Let us turn again to God's words
and turning now to the second chapter there in the book of
Exodus. In Exodus chapter 2 we read the chapter but I'll
read part again from verse 7. Upon Pharaoh's daughter discovering
the little ark with the babe Moses in the ark. Verse 7 in
Exodus 2, Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall
I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may
nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to
her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. And
Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, take this child away and
nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman
took the child and nursed it, and the child grew. And she brought
him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became a son. And she
called his name Moses, and she said, because I drew him out
of the water. want us to consider then the
birth of Moses the birth of Moses and in particular for our text
these words in verse 10 the end of verse 10 and she called his
name Moses and she said because I drew him out of the water we
were considering the context this morning in that opening
chapter, how God sowed doubt with the children of Israel,
the mystery of God's ways, the persecutions of their enemies,
how the Egyptians afflicted them, and yet the more they were afflicted,
the more they multiplied. We looked at those words in verse
12 of chapter 1. The more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. And they, that is the Egyptians,
were grieved because of the children of Israel. And as I said then,
really the opening part of the book is dealing with the early
years, the early life of this remarkable man Moses. later he's
spoken of as the meekest man in the earth but here we have
his birth and those events surrounding his birth and I want tonight
to divide what I say into some three parts first of all to consider
the timing of God how that we see all things so sovereignly
appointed by him and then secondly to say something with the trying
of the faith of the people of God and then finally to see what
we can discern of the Lord Jesus. We have a type of the Lord Jesus
in many ways. First of all though the timing
of God. We saw how the chapter opens
with the reference to the parents of Moses. There went a man of
the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi and the
woman conceived and bear a son. All of this of course was predetermined,
all of this was predestinated. Doesn't the preacher, the wise
man in the book of Ecclesiastes tell us, to everything there
is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time
to be born and a time to die. And what we have here is that
time that God had foreordained when Moses was to be born. We so often sing those words
of John Ryland His decree who formed the earth, fixed my first
and second birth, parents, native place and time, all appointed
were by Him." Here we see then that God's eternal purpose is
being worked out. And what a time it was. Two things
I want us to observe with regards to the time. These certainly
were perplexing times. These were dangerous days with
regards to the children of Israel, the people of the Hebrews. These
were such uncertain times. Now, as I said, we observed something
of this this morning. the perversity of the wicked. Those words at the end of the
verse 12 in chapter 1, how Pharaoh and his people were grieved because
of the children of Israel. And though Pharaoh seeks to vent
his anger upon these people, who are so fruitful, they are
multiplying in his midst. Remember the strength of the
language there in verse 7 of that opening chapter. He remarked
on the pregnancy of the multitude of
words that are being used to show how these people were greatly
increasing. The children of Israel were fruitful,
It says, "...and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding
mighty, and the land was filled with them." How the words are
so brought together, the one word on top of the other word,
just to convey to us something of the remarkable increase of
this people. And how Pharaoh is fearful. He speaks of dealing wisely with
them. there in verse 10 of that chapter.
They say multiply and he comes to pass that when they fall without
any war they join also unto our enemies and fight against us.
And so get them up out of the land. And in the midst of the
land there are multitudes of them but he doesn't want to be
free of them. Oh no, they're serving him. They're building
these treasure cities as we see there in the 11th verse of that
opening chapter. So what does he do? He deals
with them in a very cruel and wicked fashion. The burdens that
are now being laid upon them. Verse 11, they did set over them
taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. Oh, they're a
burden people. And verse 13, the Egyptians made
the children of Israel to serve, it says, with rigor. They were
brought really into bondage. They are being treated now as
slaves. They had gone amongst the Egyptians,
those 70 souls mentioned at the beginning there in verse 5. The 70 souls that came out of
the loins of Jacob They found a place of refuge there in Goshen. They were strangers in the land
but they were treated kindly when Pharaoh had appointed that
particular Pharaoh who had appointed Joseph to such a preeminent position. But you see there's a new king
over Egypt, he knows nothing of Joseph. And so instead of
being treated properly as strangers, refugees in the midst of the
land, now they're treated as slaves. Or they're in terrible
bondage. Verse 14, they made their lives
bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and in all manner
of service in the field. All their service wherein they
made them serve was with rigor, it says, burdens, bondage, and
then blood. Infanticides, the killing of
all the sons that are born to the Hebrews, how the king had
spoken to the Hebrew midwives, When you do your office, he says,
to the Hebrew women, and sit him upon the stools, he will
be a son, then you shall kill him. But these women are God-fearers,
and they don't do the things that the king requires of them. So what does he do? He charges
all his people at the end of chapter 1, saying, Every son
that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter
ye shall save alive. These are the days, this is the
time wherein we read of the conception and the birth of this child called
Moses. There went a man of the house
of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi and the woman conceived
and bear a son. Now we know that there was also
a sister there was an older child he had a sister called Miriam
when his mother hides him in a little ark down in the river
by the bulrushes his sister stood afar off to wit what would be
done to him And she's a very wise girl. When Pharaoh's daughter
discovers the child and has compassion upon him, she comes forward very
quickly, verse 7, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the
Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for thee? There is
then an older sister, and we know subsequently that she was
called Miriam. And there was also a brother.
An older brother again, in fact, we're told he was some four years
older than Moses. In chapter 7, verse 7, Moses
was four score years old, 80 years old, and Aaron four score
and three years old when they spake unto Pharaoh. He's three
years older than his little brother who has just been born. Obviously Aaron had been born
before Pharaoh had acted as we are told there at the end of
chapter 1. So he was safe. He was safe. It's interesting and I did remark
on this this morning. You see, he's 80 years old, Moses,
when he first goes before Pharaoh. And we can divide his life quite
easily into three sections, and we see it most strikingly in
the language of Stephen, there in the seventh chapter of the
Acts. In Acts chapter 7, where Stephen gives his great, his
noble defense before his martyr, stoned to death because of his
faith in Christ, and he recounts something of the history of the
children of Israel and he says there verse 23 concerning Moses
when he was 40 years old it came into his heart to visit his brethren
the children of Israel and seeing one of them suffer wrongly defended
him and avenged him that was oppressed and smoked the Egyptians
so he is 40 years Most of those years he would have been in the
court of the Pharaoh. He was raised in all the wisdom
of Egypt. Now that was part of his preparation.
And then you see when he defends this fellow Hebrew and it's discovered
he flees. And he goes into the land of
Midian. And we read the account there
in Exodus chapter 2. And then we're told, or Stephen
says here in Acts 7.30, when 40 years were expired, there
appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the
Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. And when Moses saw it, he wandered
at the sight. So he's 40 years in the backside
of the desert, caring for the sheep of his father-in-law. He's 80 years old when he comes
to do his life's work really, to
be the deliverer of the children of Israel and we know from what
we're told at the end of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 34 and verse 7 that
at the end of his life he was 120 years old 120 years old he
brings them out of Egypt but they're wandering 40 years in
the wilderness and then he never enters into the promised land
as we said this morning but he he sees the land that God had
promised to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob but all God's God's
perfect timing concerning the Lord Jesus we're told when the
fullness of the time was come God sent forth his Son and it
is so also with this man Moses and it's so with every person
that is born into this world a time to be born and that time
all under the hand of a God who is sovereign and that sovereignty
reaches to every minute detail of the lives of men and women
here in this world. This is the God that we have
to do with. All but what perplexing times. What perplexing times. And yet, also it is that perfect
time. It is that perfect time. because
all of the works of God are perfect. His work of creation, He looks
upon it and He pronounces it very good. But it's not just
the work of creation, the work of providence is very good. The
work of grace is very good. All the works of God. Too wise
to be mistaken, hey, too good to be unkind, this was a perfect
time. God had prospered the children
of Israel, that's what we really were considering this morning.
There in verse 12 in chapter 1, the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. How strange it is. I like the comment of Matthew
Henry. He says, when men are projecting
the ruin of the church, God is preparing for its salvation. Here is Pharaoh seeking to destroy
the Hebrews, yet God is preparing the way to deliver them, and
when they are delivered, they'll come out as a great armour. They'll spoil the Egyptian. after
the 10 tribes Pharaoh might design the destruction
oh but God is working here the modern work is that that God
accomplishes and it is so in all the works
of God God's predestination if we would but consider the truth
of God's sovereignty in What is the sovereignty of God? It
is simply the truth of the doctrine of God. Let God be God. I like
the language that we have in the 17th article of the Church
of England, the Reformed Church of England, concerning predestination
as that it is full of sweet, pleasant and unspeakable comfort. or to rightly contemplate God
and the ways and the works of God. And see the detail here. Who is the one who causes Pharaoh's
daughter to come to that particular spot in the river? We're told there in verse 5,
as the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river,
And her maidens walked along by the riverside, and when she
saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the
babe wept. Who called the babe to weep?
And she had compassion on him and said, This is one of the
Hebrews' children." God is in all of these things. Jeremiah tells us, O Lord, I
know that the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man
that walketh to direct his steps. Who is directing the steps of
Pharaoh's daughter that she should go to that particular place in
the river? It may well be that the mother was aware of that
particular spot and deliberately placed her there, but she's hidden
this child among the bulrushes. It is the Lord God who is in
these things, directing the steps of this daughter of the Pharaoh. And it is God who causes that
child to weep. And the weeping child touches
the heart of the woman. And she has compassion upon this
child, though she recognizes that this is one of the Hebrews'
children. all the works of God, the perfect
timing of God in all His works. Where is this happening? It is
that very river, that very river in which Pharaoh would drown Moses. Pharaoh would have drowned him.
The end of that first chapter, Every son that is born ye shall
cast into the river and every daughter you shall save alive. The children, the sons were all
to be slaughtered in this very river. And this is the place
where Pharaoh's daughter comes and saves this son of the Hebrews,
or the works of God. We looked recently at those words
in Zechariah 14, at evening time it shall be light. the times
are so distressing the times are so dark, what persecutions
and yet here is that one now spared and God raising him up
to be the deliverer of the children of Israel the timing of God,
the timing of God and in all of this do we not also in the
second place have to discern that there is something here
of the trying of faith. There is such a thing as the
trial of faith. And there Peter speaks of it.
Beloved, he says, think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial that is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto
you. If you know anything of faith,
if you have a true faith, a saving faith, that faith will be sorely
tested. God does try the fate of His
children. Again Peter tells us the trial
of your fate being much more precious than of gold that perisheth
though it be tried is found unto praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ. Oh, and remember the testimony
of the man Job when he has tried me, you see. when he has tried
me, I shall come forth as God. Now, surely here there is something
of trial in the very birth of Moses. It's interesting, it does
indicate here that his very birth was an act of faith. they didn't know what the outcome
would be here when this child is born he's conceived in faith verse 2 we see or we read as
she conceived and bear a son and when she saw him that he
was a goodly child he was a goodly child she hid him three months
What does that mean? What does that mean? Well, I
looked up Dr. Gill in his commentary and he
says this. He says, the parents perceived
something remarkable in him to be a deliverer of Israel. In the accounts in Hebrews 11,
because of course the birth of Moses is referred to in that
great catalogue, that great chapter that speaks of the faith of those
of the Old Testament and there in verse 23 we're told
by faith Moses when he was born was in three months of his parents
because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid
of the king's commandment Now this says to me that he is born
in faith, when he was born, by faith Moses when he was born.
They see something significant, this is a proper child, this
is a goodly child. There is some purpose being fulfilled. His parents are people of faith. And we see it in the conception
and the birth of the child interestingly when we read of
him in Acts chapter 7 Stephen speaks of him being exceeding
fair Exceeding fair, a proper child,
a goodly child, there is certainly something about this particular
son. Exceeding fair, there in chapter
7 of Acts, in the margin it tells us, it literally reads, fair
to God. Fair to God. God is in these things. And God
is the one who is beginning to take account of the children
of Israel. There is a connection here, surely
there is, between what we have at the end of chapter 1 and what
we have at the beginning of chapter 2. As I said before, the divisions
into chapters and verses, it's very useful and very helpful
to us. It enables us to find our way more easily around the
Scriptures. And yet the divisions are quite
artificial, we might say. And as we read a chapter, normally
when we read, we read a chapter and we put the Bible to one side,
and then we pray maybe, and then we, if we're reading consecutively,
we'll read the next chapter, and we'll pray, and so we read
through the Word of God, but there's a connection here. There's a connection with those things that we have recorded
at the end of this second chapter. Now that God is taking account
of the children of Israel. They sighed by reason of the
bondage, they cried, their cry came up unto God by reason of
the bondage. God heard their groaning, God
remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with
Jacob. God looked upon the children of Israel And God had respect
unto them. And then again we're introduced
to this man, Moses, kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law. He was born some 80 years previously. And yet in
all that has taken place in his life, God is in all of these
things. God is taking account, you see,
of the prayers of his people and answering their prayers.
But how God's answer, you see, stretches over all these years,
80 years. Why we're told in the 90th Psalm
that the days of our years are 3 score years and 10 if by reason
of strength they be 4 score years, yet is that strength, labour
and sorrow? 4 score years, 80 years, that's a good lifespan,
even today. That's a good lifespan, 80 years.
I know people live now beyond 80. The allotted span is some
70 years, if by reason of strength. And here is Moses, 80 years old. And all these events you see
leading up to what we have at the beginning of chapter 3, where
God is going to call him to be the deliverer of his people. All but what trials, what trials
there are to the faith of God's people. They've got to wait,
and wait, and wait, and wait again. Here they are languishing,
suffering, afflicted, in bondage. And yet the Lord's time has not
yet come. Or there's a trying of faith.
Even with regards to the putting this little one in an ark. They had no assurance of the
outcome. She makes the ark, his mother,
and she wants to hide him from the Egyptians and she takes him
and puts him in the river. Well, that could have been the
end of the child. She knew nothing of the outcome. but it was not to be she's acting
in faith and she's not passive in faith no, there's activity
here the sister has a little task his sister stood afar off
to wit what would be done to him they're watching or they're
working here in faith you see and that faith is always a watchful
faith The Lord Jesus says, Watch and pray that ye enter not into
temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. God's children have to be a watchful
people. Again, Paul in his exhortations
to the Corinthians says, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith. God's people have to be watchful
then. God's people are those surely who are observant of God's
providences. Remember the language at the
end of the 107th Psalm, who so is wise and will observe these
things, the providences of God in all the various circumstances
and situations of life, who so is wise and will observe these
things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. All God's people, you see, they
have to trust God. They have to have sharp eyes,
watching the ways and the works of God. And in many ways, they
need that wisdom. Harmless as doves, wise as serpents,
says the Lord. And what wisdom we see in this
young girl, When she comes to Pharaoh's daughter in verse 7,
Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she
may nurse the child for thee? Or what is the outcome? The mother
takes the child and nurses him. And Pharaoh's daughter says to
her, I will give thee thy wages. She's paid. by Pharaoh's daughter
for nursing her own child. All the ways of God. The great
prophet, you see, that comes from faith when faith is put
to the test. And that's what they're doing,
they're acting in faith and that faith is constantly being tried.
Putting this little one there in the ark and taking the ark
and laying it down in the river and watching and observing. These are the ways of the people
of God. This is that life of faith, is
it not? And there's profit, there's profit
in it all. And then we come to these words
of the text in verse 10. When the mother returns the child
to Pharaoh, or to Pharaoh's daughter, it says, he became her son and
she called his name Moses. And she said, because I drew
him out of the water. Moses literally means that, drawn
out. Drawn out. And our God, you see,
is that one who will draw his people out. The Psalmist again says, He sent
from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. Are there not times when God's
people feel themselves to be in deep places? Oh, the Psalmist
certainly knew something of that. And that's what He is saying
there, He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many
waters. When God deals with us, sometimes
our conviction, the conviction of sin can be so overwhelming,
we feel as if we're going to be sunk under these things. And what do God's people do in
those circumstances? They have to pray. Oh, they have
to pray again. Look at the language of the psalmist,
how we find it time and again. Here in this blessed book of
Psalms, the experiences of the godly. Psalm 69, a Psalm of David,
Save me, O God, for the waters are coming unto my soul. I sink
in deep mire where there is no standing. I am coming to deep
waters where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat is dry, my eyes fail
while I wait for my God. Now the psalm is messianic, it's
speaking of the Lord Jesus primarily. But David is also speaking out
of the fullness of his own soul's experience. And isn't this often
the experience of the people of God? So utterly overwhelmed. And he can be so in the midst
of the trial of faith. And here we read of this child
who is given the name Moses, literally drawn out, because
I drew him out of the water. The timing of God there. The
trial that is so much part of faith and so much part of the
life of faith. And then, finally this evening,
or that we might be able to discern something of the Lord Jesus Christ
himself in all of these things. You know, as a young child the
Lord Jesus Christ was also hidden in Egypt. And that was the case
with Moses, was it not? Those first 40 years of his life
he was hidden, he was safe, he was secure there in the Egyptian
court in the palace of the Pharaoh and so to the Lord Jesus we read
the accounts that we have in Matthew chapter 2 and there in in the language that is employed
Matthew 2, verses 13, 14 and 15. And the angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, take the young
child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there
until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child
to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young
child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt, and
was there until the death of Herod that he might be fulfilled,
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of
Egypt have I called my son. The language of Osiris 11. Here is Moses. He is hidden in
Egypt and so too was the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus
Christ also was preserved. when many innocent children were
being butchered. Remember the words again that
we have there in Matthew 2. O Herod is so exceeding wrath
because of the wise men and sent forth and slew all the children
that were in Bethlehem. And the northern coast thereof
from two years old and under according to the time which he
had diligently inquired of the wise men Then was fulfilled that
which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Ramah was
there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because
they are not. And it was the same with Moses.
All the other sons born to the Hebrew women had been cast into
the river. Moses, in many ways, we might
say, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. As I said, the timing of Moses'
birth, all in the great purpose of God, and that certainly was
the case with Christ, when the fullness of the time was come.
God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law. And then he was called out of
Egypt. He was called out of Egypt. Out
of Egypt have I called my son, says the Lord God, just as Moses
comes and delivers the children of Israel and brings them out
and he comes out with them, he leads them out of Egypt. How remarkable these things are,
Moses you see. A type of the Lord Jesus. Moses
a great prophet. The greatest of all the prophets.
We read of him at the end of Deuteronomy. There in the closing verses of
Deuteronomy 34, there arose not a prophet since in Israel, like
unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face in all the signs
and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of
Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land.
And in all that mighty hand and in all the great terror which
Moses showed in the sight of all Israel. Oh, what a prophet
was this man! What a prophet was this man!
And all the prophets appealed to him, to the law and to the
testimony, says Isaiah. If they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them. And yet
what does the Lord God say? That there will be one raised
up, a greater prophet. Again there in Deuteronomy 18
and verses 15 and 18. A prophet like unto Moses, but
greater than Moses. Are we not to discern the Lord
Jesus Christ? The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Oh the Lord, the Lord
has a ministry. What is the ministry of the Lord?
It's that ministration of condemnation. It's that ministration of death. What does the Lord do? Oh the
Lord is that, that He's given to to be a servant to the gospel. You know we have the key to all
of these things when we come to the New Testament Scriptures.
As I've said many a time, how we have to read God's Word back
from the New Testament into the Old Testament if we're going
to interpret things right. And there in Paul's epistle to
the Galatians, he makes it so clear how that the Lord is servant
to the Gospel. Galatians 3.16, Now to Abram
and his seed were the promises made. He saith not to seeds as
of men, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Christ, the true seed of Abram. And this I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which
was 430 years after, cannot be thus annulled that it should
make the promise of non-effect. Or that promise that was given
to Abraham back in Genesis 15, 430 years before the giving of
the law. Wherefore then serveth the law
asked for? It was added because of transgressions,
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and
it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." That
seed that should come, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. The true
seed of Abraham. And yet Moses serves him. Moses
points constantly to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a type of Christ. And Christ
is that One who is altogether glorious. The Law comes, that
ministration of condemnation, that ministration of death. What
is the Gospel? Oh, it's a ministration of the
Spirit. It's a ministration of righteousness. That's what Paul says in 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. There's no salvation in the law
of God. If a man should keep the whole
law, says James, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all. It demands a complete, perfect obedience of all its precepts,
all its statutes, all its judgements. That's the law. And what is that
obedience? It's not just a matter of externals,
it's not just obedience in terms of acts, but also thoughts and
intentions. If a man thinks one's sinful
thoughts, the law condemns him. There's nothing but condemnation.
The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Oh, when that time came, the
time for the birth of Christ, the fullness of the time, He
is made of a woman, He is made under the law to redeem. Oh,
to redeem them that were under the law, that they might receive
the adoption of sons. That's His great work. Oh, that's
the great work of the Lord Jesus. He came to stand in that low
place for his people to honor, to magnify it as their surety
in living and to die as a substitute bearing that punishment that
their sins deserved. We see something then of Moses
and the man that Moses was. But might Moses always be the
one who points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the Lord be
pleasing to bless His Word to us.