The Man. The Myth. The Legend…too much? Cool.
So, from Moses to Andrew. I thought about Moses quite a bit and even with jumping past the typically touched on parts like the Plague and Burning Bush, I realised I can’t break him down in just one go. I mean, Moses went through a lot. A lot which is relatable. But first, we’ve got to set the scene.
This part is probably going to be repetitive for a lot of you, but stick with me, we’ll get through it quickly.
Moses was born during a time of turmoil for the Hebrew slaves – there was a death order on all Hebrew baby boys. But, Moses’ mother feared God more than Pharaoh and hid Moses until later where she couldn’t get away with it anymore, and she placed him in a basket on the banks of the River Nile, where her sister Miriam watched over to see what would happen.
Here comes the first of many miracles Moses experienced.
- The wicker basket was in the spot where Pharaoh’s daughter chose to bathe.
- It just happened that Moses’ sister was on the scene to ask and receive permission to find a nurse for the baby (Exodus 2:7)
- Moses’ mother got to raise him, and in the King’s Palace of all places.
Moses was already favoured, but I don’t think the Bible truly depicts how amazing of a position Moses was in growing up.
Since Moses wrote the book of Exodus, he probably didn’t want to brag. I mean, what a nice guy! But for the sake of our study, we need to put it all into context.
- Moses was a prince; raised with the best and brightest in Egyptian society. He had more money and power than he could have asked for.
- Proof? Stephen speaks about this in Acts 7:20-22 saying:
“At the time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child…Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action”
Wait a minute. Speech? But wasn’t Moses slow of tongue? We’ll get to that in part 2.
Now why is Moses the Eager One?
Fast forward, to Exodus 2:15 and Moses has fled to the land of Midian after killing an Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew. He had all he could’ve asked for, and he goes and “fumbles the bag”.
Acts 7:24-25 breaks this down saying “24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defence and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.”.
I agree.
Moses fumbled. But I am not talking about the murder. That’s a sin, we know that. But it was the assumption that the Hebrews would think he’s this amazing liberator and that they’d take his side which really flopped his set (ruined his situation).
Have you ever felt like this? Moses knew what his purpose was. He knew that he was meant to deliver the Hebrews from the Egyptian oppression. But he miscalculated God’s timing and God’s means. In short. He knew the goal. But the directions hadn’t yet been delivered. But he still acted. Really, Moses was just a bit too eager and took things into his own hands.
It was just an honest mistake. He thought this was what God wanted. Surely, God would want us to achieve his goals as soon as possible? But this isn’t always the case. And the consequences can be costly, as seen by Moses having to flee, knowing that Pharaoh was after his head.
Just to push the point a bit further. The Hebrews didn’t even rate what Moses did. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”. Just imagine the rejection!
Sometimes we operate with good intentions. But when we don’t operate within God’s intentions, we leave ourselves vulnerable to harsh consequences. In part 2 we’ll explore how rejection can really affect someone’s confidence, and how without God, they may never recover.
*This was even longer than I expected. Oops*
Want More? Part 2
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