19: The same dealt elusively
with our kindred and evil entreated our fathers so that they cast out their
young children to the end they might not live 20: In which time Moses
was born and was exceeding beautiful and nourished up in his father's house
three months 21: And when he was cast out Pharaoh's daughter took him up
and nourished him for her own son 22: And Moses was learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds[1] 23:
And when he was full forty years old[2] it
came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel[3] 24:
And seeing one of them suffer wrong he defended and avenged the oppressed and
smote the Egyptian 25: For he supposed his brethren would have
understood how that God by his hand would deliver them[4]
but they understood not 26: And the next day he showed himself to them
as they strove and would have set them at one again saying Sirs[5] you
are brethren why do you wrong one to another 27: But he that did his
neighbor wrong thrust him away saying Who made you a ruler and a judge over us [6] 28:
Will you kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday[7] 29:
Then fled Moses at this saying and was a stranger in the land of Midian where
he begat two sons[8]
30: And being fulfilled forty years[9] there
appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame
of fire in a bush 31: When Moses saw it he wondered at the sight and as
he drew near to behold it the voice of the Lord came to him 32: Saying I
[am] Ho
Theos of your fathers, Ho Theos of Abraham and Ho
Theos of Isaac and Ho Theos of Jacob Then Moses
trembled[10]
and dared not look 33: Then said the Lord to him take off your shoes
from your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground
[1] It was the Lord’s doing, and marvelous
in our eyes how things went with Moses. God made him a beautiful and
charismatic infant, who instantly captured the heart of an Egyptian princess
who defied her father’s proclamation and adopted him as her own (she no doubt
understood that he was one of the Hebrew babies who should have been killed by
Pharaoh’s edict). She apparently doted on him as he grew and gave him every
advantage her royal status could afford. There is reason to believe that his
physical beauty, physical strength, and personal charisma only increased as he
grew older. Though he later claimed to be slow of speech, this passage reveals
that Moses was mighty in both words and deeds before he left Egypt at the age
of forty. The son of Pharaoh’s daughter, obviously grew into a strong and
charismatic leader, even as a young man. He was physically attractive,
physically strong, well educated, highly intelligent, and very popular among
the Egyptians.
[2] Moses spent a full forty years enjoying
the “good life” as a member of the royal family, though his conscience must
have pricked him from time to time about the disparity between his situation
and that of his “brethren” the Hebrews the scriptures say he did not attempt to
connect with them until he was forty years of age. Did something happen that
made the time especially ripe in his heart to obey that prompting from the Holy
Spirit to visit his enslaved people?
[3] We cannot say that everything that “comes
into our hearts” is from God Jeremiah 17:9, but at times, that could
be the case, as with Moses when he felt the urge to “visit his brethren.” This
verse also tells us that Moses likely understood that he was a Hebrew, or at
least had empathy for the Hebrew slaves due to spending time in his mother’s
home for an undisclosed period of time during his infant and toddler (possibly
longer) years.
[4] Moses understand, by the time he was
forty years old, that he would be part of the deliverance of the Hebrews from
slavery (detailed prophecy of deliverance given to Abraham Genesis
15:13-14). He did not understand that deliverance was yet another full
forty years away. God had many things to teach him before he was ready to
become His instrument. As a prince in Egypt, Moses had power and influence. He
likely could have led an abolition movement with some degree of success in
alleviating the burdens among the Hebrew slaves. But God had other plans, plans
to bring glory to himself, and judgment to Egypt, by accomplishing a
supernatural deliverance, where no one—not even the mighty Prince Moses—could
take credit for freeing the Hebrew slaves from Egyptian bondage.
[5] There are myriads of examples in Bible
translation where groups including women are called “men.” In all cases where a
woman is addressed directly, the translators simply call her “woman”—not ma”am.
Not madam. Just “woman.” Yet in this instance, where men are squabbling among
themselves and even physically fighting, the translators do not simply call them
“men,” but, instead, use deference and respect by addressing the unruly group
as, “sirs.” When it comes to women and men, Bible translators have exercised an
unconscionable double standard in, as the writer of proverbs puts it, applying
varying weights and a false balance Proverbs 20:23.
[6] Was it common knowledge that Moses—the
son of Pharaoh’s daughter—was a Hebrew? Why else would a slave have spoken to
an Egyptian (a member of the royal family no less) in such a way? It appears
that the Egyptian princess who adopted him did not attempt to hide where he
came. Exodus 2:6 reveals that she understood immediately that he was one of the
condemned Hebrew children, yet she adopted him, allowed a Hebrew woman to nurse
him, and gave him a name that forever indicated that he was a foundling. Even
so, the Bible reveals that this rescued son of Hebrew slaves was saved from the
sword, reared in a royal home, given a royal education, and became mighty in
words and deeds. His genealogy does not seem to have adversely affected his
status within the Egyptian culture he was placed in as an infant, but the words
and attitude of the Hebrew slave towards Moses, could indicate a resentment
smoldered among the Hebrew men that one of their own escaped the caste of slave
all the rest were trapped in.
YHWH
ELOHIYM seems to
take pleasure in choosing the most unlikely of people and elevating them from
the most impossible of circumstances to the Throne or to the next highest
position in the land: Moses, from a condemned Hebrew infant to
a Prince of Egypt—mighty in words and deeds; Joseph, from a slave in Egypt to the second ruler under Pharaoh; Esther, an unknown woman from a King’s harim to Queen and Empress of
Media-Persia; David, from following
after the sheep to the throne of Israel.
And finally, the creator himself, who visited his creation as one of
them—a baby born in a stable—will
sit on the throne of David to rule—not only the world, but—the universe and
everything that exists outside of the space/time continuum we know as our
universe.
[7] Moses had an unbridled temper which
caused him to commit murder and flee the good life in Egypt (at the age of 40).
His temper was going to cause him trouble forty-plus years later as well (when he
had largely tamed it and became God’s Law-Giver). But even after he became
known as the meekest man on earth, his hot temper would cost him the Promised
Land Numbers 20:7-12.
[8] Moses found favor with Jethro, a Priest
of Midian (after using his infamous temper, might, and skill in rescuing the
priest’s daughters from bullies at the well), and was permitted to dwell among
them. As an immigrant to Midian, Moses assimilated into their culture, married
one of Jethro’s daughters, and the mighty [former] prince adopted the life of a
shepherd.
[9] We know that everything about the life
of Moses had to do with set times and seasons God had already spoken to Abraham
about (concerning the enslavement and deliverance of his descendants in Egypt).
The way this verse is worded (when the forty years were fulfilled), reveals that the forty years Moses spent in Midian as a
shepherd were just as crucial [to his future role as the deliverer] as the
first forty years he had spent in Egypt as a member of the royal family.
Herein lies a paradox concerning the preparation Moses
received before becoming God’s man and Israel’s deliverer. The forty years he
spent as a noble personage were an integral part of who he was. We must assume
this part of his upbringing (and the effect it had on his psyche) was important—to
Moses’ future as the supreme leader in a theocracy—as YHWH saw fit to allow
that part of his development to continue a full forty years (though he tempered
it somewhat by allowing Moses to understand his genealogy and permitted his
birth mother to nurse him among the Hebrew slaves for an undisclosed length of
time—possibly not weaning him for up to three years Samuel 1:20-24).
After that, YHWH spent another forty years deconstructing what Moses had learned as an Egyptian big shot. Only
after the building and tearing down process in Moses’ life was completed, did
God feel Moses was ready for the awesome responsibility of leading millions
of Israelite's from slavery into freedom (and could handle the unbelievable
amount of power God would bestow on him to accomplish that feat). Only after
eighty years of preparation, did God reveal himself to Moses in the miracle of
the burning bush, and deliver his commission to go tell Pharaoh...
Moses
trembled at the awesome sight of the burning bush, but not the news that he was not an Egyptian—he already
knew he was descended from Hebrew slaves.
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