Daily Scripture
Exodus 1:22-2:10
22 Then Pharaoh gave an order to all his people: “Throw every baby boy born to the Hebrews into the Nile River, but you can let all the girls live.”
2:1 Now a man from Levi’s household married a Levite woman. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that the baby was healthy and beautiful, so she hid him for three months. 3 When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she took a reed basket and sealed it up with black tar. She put the child in the basket and set the basket among the reeds at the riverbank. 4 The baby’s older sister stood watch nearby to see what would happen to him.
5 Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, while her women servants walked along beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds, and she sent one of her servants to bring it to her. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. The boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children.”
7 Then the baby’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Would you like me to go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
8 Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, “Yes, do that.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I’ll pay you for your work.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 After the child had grown up, she brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I pulled him out of the water.”
Exodus 2:23-3:10
23 A long time passed, and the Egyptian king died. The Israelites were still groaning because of their hard work. They cried out, and their cry to be rescued from the hard work rose up to God. 24 God heard their cry of grief, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God looked at the Israelites, and God understood.
3:1 Moses was taking care of the flock for his father-in-law Jethro, Midian’s priest. He led his flock out to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s mountain called Horeb. 2 The LORD’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was in flames, but it didn’t burn up. 3 Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn’t burning up.
4 When the LORD saw that he was coming to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
Moses said, “I’m here.”
5 Then the LORD said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” 6 He continued, “I am the God of your father, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the LORD said, “I’ve clearly seen my people oppressed in Egypt. I’ve heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters. I know about their pain. 8 I’ve come down to rescue them from the Egyptians in order to take them out of that land and bring them to a good and broad land, a land that’s full of milk and honey, a place where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites all live. 9 Now the Israelites’ cries of injustice have reached me. I’ve seen just how much the Egyptians have oppressed them. 10 So get going. I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
Reflection Questions
Afraid of foreigners, Egypt’s ruler ordered a genocidal plan to kill all Hebrew male babies. Moses’ mother found a way to save her son’s life, even if it meant nursing him and letting an Egyptian princess raise him. Grown up, Moses had to flee Egypt. He stayed “a long time” in Midian, with a steady, safe (if unexciting) job tending his father-in-law’s sheep. But one fateful day God began a major new chapter, calling to Moses in a burning bush that didn’t burn up.
- Moses played a pivotal role in the Bible story. God worked through him as the human instrument to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt. How vital were his mother’s (and sister’s) courage and creativity in saving him to be available for God’s purposes? In what ways do you see God’s power at work in your own life, past and present? How can God work above, beyond and even through difficult, discouraging circumstances?
- “God looked at the Israelites, and God understood” (Exodus 2:25). But God knew all along that Pharaoh was hurting his people. Peter later wrote about God’s mysterious timing: “With the Lord a single day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise” (2 Peter 3:8-9). Can you trust that God knows about any issues you face? How can you learn to trust God even when help seems to take a long time to arrive?
Prayer
Lord God, sometimes when I’m in a hurry, you do not seem to be. Teach me to trust in your eternal love, even when it is hard for me to understand your eternal patience. Amen.
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