Basic HTML Version
on Abraham's side of the family.
bore Levi she was very happy be–
cause he was her third son by J acob.
Leah was not Jacob's choice for a
wife, bu t through deception by La–
ban. Jacob's uncle-cum-father-in–
law. became bis first legal wife. J a–
cob's choice was Rachel. Leah's sis–
ter. Therefore Jacob preferred
Rache! and snubbed Leah. God saw
Leah's problem and blessed her
with the majority of Jacob's sons. At
the birth of this third son. Leah felt
things would be different: "Now this
time will my husband be
joined
unto
me. because
T
have born him three
sons: therefore was bis name called
Levi" (Genesis 29:34).
Levi. in Hebrew, means "joined."
Although Leah's sentiment regard–
ing her third son was personal. her
choice of name for Levi later proved
to . be prophetic as well: the entire
tribe of Levi "joined" the nation of
Israel to God by fulfilling the offices
of the Levitical priesthood!
Beginning with Abraham. who
married bis half-sister, and con tin–
uing through Isaac. who took a
cousin to wife. and Jacob. who also
married a cousin. the custom of the
family had been to maintain the
genetic pool by intermarriage within
the family. Many problems were
created by this. but many strengths
were also passed on. The record of
the family shows wealth. education
and brilliance. Until politically gen–
erated slavery via the first pogroms
of history in Egypt thrust Abra–
ham's descendants into a poverty so
abject they didn't even own their
own bodies. he and bis offspring
were wealthy beyond most modern
concepts of riches.
Educated in the finest institutions
of learning in the centers of the civ–
ilization of their day as well as by
the crucible of trade, commerce and
animal husbandry, Abraham and
bis ch ildren were cosmopolitans of
the nth degree of their day. Con–
trary to popular opinion. the record
seems to show that Abraham and
bis family brought culture to Egypt.
rather than obtaining it there.
As to bri l liance: Abraham,
. blessed by God, managed to extri–
cate himself from two politically
tricky situations with the Pharaoh of
Egypt and the King of Gerar - not
on ly escaping the consequences of
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1977
lying to them, but adding immensely
to bis already great riches in the
process. Isaac maintained the family
wealth and duplicated Abraham's
political coup with a later King of
Gerar. Jacob even outmaneuvered
bis own father and brother (with bis
mother's help) , won both the birth–
right and the blessing from Isaac,
outfoxed the very foxy Laban. bis
uncle, and established independent
wealth for a family of twelve sons
and a daughter ! And of course we
all know of the brilliant success of
Joseph. the half-brother of Levi, in
Egypt.
Faults and Talents
The purpose of all this is to show
that despite the fact that Moses be–
gan as the son of a slave. he had
inherent capacities in bis bloodlines
which qualified him to be used to
fulfill the unique commission God
called him to accomplish.
On the other hand, there were
family characteristics many prefer
to overlook in lionizing these holy
roen of the Bible. God doesn't leave
it out, however. He tells the whole
story and makes these giants much
easier to understand by showing
their entirely human faults as well
as talents. The family had a streak
of clever, scheming deviousness and
used it to execute plots against each
other as much as against the world
around them. Strong, if not violent,
tempers provided another common
trait. Opinionated and of iron will,
they were from time to time not
even beyond arguing with God
Himself - though the main thrust of
their lives was one of faithful obedi–
ence.
Another overview of Moses' he–
redity was a strong dominance
among the women of the family. No
second-class citizens. these women
- they are only a bit overshadowed
by even more dominan! males in
the family. by custom, tradition and
the way God made things.
Following the family tradition.
Moses' father. Amram. married bis
own aunt , his father's sister - and
together they produced Miriam, Aa–
ron and Moses: all participating in
the focus of this genealogy of strong
tra its.
Living in more than difficult
times. Amram and Jochebed ,
Moses' parents. gave birth to bim in
an impossible time for raising sons.
By royal decree al! boy babies were
to be exterminated. The Egyptians
feared a population explosion
among their Hebrew slave class
would endanger tbeir national exis–
tence: bence infan ticide by law!
Using their natural bistory of re–
sourcefulness and exercising faith ,
Moses' parents set their as yet un–
named three-month-old son on a
voyage down the river precalculated
to end at the feet of the frustrated ,
childless daughter of Pharaoh as she
pursued her ritualistic ablutions in
the waters of the Nile-god Egypt
served.
Clever Miriam spied on the event
and reported all to mother Jochebed
(botb
strong
women). Even more
clever, Jochebed managed to in–
gratiate herself with tbe royal
daughter of Pbaraoh and wrangle
herself the position of wet nurse and
governess for that blessed gift of tbe
Nile, (named now) Moses! And in
addition, she got paid! That fasci–
nating interplay of human endeavor
and God's intervention at times of
crisis set Moses on a career unprece–
dented in history.
Just as the innocent naming of
Levi by Leab, drawing from the cir–
cumstances of bis birtb, was later
prophetic, so was the naming of
Moses by the daughter of Pharaoh.
Viewing the child's miraculous ap–
pearance on the bosom of the god–
Nile asan answer to her prayers, she
dubbed him "Drawn Out" (Moses),
because, she said, "1 drew him out
of the water" (Exodus 2: 10). Later,
as you know, this Moses was to
"draw out" the entire slave-nation
of Israel, and in so doing destroy
Egypt for generations.
First Forty Years
Paul tells us in Hebrews a peculiar
thing about Moses: "Esteeming the
reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures in Egypt: for he
had respect unto the recompence of
the reward. By faith he forsook
Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the
king: for he endured, as seeing him
who is invisible"! (Hebrews
11:26. 27.) This truth. inspired by
the Holy Spirit, says Moses knew bis
heritage, bis background. the prom–
ises and prophecies passed on from
15