Exodus 2

Exodus 2:1

II. THE BIRTH, RESCUE, AND TRAINING OF MOSES (Chap. 2)2:1, 2 The man of the house of Levi in verse 1 was Amram, and the daughter of Levi was Jochebed (Exo_6:20). Thus both of Moses’ parents were of the priestly tribe of Levi. By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months (Heb_11:23). This must mean that they received some revelation that he was a child of destiny, because faith must be based on some revealed word of God. 2:3-8 Jochebed’s ark, like Noah’s, is a picture of Christ. Moses’ sister was Miriam (Num_26:59). This chapter is full of seeming coincidences. For example, why did Pharaoh’s daughter happen to bathe right where the ark was floating? Why did the baby happen to cry and thus draw out her compassion? Why was Moses’ mother accepted by Pharaoh’s daughter as his nurse? 2:9, 10 Christian parents should take the words of verse 9 as a sacred charge and an unfailing promise. In Egyptian, “Moses,” the name given by Pharaoh’s daughter, probably means child or son. In Hebrew the same name means drawn outi.e., drawn out of the water. Mackintosh remarks with his usual insight: The devil was foiled by his own weapon, inasmuch as Pharaoh, whom he was using to frustrate the purpose of God, is used of God to nourish and bring up Moses, who was to be His instrument in confounding the power of Satan. 2:11, 12 We know from Act_7:23 that Moses was forty years old when he visited his own people. His killing the Egyptian was ill-advised; his zeal outran his discretion. God would one day use Moses to deliver his people from the Egyptians, but the time had not yet come. First he must spend forty years on the back side of the desert, learning in the school of God. God had predicted that His people would be in the land of Egypt as slaves for 400 years (Gen_15:13), so Moses’ actions were forty years premature. He needed more training in the solitude of the desert. And the people needed more training in the brickkiln. The Lord orders all things according to His infinite wisdom. He is not in a hurry, but neither will He leave His people in affliction one moment longer than necessary. 2:13-15a When he went out the second day Moses tried to break up a fight between two Hebrew men, but they rejected his leadership, as the Hebrews were later to reject One greater than Moses. When he found out they knew he had killed the Egyptian, Moses panicked. When Pharoah heard about the killing, he sought to kill Moses, so Moses fled to the land of Midianthat is, Arabia or the Sinai area. 2:15b-22 At a well in Midian, Moses helped the seven daughters of the priest of Midian against some surly shepherds, and watered their flocks. This priest of Midian is given two namesJethro (Exo_3:1) and Reuel (v. 18), which is the same as Raguel (Num_10:29; NKJV marg.; LXX). The Midianites were distant relatives of the Hebrews (Gen_25:2). Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah, became Moses’ wife, and a son, . . . Gershom (meaning stranger there), was born to them. 2:23-25 God was not oblivious to the plight of His people. When a new king ascended to the throne, God heard and remembered and looked upon the children of Israel and acknowledged their condition. His response was to bring His servant back to Egypt (chap. 3) to lead His people out of that land in the mightiest display of power since the creation of the world.