Moses, a Man for the Ages
We all know that Moses had a called-out life starting at birth when Pharoah decreed to kill all the baby Hebrew boys. In God’s sovereignty, Pharoah’s daughter saw baby Moses floating on the river in an “ark.” Her instant compassion led her to keep him as her own. But before she took possession of Moses, in God’s providence, Moses’s mother was allowed to ween him until the time for him to enter Pharoah’s house. And right there, Moses’s status changes from Hebrew baby to royal prince in Pharoah’s house.
It's obvious he is destined for great things. But there’s a hiccup on the way. It’s the story in Ex. 2:11-14 when he spied an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and he killed the Egyptian and hid him. But he discovered his secret got out when he later confronted two Hebrew boys fighting. One of them recognized him as the murderer and said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
As Richmond likes to say, this is a common “coloring book story” that actually has a lot more meaning when you look at it through a “future” lens. (We can do that because God describes Himself in His word Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Isa. 46:10)
As it turns out, the question Who made thee a prince and a judge over us was prophetic. Prince and judge were two of Moses’s roles. One just after his birth (prince) and one in his later calling (judge—see Ex. 18:13).
When Moses killed that Egyptian, he hadn’t even met the Lord yet. His life-altering encounter with the Lord came at the burning bush event in the next chapter, Exodus 3. So what we see in Exodus 2 is the raw Moses who was prophetically asked, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? I know. We tend to focus on the “murderer!” part of that story, while the “where is God going with this” perspective goes unnoticed. BTW, who asked that question of Moses? It was the two Hebrew boys. The very group God made Moses to rule and judge.
For verification, look at the New Testament commentary on this story in Stephen’s sermon in Acts. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. (Act. 7:35)
The bigger and brighter take away is that God prepared Moses to be a specific vessel for His grand plan for the ages that won’t end until the Millennium.
Moses was born with the calling, mission and inner unction to protect and deliver the Hebrews.
Moses (and Elijah) returned to earth at the Mount of Transfiguration, appearing with Jesus to Peter, James and John (Matt. 7:1-5). God clearly was not done with those two notable Old Testament characters, even in Christ’s day, and He wanted Peter, James and John to be eye witnesses to that.
And God still has plans for Moses and Elijah to return to the earth again during the Tribulation (see Rev. 11:3-12). Moses will continue his leadership—this time of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses during the second half of the tribulation before he will be killed by the Antichrist—and then come back to life.
Moses was always meant to deliver Israel—starting with the day he killed the Egyptian fighting with the Hebrew. Then God used him to deliver the Hebrews from Egypt with its wicked Pharoah. And in the future he will lead and deliver Israel from the antichrist’s attempts to annihilate them. He was one unique individual… worth studying.
R&J Shee