15. MOSES: BORN TO DELIVER ISRAEL

"She called his name Moses, and she said, Because I drew him out of the water".

Aim

To show how God prepared Moses to deliver His chosen people out of Egypt.

Joseph had said that the children of Israel would leave Egypt and go back to Canaan, but the years rolled by and nothing happened. For 150 years or more Joseph's coffin remained in Goshen until the people became so used to it that they forgot his message and teaching. They prospered (v. 7) and from a family of 70 they grew into a great nation.

Then a new king arose "who knew not Joseph" (v. 8). From being treated as friends, the Israelites became treated as enemies. The new Pharaoh was afraid that the Israelites might join with another nation and conquer Egypt. So he put them to slavery (v. 10). They suffered many things but God blessed them and they continued to multiply. As their numbers grew Pharaoh became even more afraid of them. So he commanded that all the Hebrew baby boys were to be destroyed at birth (v. 22).

Exodus 1:1-14, 22; 2; Acts 7:18-29

THE BIRTH OF MOSES: Exodus 2:1-9

There lived in Egypt at this time a faithful couple of the tribe of Levi named Amram and his wife Jochebed. They had two children, Aaron and Miriam. Then another son was born who "was exceeding fair" (Acts 7:20). They were determined to save this child from the hands of wicked Pharaoh, and in faith, ignored the king's decree (Heb. 11:23). God was with them and they succeeded in hiding him safely for three months.

When it was no longer possible to hide the baby, his mother prepared an ark of bulrushes (papyrus reeds plastered with pitch). She left the baby in the ark by the water's edge and Miriam waited nearby to watch and report what happened. The daughter of Pharaoh, coming to the river to wash, saw the ark among the bulrushes. When it was brought to her she opened it and looked with wonder at the beautiful baby (Exodus 2:6). Moses began to cry and the tears of the baby no doubt touched the heart of the princess. She realised that it must be one of the Hebrews' children and just then Miriam came forward and offered to find a nurse. She hurried home to fetch Jochebed and brought the child's mother to Pharaoh's daughter. "And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away and nurse it for me and I will give thee thy wages" (v. 9). So Jochebed took back her baby son and cared for him, and was paid by Pharaoh's daughter for doing so. How thankful Jochebed would have been, not only to have her son alive, but given back to her, if only for a few years.

So the faithful parents were rewarded by God. They are mentioned by the apostle Paul in Hebrews 11 among the great examples of faith - "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment" (Hebrews 11:23).

THE EARLY LIFE OF MOSES: Exodus 2:10

With heartfelt thanks for God's loving care, Jochebed took her baby to nurse and care for him and as soon as he could understand, she began to teach him of the God of the Hebrews, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whom great and wonderful promises had been made.

The child grew and when the time was right he was taken to Pharaoh's daughter and became known as her son. She called him Moses, which means 'drawn out’. From the Egyptian court, he learned the ways of a prince and the wisdom of the nation of Egypt. He became mighty in word and deed (Acts 7:22) and became a leader of men. However, Moses did not forget the early training and teaching of his mother and father and so never followed the wickedness of Egypt (Hebrews 11:24-27).

MOSES VISITS HIS OWN PEOPLE: Exodus 2:11-14

When Moses was 40 years old he left the court of Pharaoh and went out to visit his brethren the children of Israel. It was God who moved Moses to go and see the hardship of his brethren, and when one day he saw an Egyptian ill-treating an Israelite, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. The next day when he went out he found two Hebrews fighting together. He spoke to the wrong-doer, who turned to Moses and said, "Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?" (v. 14). Apparently Moses had not hidden the death of the Egyptian as well as he thought. The news spread rapidly. Moses was afraid and fled. When Pharaoh heard it he sought to kill Moses, but Moses had escaped into the land of Midian.

MOSES IN MIDIAN: Exodus 2:15-21

At a well in Midian, Moses showed kindness to the seven daughters of the priest of Midian. He was received into their home and later married Zipporah, one of these seven daughters. Moses' life now became very different from what it had been before. The busy life of Pharaoh's court was exchanged for that of a shepherd. It was a life of loneliness and hardship, but one which taught him to lean upon God. He learned to care for the needs of his sheep, young and old, and to protect them even as God protected him.

In quietness he would think upon the things his parents had taught him as a child and he would also remember the suffering of his people in Egypt. These forty years were a very necessary part of the training of Moses, as God was watching over this man and preparing him for a very special work. As he now learned to care for the sheep and lead them, so he was one day to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt.

LESSON FOR US

We see in this lesson how the training in the early years of the life of Moses was able to keep him apart from the evil ways of the court of Pharaoh. In Proverbs 22:6 we are told: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

The world around us is like Egypt. The hearts of people are filled with wickedness; they worship the things they see around them and do not know the true God. Moses could have had great honour in the court of Pharaoh and lived in luxury all his life, but he chose to give those things up. He always remembered the wonderful promises of greater rewards than these - of life everlasting in the Kingdom of God.

Let us follow the example of Moses and fill our minds with the Word of God. Then we, like him, will gladly give up the pleasures of the world and prepare ourselves for the coming Kingdom of God.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

The Scriptures show us how the hand of God was working in the life of Moses. From the manner in which he was saved from death as a baby, given back into the care of his own God ­fearing Hebrew family, and educated in the court of Pharaoh to be a leader of men, we see God preparing him for the work He had chosen him to do.

Stephen in Acts 7:25, speaking through inspiration concerning these incidents, says: "He (Moses) supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them". No doubt his mother had taught him Joseph's words: "God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (Genesis 50:24). At forty years of age he thought he was ready to be their leader and deliver them from slavery. But the people were not yet ready to accept him and God knew that Moses himself had much more to learn before he was ready to do the great work of deliverance. Forty more years of preparation were needed. God knew that the life of a shepherd was the best training Moses could have. In this way Moses was like the Lord Jesus Christ, the "Good Shepherd" (John 10:11), who cares for his sheep and delivers them from the bondage (slavery) of sin and death (see Hebrews 2:14-15).

QUESTIONS

Short Answers

1. Why did Pharaoh make the Hebrew people slaves?

2. What terrible command did Pharaoh make?

3. What were the names of the mother and father of Moses?

4. What was the name of Moses' sister?

5. What does the name Moses mean?

6. Who took Moses to be her son?

7. How old was Moses when he fled from Egypt?

8. Why did Moses flee from Egypt?

9. What did he do in Midian?

10. How long did he live in Midian?

Detailed Answers

1. Tell the story of how Moses was saved when all other Hebrew baby boys were killed.

2. Tell what Moses did when he was forty years old.

3. How did Moses' life in Midian help prepare him to be a leader of God's people?

Additional Answers

1. Tell the story of Moses from the time of his birth until he left Egypt, when he was forty years old.

2. Can you tell some of the things that Moses was trained to do which would help him when God called him to be a Deliverer to Israel?