DevoBlogging – Day 24
Exodus 1, 2; Psalms 26, 27
So we begin a new stage in the story of God’s story. We are introduced to a child born in a time of state sanctioned infanticide. This child is purposefully and strategically set in a basket and sent down the river. This act of cunning and deceit was the child’s best chance for survival and his mother was willing to take that chance. This sets us up for further along in the narrative when Moses is saved once again with the help of water. The mother’s willingness to allow her child to live even if it meant losing him it gave her the opportunity to receive a greater blessing. Not only would her child not die she would receive governmental protection and a stipend. She only had to be willing to raise the child as a surrogate mother. That choice may have been difficult but the alternative was death.
Many of were introduced to Moses by Cecil B. DeMille. I grew up thinking that Charlton Heston was Moses. DeMille’s version of events as they are offered to us in the movie “The Ten Commandments” seems to draw as much on the Joseph tradition as it does the Moses tradition. We really don’t know that much about Moses from the scripture alone. We do know that he is a man trapped in two worlds: raised an Egyptian born a Hebrew. We know that he is linked to his Hebrew heritage because his birth mother cared for him as a baby. And that is about all we know.
We are not surprised when we find that Moses is willing to murder an Egyptian. Legally we may be talking justifiable homicide but either way Moses knows that he has committed an act that will separate him from all that is known to him. This becomes the defining action for Moses as he is sent out into the world. He will no longer have his Hebrew family nor will he have access to Pharaoh’s court. He is a fugitive from justice who will have to seek his blessing as an exile. This will give him good training for what lies ahead. But first he must settle in and find comfort. While on the run he finds good fortune. This is where we pause. While we take a deep breath we are almost hoping that Moses will be allowed t to settle down and live the honorable and quiet life of a shepherd.
We know that won’t be the case for Moses as surely as we know that won’t be the case for us. God is not at work in our lives to bring us to the comfortable place where everything is alright. God is at work in our lives so that we will be empowered to go forth to liberate His people from slavery. I believe that in our time of comfort and rest that God is preparing us to do mighty things in his name. There is something just around the corner waiting for us. That something is not our own choosing but God’s choosing for us. In Moses’ case it will be God.
