Beginnings of Moses

Church Minute

The opening chapters of Exodus continue the story of Genesis with the children of Israel (Jacob) now as a mighty nation with many descendants living in Egypt. The sons of Jacob are called Israelites, and the Israelite families living in Egypt included Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, and Joseph. Many years have passed, and a new Pharaoh ruled over Egypt. Joseph was a great and wise leader in Egypt, but after Joseph’s death, a new Pharaoh arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph nor honor Israel.

While in Egypt, the people of Israel, also known as Hebrews, had grown from seventy members to a fruitful and abundant nation that multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty as the living Sovereign LORD God promised their forefathers - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The land of Egypt was filled with strong Israelites. Pharaoh became fearful and tried to destroy the Israelites by enslaving the people of Israel with hard and bitter labor, and he also tried to kill and murder the Hebrew boys who were born. However, the Hebrew midwives - Shiphrah and Puah - feared and trusted in the living God, and they refused to do such evil by killing the Hebrew boys and instead, the midwives honored God by allowing the Hebrew boys to live. Because of their faithfulness, the living Sovereign LORD God blessed Shiphrah and Puah.

The Israelites built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pitham and Raamses, and the more the Egyptians inflicted and enslaved the Israelites, the more Israel multiplied and grew. The living Sovereign LORD God previously predicted to Father Abraham that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and Abraham’s descendants would live in hard bondage, slavery, and oppression for four hundred years before being delivered into the Promised Land of Canaan (Israel-Palestine).

Then, a man and his wife, named Jochebed, from the tribe of Levi, gave birth to a healthy and beautiful Hebrew son named Moses. Moses would become God’s deliverer of His people, the Israelites, as well as a champion of justice and goodness. Through faith in the living God, Moses’ parents hid their beautiful son for three months, knowing Moses was no ordinary child but a special child of God, and then they finally released Moses in an ark (basket) down the Egyptian Nile river to save Moses from death by the evil Pharaoh. The living Sovereign LORD God, through His divine providence, watched over and protected Moses in his ark, like Noah and his family, as Moses’s sister Miriam also watched over Moses going down the Nile river in the ark (basket). Eventually, the daughter of Pharaoh saw Moses, drew Moses out of the water, and adopted the Hebrew boy as her own son. As Moses grew, the living Sovereign LORD God, by His grace, allowed Moses’ birth mother, Jochebed, to nurse and nurture Moses. Pharaoh’s daughter named the Hebrew boy Moses, which means “Drawn Out.” Moses learned all the wisdom of Egypt, and he became mighty in words and deeds. Remarkably, the living Sovereign LORD God used women - the Hebrew midwives, Moses’s mother and sister, and then Pharaoh’s daughter - to save Moses’ life.

Now, Moses grew older while living in Egypt, and he was forty years old when he went out to see his fellow Hebrew brethren - the children of Israel. Moses looked upon the Hebrews’ burdens, bitterness, and bonds of Egyptian slavery, including the Egyptian taskmaster abusing and beating his fellow Hebrew brethren with hard labor. Then, Moses saw one of the Egyptian taskmasters abusing and beating his fellow Hebrew brethren, so Moses defended and avenged his Hebrew brethren by killing the Egyptian and then burying the Egyptian taskmaster in the sand. For Moses believed that his brethren would realize and understand that the living Sovereign LORD God would rescue and deliver his fellow Hebrews by his hand, but his fellow Hebrews did not understand. By faith in the living God, Moses, when he became an adult, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing instead to suffer affliction and pain with the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Moses accepted disgrace for the sake of Christ Jesus as greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for Moses looked to the living God’s reward and promises that come by trusting in Him.

The next day, Moses once again went to visit his fellow Hebrews, and he saw two Hebrews fighting. Moses tried to reconcile the two Hebrews by asking his fellow Hebrew why he was striking and hitting another Hebrew. Then, one of the Hebrews who had wronged his neighbor pushed Moses away and said to Moses, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” Significantly, the Hebrew man made a prediction that would be fulfilled by Moses when the living God appointed Moses as the deliverer, ruler, and lawgiver of the Hebrew people. The Hebrew man accused Moses of killing an Egyptian, which made Moses very afraid. Then, Pharaoh heard of Moses’ killing an Egyptian, and he tried to kill Moses, so Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian. By faith, Moses left Egypt and went to live in Midian, persevering in his sight of the living God, who was invisible. The people of Midian were descendants of Father Abraham, as Midian was Abraham’s younger son.

While in Midian, Moses met a priest named Reuel (later known as Jethro), and Reuel had seven daughters. Moses, as a man of compassion and leadership, helped Reuel’s daughters to retrieve water from the well, and later Moses married one of Reuel’s daughters, named Zipporah. Zipporah gave birth to two sons, and Moses named his sons Gershom and Elizer.

After a long period of time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their bitter and harsh slavery, and they cried out for help, and their cries went up to heaven. The living Sovereign LORD God of heaven and earth heard and saw the Israelites’ pain and cry for help, and He remembered his eternal covenant promises with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to save and deliver the Israelites. The Holy Bible is clear that the living Sovereign LORD God is faithful, and He keeps His promises. Even more, the living Sovereign LORD God cares about our pains and problems, and that is why it is so important to take all our problems and pains to the living Sovereign LORD God in prayer and petition.