September 15, 2024
Exodus 2
“Protection and Providence”
Service Overview: Exodus 2 unveils the early life of Moses, a child born under oppression yet destined for greatness. From a hidden basket on the Nile to the halls of Egyptian royalty, Moses’ journey is a testament to God’s providence and protection, all to accomplish his purposes.
Memory Verse for the Week:
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” Hebrews 11:24-25 (NIV)
Background Insights:
- Exodus 2 introduces Moses by focusing on three episodes from his early life. In the first of these, we learn of his birth and amazing rescue from death. In the next, we encounter Moses as an adult, deeply concerned for the well-being of his fellow Israelites. In the third episode, we see Moses as a fugitive, living in the land of Midian. These episodes provide important background information prior to God commissioning Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The details about Moses’s life do more than just explain how an Israelite comes to be herding sheep for a Midianite priest. Linking the three episodes together is the theme of Moses’s identity. (T. Desmond Alexander, Exodus, 40)
- The “basket” in this instance is the same word in Hebrew (tebah) used to describe Noah’s ark (Gen 6–9), the only other place it is found in the Bible. The basket was probably a covered papyrus box, maybe with air holes. She for some reason put him in a little boat, like Noah, that was sealed with pitch. Every Hebrew would have caught the significance of this word. (Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Exodus, Kindle Location 311)
- Acts 7:23 says he was forty years old when he left Egypt for Midian (Exod. 2:11), and Acts 7:30 records he spent forty years in Midian, making him eighty when he returned to Egypt (Exod. 7:7), and he then led Israel in the wilderness for another forty years (Num. 14:34; Deut. 8:2). This fits with Deuteronomy, which says he was 120 years old when he died (Deut. 34:7). (J. Alec Motyer, The Message of Exodus, 32)
- Of what deity was Reuel/Jethro a priest? The fact that Moses agreed to marry into his family without objection suggests that Moses (and the narrator) saw no conflict between the faith of his father-in-law’s household and the God of his own Hebrew people (though how far Moses’s knowledge of the God of his ancestors extended at this point, prior to the revelation at Sinai, we have no way of knowing). His name Reuel (Exod 2:18) means “Friend of El,” or “El is [my] friend,” which suggests he was regarded by later Israelites as at least a worshiper of the true God, even if he did not yet know him as Yahweh. (Christopher J.H. Wright, The Story of God Bible Commentary: Exodus, 82)
What critical elements should stand out to us in the developments of Exodus 2?
- The irony of God defying Pharaoh through both human agency and divine providence.
(vv. 1-10)
Jochebed obeyed the letter of the law when she put Moses in the waters of the Nile, but certainly she was defying Pharaoh’s orders in the way she did it. She was trusting the providence of God and God didn’t fail her. (Warren Wiersbe, Be Delivered: Exodus, 21)
So, at what terrifying risk to herself we are not told, she hid the little one and, when necessity drove, obeyed the letter but not the spirit of Pharaoh’s edict. She did actually commit her child into the devouring mouth of the river god, the Nile, but only to find that there was, on her side, a power over all the power of the enemy (cf. Luke 10:19; 1 John 4:4). (J. Alec Motyer, The Message of Exodus, 13)
- The events which served to develop Moses’ character.
(vv. 11-22)
Before Israel could go out of Egypt, Moses needed to go out of Egypt, emotionally if not yet physically. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Exodus, 60)
Moses was 40 years in Egypt learning something; 40 years in the desert learning to be nothing; and 40 years in the wilderness proving God to be everything” (James Montgomery Boyce, Ordinary Men Called by God, 59)
- The covenant-driven compassion of God.
(vv. 23-25)
What’s striking when you consider that God is a God of promise is that it means that our lives are, by design, lives of waiting. (Michael Lawrence, Biblical Theology, 169)
The Hebrew storyteller often provides hints and resonances of the earlier narratives. The effect is not only to remind us that we are in the flow of a single and connected large story but also to keep our attention focused on the main character whose story it is—the God who acts in consistent and characteristic ways across many generations. (Christopher J. H. Wright, Exodus, 71)
If we look at the Genesis record of God’s dealings with his people up to their arrival in Egypt, we will find that it throws light on subsequent events and enables us to see God’s hand at work from beginning to end. We see him working out his own schemes in his own way, on his own scale, to his own time plan and according to his own wisdom, and we find the assurance that, although the days were dark, it was all right, it was all planned and it will all be well. (J. Alec Motyer, The Message of Exodus, 15)
Conclusion… What do these developments have to teach us about our own story?
A. Godly character is often best developed through earthly trials.
(John 16:33; Romans 5:3-5; 8:18; 12:2; 1 Cor. 15:33; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 4:12-13; 5:10)
God had one Son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering. (Augustine)
Remember, God wastes nothing. He often prepares us for the next chapter of life with the present chapter’s experiences. (Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Exodus, Kindle Location 366)
Despite the obvious emphasis of Scripture (in regard to suffering), we are bombarded by suggestions that the “successful” Christian living takes place in the realm of constant victory, health, wholeness, and financial prosperity. In response to this we are not to pretend that suffering doesn’t exist or that it might be instantly cured. Such notions are the product of empty heads and closed Bibles. (Alistair Begg, Made For His Pleasure, 107)
Affliction and suffering have been appointed by God as instruments He uses to make us more holy, to make us more like Jesus. They remind us that we are weak and we must rely not on ourselves, but on Jesus. They remind us that this world is not our home but that we are only passing through toward our real home in heaven with our Father, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Comforter, the Holy Spirit. (Michael Beates, Tabletalk, p. 55, v. 28, n. 9)
B. However dark your circumstance may be does not negate God’s promise to redeem it for your good.
(Num. 23:19; Deut. 7:9; Lam. 3:22-23; Romans 8:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; Hebrews 10:23)
As the wicked are hurt by the best things, so the godly are bettered by the worst. (William Jenkyn, A Puritan Golden Treasury, 16)
The providence of God is the way in which He governs everything wisely, first for the glory of His own Name, and second for the ultimate blessing of His children. (Sinclair Ferguson, A Heart for God, 94)
God never made a promise that was too good to be true. (D.L. Moody, Christian History, n. 25)
The sovereignty of God is often questioned because man does not understand what God is doing. Because He does not act as we think He should, we conclude He cannot act as we think He would. (Jerry Bridges, Trusting God, 29)
Faith is trusting God to do what he has promised because we are convinced by his provisions that God is both willing and able to keep His Word. (Scott Hafemann, The God of Promise and the Life of Faith, 84)
Gospel Connection…
In Christ, you have God’s word that you are never forgotten.
(2 Corinthians 1:18-22; 2 Timothy 2:13; Hebrews 10:23; 2 Peter 1:3-11; 1 John 1:9)
Child of God, you cost Christ too much for Him to forget you. (C. H. Spurgeon)
Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions. (Matthew Henry)
God’s providence is His constant care for and His absolute rule over all His creation for His own glory and the good of His people. (Jerry Bridges, Trusting God, 25)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- How has Moses’ experience growing up as a Hebrew in Pharaoh’s palace been portrayed in the movies? What do you think it may have been like?
- How does this account of God’s providence in protecting baby Moses encourage you?
- Have you learned your most valuable lessons in a “palace”, “desert”, or a “wilderness”? How has God used your own mishaps and shortcomings to develop your own character?
- What does it mean that God is a covenant-keeping God? How does knowing that instill hope for those who belong to him through Jesus?
- How have you witnessed God break through times of hardship? What was it like waiting for him to do so?
Quotes to note…
In spite of having grown up within the royal household, Moses distances himself from the oppressive regime of Pharaoh. He refers to the Israelites as “his brothers” (NIV: “his own people”). However, his fellow Israelites seem less inclined to accept Moses as one of their own, especially when he intervenes in a dispute. In the light of subsequent developments, the question “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” (v. 14) is highly ironic (cf. 18:13, 22). (T. Desmond Alexander, Exodus, 42)
Wisdom and comfort are found in knowing and trusting God as He has revealed Himself – even when you can’t understand the reason for your suffering. (Steve Swartz, Strength in the River, 132)
There is no way in which we can read this story and say there is a quick or easy way out of, or even through, the sufferings and difficulties of this life. Indeed, even when Moses came back from Midian, the way was still hard. (J. Alec Motyer, Exodus, 22)
God is alert to the plight of the ejected, and in his sovereign providence (even when it is hidden) God works to ensure the protection of those who will play their part in God’s story. (Christopher J.H. Wright, Exodus, 72)
Christians do not suffer accidentally or because of the irresistible forces of blind fate; rather, they suffer according to God’s will… Therein lies the knowledge that there is a limit to the suffering, both in its intensity and in its duration, a limit set and maintained by the God who is our creator, our savior, our sustainer, our Father. (Wayne Grudem, 1 Peter, 184)
Appearances can be deceptive. The fact that we cannot see what God is doing does not mean that He is doing nothing. The Lord has His own timetable. It is we who must learn to adjust to it, not vice versa. When God’s time comes nothing will stand in His way. We can therefore wait for Him with this happy confidence: “As for God, His way is perfect” (2 Samuel 22:31). (Sinclair Ferguson, Discovering God’s Will, 114)
Covenants are not merely contracts or promises. Rather, covenants are relationships under authority, with both obligations and rewards. The terms and benefits of the relationship are spelled out, and so are the consequences if the relationship is broken. But what is perhaps most significant about biblical covenants is that when God enters into a covenant, He must condescend to initiate it, He sets the terms, He provides the benefits, and He executes the judgment when the covenant is broken. (Michael Lawrence, Biblical Theology, 31)
How easy it would have been for Moses to see himself as an Egyptian and take advantage of his unique status as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. As the author of Hebrews reminds us, Moses “chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Heb. 11:25). Similarly, Christians often face a choice about where they will place their loyalty. (T. Desmond Alexander, Exodus, 44)