The Life of Moses (2)

It was God’s wise providence that brought Moses as a baby back to his own mother. The three years at home were a blessing and joy not only for the mother but also for Moses himself. Jochebed was not only a loving mother but also a praying mother. At a very young age already the seed was sown of which the fruit would be manifested in the life of Moses. He was a proper child, a child destined to be God’s servant and the deliverer of His people. At the end of those early years in his life, Moses returned to Pharaoh’s daughter. There at the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh, he received a high-class education. It was God’s preparation for his future task. He was educated in the following subjects:

1. Religion—so later he would know the dangers of heathen idolatry;

2. Astronomy—which may have been helpful in recognizing the way through the desert even in the darkness of the night, although the Lord would send an infallible Guide with him, a pillar of cloud and pillar of fire;

3. Medicine—which could be used to help the sick in the wilderness;

4. Law—used while he was judge over Israel;

5. Mathematics—used when the tabernacle had to be constructed according to the measures that the Lord gave.

We read of Moses in Acts 7:22, “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.” However, his heart was not in all the worldly wisdom of Egypt. What a blessing it is if our young people are not so impressed with what they hear in colleges and universities that they depart from what they have been taught in their homes, schools, and also in church. My young friends, ask the Lord for what Moses possessed already in his young years.

His choice

We read in verse 11 that when Moses was grown, he “went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens.” He saw the hard bondage in which his people lived and his heart went out to them. He made a choice that God had wrought in his heart. We read in Hebrews 11:24-26a, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.”

A. His refusal to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter meant he refused wealth, honor, power, and most likely a throne. Josephus says that Pharaoh had but one child, a daughter, and that she had no children. If this was so, then Moses would be a certain heir of the throne.

B. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God implies he preferred hardship to comfort, shame and reproach to fame and honor, afflictions rather than pleasures.

C. In this he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. The suffering affliction he esteemed to be of more worth than the wealth of the greatest and richest country on earth.

D. The object that was set before him was “he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” Moses did not look at the things that are seen, the pleasures of sin which are of a brief duration, but he saw what God would give to those who deny self, take up their cross, and follow Him through the wilderness.

One day he walked through the places where the Israelitish men were working as slaves. He heard the sound of whips on naked backs and the cries and mourning of the oppressed. They were his people. Then he looked in all directions, so as an act not made hastily in anger, but as a consequence of an upright choice, he slew an Egyptian who was smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. No one had been watching, and he hid the Egyptian in the sand.

Moses’ choice seemed to be wrong but was good. His actions, however, seemed to be good but were wrong. When Moses looked in all directions, he did not do what he should have done—look UP and ask the Lord for guidance.

His error

We may believe that Moses had gradually obtained the conviction that the Lord would use him to deliver His people. However, he was too hasty. He was running before the Lord. God’s time had not yet come to deliver Israel. Moses was impatient and acted in the energy of the flesh. Moses’ eye was not on God but on man. The fear of man bringeth a snare. He had left the palace to observe, literally “to watch something with emotion,” the oppression of his brethren, and it was out of love to them that he could not tolerate what the Egyptian did to one of his own people. Augustine, a church father, compared the act of Moses with that of Peter who wanted to defend the Lord Jesus with a sword.

We are so inclined to run ahead of the Lord. It is a blessing, indeed, if love motivates us to act when the Lord has laid a bond with His own people. In that regard we can say Moses was blessed. The choice of Ruth was also his:

“Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” Has that also become your choice and confession? When the Lord promises something, this promise is precious, but to wait on God’s time is a lesson to be learned. Abram had the promise of a seed, and God’s promises are often fulfilled in a way of utter impossibility. We know the history. He did not wait upon the Lord but tried to fulfill the promise himself with Hagar. Moses was not yet sent out to be the deliverer of His people. We read in James 3:2, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” Moses has to learn patience and wait upon God in a painful way.

The next day he went out and saw two men of Israel fighting together, and he reprimanded them. One of the two Israelites appeared to be wrong, but he did not accept Moses’ question why he hit his fellow Israelite. His answer was like a cold shower, “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?” It was evident that Moses had been betrayed by his own fellow countrymen. Then he became afraid. Pharaoh heard it and sought to slay Moses. He fled from Pharaoh and came to the land of Midian which was situated southwest of Canaan.

His training

God would deliver His people at His time and in His way. His ways are higher than our ways. You see that in the life of David also. It was good that it was in his heart, but he was not permitted to build a house for the LORD. He was a man of war. Solomon, his son, would be used for this. Moses would indeed be the deliverer of His people, and when he was about forty years old (when he slew the Egyptian man), he thought he was ready—but he was not. Now for forty years he would receive additional training in the wilderness of Midian. Moses “dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.”

He may have wondered what direction he now would have to take. It was God’s way to bring him into the house of Jethro. Jethro was called a priest of Midian and was a descendant of Abraham and Keturah. We read in verse 21, “And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.” What a change in Moses’ life—from a palace, a place of government, the court of Pharaoh, and academic training, he now received a place with the sheep. He was reduced to an insignificant man in a lonely place. How did Moses feel? Moses revealed it when he became a father; he named his first son Gershom, which means “I am a stranger here.” The second son was called Eliezar which means “my God is help.” Yes, the Lord was with Moses though it was not pleasant for the flesh to dwell as a stranger in the wilderness. However, this wilderness became a place of necessary schooling where he learned three subjects:

1. Humility—He now wore rough shepherd’s clothes instead of princely garments and was a forgotten man.

2. Patience—He must learn that if you beat sheep, it does not help; one needs patience. That is what he also would need for the leadership of Israel.

3. Faith—This must have been tried. Have I been wrong? Did I imagine things? His best years were passing by, but it is God’s preparation for later.

He also learned to know each place in the wilderness, each valley, the oases. Eighty years are necessary to make Moses the man of God of Psalm 90. No, the Lord has not forgotten him. He remembers His oath, His covenant, also for a people who have so many riddles, and He will make it clear at His time. Then, for all His mysterious leadings, He will be praised.

(To be continued)

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