Leslie M. John
Exodus 2:1-4 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a
daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him
that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not
longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime
and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the
river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
In the land of Egypt the children of Israelites grew in number that posed a
threat to the king of Egypt, who had already forgotten, who Joseph was. The
birth of children in large numbers, from the Patriarchs, in the land of Egypt,
caused fear in the minds of Pharaoh, who, therefore, ordered that every male
child born to Israelites be killed. The king appointed two Hebrew midwives,
namely, ‘Shiphrah’, and ‘Puah’. (Exodus 1:15 And the king of Egypt spake to the
Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the
other Puah). These midwives are ordered to kill every male baby that takes birth
to Israelites, and concede female babies to live. This was the strategy of the
king of Egypt, who hoped that such plan would eventually pave the way for
diminishing number of male children in the houses of Israel, while the number of
Egyptians would increase. However, the midwives did not obey the king of Egypt,
because they feared God. When the king of Egypt came to know about this, he
called for these two Hebrew midwives and asked them why they did so. The
midwives replied that the children were born even before they attempted to kill
them, and thus, they escaped from the wrath of the king. In the meanwhile, a man
from the tribe of‘Levi’ married a woman from the same tribe and had a son. When
the woman saw that the child was exceedingly good, she hid him three months.
(Acts 7:20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished
up in his father’s house three months). Earlier Pharaoh had charged all the
people of Israel that from among the children born to them, only female children
are retained live, but all the male children be cast in to the river. When the
woman could no longer hide the baby, “…she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and
daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it
in the flags by the river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what
would be done to him”. Exodus 2:3-4
Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Moses. (Exodus 6:20 And Amram took him
Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the
years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years). He was
younger brother of Miriam and Aaron. The life span of Moses could be divided in
to three equal parts of forty years each. The first period of forty years was
from his birth to his escapement from the house of Pharaoh. The second period
was from his escapement from the house of Pharaoh, to his return to Egypt. (Acts
7:30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness
of mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush), and the third
period was from his leadership over Israelites in their deliverance from the
bondage under Egyptian king, Pharaoh, until his death upon the mount Nebo.
The life of Moses contributes to an interesting study as it stands out unique in
comparison with the life of Lord Jesus Christ. Moses had three major roles to
perform, the first of which was to be the leader of Israelites, the second of
which was to give law to the children of God, the third of which was to mediate
between them and God. Jesus came in to this world as the way, the truth and the
life, to redeem mankind from their sinful nature, to give them beatitudes as
found in Matthew Chapter 5, 6 and 7. He also gave two great commandments as
found in Mark 12:30-31 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is
the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these”, which
contain the essence of all the Ten Commandments, and finally to become a
mediator between the Father in heaven, and we on the earth. Moses was the
deliverer of God’s children physically, while Jesus was the deliverer
spiritually of His people Jews, first and the Gentiles next.
This article is taken from my book "Redemption of Man"
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