THE BIRTH AND CALLING OF MOSES
The fuller impact of these chapters can best be gained by reading chapters 37 through 50 of Genesis. The account of Joseph is a rich type of Christ, from his going down into Egypt, to the scene of his brothers, who represent the tribes of Israel, finally bowing down to worship him.
When Israel and his children first came to Egypt during the famine, there were seventy of them in all (Gen 46:27), but by the time of Moses they had grown to great numbers. Some scholars estimate nearly two million at the time of the Exodus.
Before we move on into Exodus though, I want to point out some key points from those last chapters of Genesis.
After Joseph had given his invitation for the family to join him in Egypt, and had promised that they would be well cared for and supplied there, his brothers went home to Canaan to tell their father, Israel, the news. Learning that his son, Joseph, was still alive, Israel set out with all that he had, to go to Egypt and see his son.
On the way, in Beersheba, Israel stopped to offer sacrifices to “the God of his father, Isaac”, and was visited there.
It is noteworthy that it was near here that God had repeated to Jacob, His promise to his grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac, that his descendants would be ‘as the dust of the earth’, and that they would possess this land. (Gen 28)
Jacob (now Israel) may have had doubts about going into Egypt, especially at an old age, and may have worried that it was a very dangerous move to bring his entire family into unknown circumstances. But God met him here at Beersheba, as He had done in Jacob’s youth, and assured him of His presence and His protection. See Genesis 46:2-4
“And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, ‘Jacob, Jacob; And he said, ‘Here I am’.
And He said, ‘I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.
I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes’.”
God remembers. He remembered His promise to Abraham (Gen 17), and to Isaac (Gen 26), and as we will see, to Israel; both the man, and the nation.
God remembers His promises to His own, reader. Exodus 1:8 says that “...a king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph”. The implication is that he also did not know Joseph’s God. God’s people may find themselves in circumstances that they do not understand. You, reader, may often wonder at the circumstances of your own life that threaten to enslave you, to keep you down, to take away your joy, to stifle your ability to worship and to praise your God the way you should. These are precisely the times and the circumstances that should drive you back to God’s Word; to His promises; and also to your knees in prayer. Jesus said that He would never leave us or forsake us. He said that all authority has been given to Him, in heaven and in earth. He called us ‘brethren’, and promised that He would return and gather us to Himself. And He will. Man forgets. God remembers.
Four hundred years passed (Gen 15:13,14 Acts 7:6). The Pharaoh, king of Egypt, feared the people of God. Can you imagine that? Here was a nation of people that had eventually been enslaved. They fell under the harsh treatment of a stronger nation, and were compelled to build cities for them, driven to labors that were “rigorously imposed on them”(1:14), yet the Pharaoh feared them. So much did he fear them, that he ordered that all male Hebrew children should be killed at birth. (Ex 1:16, Matt 2:13-23)
Reader, it is Satan’s goal, wherever he can, to frustrate life. His goal is to stop life, if possible, before it begins. It was his ultimate aim in the Garden of Eden. It was his underlying cause throughout the generations thereafter. He put it in the heart of Pharaoh to kill the male children and thus prevent the coming of their deliverer. It was this same Satan, using a different tool (Herod), who used the same means to attempt to destroy the Redeemer of all mankind at His birth. It is this same Satan who puts it in the mind of unregenerate man that homosexuality is an acceptable ‘lifestyle’, even though God calls it an abomination and a sin. But Satan wants it to thrive, because it frustrates life. Two males or two females cannot reproduce life. He has put it in the minds of unregenerate men that fetal abortion and even post natal murder for the sake of convenience, are acceptable, even though God’s law says, “You shall not murder”.
Satan’s goal is and always has been, to frustrate life, because his archenemy; the Lord and Creator that he spurned in eons past, IS Life. But because He is Life, His plan and purposes cannot be thwarted. We see in Exodus 1 that the Hebrew midwives “feared God”, and let the boys live. So Satan tries again.
“Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ‘Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.” (1:22)
Do you wonder why God chose the death of the firstborn of Egypt, to be the 10th and final plague?
So now the scene is set. God has brought His people down into Egypt, to preserve them and build them up into a mighty nation. They see it as harsh slavery; He sees it as preparation.
They have now been there four hundred years. This generation of Israel’s children has never been allowed to worship their God in sacrifices, since their practices were considered an abomination to their Egyptian masters.
They are treated as livestock. They are compelled to labor rigorously, they are not allowed to worship properly, their infant sons are murdered at the whim of an evil king.
But God remembers.
“But I will also judge the nation
whom they will serve; and
afterward they will come out
with many possessions.”
“Afterward”, is a BIG word in the hands of our God, folks!
Are you ill and weak? Does your condition make the nights long and the days intolerable? There will be an afterward.
Are you rejected and abused, even by those you love, and you carry the pain in your heart because your love is not returned? There will be an afterward.
Are you poor and destitute? Do you grow weary of the struggle, day after day, year after year...while others wallow in their riches, flaunting them all around you and not caring at all for those who go without? There will be an afterward.
Do you grieve for loved ones who are lost and will not listen to your message? Do you pray for them earnestly, but in them you see no change or hint of change? There will be an afterward.
Are you presently under the disciplining hand of a loving, Heavenly Father, Who loves you too much to allow you to go your own selfish way, unchanged and untaught? Does it seem heavy and sorrowful and unpleasant? There will be an afterward.
The children of Israel labored unceasingly in the mud pits of Egypt, feeling the whip on their backs and the hunger in their bellies. They watched helplessly as their children died under the merciless hand of evil. But it was time for “afterward”.
“And the woman conceived and bore a son;” God remembers.
Now I want to pause here for a moment, and look at the faith of these Godly parents of Moses.
We are told that the mother of Moses saw that he was beautiful, and hid him for three months.
Reader, what mother does not see her newborn as beautiful? It is my belief that what is being said here, is that she had the witness of God’s Spirit that this child was special; that God had great plans for him, and in faith, she went against the Pharaoh’s decrees.
From these verses in Exodus it could be surmised that she feared Pharaoh. It could be said that his parents were so immobilized by terror that they committed a seemingly fruitless and senseless act, by placing him in a water-tight container and floating him down the Nile. What folly, in man’s eyes! Who presumes to preserve the life of a nursing infant, by giving him entirely over to the cruel forces of nature and walking away?
Fortunately, we are given the witness of the Holy Spirit, Who inspired the writers of scripture, that God’s directing hand was in it all.
“By faith Moses, when he was born,
was hidden for three months
by his parents, because they
saw he was a beautiful child;
and they were not afraid of
the king’s edict.”
Heb 11:23
If we only had the Exodus account however, there would still be ample evidence to the Spirit-enlightened reader that their efforts were of faith, because God honors faith. We only need see how He controlled the circumstances and brought about both their blessing and Moses’ preservation, to know that they were doing His will in their deception of the evil king.
First, Miriam (Moses’ older sister) watches from a distance to see what would become of the baby.
Then, here comes Pharaoh’s daughter, down to the river to bathe. Whether the baby was placed where he was because of the parent’s prior knowledge of this woman’s bathing place, we do not know. But it would seem strange to me, that if they wanted to save their baby’s life they would attempt to do so by exposing him to the very household of the one who wanted him dead.
In any case, Pharaoh’s daughter or not, she carried in her breast the heart of a woman. She hears the baby cry. She sees he is beautiful. Although she sees that he is a Hebrew baby, something inside moves even her to disobey the king’s edict, and she determines to raise the baby as her own.
Up pops Miriam! Can you picture it? This young Hebrew girl suddenly appears at the side of the princess, before the latter has time to think about what she is about to do and change her own mind, and fills in all the blanks for her. “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women?”
Hmmmmm. Free day care.
Yes! That would be an excellent idea. Go fetch a nursing Hebrew woman. She can take care of the baby until he is ready to leave the breast, then he will grow up in the Pharaoh’s own house; amid all the comforts of Egypt, exposed to the best education that civilization has to offer, and he will be a prince. Oh, and by the way, tell this woman you find, that I’ll pay her a nursemaid’s wages.
What a wonderful God we have! He has preserved His deliverer, and He has placed him safely back into the arms of his own mother, and He has provided that this Hebrew home would receive financial support as well. Moses’ mother is paid by the enemy, to nurse and care for her own baby!
And how faithful did the parents of Moses continue to be, out of gratitude for His goodness! The bible doesn’t specifically tell us this, but it is not reaching too far to assume that they raised him in the fear and admonition of the Lord. He knew he was Hebrew, and he loved God’s people.
“Now it came about in those days,
when Moses had grown up,
that he went out to his brethren and
looked on their hard labors;”
(2:11)
“By faith Moses, when he
had grown up, refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather
to endure ill-treatment with the
people of God, than to enjoy the
passing pleasures of sin.”
Heb 11:24,25
Reader, this is the attitude of Christ, who although He existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to cling to; but taking the form of a servant, became obedient even to the point of death.
This is the attitude of the true believer, who sees that all that this world has to offer is passing away; who turns his back on the passing pleasures of sin, to wholly identify himself with God and God’s people.
If you look quickly at Hebrews 11:27, you will see the most concise, yet most profound description of faith; both Moses’ and ours:
“...HE ENDURED, AS SEEING HIM WHO IS UNSEEN”
There it is folks. True faith looks with spiritual eyes at that which is unseen, ‘seeing’ it more clearly than that which is apparent to our physical senses, and endures, with that spiritual sight as our rock, our armor, our strength.
Faith in God is understanding that the things which are unseen are more real and lasting than those things all around us, that so often win our attentions just by virtue of their present availability.
Faith is understanding that to give up the comfort and pleasures of the now, for reproaches and suffering in the name of Christ, secure for us far greater riches and blessing in the eternal than this world could ever hope to offer.
Moses’ circumstances were not so different than yours and mine, believer:
The lust of the flesh - the passing pleasures of sin
The lust of the eyes - the treasures of Egypt
The boastful pride of life - called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter
These things were all his. He grew up with them. He could have rested in their comfort and taken advantage of all the privileges they offered. But eyes of faith saw something greater from a distance.
What did he see that was greater than these things?
The reproach of Christ. Christ, who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame.
Here is a man who grew up in Pharaoh’s household with all the riches of Egypt at his disposal, looking out on the poor Hebrew slaves in their loin cloths, covered with mud and sweat and marks from Egyptian whips, and in Godly sorrow his heart was filled with a Christ-like love and identification with his people.
As Christ lay aside His royal garments and condescended to walk among His own, so Moses, in the same spirit, lay aside the royal robes of Egypt and stepped into the mud with his kin; willing to endure ill-treatment with them, because he was looking to the reward. A better land. That place promised so long ago to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph...
...ah yes...Joseph! Joseph, whose embalmed body now lay in an Egyptian tomb, probably very nearby, waiting to be carried up! One more reason to go.
Now I am going to skip rather briefly over the next forty years of the life of Moses here. Our study, after all, focuses on God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises and fulfilling His Word.
Some things should be mentioned here though. Because we live in a day and a church ‘culture’ that often does injustice to the Christ-like spirit it is exhorted to exude, and the scriptures themselves, by shutting out the worker of God based on human biases.
The account of Moses’ failure and further development by God sets an example for the church of today that should far more often be recognized.
Moses, confident in himself and thinking he would deliver his people by his own hand, takes a very dangerous and destructive step ... a step ahead of God’s timing, and therefore, outside of His will.
Seeing one of his brethren being mistreated, he lays hands on the Egyptian task-master and kills him. Now this was not an act of pure passion. It was not done in the heat of the moment, as I have sometimes heard taught, and regretted later.
The bible says, “So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”
“‘Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit’ says the Lord.”
Moses is exposed the next day, by the very brethren he hoped to deliver, and runs away in disgrace and shame and fear, where he spends forty years in the wilderness, tending sheep.
I am reminded of Peter, who always had something to say. Boisterous, take-charge Peter, who even presumed to rebuke the One he had recently declared, “The Christ; the Son of the Living God”, for indicating how He would die in Jerusalem.
Peter, who drew a sword in a garden of prayer, and mindlessly slashed off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, as if this act alone would deliver his master from suffering.
Peter, who vehemently denied even knowing Jesus in the face of personal danger, and found himself weeping uncontrollably into the desert sands, while they carried his Lord away to die.
Peter, who, even after he had heard of the resurrection and had seen the empty tomb, was so filled with remorse and regret and shame that he went back to fishing as though the past four years had never happened.
Peter, who, when the Master appeared on the shore, with breakfast prepared and words of encouragement on His lips, sat at a distance from the fire, afraid to believe he could be reinstated and used of God.
Peter, who on the day of Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit, stepped out of the Upper Room and preached a sermon that God used to save 3000 in one day.
Peter, who in his later years, wrote, “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
By the time God visited Moses in the bush that burned but was not consumed, the self-assuredness was all gone. This prince of Egypt, who had worn the robes of royalty and enjoyed all the good fruits of the kingdom; who yet loved his people and supposed that in his princely might he would set them free, now stood humbled in the presence of his God and declared that he couldn’t do it.
Who am I, that I should go?
IT’S NOT WHO YOU ARE, BUT WHO I AM.
I am not strong enough. My speech is slow and halting.
THAT’S OK. I AM STRONG, AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE WORDS
They won’t believe me.
THAT’S OK. I DON’T WANT THEM TO BELIEVE YOU. I WANT THEM TO BELIEVE ME.
I don’t even know your name.
I AM, THAT I AM. TELL THEM, ‘I AM’ HAS SENT YOU.
People, it is when we finally come to the end of ourselves and know that without Him we can do nothing, that God can use us. And none of us has any inkling of the great things He may have planned to do through our lives, until we come to a place where we doubt that He can use us at all. It is only then that we will be ready to step out of the way and yield ourselves to His service, and see Him work His wonders.
How dare we look at any servant of God, and based upon some failure of his past, say, “we cannot use you”? It may be that very thing from his past that so repulses us, that God has used to break him, and drive him into a desert place, and shape him into something for His own use.
It may have been that very thing that God used to turn that man from a Prince Moses into a Deliverer Moses; a Fisherman Peter, into an Apostle Peter.
By shunning a man of God over his own, long-forgiven past, we may be denying ourselves the very blessings that God yearns to pour out on us from His finally yielded vessel.
The minister of God is never called to be the perfect example. He is called to be God’s own mouthpiece, to point men to the Perfect Example; the One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Let me add just one more point for your consideration here, reader. The one whose failure God has used in training, has passed from a theorist, to a witness. From which of these would you prefer to receive counsel and guidance?
The Lord called Moses out of his wilderness experience when Moses was ready. Before, Moses thought he was ready; God knew he was not. Now, God knew Moses was ready; Moses thought he was not. Now he could be used.
Before, Moses struck out in his own strength. Now that his hands hung limply at his sides in true humility, God was ready to show His own mighty strength and power for deliverance, through His prepared and tested vessel.
In our next section of this study we will see a ‘called’ Moses, standing before Pharaoh, first in trembling and fear, then finally in the boldness that comes from knowing the sense of God’s powerful hand in the life.
In these confrontations with Pharaoh we will see God’s demands and Satan’s objections. We will see that all the forces of evil that are enthroned in this world, are useless and beggarly in the presence of the God Who remembers.
“Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, The Man of God’s own choosing;
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name, From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.”
-Martin Luther.
