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Abral:iam to Jacob to Levito Amran,
to Moses!
The bíblica! record of Moses' first
forty years covers just half a chap–
ter , but the skeleton outline of
events provides enough detail to
flesh in most of the remainder from
reason and tradition. Taught the
trutbs Abraham received from God,
Moses' first learning experience, his
primary education, was received at
the breast of Jochebed, the witty,
clever, faithful mother-cum-govern–
ess for the adopted, miraculous Gift
of the Nile, the new Prince of Egypt!
Built onto this basic foundation of
truth was his roya l education.
Adopted into the very top social
stratum of the greatest civilization
of the day, nothing was spared to
provide him with the very best
avail~ble
on earth in every facet of
his life. History, perverted by políti–
ca) necessity of the time as is the
cáse of all history. Mathematics
from the accumulated intelligence
of the unprecedented and, to this
day, unduplicated excellence of
pyramid builders. Medicine from
physicians performing delicate
brain surgery unduplicated until our
present century. Milita ry tactics
from the reservoir of the strongest
army of the day. Literature and the
arts from one of the cradles of this
most precious segment of lifc. in the
human sphere of things. Política!
science. engineering, horticuilure,
astronomy, the phys ica l sciences.
the social graces, government, law.
pmtocol,
j
urisprudence ...
Forty years of the best education.
including practica! application.
available on earth - and, of course,
all paid for from the royal treasury!
And. most important of all, this en–
tire process was God-guided . The
Lord knew how He was going to use
Moses al! along. And, speaking of
cleverness, wasn't God pretty clever.
getting Satan and his deceived fol–
lowers lo provide a proper back–
ground for His boy Moses!?
Lite Begins at Forty
Permeated with the truth of God
taught him by his real mother, satu–
rated with aJI · the knowledge the
royalty of Egypt could provide,
Moses carne to the first severe crisis
point of his life. Seeking to destroy
this spoiled gift of the gods, Moses'
16
siblings of actual Egyptian royalty
must have precipitated his need to
flee into exile when he slew that
Egyptian in defense of his blood–
brethren.
Well , they say life begins at forty!
And for Moses, at least, a com–
pletely
NEW
life began at forty.
Reared in the lap of luxury uni–
maginable, unlimited funds to sus–
tain his every need and whim, an
unlimited supply of manpower al–
ways at his disposal to execute
whatever project he might want to
pursue, lauded, praised, honored
and revered, protected, provided for
and pampered - Moses now faced
making his living with his own two
hands! Exhausted and fear-ridden
from his flight frorr. Egypt, Moses
met a Midianite mogul named
Jethro-Reuel (which modest name,
being interpreted, means "His Ex–
cellency, the Friend of God"). J.R.
offered him a job as a shepherd for
his flocks which wandered for suste–
nance all over the Sinai wilderness.
Another forty years of Moses'
continuing education lay before
him. The rough life of a nomadic
herdsman, forced to survive and
thrive in the blast furnace of that
impossible piece of geography: the
Sinai Desert ! What a comedown for
the powerful Prince of Egypt. Pen–
niless. wanted for murder by the
mos l powerful nation on earth. son
of a slavc peoplc, inexperienced in
living by the swea t of his brow,
Moses began a ncw life. Forty years
and
Mose~
had gone from rags to
riches- and back to rags again!
But don'! fecl too sorry for him –
God was with him, and he
knew
it!
He knew about Christ! He could
picture in his mind's eye 'the fulfill–
ment of promises made lo Abraham
about the first coming of Jesus that
you and I can read about in the
Gospels as recorded history. An<.l
bcyond that. he could a lso picture
the o ther promises of that second
coming that hasn't happened yet:
the Kingdom, the power and the
glory of God on earth! Moses could
see all that as if it had already hap–
pened. He was jealous in guarding
in his heart and mind his own part
in that Kingdom of God - and he
well knew what kingdoms are all
about.
That knowledge, that faith sus-
tained him completely. Moses didn' t
miss a beat in picking up his new
style
ot
life in the desolate desert.
He selected a rough, strong, hard–
wood stick and started herding
sheep.
It wasn't all bad news. J .R. had a
supply of daughters that wouldn't
quit, seven of them! He happily
gave Zipporah, his eldest, to Moses
for his wife, and promptly became a
grandfather. Moses called his son
"Stranger" (Gershom), because, he
said, " 1 have been a stranger in a
strange Jand\' (Exodus 2:22).
Jesus' Enigmatic Statement
One thing we should understand
thoroughly is that Moses was very
personally acquainted with the One
we call Jesus. The Jesus of the New
Testament was the
Lord
of the Old
Testament! Jesus frust rated the the–
ologians of Hi s day with thi s
enigmatic commentary: " Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my
day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou
art not ye t fifty years old, and hast
thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto
th em. Verily, verily, 1 say unto you,
Before Abraham was. 1 am' '! (John
8:56-58.)
Jesus the Word of God who was
God, and became flesh. a lways
existed. He was the One who told us
that no man had eíther seen or
heard the Father.
lt
was through
Him that all things that a re made in
heaven and in earth were made.
Jesus is the One who. in the prayer
He made to His Father just
l·
-r
the· crucifixion. asked
f<--
He had formerly en'
Father be restored t
had completed thc
which He carne to earth.
The doctrines of som e woulo •'"
1
gate Jesus to being a created being.
having a beginning. Sorne thiok He
il'
Michael the a rchangel. And of
courst: sorne are of the opiniou that
He was just an outsta nding human
being of His day expounding socia l
philosophies beyond the scope of
His generation. And many deny
Him altogether, even as a historical
person, and feel He is the invention
of whoever it was that started the
Christian movement, a n o ut–
standing member of the mythical
(Continued on page 45)
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1977