We’ve been on a journey through the timeline of the Bible. Our purpose has been to highlight the events that show the rebellion of those God created, both in the spiritual realm and the physical realm. Today we will look at the life of Moses from his birth to his encounter with God at the burning bush. This is the initial setup for how God would use him to show His dominance over those who had rebelled. But in order to get there we need to quickly cover a little ground between Abraham and Moses.
We will pick up where Andy left off last week. Abraham takes his son Isaac to a sacrifice. We saw how God provided Himself a sacrifice and thus Isaac lived to continue the family line of the people God called to be His own.
Isaac followed in the footsteps of his father Abraham in one specific way. You remember how Abraham told two different kings that his wife was actually his sister and God honored that wisdom with blessing? Well, guess who else did that? That’s right, Isaac.
Genesis 26:7 “7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance.”
Like father, like son. Men what are you teaching your children and grandchildren? Are you showing them how to honor God with their decisions? Have you shown them how to be wise when it comes to dealing with this world...and at the same time, love the who are in rebellion to God in hopes to win them to the kingdom family of God? Speaking of family...
Isaac and his wife Rebekah have a couple of sons, one of which is named Jacob. Jacob is the one through which the promised messiah will come. The one who was prophesied in Genesis 3:15 to defeat the enemy.
This is why you will see in scripture sometimes that Yahweh is referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These are not just three random guys who served God, but they are grandfather, father and son.
After an encounter with God, Jacob’s name is changed to Israel. And thus now we have the very beginning of Abraham’s family being called the children of Israel. The 12 tribes of Israel are literally the 12 sons of Jacob. One of those sons, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up in Egypt. This is how the children of Israel end up in Egypt...for 400 years.
Joseph was promoted to a very high position in Pharaoh’s court. But after Joseph and that Pharaoh die, everything changes.
Exodus 1:8-10 “8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty forus. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
A Pharaoh that didn’t know Joseph has been crowned, and he is concerned about the vast number of Hebrews.
Exodus 1:11-13 “11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built forPharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the
people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.”
While Israel is being oppressed as slaves in Egypt, God chooses the one (Moses) who is to deliver them from their slavery. But it will not be without opposition from the enemy. Remember how Satan continues to try and prevent the family God wants? This slavery thing was working well for 400 years, but when the descendants of Abraham become so numerous that the king of Egypt is worried they will join his enemies, he decides to enact a little population control.
Exodus 1:15-19 “15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
Pharaoh decrees the death of all Hebrew new born boys. He tells the Hebrew midwives to kill the boys when they are born. Can you imagine the internal conflict they would have had?
On the one hand you have the life of a new born baby, one of your own people and on the other hand you had civil disobedience and the possibility of your own death. They feared God more than they feared Pharaoh. Is your faith that strong?
What will you do when you are faced with the choice of following government orders or following the word of God?
Do you think that’s not possible in America? I assure you it is, and to think we are going to be completely immune to persecution is completely contrary to what the scripture says.
As we examine this, I want you to notice what the Hebrew midwives did not do. They did not start a rebellion to overthrow Pharaoh. They did not go grab their guns and say the time has finally come that we are justified to kill people to defend our “rights.” They simply refused to engage in an activity that was mandated by the government but dishonored God. They said, let the chips fall where they may. They trusted in God for their salvation regardless of what the outcome would be.
And what was the outcome?
Exodus 1:20-21 “20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.”
Here’s the thing you need to know about Hebrew midwives at that point in history. They were barren women. They didn’t have children of their own, so they helped other women with childbirth. God grants them children for their obedience to Him. This would have been the greatest honor God could have given them.
So what is Pharaoh’s next move? Does he give up? No, he doubles down and escalates things to a whole other level.
Exodus 1:22 “22 Then Pharaoh commanded all hispeople, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
Pharaoh commands the Hebrew boys be thrown into Nile. This is once again Satan’s attempt to stop the line of the Messiah. Now all of Egypt is involved in the killing of Hebrew male babies. And Moses’s mother (Jochebed) does something interesting. She did not do what the midwives did. She actually followed the order of Pharaoh. She did put Moses into the Nile...but in a different way. She was very wise in her actions, just like Abraham and Isaac when they used the system against itself.
Exodus 2:3-4 “ 3 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. 4 And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.”
The word that has been translated “basket” is very interesting. It’s the same word we see back in Genesis when God told Noah what to build. It means “ark.” It’s only used in two places in the Bible. It is used to refer to Noah’s ark and to Moses’ basket. Just like Noah, an ark would provide salvation from water for Moses, the one God had chosen to rescue His family.
In the same way Abraham and Isaac were blessed when they were wise in their actions, so was Moses’ mother, Jochebed. She follows Pharaoh’s command (technically.) and when she surrenders her son to God’s care by faith, she is rewarded by being allowed to care for her own son.
Exodus 2:5-9 “5 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. 6 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.” 7 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?” 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. 9 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 his mom surrendered him to God’s care, she got him back. His mom was paid for nursing him. Who could have predicted that outcome? What does that say to us today?
Have you surrendered everything to God, or are you still holding on to things that you believe you can take care of better than God? Parents, have you surrendered your family to God? Do you trust that He loves them more than you ever could? What about other things? Health, finances or career? Can you let go of the things He has placed under your supervision and trust that His plan is better than the one you had?
Moses lives as a prince of Egypt for 40 years. At what point does he realize he is adopted? Is he told of his brother Aaron and sister Miriam at that point? Did he meet his birth mother who had saved his life by hiding him? Here is pretty much all we know about his first 40 years.
Acts 7:20-22 “20 At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, 21 and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her ownson. 22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.”
The last verse seems to contradict what Moses said. When God tells Moses to go talk to Pharaoh, he has this excuse as to why he can’t go.
Exodus 4:10 “10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”
In the Acts passage Stephen is explaining that Moses was raised with the other Egyptian princes, and therefore, as a member of the royal household, he had great authority in his words and his deeds. Even though Moses may have had an issue with speaking, when he did speak, people listened to him.
I believe it was this authority that caused Moses to try and become the deliverer of the Hebrews prematurely. Moses becomes a murderer and fugitive, because he gets ahead of God’s timing. He is 40 years old when he kills the Egyptian.
Exodus 2:15 “15 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. 16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.”
Here we are introduced to Jethro, The priest of Midian, the man who would become Moses’ father in law. If Jethro is a priest, what god is he a priest of? Who did the Midianites worship? They worshiped Yahweh, the One true God. The Midianites were the descendants of Midian...who was a son of Abraham. Jethro was probably the first person to tell Moses about Yahweh. We read this later in the story about Jethro. He was a respected priest and leader.
Exodus 18:10-12 “10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the
hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.”
Moses was a shepherd for Jethro for 40 years. God needed a prince of Egypt and a shepherd of Midian. Training for both positions took 40 years each. Moses thought he was ready for his ministry when he was 40, but as it turns out he was still another 40 years from being ready. He knew what it meant to have authority, but he didn’t yet know how to lead with humility.
Exodus 3:1-2 “1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father- in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.”
Verse 1 tells us that Horeb was the “Mountain of God.” The other name for this mountain that we see in scripture is Mt. Sinai. Several other major events happen on this mountain. It’s the place where Moses is given the 10 commandments, it’s the place where Elijah hears from God in a still small voice after he fled from queen Jezebel’s death threat. This location is very significant in the Bible and we will cover some of the other events that take place there in a couple of weeks.
We know what God told Moses at the burning bush. He said to tell Pharaoh to let His people go. Remember, Moses has been gone from Egypt for 40 years, and at this point he is 80 years old. Your age cannot stop what God has planned. It doesn’t matter if you think you are too young or too old, God can and will use you for His glory if you surrender to His will.
You may say, Randall, God can’t use me...you don’t know what I’ve done. I’ve been a terrible person in the past. Moses was still on the run from the Egyptian government when God called him.
Exodus 4:19 “19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”
God will not let your past interfere with His plans for your future.
Moses had to let go of who the Egyptians said he was...A Murderer. He had to embrace what God said he was...A Deliverer.
How about you? Are you still living in the past? Can you let go of what used to be, in order for God to bring you into what is supposed to be? Are you allowing the enemy to define you based on where you used to live, what you used to do, or the reputation you had?
God is not intimidated by your past. He knows all about it and will use it for His glory if you will surrender it to Him. Are you ready to do that?
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