The Birth of Moses
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Moses is one of the great characters in the Old Testament along with Abraham and David. He is often quoted and referred to by Jesus and the Apostles. A study of his life sheds light upon the entire Bible. He was the writer of the first five books of the Bible and was called by God to lead the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. This week we will look t the circumstance concerning his birth.
Chapter 1 of Exodus sets the stage for the birth of Moses. When the children of Israel (Jacob) first came to Egypt, they were received with honor and given choice pastureland. Hundreds of years passed and the children of Israel multiplied. The Hebrew word for exceedingly is actually repeated for emphasis. The Greek translation (sphodra) is also repeated. The word means “exceedingly” by itself, so it translates “exceedingly exceedingly.” The LORD had been faithful to his promise to Abraham that his descendants would be like the dust of the earth or the sand on the seashore in number. The LORD had also told Abraham that his descendants would serve in hard bondage for four hundred years. A Pharaoh rose up that did not know Joseph. The favor in which the Israelites were held in honor was replaced by utter disfavor.
The Egyptians feared for the number of Israelites living in the land. They were large enough in number to overthrow the Egyptians. The leaders needed to preserve their race and culture from this perceived cultural threat. There does not seem to be any indication that the Israelites desired to overthrow them, although another group of Semites, the Hyskos, had previously conquered them and ruled over them. So they had to devise was way to subjugate Israel. So they subjugated them and assigned taskmasters over them. They felt that this would keep the Israelites occupied so they would not have leisure to think about rising up. Also, they would be too weary.
Despite the hardships, the children of Israel continued to multiply. Pharaoh thought that more needed to be done. So he tried to get the Hebrew midwives to kill the male children as the mothers gave birth. They needed to reduce the number of males who could fight against them. It was not to reduce the population as a whole. For that, they would have killed the girls. They liked their servant and slaves. But the elite needed to retain control.
There must have been many midwives to serve the large population of Israel. Two would not have been enough. But two of them, Shiphrah and Puah disobeyed the command. I would suppose that others disobeyed as well. So those of Pharaoh came to them and asked for an explanation as there were too many male children escaping the edict. These two women lied to Pharaoh by saying thet the Israelite women were “lively” and had already given birth before they got there. These women were especially honored of the midwives by the LORD for protecting the male infants. Some see lying as a sin, but the LORD showed respect for these women who lied. Rahab lied as well to protect the two spies who had come to Jericho. She too was honored by the LORD and made an Israelite and married a descendant of Judah. She is also included in the genealogy of both David and Jesus. If we understand that God honored the faith of these women, then we understand that it isn’t lying to be condemned but rather faith in action.
The Children of Israel continued to prosper. So Pharaoh took matters into his own hands. He could not trust the Israelites to commit infanticide. So he tasked the Egyptians to search the male children out and throw them in the river.
Chapter 2 begins by saying that a Levite man married a Levite woman. As the Levites would become the tribe assigned to the priesthood, the text points out that both of Moses’ parents were from that tribe. It says that she conceived and bore a son. This son would be named Moses later on. He was not the first child. There was his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron. Miriam as a female would have been exempted from the edict of Pharaoh. Aaron was three years older than Moses. The question I would ask was if he was saved because of the midwifes’ disobedience to the edict. God preserved Aaron as much as He would preserve Moses. The LORD had plans for them.
Moses’ mother saw something special in her second son. Instead of exposing her son and throwing him into the river or having him discovered and thrown into the river by the Egyptians, she chose to hide him. she lived among other Israelites in close quarters with other Israelites. She lived in fear that one of them might snitch her out to the Egyptians. After three months, she felt he could not be hid any longer.
The edict said that baby boys were to be thrown into the river to drown in the floodwaters. But Moses like Noah would find grace and be saved by means of a boat floating on the water. Instead of throwing her son in the river, she made a boat out of papyrus reeds and mortar of some sort to make it waterproof. She placed Moses in the boat and cast it upon the water. She placed it where it could be found. Now if only the right person would discover him. It would do no good to be discovered by another Israelite. It had to be an Egyptian. How little did Moses’ mother know that he would be discovered by the daughter of Pharaoh. It is interesting at this point that you see God’s hand in all this. But Yahweh had not made himself known to Israel at this point. This would happen later at the burning bush where Yahweh would reveal himself to this Moses. This is similar to Abraham when he is called to leave his country to a place where Yahweh would tell him. From this we must understand that even when it seems that God is nowhere to be found, God is busy preparing. We see this as “prevenient grace.” We may not yet understand, but we will understand.
The Egyptians thought that Pharaoh was God. The Pharaoh was god of the Nile. When Pharaoh’s died, a boat was buried with him. With it, he would carry the sun every day from the east to west. So baby Moses in a boat on the Nile could be seen as a sign of the birth of a god.
This boat was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter. The boat had gotten her curiosity. So she sent a maidservant to check it out. When she opened up the ark, she saw a baby. Right on cue, by the hand of God, the baby wept. This would instinctively draw out the compassion of Pharaoh’s daughter. Whether or not she saw the ark as a sign, she looked at the baby and knew instantly that he was no Egyptian. He was no Pharaoh. He was no god. He was an Israelite.
Right on cue, Moses’ sister, Miriam, who had been hiding to see what would happen appeared and asked if Pharaoh’s daughter would like a nurse. She left and found Moses’ mother who would have been lactating. So Moses’ mother was able to nurse her own son. The son would be given the Egyptian name Moses which means “drawn up” because he had been taken up out of the river. She came with Moses to the house of Pharaoh’s daughter. Pharaoh’s daughter might have given an edited version of how she found the child and hid the Israelite identity. Moses would be raised to be an Egyptian, but not any ordinary Egyptian. He would have been considered a divine priest and royalty. He would be given the best care and education. He would have known most of the members of the royal dynasty. As far as the world sees this, this is a true rags to riches story. There is a sense of serendipity to this story. One would expect, “and he lived happily ever after.” He would belong to the lives of the rich and famous, which too much of us covet. But this was no serendipity. This was not good fortune. This was not the hand of the gods of Egypt. This was the hand of the LORD od of Israel. How would the story turn to something unimaginable and eternally speaking, far greater than the riches of Egypt.
While Moses was being groomed for a royal future in Egypt, his own mother would secretly teach Moses who he really was. He was an Israelite. This had to be hidden as well, for it would have been dangerous to Moses if this was found out. But this was part of the LORD’s preparing Moses for the experience of the burning bush.
We today live in Egypt. We live in Babylon also. We are immersed into the culture of the world. We learn the world’s values. But God has called us to a greater identity and promise. We are destined neither for Babylon or Egypt but to be God’s chosen people. We here in the church prepare the way as Moses’ mother did to tell us of out true identity. This is why it is so important to teach out children the Bible. If we do not, they will remain Egyptians and Babylonians. It is true that God can still save people who have never heard of the Bible or what Jesus did for us. But God calls us to prepare the way. He allows us a part in His great plan of salvation. The details of our life aren’t the same as Moses’. But our salvation is just as miraculous.
We must nurture our children and not let the values of the world destroy our children. People are not going to learn about Jesus in the public schools or anywhere in the public arena. The culture is becoming quite hostile to Christianity. One does not have to actually kill Christians to destroy the church. All they have to do is to convince us that we are Egyptians and Babylonians. When we lose our identity we die as a people. This is what happened to the ten lost tribes. They served other gods and loved the ways of the world. They were not destroyed by the incursions of Syrian and then Assyria. They did suffer these things. Many Israelites were carried into captivity and married. But they were no longer Israelites. They had completely lost their identity. Likewise, when the Christian church adopts worldly identity and values, it starts to melt into the background. It becomes the tail of society and not the head. Soon, it would disappear as being no longer relevant.
But I do not wish to end this sermon on a negative note. As we have seen, God is at work. Even as “Christians” are drowning in the river of this world, God is at work. He will raise up Moses’s. He will make Himself known to them. As hard as the world tries, it cannot thwart the will of God. Whether by lures or by violence, God cannot be silenced. So we must be bold proclaimers of the world. We must tell them to put of the world and put on Christ. We have a higher calling, a higher wisdom, and a far greater future than even the greatest on this earth might attain. Even those included in the lives of the rich and famous don’t seem to be very happy. They look miserable as a matter of fact. They are always in rehab. They are angry. They are judgmental and intolerant. If they only knew that the humblest Christian who believes in Jesus is happier than all of them, even if for a season we suffer under worldly taskmasters, We know the greatest of Exodus’s remain for us as we head to a far greater promised land.
