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The following is Pastor Nate’s teaching transcription from Calvary Monterey’s 11/17/20 Tuesday Night Service. We apologize for any transcription inaccuracies.

Hey everyone, thanks for joining us as we continue our study through the bible. And today, we're beginning our study of the book of Exodus. And if you are with a bible and would like to turn to it, turn to Exodus, chapter one. And as always, if you are growing from these teachings, appreciating this time in and through the Word, please share these with your friends or family members. It's such a great blessing for us to be able to have these go as far as they can possibly go.

Exodus 1 – The Need for Redemption

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Now the book of Exodus begins very straightforwardly. In verse one of chapter one, it says, "These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob. Each with his household, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons. Joseph was already in Egypt." Now these first words that we just read here in the book of Exodus connect us back in a sense to the book on Genesis. In fact, in the Hebrew, it isn't, "These are the names," but, "And these are the names."

The Setting

So we've just completed our study through the book of Genesis, those 50 chapters. And the book concluded with Jacob's family moving from the land of promise in Canaan down to Egypt to be with Joseph whom God had planted in that place. And there in Egypt they would now thrive and flourish as a family and people together. And when Jacob moved his family there, the family was about 70 in number. So a small group of people. But in starting the book of Exodus this way, we are connected back now to the story of Genesis. In fact, this passage that we just read recalls Genesis 46 in a very clear way. And takes an understanding of Genesis to be understood in the first place.

Genesis 46, verse eight is actually verbatim a copy of the first portion of this section in Exodus. Now there is an organization of the family here mentioned in these first five verses, and it's very similar to the organization that's found in Genesis 35. The sons of Jacob are not listed according to age, but they're listed according to their mother. It starts out with the sons of Leah, then you have the sons of Rachel, then you have the sons of Bilhah, who was Rachel's handmaid. And then you go back to Leah by going to Leah's handmaid, Zilpah, and you have the sons of Zilpah. So Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, then Zilpah. Their sons mentioned here in this opening paragraph. But as much as these first words of Exodus take us back to the book of Genesis, they also prepare us for the future for the people of Israel.

God had said in Genesis chapter 12, verse two to Abraham that He would make of Abraham a great nation. That He would bless him and make him great so that he would be a blessing. And for now 400 years as we pick up the story here in Exodus chapter one, the descendants of Abraham have been growing and flourishing as we'll see in a moment. In other words, no matter how Israel might view her status in Egypt, Moses, who wrote the book of Exodus wants to assure us that God has more for His people. They needed not only numbers but land. And a constitution, or the law, which they would receive at Sinai.

So these words connect us to the past, but they also create within us a hope and anticipation for the future. Certainly Jacob's family must go beyond just 70 in number. God had protected them and made them a special people, but they were not yet a nation. So when you see 70 people, you say, they're not yet a nation. God still has to do more to fulfill His promise. Now before moving further into the book of Exodus, I should mention to you a basic outline for the book as we enter into it. There are two basic sections to the book of Exodus. The first section is basically their departure from Egypt. Their departure from Egypt. And the second section is their meeting God out in the wilderness at Sinai where Moses received the Commandments and received the law.

The book of Exodus in a sense is all about the liberation of Israel from Egypt in those two parts that I just mentioned. Getting Israel out of Egypt, that's the Exodus, but also getting Egypt out of Israel. It's one thing to come out of the world, to be saved by Jesus, but it's another thing to get the world out of you, to sanctify you and to grow you. And that's really what we're going to discover here in the book of Exodus. God delivering His people from their slavery in Egypt, but then going through the process of drawing Egypt out of their heart. Their bodies were out of Egypt, but they'd also have to have their hearts purified before God.

Now the book of Exodus is a beautiful book. It has been famous for centuries for many reasons. One reason is that this book reveals God in some special ways. He reveals Himself to the nation in some powerful ways in this book. His character, His nature, His love, His care. Who He is, His name, these things are given to us in the book of Exodus. Also in Exodus we get a better vision of the battle that is declared against God's people. There is a system called the world, the world system that is always combating against the people of God.

Not only that, but the principalities and powers of darkness are seen in demonstration, in this book, coming against the people of God. This book also has within it the theme of salvation and deliverance. God's people being delivered from their captivity. And it will show us much about sanctified living before God. How does God want us to live? What do a redeemed people look like? There's so much in Exodus that teaches us how to live life after Jesus Christ comes into our lives and saves us. And there is so much in this book that teaches us about worship. About centering our lives around God.

The bible teaches that as Christians, we are a kingdom of priests. We think of this doctrine as the priesthood of the believers. That as there was an old testament priesthood selected by God, now in the new testament era, everybody covered by the blood of Jesus is a priest before God. And as we look at the book of Exodus, we will learn so much about that life of worship and devotion and priesthood before the Lord. And not only that, but the book of Exodus will show us beautiful things directly about Jesus. There's a lot of great Christology in other words in the book of Exodus. It points to Christ in some powerful ways.

It points to Christ when it speaks of Moses who came as a deliverer for the people of Israel. God would tell Moses later on in his life that He would raise up one like him for his people. And Jesus is that figure. The greater than Moses who truly sets his people free. When the Passover occurs in the book of Exodus, it is a shadow of the future fulfillment that will only be found in Jesus. It's His blood that truly sets us free from our captivity. The feasts that God will prescribe for the people of Israel all point to the humanity, the nature, the deity, the resurrection, the life that Jesus Christ provides.

The Exodus itself of course speaks to us of our regeneration, of our salvation. Just as they came out of the Red Sea, so we also are born again so to speak, delivered from our sin. The mana and the water there are miraculously provided to the people of Israel in Exodus are excellent images of Jesus Himself. He called Himself the bread of life. And that break is typified here in the mana. He called Himself the ... He said that from us would flow rivers of living water if we drank of Him, if we believed in Him. And that we would never thirst if we drank Him. He's the water of life. And so when we see the water in Exodus being provided, it speaks of Jesus. The tabernacle itself that Moses was given the designs for, the latter half of Exodus speak of Jesus. And the high priestly ministry speaks of what Jesus does for us today.

There is beautiful Christology in the book of Exodus. All right, so that's a little preamble to the book after looking at the first five verses. But let's get into the actual story starting in verse six. "Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly. They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong so that the land was filled with them." Now here we see that Joseph has died. He's off of the scene. Many years have ticked by, and the people of Israel in these opening verses represented as flourishing, as expanding and as incredibly fruitful.

In fact, that phrase there in verse seven, "fruitful and increased greatly," it harkens to the book of Genesis. Remember in the early chapters of Genesis when God said that man and woman should go into all the world. They should be fruitful and they should multiply. They should fill the Earth, and they should subdue it. Here Israel is portrayed as having fulfilled that to some degree. They've been fruitful. They've increased greatly. This is Genesis language. And in a sense to us as readers of the book of Exodus having just come especially from Genesis, we should be astounded by the fact that they have multiplied to this kind of degree. The reason we should be astounded is because if you'll remember, in the book of Genesis, birth was always a struggle.

Birth was always a struggle. Abraham and Sarah could not have a child for many years. Isaac and Rebecca did not have many children. And the children they had, were a great struggle. Isaac had to pray for his wife's womb, that she would have a child. There was barrenness in Jacob's family for many years before God opened the womb of Leah and opened it again. And then the womb of Rachel. So in Genesis, the portrayal is that of difficulty in birth. In other words, it's hard to have babies in the book of Genesis. But in Exodus, birth happens in spite of the struggle. There they are in Egypt, but they're just flourishing. Babies are all over the place in the land of Israel. So they are just multiplying in incredible ways.

Now, to try to put a number of how large they grew by the time of the exodus, one of the things that we can do is look at the report in Exodus 12, verse 37. There it tells us that the men in Israel were 600000 in number. So conservatively, you could then extrapolate and say that including women and children, they were likely around two to three million in size if not more at the time of the exodus. So they had multiplied in an amazing way during those 400 years of captivity. This is designed for us to see God as the one who is carrying out His promise.

Who has done this thing, who has caused the people of Israel to flourish numerically? God has done this. He made promises to Adam, then Noah, then Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob that they would be expansive and fruitful. That their family line would flourish and grow. And God is now doing that in this place. In fact, God had said in Genesis 46, verse three to Jacob, he said, "I'm the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt. For there I will make you into a great nation." And here we see that God has done just that. He's fulfilled His word. Even though He isn't named in chapter one, He's clearly at work here in chapter one, prospering the people of Israel.

The Slavery

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

But the story pivots in verse eight. It says, "Now, there arose a new King over Egypt who did not know Joseph." And when it says that there was a new King, it's possible that this means a new dynasty, not just another kind in the same dynasty. But a new dynasty that moved in, took over in Egypt, which happened in their history. And that this new dynasty did not have the same connection to Joseph. It could have known of him historically, but he was just a historical figure to them. They did not know him or feel indebted to him in any way. No sense of duty to Joseph or his family.

And this Pharaoh, this King, verse nine, said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many, and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. And if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land." Okay, here the people of Israel are mentioned, the first time actually they're spoken of as the people of Israel. And it's Pharaoh that is speaking of them in that way. And he begins to deal shrewdly with them because of their numbers. He sees them as a threat. Their numbers are a threat. And part of the reason that he would've seen them as a threat was not only because of their numbers, but because they had not assimilated into Egyptian culture. They had not inner-married, they'd not been absorbed into Egyptian culture.

So they stood out as a number of people who were not Egyptian. And his fear was that if war broke out, when the invaders came, the Israelites might rise up and fight with the invaders, rather than against the invaders because they again, not been assimilated into the Egyptian culture. He might even be worried about the ancient promise that God had made to Adam, or commission that God had given to Adam, to fill the Earth and subdue it. The Israelites had filled the Earth at this point in Egypt, but now he's worried that they might subdue the Earth. Perhaps even subduing Egypt itself. And so he sees them as a threat. Interestingly enough, God has said to Abraham back in Genesis 12, verse three that him who blesses you, I will bless those who bless you, and dishonor those who curse you.

So had Pharaoh just made the decision to bless the people of Israel because obviously they were being blessed by God, he would have been blessed. But he took a different path or a different course in the interest of the self, and tried to push down the people of God. Therefore, verse 11, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Petohm and Ramses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread abroad. So here Pharaoh attempts his first tactic at suppressing the people of Israel. He engages them in this massive building project. Very similar to the building of the Tower of Babel back in Genesis 10 and 11.

Here they're building store cities for Pharaoh. A major construction project. They had taskmasters with whips and who were over the people. And people of Israel were beginning now to be a persecuted group forced into this labor. The word that's used there in verse 12 is the word oppressed. They were an oppressed people. Interestingly enough, God had predicted this many years before to Abraham himself. Back in Genesis 15, verse 13 God said that His offspring would be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there. And they will be afflicted for 400 years. That word afflicted in the Hebrew is the same word that shows up here in verse 12. The word oppressed. They were an afflicted, oppressed people. Deuteronomy four, verse 20 speaks of Egypt like an iron furnace that was baking the people of Israel. Preparing, cooking the people of Israel.

Now the interesting thing about this turn of events of course is that geographically, Egypt was a place of great ease and prosperity. Now just the setup of Egypt was a little bit out of the way. People had to intentionally go travel to Egypt. And because of its position and because the Nile River was so faithful in its ebbs and flows, so faithful to irrigate the plains of Egypt, so faithful to bring abundance of fish into the delta in that region, the soil was incredibly fertile and very easy to product to grow. In fact, if you look at images of plows or instruments for farming in Egyptian art from this era, you can see these images that it's just a small little plow, teeny little instruments because they didn't really have to work the land very hard at all to try to produce crops.

And you can imagine I that kind of environment, that kind of ease where you can bank on produce coming in year, after year, after year, the kind of laziness so to speak or a lack of toughness in the people of Israel. This place of ease would have led them to self-indulgence and stagnation. This is so often what the world does to us. It can lull us to sleep as believers. It pulls on us today trying to draw us into the life of ease. And so God didn't want His people to be in that place of ease. And so He allows this man Pharaoh, turns his heart like rivers of water, and begins to turn the heat up on the people of Israel. They would never have wanted to leave unless these things had begun to unfold in their lives.

And so he begins to persecute them through these building projects. But even though he does that, notice, they multiplied all the more and they spread abroad. God's favor was on them. God's people will often do this, multiply under pressure. And it goes on and says, "And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves. And made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work, they ruthlessly made them work as slaves."

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews[a] you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

Again, just the bitter service that the people of Israel had to engage in. Then the King of Egypt, verse 15 said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other, Puah, "When you serve a midwife, serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stool, if it's a son, you shall kill him. But if it's a daughter, she shall live." Now, Pharaoh's first move, trying to oppress the people of Israel through these building projects did not work. They multiplied anyway, so he goes to phase two. And here, he tries to stop the birth of baby boys by having the little boys killed. If it's a son, he says to these Hebrew midwives, you shall kill him. And if it's a daughter, then she shall live. The assumption being that the daughter would then go and marry an Egyptian man. Be owned by the Egyptians. And this was his plan of assimilating the people of Israel into Egyptian culture.

And here now we have the beautiful story of the Hebrew midwives. Likely what this means is not that these were the only two women that were serving as midwives for the people of Israel, two to three million people. There's no way these two ladies could keep up with all of the births that were happening. But they were likely the two chief administrators working for Pharaoh, maybe even of Hebrew descent who were organizing all of the midwives who worked there to help these births take place. And Pharaoh's commission to them was that when the Hebrew women were at the birth stool, which is a difficult word to translate.

It might mean the instrument that the Hebrew women would crouch on while they had a baby. Or it might actually speak of the genitals of the child as a way to discover whether it's male or female. It's hard to say. But the idea is that he wanted these babies, these infants to be killed. But these Hebrew midwives, we're given their names, Shiphrah and Puah, they stood up we'll see to this man Pharaoh. Now this is interesting because first of all, their names are actually recorded for us in the biblical story. Pharaoh's name is not recorded. And if you want to ... If you need reading material to put you to sleep at night, you could read many of the debates that have been waged in scholarly forums trying to figure out which dynasty Moses was born in.

Which dynasty did these events occur in. It's hard to say with any specificity. But Pharaoh's name is not mentioned. Pharaoh's daughter in chapter two, she's mentioned, but her name is not mentioned. Moses's mother's name is not mentioned until later in the book of Exodus. And even Moses's older sister who will go to the riverbank and really rescue Moses, she is not mentioned by name until later on in the book. In these first two chapters, no one is really named except for these two women. They're honored in other words for the rescue of God's people. They would not submit to the dictates of Pharaoh. That's why it says in verse 17, "But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the King of Egypt commanded them. But let the male children live."

They feared the Lord. Now it's been said that this is the first mention in scripture of civil disobedience. They heard the word of the governing authorities, and they behaved in a way that was disobedient to those dictates. And the reason they were able to do this is because they had a fear of God. They had a fear of God in their hearts. We need people like this in our world today. Peter said in Acts five, verse 29 that we must obey God rather than men. We must obey God rather than men. And I believe in the years to come and even today in the west, believers are going to need great discernment to know how to fear the Lord and obey God, rather than men.

I think of teachers for instance who will be asked to refer to a child who is male in gender and in every way, but is claiming that he is female. And being asked or told that they must refer to this male child as female, it's going to take great discernment and wisdom for teachers to know how to respond to that kind of conundrum. We certainly don't want to as believers speak something that is untrue. And so it's very difficult to imagine affirming that kind of lie in a child's life. But then on the other hand, there's a great battle and war legally that a believer might engage in if they make a big public stand. And there is a need for people like that. And there are resources available for those who are willing to fight that kind of fight.

But for many of us, there will just be a decision that needs to be made to know how to navigate and disobey the governing authorities when they ask us to do something that contradicts the faith that we engage in, contradicts the word of God. We cannot do it. We have to obey God rather than man. Now of course, Jesus gave commentary to things like this by saying, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. It doesn't mean that we cannot submit to the governing authorities. That's what the new testament teaches us to do time and time again. But when the governing authorities are telling us to do something that contradicts the very word of God itself, we need to stand up against the governing authorities. So verse 18, "The King of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, 'Why have you done this and let the male children live?'" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "'Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives come to them.'"

Now this is just a made-up story. This is praying on the attitudes that we often have about other nationalities. They can be a mystery to us and for Pharaoh, the Israelites were a mystery to him. And so these Hebrew midwives could say, oh, they're different than Egyptian women. They give birth real quickly and Pharaoh believed it at least for a time. So, verse 20, God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families. He blessed them. Now many of these women likely became midwives in the first place because they hadn't had children of their own. That would've been a cultural thing for them to do in that place and time.

And so God blesses them with families in their own right. Then Pharaoh, verse 22, commanded all his people, every son that is born to the Hebrews, you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live. This is a gruesome word. This is plane C so to speak. Plan A, engage them in a building project that puts such pressure on them that they cannot multiply. They multiplied anyways. Plan B, tell the midwives to kill the boys and assimilate the girls into Egyptian society. That failed. They multiplied anyways. So now plan C, by direct dictate to all of the people, he says, when you see a Hebrew baby boy, you throw him into the Nile River.

The crime would be to throw the baby into the Nile and the cover up of the crime would be the Nile River itself. Now obviously this is gruesome stuff that is happening here in Exodus chapter one. This command is terrible as he cuts out the middle man, and just tells all of Egypt to kill the Hebrew male babies. Israel in a sense here was struggling to be born. And just a powerful reality here in Exodus chapter one. Now an interesting thing to note in all of this is that in the beginning here, Exodus one and two, as Israel is being born, there's a focus on women. You have these Hebrew midwives, you have all of these mothers. In chapter two you'll have Moses's mother and Moses's sister. Then you'll have Moses's wife.

There's a focus on women and what they are doing to help rescue the people of God. It's very similar to the new testament when you read the book of Luke for instance and discover all of the women that are engaged and bringing forth the Messiah. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. And Anna who prophesied over Jesus in the temple. All of these women engaged in the life and ministry, helping to produce the Messiah. This is a great question to ask. Why is this the case here at the beginning of Exodus that all of these women are involved in producing the deliverer for God's people?

Exodus 2 – Preparation for Redemption: Moses’ Redemption

But in the midst of all of this chaos in chapter one, we of course know that God, His love is behind all of this chaos. There's more for the people of Israel than life in Egypt. And He's designing events to help draw them out of Egypt. There is more to life than just what the world has to offer. He wants to draw us out. Now let's move on to chapter two. Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levi woman. The woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. Now remember, I already told you that Moses's mother and here we also see father are not yet mentioned by name in the book of Exodus.

In chapter six we learn that his father was named Amram, and his mother was named Jochebed. We also learned that they already had two children, an older sister and older brother for Moses. The brother named Aaron, the sister named Miriam. These parents decided that they would have a child in the midst of this chaotic time. And they had a baby boy who of course was under a death sentence from Pharaoh. But because he was as it says there in the bible, a fine child, they hid him, they protected him for three months. Steven gave a message in the book of Acts looking back on the life of Moses.

Moses’ Birth

2 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes[b] and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. 4 And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.”

 And one of the things he said about Moses in Acts seven, verse 20 is that Moses was no ordinary child. There was just a beauty about him. He looked different. It says in Hebrews 11, verse 23 about Moses that he was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the child was beautiful. There was just something striking about Moses's appearance beyond just the beauty that any parent sees in a newborn. There was something astounding about how he looked even as a little baby. And this is actually a theme somewhat in the old testament. People like Sarah or Joseph or Rachel or David or Esther, all people that were used mightily by God and had striking features, they were attractive in appearance. But God pushed past what they were externally, and used them because of who they were inwardly.

And that would have to develop in Moses's life as well. He would not get by just on his exterior and his beauty or majesty in the outward appearance. He's have to go outward into the wilderness and get chastened by God and grow inwardly as well. For three months Moses's parents hid their little baby boy. But after three months, they felt that they could hide him no longer, and so it says in verse three, "When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done for him." So Moses's mother comes up with this plan. She creates this basket. The word for basket is actually the same word for ark that is used to describe Noah's arc.

And you remember in Noah's ark, it was sealed with pitch. Here this little ark for baby Moses is also sealed with pitch. A Pharaoh is trying to drown the baby boys in the Nile River. And Moses's ark is going to save him from drowning, just as Noah's ark saved him and his household and the animals from drowning. And so in a sense, Jochebed, Moses's mother, she really is obeying Pharaoh. He said, throw the baby boys into the Nile River. Well, she puts him in an ark before she throws him into the Nile River. She seems to have a plan to preserve her son's life. So let's read on.

Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. Well, her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, this is one of the Hebrew's children. Now again, though there's much conjecture about this princess's identity, it's really not mentioned in the book of Exodus. And it's hard to ascertain with certainty who she is. She's not identified at this portion of the story.

She hears the crying. She sees the basket, she sends a servant girl to go collect it for her. And when she opened it, when she saw the baby crying, which by the way is not mentioned often in the bible. A child crying, a baby crying. It's a noteworthy moment. And I'll talk about why in a moment, but she sees Moses crying and she immediately begins to have sympathy or pity upon Moses. Now the interesting thing about Moses crying here as I said, it's not often that babies or children are portrayed as crying throughout scripture. Moses in a sense is Israel in a microcosm. They in a moment will be portrayed as crying out to God. And God will see them and have pity on them.

Hear Moses in the basket cries out and Pharaoh's daughter sees him, hears him, and she has pity herself upon his life. She felt sorry for him because of what she saw him enduring. This by the way is one of the great strategies of those who are fighting the pro-life cause in countries that allow for abortion to take place. Just showing the images of children in the womb. Showing the images of what they experience, and how they can actually feel pain. Showing and demonstrating through that imagery that we're dealing with human beings. That image does so much to help stir sympathy and compassion for the child himself or herself.

7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. 9 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

And when Pharaoh's daughter saw Moses in that basket, her heart was moved. Then verse seven, his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me. And I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. Now this is a wild part of the story. We love in our new testament. In Romans eight, verse 28, that for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, all things work together for good. And this is certainly one of those examples. Jochebed, Moses's mother releases Moses. Pharaoh's daughter pulls him out of the river.

Moses's older sister Miriam comes out and says, hey, do you want me to go find a Hebrew woman to nurse this child while he's young? And Pharaoh's daughter says, yes, please do. And Miriam takes her little baby brother back to her mom and says, hey, Pharaoh's daughter wants to pay you to do what you were wanting to do anyways. Be the mother to this child. I don't know if this was a preconceived plan. I don't know if Miriam already knew the daughter of Pharaoh. It sure seems that this was preconceived and that Pharaoh's daughter was willing to listen to this random Hebrew girl.

But God is in control. And Jochebed is reunited with and to her son. She's paid to take care of her baby boy. Listen brothers and sisters, sometimes we have to let go to get back from God. We have to let go to get back from God. Sometimes there'll be things in our lives that we think we cannot do without, that we must have. Maybe a relationship or a position or a possession. And God might lay it upon our hearts to let go. And as we let go, we have to trust that as we sew in tears, we will reap in joy. That God is going to allow us to get back ... This is one of the messages of Jesus over and over again.

For those who have idolatry over their ... Or idolize their families, Jesus says, you've got to leave your father and your mother and your brother and sister, and place Me first. Come after Me. For those who idolize the self, He says, you need to deny yourself and to take up your cross and follow after me. This by the way is a great description of two of the major world views that exist on the planet at this time. Many people make sense of the world by looking within and saying, who am I? And I must live out my dreams. I must be true to myself. That would be more of a western concept.

But in many parts of the world, that kind of concept is totally rejected. And the bigger influence upon life is, what does my family think of me? What does my culture say about me? What are the expectations that have been placed upon me from birth? And it's interesting because Jesus deals with both of those and says, you've got to let go of that. Let go of the self, let go of the family. But the beautiful thing is that Jesus says, as you do, as you let go, you get back. You let go of self, you find yourself. You let go of family, you get a greater family. So we need to be a people who like Jochebed, believe in God. Let go so that we can get back from Him.

Receive what He has for us. Now again, I remind you of all the women that are involved in this story. We've got midwives and his mother, the princess, the servant woman who goes out to get him from the river, Miriam, his older sister. Just beautiful to see this part of the story. Now when the child grew older, verse 10, she brought him, Moses's mother to Pharaoh's daughter. And he became her son. She named him Moses because she said, I drew him out of the water. So Moses is officially adopted now into Pharaoh's household. Steven said of Moses in Acts seven, verse 22 that Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And was mighty in word and deed. He had been schooled in other words by the Egyptians.

And Pharaoh's daughter named him, gave him his name. She called him Moses. It means born out of the water. Drawn out of the water. Now keep this in mind, this is the daughter of Pharaoh. She has the honor of naming the future savior of the people of Israel. Now the incredible thing about naming him Moses or drawn up out of the water, or born out of the water is not just that it spoke of his past experience, but that it was prophetic about his future role in Israel. Listen to this from Isaiah 63, verse 11. It says, "He remembered the days of old, of Moses and of his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea?" That's Moses. "With the shepherds of his flock." Moses had brought later in the book of Exodus through the Red Sea, the people of God up from the sea, up from the water. He helped them become born out of the water just as he was born out of the water.

Just as he was taken from the water so they were taken from the waters of the Red Sea. And really that Red Sea crossing is paralleled right here in Moses's infant life. Now it started with a threat from Pharaoh to kill the Israelites just as Moses, the baby boy was under the threat of Pharaoh. It began there in the sea, the Red Sea, which is sometimes called the Reed Sea. And Moses's little basket was placed in the reeds on the Nile River. Miriam helped Moses sing an incredible song of rejoicing after they passed through the Red Sea. And Miriam is right here in this story as well after Moses is drawn out of the water. And in both moments, a deliverance leads to a future life.

Moses’ Rejection

11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.[d] 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.”

When Moses became a child of Pharaoh in a sense, and the people of Israel became children of God in a sense when they came out of that water at the Red Sea. Now one day, verse 11, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Now this is a fast forward in the life of Moses. We're not learning much about his childhood here. Steven tells us that this was 40 years later in Acts seven, verse 23. So Moses is about 40 years of age at this point in his life.

One day he goes out and he sees an Egyptian that is beating a Hebrew, and he feels he is conscious of his connection with the Hebrew people. He feels that they are beating one of his people. So he looks around this way and that, that speaks to his conscious telling him that he should not strike this man. But seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand, meaning that he had killed this Egyptian man as he'd struck him. Moses's compassion had moved him to kill someone else. Now Jesus of course is the better Moses. His compassion moved him to allow Himself to die. But Moses here kills this Egyptian man.

Now here's the thing we much know that's happening inside of Moses's heart at this point. It says in Acts seven, 25, again from Steven, a speech that we keep alluding to in Acts chapter seven. He said of Moses that Moses supposed at this point that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by His hand, but they did not understand. In other words, at 40 years of age, Moses thought the people, they know that I'm their deliverer. I'm their hope to get out of this oppression that has been brought upon them. But as we're going to see, they were not ready to receive Moses in that role. They still needed more time and so did he. So he looked this way and that and he killed this Egyptian man.

When he went out the next day, verse 13, behold two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, "Why do you strike your companion?" He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought surely the thing is known. When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Here, Moses realizes that his sin has been found out. The fact that he's killed the Egyptian is now public knowledge amongst the Hebrew people. And he knows that it's only a matter of time before Pharaoh hears about what he's done.

He will be presented to Pharaoh as a man who is in league with Pharaoh's enemy, the people of Israel, the Israelites. And so he flees to the land of Midian, which was a place that he could go to escape Egyptian observation. And he goes to live amongst these nomads in the region of Midian. Now Midian had been founded by a son of Keturah, the wife of Abraham. If you might remember after Sarah died, Abraham took Keturah to be his bride and then they had some sons of their own. One of them was Midian and he had gone and established these Midianite people. And so Moses ran to this land that was very different from Egypt. Not a fertile place but a dry and deserted place.

And then he goes and it says, verse 15, and he sat down by a well. Now if you'd been with me through the book of Egypt, this ought to peak your interest because incredible encounters have occurred so far in the bible at wells. Rachel and Rebecca were both met at a well. And so Moses now journeying, comes to a well, who is he going to meet?

Moses’s Family

16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”

Let's read on, verse 16. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them and watered their flock.

All right, so there's a priest there in Midian. We'll learn in a moment that his name is Reuel or Jethro, we'll discover later in Exodus. And this priest had seven daughters. And they would come out to water their flocks and be bullied by the men in that region. Moses saw this injustice taking place and so he stood up it says and saved them. And they watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come home so soon today?" They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and even drew water for us and watered the flock." He said to his daughters, "Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him that he may eat bread." Or the implication being to eat break and break bread and to have fellowship with us.

Now, this is interesting for a few different reasons. First of all, this is the third episode where Moses sees an injustice and seeks to stand up against it. When the Hebrew and Egyptian, the Egyptian was beating the Hebrew, Moses saw that injustice and rose up against it. When the two Hebrews were fighting or arguing with each other, Moses stood up against that. And here he sees these men bullying these seven daughters of Jethro or Reuel, and he stands up against that oppression. This is who Moses is in his heart. He's this kind of man. He doesn't want to see injustice take place. Now he doesn't quite yet know fully how to respond to that injustice, but you can see that God has shaped him in this way for a reason.

At 80 years old, he'll be the man who comes in to Pharaoh, the greatest of all oppressors and say, "God says, let my people go." This was something that God had made Moses for. That He had created this man to be. Now when the daughters go back to their father, an Egyptian man saved us. Obviously Moses is not truly an Egyptian man. He's a Hebrew man, but likely he's dressed like an Egyptian, and so that's what their report says. He's an Egyptian man and he saved us. And Moses's story here in a sense is kind of like the story of Jacob. Remember Jacob on the run, fleeing from [inaudible 00:56:13] as a young man. He came to a well, he saw Rachel, fell in love with her, and was brought into [inaudible 00:56:24] family. Here, Moses meets the daughters of Reuel and is going to be brought into that family and actually marry one of Reuel's daughters, a woman named Zipporah.

But his story is not only like the story of Jacob, it is also like the story of the people of Israel in the book of Exodus. They also will have to one day leave Egypt. They also will have Pharaoh trying to kill them as they depart. They also will come to the waters like he came to a well and be delivered by God. They also will experience God watering them their flocks in the wilderness. And they also will encounter Jethro. There will be a moment where this same man gives counsel to Moses for the people of Israel. And they also will engage in marriage, Moses marrying Zipporah. The people of Israel becoming God's bride out there in the wilderness.

21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner[e] in a foreign land.”

So the events of Moses's life are anticipatory of what's going to happen in the life of Israel. But let's finish this chapter together. Verse 21, "And Moses was content to dwell with the man. And he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, I've been a sojourner in a foreign land. So Moses marries this woman, Zipporah. We'll see her again later in the story. They have a son together. Moses names their son, Gershom, which means sojourner or resident alien. It speaks not so much of what Gershom was, but how Moses was feeling. He felt very alone there in this distant land as a sojourner.

Moses’ People

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”

And for 40 years he would live there in the region of Midian. He was taking care of Jethro's sheep. Wandering on the backside of the wilderness. This was God training Moses for leadership. Showing him through the sheep what the people of Israel, the flock of God would be like. During those many days, verse 23, the kind of Egypt died. And the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery, and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. Just as Pharaoh's daughter had heard and seen the cry of Moses, God is presented here as seeing and hearing the cry of the people of Israel.

And while God was preparing Moses to lead them out of slavery, he was preparing Israel as well to want to come out of Egypt. They had to become displeased with Egypt, to want to depart from Egypt, this land that had been so good to them for so many years. And God is presented as very active. There are four words describing his activity. He heard, He remembered, He saw, He knew. And what he remembered most of all was the covenant that he'd made with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. God remembered His own word, His own promise. When He heard the cry of Israel, He knew that He would act because of the covenant that He had made with His people.

God bless you, church. Have a wonderful week.