The Birth of Moses
Text: Exodus 1:15-2:10
Pastor Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, UT
July 7, 2024
The book of Exodus begins by reminding us that it has been a long time since Joseph and his coat. Joseph brought his family to Egypt. They all died. But the people that came from the family were fruitful and multiplied. The book of Exodus begins by saying that the Israelites filled the land.
A new king came into power in Egypt to whom the name of Joseph means nothing. He sees the size of the Israelite population and feels threatened. He imagines they may organize, rebel and leave, thus leaving Egypt without much of a work force.
So the new king of Egypt makes them all slaves. He makes them build his cities and forces the Hebrews to do so under harsh and brutal conditions.
Furthermore, to stop the multiplication of the Hebrews, the king speaks to the Hebrew midwives and tells them to kill any male babies born. Eventually this is a decree that everyone is informed of. No more Hebrew male babies are to live! And this sets up the story of the birth of Moses.
Anyone make little baskets of woven paper in Sunday or Vacation Bible School?
Like Noah and the Ark, and like some of the Joseph story, this is a violent story. A royal decree is made to kill Hebrew infants.
The term “Hebrew” refers to a people descended from Shem, who was Noah’s son. The designation “Hebrew” comes from the name of Shem’s great-grandson Eber. Later we read that Abram was a Hebrew. There was Abraham then Isaac and then Jacob who was renamed by the Lord, Israel. The Hebrew people come to be known as a nation called Israel because of Jacob.
We are told that a Levite man and woman have a child. A boy. They are Hebrew. They are aware that Hebrew male infants are in danger. The mother hides the child. Unable to hide him any longer, after three months she places him in a basket made of papyrus, tar and pitch. She places the basket in the reeds on the river. The baby boy’s sister is standing at a distance watching to see what will happen.
Pharaoh’s daughter goes down to the river to bathe and finds the basket and the baby. She sees it is a Hebrew boy. The sister asks Pharaoh’s daughter if she wants her to go find a Hebrew to nurse the baby for her. She says “yes” and the sister goes and finds the child’s mother who ends up getting paid to nurse her own son.
Note that this child does not have a name yet. When the child grows older, the Levite woman brings the child back to Pharaoh’s daughter who takes him and names him Moses. The name Moses sounds like the word in Hebrew “to draw out.” The name may also be related to the common Egyptian name for “son.”
Women play a very prominent role in the birth and deliverance of Moses. Not the least are two Hebrew midwives. They are named. Their names are Shiphrah and Puah. This is unusual in a story where few people are named. And where not even the Pharaoh’s are named. The king commands Shiphrah and Puah to let the Hebrew girl infants live. But if it is a boy they are to kill them.
We read, “The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.”[1] Twice we are told that these women feared God more than the Pharaoh.
Fearing God is a major theme throughout the Bible. It is used eighteen times in Proverbs. Two examples are:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.”[2]
“Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”[3]
In Isaiah the Lord tells Israel to fear him more than humans. Jesus said to fear God more than humans.[4] The fear of the Lord also appears prominently in Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Job.
What does it mean to fear the Lord? It doesn’t mean to be scared or terrified of God. It means “to stand in awe” or “to respect and revere”. Fear in this context is not a negative thing but a positive one. When we fear the Lord we don’t cower from him in terror like he is going to beat us down if we do something wrong, but we do revere him for who he is.
When I was growing up I feared my father and my mother. Not because they were mean and vicious people. They loved me and nurtured me. But I respected their authority and place. And I knew what would happen if I got out of line (which I never did…). I did fear causing them grief or disappointment. It was a fear of love.
Think of fire. We use it to light candles and fireplaces and burn things. We use it in our homes. We like to get near fire when we are cold. But we also know its power and we don’t play with it carelessly.
The ocean is beautiful, wonderful, and something to be enjoyed. But it is also fierce. Warnings are posted about swells and currents, and what could happen if someone foolishly ignores the power and ways of the ocean. You have to fear the ocean in the sense that you respect it even as you love and enjoy it.
These two Hebrew midwives feared God more than the man who sat on the throne of Egypt. And when we fear God more than anything else, the result is courageous faith. When we tell the stories of God, the stories of faith and courage and prayer and salvation, let’s remember Shiphrah and Puah. Are they not worth some attention? They put their lives on the line in civil disobedience, and play an early, though at the time unknown, part in the deliverance of Israel.
Shiphrah and Puah are not leaders in the community. They have no influence over governmental policy. But they are not powerless. God is able to use persons of faith from even smaller stations in life to accomplish what he wants. And there is no indication what they did ever becomes public, although perhaps it was hidden knowledge in many circles. Somehow their courageous and life-giving deeds are known.[5]
A Bible scholar named Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas sees their actions as acts of, what she calls, liberating motherhood:
“The initial act of liberating motherhood began with the refusal of the midwives Shiprah and Puah to carry out Pharaoh’s unjust order to murder Israelite boys (1:15-19).
She calls “the covering and shielding of the infant Moses by his mother… an outlaw act against Pharaoh’s rulings (2:1-3)” She says this is the second act of liberating motherhood. How Moses’ sister strategically improvised baby Moses’ care is the third act of liberating motherhood. And the decisive actions of Pharaoh’s daughter that brought about the reunion of Moses and his mother (2:5-6) is the last act of liberating motherhood. “As these three classic acts reveal, it takes a village of mothers and mothering to raise a child and a civilization!”[6] Women are strong in the opening of Exodus.
And we’re told that God blessed these Hebrew midwives with families because they honored him. Interesting that the Egyptians fear of the Israelites eventually leads to their failure. The women’s fear of God leads to their success.
Do you see the providence of God already at work in Moses’ life? Pharaoh’s daughter has pity on the Hebrew boy, unlike her father who decreed they be put to death. And look at all the ironic things that take place in this story:
Pharaoh chooses the river to destroy. All male babies are to be thrown into it. Yet it is in the very river that Moses is saved.
Daughters are the ones who are allowed to live, and they become the very ones who thwart Pharaoh’s plan.
Members of Pharaoh’s own family undermine his policies. And they end up saving the very person who will rise and eventually lead the Hebrews out of Pharaoh’s power.
Pharaoh’s daughter, Egyptian royalty, listens to the advice of a simple Hebrew girl.
The mother of the baby gets paid to do what she wants to do. And the money comes from Pharaoh’s budget.
Moses is educated to be an Israelite leader from within the courts of Pharaoh. Everything is happening right under the Pharaoh’s nose.
Pharaoh’s daughter names the baby Moses, which again means “to draw out.” This is also what Moses will do for Israel. He will draw them out of the oppression of Egypt.
Throughout all of this, God uses the weak and foolish to shame the strong and the wise. We remember Paul’s words that will come centuries later: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are…”[7] God often uses what seems low to do mighty things.
God is not mentioned in any of these early events in Exodus. But he is in the background, unseen – much like in the story of Joseph. God is working his plan. He is even working through Egyptians who don’t know the God of Israel. He doesn’t “appear” until the end of chapter 2.
We read, “The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” One Bible reads “and God knew.”
The cry from the Israelites kind of grabs the LORD’s heart. It is this cry that brings him formally into the events.
Do we ever groan and cry out over some hurt in our lives that burdens us? We wonder where God is? Apparently God hears. He is not unaware of the abuse and violence his people are going through. He may seem distant but he is nearer than we know.
And it says God remembered the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God promised Abraham that he would be a blessing to many nations. He promises Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars. If the Hebrews come to an end under this Egyptian madness then that covenant is done. But God remembered. He knew.
This is what launches the LORD’s salvation work for Israel.
The old preacher and Bible commentator Matthew Henry said that we should pay attention to God’s providence “…just at the time when Pharaoh's cruelty rose to its height by ordering the Hebrew children to be drowned, the deliverer was born. When [people] are contriving the ruin of the church, God is preparing for its salvation."
Remember that even though the culture may follow the ways of death God is always bringing life. Though people may rise who cause destruction, God cannot be stopped. I am sure no one thought God was working when Pharaoh started his genocidal mayhem against Hebrew male infants. Nor did anyone imagine God was at work when the slavery became harsher.
What God does with Moses in delivering Israel will not come easily. Just because God hears and sees doesn’t mean all obstacles will be removed. It didn’t happen for Jesus. But when God acts he will make a way.
In many ways Moses anticipates and points to what the Father does in Jesus. God showed his bent toward redemption in the saving of baby Moses. That redemption continues in Exodus as Moses leads the people to freedom. God’s redemption continues through the rocky ups and downs of Israel’s history in the Old Testament. And it comes to fruition in Jesus Christ.
For there was another infant who was targeted by a leader who decreed the senseless murder of children. And he was saved when he was a baby not by some miraculous act of God but by the faithful lives of others and the faith and courage of his parents. He led us out of the slavery of law to the freedom of grace. God came right down into the violence of this world and made himself vulnerable by becoming like us.
You know, when Jesus first took the bread and cup and shared it with his disciples, they were having the Passover meal. The Passover was given to Moses and Israel to remember God’s saving them. Moses life will lead to the Passover. Jesus took it and made it about his death and resurrection to honor what the Lord has done for us.
In the birth of Moses we see the hand of God. That same God is working in your life and my life. He has freed us, led us, spoken to us, and saved us in his one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
That’s what we give thanks for at this table.
Prayer: God, thank you that even the worst of earthly powers cannot outdo your working of life. We look to you and ask we would be able to trust you in all the circumstances of our lives. Thank you for how you used Moses. Thank you for how you brought Jesus. Amen.
[1] 1:17
[2] 1:7
[3] 2:7
[4] Luke 12:4-5
[5] Fretheim, 34
[6] http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=85
[7] 1 Corinthians 1:27-28