Well, firstly, it is important to note that when Moses is born, the situation for God's people is looking pretty bleak! Out of the promises God made to Abraham, it seems that the only one to have been even partly fulfilled is that they are very numerous - despite Pharaoh's best efforts to the contrary! They don't seem particularly blessed, they don't have their own land or their own king and, other than being of benefit to the Egyptian economy, they don't seem to have been much of a blessing to the other nations either. However, the most important promise is still firmly intact - GOD IS STILL THEIR GOD - and so, into this situation, God again makes a call!
And God also makes another seemingly ridiculous promise, for he promises that the people will be released from slavery. Now often we don’t appreciate the sheer ridiculousness of this promise, but the release of the Hebrews did not seem likely to say the least! You see, the Hebrew slaves were underpinning the whole of the Egyptian economy – (much as underpaid labour from overseas underpins Western prosperity today, which is a huge challenge that we, as Christians, need to put some serious thought, prayer and action into). In fact, such was the extent of their contribution to the Egyptian economy that I have heard one person liken Moses and Aaron walking into Pharaoh’s office and demanding their release to someone today marching up to the Prime Minister and demanding that he rid England of the car! (Which perhaps explains why God only told Moses to ask for a 3-day trip to make a sacrifice rather than asking if they could leave for good?!)
Further, within Moses' birth and call, we see that God prepares Moses both practically and in terms of his character. I was struck by this when I watched the Prince of Egypt and began to realise how much Moses' upbringing made him uniquely equipped for the task that God had for him, in that he would have been familiar with both Egyptian and Hebrew culture and he would have had strong connections with Pharaoh's administration - which was probably what enabled him to get a hearing in the first place. However, Moses' character also needed to be up to speed and so it is that 40 years after Moses had tried to extract revenge on the Egyptians under his own steam - when he is in a far off country trying to forget the sorrows of his youth and humble enough to be useful to God - it is then that God calls him!
Further, within Moses' birth and call, we see that God prepares Moses both practically and in terms of his character. I was struck by this when I watched the Prince of Egypt and began to realise how much Moses' upbringing made him uniquely equipped for the task that God had for him, in that he would have been familiar with both Egyptian and Hebrew culture and he would have had strong connections with Pharaoh's administration - which was probably what enabled him to get a hearing in the first place. However, Moses' character also needed to be up to speed and so it is that 40 years after Moses had tried to extract revenge on the Egyptians under his own steam - when he is in a far off country trying to forget the sorrows of his youth and humble enough to be useful to God - it is then that God calls him!
No comments:
Post a Comment