CHAPTER 2

(1571 B.C.)

THE BIRTH OF MOSES

¹And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. (This means that Moses was a member of the Tribe of Levi, which was to be the Priestly Tribe. He was a Type of Christ, our Great High Priest.)

²And the woman conceived, and bore a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. (Miriam and Aaron, Moses sister and brother, were already born when Moses was born. Jochebed was his mother, with Amram being his father.

Concerning Moses, Pink says, From Adam to Christ there is none greater than Moses. He is one of the few characters of Scripture whose course is sketched from his infancy to his death. The fierce light of criticism has been turned upon him for generations, but he is still the most commanding figure of the ancient world.

In character, and faith, in the unique position assigned him as the mediator of the Old Covenant, and in achievements, he stands first among the heroes of the Old Testament.

All of Gods early dealings with Israel were transacted through Moses. He was a Prophet, Priest, and King in one person, and so united all the great and important functions which later were distributed among a plurality of persons. The history of such an one is worthy of the strictest attention, and his remarkable life deserves the closest study.)

³And when she (the mother of Moses) could not longer hide him (Pharaoh had given the orders that all boy babies were to be instantly killed), 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 rivers brink. (That which stands out so vividly in this account is the faith of Jochebed, the mother of Moses. She no doubt was led by the Lord in doing this.)

⁴And his sister stood afar off, to witness what would be done to him.

MOSES EARLY YEARS

⁵And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river (the Lord had something in mind that Jochebed could not have possibly dreamed); and her maidens walked along by the rivers side (the Nile River); and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it (the Holy Spirit had everything timed just right the place, the person, and the progress).

⁶And when she (the daughter of Pharaoh) 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. (Someone has well said, On that memorable day, God floated His navy on the tears of a babys cheeks.)

⁷Then said his sister (Moses sister, Miriam) to Pharaohs daughter, Shall I go and call to you a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you? (Miriam was led by the Lord in doing this.)

⁸And Pharaohs daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the childs mother (however, Pharaohs daughter did not, at least at this time, know that this was Moses mother).

⁹And Pharaohs daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. (So Jochebed would take care of baby Moses, and be paid by the State for doing so. I wonder what Satan thought of this.)

¹⁰And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaohs daughter, and he became her son. (At a given time, the daughter of Pharaoh wanted Moses to come live with her in the Palace. Him becoming her son proclaims the fact that else her mother was dead or could not have children, so Moses was being raised to be the Pharaoh of Egypt.) And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. (To show how little the Holy Spirit thought of the palace of Pharaoh, He, in effect, devotes only one Verse to these years of Moses life.)

THE EGYPTIAN

¹¹And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens (from the language of Hebrews 11:24, it is clear that a time came when Moses had the choice of accepting or refusing the throne of Egypt; he refused, and cast in his lot with the hated and oppressed Hebrews): and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.

¹²And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. (This was a work of the flesh on the part of Moses and, as all works of the flesh, it could have nothing but disastrous consequences.)

¹³And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him who did the wrong, Why do you smite your fellow?

¹⁴And he said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? do you intend to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

¹⁵Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. (Josephus said that the Egyptians, from the throne down, were envious of Moses, and partly afraid of him. They thought, due to his great success in defeating the Ethiopians [the Jewish Targums say that Moses was a General in the Egyptian army], that he might take advantage of his good fortune and try to subvert their government. So, when Moses, in defending the Hebrew, killed an Egyptian, this was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back.) But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. (Haldeman says of Moses: The life of Moses presents a series of striking antitheses. For instance, he was the child of a slave, and the son of a queen. He was born in a hut, and lived in a palace. He inherited poverty, and enjoyed unlimited wealth. He was the leader of armies, and the keeper of flocks. He was the mightiest of warriors, and the meekest of men. He was educated in the court of Egypt, and yet dwelt in the desert. He had the wisdom of Egypt, and the faith of a child. He was fitted for the city, and wandered in the wilderness. He was tempted with the pleasures of sin, and endured the hardships of virtue. He was backward in speech, and yet talked with God. He had the rod of a shepherd, and the power of the Infinite. He was a fugitive from Pharaoh, and an ambassador from Heaven. He was the giver of the Law, and the forerunner of Grace.)

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters (this man had three names, Reuel, Jethro, and Raguel; the last name means a friend of God; he was a descendant of Abraham by Keturah; he was a worshipper of the True God): and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their fathers flock.

¹⁷And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

¹⁸And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you are come so soon to day? (Meaning that they had finished watering the flock early.)

¹⁹And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. (Moses was really not an Egyptian, but evidently the young ladies thought he was.)

²⁰And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that you have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.

²¹And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. (We must assume that the Lord led Moses to Jethro [Reuel], and that Zipporah was destined to be his wife. But yet, Zipporah didnt prove to be as close to Moses as she should have been.)

²²And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. (Moses is about to begin his true education of 40 years duration. Some have said that it took about 40 hours to get Moses out of Egypt, but about 40 years to get Egypt out of Moses.)

²³And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died (this refers to the Pharaoh who desired to kill Moses): 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. (The pressure from Egypt is now becoming so hard and so difficult on the Israelites that they are now ready to leave. To be frank, they would in no way have left Egypt had the blessings continued, as it was during the time of Joseph. At times, the Lord has to allow difficulties, in order for us to become willing to do His Will.)

²⁴And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. (It is not clear here how much the Israelites were conscious of God, or whether they had almost forgotten Him. We do know that it was God Who took the initiative in their deliverance in view of His Covenants and Promises to their fathers. God always keeps His Word!)

²⁵And God looked upon the Children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. (The glorious Name Elohim occurs five times in Verses 23-25. As yet, He was not now known to Israel as Jehovah. That would come a little later. Five is the number of Grace. No moral excellence in the Children of Israel attracted Gods love; it was their misery that drew out His Heart to them: A. He heard their groaning; B. He remembered His Covenant; C. He looked upon them; and, D. He had respect unto them.)