Picture: Moses, the Leader of God’s People 1TC 156.1
This chapter is based on Exodus 1 to 4.
In recognition of the service that Joseph had given to the Egyptian nation, the children of Jacob were granted a part of the country as a home, were not required to pay taxes, and were generously supplied with food during the famine. The king publicly acknowledged that it was through the God of Joseph that Egypt enjoyed plenty while other nations were dying from famine. He saw, too, that Joseph’s management had greatly enriched the kingdom, and his gratitude surrounded the family of Jacob with royal favor. 1TC 156.2
But as time rolled on, the great man to whom Egypt owed so much passed to the grave, and “there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” Not that he was ignorant of Joseph’s services to the nation, but he did not want to recognize them. As far as possible, he wanted them to be forgotten. “And he said to his people, ‘Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.’” 1TC 157.1
The Israelites already “were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.” But they had kept themselves a distinct race, having nothing in common with the Egyptians in customs or religion, and their increasing numbers now fueled the fears of the king and his people. 1TC 157.2
Many of them were able and skilled workmen, and they greatly added to the wealth of the nation. The king needed such workers in erecting his magnificent palaces and temples. So he ranked them with Egyptians who had sold themselves and their possessions to the kingdom. Soon taskmasters were set over them, and their slavery became complete. “The Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field.” “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” 1TC 157.3
The king and his counselors had hoped to subdue the Israelites with hard labor, decrease their numbers, and crush their independent spirit. Orders were now issued to the women whose jobs gave them opportunity, to destroy the male Hebrew children at their birth. Satan knew that a deliverer was to come from among the Israelites, and by leading the king to destroy their children he hoped to defeat the divine plan. But the women feared God and did not dare to carry out the cruel command. 1TC 157.4
The king, angry at the failure of his plot, made the orders more urgent and extensive. “Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ‘Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.’” 1TC 157.5
While this command was in full force, a baby boy was born to Amram and Jochebed, Israelites of the tribe of Levi. The parents, believing that the time for Israel to be set free was drawing near and that God would raise up a deliverer for His people, determined that their little one should not be sacrificed. Faith in God strengthened their hearts, “and they were not afraid of the king’s command” (Hebrews 11:23). 1TC 158.1
The mother hid the child for three months, then finding that she could no longer keep him safely, she prepared a little boat of rushes, making it watertight by using asphalt and pitch. Laying her baby in the little boat, she placed it among the reeds at the river’s edge. His sister Miriam lingered near, anxiously watching to see what would become of her little brother. 1TC 158.2
And there were other watchers. The mother had committed her child to the care of God, and unseen angels hovered above his humble resting place. Angels directed Pharaoh’s daughter to that spot. The little basket aroused her curiosity, and as she looked at the beautiful child within, his tears awakened her compassion; her sympathies went out to the unknown mother who had tried to preserve her precious little one in this way. She determined that he would be saved—she would adopt him as her own. 1TC 158.3
Miriam, seeing that the child was being received tenderly, dared to go closer, and at last said, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?” Permission was given. 1TC 158.4
The sister hurried to her mother with the happy news and quickly returned with her to Pharaoh’s daughter. “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages,” said the princess. 1TC 158.5
God had heard the mother’s prayer. With deep gratitude she took up her now safe and happy task of educating her child for God. She knew that she must soon give him up to his royal “mother,” to be surrounded with influences that would tend to lead him away from God. She worked to instill in his mind the fear of God and the love of truth and justice. She showed him the foolishness and sin of idolatry and taught him from his early childhood to bow down and pray to the living God, who alone could hear him and help him in every emergency. 1TC 159.1
She kept the boy as long as she could but had to give him up when he was about twelve years old. From his humble cabin home he was taken to the royal palace, to the daughter of Pharaoh, “and he became her son.” Yet even here he could not forget the lessons learned at his mother’s side. They kept him from the pride, the unbelief, and the vice that flourished in the splendor of the court. 1TC 159.2
The whole future life of Moses, the great mission that he fulfilled as the leader of Israel, testifies to the importance of a mother’s work. No other work can equal this. The mother is dealing with developing minds and characters, working not just for time but for eternity. She is sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit, either for good or for evil. Her work is not to paint a figure of beauty on canvas or to chisel it from marble, but to impress upon a human soul the image of the divine. The impressions made on developing minds will remain all through life. Children are placed in our care to be trained, not as heirs to the throne of an earthly empire, but as kings and queens to God, to reign through unending ages. 1TC 159.3
In the judgment day it will be found that many crimes have resulted from the ignorance and neglect of those whose duty it was to guide children in the right way. Then it will be found that many who have blessed the world with the light of genius and truth and holiness owe their success to a praying mother. 1TC 159.4
At the court of Pharaoh, Moses received the highest civil and military training. The monarch determined to make his adopted grandson his successor on the throne, and young Moses was educated for this high position. “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). His ability as a military leader made him a favorite with the armies of Egypt, and he was generally thought of as an outstanding person. Satan’s purpose had been defeated. The very decree condemning the Hebrew children to death had been overruled by God for the training of His people’s future leader. 1TC 159.5
Angels taught the elders of Israel that the time for them to be set free was near and that Moses was the man God would use. Angels also told Moses that Jehovah had chosen him to break the bondage of His people. Moses thought that they were to obtain their freedom in battle, and he expected to lead the Hebrews against the armies of Egypt. 1TC 160.1
By the laws of Egypt, all who occupied the throne of the Pharaohs must become members of the priestly caste. Moses, as the heir apparent, was to be inducted into the mysteries of the national religion. But he could not be persuaded to participate in the worship of the gods. He was threatened with the loss of the crown and warned that he would be disowned by the princess if he persisted in the Hebrew faith. But he was unshaken in his determination to worship none but the one God, the Maker of heaven and earth. He reasoned with priests and worshipers, showing the foolishness of their superstitious reverence for senseless objects. For a while his firmness was tolerated because of his high position and the favor with which both the king and the people regarded him. 1TC 160.2
“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26). Moses was prepared to take first place among the great people of the earth, to shine in the courts of its most glorious kingdom, and to wield its scepter of power. As historian, poet, philosopher, general of armies, and legislator, he stands without an equal. Yet with the world before him, he had the moral strength to refuse wealth, greatness, and fame, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God.” 1TC 160.3
The magnificent palace of Pharaoh and the throne were held out as an enticement to Moses; but he knew that in its lordly courts were the sinful pleasures that make people forget God. He looked beyond the palace, beyond a monarch’s crown, to the high honors that the saints of the Most High will receive in a kingdom untainted by sin. By faith he saw an everlasting crown that the King of heaven would place on the head of the overcomer. This faith led him to join the humble, poor, despised nation that had chosen to obey God rather than to serve sin. 1TC 161.1
Moses remained at the royal court until he was forty years old. He visited his fellow Israelites in their slavery and encouraged them with the assurance that God would work for their deliverance. One day, seeing an Egyptian beating an Israelite, he sprang forward and killed the Egyptian. Other than the Israelite, no one had witnessed the deed, and Moses immediately buried the body in the sand. He had now shown himself ready to take up the cause of his people, and he hoped to see them rise to recover their liberty. “He supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand” (Acts 7:25). They were not yet prepared for freedom. 1TC 161.2
The next day Moses saw two Hebrews fighting together, one of them evidently at fault. Moses reproved the offender, who at once retaliated on him, saying that he had no right to interfere, and rudely accusing him of a crime: “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” he said. “Do you intend to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?” 1TC 161.3
The whole matter soon reached the ears of Pharaoh. The king was told that this act was full of meaning, and that Moses planned to lead his people against the Egyptians, to overthrow the government, and to seat himself on the throne. The monarch at once determined that he should die, but Moses became aware of his danger and fled toward Arabia. 1TC 161.4
The Lord directed his journey, and he found a home with Jethro, the priest and prince of Midian, who was a worshiper of God. After a time Moses married one of Jethro’s daughters, and he remained there for forty years as keeper of Jethro’s flocks. 1TC 162.1
It was not God’s will to deliver His people by warfare, as Moses thought, but by His own mighty power, so that the glory might be given to Him alone. Moses was not prepared for his great work. He still had to learn the same lesson of faith that Abraham and Jacob had been taught—not to rely on human strength or wisdom but on the power of God to fulfill His promises. In the school of self-denial and hardship he was to learn patience, to control his passions. His own heart must be fully in harmony with God before he could teach the knowledge of His will to Israel and exercise a fatherly care over all who needed his help. 1TC 162.2
In Egypt Moses had learned much that he must unlearn. The influences that had surrounded him had left deep impressions on his developing mind and to some extent had molded his habits and character. Time could remove these impressions. It would require a life-and-death kind of struggle for Moses to renounce error and accept truth, but God would be his helper when the conflict would be too severe for human strength. 1TC 162.3
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). But God will not give people divine light while they are content to remain in darkness. In order to receive God’s help, they must realize their weakness and need, they must apply their own minds to the great change God wants to work in them, and they must be moved to earnest, steady prayer and effort. 1TC 162.4
Shut in by the high mountain walls, Moses was alone with God. In the solemn grandeur of the everlasting hills he saw the majesty of the Most High, and in contrast he realized how power less the gods of Egypt were. Here his pride and self-sufficiency were swept away. The results of Egypt’s luxury disappeared. Moses became patient, reverent, and “very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3), yet strong in faith. 1TC 162.5
As the years rolled on, he prayed for Israel during the day and night. Here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the book of Genesis. The long years spent in the desert solitude have richly blessed the world in all ages. 1TC 163.1
“In the process of time ... the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God. ... And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.” The time for deliverance had come. 1TC 163.2
God would accomplish His plan in a way to pour contempt on human pride. The deliverer was to go forward as a humble shepherd, with only a rod in his hand, but God would make that rod the symbol of His power. 1TC 163.3
Leading his flocks one day near Horeb, “the mountain of God,” Moses saw a bush in flames, but not burning up. When he came closer, a voice from out of the flame called him by name. With trembling lips he answered, “‘Here I am.’” He was warned not to approach irreverently: “‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. ... I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.” 1TC 163.4
As Moses waited in awe before God, the words continued: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey. ... Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 1TC 163.5
Amazed and terrified, Moses stepped back, saying, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 1TC 164.1
Moses thought of the blindness, ignorance, and unbelief of his people. Many knew almost nothing about God. “Indeed,” he said, when I ... say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” The answer was, “I AM WHO I AM. ... ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 1TC 164.2
God commanded Moses to first assemble the elders of Israel, who had been mourning for a long time because of their slavery, and to declare to them a message from Him. Then he was to go before the king and say, “The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.” 1TC 164.3
Moses was warned ahead of time that Pharaoh would resist the appeal, yet the courage of God’s servant must not fail. The Lord would show His power. “I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go.” 1TC 164.4
The Lord declared, “It shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing.” The Egyptians had become rich by the labor unfairly required from the Israelites, and it was right for the Israelites to claim the reward of their years of work. God would help them as they approached the Egyptians for payment, and the requests of the slaves would be granted. 1TC 164.5
What proof could Moses give his people that God had indeed sent him? “But suppose,” he said, “they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” He was told to throw his rod on the ground, and as he did so, “it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.” He was commanded to grab it, and in his hand it became a rod. He was told to put his hand onto his chest. He obeyed, and “when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow.” Being told to put it again onto his chest, he found when he pulled it out that it had become like the other. By these signs his own people, as well as Pharaoh, would be convinced that One mightier than the king of Egypt was certainly among them. 1TC 164.6
But in his distress and fear the servant of God now pleaded as an excuse a lack of speaking ability: “O my Lord, I am not eloquent. ... I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” He had been away from the Egyptians so long that he could not speak their language as easily as when he was among them. 1TC 165.1
Moses asked that a more competent person be chosen, but after the Lord had promised to remove all difficulties and give him final success, any further complaining about his unfitness showed distrust of God. It implied a fear that God was unable to qualify him or that He had made a mistake in His choice of the man. 1TC 165.2
Aaron, his older brother, and been speaking the language of the Egyptians every day, and he was able to speak it perfectly. God told Moses that Aaron was coming to meet him, and the next words from the Lord were an unqualified command. 1TC 165.3
“You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. ... So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.” Moses could no longer resist, for all ground for excuse was removed. 1TC 165.4
Having once accepted the work, Moses entered into it with his whole heart, putting all his trust in the Lord. God blessed his prompt obedience, and he became eloquent, hopeful, confident, and well prepared for the greatest work ever given to a human being. 1TC 165.5
A person will gain power and efficiency by accepting the responsibilities that God places on him or her. However humble the position or how limited one’s ability, the person who seeks to perform the work faithfully will attain true greatness. Feeling one’s weakness is at least some evidence of recognition that the appointed work is great, and such a person will make God his counselor and strength. 1TC 165.6
Moses secretly dreaded Pharaoh and the Egyptians, whose anger had been kindled against him forty years before, and this made him reluctant to return to Egypt. But after he had set out to obey the divine command, the Lord revealed to him that his enemies were dead. 1TC 166.1
On the way from Midian, an angel appeared to Moses in a threatening manner, as if to destroy him. No explanation was given, but Moses remembered that he had disregarded one of God’s requirements. He had neglected to perform the rite of circumcision on their youngest son. Such a neglect on the part of Israel’s chosen leader would certainly lessen the force of God’s instructions on the people. Zipporah, fearing that her husband would be killed, performed the rite herself, and the angel then permitted Moses to continue on his journey. His life could be preserved only through the protection of holy angels, but while he continued to neglect a known duty, he would not be secure, for he could not be shielded by the angels of God. 1TC 166.2
In the time of trouble just before the coming of Christ, the righteous will be preserved through the intervention of angels, but there will be no security for the person who breaks God’s law. Angels cannot protect those who are disregarding any of the divine commandments. 1TC 166.3
