God knew exactly what it would take to rescue the people of Israel so he put his plan in motion. This plan came in the form of a baby named Moses. Moses could have been born earlier, but then his mother would not have been forced to give him up and his plan would not have been fulfilled.
God could have protected the Israelite's from the atrocities of the Egyptians, but sometimes God needs to allow things to happen so we are moved to a place where we will do things we never would otherwise do. This makes me wonder, did they have the opportunity to move toward the Promised Land earlier and avoid slavery all together? Had God been whispering the the leaders that they needed to pack up and move on for decades? Did the people ignore the promptings and stay where things were nice and easy until it was too late?
Whatever the case, they were now at a place where their baby boys were being killed and a mother was forced to hide her pregnant belly and not share what would otherwise would have been joyous news. When the baby was born she had to hide her baby, fearing the day his cries could no longer be muffled and he would be found and killed. She must have cried out to God every hour of every day. Finally the day came where she did the best she could do for her son. She wove a basket and made sure it would float. Camouflaged it so that it would not be easily found, and sent it down the river, praying that God would send it to just the right person to save her baby boys life, raise him, and give him a future.
She sent her daughter to watch over the basket. No doubt this little girl had helped her mother care for the boy and weave the basket. They would have spent hours talking about all the what if's and dreamt about the family that would eventually take care of the boy.
As the girl watched the king's daughter and her servant come to the river she must have been panicked. Was this the best or worst scenario? There is no way this woman could have had a reputation of saving baby boys. The young girl must have held her breathe in fear, waiting for what would happen next and worrying about what she would possibly tell her mother. Had she failed? Would her mother blame her? But God gave the little girl wisdom and orchestrated the entire event so that the baby could be raised by his mother (and get paid for it!) until he was old enough to live in the King's palace. This allowed the young boy to become familiar with the Hebrew ways, learn to love his people, and gave him a unique perspective into the plight of the Israel people.
When he moved into the palace his heart would stay with his people. He was able to learn the ways of the Egyptians, had their education, learned how to carry himself and speak to them in a way they would listen, but he was still who his mother raised him to be. He grew angry enough with the treatment of the Israelite's that he eventually killed an Egyptian for beating a slave. This put him on the run. Taught him how to survive in the wilderness where he earned favor with his future father-in-law, a very wise man who taught him how to lead.
Now Moses had a very eventful life, may of these events must have seemed unfair to Moses. He must have had many "Why God" moments. We don't know the dreams he had for his future, but whether they were dreams of living with his birth family, or dreams of the palace, they were thwarted. He couldn't go back. He followed his heart and did what he felt was right and here he was on the run, alone, and he could never go back. In the meantime, God was putting together the perfect resume for the man who could lead His people to the Promised Land.
No comments:
Post a Comment