Moses At The Burning Bush Series

July 09, 2022

The descendants of Israel have lived in Goshen for 70 years. Joseph and all his brothers have died, but the Israelites continued to multiply until they filled the land.

A new ruler came to the throne who did not recognize Joseph nor his accomplishments on behalf of Egypt. All he saw was a huge number of foreigners living on some of the best land in Egypt. More than that, he saw them as a threat to national security – if they chose to side with an enemy, Egypt could be destroyed ---- the solution? Enslave every last one of them.

So, the Egyptians put slave masters over the Children of Israel and oppressed them – they worked them mercilessly – and the people’s lives became bitter because of the hard labor. Even so, Pharaoh’s plan to reduce their numbers backfired:

• Exodus 1:12 - But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so, the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

So, Pharaoh came up with a new plan – kill all the newborn males at birth. To accomplish this, he employed 2 midwives – Shiphrah and Puah.

His scheme didn’t work, however, because the midwives secretly refused to help.

• Exodus 1:18-19 - Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

Pharaoh became increasingly frustrated because the Children of Israel were multiplying at an alarming rate, so he came up with a new and improved plan – throw all newborn males into the Nile. To accomplish this new plan, he enlisted the help of the Egyptian population, who had no moral dilemma in following his orders.

It was into this nightmare that an unnamed child was born. His parents went to extraordinary lengths to save his life. Finally, it became clear that they could no longer hide him. They were going to have to let him go. His mother, Jochebed, placed him in a reed basket and set him adrift on the Nile – to go wherever the current took him. His sister, Miriam, was sent to keep an eye on him.

God’s hand was on this unnamed child, because that morning, the daughter of Pharaoh went down to the river to bathe and she saw the basket among the reeds. After her slave girl retrieved the basket, Pharaoh’s daughter opened the basket, saw this tiny crying baby and felt sorry for him.

• Exodus 2:6-10 - "This is a Hebrew baby," she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" 8 "Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So, the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."

40 years would go by, but the Bible is silent on those years. All we know is that Moses grew up in the palace – right under the nose of the man who had sought his death.

He would have been educated in the language and culture of Egypt, in military tactics and in all the things that the son of a royal princess should know. Life was good for Moses – better than it could have been.

• Exodus 2:11-15 - One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?" 14 The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known." 15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian….

It is in Midian that Moses will spend the next 40 years. Instead of leading mighty armies and being adored by 1000’s, Moses will tend sheep and learn the ways of the desert. He will marry Zipporah, one of the daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian and have 2 sons. He will be content with his new life, but one day, God will show up and “ruin” everything………….