WHAT IF GOD HAD ALLOWED MOSES TO RISE OUT OF ISRAEL RATHER THAN PHARAOH

The story of Moses reveals, from the start, God’s active involvement with Moses and Israel. While all the other baby boys of Israel were being killed, God inspired Moses’ mother to place the baby in an ark of bulrushes and to let it float down the River Nile. The baby’s short journey brought Moses to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him and who, unbeknown to her, asked Moses’ mother to raise the baby until he was ready to enter Pharaoh’s household.

Josephus tells us that Moses later became one of the great Princes of Egypt and was highly esteemed in the land. He had wealth, power and prestige, until God made manifest His will to him.

But what if God had not allowed Moses to grow up in Pharaoh’s household? What if Moses had simply arisen as the Deliverer from a poor Israeli family?

The option may seem quite reasonable. After all, it might have been very exciting and inspiring to see a poor slave become a mighty leader who brings his people out of slavery. Some heroes followed this pattern and became very inspiring figures.

But God chose to do things the ironic and unexpected way. He brought Moses into the enemy’s household and had him protected by those very same people who would have wanted him dead, had they known the future of the child.

Had God allowed Moses to rise out of Israel, many important components of God’s plan would not have been accomplished.

First of all, by bringing Moses into Pharaoh’s household, God shows how he can skillfully heap scorn on the powerful and the proud. How ironic it was for Pharaoh’s own daughter to end up adopting the very child her father wanted dead more than any other in Egypt. How astonishing it was that Pharaoh would have as a grand child the very enemy that would bring about Egypt’s demise. This brilliant orchestration not only reveals the wisdom of God, it also reveals His ability to manipulate events so as to humiliate the most powerful and the most wise. As Paul tell us, God, “catches the wise in their own craftiness” (I Cor. 3:19), and He does so, at times, in the most surprising and humorous of ways.

Also, if God had chosen to elevate Moses directly from slavery, one great test that qualified Moses for the challenging job of delivering Israel, would not have taken place. Moses is considered one of the greatest figures in biblical history. Not only was he used to free the Israelites, he was also given the great job of leading Israel to the Promised Land, and was the one through whom God gave Israel, and all of humanity, The Law of God. Such a job required a man who was thoroughly tested and found to be faithful.

Moses had it all; he was a Prince of Egypt; he had power, riches, and lived in pleasure and abundance. In spite of his greatness and power, he answered God’s call and, “when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt” (Hebrews 11: 24-26).

Leaving all the carnal pleasures and benefits of being a Prince of Egypt must have been difficult. He left glory for the shame of being a slave; he left the carnal pleasures of sin for a life of abstinence; he left security for total insecurity. Moses proved to God to be the man for the job. Being a Prince of Egypt was, therefore, an ideal situation from which God could test the mettle of the man, and the results proved him ready and deserving.

Lastly, being a well-known Prince of Egypt, when the time came for him to appear before Pharaoh, Moses gained immediate access to Pharaoh and his court. The leading Egyptians must have been in shock when the valiant Moses, the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, stood before them as the representative of a slave people and of an unknown God. Moses was back and was threatening the land with terrible plagues. All eyes were quickly focused on the man who represented God, as God intended.

Had an unknown, poor, ignorant slave attempted to appear before Pharaoh as Yahweh’s representative, demanding that Israel be allowed to leave Egypt, he would have been laughed to scorn and would have been immediately taken and brutally beaten or killed.

God knew how the drama had to evolve. Everything was perfectly in place and well ordered. All the steps had been perfectly planned by the Master Planner, and all worked as He intended. The human protagonist fit the part excellently and did all he had to do with perfect timing. The result is a story that is powerful in content, awe inspiring in its details, and very reassuring in its results.

The great ruler of life is indeed a God of great wisdom, and His plan here on earth evolves in the best possible ways. The ones He chooses to participate in his plan are the best possible candidates, and the results invariably follow His intended ends. He is a mighty and brilliant orchestrator -- He is the Almighty, all wise God.

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