18th November, 2007 [In trusting our lives to the Lord] Exodus 2:1-10

1. The birth of Moses

In recent times we have been reading from the Old Testament book of Genesis, taking in lessons about the Creation, the beginning of the world’s civilizations, and Israel’s place among them. We read about Abraham’s family, Sarah and Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham received God’s call, a blessing which was passed on to Isaac and his son Jacob. A severe famine came upon the land and Jacob, with his twelve sons, moved to Egypt. From there, we now turn to the Book of Exodus.

The background to the events in this book is the divine promise of descendants and land to the ancestors (Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph) in Genesis (e.g. 12:1-4; 13:14-17). The book opens by recalling the divine promise to these ancestors by stating that the family of Jacob had grown into a great nation, fulfilling one aspect of the divine promise (Exod. 1:7). But Israel’s vast population in the land of Egypt, not Canaan, threatens the Pharaoh, prompting oppression and even genocide (Exod. 1:8-14).

Pharaoh intensifies the oppression from slave labor to genocide in order to control the population of the Israelites (Exod.1:15-16). However two women assume a heroic role in subverting the command of Pharaoh. The story of the midwives is a tale of civil disobedience setting the fear of God against the tyrannical command of Pharaoh. They resist Pharaoh in two ways: (1) they lie, and (2) they play upon Pharaoh’s fear of Israelite fertility, stating that the Hebrew women are so vigorous that they gave birth before the midwives arrive (Exod. 1:17-19).

The wider themes of Israelite fertility and Pharaoh’s oppression continue, but the narrative now focuses on a single Israelite family, and the birth of Moses. “Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But 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"¡Ê2:1-3).

The daughter of Pharaoh discovers the baby and has pity or shows compassion on him, and desires to rescue him. “Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said’” (Exodus 2:5-7).

Pharaoh’s daughter who was against the ruler’s policy, managed to bring up the boy as her own son. When the child grew older she named him Moses, from the Egyptian word, ‘to be born’, and ’son’, alluding to adoption. A second etymology anchors the name Moses in the child’s rescue from water with the Hebrew verb mashah, “to draw out”. ( I drew him out of the water).

2. Salvation starts beyond our knowledge

The story of Moses’ birth tells us that God’s hands are at work in places we cannot see. The Pharaoh used the Nile, from which Moses was drawn, to commit genocide. The mother of Moses took a risk, which not only saved her son’s life, but allowed him to grow-up in Pharaoh’s household, and be groomed for leadership. This was an ideal situation which offered every chance for him to receive an exceptionally high education.

Sometimes we feel lost, completely deprived of all means to deal with difficulties. However, we must keep our hope alive by remembering the story of Moses and his mother. We must try to do our best, and then, leave the rest to God, who guides and directs our life. We can see only what is before our eyes, the immediate reality. During the time of the Exodus, the Jewish people lived under strict conditions, hard labor, and the threat of death. They toiled under these horrific conditions, believing there was no help or future hope.

But in the midst of the worst possible circumstances, the life of new baby was saved. One who would be educated as a future ruler. In other words, God’s plan of salvation was being implemented. God shows us clearly what He has programmed only when the time is right. “During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them” (Exodus 2:23-25).

The people simply cry out. Yet, their cry for help finds its way to God. God was ready to use Moses to free his people from Egypt. God hears, remembers, looks, and takes notice of Israel because of the past covenant with his ancestors (Gen.17). So we too must have faith and trust in God. We learn to believe in what we cannot see as we face the future, together with our daily problems.

3. Nothing will be wasted.

Our invocation verses for today are from Matthew 2:14-15: “So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”

When Jesus was born a single star appeared in the east, which led three Magi to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2). The Magi’s questions about the king of the Jews and their intent to worship before Jesus (not Herod) was quite threatening. Eventually, king Herod, like Pharaoh of the Old testament, sought to commit acts of genocide. “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (Matthew 2:16). The massacre of the infants began with this statement.

The order caused misery and pain just as Jeremiah prophesied, the words of which are repeated in the New Testament: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (Matthew 2:18). All mothers whose boys were killed could not understand why it happened. They did not know about the birth of the Messiah, or the order from Herod. They, without the knowledge of God’s plan, must have questioned God’s wisdom as to why he would allow such a cruel incident.

In the middle of that great disturbance, Joseph escaped to Egypt with his wife and the new born baby Jesus. The angel revealed Herod’s real purpose in resisting God’s initiative, and God intervenes to protect Jesus, but, regrettably not the other infants. Though the birth of Jesus generated sorrow, God’s plan would eventually be seen through the Cross of Jesus. God saved the life of baby Jesus in order to put Him on the Cross. A sacrifice for human sin. The result is paradoxical for Israel at the outset of Exodus. We see how a partial fulfillment of the divine promise created suffering, not blessing (Exodus 1:1-15:21).

Sometimes, in our own lives, we only learn of God’s plan through personal suffering and pain. We might groan with pain like ancient Jews, even to wish our own death. But during moments of suffering, be assured, God is at work for our salvation. Beyond our knowledge perhaps, he is working on a plan which will come to fruition in time. Thus we should not for a moment despair for the belief in the graces of God. I will finish today’s speech with this verse and then say, Amen: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

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