Exodus 2 reminds me that I have a stubborn streak that has been my greatest strength and weakness. The positive spin says that unyielding determination can power through great difficulty. But the reverse is also true; being unwilling to yield can leave us broken. Today’s lesson is that arrogance blinds us to our own weaknesses. The chapter begins with a mother, her child and a choice. We read: “a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son.” Though the king declared every male child should be killed, “she hid him for three months.” Newborns need almost constant attention and will let us know when they are not happy. We are not told how the plan was conceived, but the love for her baby was stronger than her fear of Pharaoh. “When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.” The word translated as “basket” is also used in describing Noah’s Ark. This waterproof box was crafted by faith in God’s protection. We learn that his sister watched the basket from the riverbank. Friend, even if you feel alone and adrift, God is closer than you know.
We read that “Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe”. When she saw the basket, she opened it and saw the baby. “He was crying, and she felt sorry for him” despite knowing he was one of the Hebrew babies. At the exact right moment, his sister called out to Pharaoh’s daughter: “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” She returned with the baby’s mother, and Pharaoh’s daughter told her: “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” It is likely that this lasted several years. I believe she was able to impart much about their history, language and culture. “When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses.” The story skips ahead to a time when Moses was 40 years old. We learn in Acts 7:22 that: “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” Moses was the definition of human success and accomplishment.
The chapter closes with the humbling of a man. We read: “After Moses had grown up… He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own.” Undoubtably, he had many options to stop the abuse. I believe Moses saw himself as the deliverer of the Jews. “Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” Inevitably, when we feel the need to make sure no one is looking, we are contemplating something dumb. Hiding the body is proof of his hubris. The next day he saw two Hebrews fighting. Thinking he was virtuous; he scolded the men. The response was not what he expected: “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” With those words, he was exposed. His ego was his undoing. “When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses, so Moses fled to Midian.” He hid in the wilderness. Next we read: “a priest in Midian had seven daughters” and they came to draw water for their father’s flock, but some shepherds came along and drove them away, “but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock“. This priest is likely a descendent of Abraham. Moses agreed to stay with them and married Zipporah and had a son named Gershom. “During that long period, the king of Egypt died.” The descendants of Israel were still suffering in Egypt: “The Israelites groaned in their slavery… God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.” God was preparing Moses, not because the people were deserving, but because God made a covenant promise. Friend, are you toiling away with no purpose? Jesus made a promise to all the afflicted: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). This rest is the kind that heals the soul. Today you can have peace with God because Jesus is faithful! He has paid the penalty for our sin. Please do not be too stubborn to ask Him to set you free.