Coromandel Baptist Church

Sunday 1 February 2009 Exodus 2:1-25; Isaiah 63:7-14

Meeting Moses

It is impossible to overstate the significance of Moses in the history of God's people. While Abraham stands as the father of all the people of faith (Moses included) Moses was the head of Abraham's earthly covenant family, Israel. Moses, too, was a man of faith, whose story and presence dominates the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Wider afield, his name is referred to more than any other throughout the entire Bible, and he stands as a unique figure in the history of salvation. Moses was a prophet, priest and (effectively) king of Israel. He was the shepherd of the flock of God, leading them out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and enabling them to come finally to the threshold of the land that had been promised to Abraham. In so doing he was a man of immense trust in God, and he is designated as being a person of incomparable meekness (Numb 12:3 cf. Matt. 11:29). His legacy towers over the rest of the Scriptures. The covenant of which he was the head had at its centre the twin pillars of the Law and the worship of Israel. Israel's identity was forged through him, and under Moses' leadership Israel was transformed from a ragtag and disorderly group of refugees into a well ordered and organized nation, ready to assume its destiny in God's plan.

Exodus chapter 2 introduces us to this Moses. In brief compass it tells us of his birth; his deliverance from death as a baby; his status and position in Egypt; his vain attempt to bring freedom to Israel by his own hand; and his sojourn in Midian. The chapter ends with the mercy of God as he ‘remembers' (i.e. enacts the promises of) his covenant with Abraham. We are clearly led to expect that Moses will be central to the way in which God's covenant would be remembered. We also come to see that Moses' ministry would have to be based on his trust in God, rather than in his own abilities, which (though potent), were entirely inadequate for the task. The incident of Moses' killing of the Egyptian is a practical commentary on the theology of Deuteronomy 8:17 (cf. Zech. 4:6 for the same principle in a different context) and underlines the theology of divine warfare that runs throughout the Scriptures. God himself is the protector/deliverer/sustainer of his people, for God alone is their Shepherd.

There are a number of instructive and intriguing features of the chapter. We learn that Moses was a Levite (Ex. 2:1), the tribe later to be set aside for priestly service among Israel. The commentary on the event of Moses' birth and abandonment to the Nile in Hebrews 11:23 indicates that his parents hid him by faith, having seen that he was ‘a beautiful child' i.e. special in the sight of God. His mother could no longer hide the growing baby, and so took care to make a mini Ark-basket for his sojourn in the Nile, and then placed him in the reeds near the edge of the river. This would be the most sheltered position-to prevent the Ark-basket being washed away by the currents-and also allow for its likely discovery by the many women who would come to the banks of the river for washing and bathing. Moses' sister (whom we later come to know as Miriam) watched carefully and when she saw one of Pharaoh's daughters claim the basket and its wee cargo, she followed, being prompt to suggest the she could find a suitable wet nurse among her own people. With cheerful irony, Moses' mother is thus paid to suckle her own child, and is given the opportunity to care for him until he was of an age to return to the tutelage of Pharaoh's household.

The actions thus described are clearly ordered by the providence of God, but they are not unknown from ANE and Egyptian history. Foundlings were often taken into rich or noble homes (the ANE records numerous stories of such foundlings rising to positions of power and status); and that one of Pharaoh's daughters should do this is not surprising. Egypt was known to take foreigners into its bosom, teaching them the ways of their culture, while also benefitting from the gifts of others, as had been the case with Joseph, for example. In later times, the Babylonians, Medio-Persians, Romans and British did the same. Nor should we think it strange that Pharaoh did not necessarily know about his daughter's action. Pharaohs were known for their profligate parentage (Ramses II is reputed to have fathered 60 daughters!) and the various offspring of the god-kings were kept in comfortable style in their own palaces/lodges/estates.

From his mother, Moses would have learned the history of the covenant promises to Israel, and so while later he was instructed in the ways of Egypt, he knew from the outset to which group of people he belonged and he knew of the covenant under which the Israelites lived. At about the age of forty (see Acts 7:23) Moses tried to deliver the Israelites himself (Acts 7:25), but came quickly to see that the action was not only futile, but deadly...causing him to flee for his life from the presence of Pharaoh.

The flight took him to the land of Midian, where he gallantly delivered the daughters of his future father-in-law from the bully boy tactics of some male ruffian-shepherds. The event (and Jethro's response, see Ex. 2:20) is reported with a joyous tone not uncommon in Exodus. Jethro (also known by the names of Reuel and Hobab) was a (the) priest of Midian. He becomes a very significant figure in the unfolding drama of Exodus. Jethro provides father-like care and support to Moses, and also acts as a link between the earlier and later narratives (in Exodus 18).

Midian was one of Abraham's sons-by his concubine Keturah for whom he made provision (see Gen. 25:2, 6)-and thus the Midianites would have had some knowledge of the covenant with Abraham and the God whom Abraham worshipped. In Exodus 18 we see that Jethro came to a more comprehensive knowledge of this God, which matches with one of the central themes of the book. In many ways, Exodus is about people coming to know who God is, for better or worse. Pharaoh comes to know only too well the God of whom he wishes to remain willfully ignorant (cf. Ex. 5:2), but (as is the case with all the finally impenitent) he knows him only as the bringer of judgment. Moses comes to know him more fully and intimately than any other OT figure, and Israel comes to know him as the God of covenant faithfulness, in whose presence they are graciously allowed to dwell.