Moses
– Freeing
Yourself to Know God
·
A
prophet like no others (Deut. 34:10)
·
An
amazing relationship with God (Exod. 33:11; Exod. 34:29)
·
A
great leader, perhaps the greatest influence in the Bible other than Christ. He
knew elation, he knew frustration. He prayed for his flock. He had his own
Bethel experience at the burning bush
·
Driven
to Egypt by famine, Jacob and his family stayed, and became a nation of over 2
million
·
This
rapid growth threatened the Pharaohs, who tried to control this expanding
people (1:9,10)
·
Pharaoh
tried to control the Israelites by controlling their population growth. Pharaoh
worried they would grow numerous and ally with Egypt's enemies. This led to
slavery… (1:11-14) The "bitter" experience was commemorated during
the Passover (Exod. 12:8)
·
The
next step involved murdering the male infants (1:16) When faithful midwives
opposed this (1:18-21), Pharaoh ordered male infants to be thrown into the Nile
(1:22)
·
God
rewarded the midwives and their courage. This is another opportunity to ask the
question 'Is it ever OK to be dishonest?'
·
This
is the world in which Moses' parents lived. It was also a pagan world (Josh.
24:14, Sinai), but apparently Moses' parents remained true to God (Heb. 11:23)
·
The
physical act of letting Moses go is such a picture of true faith (2:3). The
word for 'basket' in verse 3 is the same as the word for 'ark' in Gen. 6:14!
·
Ironic
that Moses was placed in the very river that meant death for so many infants
(2:3)
·
Do
you think Moses' parents planned to have Pharaoh's daughter find Moses? (see
2:4) Who else could protect Moses from Pharaoh's edict?
·
Another
"coincidence" that Miriam offered to get a Hebrew woman to nurse
Moses, and so Moses was returned to his mother for a time, now safe and
protected. She was even paid to mother her own child! (2:9)
#1) Parents living in today's
world must be alert to the dangers in our own society that threaten our
children
#2) Parents must guard their own
hearts and lives against the sinful influences that permeate our culture
#3) Parents must take a
biblical, proactive approach to protect their children from sinful influences
For
next week read Acts 7:20-22; Hebrews 11:24-26
(Outlines are available at
http://www.jeffkouba.com/SundaySchool/)
