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Wednesday 8/26/26
Thru the Bible: Old Testament Review – Exodus Pt. 2
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Thru the Bible: Old Testament Review – Exodus Pt. 2
Last week we looked at the 430 year time period in which Israel was in Egypt.
I offered an estimate of about 72 years during which I thought they may have actually been in slavery and affliction. That was an on the fly estimate that was completely incorrect since clearly the affliction had already begun by Moses’ birth or his parents would have had no reason to hide him, due to the decree of Pharaoh.
So I took a few minutes to go over the available data, but there simply is not enough to go on to tack down even a great estimation.
Summary:
So the total range would be between 179-80 years of bondage.
Details:
First off, Israel was not afflicted until after the death of Joseph. We know that Joseph was 39 when his family moved to Egypt and he didn’t die until 110, having seen his son’s children up to the 3rd generation.
So we need to subtract those 71 years from the total of 430 years leaving 359 years.
Next, we know that all that generation died before Israel’s population increased to the point of a perceived threat level. It seems that this would have taken at least another generation so we will estimate 100 years, which is a soft estimate which would place the remaining years at 259 years.
Additionally, we know that the pharaoh who afflicted Israel was one who never knew Joseph. This offers a key, but not a particularly clear one since we know nothing about the age of the Pharaoh who promoted Joseph or when he had children. However, it seems near to impossible that this Pharaoh’s son who would take his place on the throne would not have known Joseph. So the first king to not know Joseph who would have been around after his death would have to be the grandson or great grandson of the Pharaoh who DID know Joseph. So again we’d need at least one generation after the king who was ruling when Joseph died.
Since the scriptures tell us that all of the generation who came with Jacob to Egypt had died and the Israelites multiplied greatly so that the land was filled with them before their bondage began, it seems likely that it would have taken at least another 70 years to reach a level of threat to the Egyptian population. But this is a mere guess.
Dating from Joseph:
430-71=359 (Joseph’s death)
359-100=259 (estimated time for population to grow to threat level).
Dating back from Moses:
After Joseph’s death there was only 359 years left of captivity.
Subtracting 80 years from those 359 remaining years would tell us how long after Joseph’s death Moses was born, which was 279 years.
So…
259 for 100 years to pass from Joseph’s death to allow for population growth.
And from then to the birth of Moses 80 years before the Exodus would be 179 years.
So this leaves a time period of a maximum of 179 years to a minimum of 80 years for the years in which Israel was in bondage.
Aiming at the dead center of this time places Israel’s years of affliction at about 129.5 years.
So my initial estimate of 72 years was pretty lousy and I knew you were just on pins and needles with concern over this, which is why I figured it out for you. You’re welcome!
And remember this was only important because we know the grammar of the text says that the totality of the 400+ years God foretold to Abram INCLUDED years of sojourning among them. The scriptures never claimed they were in bondage that whole time. This just helped up calculate an estimate of how long that servitude likely was.
Now for the actual book of Exodus… there are MANY significant things which happened, but I don’t think they need combing over in detail so I will simply mention them and if you have any questions you want to bear down on we can try to do that, given my memory being sufficient to answer off the cuff.
The first lesson I believe is the person and life of Moses himself.
The Life of Moses
Moses was of the house of Levi and the scriptures tell us he was a “beautiful child”. This word is literally the same word God used in Genesis when upon the close of each day of Creation He looked upon His handiwork and called it “good”.
Now I’ve heard it said that “beautiful” meant his mother knew he was called.
A surface study will not yield that interpretation, but a deeper one will strongly support it.
Details:
On a surface reading and even in looking up some of the words, this seems a bit of a stretch, until you consider the grammar, where these precise words are used elsewhere in scripture. Then when you consider the Greek words used to translate this passage in the making of the Septuagint, together with the account we are afforded of Moses in Hebrews 11.
All of this taken together paints a picture which seems to agree with this assessment that his mother discerned something special and noteworthy in this child.
First, as I said, the text is unique in that while we are given the names of his parents later in scripture, the only mention at his actual birth is that both his father and mother were of the tribe of Levi which eventually became the priestly tribe.
That was significant in that it was pointing out destiny from the onset by avoiding the normal introduction of “then Amram took for himself Jochebed to be his wife and she bore Moses and Aaron to him.” it only mentions that they were Levites – that is NOT the normal way any child, much less one as prominent as Moses is typically introduced in scripture!
To keep from this being too deep, I’ll simply say that taken strictly on its own Hebrew terms — grammar, syntax, word choice, and literary echos — the text does in fact signal that Jochebed’s response to Moses’ birth was not merely a mother’s natural affection or appreciation of her beautiful baby.
The deliberate use of rāʾâ + kî-ṭôb hûʾ echos God’s words in Genesis 1. These words mean
“that good he was” — is a verbless predicate clause using the independent pronoun הוּא (hûʾ, “he“) as the subject. Again not something you pick up on in the English, but honestly, this pronoun is grammatically unnecessary and therefore suspicious. Its presence is emphatic, marking Moses as the subject of a weighty declaration, not just an incidental observation. Moses was not just “good” in the eyes of a loving mother, the eyes of this loving mother were given discernment to see that Moses, in his person, was “good” and that is an entirely different statement!
So the use of the emphatic pronoun, and the choice of ṣāpan all suggest the very real possibility of Jochebed having a genuine moment of covenantal discernment — she perceived in him something that was as God intended it to be, something reserved and appointed.
Additionally, the verb וַתֵּרֶא (wattēreʾ) — “And She Saw”
This is from רָאָה (rāʾâ), which in Hebrew carries a broad semantic range including the idea of prophetic insight or revelation. The same root gives us rōʾeh, which is the word for a seer or prophet.
The verb is used throughout Scripture when a character perceives something of divine significance — not merely with the eyes but with discernment.
So the Hebrew text alone, read literally according to its own grammar and usage, strongly implies she recognized him as “set apart” — not merely loved and cherished like any mother would her child, but rather destined.
Moses’ mother didn’t merely glance and notice a pretty baby. The syntax signals a moment of recognition and discernment.
This is also picked up in the Septuagint translation of this verse which I will not go into, let I cause you to lapse into a grammar induced coma. But I will point out that this whole idea has a nicely placed bow on the top provided by our author of Hebrews said in chapter 11:23, “By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because THEY saw that the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s decree.”
The Greek word “beautiful” ἀστεῖος (asteios) is the same one used in the Septuagint version of our passage in Exodus and literally means “of the city,” urbane, noble, fitting. It is a word used for someone who belongs to a higher order.
Now as to what this teaches us?
Well, since something like this is seen in other places in scripture all associated people who possess a special call upon their lives – I think it at least insinuates that one of the graces parents often possess is the ability to discern that their child is called of God.
This is given even further importance when one considers the power of naming your child, the instruction of God to train up a child according to their bend as well as the prophetic blessing we see many men pronouncing over their children regarding their futures.
God has given tremendous graces as well as responsibilities regarding their children and these are not only given to the father, but the mother as well.
When God calls He provides
From the beginning, God preserved Moses’ life.
This is another instance of God’s sovereignty over his plans and purposes. While God did not desire any male child of Israel to die, God not only preserved Moses’ life, but caused the enemies of Israel to support, raise and educate him.
The education he received under the Egyptians would benefit him later in life as well as offer us a potential cipher for what a “cubit” was in the construction of the temple.
God’s power in our weakness
An example from Moses’ life gives us all hope in regard to God’s ability to weave the story of our lives into the story He wants to tell through us, even using our bad decisions and apparent long periods of wasted time towards His end goals.
God clearly moved upon Moses’ heart even when being raised in Pharaoh’s household.
Moses made a decision to side with his own people over his adopted family and the privileges this would afford him. We see this not only in the bad choice he made to kill an Egyptian guard, but also in the words of Hebrews again.
Hebrews 11:24-27,
“(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.”
This introduces a problem but also reflects Moses’ actions as being acts of trust in God.
Exodus 2 says Moses feared his murder of the Egyptian guard being discovered. It does not specifically mention his fearing the king himself which is what Hebrews confirms, but I believe the references are different.
Hebrews is offering a bullet point list of faith actions by Moses, not a step-by-step enumeration of his actions at one point in his life. Many believe the statement in Hebrew more naturally fits his second departure from Egypt with Israel in tow.
Moses appeared before pharaoh many times leading up to Israel’s release, and in these encounters he had made the decision to side with Israel and subject himself to the scorn of Pharaoh along with his people Israel by which the writer of Hebrews said, “By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing Him Who is invisible.”
Now how this teaches the aforementioned lesson is that Moses’ autonomous action of killing the Egyptian, led to his fleeing Egypt to Midian where he married Zipporah, the of the Midian priest Jethro, by whom he had his two sons named Gershom and Eliezer. After 40 years on the backside of the desert he encounters God in the burning bush where he is called upon to lead Israel out of Egypt much like a shepherd.
After 40 years, through years of service he has become a man of great humility – although his faith needed a little bolstering since he looked to his own inability to speak upon God’s first call for him to be Israel’s deliverer.
In short, God used those 40 years which were the result of an outburst of passion to humble and train him. So it was that God had Moses in the right time and at the right place and in the right mental attitude to deliver His people in fulfillment to His promise to Abram all those years before – on the very day of His promise!
Late life does not disqualify – in fact, it may actually help
At this point Moses began the final 1/3rd of his life which was the most historically significant portion of his life by far.
Because people are people, it is quite impossible to think that Moses considered his life anything but a success having fallen from being a prince in Egypt to caring for another man’s sheep for 40 years.
This story reveals that even in our running, if our hearts are true, we only stand to run into the arms of our God rather than away from them. Moses, though not necessarily a prideful man when in Pharaoh’s household by any stretch, he was also clearly not timid when he attacked and killed the Egyptian. It was from this place of impetuous anger and piety that God molded the shepherd-deliverer he later became!
The steps sound familiar enough, not only throughout scripture, but can easily be seen in our own lives:
- God gets our attention
- We act impulsively, impetuously without consulting God
- It causes a problem
- We go into exile
- God encounters us and invites us
- We respond now humbled, broken and wiser
- God weaves the failure into the future success of His plan
Hardening of Pharaoh’s heart
The next thing of significance was the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart which we have covered in this church more times than I can recount so I will only mention the clef notes…
Summary:
We saw back when I taught on this in November of 2017, in looking up the words hard, harden, hardening & hardened throughout all narratives of this account, that there were a total of 13 examples of this in regard to Pharaoh’s heart.
- 7 were attributed to Pharaoh hardening his own heart.
- 6 were attributed to God hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
If you want a very clear study on this, simply refer back to the one we did back in November 2017 called, “Hardening of the Heart”
Details:
Exod. 4:21,
“(21) And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.”
So at least on some level it “appears” that it was always God’s plan to harden Pharaoh’s heart and to use that hardening to progress the plagues in Egypt so that it would obtain the two results He points out later:
Exod. 9:13-17,
“(13) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him,
‘Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews:
“Let My people go, that they may serve Me, (14) for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.
(15) Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. (16) But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.
(17) As yet YOU EXALT yourself against My people in that you will not let them go.”
Now this was said at a very pivotal time. Back when I taught on this in November of 2017, I looked up the words hard, harden, hardening & hardened and found 13 examples of this in regard to Pharaoh’s heart.
- 7 were attributed to Pharaoh hardening his own heart.
- 6 were attributed to God hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
Let’s look at them…
- Exodus 7:13 (Sign of serpents) – grew hard
- Exodus 7:22 (Waters to blood copied by magicians) – grew hard
- Exodus 8:15 (Saw relief from frogs) – he hardened his heart
- Exodus 8:19 (Magicians couldn’t make lice) – grew hard
- Finger of God revealed.
- Exodus 8:32 (After flies left) – hardened his heart at this time also
- Difference made between Israelites and Egyptians
- Exodus 9:7 (Livestock) – became hard
- Pharaoh checked to make sure only his land was affected.
- Exodus 9:12 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh
- Exodus 9:34 – he hardened his heart
- Exodus 10:1 “I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants”
- Exodus 10:20 “…the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart”
- Exodus 10:27 “…the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart”
- Exodus 11:10 “…the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart”
- Exodus 14:8 “…and the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt”
So we learned way back then that Pharaoh had already determined to be unresponsive to God and calloused his heart to God’s words and miracles 6x’s!
ONLY AFTER Pharaoh had 3 testimonies confirming that this was in fact God that he was dealing with, did God get involved in “sending the plagues to his very heart”.
The words “hardened heart” essentially means for a heart to become firm, dull and insensible to the voice of God.
So, Pharaoh did not allow his heart to be influenced by the miracles and judgments of God.
James 4:6 tells us,
“GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
So it could be said that the influence which had the power to save Pharaoh, was the very influence which hardened his heart due to Pharaoh’s PRIDE.
Pharaoh was determined to not listen to God, Moses or Aaron to let the Israelites go. It was only then that God is said to make judgments concerning the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart…
Now, it appears that God was giving Pharaoh time and opportunity for repentance (a change of heart).
One of the take away lessons of this which is important to the whole of scripture is that even though God knew Pharaoh was going to harden his heart anyway – it did not keep Him from attempting to influence him towards compliance.
This is in accordance with Rom. 3:3-4,
“(3) For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? (4) Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND MAY OVERCOME WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”
So it appears that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was both his own work as well as the work of God.
I like what Keil and Delitzsch (dee-litch) say about this (I updated some of the language),
“As the freedom of the will has its fixed limits in the unconditional dependence of the creature upon the Creator, so the sinner may resist the will of God as long as he lives. But such resistance plunges him into destruction, and is followed inevitably by death and damnation. God never allows any man to scoff at Him. Whoever will not allow himself to be led, by the kindness and earnestness of God’s warnings to repentance in humble submission to the will of God, must ultimately perish…
But God not only permits a man to harden himself; He also produces obstinance within him and holds this sentence over the impenitent.
Not as though God took pleasure in the death of the wicked! No; God desires that the wicked should repent of his evil way and live as Ezekiel says in Ezekiel 33:11;
“Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’”
and
“He desires this most earnestly, for “He will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4, cf. 2 Pet. 3:9).
As God causes His earthly sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), so He causes His sun of grace to shine upon all sinners, to lead them to life and salvation. But even as the earthly sun produces different effects upon the earth, according to the nature of the soil upon which it shines, so the influence of the divine sun of God’s grace brings different results inside the human heart, according to its moral condition.”
Many offer very simplistic and quite honestly, juvenile interpretations of Romans 9 to support the idea that God’s sovereignty does not allow for free will, but that God alone chooses who is hardened from His Own desires.
But if we actually read what Paul said, and then follow through by reading and studying the examples he cites from scripture it leads to a much, much different understanding!
Rom. 9:14-29,
“(14) What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness [injustice] with God? Certainly not!”
“(15) For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE COMPASSION.”
“(16) So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God Who shows mercy.
But are these verses saying what we do plays no role or that the final decision is in the hands of THE JUDGE?
Well, let’s keep on reading…
“(17) For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh,
“FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I HAVE RAISED YOU UP, THAT I MAY SHOW MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MAY BE DECLARED IN ALL THE EARTH.” (18) Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
(19) You will say to me then,
“Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”
(20) But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to Him Who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”
(21) Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
Now remember Paul elaborates on this theme in 2 Timothy 2 where he says,
“(19) Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “
The Lord knows those who are His,”
and,
“Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
(20) But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. (21) Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”
“(22) What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, (23) and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, (24) even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Listen to the words He uses – “Endure with much long-suffering”.
The word long-suffering means, “Forbearance and long lasting self-restraint before proceeding to action. The quality of a person who is able to avenge himself yet refrains from doing so.”
Why would God have to avenge something which He perpetrated Himself?
Deut. 15:7,
“If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother,
So the answer of whether the hardening of the heart is the work of Man or the work of God is…BOTH
Prov. 16:1-9,
“(1)The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. (2) All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits. (3) Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established. (4) The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. (5) Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished. (6) In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil. (7) When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. (8) Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice. (9) A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”
Prov. 21:1-4,
“(1) The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. (2) Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts. (3) To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. (4) A haughty look, a proud heart, And the plowing of the wicked are sin.”
The conclusion is that God as Creator and Owner of all – is also therefore THE JUDGE over all.
All decisions regarding the development and outcome of a person’s moral choices end in God’s judicial decree. So there is a way in which no heart has ever become hard through their own actions and decisions alone. It takes the arbitration of the Creator and Owner of all hearts.
As Psalm 33:13-15 says,
“(13) The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; (14) from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, (15) he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.”
But the lesson we learn from Pharaoh and by extension the passage often used to teach the non-existence of free will in Romans chapter 9, actually reveals that God adjudicates based upon our freewill choices.
So Pharaoh hardened his heart – which is to say he actively resisted God’s influences. Three times of which we know Pharaoh had come to realise that he was truly dealing with the God of all Creation. After having continued in his prideful resistance to God, God began the slowly progressive process of layering callus over callus upon Pharaoh’s heart until at last, his heart was like stone – unable to be influenced any longer.
There is much more to this but, that will be on the website and can be learned in some depth by following the supplied link to our original message.
The rules are for everyone – (God threatens to kill Moses)
In Exodus 4 we see that God threatens to kill Moses since his son remained uncircumcised. The whole affair angered Zipporah, Moses’ wife and so she left Moses and returned to her father’s house in Midian.
The lesson is clear – even though God raised Moses for the purpose of delivering Israel, He would indeed have killed Moses for his act of disobedience.
This teaches us that no one is irreplaceable AND that God holds his leaders to the highest standard since their lives are monitored by all they lead.
3 Days in… 2½ months in… Water & Manna
3 days into their journey and God has not given them water. They come upon polluted water in Marah and Israel begins to complain and God. God tells Moses to cut a tree down into the water by which the waters were cleansed.
Then 2 months and 12 days later they complain about being hungry. We know from the account of this given to the second generation in Deuteronomy 8:1-6, that God deliberately let them hunger in order to teach them a lesson with the manna.
The lesson being that…
“Mankind cannot live by natural bread alone…”, but they need the living words of God, which is what is meant by “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
This also connects with our church in Pergamum this past Sunday since Jesus in instructing them, He introduced Himself as the One with the two-edged sword proceeding out of His mouth.
Now this situation with the manna happened in the land very near to Midian where Moses had lived those 40 years. It was also where Jethro, his father-in-law lived, and where his wife Zipporah had returned after Moses insisted on the circumcision of their son.
An additional lesson was that the people had actually complained against Moses and Aaron for leading them into the wilderness. They told them however, that in complaining against them, they were actually complaining against God [See Exodus 16:8].
This is not an indicator that Moses and Aaron were perfect men, but they were the ones God placed His call upon and who were to represent Him before the people. To attack God’s anointed is unwise – not because they are always right or even more important than you, but only because to attack their authority is to attack the One Who delegated that authority to them! We see this backed up in other passages in scripture as well.
The scriptures tell us that those who rebel against and despise authority are like brute beasts, made to be caught and killed [See 2 Peter 2:10].
God test’s Israel’s hearts and obedience
It was just after this that God told them how to handle the manna.
An omer for each person per day. Any extra will go bad and have worms.
Two omers for each person on the 6th day since the 7th day was holy to the Lord from Creation. No work for provision was to be done on the Sabbath.
They did not obey TWICE.
The Manna becomes a testimony against Israel
The Ark of the Covenant was not yet made, but an omer of the manna was placed in a jar to be laid before the Lord as a continual testimony against the Israelites for their disobedience. Once the Ark was created, it was placed within it.
Water from the Rock (which represented Christ)
Following yet another bout of Israel whining God gave them water from the rock in Horeb. Moses was instructed to take the staff used at the Red Sea and bring elders with him to strike the rock and a river of water came gushing out.
1 Corinthians 10 tells us this rock represented Jesus. The entire event therefore represented His death from which the living waters of salvation flowed.
Moses discovers a new name and attribute of God
Israel is attacked by Amalek in Rephidim.
This is where they are told to fight – Joshua being singled out by Moses who obeyed and fought against them.
This is where Moses, Aaron and Hur all stood upon an adjacent hill overseeing the battle.
Again Moses would lift his staff and Israel would prevail, if he lowered the staff they would begin to lose.
This is often taken as an example of intercession, but more than anything it is a lesson on the power and authority of God.
Moses’ staff was a symbol of God’s authority delegated to Moses and represented God’s power in mighty deeds like the aforementioned Red Sea and Rock at Horeb as well as during the plagues in Egypt. So the primary lesson is that so long as God was with them, they would succeed. If God was not, they began to fail.
The secondary lesson is that God often gives us more than we can handle alone. We need Him, but we also need those God calls around us for help and aid.
When the weight of the staff became too much over time, Aaron and Hur would hold up Moses’ hands. Notice they did not take the staff and hold it up FOR him. This authority had not been delegated to them, but to Moses. They supported Moses as he represented God’s authority and power on behalf of His people Israel.
The end of the battle had accomplished much!
Joshua had his first taste of his eventual calling. He had been chosen by God’s chosen and in God’s power had prevailed.
Moses had presided over the entire affair from beginning to end and gave all glory and recognition to God.
Aaron and Hur supported their leader as well as God’s chain of authority.
In the end, Moses is called upon to record the entire event in the hearing of Joshua – God, requires eye-witness testimony for his leaders.
Then Moses then built an altar in that place of victory and called it “Jehovah Nissi”.
This was Moses creating a holy memorial altar and in naming it Jehovah Nissi, he was declaring that God Himself was their rallying point, identity, and the reason for their victory.
The establishment of Israel’s tribunal
Jethro counsels Moses and the Hebrew tribunal began to take shape.
Jethro witnessed how from morning ‘til evening Moses was burdened with hearing and adjudicating over every civil case in Israel. He rightly told Moses this was too much for him and offered him some sage advice.
This is one of the first examples of God running with an idea of man. This is NOT to say God did not foresee this or even set the thought in Jethro’s mind to instigate it. All we know is that, like the development of Synoguage, there is no indicator that God initiated it, but He did support it and helped further define it.
Moses selected capable, trustworthy, and God-fearing men from all of Israel to act as a tiered tribunal:
- Rulers over thousands
- Rulers over hundreds
- Rulers over fifties
- Rulers over tens
How it worked
- Minor Cases: The local judges and officials decided everyday civil and personal matters directly.
- Difficult Cases: Only major or hard controversies were brought up the chain to Moses, making him an early form of supreme appellate judge.
- The Seventy Elders: In Numbers 11:16-17, God later instructed Moses to gather seventy elders of Israel to share the administrative and spiritual burden of leadership with him.
This will help us when we get to the book of Judges and deal with the prophetess and judge Deborah.
God encounters – and they retreat
Up until now, we have only looked at the events leading up to their 3rd month in the wilderness.
On the very day of the third month, God called to Moses to meet with Him. There God told him to tell Israel the following…
“Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel:
(4) ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. (5) And now, if you will diligently listen to Me and keep My covenant, then you will be My special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is Mine, (6) and you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”
And that is where we will end for tonight. We will pick back up here next week!
