"Now it came about in those days,
when Moses had grown up,
that he went out to his brethren
and looked on their hard labors;
and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew,
one of his brethren."
Exodus 2:11
In most of the storybook versions of Moses we are given the impression that Moses had no idea he was a Hebrew until much later in his life. Scripture, however seems to point to the fact that he always knew he was Hebrew.
In Exodus 2:7-10 we read that it was Jochebed who was hired by the Pharoah's daughter to nurse Moses until he was of age to be weaned. In this day a child was not weaned until around the age of two or three. Anyone who has, or has just been around, a child at this age knows their amazing intelligence level. I have to believe that as Jochebed, this mother whose name meant Jehovah-glorified, nursed her son, she must have been whispering the promises of God to him.
I imagine she rocked him and told him of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I imagine she told him of Joseph and how he saved the world from famine because he trusted in Jehovah. I imagine that she told him about the covenant. I imagine she told him about circumcision, the seal and sign of that covenant. I bet she talked of the flaming torch and the smoking oven that passed between the pieces. I am sure she shared with Moses how Abraham took Isaac up to Mt Moriah and how God provided. I know she must have spoke of the day that Jacob became Israel.
So I believe that even if his heritage was never spoken of again once he was weaned and became the Pharoah's daughter's son, in his heart these truths remained.
Now we learn from Acts 7:23 that Moses was approaching the age of forty when it entered his heart to visit his brethren. Forty years is a long time to watch your people suffer. We learn in the book of Hebrews that this must have been the time when Moses finally understood that he needed to do something.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up,
refused to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter,
choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God
than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
considering the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt;
for he was looking to the reward.
Hebrews 12:24-26
Moses had watched his people endure much suffering and when he witnessed up close and personal the abuse of one of his brethren he took matters in his own hands and killed the Egyptian. Moses appeared to think that his people would rejoice at what he had done, but they did not. They were not impressed by this man who had spent his life in the palace while they where slaves. "...Who made you a prince or a judge over us?..." (Exodus 2:14)
Little did this man who made this statement in Exodus 2:14 know that God Himself had made this man judge over him, and the entire nation of Israel. Jesus said in Luke 4:24 "...no prophet is welcome in his hometown." Moses is just one of the examples of the truth of this statement.
Perhaps you have experienced it yourself. Perhaps the glorious truths of faith in Christ were taught to you when you were young and as you grew you were taken from these truths and consumed with other things. Perhaps the people around saw the way you lived just like them and they mock you when you come and share with them about the gospel of God.
Perhaps you lived many years in disobedience and rebellion to the God of your youth, and then one day God called you to salvation, to receive these truths by faith. He didn't just call you to come home, but he called you to go out, to preach, to teach, to reach those who needed God's salvation in Christ. Where do you first desire to go? Who does your heart first burn for to share eternity with?
Most likely you started with those closest to you, your parents, your children, your brothers and sisters. Maybe you felt like Moses. Maybe you have heard theses very words, "who made you a prince or judge over us?" come from the mouths of your brethren. Maybe your earthly father mocks you. Maybe your brothers and sisters get angry with you. Maybe your children refuse to listen now because they lived years under you in your unredeemed state and they bare the scars...
Oh precious one, don't give up. Walk in obedience to the calling of God. Remember those who walked before you, and walk on. Endure the mockings. Persevere through the anger. Show mercy, be quick to forgive, and speak always with grace. Let them see the fruit that proves that you are indeed new in Him.
Don't try to take matters in your hand as Moses did. God will never bring deliverance or salvation through the works of our flesh, but only through the power of His might. It is His life and death that changes people, our life and death are just the evidence before men that it's true. Don't tamper with the evidence. Don't let it be destroyed or discredited. Evidence is there to prove the truth, we never need to prove the evidence. We just simply let the evidence speak for itself.
Oh Father,
Help me to never give up. Help me Father to not turn and run when You have called me to stay, but also Father help me to be obedient when You have said it is time to step away. Let me remember that "The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome,..." (2 Timothy 2:24). Yet also let me remember that You have not given me a spirit of timidity, but one of power, love, and discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). Help me to act in wisdom and not according to my emotions. Let me not allow the enemy of my soul to heap condemnation on me because of a rebellious past, but let me return this condemnation with the memory of my wondrous justification by faith in Christ. Let me remember and boldly share how I am a new creation in Christ Jesus, that I am born again, that I am being conformed to the image of my Savior. May I, for the glory of Christ and for the hope set before me, press on. May I press on through hurtful words, through difficult people and circumstances, through the stand of Satan himself, might I press on to the victory in Christ Jesus my Lord.
My Jesus, it's in Your name I pray,
Amen
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