The story of Moses’ life shows us that sometimes saying “yes” to God means accepting the process of the plans He has for us. This is part three of our five part blog series! In the last blog, we talked about the covenant God made with Abram. You can read it here! In this blog, we’ll talk about how Moses’ story directly links to Abram’s covenant even though it took place 400 years later! Talk about process.. Here’s something to keep in mind as you’re reading along in Exodus 1-6..
PROCESS: a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.
Understanding the Story: Chapters 1
Exodus begins 400 years after the covenant God made with Abram. During that time, the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied, which is exactly what God told them to do. All of a sudden there was a new king of Egypt called Pharaoh who decided that there were too many Israelites. He was worried that they would realize their great number and join forces with the enemies of Egypt to overthrow them. So the Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites. He inflicted harsh rules over them and forced them to do manual labor. But even in the brutal conditions, the Isaelites were increasing in number.
As if the Pharaoh wasn’t evil enough, he planned to keep the Israelite people from growing. He told the midwives to throw every Hebrew newborn male into the Nile river, but to let females live. So that the Israelite bloodline would cease. Thankfully, the midwives did not listen to the Pharaoh. They let all of the Hebrew children live, and the Lord blessed them for this!
Who Was Moses?: Chapter 2
Moses’s mother was a Levite, which was a tribe of Israel. When Moses was born, she hid him for as long as she could. Soon, she realized she would have to do something before the Pharaoh found out. So she made a basket and hid Moses in the reed on the bank of the Nile river. The daughter of Pharaoh went to the river to take a bath, when she found baby Moses. He was crying, and the Pharaoh’s daughter had compassion on him. She took him as her own and raised him.
When Moses grew up, he saw an Egyptian man fighting a Hebrew man, which he knew was one of his people. Moses was angry at the sight of it, so he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. The next day, some Hebrew men told Moses that they saw what he did. Soon after, the Pharaoh found out and wanted to kill Moses. So, Moses fled to Midian. There, he found a home and married a Levite woman. At the same time, the Lord heard the cries for help of the Israelites in Egypt.
God Called Moses: Chapter 3 & 4
In Exodus chapter 3, the Lord got Moses’ attention from a bush that was engulfed in flames, but not being burnt. He spoke to Moses, revealing Himself as, “the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob.” He shared with Moses the plan He had to rescue the Israelites from the hands of Pharaoh. God promised that His people would not leave Egypt empty handed. Plus, He would lead them to a fruitful land. His plan directly involved Moses speaking to Pharoah on God’s behalf.
Moses argued with the Lord by saying that no one will believe that God sent him. So, God gives him three very powerful signs to prove that he was sent by Him. After showing him the signs, he still argued that His plan would not work because he had a speech impediment. The Lord promised, yet again, that He would be with Moses and give him the words to say. Moses begged Him to send someone else. The Lord became angry with him, but still offered another solution. Even though Moses felt inadequate, God raised him for the task. Because of the way grew up, Moses understood both the culture of the Egyptians and the Israelites.
Accepting the Process: Chapter 5
After Moses spoke to Pharaoh the first time, things for the Israelites got worse. Much worse. Pharaoh’s heart hardened and he oppressed God’s people even more, giving them harsher work conditions. Moses felt responsible for what happened to the Israelites. This became somewhat of a theme for the remaining story of the exodus. This process progressed and repeated itself it until ultimately lead to the freedom of the Israelites and Pharaoh’s demise. Moses had to learn and relearn a lot about accepting the process and relying on God. This was just one small portion of the big picture. You can read the details of what happened from chapters 7-12.
EXODUS: a mass departure of people.
The Promise: Chapter 6
REDEEM: to make amends for evil or error.
In this chapter, we can see the direct link between what God was doing in Moses’ life and the covenant He established with Abram. God promised to make Abram’s family a great nation and to lead them to a land of their own. By calling Moses, even 400 years later, He is remaining faithful to His Word.
The point is, that the process was something that needed to take place for everything in Exodus chapter 6 to be fulfilled. The Lord gave Moses’ a clear promise with clear results. One main difference that separates this promise from the others was that the word redeem was introduced to the story. God said, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and acts of judgement.” If you look at the definition of redeem, what God said ensured that there would be evil and error. However, everything that was lost would be compensated for and paid back in full. Everything would be restored.
What Can We Draw From This?
We need understand that by saying “yes” to God, we are also accepting the process He has for us. It’s easier to say it than it is to do it. However, we can see from the life of Abram and the life of Moses that God is faithful and intentional. We can trust that He will be that in our lives, too. He keeps His promises. The plan He has for our lives redeems every area of brokenness and evil, because it’s perfect! He is so worthy of the trust is takes to give Him our “Yes.”