Our church congregation was invited to read the Bible through this year, and we are using a resource entitled “Daily Scripture Guidebook” by Tim Wildsmith. We are now reading through the book of Exodus and this seems to be material ripe for “picking” for an article to share. I hope you find insight for your own faith journey as you reflect on this passage with me.
In reading ancient texts, we need to understand the background history. At this point, the Israelites had been in Egypt a long time since immigrating there during a famine. They were welcomed and sustained under the leadership of one of their own, Joseph, who had been sold into slavery by his brothers but rose to power through God’s providence. Time moved along until Joseph became a distant memory and sentiment toward the Israelites eroded.
The growth of the Israelite colony evolved to be viewed as a potential threat to Egypt, as they could potentially side with enemies at the border where Goshen lay and bring about a collapse of the Egyptian Empire. So, the new Pharoah Sethos I sought to control their population growth by genocide and by forced labor.
God thwarted their efforts first by the bold defiance of Hebrew midwives and birth mothers who did all they could to protect their babies. Sethos I was succeeded by Rameses II who doubled down on the repression and oppression of the Hebrew people. But God is the unseen mover behind the world scene and He is quietly at work, a reminder to us not to give up—but know, believe, and trust that God is at work.
Unobtrusively, the work of God began at Moses’ birth. Isn’t it interesting that the birth of Jesus also came quietly when people least expected anything life-changing to be happening? Moses’ name reflects his dual ancestry: mase’ (Egyptian for “child”) and masa’—the Hebrew form means “to draw out,” which is exactly what the Pharoah’s daughter did. The active form of the word means “one who draws out,” which reflects that she literally drew him out of the waters.
Clearly, it is prophetic that God was at work to draw him out first from the River, from his own people to learn the way of Egypt, then from Egypt to the land of Midian to learn the ways of God while shepherding flocks, then from Midian to Egypt to be a prophet for God, and finally from Egypt to the wilderness to shape a nation—and ultimately to the entrance of the Promised Land that God had promised Abraham and the succession of Israelite leaders.
By the time he was a young man, Moses identified himself with the oppressed rather than his adopted royal family of oppressors. In opposing a taskmaster that he saw beating an enslaved Hebrew, he renounced his royal heritage in Egypt and fled for his life to Midian, where God awaited him at a well. Here we see reflections from the life of Jesus, who welcomed a woman at a well.
In this story, Moses defended the daughters of Jethro (Reuel) from the oppressive acts of male shepherds, earning him respect and a place in the family of the priest of Midian, where he learned lessons of humility, faith and obedience to God through years in the humble task of shepherding. It took forty years. And we wonder why it seems we never quit learning and growing, sometimes failing, sometimes rising.
What does Moses learn from the encounter with God in the story?
- God is not destructive—even the bush is not burned by His presence.
- God is holy in pure righteousness that requires humble reverence before Him.
- God is all-powerful and aware of the sufferings of people and attuned to their cries for deliverance. We learn, too, that we are not just crying into the wilderness or the sky, not just hollering with a fist raised, but crying to God who hears.
- Moses and the Israelites had the faith background to see God as the one true God who had power to deliver them. They were schooled in the stories from their ancestors: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and others.
- Moses learned that his life has been on God’s radar all along; and now, after years of wondering, he gets to glimpse that God does indeed have a plan—one that scares him, but one that fits like no other plan could—a plan that would ultimately fulfill his heart’s desire to free his people. This time, though, it would not be on his own as a renegade but as a servant leader called and equipped by God over forty years, and still in process.
- When Moses had been sufficiently humbled in spirit, he was reassured of God’s call and was willing to follow with the resources God provided.
How do we see God in the story from the vantage point of the New Testament? We see Him much as we have come to know Him through Jesus.
- Saving, rescuing, protecting.
- God hears His people’s cries.
- God is compassionate toward their suffering—not as a distant spectator, but as a God who responds.
- God is a God of deliverance. He began to prepare for their deliverance in spite of worldly powers and human frailties.
- He is a self-revealing God, who centuries later would reveal Himself ultimately in the Christ, Jesus our Lord.
- He is a self-covenanting God, who has bound Himself to His plan of salvation so fully that He comes in human form to take on our sinful nature, participate fully in our sin death, and set us free for eternal salvation.
- God is worthy of praise, worship, and obedience.
How do you connect with the story?
- When/how have you been delivered, or have witnessed someone set free?
- When/how have you prayed for long years for a deep need or concern?
- When/how have you come to grips with an unexpected and unexplainable encounter with God’s compassion and purpose?
- When/how have you had to step out on faith to do something for God in defense of others and for His glory, or have witnessed someone do so?
- When/how have you been assured of God’s purpose and power in your life?
- When/how have you been humbled to see God in a new light?
I encourage fellow pilgrims of faith to reflect on this story in a contemplative fashion, using the creative gift of imagination to enter into the narrative personally. Stand before the burning bush, shoes removed from your feet, and hear God call your name. inviting you to “Come and I will send you to help my people who are calling to me day and night.” Maybe it is your next-door neighbor, a family member, or a stranger you will meet. Go with courage! He is calling your name—most likely, to answer your very own prayers!
