Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. Exodus 2:1-3
Joseph’s family was thriving and growing in Egypt. But as years pass and new leaders came into power, the Israelites (Jacob’s, aka Israel’s, descendants), large in number by this time, become a threat to Egypt. To try to control their growth and power, the Egyptians make them slaves, subject to hard labor and oppression. And there is an order to kill all Hebrew (another name for the Israelites, or Jewish people) baby boys born. But God has a plan for one of them in particular...A baby boy– Moses –from the tribe of Levi, Leah and Jacob’s third son. The Pharaoh’s daughter finds the baby and adopts him. Moses is an Israelite but raised as an adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Slavery to royalty. At one point when he is older, he becomes angry about the mistreatment of his Israelite people and kills an Egyptian in the process. This leads to him fleeing to Midian to escape punishment. He starts a new life, eventually marrying and having a child there. For forty years Moses lives in the wilderness area of Midian. We will see that the events in Moses’ life are perfectly preparing him for the calling He will soon get from God. He grew up in the house of Pharaoh but learned to live and thrive in the wilderness. Two things that will soon come in handy. God is always working, even when we can’t see it. Questions: Think of some things you are currently learning or doing, or some places you are finding yourself. How can these things be preparing you for something you might do in the future as part of God’s plan? How does it change your perception of circumstances knowing that God might be using them to prepare you for something bigger and beyond your imagination?
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