June 22, 2003 Exodus 2:1-10
Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 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. 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.”
A couple of years ago Disney came out with a movie called “the Prince of Egypt.” Of course, there was a lot of embellishment and conjecture - like Moses racing through the streets of Egypt on his chariot with the future Pharaoh. It also depicted Moses as being best friends with the Pharaoh when it came time to “let his people go.” It didn’t make reference to his brother Aaron at all from what I remember. But if you can look beyond all that and know the fact from the fiction, I’ll have to admit that it was better done than some Hollywood renditions of the Bible.
The story of Moses is interesting enough - in and of itself, without any embellishment or conjecture. It has drama, dilemma, and even a happy ending. I can see why he has been the subject of many Hollywood movies. Therefore I’m sure that you too will be intrigued as we go to the actual source of this story - God’s Word - and look not primarily at the man - but how God worked through the man - throughout this sermon series on Moses. Today we’ll see how
The Birth of Moses Has the Making of a Movie
I. The dilemma
Any good movie has to usually have some sort of dilemma. ` I haven’t seen Finding Nemo yet, but I think the dilemma has to do with Nemo being taken from his home to live in a fish tank. The dilemma is finding him and getting him back. In Toy Story the dilemma was how two toys would be able vie for Andy’s favor. The dilemma for today was real, however. It involved an evil king who wanted the Israelites - God’s chosen people dead. If you remember the history, Joseph had brought all of his brothers - children of Jacob - also known as Israel - down to Egypt during a famine throughout the land. Since God had used Joseph to save millions of people’s lives, the Egyptians were of course incredibly grateful to him and his family. But Exodus chapter one says, Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” (Ex 1:6-10) The king decided to have all of the male babies be put to death. But when the Hebrew midwives refused to commit such a terrible sin, Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.
Can you imagine what must have gone through the minds of the Israelites! “What have we done to the Egyptians to make them want to murder our children? All we’ve done is farmed on their land and provided food for them - a job that they detest anyway! Yet now they’re threatening to come into our homes and murder our baby boys!” So what could they do? Exodus describes such a dilemma that Jochabed and Amram - Israelites of the tribe of Levi faced. Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. Instead of being happy about their pregnancies, they had to try and hide it! Since Moses was a fine child - healthy and not fussy, she was able to hide him for three months. Their first reaction was to hide and retreat from the confrontation as long as possible.
In the 1970’s a movie came out that was called “The Boy in the Bubble.” It was about a child who had severe allergies and what not that caused him to have to live in a sterile environment so he wouldn’t die. The parents did what they could to protect him from the world around him. Our initial reaction as parents in society is to do the same with our children. We want to make sure that we monitor what they see on TV and what they hear on the radio. We want our children to be raised to respect their elders, love their Lord, and be polite. We naturally want them to be like Jesus - patient, forgiving, kind, loving and considerate.
But just as the Pharaoh was very aggressive in his evil - the devil is very aggressive in attacking our children. Once they get in school we can’t monitor what they see and hear as well. They are taught from their peers that dirty rap lyrics and sex is cool. They are taught that you HAVE TO HAVE cell phones and the most modern clothes if you really want to be with it. They are taught that their authorities are weak and helpless since their teachers are unable to discipline them due to the law. Even their own teachers attack their faith system by calling creation a myth and sin a choice.
What can we do? Some Christian parents choose to send their children to Christian schools or home school their children. Others are very protective as to who their children play with. There is nothing wrong with that. Like Amram and Jochebed, we try our best to protect our children from evil. But as much as we may try to keep our children set apart from the world and monitor the TV they watch and the children they play with, sooner or later they will be exposed. The devil studies your life - he sees what doorways are open - even if it’s the tiniest nook - and he attacks. If you have a weakness for discipline, he gets your children to expose it. If you have a weakness at anger, he tempts you to show it and give a bad example for your children. It doesn’t matter if your child is in a Christian atmosphere or not - sooner or later he will find a weakness. Even if we could create an atmosphere of the boy in the bubble or a monastery, he would still find openings. We still have weaknesses that can be easily exposed - no matter where you run. Just like Moses - as fine as he was - could only be hid for three months, there is only so long you can shelter your children from the world.
II. The delivery
The story of Moses is made for the movies in that it has a dilemma. King Pharaoh wanted Moses and the Israelites dead. More than that - the future of the world was at stake here - for the Savior of the world was supposed to be born through the Israelites. In every movie there also seems to be an ultimate showdown - where good meets evil in a showdown. Usually the story goes to the brink of disaster, only to have a miraculous turnaround for the good guys. In the Jungle Book, Baloo the bear was struck down by Sheer Khan the tiger. As Baggie was giving a wonderful eulogy about how Baloo risked his life, his eyes opened up and he woke up from a sure death. In Mulan, the Chinese army faced insurmountable odds of surviving a battle against Attila the Hun, only to have a snow avalanche wipe out Attila’s army. The birth of Moses gives us a similar kind of delivery - only again - this story is real! Moses goes on to tell about what happened -
When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
If Jochebed’s son was going to be thrown into the water, she might as well do it herself. So she constructed for her son a miniature ark of sorts, placed him in it, and laid him in the Nile. Some envision this to be a rather simple thing - as if Jochebed purposely placed Moses right outside the palace - among the reeds on a quiet part of the river - so Moses would be safe. Since Miriam his sister was able to follow along with the basket, we can assume the river wasn’t moving too fast. But we also need to remember that the Nile was a rather large river. No doubt there were wild animals - possibly alligators and hippopotamus somewhere in the vicinity. Even if it was calm, how many of us would want to take such a risk with our child? If anything - you’d want to place the child on the outskirts of Egypt and float him OUT of the country. But Jochebed placed him right at the doorstep of the man who hated them most - the Pharaoh himself. After this was done, she walked away - probably unable to look and see what would happen to her son. Odds were her beautiful son was about to become fish bait.
This is where the wonderful delivery takes place.
Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she s aid. Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 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. 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.”
Think about the miracle of this. God used the daughter of his enemy - the one who was trying to DESTROY Israel - to ultimately SAVE Israel. Not only was Jochebed given her baby back, but she was even PAID to do that which she had done for the first three months. Now she could display her baby - even relax in her gift - and enjoy all that made her so concerned before. Moses was even given the finest of foods and education - something he wouldn’t have had, even if he was able to keep hidden from the Egyptians! What an extraordinary miracle and delivery this was!
The neat thing about the history of the Bible is this is the way that God typically works. When things seem to be on the brink of despair, God somehow brings about a miraculous delivery. When Lazarus died, Jesus waited FOUR DAYS - to the point where his body would be getting stinky and rotten, to only raise him from the dead. When the Israelites were facing near starvation, God ended up saving them through a son that had been sold into slavery years before! The best story of all of course is found in Christ. Here we had a world doomed to destruction - born under the curse of sin. Against all odds, God had a Savior be born as a BABY into a world and a religious system that wanted him dead from square one. Instead of providing Jesus with an army to protect him, he had him taken to Egypt for a time. But then, instead of hiding from the danger - Jesus went right into the heart of the battle - to Jerusalem itself. Instead of destroying his opposition, God let the opposition destroy him. Instead of running from the cross - Jesus ran to it. But the ironic thing - is that when things seemed the worst - while Jesus was crying out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” and being buried, God was saving the world. He was punishing Jesus as our substitute. It was through that death that we now live. It was through that sacrifice that we were sacrificed. Instead of running from Satan, Jesus faced him head on and conquered him through the very instrument that put him to death. Instead of the cross being a dead end, God raised that Jesus to life - and now WE have life through that name!
God promises all of us - as Christians - the same kind of delivery. He says in Romans 8:28 that “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” Maybe your parents didn’t throw you in a river as a child, but abused you. Maybe your spouse divorced you for no reason. Maybe you’ve been given some bills or health problems that seem to leave you at the end of your rope - with no where to go. You may think that your children are already beyond hope - so overcome by the temptations of this world that God could never bring them back. God loves those kind of situations - where things are hopeless - to provide a miracle. Even in death God is able to bring eternal life! If God could save not only Moses but the Israelites from seeming destruction by placing a baby in the Nile, then God can do the same for you!
III. The similarity
This story of Moses is an intriguing one - made for the movies. In a lot of ways, if you really think about it, there are many similarities between all of us and Moses. Except the odds were even more against us than the physical story of Moses. The Pharaoh of our lives was called Satan. He hunted us down and didn’t just threaten us, but actually put us to death thousands of years ago in the form of a serpent. Paul says that sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (Ro 5:12) All of us were therefore born spiritually dead, unable to come to Christ or make ourselves alive. (Eph. 2:1) Things didn’t just look bleak - they looked impossible - for all of us would have to face a Holy God on Judgment Day. But just as Moses was saved from death by being thrown on the Nile, so God saved us from death when our parents threw us into a different water - the water of baptism. This was a much more ferocious river than the Nile - for God’s Word says that We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death. (Ro 6:4). When you were baptized, it was as if your parents were throwing you into the grave of Christ and burying you with Him.
But what happened as a result? What happened to Moses? 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.” Moses was given a new name and a new life as he lived with Pharaoh’s daughter. With his new family he was given new privileges and opportunities that he never would have had if he hadn’t been thrown in the River. In an even better way, the Holy Spirit grabbed you out of the water of baptism and wiped you off. He said, “what a wonderful and beautiful baby this is! It has the blood of Christ on it! I will name it ‘holy, precious, redeemed, forgiven, and righteous.’ As God’s adopted child, you now have the full use of everything in the world as God says, “all things are yours!” (1 Corinthians 3:21) God’s Word goes on to say that this burial was necessary - in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Ro 6:4) Through the waters of your baptism God drowned your old sinful nature, so that a New Man could be raised through the power of the Holy Spirit and you could live a new life. Through your baptism your parents enabled you to live in a sin infested and evil world. You now have new opportunities to serve God in His temple. None of these would have been yours if your parents hadn’t thrown you in the water! You’d still be dead, unable to move, breathe, or serve in any way if you hadn’t been drowned! So in a lot of ways - your own life was made for a movie. You could call yourself “the prince of Topeka” or the “princess of Kansas.”
In “the Prince of Egypt”, the movie ended with Moses splitting the Red Sea and riding off into the sunset. As we continue to study this life of Moses, we’ll see that it wasn’t quite so cheery. There’s much more drama to come. But in the end, the Israelites enter the Promised Land, and Moses enters heaven. It has a happy ending. Knowing this helps us to enjoy reading about his life - as dramatic as it will be.
In comparison to Moses, or the modern day movies, you may look at your life and think to yourself, “I wish I had more action - more excitement!” You might look at your home videos and say to yourself, “oh, there’s Johnny playing with his cereal. Isn’t that exciting. I can’t wait to see him roll over and vomit on the carpet next.” But look at the big picture! When Christ died on the cross and you were baptized - God rescued you from death and hell! Every day a battle goes on in the heavens - and angels work overtime to keep you in the faith. Every day there is a battle between good and evil - as you struggle with the temptations of life - temptations of anger, greed, lust, and the like. Every day the devil is struggling to take you to hell. How’s that for excitement?
The good thing is - just like in the movie like life of Moses - we know the ending of this movie. Just as Moses was rescued from the Nile, we were rescued from death - and God promises that all who believe and are baptized will be saved. That isn’t just drama. It isn’t science fiction. It isn’t under the humor section. Like with Moses - it’s a real life documentary - and it’s yours - so live it to the glory of God - starting today! Amen.
