A BABY OF PROMISE

 

“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them: lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them out of the land. 

Therefore, they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens…..But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel…… and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage….. (Exodus 1:8-14)

“We fancy that God can only manage His world by big battalions….when all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies….When a wrong needs righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it.”  (F.W. Boreham)

And it was a doomed baby, a beautiful baby, that was meant to be saved when a great wrong needed righting, a truth needed preaching, and people needed saving….and his name was Moses (Acts 7:20)

You mothers who have experienced the euphoria after giving birth, imagine the government of your land had decreed that the baby you were holding in your arms had to die. It doesn’t bear thinking does it? Think of Mary, Elizabeth and the mother of Moses…..

Imagine having to place that baby in a basket and set it on a river hoping someone would find it and look after it because you cannot bear to see its life extinguished. Then imagine a woman in pre-mortal life saying: send me to the Egyptian royal court and I will save that Hebrew baby that would one day float down the river…… this was the beginning of a man who was to become the greatest prototype of the Messiah.

And here is the full story. A Levite by the name of Amram, who was afraid for his whole nation and the baby his wife, Jochebed  was carrying, prayed to God one night begging Him for deliverance from the miseries his people were enduring at the hands of the Egyptian masters  who had proclaimed a death penalty on all the newborn.

God of Israel heard that prayer and ‘stood by him in his sleep’ and exhorted him not to despair for the child his wife was carrying for that very child shall deliver the Hebrew nation from the distress they were under. What’s more, “he shall be concealed from those who watch to destroy him….that his memory shall be famous while the world lasts; and this not only among the Hebrews, but foreigners also….”  (Josephus, “Jewish Antiquities” p 97)

And this answers how Moses’ preservation came about through the involvement of Him who makes all things possible and who fulfils all His promises. Amram and his wife concealed the baby boy in their home for three months after which Amram decided to trust the baby’s safety and care to God rather than to depend on his own uncertain ways of protection: “He believed that God would in some way procure the safety of the child in order to secure the truth of His own predictions”. (ibid p 98)

Hence the cradle made out of bulrushes and the infant left to God’s preservation floating down the river. Imagine the faith of that father and the longing of that mother to hold that baby against her breast….imagine the lesson learnt that when you put your trust in God, He comes up with a perfect plan because He did send that willing woman to the Egyptian court to save that baby of promise….. whom the Egyptians themselves raised to break the bands of their inflicted bondage of God’s favoured people.  

Oh the irony of the perfect plan of the perfect God whose work for the salvation of men cannot be frustrated!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)

 

A GOD OF ORDER

 

Did you know that there is no extra-biblical evidence that Joseph of Egypt existed? Here is why:

“Many scholars speculate that Joseph came to power in Egypt while the nation was under the domination of the Hyksos people. The ancient historian Manetho called the Hyksos the shepherd-kings and told how their conquest and dominion were bitterly hated by the Egyptians.

“The Hyksos were Semitic peoples from the lands north and east of Egypt. Since Jacob and his family were also Semitic, it is easy to understand how Joseph would be viewed with favour by the Hyksos and also how, when the Hyksos were finally overthrown and driven out of Egypt, the Israelites would suddenly fall from favour with the native Egyptians.

“Many people have wondered how Joseph could be vice-regent for so many years without having his name in any of the records or monuments of Egypt. If the theory of Hyksos domination is correct, then Joseph’s name would have been purged from records and monuments along with those of the other Hyksos rulers.” (Old Testament Student Manual Genesis – 2 Samual, p 103)

This historical theory offers two explanations. The first is how the Tribes of Israel fell into bondage in Egypt: “But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt. Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph” (Acts 7:17-19; Exodus 1:8). This new Egyptian king enslaved all of Israel for 430 years, which the Lord told Abraham would happen (Genesis 15:13; Exodus 12:40)

The second question it answers has to do with Joseph’s wife Asenath. The Old Testament tells us that Pharaoh gave Joseph to wife ‘Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On’ (Genesis 41:45). On was the popular name for Heliopolis with large houses which were the habitation of priests, philosophers, and those that studied astronomy. The history of this place is fascinating but too lengthy to engage in here.

Jewish tradition and legends claim that Potiphera and his daughter Asenath were in fact Semitic, and either Hebrew or of a similar Asiatic-Semitic people known as the Shepherd Kings. Knowing that the Pharaoh of the time was himself Semitic would make sense that he would not give an Egyptian wife to Joseph.

It is also important to note that the children of Joseph and Asenath were given Semitic names of Manasseh and Ephraim, rather than Egyptian names (Genesis 41:51,52). One text from Hellenistic Egypt (10 B.C.E.) tells a fascinating story of Joseph and Asenath (Joseph and Asenath – TheTorah.com)

Joseph’s two sons are the greatest proof that their mother was not Egyptian. If she was, it would mean that her offspring could not hold the priesthood as Egyptians were descendants of Cain through Ham and his wife Egyptus, herself a descendant of Cain (see Guide to Scriptures). Ephraim and Manasseh became the inheritors of the Covenant and the leading tribes of the House of Israel. More on that later.

This is what the stories of the Old Testament reveal to me….a perfect God, a God of order. Because of Him the Plan of Salvation runs like clock-work. The God of Israel has prepared every needful thing to ensure its success. His work and His glory to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man is flawless. There are no stumbling blocks he has not foreseen. There is no ‘ooops, I didn’t see that coming’ in His Plan. All eventualities were before His eyes when He put into place all the key people that will uphold it. And there is no contingency plan because it is not needed. The perfection of our God astounds me. He has us in the palm of His hand.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Creator by Greg Olsen)