We are in Exodus chapter two with our word for today. מִצְרִ֔י Egyptian. It is used 30 times in the Old Testament. We see our word used to describe what country and culture a person is from. 1 Samuel 30:11 They found an מִצְרִי֙ Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat. This is how our word is used in our chapter today. Exodus 2:16-19 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters...Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” They said, “An מִצְרִ֔י Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
Moses must have still looked like an Egyptian. We know he grew up and was trained in the Egyptian culture. Acts 7:20-23 For three months he was cared for by his family. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. So he only had 3 months with his family and 40 years with Pharaoh. Because all that Moses knew was from an Egyptian perspective, he saw the problem of his people being oppressed as something that could be solved with force. We see this in the next verses. Acts 7:24-29 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them...But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian. As we have already seen Moses couldn’t stop being Moses in that God created him to rescue people around him. But a big part of who Moses was at that time was Egyptian. And Egyptian’s were about power and using force. It has been said that God brought the people out of Egypt but then God had to get Egypt out of the people. This same thing is true of Moses. We see our word used to identify one of the nations that God’s people were to separate themselves from because of the nation’s corrupting influence with their relationship with God. Ezra 9:1 The people of Israel...have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the... הַמִּצְרִ֖י Egyptians and Amorites. So just as God had to get Egypt out of the people he also had to get Egypt out of Moses. Yes, he was called by God to accomplish a specific task of leading his people out of slavery. But God also cares about how we do it. He is always about transforming our character. Now God did use Moses experience being raised as an Egyptian in that God used his skill to write the first part of the Bible. But God also had to get a lot of the negative influence out of Moses that was inside of him from being raised as an Egyptian. God needed to humble Moses so he would not only do what God wanted but also be the person who does things God’s way. In other words, not just the what but also how we do things. We will see in the upcoming days how God transforms Moses’ character so that he is ready to lead. I’ll close with Jesus prayer that we as God’s people would be in the world but not of the world. John 17:14-19 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
