The Story of Mary: Catholic Version:II Another Special Birth - Ch. 15 Back to Nazareth at Last

The family stayed in Egypt for some time. As the days passed though, they prayed all the more earnestly for guidance as to when they should return to their homeland. Then, they received their answer.

The family had gone to sleep one night as usual. They had heard that King Herod had died but still they were uncertain. Then, Joseph became aware that he was again dreaming that an angel was speaking to him. This time he was less afraid than in the past. In fact, he was eager for the message, hoping it would be about going home. Sure enough, the angel spoke: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead (Matthew 2:19-20).”

The reassuring message gave Joseph some peace and after reviewing the message and what they would now need to do, he fell asleep again. He did not think he needed to waken Mary to tell her now. When Mary woke in the morning though, he eagerly told her and the children about his latest dream.

Mary was also glad for the news. They ate breakfast and Mary fed Jesus. Joseph again went to settle what he owed with the owner of their current home. He also found his employer, thanked him for the work he had and told him about their leaving. Joseph was a good worker and the man was sad to see him go but gave him his blessing and a small gift to help them on their way. The family had sold their donkey some time after their arrival too, as they did not need it in the city and the extra money came in handy. Joseph knew the family he had sold it to still had it so he went to explain the circumstances and see if he could buy the donkey back. Sure enough, things worked out there too. All of this seemed to confirm to Joseph that they were making the right move.

So, later that morning, they set out (Matthew 2:21). They did not look forward to the long trek across the barren lands to Bethlehem but they did want to go home. When they reached Judea, they met some of the citizens and talked over what had happened since they left. They heard the awful news of how King Herod, intent on killing Jesus, Joseph knew, had sent and massacred all the children in the area under age two. He had even pursued Mary’s Aunt Elizabeth and her son John but they had fled to the hills and were saved. In his rage though, when Herod could not find John, thinking he might be the potential king, he had ordered his father Zacharias to be killed for not disclosing where John was. Mary was heartbroken when she heard this. It brought to her mind those troubling words of the prophet Simeon in the temple, the meaning of which she had never understood, but now began to catch a glimpse of, “This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul as well (Luke 2:34-5).” Her heart ached when she thought of all the families who would have lost their sons – she scarcely wanted to think of it – because of her son. She could not believe that was what Jehovah wanted, but that he, being The Highest One, would of course know what was going to happen. She certainly did not anticipate that someday this child in her arms would himself explain this troubling story to her.

And when they heard that Herod’s son Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, they began to be afraid to go there. The things they heard about him were no better than his father.  The night after receiving this news, while they were still travelling north along the sea, Joseph had another dream. He received a warning that confirmed their fears. After talking things over between them, they decided to go back to Galilee (Matthew 2:22). Eventually, they arrived back in Nazareth and settled once again in their home there (Matthew 2:23). Again, they did not know it at the time, but this too was later shown to be a fulfilment of prophecy (Matthew 2:23).

Needless to see, Jacob and Naomi were overjoyed to see them back. It had been a long time. And what stories the family had to share! Naomi loved learning to be a grandmother to Jesus. He was the most delightful child she had ever known. As for Joseph and work, it turned out that the new king of Galilee, Herod Antipas, was on something of a building spree and, in fact, was trying to turn Sepphoris into an even more important centre. So, Joseph was fortunate in being able to go to work there and did not have to travel so far and be away from his family as much as in the past. It was not long either before Mary’s parents came from Jerusalem for a visit to be reunited with the couple and meet their grandson, of whom they had already heard so much even before he was born. Of course, they were also told the amazing stories Joseph and Mary had already shared with his parents. And they were as pleased as Joseph’s parents to see what a lovely child their grandson was turning out to be. They returned to Jerusalem confident that things were finally going well and all was still in Jehovah’s plans and he was no doubt working them out.

The Story of Mary: Catholic Version:II Another Special Birth - Ch. 14 Still More Travel

After the men had saddled their camels again and turned to leave, Joseph turned back into his home. “Joseph,” Mary said, looking up at him as he approached her, “What do we make of all this? Isn’t The Highest One amazing? He sends angels, shepherds, Simeon and Anna in the temple, and now these travellers. But what do these gifts mean? Gold makes sense for a king. We can always use it. And I suppose frankincense fits in with worship and offering respect. But myrrh?” Mary did not even want to voice it but all she could think of was that this was something sometimes used to embalm the bodies of the dead. But these men knew they had come to worship a newborn. So why bring something that seemed to have to do with death? There was still so much she did not fully understand.

But then Mary remembered something else the men had said and piped up, “Do you remember what else they said? It is written in the prophets that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem! I did not remember that prediction. So, our having to come to Bethlehem seems now to be part of God’s plan! Isn’t our Lord wonderful? Who knows what might have happened to us if we had been back in Galilee? Surely, Jehovah is reinforcing with us what we have been chosen for - and who this little one is,” she added, looking fondly down at her son. “But then she looked up again with an expression of grave concern, “But now King Herod knows there is a special baby here. Someone we keep being told is destined to be the Messiah, our saviour and ruler. Are we safe?”

Joseph sighed as he lowered himself down beside her, “I just don’t know, Mary, our life certainly seems to be out of our control, doesn’t it? We have been told who this child that was given us is, but we have no instructions as to how to raise him safely or what we are to look for to help him grow up to fulfil the purpose he is born for.”

“Well,” Mary responded with quiet resolution, “we have been told much already. We must just wait on Jehovah and he will surely tell us what we need to know in his time. Now, we need to sleep.”

They drifted off to sleep when Joseph had a feeling he thought he had experienced before. Indeed, he seemed to be surrounded by brilliant light and there at his feet stood an angel again! “Joseph,” the angel was speaking softly but urgently, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him (Matthew 2:13). I warned the wise men from the east in a dream not to return to Herod so now he is going to be enraged and come after you (Matthew 2:12)!”

Joseph shot up from his cloak. He blinked, again – all was dark and still. It was another dream. But what the angel said confirmed their worst fears. They were not safe before King Herod.

“Mary, Mary,” he called, grabbing her arms and shaking her awake.

“What, what, what is it,” she asked, troubled by the alarm in his voice.

“An angel just came to me in a dream again. He told me we have to flee to Egypt – now – because King Herod is going to come and look for our son to kill him!”

“Oh, no,” Mary cried, “what shall we do? What about our families?”

“We will just have to send word to them later,” said Joseph. “We have to go now though. We have no choice. Do you think I would choose to do something like this?” He was gathering up the gifts and beginning to wrap them up in their blanket. Mary moved to let him finish and began to gather some things together to take along to eat. 

“Mary,” Joseph said, “You feed the children and I will go and pay our landlord what we owe in rent and buy one of his donkeys. We will need it for the trip. I will explain as much as I need to but of course I will not say where we are going. We can’t let Herod find that out.” With that, Joseph vanished into the darkness.

It wasn’t long before he was back. “The Highest One was with us,” he said, “I got the donkey with no problem and not too many questions. And since he knows your parents, I asked him to send word to them that we had to leave but would communicate with them later, to tell them that we are doing what The Highest One is telling us to do. Let’s get ready and go.”

Joseph helped Mary and Jesus on to the donkey and slung all their possessions over its back. Talking Mary’s hand in his he raised his eyes to the dark sky and quickly sent up a plea to the Lord for wisdom, guidance and safety on this journey they believed he had sent them on. Then, grabbing his walking stick, he began to lead them all down the road and out of the town. They were tired but fueled by fear, and with the growing conviction that Jehovah was with them, they made sure they were well out of the region of Bethlehem before they stopped by the side of the road to get some sleep. 

The sun was already up when they woke next morning. Joseph quickly helped Mary and Jesus back on to the donkey with their possessions and the rest of them began trudging on foot towards Egypt. Now, of course, this was somewhere they had never been before. However, Joseph knew that if they continued on this road to the sea they would find their way to Egypt. 

At the same time, Joseph especially was concerned for his family back in Nazareth. At one travel stop they met another traveler heading past Nazareth on his way to Syria. He agreed to take a message to Joseph’s family, so that was a relief. Joseph could not say exactly where they were as they could not trust that King Herod might not pursue them. However, Joseph promised the message-bearer that he would send further word to his family when things were more settled.

“Joseph,” Mary asked eventually, where in Egypt will we stay?”

“I really don’t know,” Joseph replied. “However, I do know there are many Jews in Alexandria. Maybe we will find a welcome there. It is on the sea so it should be easy enough to get to. And,” he added, looking back at their things, “we have those gifts that should come in handy to help us get established there until it is safe to return to Judea.” Of course, Joseph had no idea how far it was, but he would find his way.

Eventually, some two weeks later, they knew from fellow travellers they had met by that time and were sharing the road with, they were approaching Alexandria. They could see buildings appearing on the horizon. Far to the right they could see a large intriguing structure that they would later learn was a famous landmark of the city – its magnificent lighthouse.

They made their way into the city and after a number of inquiries found a place in which they could stay. They were relieved with that. Finally, they could settle down again, at least for a while.

The family did not take long to establish connections with the Jewish community. Mary made some friends as did the children and Joseph was able to get some work. Somehow, the Lord always seemed to be looking out for them. They could not help but conclude that it had something – everything? – to do with the precious child they bore.

Joseph was invited by one of his associates to go with him to synagogue one Sabbath Day. It was a much larger and more grand structure than any synagogue he had ever seen before. They found a place to stand among their fellow-worshippers and the service began. His friend alerted him to the fact that some of the service and reading would be in Greek. At first this somewhat surprised Joseph – worshipping their Jehovah in a foreign, a Gentile tongue. But then he remembered that he had heard that in Alexandria where the scriptures had already been translated to Greek because so many people used that language. 

So, it was not surprising then that Joseph found he could not understand a lot of what was going on. But his ears perked up when he heard the leader begin to read passages in Aramaic from the prophets, and particularly when - and he could hardly believe his ears - he heard the words, “out of Egypt I have called my son (Hosea 11:1).” He could hardly wait to get home to share this with Mary.

“Mary, Mary,” Joseph called when he got home, “Let me tell you what I heard at synagogue today! The prophet said Jehovah called his son out of Egypt.”

“See,” Mary said, “What did I say, if that is referring to our son, God is working his plans out, because here we are. And, even better, it reassures us we will not always be here. Out of Egypt The Highest One calls his son,” she repeated. “Now we just have to wait to see when that day will be.”

Chapter 20 – Back to Nazareth at Last

NOTE: THESE CHAPTERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN A MUCH IMPROVED, EXPANDED BOOK, "A SWORD SHALL PIERCE YOUR SOUL" from FriesenPress

The young family stayed in Egypt for some time. As the days passed though, they prayed all the more earnestly for guidance as to when they should return to their homeland. Then, they received their answer.

The family had gone to sleep one night as usual. They had heard that King Herod had died but still they were uncertain. Then, Joseph became aware that he was again dreaming that an angel was speaking to him. This time he was less afraid than in the past. In fact, he was eager for the message, hoping it would be about going home. Sure enough, the angel spoke: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead (Matthew 2:19-20).”

The reassuring message gave Joseph some peace and after reviewing the message and what they would now need to do, he fell asleep again. He did not think he needed to waken Mary to tell her now. When Mary woke in the morning though, he eagerly told her about his latest dream.

Mary was also glad for the news. They ate breakfast and Mary fed Jesus. Joseph again went to settle what he owed with the owner of their current home. He also found his employer, thanked him for the work he had and told him about their leaving. Joseph was a good worker and the man was sad to see him go but gave him his blessing and a small gift to help them on their way. The couple had sold their donkey some time after their arrival too, as they did not need it in the city and the extra money came in handy. Joseph knew the family he had sold it to still had it so he went to explain the circumstances and see if he could buy the donkey back. Sure enough, things worked out there too. All of this seemed to confirm to Joseph that they were making the right move.

So, later that morning, they set out (Matthew 2:21). They did not look forward to the long trek across the barren lands to Bethlehem but they did want to go home. When they reached Judea they met some of the citizens and talked over what had happened since they left. They heard the awful news of how Herod, intent on killing Jesus, Joseph knew, had sent and massacred all the children under age two. Mary was heartbroken when she heard this. It brought to her mind those troubling words of the prophet Simeon in the temple, the meaning of which she had never understood, but now began to catch a glimpse of, “This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul as well (Luke 2:34-5).” Her heart ached when she thought of all the families who would have lost their sons – she scarcely wanted to think of it – because of her son. She could not believe that was what Jehovah wanted, but that he, being The Highest One, would of course know what was going to happen. She certainly did not anticipate that someday this child in her arms would himself explain this troubling story to her.

And when they heard that Herod’s son Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, they began to be afraid to go there. The things they heard about him were no better than his father.  The night after receiving this news, while they were still travelling north along the sea, Joseph had another dream. He received a warning that confirmed their fears. After talking things over between them, they decided to go back to Galilee (Matthew 2:22). Eventually, they arrived back in Nazareth and lived there (Matthew 2:23). Again, they did not know it at the time, but this too was later shown to be a fulfilment of prophecy (Matthew 2:23).

Needless to see, Jacob and Naomi were overjoyed to see them back. It had been a long time. And what stories the young couple had to share! Naomi loved learning to be a grandmother to Jesus. He was the most delightful child she had ever known. As for Joseph and work, it turned out that the new king of Galilee, Herod Antipas, was on something of a building spree and, in fact, was trying to turn Sepphoris into an even more important centre. So, Joseph was fortunate in being able to go to work there again. It was not long either before Mary’s parents came from Jerusalem for a visit to be reunited with the couple and meet their grandson, of whom they had already heard so much even before he was born. Of course, they were also told the amazing stories Joseph and Mary had already shared with his parents. And they were as pleased as Joseph’s parents to see what a lovely child their grandson was turning out to be. They returned to Jerusalem confident that things were finally going well and all was still in Jehovah’s plans and he was no doubt working them out.

Chapter 19 - Still More Travel

NOTE: THESE CHAPTERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN A MUCH IMPROVED, EXPANDED BOOK, "A SWORD SHALL PIERCE YOUR SOUL" from FriesenPress

After the men had saddled their camels again and turned to leave, Joseph turned back into his home. “Joseph,” Mary said, looking up at him as he approached her, “What do we make of all this? Isn’t The Highest One amazing? He sends angels, shepherds, Simeon and Anna in the temple, and now these travellers. But what do these gifts mean? Gold makes sense for a king. We can always use it. And I suppose frankincense fits in with worship and offering respect. But myrrh?” Mary did not even want to voice it but all she could think of was that this was something sometimes used to embalm the bodies of the dead. But these men knew they had come to worship a newborn. So why bring something that seemed to have to do with death? There was still so much she did not fully understand.

But then Mary remembered something else the men had said and piped up, “Do you remember what else they said? It is written in the prophets that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem! I did not remember that prediction. So, our having to come to Bethlehem seems now to be part of God’s plan! Isn’t our Lord wonderful? Who knows what might have happened to us if we had been back in Galilee? Surely, Jehovah is reinforcing with us what we have been chosen for - and who this little one is,” she added, looking fondly down at her son. “But then she looked up again with an expression of grave concern, “But now King Herod knows there is a special baby here. Someone we keep being told is destined to be the Messiah, our saviour and ruler. Are we safe?”

Joseph sighed as he lowered himself down beside her, “I just don’t know, Mary, our life certainly seems to be out of our control, doesn’t it? We have been told who this child that was given us is, but we have no instructions as to how to raise him safely or what we are to look for to help him grow up to fulfil the purpose he is born for.”

“Well,” Mary responded with quiet resolution, “we have been told much already. We must just wait on Jehovah and he will surely tell us what we need to know in his time. Now, we need to sleep.”

They drifted off to sleep when Joseph had a feeling he thought he had experienced before. Indeed, he seemed to be surrounded by brilliant light and there at his feet stood an angel again! “Joseph,” the angel was speaking softly but urgently, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him (Matthew 2:13). I warned the wise men from the east in a dream not to return to Herod so now he is going to be enraged and come after you (Matthew 2:12)!”

Joseph shot up from his cloak. He blinked, again – all was dark and still. It was another dream. But what the angel said confirmed their worst fears. They were not safe before King Herod.

“Mary, Mary,” he called, grabbing her arms and shaking her awake.

“What, what, what is it,” she asked, troubled by the alarm in his voice.

“An angel just came to me in a dream again. He told me we have to flee to Egypt – now – because King Herod is going to come and look for our son to kill him!”

“Oh, no,” Mary cried, “what shall we do? What about our families?”

“We will just have to send word to them later,” said Joseph. “We have to go now though. We have no choice. Do you think I would choose to do something like this?” He was gathering up the gifts and beginning to wrap them up in their blanket. Mary moved to let him finish and began to gather some things together to take along to eat. 

“Mary,” Joseph said, “You feed Jesus and I will go and pay our landlord what we owe in rent and buy one of his donkeys. We will need it for the trip. I will explain as much as I need to but of course I will not say where we are going. We can’t let Herod find that out.” With that, Joseph vanished into the darkness.

It wasn’t long before he was back. “The Highest One was with us,” he said, “I got the donkey with no problem and not too many questions. And since he knows your parents, I asked him to send word to them that we had to leave but would communicate with them later, to tell them that we are doing what The Highest One is telling us to do. Let’s get ready and go.”

Joseph helped Mary and Jesus on to the donkey and slung all their possessions over its back. Talking Mary’s hand in his he raised his eyes to the dark sky and quickly sent up a plea to the Lord for wisdom, guidance and safety on this journey they believed he had sent them on. Then, grabbing his walking stick, he began to lead them down the road and out of the town. They were tired but fueled by fear, and with the growing conviction that Jehovah was with them, they made sure they were well out of the region of Bethlehem before they stopped by the side of the road to get some sleep. 

The sun was already up when they woke next morning. Joseph quickly helped Mary and Joseph back on to the donkey with their possessions and they began trudging on towards Egypt. Now, of course, this was somewhere they had never been before. However, Joseph knew that if they continued on this road to the sea they would find their way to Egypt. 

“Joseph,” Mary asked eventually, where in Egypt will we stay?”

“I really don’t know,” Joseph replied. “However, I do know there are many Jews in Alexandria. Maybe we will find a welcome there. It is on the sea so it should be easy enough to get to. And,” he added, looking back at their things, “we have those gifts that should come in handy to help us get established there until it is safe to return to Judea.” Of course, Joseph had no idea how far it was, but he would find his way.

Eventually, some two weeks later, they knew from fellow travellers they had met by that time and were sharing the road with, they were approaching Alexandria. They could see buildings appearing on the horizon. Far to the right they could see a large intriguing structure that they would later learn was a famous landmark of the city – its magnificent lighthouse.

They made their way into the city and after a number of inquiries found a place in which they could stay. They were relieved with that. Finally, they could settle down again, at least for a while.

The young couple did not take long to establish connections with the Jewish community. Mary made some friends and Joseph was able to get some work. Somehow, the Lord always seemed to be looking out for them. They could not help but conclude that it had something – everything? – to do with the precious child they bore.

Joseph was invited by one of his associates to go with him to synagogue one Sabbath Day. It was a much larger and more grand structure than any synagogue he had ever seen before. They found a place to stand among their fellow-worshippers and the service began. His friend alerted him to the fact that some of the service and reading would be in Greek. At first this somewhat surprised Joseph – worshipping their Jehovah in a foreign, a Gentile tongue. But then he remembered that he had heard that in Alexandria where the scriptures had already been translated to Greek because so many people used that language. 

So, it was not surprising then that Joseph found he could not understand a lot of what was going on. But his ears perked up when he heard the leader begin to read passages in Aramaic from the prophets, and particularly when -  and he could hardly believe his ears - he heard the words, “out of Egypt I have called my son (Hosea 11:1).” He could hardly wait to get home to share this with Mary.

“Mary, Mary,” Joseph called when he got home, “Let me tell you what I heard at synagogue today! The prophet said Jehovah called his son out of Egypt.”

“See,” Mary said, “What did I say, if that is referring to our son, God is working his plans out, because here we are. And, even better, it reassures us we will not always be here. Out of Egypt The Highest One calls his son,” she repeated. “Now we just have to wait to see when that day will be.”

The Story of How The Story of The Bible Became The Story of The People Of God V. Part II. The People’s Delivery from Egypt (Moses)

2016 4 24

2. The Commissioning of Moses (3:1-7:7) continued (again, I am drawing on Waldemar Janzen's Genesis in The Believer's Bible Commentary, subsequently referred to in the instalment below with the appropriate page reference as, e.g., Janzen 82 ff.)

Exodus 4:18-20 Moses gains his father-in-law's permission to return to Egypt. Interestingly, there is no record of Moses telling Jethro about his most important encounter with God in the desert. This would appear to be particularly worth paying attention to as we have read that his father-in-law was a priest, so it would seem reasonable for his son-in-law to consult with him to discern about matters such as this. Furthermore, we read that Jethro did provide some help in terms of leadership to Moses later on when they met in the desert after the Children of Israel left Egypt, so we know that Moses did value his wisdom. Indeed, one wonders whether the preparation that perhaps Moses had spiritually doing his years with Jethro and his family had something to do with God's choosing Moses' tribe as the priests for The Children of Israel, although it was Moses' brother Aaron who was given the leadership here. Perhaps the writers simply thought we would understand that this was discussed as the reason for Moses leaving, although what the text says is that Moses asked to be allowed to go back to his relatives in Egypt and see whether they were still living (4:18).

Here we again have the Lord repeating to Moses, "Go back to Egypt; for all those who were seeking your life are dead." Supposedly this should reassure Moses and remove one of his fears about returning to Egypt on this mission God is sending him on. Does this saying also sound familiar to something that was said about someone else in the Bible? Look in the New Testament at Matthew 2: 19-21. You will remember that when the wise men came from the East and told King Herod they were looking for a new king that was born he, in his jealousy, had ordered all the baby boys in the area to be killed to preserve his own line. Jesus' parents had fled with him to Egypt to save his life. In these verses in Matthew, Jesus' father Joseph is told to return to Egypt for those who sought his life are dead. Now he was going to be free to grow up to do his task.

Moses, like other Old Testament characters, as we have said before, is often seen again as a type of Jesus, and this is one of those parallels in their lives. He is now free to go back to Egypt to do his task.

4:27-31 Moses had complained to God in 4:10-17 that he was not a good speaker so how could he persuade Pharaoh to let his people go. God had said he could use his brother Aaron as his mouthpiece. Here we read of Moses meeting Aaron and telling him everything. Then they meet with the "elders of the Israelites" and "Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people. The people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped." It seemed that Moses and Aaron had gained the trust of the leaders of the children of Israel so they were on side with the plans to leave Egypt. Now they just had to convince the king.

6:2-9 Janzen 97 ff. - In the preceding passages, Moses and Aaron had gone to Pharaoh to ask for the release of the Hebrews. All that had done was make their work harder, which had cause the people to turn against Moses. When Moses complains to God about all of this, this is the answer he gets:

"I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as ‘God Almighty,’ ‘El Shaddai,’ but by my name ‘THE LORD,’ ‘YAHWEH,’ I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens. I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites who the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the Israelites,' I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.' Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery."

So, here we read of God again identifying himself as the God of his ancestors who had “established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens.” (verse 4) He tells Moses to tell the children of Israel that “I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm in his mighty acts of judgment. I will take you my people, and I will be your God… I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord." (verses 7-8) God is now making it clear that all of this action is because he is continuing to honor his covenant commitment with Moses' ancestors. They had become a numerous people, which begins to fulfill one of the promises, but they were still up in their own land. Furthermore, we are not sure that they were existing in much of a relationship at this time with the God who held his covenant with them. Just the same, God is promising to do was responsible party to a covenant would do when the other party is in trouble, which Israel is. He has not forgotten them and his covenant with them, although they may have. Now he is stepping up to take the next step in what this covenant relationship is going to be. He will free them, deliver them, redeem them, take them as his people and be their God. When Moses conveys this message to the children of Israel though, unlike the first reception Moses and Aaron had when they met with the Hebrew elders, this time they cannot hear the message "because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery." (Verse nine)

So here, for the first time in Exodus, the language of the covenant reappears. The same promises that we have seen given to the ancestors named here, are now repeated to Moses to be passed on to those descendants. However, just as The Pharaoh's heart has been hardened and he is not inclined to let the people go, the Israelites themselves now are no longer able to believe that Moses can do anything for them. Moses’ task is getting harder.

We have spoken of Moses as a type of Jesus. Do you see further parallels here between the story of Moses and the story of Jesus? We mentioned one of those parallels right at the beginning of the stories of these two individuals, referring to both King Herod and the Pharaoh wanting to kill baby boys.

Remember that Jesus also was not received by the leaders of his day. Indeed, he was rejected by his own people overall for the most part. He did indeed do a great saving work for us, just as Moses was to help God perform for the Children of Israel. However, perhaps like with Moses and Aaron, it was not until another spokesperson, Aaron, was identified, who became the Chief Priest and therefore the ancestor of all the subsequent Jewish priests, that God's plans were able to be accomplished. Jesus himself is referred to in the New Testament as a High Priest, and we as believers, Christians, are referred to as his children and also as priests. It is through his descendants that the church has grown to become what it is today. Just as Moses needed a spokesperson to accomplish God's tasks, Jesus needs us as his spokespersons in the world to carry on his mission.

Janzen 40

Another way in which Moses and Jesus are similar in that both were used by God to carry out missions of salvation through liberation from enslavement. As recorded in Luke chapter four, where Jesus was quoting Isaiah 61, he states that his mission was to free the prisoners and liberate the captives etc. That is what God is doing with his people here in Egypt under Moses as well. The difference here in Exodus is that the liberation, salvation, consist of one people whereas under Jesus liberation and freedom from oppression is available to all. Thus, the book of Exodus has been held up by the oppressed such as black slaves, or poor laborers in Third World countries, to show that God is on the side of the poor and oppressed and resists oppressors like Pharaoh. Here, all of this is included in the language of covenant faithfulness though, but that is something we have come to understand also applies to the church. Thus, Exodus also contains "a specific message regarding election, covenant, obedience and service."

Going back to the story and the resistance Moses was running into both with the Pharaoh and his own people, we read that in spite of all that, and God's bringing 10 plagues on Egypt until they were finally at a point where the Children of Israel were allowed to go free, they were delivered. The actual story of the beginning of that begins in Chapter 11 through 12. This included the institution of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as well as a return to the consecration of the firstborn, as described in chapters 12 and 13. Chapter 14 – 15:21 is a story of their ultimate delivery from Egypt with the crossing of the Red Sea - for God had miraculously opened up the waters for them to pass - and the destruction of Pharaoh and his army by the returning waters when they tried to pursue the children of Israel into the sea.

Chapters 15:22 to 19 tell the story of the beginning of their travels towards the promised land and their arrival at Mount Horeb for worship, now referred to as Mount Sinai, which, you will remember, God had promised Moses was the sign by which he would know that God was really calling him and empowering him to do this. Chapter 18 is a different part of the story, describing how Moses is reunited with his family and also gets some advice from his father-in-law, whom you will remember was a priest, about who how to delegate the work of being a judge in Israel.