Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Exodus 1 & 2

Exodus 1:22- “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: ‘Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.’”

Moses was born after this decree was made, and yet he somehow lived. Looking into Exodus 1 and 2 we see that Moses was hidden for the first three months of his life, and at this point in time he was no longer able to be hidden. So his mother placed him in a papyrus basket and put him in the Nile. Who else found him, but Pharaoh’s daughter? She took him in and had a Hebrew woman care for him.

What a way to start your life. First off, Moses dodged a bullet in that he was supposed to die as soon as he was born. Instead of dying though, he was hidden and later found by the Pharaoh’s daughter and eventually will grow up to lead the people out of Egypt. This story sounds all too familiar doesn’t it? A decree was made my King Herod shortly after Jesus’ birth to kill all boys under the age of two who lived in the vicinity of Bethlehem (Matthew 2). Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus and fled to Egypt until the death of Herod. Both Jesus and Moses escaped an early death.

Moses stood up for the Hebrew people against the Egyptians. In Exodus 2, Moses actually killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Pharaoh found out about this and tried to kill Moses. So Moses fled, only to return to help his people at a later time. Jesus on the other hand did not flee. Throughout history Christians have been oppressed, not only does Jesus stand up for us, but he also died for us.

We don’t have the option to take Jesus’ place on the cross, but we do have the opportunity to pick up where others left off. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus died on the cross once and for all and because of that “our salvation is secure!” When Moses died someone had to take over for him. In his case it was Joshua. Joshua 1:5b says “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” God is always there to help us share the Word. Someone had to take over after Joshua and then on and on. Now it has been passed on to us! We have the ability to be witnesses of the Word to those surrounding us. It can be something as simple as wearing a cross necklace, to something as big as being a missionary, DCE, or a pastor.

We have all escaped an early death. That death is a death in sin. Christ died for each and every one of us so that our sins can be forgiven. The least we can do is share the faith that we have with those around us, in any way that we can.

One other point I would like to make is regarding the papyrus basket that Moses was placed in, that floated down the Nile. That phrase, “papyrus basket” is only used one other time in the Bible and that is in the story of Noah (Genesis 6:14). Both people that spent entirely different amounts of time in that “basket” did astronomical things for future generations of God’s people. Later in the book of Exodus, Moses leads his people out of Egypt, out of slavery. Noah on the other hand collected two of each animal and put his family in this ark, so that after the flood, they would be able to re-populate the world. Because of the things that these people did, we have hope. Romans 15:13 says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”- This hope that we have is of confidence not of wish-fullness. During the holiday season we look forward in confidence for the second coming of Christ so that we can spend eternity in Heaven with Him.

7 comments:

Momily said...

"Romans 15:13 says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”-

This hope that we have is of confidence not of wish-fullness."

Wow. That verse is awesome. Praise God for all that He does for us and that we can put all trust, hope, and confidence in Him.

Dan said...

I agree, it is an awesome verse. When our paths seem to be rocky and rough we too often lose sight of our trust in the Lord. But once we show that trust in Him again, our lives become full of joy and peace. No matter what we do, we should show God that we have all trust in Him, without this trust we would have nothing. Especially now, the end of the year, many of us trying to get through finals, and how to pay for all those Christmas gifts, and time with and away from family and friends can be difficult. But within all of the God shows us the way to go, and as long as we trust in Him we can get through anything.

Bexster said...

After reading Dan's last comment, I remember a Bible study from when I was in high school. We talked about things we do everyday that are overlooked as sins. The one we agreed we had the most problem with was worrying, both too much and about too many different things. This would have been an excellent verse to have during the study. Our sinful nature makes it so hard to stop worrying and tries to keep us from trusting God. But that's where the Holy Spirit comes in and gives us the strength to believe and hope God will get us through. It can be summed up by Romans 5 v1-5, where it says, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Joseph said...

Just reading Becky's post made me think of Philippians 4:4-7 which reminds me of the whole not worrying, being at peace with God, and rejoice.

"Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Momily said...

"...And the peace of God which transcends all understanding..."

God has the ultimate peace. There is nothing like His peace. It is neat that we always seem to feel better after we put all of our trust in Him.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Em that it is neat that once we put all our trust in Him that we feel better, and even knowing that I confuse myself with my inability to put all my trust in him at my first feeling of anxiety. When I finally let go and give it up to Him everything seems right inside. We are so blessed.

Anonymous said...

"Trust in the LORD your God with al your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths." --Proverbs 3:5-6

Trusting in God is one of the hardest things in the world for me to do because I like to know what's going on and I like to be in charge all the time, but it is so clear throughout the Bible that trusting God brings endless blessings. So many situations that seem impossible to man were solved by God. Three of my favorites are the walls of Jericho falling down (Joshua 6:1-21), the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:10-31), and God making the sun stand still (Joshua10:7-15). In all of these passages, the parties involved seemed caught between a rock and a hard place, but with faith in God a resolution was found in every case, one that surpasses man's understanding. And don't think that this doesn't or can't happen today...our omnipotent God knows what he is doing and has the power to do things like these anytime.

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." --I Corinthians 1:25