The Birth Of Moses Series

Introduction

Today is Week 2 in our Advent series that I am calling, “Advent: The Unexpected King.”

Throughout the Bible, births often herald great hope and expectations and are the result of great faith in God. Many births are a foreshadowing of the greatest birth of all, the birth of Jesus Christ.

Last week, Pastor Scott examined the birth of Isaac. We learned that what God promised will happen according to God’s timing.

Today, I want to examine the birth of Moses. The birth of Moses teaches us about the providence of God. The birth of Moses teaches us about the providence of God in the birth of Jesus.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 11 asks, “What are God’s works of providence?” The answer is:

God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving, and governing all his creatures, and all their actions (The Westminster Shorter Catechism: With Scripture Proofs, 3rd edition. [Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996]).

We see a wonderful example of God’s providence in the birth of Moses.

Scripture

Let’s read Exodus 2:1-10:

1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. 4 And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Lesson

The birth of Moses in Exodus 2:1-10 teaches us about the providence of God.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. God Works Through Faithful Parents (2:1-2)

2. God Triumphs Over Evil (2:3-9)

3. God Works from Beginning to End (2:10)

I. God Works Through Faithful Parents (2:1-2)

First, God works through faithful parents.

We read in Exodus 2:1–2, “Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.”

These verses give the impression that the child born was the first-born child of the man and woman. However, the child had an older sister, whose name was Miriam (see Exodus 15:20), and an older brother, whose name was Aaron (see Exodus 4:14).

So, the child born to the man and woman in Exodus 2:1-2 was their third child, whose name we later learn was Moses (see Exodus 2:10).

Moreover, Exodus 2:1-2 does not give us the names of the parents. Later, however, we are given their names in Exodus 6:20. There we learn that their names are Amram and Jochebed.

At this time, however, they are just referred to as a man and a woman.

Commentator Michael Bentley noted, “Jesus often talked about a certain man or a certain woman, without naming the individual. This is so that we can concentrate on him, not the people concerned. Also, the Gospel writers say, ‘A certain man’ to imply to their readers, ‘It could have been you.’ ” (Michael Bentley, Traveling Homeward: Exodus Simply Explained, Welwyn Commentary Series [Darlington, England: Evangelical Press, 1999], n.p.).

All we are told in our text is that the man and woman came from the house of Levi. Later, the Levites were called by God to facilitate the worship of God’s people.

In one sense, this man and this woman were just an ordinary couple.

In another sense, however, this man and this woman were an extraordinary couple. How do I know that?

Hebrews 11 is often called “The Bible’s Hall of Faith.” This chapter is filled with men and women who exercised faith—often in very difficult circumstances. In that chapter, we read in verse 23, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”