There is currently a mutiny underway in Russia. The Wagner group, which once offered protection, is no longer trustworthy in supporting the nation's leadership. Russians in the path of the Wagner group are in a tough situation. Should they trust this militia to take over the government and bring positive change to the nation? Or Is this a power-hungry group looking to step in and usher in a reign of terror worse than Putin's? There is a great level of uncertainty about who will come out on top and ultimately rule Russia. Russians can only wait and see.

The ancient Hebrews found themselves under a similarly abusive regime, though redemption was like a distant fantasy for them. Egypt oppressed the ancient Israelites and they often lofted deep cries of grief up to God. An answer would soon come, but could they trust that it was truly a work of God? Could an Egyptian mutiny spring up that would change their lives for the better? Or could an uprising only make their lives worse?

The God Who Is

After God met Moses in the burning bush and received his call to redeem Egypt, he had a question for God: "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" (Exo. 3:13). Despite Moses’ “if”, this is a valid question. There may have been a hint of fear or hesitation, but there also seems to be some humility in the question. Did Moses genuinely want to know the name of God? Was he showing humility in realizing that he needed a higher authority than himself? We may never know.

God patiently answered Moses in a loving yet revelatory way: "I AM WHO I AM" (v. 14). He told Moses to relay to the Hebrews that "I AM" sent him. Moses should tell the Israelites that "the LORD (YHWH) the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you." (v.15). YHWH comes from the same Hebrew root as “I AM”, and is commonly written as Yahweh or Jehovah in English. The Old Testament writers wrote YHWH throughout the Old Testament at least 5,000 times, and our translations use LORD to indicate when YHWH is used.

Though Moses asked for God's name, it isn’t necessary to assume that the Hebrews didn't know God's name. We have reasons to believe that the Israelites knew the name of God, for they "began to call upon the name of the Lord" all the way back in the days of Seth (Gen. 4:26). This would make Moses’ question much more genuine. Yet, even if the people didn't know the name of the Lord prior to this revelation to Moses, they soon would call on the name of the LORD. YHWH is God's name forever, and He chose to be remembered by that name throughout all generations (v. 15).

What's In a Name?

Names carry less weight today than they did in times past. A name captured the essence or heart of a person, and knowing God's name was vital in a culture full of pantheism and polytheism. Puritans like Matthew Poole, Lewis Bayley, and Thomas Boston found much significance in the name "I AM WHO I AM":

• "I AM" points to the reality of God's being. He simply "is". He was what He was. He is what He is. He will be what He will be. But He always will be.
• "I AM" also reminds us of the necessity of God. It is necessary that God exists in order for everything else to exist.
• "I AM" draws us to the eternal nature of God. He has always existed and He will always exist.
• "I AM" directs us to the certainty of God's nature. He will never change, nor will His promises or His words ever fail to come to pass.

YHWH in the Flesh

As we look further in the Scripture, we also see the name and essence of YHWH applied to Jesus. Here are only a couple of examples:

• Jesus called Himself "I AM". Jesus said to His Jewish opponents, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (Joh. 8:58). This caused his opponents to pick up stones to kill Him because they felt that He was blaspheming God's name.
• The early church taught that Jesus is "I AM". The author of Hebrews explcitly taught that Jesus is God, especially in Hebrews 1. One passage he cited to teach us about the deity of Jesus is Psalm 102, which repeatedly addresses the LORD (YHWH), His throne, and His work in creation. This passage is directly applied to Jesus to show that He is one with YHWH in His creation, rule, and reign.
• John the Apostle saw the eternal Christ in His vision. In Revelation 1:8, we don't see the name YHWH, yet we see Jesus say, "I am the Alpha and the Omega... who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty". This is the meaning of "I AM WHO I AM". In His essence, Jesus is YHWH.

The unity of God is on full display as we see Jesus at one with His Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Faithful, Living God

After God revealed Himself to Moses, He called Moses to rally together the elders of Israel. God commanded Moses to let them know that the faithful, covenant-keeping God of their forefathers—YHWH—had seen what they were going through and came down to rescue them and bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. This land was currently a full of different people groups who worshiped other gods and were soon to receive the just judgment of God for their idolatry.

God would soon send Moses and the elders with a message: "The LORD... has met with us; and now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to our God" (v. 18). Keep these words in mind for later. God also reminded Moses that Pharaoh would harden his heart and refuse to listen. The LORD would work signs and wonders to force Pharaoh to let the people go, and on their way out, the women of Israel would plunder the Egyptians as they moved on toward freedom. YHWH would crush the greatest nation in the world through a weak yet faithful man, a group of women, and no military violence. Only He can get the glory for something so incredible!

Reflection Questions:

1. Why is it significant that God revealed His name and HIs essence to Moses and Israel? How can our knowledge of God’s name shape our private and public worship today?
2. How does the meaning of God's name, "I AM WHO I AM," impact our worldview? In other words, what are some ways that having faith in a living God can set us apart from people who worse false gods or profess no faith at all?
3. How have you struggled to desire God’s call to evangelize and spread the gospel? What are some of the “If I...” questions you ask God when you’re fearful or reluctant to obey Him?
4. How can the lessons from God's intervention in rescuing the Hebrews and choosing a faithful but weak leader like Moses help us see the work God can do through us? How have you seen God use other weak people for His glory?
5. How does the knowledge that Jesus is intimately and eternally one with YHWH help you trust Him more? How can that knowledge of Jesus be useful in evangelism and in answering objections or questions about the gospel?

Prayer Points:
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1. Pray for God to remind you of His name and essence (v. 13-15) Pray that God would give you a deeper appreciation for who He is and has revealed Himself to be. Thank Him that He has given us intimate knowledge of Himself through His Word.
2. Ask for faith in the Word and promises of God (v. 16-17). The ultimate promise of God is that He will rescue all who trust in Christ. Pray that God would help you believe the gospel more deeply every day. Ask also for the Spirit to prompt you of other promises of God as you go throughout your day.
3. Confess disobedience and pray for a submissive heart toward God (v. 18-22). Like Moses, God has laid out His plans and His way for us. We should confess times when we pursue our own way or attempt to do God’s work according to our preferences and standards. Ask for a heart that submits to the rule and reign of Christ in any and every aspect of life.

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Too often, we try to take things into our own hands. We see a leak, grab the wrench, and four hours later, we're calling the plumber or our father-in-law to come and fix the problem. What could've been a quick fix for the right person becomes a frustrating nightmare of a problem that costs us time, energy, and more money than we'd like to spend.

Some of you learn quickly not to get in over your heads. Others of us have to keep hearing the same lecture over and over again because we're hard-headed. Moses can resonate with those of us who are slow to learn. His first passionate outburst is on full display in Exodus 2:11-15.

Moses' Passion
At forty years old, Moses decided to go out to his people and look upon their burdens. Imagine the grief he must've felt to see his flesh and blood relatives subjected to the horrific evils of Egyptian slavery. As he watched, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew who was "one of his people" (v. 11). The English doesn't fully convey it, but the Hebrew root word "nakah" carries with it the idea of beating someone to inflict injury, sometimes even to death. In what seems to be a mixture of passion, justice, and rage, Moses looked one way, then another, and he "struck down" (nakah) the Egyptian in defense of his relative. To cover up what he did, Moses buried the man's body in the sand.

For centuries, biblical interpreters have debated whether Moses was in the wrong or not. Opposing Moses' actions, Alec Motyer, a well-known scholar and lover of the Old Testament, says, "Humanly speaking, we would say Moses promptly got it all wrong and set God's [program] back by forty years." In defense of Moses, John Calvin said that he "was armed by God's command.” Acts 7 sheds light that at least Moses' motives were to "defend the oppressed man" and avenge him (Acts 7:24-25). Hebrews 11 seems to show that Moses did this to "be mistreated with the people of God" rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin and the treasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11:24-26).

It seems that Moses' desires were good, but his actions went too far. Yet, even if we take the stance that Moses was justified in the killing, we ought not to take it as a command or example for us to follow. Rather, Paul later calls us to "never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God" (Rom. 12:19). His "heart" (Acts 7:23) was set on forsaking his Egyptian rights to suffer with Israel, something that points to Jesus forsaking the riches of heaven to become poor for those who trust in Him (2 Cor 8:9).
 
Moses' Detour
The next day, Moses saw two of his Hebrew brothers fighting, and he asked the one in the wrong, "Why do you strike (nakah) your companion?" (v. 13). The Hebrew aggressor then asked, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" (v. 14). Uh-oh. What Moses thought was his big secret had already spread and would soon have Pharaoh coming for his neck—something he'd already escaped once! Moses was afraid because his murder had been made known, and he fled to Midian after hearing that Pharaoh was after him.

What a mess Moses was in! Yet it's hard to fault him for his passion

.As a black man, it's tough to fathom what it must've felt like for a free slave to see an enslaved African in America. Oh, what grief and anger a Jew must've felt toward the Nazis! The consequences of Moses' violence led him to a forty-year detour. Unlike Joseph, his actions got him in trouble, but just like Joseph, God was up to something.

God meant it all for good. In Midian, Moses found a wife, Zipporah, and had two sons. He found a father-in-law, Reuel (also called Jethro). He learned to shepherd as he dwelt among a people described by Philip Ryken as "a tribe of desert nomads." If you look ahead to Exodus 3, you'll even see that God used the wilderness in Midian to prepare Moses for his next season of ministry in the wilderness with Israel. What gracious providence God was working out in the life of Moses during this forty-year wilderness detour in Midian!

God's Preparation
Zooming back out, we see that in those forty years, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel still groaned under slavery, and they cried out to God for help! Close your eyes and imagine a mother and a father crying out to God as their young children slave away making pyramid bricks for a wicked king! They needed rescue.

As always, God was at work behind the scenes, preparing His hero to lead Israel out of Egypt. Their cry came up to God, and like a father who rushes to rescue his injured, God rushed in to save the day! The covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob "saw the people of Israel—and God knew" (v. 25). He didn't just know factually. He knew intimately.

Just as God knew the suffering of Israel under the weight of the harsh Egyptian taskmasters, He also knew our suffering under sin. We were under a cruel master who controlled our hearts and actions, but God came down to us through His Son and made a way for us. By His Spirit, we received new hearts and a new master, one who is gentle, lowly, and righteous! The God who heard is the God who hears today. The covenant-keeping God of Israel keeps His new covenant that was ushered in by the blood of Christ. Cry out to Him for help! He knows.

Reflection Questions

1. How have you seen righteous passion in your heart spill over into unrighteous actions?
2. Do you think Moses was in the right to avenge the Egyptian for his actions?
3. How have you seen God work behind the scenes in your life despite some big mistake you’ve made? How did you feel while you were in the midst of the situation?
4. How does the gospel remind us that God truly knows our sorrows?
5. How does the deep knowledge and care of God help you love and trust Him more, especially in moments of trials and suffering?

Prayer Points

1. Pray for eyes to see. Ask God to help you recognize the oppression occurring in the lives of people in your community. Weep with those who weep as they face the burden of injustice.
2. Seek both zeal and self-control. Pray that God would grant you zeal for righteousness and justice, while also providing you with self-control. When you experience righteous emotions, pray that Satan would not exploit them for evil purposes.
3. Express gratitude to God for His grace, despite your shortcomings. Thank Him that even when you fall short, He is merciful and gracious towards you. In His presence, reflect on times when you deserved punishment and suffering but received mercy instead.
4. Pour out your heart to God. If you are weighed down by trials, sin, or hardships, cry out to God. As you pray, acknowledge God's faithfulness to those who are in Christ. Be still and know that He is God.

Every great story introduces a protagonist. Often, the protagonist proves to be the most heroic and memorable character of the story. In God's big story, the main character shows up in shadows and types long before we meet him face-to-face. We've already seen His shadow once in the person and work of Joseph. We're about to get another glimpse of the Hero in the face of Israel's heroic leader.

A Hero is Born (v. 1-2)
Our hero (lowercase, of course) shows up in a sticky situation. He's a "fine" child from the tribe of Levi, and his mother loved him so much that she couldn't bring herself to kill him. Instead, this brave woman and her husband chose to hide the precious child. For three months, the baby went undetected, and we can only imagine how he was cherished during those three months!

The child's parents were people of faith, and hiding this baby was the fruit of their trust in God Almighty. Hebrews 11:23 gives us some insight into their reasoning for hiding him. One reason, of course, is that he was a "beautiful" child. Yet there was another, much deeper reason they hid the baby. By faith, they were not afraid of the king's edict! It would have been foolish to have the baby boy out in the open for everyone to see, but even hiding a baby for three months was risky business!

Who would have known that their faith would lead to the salvation of their nation and pave the way for the world's Hero several thousand years later?

A Hero is Rescued (v. 3-6)
Though our hero has shown up, he too needed a Hero. That's precisely how his story start. Many elements of his life foreshadowed Jesus, whose story we constantly sense as we read the history of redemption. The child's sister even got a firsthand glimpse of God's powerful working. Imagine seeing your parents' faith answered by God in such a tangible way!

The baby was hidden in a "basket," but don't miss the glorious Hebrew connection here. This same Hebrew word was translated as "ark" in Genesis when God called righteous Noah to rescue his family and the animals. The ark was covered in pitch (also on Noah’s ark!) and sent down the Nile River where he would be rescued by none other than Pharaoh's daughter, who showed "pity" for this Hebrew child. It was God's amazing plan to send this Egyptian girl to part the reeds and rescue this child, and one day God would part the "sea of reeds"—the literal Hebrew translation of the Red Sea—to rescue Israel!

Just as Noah's ark foreshadowed the rescue of this dear child, so this baby's rescue foreshadowed another water rescue—one that would take place in a much greater body of water in a much grander way in a few decades! By God's powerful hand, this baby boy was rescued by the daughter of the king who would one day try to destroy him and his people.

John Piper says, "God can do more in five seconds than we can do in five hours or months or years," and it's because God is always at work behind the scenes in millions of ways to get His glory. We pray and trust God because we know that He is always at work for our good and His glory.

A Hero is Raised Up (v. 7-10)
After this water rescue, our hero's brave sister suggested that his mother nurse him. What a brilliant plan—and it worked! This allowed the child's own blood family to raise him and it even provided additional "wages" for his mother. This small reward for faith is a subtle hint that God would later plunder unsuspecting Egyptians. Being with his family also meant that the boy grew up as a Hebrew among Hebrews, perhaps hanging out with Aaron and Miriam for a few years.

Our young hero's parents passed down their faith, and it eventually became his faith, too. Hebrews 11:24-26 reminds us that by faith this child would grow up and refuse to be an Egyptian. He was so aware of his Hebrew lineage that he chose to be reproached by his adoptive family rather than seek comfort. He passed up the "fleeting pleasures of sin" that could have given him an easy life (v. 25). He left behind the treasures, wealth, ease, security, and royalty of being a child of the world’s king to suffer alongside Israel and be a child of Christ the King. 

Why would he do such a thing? Wouldn't it have been wise to seek a position in Egypt like his great uncle Joseph? Couldn't he have done more for Israel if he had fought their oppression by gaining status, becoming king, and legislating change? Perhaps. But that wasn't God's plan! He "was looking to the reward" of his faith—God Himself (v. 26). We too must set our eyes on things above where Christ is rather than on the things of this earth (Col. 3:1-2). Only then can our upward and forward-looking faith bring us to seek God's will, even if we must lose comfort and security for His name's sake.

What’s His Name?
If you’ve read this story, you already know. If you haven’t, you’re probably chomping at the bit! The child God rescued and raised up was named Moses by his Egyptian mother. His name is special because it has two unique meanings. In Hebrew, his name sounds similar to "draw out”, and in Egyptian, his name meant "born." Moses was the baby who should have died, but God had plans for him to escape abortion and be drawn out of the water so he could be used to draw Israel out of Egypt! 

What a glorious picture of God's faithfulness! No matter where you're at in your story, God is up to something good. Even when we are weak and helpless, the Lord is our help (Psa. 46:1).

Reflection Questions:

1. How have you seen God at work behind the scenes in your life during a difficult trial? How did it impact your faith?
2. How does the faith of Moses’ family remind us of the importance of our faith and the impacts it can have on future generations?
3. What are are some ways we can live by faith in everyday, mundane situations?
4. How does the foreshadowing of Jesus in Moses' story help us see the biblical storyline and plan of redemption more clearly?
5. In what ways does Moses' courage and willingness to leave behind worldly comforts and security encourage us to do the same? In what ways do you struggle to do this?

Prayer Points:

1. Ask  for faith to follow God rather than people, even in situations that can remove our sense of comfort, ease, or security.
2. Pray for a heart that looks to God as our greatest reward rather than the treasures and rewards of this life.
3. Worship God for His good and faithful working behind-the-scenes for our good and His glory.

​Today, as in times past, we are prone to forget the accomplishments and people who came before us. C.S. Lewis dubbed this forgetfulness as "chronological snobbery." Whether we are debating LeBron and Michael Jordan or Tom Brady and Joe Montana, we can also be prone to view our time as greater than times past. Recently, a living pastor was called the greatest preacher since the apostolic age—beyond Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and even Charles Spurgeon!

We see chronological snobbery in the opening chapter of Exodus, too. The new Pharaoh "did not know Joseph" (v. 8). He didn't know the contributions of Joseph and his family back in the old days when Egypt was in a famine. He didn't know how a Hebrew boy ended up ruling the world after tragedy and triumph. All he knew was that there were some non-Egyptians in the land, and he was a big shot who didn't like it. The combination of pride, fear, and power proved deadly for this unnamed "new king," and it led to the slavery of God's people (v. 8).

Enslaved by Pharaoh, Empowered by God (v. 10-14)

The king made life horrific for the Israelites. Notice how their plight is described:

• Affliction
• Heavy burdens
• Oppression
• Ruthlessness
• Slavery
• Bitter
• Hard service

It’s not hard to imagine that they felt alone in their suffering! Like the chattel slavery in America’s past, we see cruelty and hatred bound together in forced labor with no present path of escape apart from divine intervention.

Yet even in times of oppression, God is not silent. He never sleeps nor slumbers. He's always at work in a million ways that we may never see on this side of glory. With Israel, "the more they were oppressed, the more they spread abroad" (v. 12). God's people are like the garden weeds that have thousands of seeds that spread most when they're agitated by wind, animals, or unsuspecting gardeners! The more persecution presses us, the further we spread.

God was with Israel in their suffering, but He was relatively quiet in His working. So He is with us sometimes. God's withness doesn't fade just because our circumstances are tough. Christ and the Holy Spirit are interceding for us (Rom. 8:26, Heb. 7:25). The Father is ready, willing, and able to help us, though His help may come at a time and in a way we least expect it.

God's Mission Would Not Be Aborted (v. 15-22)

Abortion is one of the most grievous evils of our day. Some in our culture have tried to rebrand it as "reproductive freedom," but we all know it is murder. Pharaoh's tactic to slow down the increase of the Israelites began with abortion—well, close to it. He commanded that all the male children be killed at birth. This sounds horrendous, and it should! Murdering the most helpless and innocent males in the society would indeed prevent the Israelites from joining Egypt's enemies and escaping the land (Exo. 1:10). However, God's plan for His people could not be thwarted by baby killers!

Two Hebrew midwives, probably the lead nurses of a group of midwives, are used by God to save these babies! The unnamed king wanted death, but Shiprah and Puah—whose names will be remembered forever for their faith—cherished the glory of God and made His name known. These two women "feared God" and disobeyed Pharaoh. They didn't fear man who kills the body but rather God who can destroy both body and soul in hell (Mat. 10:28)!

Did they lie to Pharaoh? Many scholars and commentators say they did. Were they shrewd with the king who dealt shrewdly with their people? Perhaps they were repaying the evil king for his shrewdness. Did God give the midwives more vigorous births to prevent the death of the infants? Some speculate this possibility, as well. Regardless of whether they deceived Pharaoh or whether God truly made the Hebrew women more vigorous (remember that God has power over the womb!), He "dealt well" with the midwives, gave them families, and continued to multiply Israel! When you break open a spider's egg sac, hundreds or thousands of tiny spiders will come running out. It was the same way with God's people when Pharaoh tried to break apart their families! God was with them. The serpent who deceived Eve was again at work against the Israelites, but God was making the way for the Serpent Crusher to bruise the serpent’s head. 

Pharaoh's last-ditch effort was to kill the babies by drowning them in the Nile. As we will soon see, not even this could stop God. The greatest kings on the planet have no power to thwart God's plans. This gives us hope today. There is not a president or world leader who can thwart God's plans for His Church. Psalm 2 calls every leader to "kiss the Son or perish" (v. 12). This applies to every president, governor, mayor, or law enforcement officer—whether Democrat or Republican—to submit to the rule and reign of Jesus. They may try to stomp us out, but the more they press, the more we will spread across the globe. Let us go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations because Jesus is with us until the end of the age.

Questions for Reflection:

• How does "chronological snobbery" impact our appreciation of historical accomplishments? Have you noticed this mindset in your own life?
• How does the faith of Shiprah and Puah inspire you to fear God and stand up for what is right?
• How does God's work through the Hebrew midwives offer hope for everyday people like us?
• How do power, fear, and pride in leadership affect the lives of ordinary people today? Have you witnessed the impacts of such leadership in your community or personal life?
• Compare this scene in Exodus to the spread of the gospel in the book of Acts and the early church. How does faith in God's power lead to growth among His people?

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Prayer points:

• Pray for softened hearts for our government leaders, that they may fear and honor God rather than succumbing to pride, fear, and abuse of power.
• Pray for those who are facing oppression, abuse, and suffering due to corrupt and unjust leaders today.
• Give thanks to God for His faithfulness and pray for increased faith, especially in times of fear and trouble.