Moses had led not one but two lives in his years of court life in Egypt. He was an Egyptian prince raised in the palace of the Pharaoh, an adopted son of the royal family. Yet when servants attended him under the awning of a royal vessel on the Nile, he would remember again his mother's story of another vessel: a little basket made into a boat by a coating of tar. Moses was a Hebrew a baby, born when the Pharaoh had decreed genocide for the Hebrew population of Egypt. All male Hebrew babies were to the put to death. The Hebrew women could then be absorbed as servants and mistresses into the Egyptian nation.
However, the God of Israel had given a baby boom to the slaved Hebrews. Mothers found new ways to hide their newborn children. Few however had been as effective as Jochebed, mother of Moses. The strategy was wise, but Moses well knew why it was effective. The God of his fathers had touched the heart of the princess. Under the sentence of death, like Joseph before him, he was raised up to be a prince of Egypt.
But the situation of Israel in Egypt had changed drastically. Israel growed rapidly and were viewed as threats by the Pharaoh.
What calling did Moses have as a prince? The Egyptians were exploiting the people in slavery with whips, torture, abuse. Must Moses be their deliverer? Yes, he must choose. Choose between Egypt and Israel, rule and slavery, luxury and agony.
There was no plan about beginning. No counsel from elders. He stood by just watching with growing anger as an Egyptian taskmaster lashed the bloody back of a helpless Hebrew slave. To stop him, he would have to kill him. He looked around, no one…
The next day, he knew his deed was known (Ex 2:13-14). Israel did not recognize Moses as a deliverer. Rather, Egypt recognized him as a betrayer. Immediately, he escaped to the wilderness of Sinai, 'retiring' as a shepherd.
Forty years later, Moses who enjoyed his quiet life in the warm blue skies of the Sinai peninsula noticed a bush that was burning.
We know that the Lord began a new era in His plan of salvation. God revealed himself to Jacob and Joseph by dreams and visions; but he would reveal himself to Moses as directly a man speaks with a friend. But yet, there remained a gulf to be bridged. It was a holy place where Moses had to his shoes off. The slopes of Mt Sinai had become the holiest spot on earth for the Lord Himself appeared in glory.
It is God who took the initiative. Who called Moses from the bush, hearing the groans of Israel in captivity, and remembering the promise He had made to the fathers. The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, had come down to deliver their descendants, to be their God and Savior. The same God who delivered the Israelites then, today delivers us.
References:
Edmund Clowney - The Unfolding Mystery
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