Faith Rather Than Fear

September 14, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²⁷By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. – Hebrews 11:27 ESV

Once again, we have an apparent contradiction between the Exodus account of the life of Moses and that of the author of Hebrews. Exodus tells us that when Moses became aware that news of his murder of the Egyptian had gotten out, he became afraid.

Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” – Exodus 2:14 ESV

Then it goes on to say that when Pharaoh heard about Moses’ crime, “he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian” (Exodus 2:15 ESV). Yet, the Hebrews account states, “By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king.”

Which is it? Was Moses afraid or not? Did he flee or not? The author of Hebrews, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, provides the answers. Yes, Moses was afraid, but the context tells us that his fear was based on his awareness that news of the murder had spread. His little secret was out. By the time Pharaoh heard about it, Moses had had time to think about his predicament and to reflect on what he should do. According to Hebrews 11, he had already made plans to go to Midian; not out of fear, but out of faith.

Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word for “flee” can mean “to hasten” or “to put to flight.” The Exodus passage can make it sound like Moses fled for his life out of fear of Pharaoh. But when you combine the two passages, it makes better sense that Moses was put to flight by Pharaoh. We almost immediately assume that Moses was in fear for his life. He ran because he was fearful that Pharaoh would have him captured and killed. But think about what Hebrews 11:24-25 says, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

Moses had already made the decision to extricate himself from Pharaoh’s household. But as the adopted grandson of the Pharaoh, the likelihood that he would be put to death for murder was probably slim to none. What Moses feared was having to go back to his life in the royal palace with its “fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25 ESV). Again, we read that Moses left Egypt because, “he considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward” (Hebrews 11:26 ESV).

So it was “By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king” (Hebrews 11:27a ESV). Moses didn’t leave Egypt because of Pharaoh, but because of God.

He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. – Hebrews 11:27b NLT

Moses headed to Midian, not out of fear for his life, but out of faith in God. He somehow knew that God was going to fulfill His promise to His people and restore them to the land of Canaan. He didn’t know how yet. He didn’t know when. But he believed it was just a matter of time and he was content to go to Midian and persevere until that time came. Little did Moses know that it would be 40 years before God put that part of His plan into action. And when God finally did decide to act, Moses would be surprised to discover that He was God’s choice to set the plan into motion.

The day would come when God deemed it time to redeem His people. Exodus tells us, “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew” (Exodus 2:23-25 ESV).

God knew their plight, and He knew where Moses was. He knew what Moses had been doing for the last 40 years. The flight of Moses to Midian had been part of God’s plan. Just as Moses had been kept alive in the basket made of bulrushes, He had been protected in Midian, removed from the effects of the fleeting pleasures of sin and the treasures of Egypt. During his 40 years in Midian, Moses had given up his quest to be the savior of the people of Israel. He still believed in God’s promise to redeem His people, but he had long ago given up the idea that he might play a role.

But God had other plans. He was still going to use Moses, but in a way that Moses would find surprising and a bit scary. Hebrews says that Moses “kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.” During his time in Midian, he kept trusting in God. Remember how the author described faith in verse 1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Moses had never seen God and yet he “kept his eyes” on Him. He kept believing in the reality of the One he could not see and the promises he had yet to see fulfilled. According to Hebrews 11:6, faith is required to please God and whoever wishes to draw near to God “must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

It would be safe to say that Moses sought God during his time in Midian, and the day would come when God revealed Himself to Moses.

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” – Exodus 3:1-4 ESV

Moses had a direct encounter with the unseen God. He came face to face with Yahweh, and it was a life-changing moment. Forty years after leaving Egypt, he returned, not as the grandson of Pharaoh, but as the representative of God. By faith, he had left Egypt and now he was going to be returning the same way – trusting in the promises of God Almighty.

To be directed by God requires faith in God. We must believe that He is at work in our lives in ways that we cannot see or even understand. When Moses left Egypt, he left everything behind. He was forced to begin a new life. He left looking like an Egyptian (Exodus 2:19) but upon his return, he appeared as a Hebrew prophet and the personal spokesman for God.

His 40-year exile in Midian proved to be little more than a temporary pause in the plan of God. Yahweh was watching and waiting, preparing to implement His divine redemptive plan at just the right time and using just the right person for the job: Moses.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Proof Positive

March 29, 2023March 29, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ²Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, ³along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), ⁴and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). ⁵Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. ⁶And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” ⁷Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. ⁸Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. ⁹And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” ¹²And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God. – Exodus 18:1-12 ESV

Years earlier, Moses had been forced to flee Egypt after news of his murder of an Egyptian became known to Pharaoh. With a bounty on his head, Moses sought refuge in the land of Midian, located on the easter side of the Red Sea or Gulf of Aqaba. There, he met the daughter of a man who is described as “the priest of Midian” (Exodus 2:16 ESV). This man’s name was Jethro and we know very little about him, other than what we are told in chapter 18 of Exodus. His designation as a “priest” doesn’t necessarily mean that he was a follower of Yahweh.

According to the book of Genesis, the Midianites were descendants of Abraham.

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. – Genesis 25:1-2 ESV

Abraham married Keturah after the death of Sarah. So, Jethro would have been from the line of Abraham. As such, he could have been a Yahweh worshiper, but the text does not clearly state his religious allegiance. He could just as easily have been serving as a priest to one of the many foreign deities worshiped among the nations that populated that region of the world. According to Numbers 22, the Midianites later joined forces with the Moabites in an attempt to prevent the advancement of the Israelites into their territories.

During the period of the judges, “marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys” (Judges 6:3-4 NLT). So, it would seem that there was no love affair between the Israelites and the Midianites, and it appears unlikely that they shared a common belief in Yahweh.

Yet, Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses received word above all that the God of Israel had been doing on behalf of His people. This priest was blown away by all that he heard and was anxious to see for himself if any of the rumors were true.

When Moses had answered God’s call and departed Midian to return to Egypt, he had begun the journey with Zipporah and the boys in tow. But somewhere along the way, he made the decision to send them back to live with Jethro.

Earlier, Moses had sent his wife, Zipporah, and his two sons back to Jethro, who had taken them in. – Exodus 18:2 NLT

Now, as Jethro made his plans to join Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, he decided to bring Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer with him. The small family made the trek from Midian to “the mountain of God” (Exodus 18:5 ESV). This is a reference to Mount Sinai, where Moses would later receive the Ten Commandments from God. After their victory over the Amalekites, Moses and the Israelites had made their way from Rephidim to the valley below Mount Sinai. And it was there that Jethro, Zipporah, and her sons were reunited with Moses.

Jethro was anxious to hear all about the events that had taken place in Egypt, so he sat down and listed as Moses regaled him with all the details concerning the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna, the quail, the water-producing rock, and the victory over the Amalekites. And Jethro was blown away.

Jethro was delighted when he heard about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel as he rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians. – Exodus 18:9 NLT

Once again, it is unclear whether Jethro served as a priest of Yawheh or of a false god. But as he hears Moses recount the miraculous acts of God, he cannot help but acknowledge and honor the name of Yahweh. He even discloses his belief in the superiority of Yahweh over any other gods.

“Praise the Lord,” Jethro said, “for he has rescued you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Yes, he has rescued Israel from the powerful hand of Egypt! I know now that the Lord is greater than all other gods, because he rescued his people from the oppression of the proud Egyptians.” – Exodus 18:10-11 NLT

Notice that Jethro discloses his new outlook on the God of the Israelites. It was after hearing the report from Moses that his perspective on Yahweh was radically changed. Before hearing all that happened in Egypt, Jethro seems to have believed that Yahweh was just another God among many gods. But his view of Yahweh’s superiority and sovereignty had been radically altered by the testimony of Moses.

At this point, Jethro the priest was so moved by what he heard, that he determined to present an offering to the God of Israel.

Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came out and joined him in a sacrificial meal in God’s presence. – Exodus 18:12 NLT

It is important to note that Jethro has been repeatedly referred to as “the priest of Midian,” and not “the priest of Yahweh.” It is only after hearing from Moses the “good news” concerning the actions of Yahweh, the all-powerful God of Israel, that Jethro is moved to present an offering to this far superior deity.

It seems likely that Jethro, as a descendant of Abraham, had a working understanding about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But he had no reason to believe that this God was any better than the gods of the Midianites, Amoriites, or Canaanites. Yet now, he had been persuaded to change his opinion. The God of Israel was the bigger, better God. He had no equal. And He deserved to be worshiped.

At this offertory meal, a Midianite joined an Israelite in the worship of Yahweh, the one true God. A man who represented one of the future enemies of Israel had heard the good news concerning Israel’s God and presented an offering of praise and worship. And this scene echoes the words that God has repeated throughout the opening chapters of Exodus.

“By this you shall know that I am the Lord…” – Exodus 17:7 ESV

The Unfolding Plan of God

February 22, 2023February 22, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹¹One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. ¹²He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” ¹⁴He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” ¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” ¹⁹They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” ²⁰He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” ²¹And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. ²²She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

²³During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. – Exodus 2:11-25 ESV

Moses fast-forwards this section of his biography by skipping from his infancy to his young adulthood as a member of Pharaoh’s household. As the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses enjoyed the privileges and prerogatives that came as a grandson of the most powerful man in the land of Egypt. He was raised in an atmosphere of opulence and wealth. He would have received a first-class education and had access to all the trappings that come with his royal rank.

But while it appears that Moses grew up in relative isolation as a member of the royal family, he was not ignorant of his Hebrew heritage. His mother had played a role in the early years of his life, acting as his nursemaid on behalf of Pharaoh’s daughter. It seems likely that Moses continued to have contact with his parents, Amram and Jochabed, as well as his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron. This means he would have been aware of his heritage and the conditions under which his fellow Hebrews were living as a result of his adopted grandfather’s policies.

So, Moses relates a day came when he ventured outside the walls of the royal palace in order to observe the situation among his people, the Hebrews. It is not clear if this was a first for Moses or whether he made these excursions on a regular basis. But on this particular occasion, he witnessed “an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people” (Exodus 2:11 ESV). Perhaps Moses had seen this kind of harsh treatment before and chosen to ignore it. But in this instance, he decided to take matters into his own hands and teach the offending Egyptian a lesson he would not soon forget.

Moses killed the man and buried his body in the sand, and the only witness was the Hebrew whose life he had protected. But somehow, word got out. The very next day, Moses attempted to insert himself in the middle of a confrontation between two Hebrews, but they did not appreciate his interference in their affair.

“Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?” – Exodus 2:14 NLT

Suddenly, Moses realized that his little secret from the day before was anything but secret. This thought petrified and rightfully so, because Pharaoh got wind of Moses’ little stunt playing judge, jury, and executioner and was livid. His grandfather had no love affair with the Hebrews and when he heard that his adopted Hebrew grandson had taken the life of an Egyptian, he was livid. So much so, that he put a bounty on Moses’ head.

So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he settled by a certain well. – Exodus 2:15 NLT

Moses fled for his life. It appears that he took no time to say goodbye to his adoptive mother or his biological parents and siblings. He simply ran and he didn’t stop until he got all the way to Midian. This proved to be quite a trek and it covered territory that would become very familiar to Moses in the days ahead. To get to Midian, Moses had to cross the Sinai Peninsula, a path that would take him through the wilderness of Shur, Paran, and, possibly Sin. It would have been a long and arduous journey, made even more difficult by the knowledge that Pharaoh could have sent a posse in hot pursuit of his runaway grandson/murderer.

At this point in the narrative, it is important to consider how the author of the book of Hebrews describes Moses’ flight to Midian. In chapter 11 of his book, the author includes Moses in his “hall of faith,” a compilation of Old Testament characters whose lives exhibited faith in God. Of Moses, he writes:

By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward. By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. – Hebrews 11:24-27 NLT

This gives a whole new perspective on what was going on behind the scenes and within Moses’ heart during this critical period of his young life. According to the author of Hebrews, Moses had long ago made the conscious decision to reject his royal status and embrace his true ethnic roots. He had heard about Jehovah, the God of his people, from his mother, and he had embraced the promises of God that made been passed down from Abraham all the way to Jacob. The author of Hebrews suggests that Moses knew about all the promises concerning the land of Canaan. He knew that Egypt was just a temporary holding place for the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob. Moses was aware of the promise that Jehovah had made to Abraham.

“You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.” – Genesis 15:13-14 NLT

And Moses had been willing to jeopardize his standing in the royal court in order to align himself with the much-maligned and hated Hebrews. They were his people and he was willing to give up his status, wealth, and life of privilege in order to secure the better future God had in store for them. It even states that he “left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger” (Hebrews 11:17 NLT). He didn’t leave Egypt in a state of fear, but in a state of hopeful anticipation that God was going to do something for his people. He had no idea what the future had in store, but he was willing to give up all he had to be part of whatever God was going to do.

Moses eventually arrived in Midian, where he came into contact with seven daughters of the priest of Midian. These people were descendants of Abraham through Keturah, the wife he took after the death of Sarah. So, they were blood relatives of Moses. And in this distant land, Moses would meet his wife and settle down to a much different life than the one he led back in Egypt.

God was preparing Moses for something significant, but this young exile from Egypt was unaware of all that God had in store for him in the days ahead. And while Moses was settling into his new life in Midian, God was busy orchestrating things back in Egypt.

During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God. God heard their groaning; God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God understood. – Exodus 2:23-25 NLT

Moses was living in relative peace and security, oblivious to the conditions his family back in Egypt was having to endure. The persecution of the Hebrews had only increased in intensity. A new Pharaoh on the throne did not bring about any change in their conditions. Moses could not hear their cries, but God was listening and watching, and He had a plan in place that was going to radically alter their lives forever. And soon, Moses would know the role he was going play in God’s grand redemptive plan for the people of Israel.

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

Midian

Faith Rather Than Fear

Proof Positive

The Unfolding Plan of God