Exodus Chapter 2:1

The Bible says in Exodus chapter 2:1-3, “And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.”

For every man, life will have its great challenges and obstacles to overcome. And how much wisdom you possess will greatly affect your ability to make the best choice. And for people who do not trust in Jesus the negative circumstances of life often become their destruction because they will have a lack of wisdom. And they will have no hope beyond the temporary things of this life.

The Bible says in I John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

For those who trust in Jesus, there will always be a light at the end of every tunnel. Because God is in control and He will ensure that every situation has a happy ending for His children. The parents of Moses certainly understood these truths and put their faith in the Almighty. The parents of Moses were Hebrews that lived as slaves of the Egyptians. And during the time that the Pharaoh was murdering all the helpless baby boys of the Hebrews, these two slaves had a man-child. Despite the extremely unjust circumstances surrounding them, they did not let their lives by ruled by fear or hopelessness. But they trusted in God and went on living their lives. But trusting in God did not mean praying to God, hoping that He will take care of things and then doing nothing about it themselves. They raised their son as best as they could, protecting him as much as was in their power from the evil forces of the world. And when they could no longer protect the baby Moses, Moses’ mother took the baby, placed him in a basket and sent him down the river. And even though she was acting on faith she was also using wisdom. Most of the people were probably familiar with the place where Pharaoh’s daughter and the other women of the royal court would come and wade in the river. So Moses’ mother sent the child down the river knowing they would find it. She knew that God would be with her child in both life and death. We should trust in God in all things, but we are responsible to do what we can. And then God will do the impossible. This is an example of the importance of wisdom. The more wisdom you have in this life, the better the choices you will make in this life, and the better you will be at trusting in God. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given.”

The Bible goes on to say in Exodus chapter 2:4-10, “And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept, And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.”

Of course Moses’ mothered cared greatly about her son and she did much more than just cast him in the water. She sent her daughter to follow the basket. And when the daughter of Pharaoh found the child she asked the girl to fetch her a Hebrew midwife to help her raise the child. And so Moses’ sister went and got the mother. God often does things in ways we would never expect and for reasons we cannot always understand, because His wisdom is far greater than our own and the future is already known to Him. God touched the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter and she had compassion on the child. She knew it was a Hebrew child and she knew that pharaoh had command all the Hebrew boys to be killed. And God in His great mercy worked things out so that Moses’ mother could still raise her child. There are many many blessings to living a God-fearing life. If the parents of Moses did not have faith in God, God may not have worked things out so the mother of Moses could raise her own son. But God new the mother would raise her child to have faith in God. And that is certainly another reason God allowed the mother of Moses to raise her own child through the compassion of Pharaoh’s daughter. Perhaps these Egyptians were godless pagan people. But many of the people today, who kill their own children before they are even born or abuse their children in some perverse way are much worse. Not even this wicked Pharaoh would have done that to his own son. The world will wax worse and worse every time the sun sets. But the light of the world is Jesus. And the darker the world becomes the brighter that light will be until Christ’s return. The story of Moses in Exodus chapter two is a perfect example that the promises of God work. Promises such as Romans 8:28, which says “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

In this story of Moses as a baby, we indeed see the great wisdom of God. An evil Pharaoh feared a group of slaves would take over his kingdom when all that the slaves wanted was to be free. And a condemned child of the slaves becomes one of the princes of Egypt. And the education Moses would receive in the courts of the Pharaohs would be a tool God would use to prepare Moses to be the leader of the children of Israel. And it would also prepare Moses to write the first 5 books of the Bible: because God uses a prepared person for a prepared place.

The Bible goes on to say in Exodus chapter 2:11-15, “And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren, And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.”

When we think of the many different people talked about in the Bible, we probably think of Moses as one of the greatest of God’s servants. He is listed in Hebrews chapter 11 as a man of great faith. When we think of some of the greatest sinners in the Bible, Cain is certainly one of them because he slew his own brother. Yet here we have the story of Moses committing the terrible sin of murder. Yet sometimes the worst sinners make the best saints. And it’s all because of the marvelous, wondrous, matchless grace of God; grace that is greater than all our sin. The story of Cain could have been like the story of Moses. Cain could have repented and followed God and accomplished great things for Him. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” It is sad that most of the organized religions of the world do not understand this very basic and important principle found in salvation. Romans 8:1 says “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” You do not have to be of some special spiritual caliber to be able to accomplish great things for God. All you need is to repent of your sins to Jesus and have just a little faith in God and in His Word; just faith as a grain of mustard seed; because with God all things are possible. I do not know what sins you have committed. But if you repent of your sins and trust in Jesus then you will have the opportunity to be used of God, just as Moses was.

Life is a learning experience. And God is teaching us things so that we can accomplish His will. The more you learn from God, the more you will be able to fulfill His purpose for you in this life. Moses was probably about 40 years old when he slew the Egyptian. He saw the plight of his brethren and wanted to help them. But he did not wait on God’s timing or seek God’s guidance. He did things his way and he became a murderer. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man and the end thereof are the ways of God. Yet, God would use Moses to break the 400-year old chains of slavery that had bound them. But it would be another 40 years before Moses was prepared. You had better learn from Moses’ big mistake before you make the same one. Wait on God’s timing, and seek His wisdom. If you do not, you may very well commit some terrible sins.

The Bible goes on to say in Exodus chapter 2:16-25, “Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon today? And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? Why is it that ye have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.”

When Moses committed murder, and when he was exiled from the kingdom in which he had lived as a prince, it was not the beginning of a series of negative circumstances and great tragedies in his life but it was simply God preparing Moses to learn more to trust in Him. After leaving Egypt Moses would spend 40 years in the wilderness as a shepherd. In the eyes of the world it would seem that Moses’ life had turned from something great into something little. But in the plan of God Moses’ life had just taken a turn from the vanities of the world to the great glories of the kingdom of God. When God brought Moses into the wilderness, He provided Moses a wife and a family and a chance to spend time alone with God to learn day by day to be faithful in little so that one day Moses could become faithful in much. And the results of Moses’ growth in the Lord would change the lives of millions of people.

The mistake that Moses made is the same mistake that we often make when we try to follow God. He thought he was ready. He did things in is own timing and in His own way. It took Moses 40 years to learn it would not be him but it would be God, and it would be in God’s timing and in God’s way.

If you have not yet took the first step to following God’s path and experienced His wonderful grace then you can do so today, right now, while Jesus waits with open arms. Psalms 34:6 says, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Turn to Jesus today for the forgiveness of sins and He will save you from the destruction of this world and lead you into the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

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