Can you imagine the conversation when Moses’ mother realized she was pregnant? Can you imagine the mixture of emotions they must have felt? The message, “We’re having a baby!” is one that is met with joy around the world. Yet the Pharaoh’s decree stood which demanded that ever male child be cast in the Nile. There was no ultrasound in those days; no way to know if the baby would be a boy or a girl. There was no way to prepare for whether this would be an occasion of gladness or of tears.
When the baby was born they knew: he’s a boy. And try as they might to hide the child, to save him from a watery doom, after three months they knew they couldn’t hide him any longer. They would have to put him in the Nile. So his mother made a boat of sorts and placed the baby in it, and she placed him in the river.
There is no way that she could have imagined how God would use that little boy. There is no way that she could have dreamed how God would rescue him for certain death. There was no way to think that Pharaoh’s daughter would find the baby, adopt him, and pay his mother to nurse him. There was no way to predict that this baby Moses, who was “drawn out” (which is what Moses means) of the Nile would be God’s servant to draw out the people of Israel from Egypt.
But that is exactly what God did. He took a little Hebrew baby and put him in Pharaoh’s home. He trained him in Pharaoh’s school as Pharaoh’s grandson. He learned to read and write. He learned combat, construction and leadership. He learned everything a prince would learn, and he was prepared to become a king, which he very nearly was among the Israelites.
Not that everything worked out perfectly. Moses had a temper. He killed a man. He ended up having to flee Egypt and he became a refugee in Midian. (He must have been quite powerful since he drove off the shepherds who were pestering his future wife’s flock.) But God was moving Moses into a new training period in his life. As a shepherd he’d learn the harsh wilderness and the tender care of sheep.
And it was in this time that God “remembered” his people. It wasn’t that he had forgotten. He wasn’t sitting there mulling over his task list and slapped his forehead, “The Israelites! Doh! I forgot!” God had been preparing his leader for them, and he was almost ready.
We too have been drawn out of the water – the waters of Holy Baptism. It was there that God rescued us from certain death due to our sin. It was there that he enrolled us in the school of the Holy Spirit to teach us, according to His Word, combat as we engage in spiritual warfare, construction as God uses us to build his Kingdom, and even leadership as we live as witnesses and examples of what it means to be forgiven, leading people to our savior.
We often get very impressed with the saints of old, like Moses. However, we should remember that God has a calling on our lives just as much as He did on Moses’ life and He will use us to His glory, too.
Father in Heaven, You rescued me and You have made me Your servant. Train me and equip me through Your Word to share your salvation with others and help me to recognize that you indeed have a plan for my life. Help me to lead someone to know Your salvation in Jesus, my Savior. Amen.
When the baby was born they knew: he’s a boy. And try as they might to hide the child, to save him from a watery doom, after three months they knew they couldn’t hide him any longer. They would have to put him in the Nile. So his mother made a boat of sorts and placed the baby in it, and she placed him in the river.
There is no way that she could have imagined how God would use that little boy. There is no way that she could have dreamed how God would rescue him for certain death. There was no way to think that Pharaoh’s daughter would find the baby, adopt him, and pay his mother to nurse him. There was no way to predict that this baby Moses, who was “drawn out” (which is what Moses means) of the Nile would be God’s servant to draw out the people of Israel from Egypt.
But that is exactly what God did. He took a little Hebrew baby and put him in Pharaoh’s home. He trained him in Pharaoh’s school as Pharaoh’s grandson. He learned to read and write. He learned combat, construction and leadership. He learned everything a prince would learn, and he was prepared to become a king, which he very nearly was among the Israelites.
Not that everything worked out perfectly. Moses had a temper. He killed a man. He ended up having to flee Egypt and he became a refugee in Midian. (He must have been quite powerful since he drove off the shepherds who were pestering his future wife’s flock.) But God was moving Moses into a new training period in his life. As a shepherd he’d learn the harsh wilderness and the tender care of sheep.
And it was in this time that God “remembered” his people. It wasn’t that he had forgotten. He wasn’t sitting there mulling over his task list and slapped his forehead, “The Israelites! Doh! I forgot!” God had been preparing his leader for them, and he was almost ready.
We too have been drawn out of the water – the waters of Holy Baptism. It was there that God rescued us from certain death due to our sin. It was there that he enrolled us in the school of the Holy Spirit to teach us, according to His Word, combat as we engage in spiritual warfare, construction as God uses us to build his Kingdom, and even leadership as we live as witnesses and examples of what it means to be forgiven, leading people to our savior.
We often get very impressed with the saints of old, like Moses. However, we should remember that God has a calling on our lives just as much as He did on Moses’ life and He will use us to His glory, too.
Father in Heaven, You rescued me and You have made me Your servant. Train me and equip me through Your Word to share your salvation with others and help me to recognize that you indeed have a plan for my life. Help me to lead someone to know Your salvation in Jesus, my Savior. Amen.
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