Message 3
In chapter one of Exodus Pharaoh held the children of Israel in slavery and also sought to kill all the baby boys born to Hebrew mothers. In the second chapter we see the preparation of a savior for the children of Israel. Although these two chapters are separate, there is an underlying theme that binds them together. This theme is that in times of crisis God uses the female life for His purpose. For example, in Exodus 1 God used the midwives, the female life, to preserve the male life for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Pharaoh’s intention was to kill the male life, which represents the life for God’s purpose, but to preserve the female life, which represents the life for man’s pleasure. No doubt, Pharaoh intended to preserve the female life for his own pleasure. Pharaoh attempted to use the midwives to carry out his evil intention. But in God’s sovereignty the midwives refused to cooperate with Pharaoh’s plot. Although Pharaoh was a powerful ruler, even a tyrant, the midwives were not afraid of him, nor did they hearken to his word. Instead of killing the baby boys, the midwives preserved them. Hence, God used the female life to maintain the male life for His purpose.
In Exo. 2 there is the need for the preparation of a savior to deliver God’s people out of the hand of Pharaoh’s tyranny. In preparing the savior, God firstly used not the male life but the female life (vv. 1-10). The female whom God used strategically for this purpose was found in Pharaoh’s very household — it was Pharaoh’s own daughter. This reminds us of Paul’s word in Philippians concerning “those of Caesar’s household” (4:22). Although Caesar had put the Apostle Paul into prison, at least some of Caesar’s household became Christians. In the same principle, although Pharaoh tried to kill all the male infants born among the Hebrews, God sovereignly used Pharaoh’s daughter to preserve the most important male born to the children of Israel in Egypt.
Hebrews 11:23 says that Moses “was hid three months by his parents,” but Exodus 2:2 mentions only that his mother hid him three months. The reason Exodus 2 mentions only the mother is to emphasize the fact that during times of crisis it is the female life that is useful to God. If it had not been for the midwives in chapter one, Israel could have been exterminated. Likewise, without the female life in chapter two, there would have been no way for God to prepare a savior to rescue the children of Israel. In Exodus 1 God used the female life to preserve His people, and in Exodus 2 He used the female life to prepare a savior for His people, the people He had preserved for the fulfillment of His plan. Not only the sisters but also the brothers should be thankful for the function of the female life. In fact, in a proper sense, all the believers in Christ, both brothers and sisters, should be females in the eyes of God, because the female pictures the dependent life, the life utterly dependent on God.
In chapter two, several females were used by God. The first was Moses’ mother, a daughter of Levi (2:1). The name of Moses’ father was Amram, and the name of his mother was Jochebed (Num. 26:58-59). The emphasis in Numbers 26 is on names, but the emphasis in Exodus 2 is on the female life. For this reason, with the exception of Zipporah, Moses’ wife, this chapter does not mention the names of any females.
After Moses’ mother gave birth to Moses, she hid him for three months. When she could no longer hide him, she put him in an ark of papyrus and laid it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. Later, however, she was hired by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse him for a period of time. Thus, the first female mentioned in Exodus 2 was the mother of Moses, the life that brought him forth in birth and nursed him.
The second female was Moses’ sister, Miriam. Moses’ father, mother, and sister may have held a family conference concerning what to do with Moses when they could no longer hide him. I believe that the Lord led them to make that ark of papyrus. The same Hebrew word is used for this ark and for the ark built by Noah. Although this ark was a great deal smaller than the one built by Noah, the function of both arks was the same: to preserve life by causing the ones in them to pass through water. Moses’ family might have known that Pharaoh’s daughter was in the habit of bathing at a certain place in the river, and it might have been their hope that Moses would be discovered by her and raised by her. With Moses’ father in the background, the mother and the sister worked together to carry out the plan. After the ark had been “laid...in the reeds by the river’s brink...his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him” (2:3-4, Heb.). When Pharaoh’s daughter saw the baby and had compassion on him, Moses’ sister recommended that his mother be asked to nurse him (vv. 7-8). Moses’ sister thus watched over the male life and established the connection between Pharaoh’s daughter and Moses’ mother.
When Pharaoh’s daughter “saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her female slave to fetch it” (v. 5, Heb.). Here we see the part played by a female slave. This slave is the third female mentioned in this chapter. Again the name is not given in order to underscore God’s intention of impressing us with the female life. In Exodus 2 we see several females gathered about an ark in which a three-month-old baby boy had been laid. Each of these females had a different function. The function of the female slave was to serve. In particular, her service was fetching the ark.
Pharaoh’s daughter, the fourth female in this chapter, had her function also. First she rescued Moses and then charged Moses’ mother to nurse him. Later, when the child was brought to Pharaoh’s daughter, “he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water” (v. 10). We know from Acts 7:21 that “Pharaoh’s daughter took him up and nurtured him as her own son.”
In Exodus 2 we have a historical record, but in Acts 7 and Hebrews 11 we have a spiritual record. For example, Acts 7:20 says that Moses was “handsome to God.” This means that in the sight of God Moses was very comely. His parents must have been godly. Possessing spiritual insight and discernment, they realized that Moses was a very promising child for God’s purpose. Therefore, they hid him three months “because they saw that he was a handsome child” (Heb. 11:23).
The emphasis in Exodus 2 is not on the spiritual significance of Moses’ early life; it is on the important role played by the female life. Although the writings of Moses are elsewhere very descriptive, in Exodus 2 he gives us a very simple record in order to impress us with the way God uses the female life in times of crisis. During critical times, the only life that can be used by God is the female life that stands with God and is dependent upon Him.
We are living in a critical time, a time when the female life is urgently needed. Anyone who presumes to be a male will become a Pharaoh. All of us, including the brothers, need to be females. In a critical time such as now, the male life that is independent of God is not useful. Only the female life, the life that depends on God, is prevailing. If we see this, we shall have a great appreciation for the female life, the life that is wholly dependent on God.
In chapter two God used a number of females to accomplish His purpose of preparing a savior. One of these females, the mother of Moses, gave birth to him and nursed him. Another, his sister Miriam, watched over him when he was in the ark and served as a connecting link between Pharaoh’s daughter and Moses’ mother. The female slave fetched the ark, and Pharaoh’s daughter raised Moses as her own son. Probably she was also the one through whom Moses learned “all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). Today we also need the various functions of the female life: the conceiving, bearing, and nursing function; the function of watching, recommending, and establishing the proper connections; the function of helping and serving; and the function of raising, teaching, and training. Through four kinds of female life, Moses was born, raised, and trained for God’s purpose. For the carrying out of His economy today, the Lord needs these four kinds of female life. He needs many mothers, daughters, female slaves, and royal princesses to make the preparations for the deliverance of His people so that they can fulfill His purpose.
Acts 7:22 says, “Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in his words and deeds.” Under God’s sovereignty, Moses learned all the Egyptian wisdom while staying in the royal palace as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Through his Egyptian education, he became highly cultured and received the highest learning of the world. Hence, he became mighty both in words and in deeds. However, that was only the preparation on the natural side; he still needed the preparation on the spiritual side.
Acts 7:23 says, “But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel.” In the Bible the number forty signifies trials, tests, and sufferings. The children of Israel were tested by God in the wilderness for forty years, Moses was on the mountain for forty days, and the Lord Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days. The first forty years of Moses’ life were years of trial, testing, and suffering. At the end of these years, Moses was confident that he had been furnished, equipped, qualified, and perfected to save the children of Israel. He “supposed that his brothers would understand that God through his hand would give salvation to them” (Acts 7:25). When he spied an Egyptian oppressing a fellow Hebrew, Moses “slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand” (Exo. 2:12).
Acts 7:22 says that Moses was “powerful in his words,” but in Exodus 4:10 Moses said to the Lord, “I am not eloquent...but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” How can we reconcile these verses? Was Moses mighty in words or was he slow in speech? At the age of forty, Moses regarded himself as fully educated and qualified. Hence, he acted in a bold, strong manner. But his strength and boldness were altogether natural. God would not use Moses’ natural ability, natural strength, or natural boldness. In order to break down Moses’ natural strength, God arranged to have him work as a shepherd in the land of Midian. Thus, one who had been raised in the royal Egyptian family and who had attained the highest level of culture became a shepherd. For another forty years Moses kept the flock of his father-in-law in the wilderness. This was the best “graduate school” for Moses. In this “school” he was trained to have no confidence in his natural ability. Naturally speaking, he was eloquent, bold, mighty, and strong. But spiritually speaking, he was disciplined until he realized that he had nothing.
When God called Moses in chapter three, He showed him the sign of a burning bush, a bush that burned without being consumed (3:2-3). It seems that God was saying, “Moses, you are just a bush through whom I desire to manifest Myself. Although I want you to be My channel, I shall not use your energy, nor your strength. You are the vessel, and I Myself am the fuel. Whatever you do, you must do in dependence on Me.”
Do not think that God will use your strength or energy for the fulfillment of His purpose. In order to be used by God, we need to have a heart for Him and His interests, but our natural strength must be set aside. God does not care to use our natural eloquence, knowledge, talent, ability, energy, or power. Anything natural in us cannot be used by Him.
God took the first forty years of Moses’ life to build up a man who was strong in the natural life, and then He took another forty years to strip this man of all his natural ability. It may seem to many, especially to the young people, that forty years is too long a time for God to deal with our natural ability and energy. But as an elderly brother with more than fifty years’ experience in the Lord, I can testify that forty years go by very quickly. Do not expect to grow and develop like a mushroom. God’s way is first to build us up and then, in a sense, to tear us down. God intended that Moses learn all the wisdom and knowledge of the Egyptians, but wisdom and knowledge should not remain raw, unprocessed. Rather, it must always be processed. Whether we like this process or not, we must pass through it in order to learn not to depend upon our natural strength or ability. After all that has been built up in us in a natural way has been set aside, we shall be useful to the Lord.
In this chapter Moses was raised up by the female life and rejected by the male life (vv. 11-15). In times of crisis, the female life is used by God to raise up something for His purpose. But whatever God raises up through the female life is rejected by the male life. This principle can be applied to the history of God’s move on earth.
Which life do you prefer — the raising-up life or the rejecting life? If this question were addressed to me, I would say that I appreciate both and need both. I need to be raised up, and I also need to be rejected. If in the Lord’s recovery you have never been rejected, you cannot know where you are. Only those who have been rejected can be used by God. If you have not been rejected, you are still “raw” and unprocessed. To be processed we need to be rejected. I have been rejected many times. My character and disposition need and deserve this rejection.
We have seen that Moses was naturally very strong and supposed that his Hebrew brothers would recognize him as their deliverer. Because Moses was strong, he was frank. This is characteristic of all strong ones. But, like Moses, the stronger we are, the more we shall be rejected. Perhaps only those who are like “jellyfish” will always be welcomed.
Having a good heart with a good intention, Moses intervened in the struggle between two Hebrews. He said to the one who was in the wrong, “Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?” (2:13). It seems that Moses was saying, “As Hebrew brothers, we should love one another. Why are you wronging your brother?” The one Hebrew who was wronging his fellow Hebrew answered, “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?” (v. 14). Hence, the one raised up through the female life was rejected.
In the same principle, the Lord Jesus was crucified by the male life, but appreciated by the female life. When the Lord was crucified, the sisters’ presence was a display of their love and appreciation. In times of crisis it is always this way. Therefore, we all need to be females.
Hebrews 11:24 says, “By faith Moses, having become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” Some historians believe that if Moses had remained in the Egyptian palace, he would have been the heir to the throne. Nevertheless, he renounced a royal position in Egypt, the highest rank in the world at that time.
Hebrews 11:25 and 26 continue, “Choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked away to the reward.” Here we see that Moses paid a price to stand with the people of God. He preferred to suffer affliction with God’s people rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin. The enjoyment in Egypt, that is, the enjoyment of the pleasures in the world, is sinful in the eyes of God. It is the enjoyment of sin, of a sinful life. It is temporary, short-lived, and fleeting.
Hebrews 11:27 says of Moses, “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king.” Apparently there is a contradiction between Hebrews 11:27, which says that Moses did not fear the wrath of the king, and Exodus 2:14, which says that “Moses feared.” Actually, there is no contradiction. Outwardly, Moses was afraid and sought to escape. Inwardly, however, he considered the cost and voluntarily chose to identify himself with the people of God.
Hebrews 11:27 also says that Moses was “steadfast as seeing the invisible One.” He was steadfast, persevering, because the invisible God was working on him. God’s work was so real that it was just as if Moses saw the invisible God.
After Moses was rejected by the brothers and fled to the land of Midian, he helped the weak and suffering females, who had been mistreated by the shepherds (vv. 16-17). In turn, Moses was received by them. Moses was rejected by the brothers because he was too bold, but he was received by the females because he rendered help to them in their suffering. The females, seven daughters of the priest of Midian, were weaker vessels. When some men took control of the well, they could do nothing about it. But “Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock” (v. 17). As a result, they received Moses and spoke well of him to their father. Hence, the female life is not only the life that God can use to raise up something for His purpose, but also the life that receives what He has raised up. In this chapter the picture of the male life is for the most part very dark, but the portrait of the female life is lovely and very positive.
In principle, during times of persecution the suffering ones are comforted mainly by the sisters. For example, when Peter was released from prison, he went not to the home of a brother, but to the home of a sister where some had gathered together to pray (Acts 12:11-12). Brother Nee’s experience also illustrates this principle. The sisters appreciated him and comforted him in times of distress. Most of the brothers put Brother Nee on the cross, whereas the sisters received him and comforted him. As I became aware of this in Shanghai, I learned not to be such a male, one who was dissenting, cold, or neutral, but to become a female, one who was receptive and comforting.
The Hebrew males who rejected Moses were all immature and inexperienced. But in the priest of Midian we see a mature, experienced, male life that received the vessel which had been raised up by God. In this chapter all the females are positive, but the males are of two categories, ones with the rejecting life and the positive one with the receiving life. The rejecting ones were inexperienced, whereas the accepting one was experienced and mature. Therefore, God could use this mature male life to perfect the vessel He had raised up. No doubt Moses was perfected under the hand of his father-in-law. I certainly desire to be a mature one who can receive others and then perfect them.
In the church life today, we need both the various kinds of female life and the mature male life for the Lord’s economy. If something is to be raised up by God, we must have many females like Moses’ mother and sister, the female slaves, Pharaoh’s daughter, and the seven daughters of the priest of Midian. We must also have the experienced male life to do the final perfecting work. There is a particular need for the mature male life.
In these days many of us have been encouraged by the messages on Ephesians that we all can be perfected to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. In order to be such gifts to the Body, we must not remain those who are unprocessed, immature, and inexperienced, ones who are not able to receive God’s chosen vessels. We need to be raised up through the female life and perfected through the mature male life.
During his sojourn in the Gentile world, Moses gained a wife, Zipporah, a daughter of the priest of Midian. She bore him a son, and Moses called “his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land” (v. 22).
Moses stayed in Midian for forty years (Acts 7:30). During these years, God worked on him to perfect him. When some of the young people hear this, they may be disappointed, thinking that they are not able to wait such a long time to be perfected. If we would be perfected over a long period of time, we must have the proper heart, the proper attitude, and the proper standing. Where is your heart and what is your standing? Our heart must be for the Lord, and our standing must be with the Lord’s people. If we have such a heart and such a standing, we shall be willing to accept the Lord’s training, no matter how long it lasts.
At the end of this chapter, we see that among the children of Israel there was an urgent need for a savior: “The children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage” (v. 23). Therefore, God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring their descendants into the good land. God was obligated to fulfill His promise. Verse 25 concludes the chapter: “And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God took knowledge of them” (Heb.). This indicates that God knew their situation and understood their problems.
The last few verses of Exodus 2 reveal that all that transpired in this chapter was for the preparation of the savior to bring God’s people out of bondage. The situation is the same today. If we have both the female life and the proper male life, God will be able to raise up something and to perfect what He has raised up in order to rescue His people and to gain them for the fulfillment of His purpose. In this way He will be able to turn the age.
