The Unfolding Plan of God

11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. – Exodus 2:11-25 ESV

Moses fast-forwards this section of his biography by skipping from his infancy to his young adulthood as a member of Pharaoh’s household. As the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses enjoyed the privileges and prerogatives that came as a grandson of the most powerful man in the land of Egypt. He was raised in an atmosphere of opulence and wealth. He would have received a first-class education and had access to all the trappings that come with his royal rank.

But while it appears that Moses grew up in relative isolation as a member of the royal family, he was not ignorant of his Hebrew heritage. His mother had played a role in the early years of his life, acting as his nursemaid on behalf of Pharaoh’s daughter. It seems likely that Moses continued to have contact with his parents, Amram and Jochabed, as well as his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron. This means he would have been aware of his heritage and the conditions under which his fellow Hebrews were living as a result of his adopted grandfather's policies.

So, Moses relates that a day came when he ventured outside the walls of the royal palace in order to observe the situation among his people, the Hebrews. It is not clear if this was a first for Moses or whether he made these excursions on a regular basis. But on this particular occasion, he witnessed “an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people” (Exodus 2:11 ESV). Perhaps Moses had seen this kind of harsh treatment before and chosen to ignore it. But in this instance, he decided to take matters into his own hands and teach the offending Egyptian a lesson he would not soon forget.

Moses killed the man and buried his body in the sand, and the only witness was the Hebrew whose life he had protected. But somehow, word got out. The very next day, Moses attempted to insert himself in the middle of a confrontation between two Hebrews, but they did not appreciate his interference in their affair.

“Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?” – Exodus 2:14 NLT

Suddenly, Moses realized that his little secret from the day before was anything but secret. This thought petrified and rightfully so, because Pharaoh got wind of Moses’ little stunt playing judge, jury, and executioner and was livid. His grandfather had no love affair with the Hebrews and when he heard that his adopted Hebrew grandson had taken the life of an Egyptian, he was livid. So much so, that he put a bounty on Moses’ head.

So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he settled by a certain well. – Exodus 2:15 NLT

Moses fled for his life. It appears that he took no time to say goodbye to his adoptive mother or his biological parents and siblings. He simply ran and he didn’t stop until he got all the way to Midian. This proved to be quite a trek and it covered territory that would become very familiar to Moses in the days ahead. To get to Midian, Moses had to cross the Sinai Peninsula, a path that would take him through the wilderness of Shur, Paran, and, possibly Sin. It would have been a long and arduous journey, made even more difficult by the knowledge that Pharaoh could have sent a posse in hot pursuit of his runaway grandson/murderer. 

At this point in the narrative, it is important to consider how the author of the book of Hebrews describes Moses’ flight to Midian. In chapter 11 of his book, the author includes Moses in his “hall of faith,” a compilation of Old Testament characters whose lives exhibited faith in God. Of Moses, he writes:

By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward. By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. – Hebrews 11:24-27 NLT

This gives a whole new perspective on what was going on behind the scenes and within Moses’ heart during this critical period of his young life. According to the author of Hebrews, Moses had long ago made the conscious decision to reject his royal status and embrace his true ethnic roots. He had heard about Jehovah, the God of his people, from his mother, and he had embraced the promises of God that made been passed down from Abraham all the way to Jacob. The author of Hebrews suggests that Moses knew about all the promises concerning the land of Canaan. He knew that Egypt was just a temporary holding place for the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob. Moses was aware of the promise that Jehovah had made to Abraham.

“You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.” – Genesis 15:13-14 NLT

And Moses had been willing to jeopardize his standing in the royal court in order to align himself with the much-maligned and hated Hebrews. They were his people and he was willing to give up his status, wealth, and life of privilege in order to secure the better future God had in store for them. It even states that he “left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger” (Hebrews 11:17 NLT). He didn’t leave Egypt in a state of fear, but in a state of hopeful anticipation that God was going to do something for his people. He had no idea what the future had in store, but he was willing to give up all he had to be part of whatever God was going to do.

Moses eventually arrived in Midian, where he came into contact with seven daughters of the priest of Midian. These people were descendants of Abraham through Keturah, the wife he took after the death of Sarah. So, they were blood relatives of Moses. And in this distant land, Moses would meet his wife and settle down to a much different life than the one he led back in Egypt.

God was preparing Moses for something significant, but this young exile from Egypt was unaware of all that God had in store for him in the days ahead. And while Moses was settling into his new life in Midian, God was busy orchestrating things back in Egypt.

During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God. God heard their groaning; God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God understood. – Exodus 2:23-25 NLT

Moses was living in relative peace and security, oblivious to the conditions his family back in Egypt was enduring. The persecution of the Hebrews had only increased in intensity. A new Pharaoh on the throne did not bring about any change in their conditions. Moses could not hear their cries, but God was listening and watching, and He had a plan in place that was going to radically alter their lives forever.  And soon, Moses would know the role he was going play in God’s grand redemptive plan of the people of Israel.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Delivered to Be a Deliverer

1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. 4 And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” – Exodus 2:1-10 ESV

It’s interesting to consider the fact that, Moses, the author of the book of Exodus, is actually writing his autobiography. In the opening verses of chapter 2, he chronicles the earliest days of his life, as most likely told to him by his mother and sister, Miriam. The timing of his birth and its close proximity to Pharaoh’s edict that ordered the deaths of all the Hebrew male babies (Exodus 1:22), would not have escaped Moses. Over time, his mother and sister would have shared the events surrounding his birth and their efforts to preserve his life.

Moses’ recollections of his own birth narrative would have been a constant reminder of his own preordained role in the salvation of God’s people. There would have been plenty of times when he was forced to consider the sovereign will of God in his life. His very existence was God-ordained and sovereignly orchestrated.

Despite Pharaoh’s zealous attempts to liquidate the male infant population of the Hebrews, Moses had been born. No midwife terminated his life at birth. And no Egyptian citizen did their civic duty by throwing him into the Nile as a kind of sacrifice to one of their many false gods. No, Moses had lived because his God had ordained it and Jochebed, Moses’ mother had played her part in bringing it about.

We know very little about Moses’ parents, except that they were both from the tribe of Levi. Exodus 6 provides some of the only details we have regarding this couple whom God used to birth the eventual deliverer of the people of Israel.

Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses…  – Exodus 6:20 ESV

Exodus 6::18 tells us that Amram was one of the four sons of Kohath. According to the book of Numbers, which Moses also wrote, Kohath was the chief of one of the Levitical clans.

This is the record of the Levites who were counted according to their clans:

The Gershonite clan, named after their ancestor Gershon.
The Kohathite clan, named after their ancestor Kohath.
The Merarite clan, named after their ancestor Merari.

The Libnites, the Hebronites, the Mahlites, the Mushites, and the Korahites were all subclans of the Levites. – Numbers 26:56-57 NLT

For some undisclosed reason, Moses chose to leave out the names of his parents as he penned the details surrounding his birth. It’s almost as if he wants to use their anonymity to emphasize God’s sovereignty. Who they were was immaterial. What was important was what God accomplished through them. Together, this unidentified couple gave birth to an unnamed Hebrew child. They are simply listed as “a man” and “his wife.”

When Moses wrote, “the woman conceived and bore a son” (Exodus 2:2 ESV), he meant for it to create an uncomfortable dissonance within the hearts and minds of his original audience. With the birth of their son, this couple, like so many others, was immediately confronted with the very real possibility that their little boy may not live to celebrate his first birthday. The proverbial deck was stacked against him. The forces of evil, in the form of Pharaoh and his all-pervasive power, were aligned against their newborn baby boy. And to make matters worse, “she saw that he was a fine child” (Hebrews 2:2 ESV).

Moses was born healthy and whole. He suffered from no physical flaws or disabilities. There is nothing in the text that would suggest that Amram and Jochebed had been informed by God of the role their son was to play in Israel’s deliverance. But the book of Hebrews records that they greatly desired that their son might live, so they placed their faith in God and implemented a plan to save his life.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. – Hebrews 11:23 ESV

It was not Moses’ faith that saved him. It was the faith of his mom and dad, revealed by their loving determination to do whatever was necessary to protect their boy from Pharaoh’s edict. They knew that if they did nothing, the infant in their care would become yet another innocent victim of Pharaoh’s barbaric pogrom of infanticide.

Imagine the anxiety and stress this couple must have endured as they attempted to keep the birth of their baby a secret. They couldn’t let anyone know he existed. So, every time he cried, they must have shuddered with fear. They were unable to display their pride and joy by introducing their friends and neighbors to their newborn son. No one could know. And, according to Moses’ recollection, the time came when Jochebed realized that she could no longer keep their secret hidden. So, she took drastic measures. Moses reveals that his mother fabricated a waterproof floating bassinet, “put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank” (Exodus 2:3 ESV).

Moses does not indicate how his mother came up with this ingenious, but somewhat risky, idea. There is nothing in the text that indicates she received a divine visit from an angel or experienced a dream or vision from God with instructions to build a “baby boat” to rescue her at-risk child. No, it appears that Jochebed came up with this outlandish solution on her own, but in full compliance with God’s sovereign will.

Hidden in the reeds along the shore of the Nile, little Moses remained under the watchful eye of his older sister, Miriam. She “stood at a distance to know what would be done to him” (Exodus 2:4 ESV). As the book of Hebrews indicates, Jochebed and Amram exhibited faith by doing what they did. By placing Moses in that basket and setting it afloat on the waters of the Nile, they were putting their baby in the hands of God. Only Yahweh could protect their child now. Miriam could watch, but she was incapable of delivering her little brother from certain death by exposure or from being eaten by a crocodile. She was forced into the uncomfortable and unenviable position of having to wait and see.

But she didn’t wait long.

Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. – Exodus 5:6 NLT

It just so happened that the basket holding the baby, Moses, floated down the Nile and came to rest in the very place where the daughter of Pharaoh took her daily bath. Was this Jochebed’s hope all along? Had she intended for the basket to pass by this very spot? It would seem odd for the mother of this newborn infant to see his discovery by any Egyptian, let alone Pharaoh’s daughter, to be a good thing. After all, “Pharaoh commanded all his people, ‘Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile’” (Exodus 1:22 NLT).

But as “fate” would have it, as the princess waded into the water to take her bath, she spied the basket and ordered one of her servants to retrieve it. Upon removing the lid, she was startled to find a crying baby boy, whom she immediately recognized as a Hebrew.

“This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said. – Exodus 2:6 NLT

Rather than exhibiting a loathing for this Hebrew infant, the princess showed pity. It may be that the sight of this innocent little baby tugged at her heartstrings. Finding him relegated to a handmade wicker basket and cast afloat in the Nile must have informed her of the desperate mother’s last-ditch effort to save her son’s life. This helpless mother had been willing to abandon her son to the fate of the Nile rather than see him suffer at the hands of the sadistic Pharaoh.

As the princess battled with her emotions, struggling to decide what to do, Miriam appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She carefully approached the princess and her royal retinue, offering to provide assistance.

“Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked. – Exodus 2:7 NLT

Almost sensing the princess’ indecision, Miriam provided an immediate solution to the problem of what to do with the child. She would find a nursemaid to care for the child while the princess decided what to do next.

Miriam’s quick action played a significant role in the sparing of Moses’ life. With the princess’ permission, Miriam ran home and returned with her mother. What the princess failed to understand was that this “nursemaid” was actually the infant’s own mother.

In a powerful illustration of God’s sovereignty, Jochebed was given the privilege of nursing and eventually weaning her own son. But, eventually, she was forced to give up possession of her child to the princess, “and he became her son” (Exodus 2:10 NLT). In an amazing turn of events, the little boy who had been under a death sentence was adopted into the very family of the man who had issued the call for his death. The princess named her newly adopted son, Môsheh or Moses, which means, ”drawn out of water” or “one born of water.” 

Unbeknownst to the princess, the name she gave to her new son was prophetic in nature. This little child would grow up to be the deliverer of the people of Israel who would “draw out” God’s children and lead them through the waters of the Red Sea. But for now, little Moses would find himself growing up in the pomp and splendor of Pharaoh’s palace. The boy that should have been cast into the Nile and left to die, was saved by a “boat” prepared by the hands of his loving mother. God had sovereignly saved Moses so that he might become the future savior of the children of Israel.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.