Exodus 2:1-25

The hand of God is evident in the course of history as we look at the events unfold according to His plan.  However, we have the benefit of looking back and seeing only the highlights as they are recorded for us in Scripture.  If we consider the centuries that passed between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses; the hand of God must have seemed all but invisible to the people of that day.  God may move at a different pace than we think He should.  In fact, it may appear to us that God is not moving at all!  During these times of doubt it is vital for us to turn back to the Scripture and remember how God has worked in the past and then trust that He is working in the same way in the present.  In this truth we can rest assured.

MOSES IS PROTECTED BY PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER: God spared the life of Moses by the daughter of Pharaoh.  His mother places him in a basket boat and God causes that boat to cross the path of the princess.  In the end she adopts Moses and takes him to the palace; but he is actually raised by his own God fearing mother who ends up being paid by Pharaoh to nurse her own son.  We can see that God is working through these events and know that God is putting a plan in place to work out His will.  We must never doubt God’s ability to control the circumstances of life for the furtherance of His plans on earth.  When he chooses to do so and knows the time is right; He can bring all the people and events together in an amazing way.  We must always remember however, that God’s hand is not always so visible to those who are living the actual circumstances.  We must learn that God will often take much more time than we would like and that we cannot always recognize His hand when He does move.  It is for that reason that in times of doubt we must remember these demonstrations of God’s might and then patiently trust Him and His ways.

MOSES IS PROVOKED BY ISRAEL’S SLAVERY: Moses knows that he is a descendant from the people of Israel even though he is now living in the house of Pharaoh.  I must think that this has something to do with the upbringing of his mother.  She must have pounded it into his head that God had chosen to protect him and must have a plan to use him to help his people.  When Moses sees an Egyptian officer beating an Israelite brother, Moses takes matters into his own hands and kills the officer.  Moses thinks that his deed is a secret, but when he tries to separate two Israelites from a dispute, they confront him with what he had done and the word of his murder reaches the ears of Pharaoh himself.  Moses ends us having to flee for his life into the wilderness.  It seems that Moses is trying to “help God” keep his promises through his own strength and might.  God rarely uses people who are proud and believe that they are God’s gift to humanity.  God desires that His children be humble so before He uses men He usually must break them of their pride by sending them to the wilderness.  We must always remember that wilderness is the place where the hand of God seems invisible, but that it is very much at work.

MOSES IS PROVIDED FOR BY THE PRIEST OF MIDIAN: Moses finds himself by a well and helps the daughters of the priest of Midian water their sheep.  His act of chivalry wins him favor in the eyes of the priest and Jethro ends up giving Moses a place to stay, a job to meet his needs and a daughter to become his wife.  Once again we find that a well is a great place to find a wife just as it was for Isaac and Jacob.  Moses is far from the palace now, but God has made provision for his needs and is at work in the heart of Moses.  Even in the wilderness God is faithful to not abandon His children and will meet their needs.  Of course Moses must have considered his present circumstances to have been a complete failure of what he believed his purpose in life to be.  When God works in our heart, His hand is almost invisible to those on whom He is working.

MOSES IS PRAYED FOR BY THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: After many years of oppression and watching their children be murdered, the children of Israel call out to God for help.  They bed to be delivered.  They don’t know that they are praying for Moses, but God will eventually answer their prayers by calling a murderer who has turned sheep herder in the wilderness.  We must never underestimate or forget the power of prayer.  God delights in answering prayer.  It may take Him more time than we would like, and He may answer in ways that we do not understand or even agree with, but He does answer.  When we find ourselves in times of trouble and we feel that all hope is lost; we must learn to cry out to God in prayer.  He is our source of deliverance and hope.  We must also always be ready to recognize that God may be moving in our lives in order to answer the prayers of others.  There are nations all over the world who are enslaved to sin.  We must cry out for them for God to deliver them and as we pray we must recognize that God just may choose us to be a part of the answer to that prayer.