Moses (1)

[Acts 7:17-29]

In 2004, during the 9th Spiritual Retreat of the Pastors' Council for Church Renewal (PCCR), Pastor Han-heum Ok, who was the chairman of the PCCR, stated: ‘In the 1910s to 1930s, the Korean church experienced a tremendous revival, with the congregation growing from a few thousand to 300,000.  The focus of that revival was repentance.  People heard the word of God, repented, and their lives were transformed.  Then, from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, the congregation, which was only around 300,000, suddenly reached 10 million.  The theme of this revival was blessing.  It was prosperous.  However, it was mentioned that the allure of prosperity and blessing led to the revival of millions, but ultimately played a role in making the church more secularized and corrupt, pointing out the causes of the current crisis in the Korean church’ (Internet).  Pastor Ok emphasized, ‘True leaders are born out of adversity.  Therefore, if we use this crisis we are facing now, unprecedented leaders can emerge.  However, if we fail to perceive this crisis and simply overlook it, the future of the Korean church can only be bleak,’ urging pastors to take the lead in renewal (Internet).

I believe there is truth in Pastor Ok's statement, ‘True leaders are born out of adversity.’  Especially within the church today, it seems that true leaders should be emerging, but unfortunately, it's not happening.  We are in a situation where leaders are lacking.  It's a time when there is plenty of harvest but a shortage of laborers.  Especially qualified church workers are in great demand.  Dr. John Stott, a world-renowned Christian leader from the UK, confessed that even after traveling all over the world, it's so difficult to find true Christian leaders who, like Paul, openly reveal their weaknesses and foolishness.  Today's Christian leaders have all become too strong, too wise, and too wealthy.  I don't know if many churches today have become like the Laodicean church, boasting, 'I am rich’ (Internet).

In Acts 7:17-29, we read the story of Moses, whom the Jews regarded as a great leader.  As I meditate on Moses, I hope and pray for a challenge to understand how God establishes leaders for His purposes in various situations.

First, Moses was a lovely child in the sight of God.

Look at Acts 7:20 – “It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father's home.”  D

We are currently meditating on Stephen's speech in Acts 7:2-53.  A week ago, we reflected on the first part of his speech, "The God of Abraham," and last Sunday, we meditated on "The God of Joseph." In today's passage, Acts 7:17-29, Stephen speaks of how God fulfilled His promise to Abraham, saying, "But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt" (v. 17).  This is also a fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham.  Look at Genesis 15:5: "And he brought him outside and said, 'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.'"  When the time came for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, the people of Israel prospered greatly in the land of Egypt.  At this time, another word of God was also being fulfilled, which was that the Israelites would be afflicted for about 400 years.  Look at Acts 7:6 – “And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them for four hundred years.”  God, in the process of fulfilling the promise He made to Abraham, allowed the Israelites to multiply greatly in the land of Egypt.  At the same time, a new king who did not know Joseph came to power in Egypt (v. 18), using means to thwart God's promise by afflicting the Israelites, even going so far as to order the killing of male infants so they would not live (v. 19).  It was at this time that God, in His plan to save the Israelites from Egypt, caused Moses to be born in the land of Egypt.  And when Moses was born, as Acts 7:20 states, “he was lovely in the sight of God.”  An interesting point to note is that when the time of the fulfillment of God's promise drew near, along with prosperity, there also came extreme affliction.  As God was bringing to pass His promise to Abraham, the Israelites endured severe oppression in Egypt for about 400 years.  The Israelites, who were only about 75 people when they lived in Egypt, multiplied to around 2 million.  However, at the same time, Satan's work became even more intense.  Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, came to power and began to oppress the Israelites.  Why did Pharaoh oppress the Israelites?  The reason is stated in Exodus 1:10 - "... Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land."  Pharaoh began to persecute the Israelites out of fear that if they continued to multiply, they might become a threat to Egypt.  They might side with Egypt's enemies in the event of a war, and Pharaoh was afraid of that.  Therefore, he began to afflict the Israelites (v. 11).  However, what is astonishing is that Exodus 1:12-13 reveals, "But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.  And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.  So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves."  The more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they multiplied.  The more they multiplied, the more Pharaoh intensified their affliction.  Take a look at this pattern: God's promise fulfilled → Persecution of the Israelites → Even greater multiplication → Even more intense affliction.

In the midst of such trials and suffering, Moses, who was lovely in the sight of God, was born in Egypt.  When the plan of the Egyptian king to secretly kill male infants through the midwives failed, he attempted to openly have all the male infants of Israel thrown into the Nile to die.  It was in the midst of this crisis that Moses was born (Yoo).  The saying comes to mind: ‘Times of trouble produce heroes, and heroes lead in times of trouble.’  It seems that exceptional individuals are born in times of crisis.  When a great crisis befell the Israelite people, Moses, as a figure, was born.  Interestingly, in such a time of crisis, the Bible refers to Moses, who was born, as "lovely in the sight of God."  In Exodus 2:2, the infant Moses is described as "beautiful" in the Hebrew translation.  Here, the term translated as "beautiful" is a Hebrew word that means 'good.'  This word likely extends beyond the physical beauty of Moses' face.  When Stephen says, "lovely in the sight of God," it is likely an expression signifying that Moses received the grace of God from the moment he was born (Park).  Moses' loveliness is a testament to the fact that he was graced by God's presence.  Born in a time of severe pain and hardship, Moses' loveliness stemmed from the fact that God's grace was with him.

Here's my brief testimony.  There was a time when my wife looked most lovely and beautiful to me.  It was on April 26, 1997, our wedding anniversary.  After Sunday service and afternoon Bible study, we went to L.A. Children's Hospital.  Our first baby Charis looked pale, as if the blood wasn't flowing properly, and it seemed like she was dying.  My wife was standing about 6 feet away from where the baby lay, crying.  In that moment, I saw that God was with my wife, and because of that, she looked very beautiful and lovely.  It means that God sees the beauty and loveliness of our children.  It's the grace of God that accompanies us even in the midst of suffering.  I hope and pray that such beauty and loveliness may be present in you and me.

Second, Moses was abandoned.

Look at Acts 7:21 - "When he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son."  In the time close to the fulfillment of God's promise, Moses, who was lovely in the sight of God, was born.  His parents raised him at home for three months (v. 20).  Moses' parents, through faith, identified his lovely (that he received God's grace) and did not fear the king's command (Exod. 2:1-2; Heb. 11:23) (Park).  After being secretly nurtured for three months, baby Moses was eventually abandoned.  Exodus 2 shows that baby Moses was placed in a basket (made of papyrus) and set afloat on the Nile.  He was discovered by Pharaoh's daughter when she came to bathe, and through Miriam, he was nursed by his own mother until he grew up, after which Pharaoh's daughter adopted him as her own son (Exod. 2:3-10).  However, Stephen does not go into these details and simply states that when Moses was abandoned, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son (Acts 7:21).  Stephen then introduces Moses as being adopted by Pharaoh's daughter and educated in Egyptian knowledge, saying, "Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action" (v. 22).  Stephen's claim that Moses learned from the most distinguished Egyptian scholars of his time demonstrates how highly he regarded Moses.  This fact exposes the groundlessness of the accusations against Moses by those who opposed him (Yoo).

Moses, the abandoned baby in the providence of God, was nevertheless graced by His presence.  This is why Moses, as his name suggests, was rescued by God through Pharaoh's daughter from the water.  Look at Exodus 2:10 - ".. .and he named him Moses, saying, 'I drew him out of the water.'"  The God who rescued the abandoned baby Moses from the water is the same God who, about 400 years later, would use Moses to lead the abandoned Israelites out of Egypt. Moses, who experienced God's grace in his abandonment, became the instrument through which the Israelites, who might have felt abandoned in the world, received salvation.  Through Moses' abandonment, the Israelite people obtained their deliverance.

I came across an interesting editorial in an online article titled ‘Changing Perceptions of International Marriage and Biracial Children’: ‘International marriages are on the rise.  According to statistics released by the Korea National Statistical Office on the 30th, the number of marriages with foreigners increased by 21.6% compared to the previous year, totaling 43,121 cases.  International marriages account for 13.6% of all marriages, with 14 out of 100 couples being international marriages.  Particularly in rural areas, last year, four out of ten men married foreign women.  The rate of international marriages has been rapidly increasing, from 3.7% in 2000 to 8.4% in 2003, and 13.6% in 2005’ (Internet).  Among such international marriages, biracial children born face abandonment not only by their parents but also by society.  Especially in homogeneous Korean society, they are often not accepted and may face ostracism.  I also read an article titled ‘Hero's Return... Interest in Biracial Children’ (Internet): ‘Foreign media introduced that Hines Ward, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NFL Super Bowl, is receiving national hero treatment in Korea. AP, Reuters, and others reported on the scene of Ward's arrival at Incheon Airport, which was broadcast live on Korean TV, and described it as the hero's return.  Foreign media also reported that he is being portrayed as 'a source of pride for Koreans’ (Internet).  In a way, Hines Ward, a Korean-American biracial NFL player, is giving great hope to Korean-American biracial children scattered around the world, many of whom may have felt rejected by Korean society.

For us Christians, there is grace in being abandoned.  Moses, though abandoned in his infancy, became the means through which the Israelites were obtained.  Although he was abandoned in the midst of adversity as a baby, he was not abandoned by God.  He was prepared to become a leader to rescue the Israelites from Egypt within the providence of God.  He became Pharaoh's daughter's adopted son amid abandonment and received all his training in Egypt.  In the end, he was used by God as a tool to save the Israelites.  We also seem to be abandoned in the pain and suffering that is discarded by the world.  There are 21 words that a Christian must absolutely discard (Internet): addiction, selfishness, worry, prejudice, greed, laziness and complacency, stagnation and depression, blame, complaint and resentment, impatience, pride, gluttony and hypocrisy, quarreling and conflict, giving up, debauchery.  God desires to eliminate these sinful things within us.  Therefore, in the midst of the pain and suffering that we may feel abandoned in the world, God seems to make us look at the cross of Jesus and repent of our sins.  So, as we discard the sins of our hearts, we are being prepared to become vessels used by the Lord.

Third and last, Moses considered looking after his brethren.

Look at Acts 7:23 - "When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel."  Baby Moses, who was abandoned by the Nile River, was taken in and raised as Pharaoh's daughter's own son.  Moses, who grew up in Egypt for about 40 years, at the age of forty, thought to visit his brethren, the children of Israel (v. 23).  Here, "visit" means God's intervention in a person's life (Ps.89:31-32; Jere. 9:9, 25, 11:22) (Park).  God's intervention for the children of Israel was to rescue them from the hand of Pharaoh and establish Moses as their leader.  Therefore, when Moses turned forty, he was moved to interfere in the life of one suffering compatriot (Acts 7:24).  In other words, Moses, moved by a sense of justice, saw an Egyptian oppressing one of his own people and took action to avenge him by striking down the Egyptian (Park).  Moses, driven by a sense of justice, killed the Egyptian oppressing one of his own people, but his method was wrong (Park).  He acted out of human passion, desiring to save his compatriot by striking down the Egyptian.  Interestingly, Moses was mistaken. Look at Acts 7:25 - "He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand."  Moses, having struck down the Egyptian, thought that the Israelites, his brethren, would realize that God was giving them salvation through him.  He also hoped that the Israelites would see him as their deliverer.  However, Moses was not yet prepared.  God's plan to intervene in the lives of the Israelites for salvation and Moses' plan to save the Israelites through his human act of striking down the Egyptian were different.  The day after this murder, when two Israelites were fighting, Moses tried to reconcile them, saying, "You are brothers; why do you wrong each other?" (v. 26).  The one who was harming his neighbor rebuked Moses, saying, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us?  Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" (vv. 27-28).  Eventually, because of these words, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he became a stranger and even had two sons there (v. 29).  When Pharaoh heard of this, he sought to kill Moses, so Moses fled from Pharaoh's presence and settled in the land of Midian (Exod. 2:15).

Here we see Moses, who was not recognized as a leader by the Israelites.  Professor Sang-seop Yoo's words: ‘Stephen directly turns Moses' fleeing incident into an event where the Israelites rejected him, emphasizing that the ultimate reason he had to flee to Midian was because the Israelites ultimately did not recognize him’ (Yoo).  Lovely Moses, abandoned Moses, he was not acknowledged as a savior (leader) by the Israelites.  The reason for this is that Moses was not yet prepared.  Look at 2 Timothy 2:21 - "Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work."  Moses was not yet a vessel suitable for the master's use.  He needed another 40 years of wilderness training.

How can we consider looking after our brethren?  A prepared heart is needed.  That is, we need the heart of God. God's concerns should become our concerns.  We should also intervene in what God intervenes in.

Today is Palm Sunday.  Palm Sunday originates from when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey with palm branches being used (Jn. 12:13).  The week known as "Holy Week" began on Palm Sunday and ended on Easter Sunday, known as Resurrection Sunday.  This period was a time of suffering and agony for our Savior. Jesus knew that the cries of "Hosanna" on that day would soon change to cries of "Crucify Him."  Knowing this, Jesus entered Jerusalem.  He was the only begotten Son who was forsaken by God the Father.  And it is through His forsakenness that we have received salvation. God the Father intervened and orchestrated in human history, ultimately allowing Jesus to be born in Bethlehem about 2000 years ago, and through His life, culminating in His crucifixion on the accursed tree, He bestowed upon us the grace of salvation.

Believing in the beautiful and beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who is pleasing to God,

James Kim

(While seeking a life obedient to the word of the Lord).