| 12/14/21
For about a year now God has been speaking to me about the life of Moses. As I’ve been reading about his life one thing that particularly stood out to me about him was his name. At the start of Exodus we are reminded of the lineage of Joseph and how his family had come to reside in Egypt. We remember Josephs story and how due to famine his family and many Hebrews had come to Egypt. Fast forward and Josephs family has now passed on and the Hebrews or Israelite population had grown very numerous in Egypt. The Egyptians felt very threatened by the Israelites because of how numerous they had become. Because of this they created a law that said any Hebrew baby boy born, was to be killed or thrown into the Nile River.
Which sets the scene for the story of Moses. Starting in Exodus 2. A man from the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman and they had a baby boy. The mother was fully aware of the law and she realized her son’s life could be in danger. She hid him as long as she could and when she could no longer hide him she decided to put him in a papyrus basket. The mother then placed him in the Nile River among the reeds while his sister watched at a distance.
And this is where our story begins. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe and heard crying. When the basket was brought to her she saw that there was a Hebrew baby inside. Some translations say, “she took pity on the child”, other translations say, “She felt sorry for the baby”. Long story short the princess decided to adopt the Hebrew baby as her own son. She said she would name him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
The name seemed pretty self explanatory at the time he was named. When the princess saw the baby for the first time she drew him out of the water therefore she named him Moses. At first glance it seems like that is where the whole story ends. As I continued to read the rest of Moses’s life I saw he had a habit of being around water. In the next half of chapter 2 we see that Moses grows up and he sees the oppression of his people in Egypt. After he witnesses an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man he kills the Egyptian and hides him in the sand. Moses is eventually found out and has to flee Egypt and go to a place called Midian. The first thing that Moses does when he arrives in Midian is he sits down by a well. As you can see he is by water again. While he is sitting by this well the priest of Midians seven daughters had come by the well to draw water for their fathers flocks. However the girls were met with hostility when some shepherds came and drove them away.
The scripture says, “Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.” (Exodus 2:17) When the girls returned, their father wanted to know why they came back so early. The girls replied, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” (Exodus 2:19) Again we are seeing the theme of drawing water. If you think about it Moses was first rescued by the princess in the Nile River when he was a baby. By law it was his destiny to be killed or thrown into the Nile. But in that same river that was meant to be his grave he was rescued and given a second chance.
When Moses grows up we see the theme of drawing water again, the girls in Midian were in need and now this time Moses the one who had once been rescued, was now rescuing. Just as Moses was drawn out of the water, he was now drawing water for others. It doesn’t stop there for Moses. One of the most memorable moments of Moses story is when he parts the red sea for his people the Israelites to escape from Egypt and out of slavery. Once again It’s the theme of water and being drawn out or rescued. Even when you look at Moses life, you may think to yourself how sad it was that only Moses was spared and how many other babies died when he was rescued as a baby. But it wasn’t Gods goal to only save or rescue one child. He knew that Moses would grow and he would commission him to save his people. To not just rescue some but to liberate all.
The story of Moses is a picture of Gods heart for us. He draws each one of us. He rescues each one of us and then calls us and equips us to be a light for others. Even as we talk of water and Moses legacy we are reminded how it always points us back to Gods story. How he is our living water, I’m reminded of the woman at the well.
John 4:13
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jeremiah 31:3
3 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
4 I will build you up again,
and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. | |