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16. Moses' (Musa) Early Years

The descendants of Joseph and Israel became numerous in Egypt and they became enslaved for 400 years. Their slavery was brutal and the people of God turned away from God. Then they cried out to Him for help and the Lord remembered His people and answered their prayer. He sent a deliverer, the first adoption story, in the baby Moses who was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. It was through Moses, through a birth and an adoption, that God was going to provide life for his people. That adoption points forward to our spiritual adoption.  If you accept Christ and receive him as your Lord and Savior,  you are not naturally born as a child of God, you are adopted into His family in which He provides salvation, life, and hope.

·      Read in The Qur’an – 6:83-86, 18:60-82, 28:7, 28:9, 28:3, 28:5

 

Readings from The Qur’an:

·      The Qur'an 6:83-86. “We guided…Musa (Moses)… each one of them was of the righteous…each one of them We preferred above the 'Alamin [mankind and jinn (of their times)]. “

·      Since the Qur’an says guidance came to Musa (Moses), and through the Torat (Torah), shouldn’t Muslims know the full story of Musa (Moses), given in the Tanakh and Bible?

·      The Qur'an 18:60. And (remember) when Musa (Moses) said to his boy-servant: "I will not give up (travelling) until I reach the junction of the two seas or (until) I spend years and years in travelling."

·      This story of Musa (Moses) and Al-Khidr (18:60-82) contains some strange elements (murdering of an unbelieving boy by pulling his head off) and is not in the Tanakh or Bible anywhere? What should we make of this story?

  • The Qur’an 28:7 “And We inspired the mother of Musa (Moses): (telling): ‘Suckle him [Musa (Moses)], but when you fear for him, then cast him into the river and fear not, nor grieve. Verily, We shall bring him back to you, and shall make him one of (Our) Messengers." [Tafsir Al-Qurtubi]”

·      Is this the same as the account of Moses’ birth and boyhood in Exodus 2:1-10?

  • The Qur’an 28:9 “And the wife of Fir'aun (Pharaoh) said: ‘A comfort of the eye for me and for you. Kill him not, perhaps she may be of benefit to us, or we may adopt him as a son. And they perceived not (the result of that).”

·      Why does the Qur’an (V. 28:9) say the “wife” of Pharoah, when the Bible, written 2,000 years prior, says the “daughter” of Pharoah in Exodus 2:5-10?

  • The Qur’an 28:3 “We recite to you some of the news of Musa (Moses) and Fir'aun (Pharaoh) in truth, for a people who believe (in this Qur'an, and in the Oneness of Allah).”

·      Why is only “some of the news” in the Qur’an? Is the reader expected to already know or to read the entire story in the Tanakh or Bible?  How does the Qur’an summary compare to the rest of story in the Bible in the book of Exodus?

  • The Qur’an 28:5 “And We wished to do a favour to those who were weak (and oppressed) in the land, and to make them rulers and to make them the inheritors”

·      Why is this description of God’s motive in delivering the people of Israel from Egypt so different than Exodus 2:23-25? (“heard their groaning” & “rescue from slavery”)?

    • Exodus 2:23–25 “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. [24] And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. [25] God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”

 

Readings from The Tanakh and The Bible:

·      Exodus 1 “These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: [2] Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, [3] Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, [4] Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. [5] All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. [6] Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. [7] But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

·      [8] Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. [9] And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. [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.” [11] Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. [12] 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. [13] So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves [14] and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

·      [15] Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, [16] “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” [17] But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. [18] So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” [19] The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” [20] So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. [21] And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. [22] Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.” (ESV)

·      Exodus 2:1–22 “Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. [2] The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. [3] 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. [4] And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. [5] Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. [6] When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” [7] Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” [8] And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. [9] And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. [10] When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

·      [11] One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. [12] He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. [13] When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” [14] He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” [15] When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

·      [16] Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. [17] The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. [18] When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” [19] They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” [20] He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” [21] And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. [22] She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” (ESV)

 

 

 

 

 

Ø  Exodus 1:1-22, 2:1-22

Ø  Enslaved to Egypt, forgot God, in a time of desperateness cried out to God for forgiveness and deliverance

Ø  God sent a rescuer, in the form of a baby, through adoption, in Moses. Likewise God would send His Son Jesus as a rescuer to Mary & Joseph

Ø  Hebrews 11:23–28 “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. [24] By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, [25] choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. [26] He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. [27] By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. [28] By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”

 

See also:

·      “What Does the Bible say about Moses and the Exodus?” www.trustworthyword.com/moses-exodus

·      “What Does the Bible say about God’s People?” www.trustworthyword.com/gods-people

·      “What Does the Bible say in Leviticus?” www.trustworthyword.com/leviticus

·      “What Does the Bible say in Numbers?” www.trustworthyword.com/numbers

·      “What Does the Bible say in Deuteronomy?” www.trustworthyword.com/deuteronomy

·      “What does the Bible say about the Lord’s Supper?” www.trustworthyword.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-the-lords-supper