This week we will be exploring Exodus 2 together, Crying Out for Redemption.
Most of us are familiar with the story of Moses. We have either seen Charlton Heston in the Ten Commandments or the animated The Prince of Egypt or one of the more recent adaptations of Moses' life.
But surprisingly, as important as Moses is in the history of Israel (and in the history of the world), the Bible only spends 22 verses describing the first 80 years of his life. Wow, that is quite a summary! In the Hebrew language, it is only 300 words. That's about five tweets in the X world.
Though the Bible doesn't give us a ton of the "back story" of Moses' life, it certainly tells us enough.
We learn that he was born in the midst of a genocide, that he had godly, courageous parents, that he was providentially protected and raised in Pharaoh's court, that he was a natural leader and "righter of wrongs," and that he was a fugitive from Egypt who eventually ended up being a family man in Midian.
That in itself is quite a story!
But the Bible doesn't focus on Moses' life because ultimately he is not the hero of the story. Moses, though a natural leader, was also a flawed, impulsive, rejected runaway from trouble. He tried his hand at being a deliverer of his people and it simply did not work. He was a failed leader. He was a defeated man.
But God is going to use this defeated man for the greatest victory in Israel's history.
It is not the man. It is God working through the man that makes all the difference.
May God encourage our hearts as we study the first 80 years of Moses' life and may we be reminded that ultimately it is His power, not our own, that leads to victory and freedom.
A Bible study guide is available, walking step-by-step, verse-by-verse, through Exodus 1-13. Pick up a study guide on Sunday ($5 donation) and join us for this journey!