven is the number of perfection in the Old testament. Now, this priest of Midian is very interesting. There is a lot of conjecture about him. But I think what makes the msot sense, is sense at least some of the Midianites are descended from Abraham, that this priest probably worships the true God. That God has preserved this man as a true worshipper, much like hdid with Melchizedek elsewhere in the Old Testament. So this priest is a God-worshipper, who has been divinely appointed in this place.

(vs. 17) But these shepherds come and drive off the women from the well. Now, what is going on here is interesting. But probably, becuase this is a patriarchal culture, men just had pride of place. There is no indicatoin that they were mean or anything to these women. It was just they assumed they should be first, which was not necessarily right.

(vs. 17b) Now, Moses stands up and “saves” them and waters their flock. Now what this probably means is that he drove off teh shepherds. So again, I think we see he has the right idea, but he is brashh. Moses sees that there is injustice being done, and he steps in. now, here’s why I think this is the wrong idea. See this word “save”? That’s an interesting word. And basically it can either mean God’s salvation, or man trying to do things by his own will. now, whenever God is saving, which means, whenever this word is attached to God’s work, it is clear from context. There is no ambiguity. But when God is nowhere to be seen in the “saving” it probably means that someone is taking justice into their own hands (; ). And that is kind of what we have already seen with Moses. That he sees injustice, and he wants to fix it, but that he kind of takes it into his own hands.

(vs. 18-19) Which explains exactly why what happens next. I mean, these seven women probably felt super awkward about the whole thing. It would have been normal, by the customs of the day, to invite a stranger at a well to come stay at their house. That was just what you did. But this guy, man there is something just not right about Moses. Here he is, an Egyptian, a foreigner, a stranger, and he’s just done something which made them feel uncomfortable, and awkward, and then he helped them water their flocks. It was just a little too forward. So they rush home as fast as they can. Let me explain it this way. ladies, let’s say that you are going shopping, and someone steals the last shopping cart before you get there. And then a totally random third party person, who doesn’t seem like they’re from around there, says, “Hey give that cart to that lady,” and starts threatening them. Then they walk through the store with you to help you take all the stuff off the shelves. It’s just a little.. much. I mean, if you are like most people you would say, “Um, okay, I think I decided I don’t want to shop here any more.”

(vs. 20) Now, Reuel knows that there is more going on here. So he sends his daughters out, and he understands teh good for what Moses was trying to do. ANd Reuel, which means “friend of God” was very generous and kind. He kind of takes Moses in. He adopts him as his own son. And he gives him a job. He basically is exactly the kind of person that Moses is looking for. I mean, Moses had left Egypt on the run. The people who raised him wanted him dead, his own people wanted nothign to do with him. Here is Moses, looking for a family, looking for a people, looking for just anyone to take him in. ANd this priest, the friend of God, takes pity on him. Yes, he’s a little overbearing. Yes, he’s a little overeager and rash. Yes, he’s a bit of a young buck. But he just shows him basic generosity and kindness of spirit. I mean, this is exactly what Moses has been looking for, right?

Rising Action

Climax

Denoeuement

Well, look in vs. 22.

(vs. 22) Moses has a son named Gershom. And Gershom means “place of a foreigner.” So here is Moses, he finally finds what he is looking for, he has a father-in-law who takes him in, he has safety, he has a wife, he has a life, and he feels like there is still something that is not right. He has spent his life wandering. From his mother’s house to Pharaoh’s. From Pharaoh’s to his people. From his people to Midian. And he always feels like if I can just get there, if I can just get to the next place, the next job, the next relationship, the next house, the next thing, then I will finally be happy. And Moses is finally there, and he feels-that there is still something missing.

We are not so different. WE spend our lives wandering. From relationship to relationship. From hobby to hobby. From house to house. And we are looking for something to satisfy us, we are looking for something to make us happy, we are looking for something to give us safety and security. maybe this child, or this grandchild, or this next toy, or this next thing will finally make me happy. And at the end of our wandering, we’re still not where we feel like we need to be.

Jacob: You know what’s interesting, Moses’ life is a lot like his ancestor Jacob’s. Jacob’s life was spent wandering. He too was saved by his mother to get blessing. He too regularly took matters into his own hands, first cheating his brother out of his birthright and blessings, then tricking his father-in-law out of his flocks. He too left home. He too came to a well and watered the flocks of his future wife. he too lived with his father-in-law as a farmer. Jacob too was a man who wandered from place to place. He hsa more children than any of us have. he had more wealth than any of us had. he had more success. Jacob had everythign that his heart could desire, especially after he found out that his son Joseph was still alive. But do you know how Jacob concluded his life? Sojouirning in a foreign land. In fact, Jacob told Pharoah when he met him in .... And this is to say nothing of the sojournings of Abraham and Isaac. The greatest heroes of Scriptrue wandered from one place to another, never having a home, never bbeing satisfied with teh places of this earth.

You see, so much of our lives are spent wandering, and our wandering will never give us the thing that we look for. But that does not mean that our wandering is wrong. In fact, God has a divine purpose in our wanderings. It is to help us remember that our true identity, and our true hope is not here on this earth.

Blaise Pascal said: “It is good to be tired and wearied by the vain search after the true good, that we may stretch out our arms to the Redeemer.” - Pascal

...

You see, though Moses does not know it yet, the greatest part of his life is about to begin. As we will see next week he is about to meet face to face with teh living God. And his life will never change. But, if Moses had never been wandering, if Moses had never gone from place to place, from family to family, from home to home, then Moses would never have seen teh burning bush. BBUt it is precisely in our sojournings, in our displacement, in our feelings of strangeness in a foreign land that God meets us.

Where is God in this story?

Now, we might be tempted to wonder, where in the world is God at? Has he just been silent, and absent. What happened to him? Why doesn’t he do something. Well, the end of the story reveals that he has been there all along. Look with me at chapter vs. 23-25

First, we see that the king of Egypt died. On this earth, in such sojournings, we are tempted to think that God is not present. We are tempted to think that God is not working, that God does not care, that God is not just or holy. but God is working all things according to his will. As he says in 2 Peter, a thousand years are as a day in his sight. And though we sometimes feel that the justice of God is short, God has it in his precise timing. What we see here is a reminder that Pharaoh is human. He might pretend to be a god, he might play dressup, he might act like he is a god, but he dies just like everything else. As Moses writes in , “From age to age you are teh same.” God does not change.

Second, we see that God, hears, remembers, and knows. God hears the groanings of his people. He is listening to their pleas for redemption. He is attentive to their cries for mercy. GOd rememembers, he remembers his promises, he remembers the words of his covenant. He will not abbandon israel forever. He will not leave them to waste away, he will kepe his word to them. Finally, God knows. God knows what we are going through. He knows the pain and the tears, he knows the difficulty, he knows the brokenness. God knows our hurts.

Third, we see that God answers. In fact, God is answering their prayers before they even ask them. Apparently during this time, when a new Pharaoh would come to power, he would ver often release all the captives. but that is apparently not what he did for the Hebrews. In fact, it seems like he presses the persecution down even farther. But, God has been preparing an answer for these prayers before they even know to ask them. Before they even know what to say, God has been raising up a deliverer, a leader. God has drawn one out of water who will draw them out of Egypt. God has saved the one who will save. God has provided the one who will provided. God is raising up Moses, and bby his hand he will release Israel from their sins.

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