The Early Days of Moses
July 7, 2021
Commentary
Moses is born (vv. 1-2). His parents kept him inside for three months but when they could no longer keep him hidden they placed him in a basket and placed him in the tall grass along the edge of the Nile river (v. 3). The baby’s older sister stood at a distance and watched to see what would happen to her baby brother (v. 4). Soon one of the king’s daughters came to take a bath in the river (v. 5). She spotted the basket in the tall grass and sent one of the young women to pull it out of the water. When the king’s daughter looked in the basket she saw the baby and felt sorry for him because he was crying (v. 6). She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”
When the babies older sister saw what was happening she asked if she could get a Hebrew woman to take care of the baby for her (v. 7). The king’s daughter said yes so she brought the baby’s mother (v. 8). Immediately the King’s daughter told the mother she would pay her if she would take care of the child (v. 9). The babies mother agreed to take him to her home and take care of him (v. 10). When he was old enough she took him to the king’s daughter who adopted him. The Lord delights in taking the evil of men and using it for good. Here God took an edict meant to kill Hebrew boys and used it to rear a Hebrew deliverer in Pharoah’s own house.
After Moses had grown up he went out to where his people were working and saw an Egyptian beating one of them (v. 11). He made sure no one was watching and then killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand (v. 12). Moses looked this way and that way, but he failed to look up. If he had brought God into his deliberations, he would not have become a murderer. The next day Moses saw two Hebrews fighting and he questioned why they were fighting (v. 13). One man asked if he was planning to kill him like he did the Egyptian (v. 14). Moses was afraid realizing this is known and he fled to Midian where he becomes a shepherd (v. 15).
Application
Just as God had a future planned for Moses and protected him in the bull rushes he has a future planned for me and protects me.
Exodus 2:1– 15 (NET)
1 A man from the household of Levi married a woman who was a descendant of Levi. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a healthy child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and set it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile. 4 His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.
5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself by the Nile, while her attendants were walking alongside the river, and she saw the basket among the reeds. She sent one of her attendants, took it, 6 opened it, and saw the child —a boy, crying! —and she felt compassion for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get a nursing woman for you from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes, do so.” So the young girl went and got the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay 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, saying, “Because I drew him from the water.”
11 In those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and observed their hard labor, and he saw an Egyptian man attacking a Hebrew man, one of his own people. 12 He looked this way and that and saw that no one was there, and then he attacked the Egyptian and concealed the body in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, there were two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your fellow Hebrew?”
14 The man replied, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Surely what I did has become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard about this event, he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he settled by a certain well.
Illustration: The Mother Hen Who Protects Her Chicks
Whoever invented the word “chicken-hearted” didn’t know his chickens. I have never seen a greater demonstration of courage, fearlessness, and loyalty than I have seen displayed by a chicken in the time of danger. A hen will sit immovable through the most violent storm with her chicks gathered safely beneath her, that they might be protected from the elements without. This example can help us better understand why Jesus compared His own love to that of a hen who “doth gather her chicks under her wings” (Luke 13:34). (Lou Nicholes – Missionary/Author).