If I asked most of you to describe your spouse, or your boss, or a friend, you'd probably give me a list of their qualities. They're funny. Smart. Organized. Stubborn. Easy going. That's how we normally think about people-- with adjectives. But a few of you, maybe, would lean back in your chair, and say, "Let me tell you a couple stories about so-and-so: When I got laid off from my job, and couldn't pay the bills, my friend lent me money for two months so I could feed my kids. When I lost a loved one unexpectedly, my friend stopped by, and just listened, and grieved with me. When I needed someone to watch the kids at the last minute, my friend was always willing to drop what he was doing, and come over. I told my friend a secret-- the kind that's too good to keep-- and no one else every learned it."
When someone leans back in their chair, and tells you a couple stories about someone, who that person is becomes far more real.
Our passage today is going to give us three stories about Moses, the grown man. Each story seamlessly leads to the next, so it's hard to draw a sharp line between them. But these stories, are how Exodus shows you who Moses really is.
So. Story #1, verses 11-12:
(11) And then, in those days, Moses grew up,
and he went out to his brothers,
and he saw their burdens/forced labor,
and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man-- from his brothers,
(12) and he turned this way and that,
and he saw that there was no one,
and he struck the Egyptian,
and he hid him in the sand,
Put yourself in Moses' shoes for a minute. You grow up in the Egyptian palace. You're some type of minor royalty, presumably. Your adopted mom-- the mom who has raised you since you were maybe 2 or 3-- is Egyptian. What does that make you?
Are you a Hebrew? Or are you an Egyptian?
Adopted kids often wrestle with questions like this. Who are they, really? Who is their family, really?
In verse 11, Moses grows up, becomes an adult. Exodus says, "He went out to his brothers," and we ask ourselves, "Who are his brothers?" Where is Moses' loyalty? Are his brothers Egyptians, or are they Hebrews?
And the answer we get, immediately, is that in his heart, Moses is a Hebrew. At the risk of triggering people, that's how he self-identifies.
So Moses, the Hebrew, goes out, and he sees two things. The first, is the forced labor that every Hebrew brother suffers under. And the second thing he sees, is an Egyptian "striking" a Hebrew man.
Notice the last three words in verse 11. "From his brothers." Exodus stops, and tells you a second time who Moses is-- Moses is a Hebrew. And every other Hebrew man, is his brother.
Now, what exactly is the Egyptian doing to his Hebrew brother? He is "striking" him. The Hebrew word is easy to remember-- "naka." Like you'd "naka" someone. [I should have people lightly punch their neighbor, and say "naka."]
This verb, "strike," covers a large spectrum of violent acts. To get a feel for this, let's turn first to Exodus 5:15-16:
(5:15) and the foremen of the sons of Israel came,
and they cried out to Pharaoh, saying,
"Why are you treating your servants like this?
(16) Straw isn't being given to your servants,
while bricks they are telling us to make,
and LOOK! Your servants are being struck/beaten,
and the sin of your people."
Here, "striking" the Hebrews describes beatings, not killing.
Now, when we worked through the book of Joshua, one of the key verbs used to describe the conquering of cities was this same verb, "to strike." And there, as far as I can remember, "naka" is always used to describe the killing of the enemy armies.
One more little rabbit trail. Leviticus 24:17-21:
(17) and a man, when he strikes any life/soul of a human, he shall surely be put to death,
while the one striking the life/soul of a domestic animal shall repay it-- a life/soul in place of a life/soul,
(19) while a man, when he gives a disfigurement/blemish to his fellow citizen, just as he did, thus to him-- break in place of break, eye in place of eye, tooth in place of tooth.
Just as he gives a disfigurement/blemish to the man, thus it shall be given to him,
(21)while the one striking a domestic animal shall repay it,
while the one striking a human shall be put to death."
And when we turn back to Exodus 2:12, we see that when Moses "strikes" the Egyptian, this "striking" kills him.
I bring all of this up because what exactly Moses sees, is ambiguous. An Egyptian is "striking" a Hebrew. Is this "just" a beating? Is this a murder in progress? We don't know if the Hebrew survives. Exodus doesn't quite give us enough details to give us a clear picture. But what we do know, is that at this point in Exodus, most Egyptians are murderers, or accomplices to murder.
So my instinct here is to give Moses the benefit of the doubt (following Brueggemann and Fretheim). I think Moses sees a Hebrew man being struck (repeatedly), and Moses responds in kind, doing the same verb to the Egyptian, and he kills him.
And I think that when Moses does this, that he does the right thing. If you see someone getting killed, the correct response is to pull out your Glock, and shoot them. You don't close your eyes to the violence. You don't record it on your phone. You jump in, and stop it if you can, using as much force as necessary.
Let's turn back to Genesis 9:6:
6 “Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.
The Egyptian is shedding human blood, and by Moses, his blood was shed. So I think when Moses kills the Egyptian, he is obeying God.
So what do we learn about Moses from story #1?
Moses self-identifies as a Hebrew.
Moses is a defender of the helpless.
Moses isn't afraid to be violent, to bring justice.
Story #2, verses 13:
(13) and he went out on the second day,
and LOOK! Two Hebrew men fighting/quarreling,
and he said to the one in the wrong,
"Why are you striking your neighbor?",
In this second story, Moses sees two different men fighting-- only this time, they are both Hebrews. One of them is in the wrong, and Moses asks him, "Why are you 'striking' your neighbor?"
Here, Moses doesn't simply pull out his Glock. Instead, he confronts the one in the wrong, and challenges him to explain his evil.
Why does Moses treat the evil Hebrew man differently than the Egyptian?
I assume that the reason Moses treats this situation different, is because it's a less serious situation (not because it's a Hebrew, instead of an Egyptian). It's a fight. It's still serious. But it's the kind of fight that can be stopped (2 Sam. 14:6). And that's what Moses does.
So we add to our knowledge of Moses. Moses is someone who is committed to justice, but it's a justice that's measured with wisdom, and discernment. He uses force, but only when force is necessary.
In verse 14, it all falls apart for Moses. Moses' efforts are not appreciated:
(14) and he said,
"Who made you into a man-leader and an exerciser of authority over us?
Planning to kill me, are you,
just as you killed the Egyptian?",
and Moses feared,
and he said,
"Surely the matter is known,"
(15) and Pharaoh heard this matter,
and he sought to kill Moses,
and Moses fled from before Pharaoh,
and he dwelled in the land of Midian,
and he dwelled at the well.
This brings us to story #3, verse 16:
(16) Now, to the priest of Midian there were seven daughters,
and they came,
and they drew water,
and they filled the troughs to water the flock of their father,
(17) and the shepherds came,
and they drove them [the flock],
and Moses (a)rose,
and he saved them [the daughters],
and he watered their flock,
(18) and they came to Ruel their father,
and he said,
"How have you so quickly come today?",
(19) and they said,
"An Egyptian man delivered us from the hand of the shepherds,
and, what's more, he actually/surprisingly drew water for us,
and he watered the flock,"
(20) and he said to his daughters,
"And where is he?
Why, this man, have you abandoned/forsaken?
Call him, that he may eat bread,
Let's pause here. What do we learn about Moses here?
In story #3, Moses is described using a number of loaded verbs.
Moses "arose" (verse 17) (Ps. 3:8; 7:7; 9:20; 10:12; etc..)
Moses "saved" (verse 17) (Ex. 14:30; Judges 7:7; 10:12; etc.).
Moses "delivered" (verse 19) (Ps. 7:2; 22:9; 25:20; etc).
All three verbs, are often God verbs. Moses acts like God acts. He imitates him, to bring salvation to others.
The other thing we see about Moses here, is his humility. Moses does a surprising thing here-- he draws water for the flocks. This is women's work. And Moses volunteers to do this.
Verse 21-22:
(21) and Moses was pleased to dwell with the man,
and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses,
(22) and she gave birth to a son,
and he called his name "A Foreigner There" (Gershom),
because he said,
"A foreigner I have been in a foreign land,"
Our third story ends with Moses looking back at his time in Egypt, realizing that Egypt was never home for him.
Despite growing up in the palace, Moses was never really an Egyptian. He walked like an Egyptian, talked like one, looked like one. Ruel's daughters describe him as an Egyptian. But he's not. He's a Hebrew.
That said, he had no home among his brothers, either. When he rescued his brothers, what was his reward? A sarcastic question, a rejection of his authority, and a veiled threat.
It's only here, in Midian, that he's found home. Here, this time, when he rescued people, they were grateful for their salvation. Ruel understands that Moses is the kind of man you don't abandon, or forsake. Moses is the kind of man you throw your single daughter at-- the perfect husband, who will protect her out in the fields, and provide for her, and even help with "women's work." If you have a problem-- some matter of injustice-- Moses is who you want to turn to. He's brave, just, wise, and he will do what's right.
Verse 22 is really the key for this whole section. Moses is a man of few words, so far. But Moses is a man who has found a wife, a son. A family who values him. He's found home.
In verses 23-25, Exodus turns our attention back to Egypt:
(23) and then, after many days, the king of Egypt died,
and the sons of Israel sighed from the hard labor,
and they cried out,
and their cry went up to the Elohim/God because of the hard labor,
(24) and God/Elohim heard their groaning,
and God/Elohim remembered/acknowledged his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,
(25) and God/Elohim saw the sons of Israel,
and God/Elohim knew.
Some of you maybe think of God as being a little bit like a sponge. You think that God just naturally absorbs information, and naturally sees, and hears, and knows everything. But that language, is not biblical. God is more like a king, ruling from his heavenly palace (what follows is adapted from Goldingay, somewhere in his 3 volume OT Theology). Imagine God sitting in some type rooftop courtyard, and He hears cries of distress from the streets. The cry comes up to him. He hears the groaning, and the cry. What God does next, as a good king, is investigate the disturbance. He looks; he sees the sons of Israel. He "knows."
What we see, in these verses, is a little picture of how prayer works, and how God's knowledge works. When we pray-- out loud-- our hope is that our prayer reaches up to heaven, and that God hears it from his palace. If God hears our prayer, He will look, and see our need. God can know anything. He can see everything inside of you. But you need to get his attention, if you want his help.
The fact that God has "heard," and "seen," and that He "knows"-- means that God's help is coming. And our guess is that this, somehow, involves Moses.
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So who is Moses? Moses is someone who is concerned, maybe above all else, with justice. Ideally, people will act rightly toward each other, living in peace. But since we live in a sinful world, this doesn't happen automatically.
You need someone to rise up, and fight the marginalized, for the weak, for the vulnerable. You need someone who is brave enough to jump in to disputes between brothers. You need someone who will break the fangs of the violent (Job 29:17). Someone who will exercise authority, but only when necessary, and with humility.
Throughout the Bible, and even today, God often works in mysterious ways. We don't necessarily understand why God acts in a certain way. Why He picks certain people, for certain ministries. But when we read about Moses, we understand that Moses is maybe the least surprising choice God makes in the Bible. Moses is exactly who God needs, as a servant to free his people from Egypt.
And now that God is aware of the problem, and engaged, and involved, we find ourselves expecting that somehow God, and Moses, are going to come together to put an end to this. Israel will be freed from Egypt.
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For an application today, I want to talk a little about justice. "Justice" is one of those words thrown around. It's an emotionally loaded word, used in lots of different ways. "Social justice." "Environmental justice." "Street justice."
In many churches, the idea of "justice" or "social justice" has become more important than the gospel.
But what is justice?
We tend to think of justice as "people getting what they deserve." Or maybe, as "people being able to start life with the same advantages." Maybe we think justice is about Pre-K education, or reduced price meals for poor kids. Some would say that justice is about making up for past wrongs, and compensating people financially for a racist history. None of this is really how the OT describes justice.
In the OT, "justice" has to do with exercising authority on behalf of someone else who is vulnerable and needy. We saw Moses do this three times. When Moses defended the Hebrew, he was "exercising authority" on his behalf. When he mediated between the Hebrews, same thing-- only the wicked one asked him, "Who made you an exerciser of authority over us?" His attempt at using authority was rejected, and unappreciated. And when Moses defended the women from the shepherds, same thing-- he was "doing justice."
"Doing justice" means fighting for, literally or metaphorically, innocent people who can't fight for themselves. It includes making sure people get a pound of apples when they paid for a pound. Or that people don't bring false charges against others to steal from them. It means making sure that people get their full paycheck, in a timely manner. When these things don't happen, you need someone to "exercise authority" to fix it.
That's justice, in the OT. It's not that some of those other things aren't good ideas-- I don't want kids to go hungry at school. But helping those kids isn't justice. It's grace; it's kindness. But it's not justice.
Translation:
(11) And then, in those days, Moses grew up,
and he went out to his brothers,
and he saw their burdens/forced labor,
and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man-- from his brothers,
(12) and he turned this way and that,
and he saw that there was no one,
and he struck the Egyptian,
and he hid him in the sand,
(13) and he went out on the second day,
and LOOK! Two Hebrew men fighting/quarreling,
and he said to the one in the wrong,
"Why are you striking your neighbor?",
(14) and he said,
"Who made you into a man-leader and an exerciser of authority over us?
Planning to kill me, are you,
just as you killed the Egyptian?",
and Moses feared,
and he said,
"Surely the matter is known,"
(15) and Pharaoh heard this matter,
and he sought to kill Moses,
and Moses fled from before Pharaoh,
and he dwelled in the land of Midian,
and he dwelled at the well.
(16) Now, to the priest of Midian there were seven daughters,
and they came,
and they drew water,
and they filled the troughs to water the flock of their father,
(17) and the shepherds came,
and they drove them [the flock],
and Moses (a)rose,
and he saved them [the daughters],
and he watered their flock,
(18) and they came to Ruel their father,
and he said,
"How have you so quickly come today?",
(19) and they said,
"An Egyptian man delivered us from the hand of the shepherds,
and, what's more, he actually/surprisingly drew water for us,
and he watered the flock,"
(20) and he said to his daughters,
"And where is he?
Why, this man, have you abandoned/forsaken?
Call him, that he may eat bread,
(21) and Moses was pleased to dwell with the man,
and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses,
(22) and she gave birth to a son,
and he called his name Gershom,
because he said,
"A foreigner I have been in a foreign land,"
(23) and then, after many days, the king of Egypt died,
and the sons of Israel sighed from the hard labor,
and they cried out,
and their cry went up to the Elohim/God because of the hard labor,
(24) and God/Elohim heard their groaning,
and God/Elohim remembered/acknowledged his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,
(25) and God/Elohim saw the sons of Israel,
and God/Elohim knew.
