Trusting and Living for God
a commentary on Exodus 2
Good morning and welcome back to another Biblit! Last week we started our journey into Exodus. As Genesis ended, everything was peaceful in Egypt. Israel was prospering in the land of Goshen and even though it was good, Joseph knew that one day God would bring them back to the promised land. We saw last week, in the opening of Exodus, that some time has passed since Joseph and his brothers had died. Israel has indeed prospered and multiplied greatly during this time. Enough that the new Pharaoh (who doesn’t know Joseph) becomes fearful and decides to enslave the Israelites cruelly and tries to kill all their baby boys so they can’t prosper any more than they already have.
This is quite the contrasting picture from what we saw at the end of Genesis. So this is where we pick up in this commentary on Exodus chapter 2.
Context
It is here in chapter 2 that we focus on our main character throughout Exodus. Well, God is always the main character in the Bible, but this is our main human/sinful character...and his name is...you guessed it, Moses.
Moses is an ancestor of Levi. We get a more detailed genealogy of where he falls in line in chapter 6, which gives a good idea of how much time could have passed. If I did my math right, Moses would have been Levi’s great-great-grandchild. But we’ll get more into that later on.
Moses was born healthy, but he was born into this harsh time where baby boys are being slaughtered. This is a parallel to Jesus who was also born in such a time, and ended up leading the salvation of all people in the “new Israel.”
Moses’s mom was God-fearing and knew she had to save her baby. She put him in a basket and floated him down the Nile river. Almost reminiscent of Noah who was used to save God’s people during his time too. Moses will be used to save God’s people from Egypt and it all starts in a little boat.
Moses floats down the river and is found by no other than Pharaoh’s daughter. Now a lot of historians believe this was actually the famous Hatshepsut who becomes ruler of Egypt later and creates a lot of drama with the true heir to the throne, Thutmose III. It’s rumored he actually killed his mom for the throne and could possibly be the Pharaoh who wants to hunt Moses down here in just a second.
So as I said, Moses was found by Pharaoh’s daughter. She asked a Hebrew woman to nurse Moses, who ended up being none other than Moses’s birth mom. So Moses’s mom basically got to save her own child, raise her own child, and also get paid for it. Not too shabby.
Until she has to give Moses back to the soon-to-be queen.
It was actually Pharaoh’s daughter that named Moses because she drew him out of the water. His name sounds like the Hebrew word for draw out. It is actually kind of interesting he was given a Semitic name by the princess of Egypt, but also not uncommon according to Egyptian literature. Moses would go on to be educated in the Egyptian courts and some scholars suggest his mom may have been trying to raise him to become Pharaoh one day instead of Thutmose III.
Well, it doesn’t matter because all these plans go to nill.
After a quick time jump, we see Moses all grown up. The Israelites are still being persecuted and Moses clearly still associates himself with them. One day he’s walking around and sees an Egyptian beating one of his people. Well, just like his great-great-granddaddy, he is filled with anger that he can’t control. Instead of going to the Lord, he lashes out and kills the Egyptian.
Well, word gets out and the Pharaoh wants Moses killed. Fearfully, Moses runs for his life. Moses runs all the way to Midian where the descendants of Abraham and Keturah live.
When Moses arrives he sees some shepherds hogging all the water and bullying the seven daughters of Midian’s priest. This was not uncommon behavior for nomads apparently. Moses stands up again for the weak and runs the shepherds off so the daughters can get water.
Reuel was the priest and father of the daughters. When he hears about this he offers Moses to come live with them where he marries one of the daughters, Zipporah.
While Moses is sojourning, getting married, and starting a family, the rest of Israel is still in bondage. The current Pharaoh dies but the suffering does not stop. They cry out to the Lord and it is here that we see God say these words:
“God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God knew.” (Exodus 2:24-25 CSB).
Remember that when God remembers something, it doesn’t mean He forgot it. It basically means God is ready to act on His promise. This is where God says “ok, it is time.” The Israelites have been in bondage for a good 400 years and God is finally going to step in in His perfect timing according to His perfect plan and save His people.
Interpretation
It can be hard to sift through all the details in scripture to understand the message. Especially the Old Testament; not that it’s any easier in the New Testament either. Paul certainly can be hard to follow. This passage can be tricky to glean from, honestly. I mean, I can see some obvious things like, do not murder. Ok, yeah...that’s a good one. But what is God trying to teach me in this passage? I had a hard time answering that question but here are a couple of things I found:
Ok, I couldn’t help myself, but the “do not murder” one makes the list. However, it’s more than that. It’s a reminder. A reminder that Moses didn’t go to the Lord in his anger. He took matters into his own hands. His ancestors did this over and over. We saw Rebekah do this with Jacob as they schemed to trick Isaac. Jacob did this over and over throughout his life of fear. Levi and Simeon did this when they slaughtered all the men of Shechem for raping their sister. Moses again following this sinful nature lashed out in anger when he should have gone to the Lord instead.
To Moses’s credit, he did stand up for the weak. He didn’t always do this well, but his heart was for those that couldn’t stand up for themselves. He failed to do this in a glorifying way when he murdered the Egyptian. However, he did this well when he protected Reul’s daughters at the well.
God’s timing is still perfect. This is so hard to understand, and maybe it’s not for me to understand. But this passage leaves me with the hard question of why. Why did God leave His people in this cruel bondage for 400 years? How in the world does that bring glory to Him to watch His beloved beaten and die in bondage? Honestly, I don’t have an answer. But I know and trust in God’s goodness. I know that the bondage Israel faced is reminiscent of what the bondage of sin is. The salvation of Israel is a mere glimpse of the salvation Jesus gives us from that bondage of sin. So perhaps God allowed 400 years of bondage to give a powerful display of how desperate, alone, and destitute we really are when we continue to live as slaves to sin.
Application
As usual. The application follows the interpretation. As with Genesis, there are certain themes that God has to teach me over and over and over. I tend to overcomplicate God because after all, He is an infinitely complex God. However, His commands to us are really not that complicated. Here is what I learned today: trust God. I’ll break it down a bit more though.
Don’t take matters into my own hands. We see Moses do this when he kills the Egyptian. He let his anger get the better of him and killed a man. This threw his life into complete disarray as he fled for safety. The cool part is it didn’t thwart God’s plans. When I take matters into my hands, it doesn’t thwart His plans either. It certainly makes it harder though. There are more than enough examples in the Bible of why this is bad, and I hope it sinks in. I pray I will always go to God rather than rely on my own strength.
I want to stand up for the weak. Jesus tells us to care for the poor, widows, and orphans. Many of the laws God gives Israel in the coming chapters also focus on these groups of people. Again, reminiscent of how much we can’t take care of our own salvation. However, I want to do a better job at actually standing up for the weak. Speaking up and speaking out when someone is being abused or trying to kill a baby.
God’s timing is still perfect today. The Israelites have not heard from God in over 400 years. We get to hear from God each and every day. I never want to take that for granted, and I always want to make sure I’m spending time with the almighty God. I also want to trust in His timing. I mean, if Israel can wait 400 years in bondage to the Egyptians, can I not wait a few weeks or months as I wait on an answer from God? We’re praying a lot about moving to Asheville and for God to show us the house to move into. But sometimes I expect God to just give us the house that day. This is so contrary to how God usually works in prayer. Jesus gives us this parable that I will end with:
“He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.” (Luke 11:5-8 CSB).