Friday, February 12, 2010

The Promise Perfected - Part 2

God heard the cries of the Israelites as the spent over 400 years in Egypt. Life had started pretty good with Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Israel, in high favor with the King of Egypt. But Joseph had passed away and a new Pharaoh arose who did not know about Joseph and the Israelites were oppressed, being forced into slave labor. The fear of the Egyptians rose to the point that Pharaoh gave the order to have every boy born to the nation of Israel to be killed by throwing them in the Nile river.

Into this dark time of Israel's history, God sent a deliverer. To the house of Levi, one of Israel's 12 sons, a baby was born. And due to the decree by Pharaoh, the baby at three months old was put into a basket-boat and placed floating in the Nile. The baby boy's sister wast instructed to watch from a distance.

By God's design, the daughter of Pharaoh went down to the Nile to bathe and she spotted the basket among the river reeds and sent her slaves to retrieve it. Opening it and seeing the baby crying, she felt compassion for him and took him in as her son. The baby's sister appeared out of her hiding place and volunteered to find a woman to nurse the baby (which happened to be his own mother). So, Pharaoh's daughter offered compensation to the baby's mother in order for her to care for her own baby! Pharaoh's daughter named the baby "Moses" meaning "drawn out of the water." God protected Moses, blessed him and planned to use him to respond to the suffering of His people, Israel.

Moses would grow up in the courts of Pharaoh yet knowing all along that he was different. He would also soon learn that his life would be intricately linked to the slave nation known in Egypt as Israel.

Next, the Promise Perfected, part 3: The calling and setting apart of Moses for the task...

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