January 26, 2024 • 19 mins
Embark on a historical odyssey as we journey through the ancient sands of Egypt, uncovering the legacy of Moses from his roots with Abraham to his destiny as a liberator. Prepare to be captivated by tales of triumph and tragedy, as we reveal the heroism of Hebrew midwives who risked it all to challenge a Pharaoh's edict. Their silent rebellion set in motion a story of growth and survival against all odds, a narrative that threads through the lineage of a chosen people and culminates in the dramatic rescue of an infant destined for greatness.
As the waters of the Nile whisper secrets of a civilization long past, we explore its life-giving ebb and flow that sustained not just the mystic land of pyramids but also the biblical accounts that echo through time. Engage in a profound reflection on the identities of key women who defied a ruler's cruelty, from the watchful eyes of Miriam to the compassionate heart of a princess whose name, be it Hatshepsut or Sinamun, remains shrouded in mystery. Together, we'll navigate the intricate tapestry of political and religious power plays, drawing connections to the tales that have shaped our understanding of faith and history.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:01):
I'm Vic and I am so excited toshare another story with you
today.
Today we are kicking off season3 with one of the most told
stories in the Bible, the storyof Moses.
Over the next few months, wewill be diving into his life in
Egypt, in the wilderness, andGod's powerful act that
delivered the people of Israelfrom slavery.
So as we get started, let's gothrough the genealogy of where
(01:23):
we are in the story of God.
Our story starts with Abrahamand Sarah, who had a son named
Isaac, who married Rebecca.
They had two sons, jacob andEsau.
Jacob stole the birthright andthe blessing from Esau and fled
to Rebecca's brother's homewhere he was burned by the
birthright by marrying Leah, theolder sister, before he could
(01:46):
marry Rachel, the younger sister, and together they had 12 sons.
Their sons were Reuben, simeon,levi, judah, dan, netany, gad,
asher, issachar, zebulun, josephand Benjamin.
These became the tribes ofIsrael.
Judah we know as the line ofKing David in Jesus.
(02:06):
Joseph we know as the one whowas sold into slavery in Egypt.
But today I want to talk aboutthe line of Levi.
This will eventually be thelineage of the priest of Israel.
But here we will see thebeginning, as it is also the
ancestry of Moses.
So grab your cup of coffee orsomething to drink and let's get
ready to dive into the story ofMoses.
(02:39):
Story opens with a new king overEgypt who did not know Joseph.
Remember, Joseph had been theadvisor to Pharaoh, second in
command over the known world,and he had moved his family to
Goshen from Canaan.
But a new king had taken overwho did not know Joseph or his
family, the Israelites.
So when the new king saw thatthe Israelites were a mighty
(03:01):
group, they panicked and saidIsrael is too great for us.
Let us deal sure with them.
At least they multiply more andalign with our enemies to fight
against us and leave.
The king set up taskmasters overthe Israelites and put heavy
burdens of work on them.
The Israelites were then forcedto build major storehouses for
Egypt, now known as Pitham andRamesses.
(03:23):
But God was faithful to Israeland, despite being oppressed,
they continued to multiply.
So Egypt made the oppressioneven worse.
They made Israel slaves andthey had to work with brick and
mortar and do hard labor in thefields.
It was a ruthless existence.
Historical fun fact somescholars have argued that the
Israelites actually helped buildthe pyramids, while others have
(03:46):
said no.
The pyramids had alreadyexisted at this time.
So Israel was forced to buildbuildings or storehouses for
food and grain instead, whilestill others say no.
They helped build temples tothe Egyptian gods, like Aten,
the sun god.
But in any case, they wereforced to work day in and day
(04:07):
out in that hot Egyptian sun.
When the king realized thatEgypt was still multiplying
despite the extra labor, theydecided to gather the Hebrew
midwives and tell them when youare called to help deliver the
Israelite babies, if it is a boy, kill him, but if it is a girl,
let her live.
But the midwives feared God, sothey did not do what the king
(04:28):
had ordered and Israel continuedto grow.
When Pharaoh saw Israelcontinuing to grow, he called
the midwives back and asked whyare the Israelites having so
many male children?
And the midwives lied and saidthese Hebrew women are not like
the Egyptian women, they do notwait for us to arrive to deliver
.
So when we arrive, the child isalready born.
(04:48):
And God dealt well with thesemidwives, for they had protected
the people of Israel.
But Pharaoh was still notsatisfied, so he ordered every
son that is born to the Hebrewsbe thrown into the Nile, but the
daughters may live Down.
This time a Levi couple had ason and they hid him
successfully for three months.
(05:08):
But when it became moredifficult to hide him, the
mother of the child made abasket for him, laid him inside
and hid him in the reeds of theNile bank, and a sister stood
watch.
Now the daughter of Pharaohcame down from the palace to
bathe in the river and shewalked down the river.
She saw the basket among thereeds.
She sent her servant down toretrieve the basket and when she
(05:30):
opened it she saw a baby inside.
He was crying and Pharaoh'sdaughter took pity on him.
She recognized that he was aHebrew child.
Just then his sister approachedPharaoh's daughter and said Do
you want me to get a Hebrewwoman to nurse him for you?
And Pharaoh's daughter said yes.
So his sister went and gottheir mother to nurse the child
(05:51):
for Pharaoh's daughter.
When the child's mother camebefore Pharaoh's daughter,
pharaoh's daughter said Takethis child and nurse him for me,
and I will pay you.
So the mother of the boy did asshe was asked and took him and
nursed him until he was oldenough, and then she brought him
back to Pharaoh's daughter andhe became her son.
She named him Moses because hewas drawn out of water.
(06:13):
And that is where our storyends for today.
Moses, born into the lineage ofLevi, yet was adopted into the
house of Pharaoh.
This is the beginning of thelegendary story of how God will
use both cultures to bring Hispeople home.
(06:40):
If you grew up in church, youhave probably heard this story
many, many times.
It's basically the staple VBSstory, but I think there are a
few things that are importantfor us to know that will help
shape the context of the storyfor us and show this story to us
in a new light.
First location Our story takesplace in Egypt.
There is a tremendous debateabout when Israel was actually
(07:03):
in Egypt and it all depends onhow you date the Exodus.
If you say that the Exodus wasin 1446 BC, this is known as the
early date, based on a lot ofmath, of when Solomon built the
temple and working backwards.
But if you say the Exodus wasaround 1250 BC, this is known as
the late date and it coincideswith Ramses II as Pharaoh of the
(07:27):
Exodus Throughout the series.
We will consider both options,but I will let you decide for
yourself which one you think isaccurate.
So if we go with the early dateof the Exodus being 1446 BC,
then this story would havehappened around 1550 BC, also
known as the start of the NewKingdom in Egypt.
This makes sense because a newking took over who did not know
(07:49):
Joseph.
This pharaoh was almost thefirst.
He is credited to start the NewKingdom because he unified all
of Egypt.
Before him there were Egyptiankings leading in the north, in
Thebes, and Hikkos, aka nomadickings, came down and were acting
as Egyptians living in thesouth, in Memphis and the delta
(08:09):
area, but almost the firstoverpowered the Hikkos and ran
them out of Egypt, successfullyunifying the country again.
But if we go with the late dateof 1250 BC, then this story
happened around 1354 BC.
This king would have beenAmenhotep III, but his son,
(08:29):
akhenaten, became king a yearlater and he came in and created
this huge movement to make allEgyptian monotheistic.
He believed that there was onlyone true god and that one god
was the sun, god Aten, andduring his entire reign he made
a point to destroy all othergods.
Some scholars have argued thatit was because of the influence
(08:50):
of Akhenaten that Moses adoptedthe monotheistic theology.
But regardless of when you datethe Exodus, there was a
definite change in power and thenew king was paranoid about the
Israelites who were living inthe land.
The second thing I think isimportant is the Nile River.
The Nile River is a4,132-mile-long river that runs
(09:11):
from the equator northwardtoward the Mediterranean Sea.
This river was the essence ofthe gods and the mystery of the
ancient Egyptians.
They could never understand whythe river flowed in the
opposite direction.
Yet the Nile was vital for food.
Every year, the Nile wouldoverflow and flood the
surrounding fields, creating theperfect conditions for farming.
(09:32):
Because of the Nile River andthe fruitful farming it supports
, egypt was known as thebreadwinner of society.
Whenever there was a famine inthe land, everyone would travel
to Egypt to trade what they hadfor food, because Egypt always
had food, which is how Josephrose to power in the first place
.
In Genesis 41, when Pharaoh hada dream about the seven years of
(09:52):
plenty and the seven years offamine, joseph tells Pharaoh to
store up grain from the sevenyears of plenty so that they
will have food in the sevenyears of famine.
And when the famine comes, whohad food?
Egypt, because Joseph stored upthe food.
But the Nile was not just ariver to produce good soil, it
was also infested with wildlifeHippos, crocodiles, tiger, fish,
(10:16):
turtles and snakes.
All called the Nile River home.
So when Moses' mother puts himin a basket, she sends him down
a river in a crocodile, snakeand hippo-infested waters.
This was not just a gentlefloat downstream, this was
unbelievably dangerous.
I'm amazed at her immense faiththat God would protect Moses.
But Moses didn't travel down theriver alone.
(10:37):
Which brings me to the nextthing that I think is
interesting the two women whoprotect Moses Miriam, moses'
sister, and Pharaoh's daughterwho drew him out of the Nile.
The nerve that Miriam had tohave, as a Hebrew woman to hide
along the riverbank all the wayto the palace, not only to
ensure the safety of Moses, butalso to approach the princess.
(10:58):
We don't know how old Miriamwas, but some scholars have said
that she was seven years olderthan Moses, which means she
would have been about seven whenshe approached the princess and
offered to get a woman to nurseMoses for her.
And then goes and gets her ownmother to nurse for the princess
.
Also, can we just take a momentto appreciate the fearless
bravery of a child who wouldjust jump out of the reeds of
(11:21):
the riverbank and approachPharaoh's daughter, one of the
world's most famous royals inthe day.
But then also the princess notonly draws Moses out of the
water but also listens to aHebrew child and sends her to
find a woman to nurse Moses.
And instead of following theking's order aka her father's
orders and killing the Hebrewbaby, she invites his own mother
(11:43):
to nurse the child, thenraising the boy as her own in
the palace.
Now, because of the debate ofthe exodus, there is also a
debate about who this princesswas.
So if we go with the early dateof the exodus being 1446, then
this story would have happenedaround 1550 BC.
Remember we said that almostthe first was the king who did
not know Joseph.
But Moses was born around 1526BC, which would make the Pharaoh
(12:07):
Tupmos the first and hisdaughter Hatshepsut.
At this time, all royal womenin the palace of Pharaoh were
referred to as Pharaoh'sdaughters.
Hatshepsut was the onlysurviving daughter of Pharaoh
Tupmos the first and Queen Amos.
They did have other daughters,but she was the only one who
lived past infancy.
So it would make sense forHatshepsut to be the daughter of
(12:28):
Pharaoh in our story, for shewas the royal woman in the
palace.
Now, based on this, scholarshave discovered that Hatshepsut
would have been about six orseven when she found Moses in
the river, but that doesn'tdiscount her because she had
servants and people to do herbidding.
Even at a young age, she wouldhave had an incredible power as
the only legitimate heir to thethrone.
In fact, her half-brother,tupmos the second, would marry
(12:51):
her in order to become thesuccessor to his father's throne
.
So If she is the true daughterof Pharaoh in our story, it also
makes sense why aseven-year-old Miriam jumps out
of the reeds on the riverbankand asks her if she wants
someone to nurse the child andshe agrees quickly.
But if we see the Exodus as thelate date of 1250 BC, moses
(13:11):
would have been born in about1355 BC, which would put
Amenhotep the third on thethrone, and his daughter was
Sinamun.
Now, what is interesting abouther is she was the eldest
daughter of Amenhotep the thirdand will later become one of his
royal wives, but she, as theeldest daughter, held the titles
of eldest daughter of the king,great daughter of the king,
(13:33):
whom he loves, king's daughterand king's daughter, whom he
loves.
All these titles belonged toher as the eldest daughter of
Pharaoh.
Sinamun's half-brother wasAkhenaten, the successor of
their father, amenhotep thethird During his reign, who,
during his reign, started themonotheistic rampage throughout
Egypt.
He believed that all Egyptiansshould worship only one god,
(13:56):
aten.
Sinamun was about 15 years oldwhen she became the royal wife
and received a massive palace inThebes.
Now, it is interesting thataround this time, there were
hieroglyphics in Thebesrepresenting foreigners, likely
Hebrews, as slaves, creatingbricks for the temple of Aten.
Two years later, when Sinamunwas 17, it's likely, she found
(14:18):
Moses in the river.
But because she was married toher father, amenhotep the third,
it's possible they neverconsummated the marriage and
instead, their marriage wassolely to symbolize the marriage
of the gods, of Aten, the sungod, and Hathor, his daughter or
wife, so Sinamun and Amenhotep.
The third's marriage was solelyto compare their royalty with
(14:41):
the gods.
So this would mean that Sinamunwould not have had a children
of her own and therefore couldnot nurse the boy she had found
in the basket.
Thus she needed a woman tonurse the child until he was old
enough to return to the palace.
Like I said, we really don'tknow which of these princesses
is the one who found Moses, butI think both are pretty good
options.
(15:02):
So what does our story tell usabout God?
Every time we gather together,we will hear a story from
scripture and we will take timeto talk about what this story
tells us about Yahweh.
In today's story, we learn thatYahweh protects his people, not
always from the painimmediately, but that he keeps
his promises to get us throughthe hard times.
(15:22):
Moses was an innocent child,born into a crazy, messed up
world with leaders who werevicious and ruthless, but God
protected him and raised him upto be a great leader of Israel,
and over the next few weeks wewill see how it was Yahweh, and
not Moses, who did all the workto deliver Israel from their
oppressors in Egypt.
So before we go, I want to endour time together by reading the
(15:44):
scripture from which our storycomes from today, in Exodus,
chapter 1 and 2.
I hope that as we read thestory together, it will bring to
light everything we have justlearned and the story will be
illuminated for you in a new way.
Let's read these are the namesof the sons of Israel who came
to Egypt with Jacob, each withhis household Reuben, simeon,
levi and Judah, issachar,zebulun and Benjamin, dan and
(16:07):
Napdeli, gad and Asher.
All the descendants of Jacobwere 70 persons.
Joseph was already in EgyptThen Joseph died, and all his
brothers in all that generation.
But the people of Israel werefruitful and increased greatly.
They multiplied and grewexceedingly strong, so that the
land was filled with them.
Now there arose a new king overEgypt who did not know Joseph,
(16:29):
and he said to his people Behold, the people of Israel are too
many and too mighty for us.
Come, let us still shrewdlywith them least.
They multiply and if war breaksout, they join our enemies and
fight against us and escape fromthe land.
Therefore they set task maskersover them to afflict them with
heavy burdens.
They built for Pharaoh's doorcities, pitham and Ramses.
(16:51):
But the more they wereoppressed, the more they
multiplied and the more theyspread abroad.
And the Egyptians were in dreadof the people of Israel.
So they ruthlessly made thepeople of Israel work as slaves
and made their lives bitter withhard service and mortar and
brick and in all kinds of workin the field.
In all their work theyruthlessly made them work as
(17:11):
slaves.
Then the king of Egypt said tothe Hebrew midwives, one of whom
was named Sifara and the otherPua, when you are serving as a
midwife and the Hebrew women,and see them on the birth stool.
If it is a son you shall killit, but if it's a daughter she
shall live.
But the midwives feared God anddid not do as the king had
commanded.
But they let the male childrenlive.
(17:32):
So the king of Egypt called themidwives and said to them why
have you done this and let themale children live?
The midwives said to PharaohBecause of the Hebrew women are
not like the Egyptian women, forthey are vigorous and give
birth before the midwife comesto them.
So God dealt well with themidwives and the people
multiplied and grew very strongBecause of the midwives, feared
God.
He gave them families andPharaoh commanded all his people
(17:55):
every son that is born to theHebrews you shall cast into the
Nile, but you shall let everydaughter live.
Now a man from the house of Leviwent and took his wife, a
Levite woman.
The woman conceived and bore ason, and when she saw that he
was a fine child, she hid himfor three months.
When she could hide him nolonger, she took for him a
basket made of bullrushes andand dabbed it with pitumen and
(18:17):
pitch.
She put the child in it andplaced it among the reeds of the
riverbank.
And his sister stood at adistance to know what would be
done to him.
Now the daughter of Pharaohcame down to bathe at the river
while her young women walkedbeside her.
She saw the basket among thereeds and sent her servant woman
and took it.
When she opened it she saw thechild and behold, the baby was
(18:37):
crying.
She took pity on him and saidthis is one of the Hebrews
children.
Then his sister said toPharaoh's daughter shall I go
and call a nurse from the Hebrewwomen to nurse the child for
you?
And Pharaoh's daughter said toher go.
So the girl went and called thechild's mother and Pharaoh's
daughter said to her take thischild away and nurse him for me
and I will give you your wages.
(18:58):
So the woman took the child andnursed him.
When the child grew up, shebrought him to Pharaoh's
daughter and he became her son.
She named him Moses because shesaid I drew him out of water.
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our HM Future
Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
(19:18):
This episode was written andproduced by me.
Vic Hartman Music is embarkingon an adventure by Evan
MacDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye.
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:01):
I'm Vic and I am so excited toshare another story with you
today.
Today we are kicking off season3 with one of the most told
stories in the Bible, the storyof Moses.
Over the next few months, wewill be diving into his life in
Egypt, in the wilderness, andGod's powerful act that
delivered the people of Israelfrom slavery.
So as we get started, let's gothrough the genealogy of where
(01:23):
we are in the story of God.
Our story starts with Abrahamand Sarah, who had a son named
Isaac, who married Rebecca.
They had two sons, jacob andEsau.
Jacob stole the birthright andthe blessing from Esau and fled
to Rebecca's brother's homewhere he was burned by the
birthright by marrying Leah, theolder sister, before he could
(01:46):
marry Rachel, the younger sister, and together they had 12 sons.
Their sons were Reuben, simeon,levi, judah, dan, netany, gad,
asher, issachar, zebulun, josephand Benjamin.
These became the tribes ofIsrael.
Judah we know as the line ofKing David in Jesus.
(02:06):
Joseph we know as the one whowas sold into slavery in Egypt.
But today I want to talk aboutthe line of Levi.
This will eventually be thelineage of the priest of Israel.
But here we will see thebeginning, as it is also the
ancestry of Moses.
So grab your cup of coffee orsomething to drink and let's get
ready to dive into the story ofMoses.
(02:39):
Story opens with a new king overEgypt who did not know Joseph.
Remember, Joseph had been theadvisor to Pharaoh, second in
command over the known world,and he had moved his family to
Goshen from Canaan.
But a new king had taken overwho did not know Joseph or his
family, the Israelites.
So when the new king saw thatthe Israelites were a mighty
(03:01):
group, they panicked and saidIsrael is too great for us.
Let us deal sure with them.
At least they multiply more andalign with our enemies to fight
against us and leave.
The king set up taskmasters overthe Israelites and put heavy
burdens of work on them.
The Israelites were then forcedto build major storehouses for
Egypt, now known as Pitham andRamesses.
(03:23):
But God was faithful to Israeland, despite being oppressed,
they continued to multiply.
So Egypt made the oppressioneven worse.
They made Israel slaves andthey had to work with brick and
mortar and do hard labor in thefields.
It was a ruthless existence.
Historical fun fact somescholars have argued that the
Israelites actually helped buildthe pyramids, while others have
(03:46):
said no.
The pyramids had alreadyexisted at this time.
So Israel was forced to buildbuildings or storehouses for
food and grain instead, whilestill others say no.
They helped build temples tothe Egyptian gods, like Aten,
the sun god.
But in any case, they wereforced to work day in and day
(04:07):
out in that hot Egyptian sun.
When the king realized thatEgypt was still multiplying
despite the extra labor, theydecided to gather the Hebrew
midwives and tell them when youare called to help deliver the
Israelite babies, if it is a boy, kill him, but if it is a girl,
let her live.
But the midwives feared God, sothey did not do what the king
(04:28):
had ordered and Israel continuedto grow.
When Pharaoh saw Israelcontinuing to grow, he called
the midwives back and asked whyare the Israelites having so
many male children?
And the midwives lied and saidthese Hebrew women are not like
the Egyptian women, they do notwait for us to arrive to deliver
.
So when we arrive, the child isalready born.
(04:48):
And God dealt well with thesemidwives, for they had protected
the people of Israel.
But Pharaoh was still notsatisfied, so he ordered every
son that is born to the Hebrewsbe thrown into the Nile, but the
daughters may live Down.
This time a Levi couple had ason and they hid him
successfully for three months.
(05:08):
But when it became moredifficult to hide him, the
mother of the child made abasket for him, laid him inside
and hid him in the reeds of theNile bank, and a sister stood
watch.
Now the daughter of Pharaohcame down from the palace to
bathe in the river and shewalked down the river.
She saw the basket among thereeds.
She sent her servant down toretrieve the basket and when she
(05:30):
opened it she saw a baby inside.
He was crying and Pharaoh'sdaughter took pity on him.
She recognized that he was aHebrew child.
Just then his sister approachedPharaoh's daughter and said Do
you want me to get a Hebrewwoman to nurse him for you?
And Pharaoh's daughter said yes.
So his sister went and gottheir mother to nurse the child
(05:51):
for Pharaoh's daughter.
When the child's mother camebefore Pharaoh's daughter,
pharaoh's daughter said Takethis child and nurse him for me,
and I will pay you.
So the mother of the boy did asshe was asked and took him and
nursed him until he was oldenough, and then she brought him
back to Pharaoh's daughter andhe became her son.
She named him Moses because hewas drawn out of water.
(06:13):
And that is where our storyends for today.
Moses, born into the lineage ofLevi, yet was adopted into the
house of Pharaoh.
This is the beginning of thelegendary story of how God will
use both cultures to bring Hispeople home.
(06:40):
If you grew up in church, youhave probably heard this story
many, many times.
It's basically the staple VBSstory, but I think there are a
few things that are importantfor us to know that will help
shape the context of the storyfor us and show this story to us
in a new light.
First location Our story takesplace in Egypt.
There is a tremendous debateabout when Israel was actually
(07:03):
in Egypt and it all depends onhow you date the Exodus.
If you say that the Exodus wasin 1446 BC, this is known as the
early date, based on a lot ofmath, of when Solomon built the
temple and working backwards.
But if you say the Exodus wasaround 1250 BC, this is known as
the late date and it coincideswith Ramses II as Pharaoh of the
(07:27):
Exodus Throughout the series.
We will consider both options,but I will let you decide for
yourself which one you think isaccurate.
So if we go with the early dateof the Exodus being 1446 BC,
then this story would havehappened around 1550 BC, also
known as the start of the NewKingdom in Egypt.
This makes sense because a newking took over who did not know
(07:49):
Joseph.
This pharaoh was almost thefirst.
He is credited to start the NewKingdom because he unified all
of Egypt.
Before him there were Egyptiankings leading in the north, in
Thebes, and Hikkos, aka nomadickings, came down and were acting
as Egyptians living in thesouth, in Memphis and the delta
(08:09):
area, but almost the firstoverpowered the Hikkos and ran
them out of Egypt, successfullyunifying the country again.
But if we go with the late dateof 1250 BC, then this story
happened around 1354 BC.
This king would have beenAmenhotep III, but his son,
(08:29):
akhenaten, became king a yearlater and he came in and created
this huge movement to make allEgyptian monotheistic.
He believed that there was onlyone true god and that one god
was the sun, god Aten, andduring his entire reign he made
a point to destroy all othergods.
Some scholars have argued thatit was because of the influence
(08:50):
of Akhenaten that Moses adoptedthe monotheistic theology.
But regardless of when you datethe Exodus, there was a
definite change in power and thenew king was paranoid about the
Israelites who were living inthe land.
The second thing I think isimportant is the Nile River.
The Nile River is a4,132-mile-long river that runs
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from the equator northwardtoward the Mediterranean Sea.
This river was the essence ofthe gods and the mystery of the
ancient Egyptians.
They could never understand whythe river flowed in the
opposite direction.
Yet the Nile was vital for food.
Every year, the Nile wouldoverflow and flood the
surrounding fields, creating theperfect conditions for farming.
(09:32):
Because of the Nile River andthe fruitful farming it supports
, egypt was known as thebreadwinner of society.
Whenever there was a famine inthe land, everyone would travel
to Egypt to trade what they hadfor food, because Egypt always
had food, which is how Josephrose to power in the first place
.
In Genesis 41, when Pharaoh hada dream about the seven years of
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plenty and the seven years offamine, joseph tells Pharaoh to
store up grain from the sevenyears of plenty so that they
will have food in the sevenyears of famine.
And when the famine comes, whohad food?
Egypt, because Joseph stored upthe food.
But the Nile was not just ariver to produce good soil, it
was also infested with wildlifeHippos, crocodiles, tiger, fish,
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turtles and snakes.
All called the Nile River home.
So when Moses' mother puts himin a basket, she sends him down
a river in a crocodile, snakeand hippo-infested waters.
This was not just a gentlefloat downstream, this was
unbelievably dangerous.
I'm amazed at her immense faiththat God would protect Moses.
But Moses didn't travel down theriver alone.
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Which brings me to the nextthing that I think is
interesting the two women whoprotect Moses Miriam, moses'
sister, and Pharaoh's daughterwho drew him out of the Nile.
The nerve that Miriam had tohave, as a Hebrew woman to hide
along the riverbank all the wayto the palace, not only to
ensure the safety of Moses, butalso to approach the princess.
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We don't know how old Miriamwas, but some scholars have said
that she was seven years olderthan Moses, which means she
would have been about seven whenshe approached the princess and
offered to get a woman to nurseMoses for her.
And then goes and gets her ownmother to nurse for the princess
.
Also, can we just take a momentto appreciate the fearless
bravery of a child who wouldjust jump out of the reeds of
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the riverbank and approachPharaoh's daughter, one of the
world's most famous royals inthe day.
But then also the princess notonly draws Moses out of the
water but also listens to aHebrew child and sends her to
find a woman to nurse Moses.
And instead of following theking's order aka her father's
orders and killing the Hebrewbaby, she invites his own mother
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to nurse the child, thenraising the boy as her own in
the palace.
Now, because of the debate ofthe exodus, there is also a
debate about who this princesswas.
So if we go with the early dateof the exodus being 1446, then
this story would have happenedaround 1550 BC.
Remember we said that almostthe first was the king who did
not know Joseph.
But Moses was born around 1526BC, which would make the Pharaoh
(12:07):
Tupmos the first and hisdaughter Hatshepsut.
At this time, all royal womenin the palace of Pharaoh were
referred to as Pharaoh'sdaughters.
Hatshepsut was the onlysurviving daughter of Pharaoh
Tupmos the first and Queen Amos.
They did have other daughters,but she was the only one who
lived past infancy.
So it would make sense forHatshepsut to be the daughter of
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Pharaoh in our story, for shewas the royal woman in the
palace.
Now, based on this, scholarshave discovered that Hatshepsut
would have been about six orseven when she found Moses in
the river, but that doesn'tdiscount her because she had
servants and people to do herbidding.
Even at a young age, she wouldhave had an incredible power as
the only legitimate heir to thethrone.
In fact, her half-brother,tupmos the second, would marry
(12:51):
her in order to become thesuccessor to his father's throne
.
So If she is the true daughterof Pharaoh in our story, it also
makes sense why aseven-year-old Miriam jumps out
of the reeds on the riverbankand asks her if she wants
someone to nurse the child andshe agrees quickly.
But if we see the Exodus as thelate date of 1250 BC, moses
(13:11):
would have been born in about1355 BC, which would put
Amenhotep the third on thethrone, and his daughter was
Sinamun.
Now, what is interesting abouther is she was the eldest
daughter of Amenhotep the thirdand will later become one of his
royal wives, but she, as theeldest daughter, held the titles
of eldest daughter of the king,great daughter of the king,
(13:33):
whom he loves, king's daughterand king's daughter, whom he
loves.
All these titles belonged toher as the eldest daughter of
Pharaoh.
Sinamun's half-brother wasAkhenaten, the successor of
their father, amenhotep thethird During his reign, who,
during his reign, started themonotheistic rampage throughout
Egypt.
He believed that all Egyptiansshould worship only one god,
(13:56):
aten.
Sinamun was about 15 years oldwhen she became the royal wife
and received a massive palace inThebes.
Now, it is interesting thataround this time, there were
hieroglyphics in Thebesrepresenting foreigners, likely
Hebrews, as slaves, creatingbricks for the temple of Aten.
Two years later, when Sinamunwas 17, it's likely, she found
(14:18):
Moses in the river.
But because she was married toher father, amenhotep the third,
it's possible they neverconsummated the marriage and
instead, their marriage wassolely to symbolize the marriage
of the gods, of Aten, the sungod, and Hathor, his daughter or
wife, so Sinamun and Amenhotep.
The third's marriage was solelyto compare their royalty with
(14:41):
the gods.
So this would mean that Sinamunwould not have had a children
of her own and therefore couldnot nurse the boy she had found
in the basket.
Thus she needed a woman tonurse the child until he was old
enough to return to the palace.
Like I said, we really don'tknow which of these princesses
is the one who found Moses, butI think both are pretty good
options.
(15:02):
So what does our story tell usabout God?
Every time we gather together,we will hear a story from
scripture and we will take timeto talk about what this story
tells us about Yahweh.
In today's story, we learn thatYahweh protects his people, not
always from the painimmediately, but that he keeps
his promises to get us throughthe hard times.
(15:22):
Moses was an innocent child,born into a crazy, messed up
world with leaders who werevicious and ruthless, but God
protected him and raised him upto be a great leader of Israel,
and over the next few weeks wewill see how it was Yahweh, and
not Moses, who did all the workto deliver Israel from their
oppressors in Egypt.
So before we go, I want to endour time together by reading the
(15:44):
scripture from which our storycomes from today, in Exodus,
chapter 1 and 2.
I hope that as we read thestory together, it will bring to
light everything we have justlearned and the story will be
illuminated for you in a new way.
Let's read these are the namesof the sons of Israel who came
to Egypt with Jacob, each withhis household Reuben, simeon,
levi and Judah, issachar,zebulun and Benjamin, dan and
(16:07):
Napdeli, gad and Asher.
All the descendants of Jacobwere 70 persons.
Joseph was already in EgyptThen Joseph died, and all his
brothers in all that generation.
But the people of Israel werefruitful and increased greatly.
They multiplied and grewexceedingly strong, so that the
land was filled with them.
Now there arose a new king overEgypt who did not know Joseph,
(16:29):
and he said to his people Behold, the people of Israel are too
many and too mighty for us.
Come, let us still shrewdlywith them least.
They multiply and if war breaksout, they join our enemies and
fight against us and escape fromthe land.
Therefore they set task maskersover them to afflict them with
heavy burdens.
They built for Pharaoh's doorcities, pitham and Ramses.
(16:51):
But the more they wereoppressed, the more they
multiplied and the more theyspread abroad.
And the Egyptians were in dreadof the people of Israel.
So they ruthlessly made thepeople of Israel work as slaves
and made their lives bitter withhard service and mortar and
brick and in all kinds of workin the field.
In all their work theyruthlessly made them work as
(17:11):
slaves.
Then the king of Egypt said tothe Hebrew midwives, one of whom
was named Sifara and the otherPua, when you are serving as a
midwife and the Hebrew women,and see them on the birth stool.
If it is a son you shall killit, but if it's a daughter she
shall live.
But the midwives feared God anddid not do as the king had
commanded.
But they let the male childrenlive.
(17:32):
So the king of Egypt called themidwives and said to them why
have you done this and let themale children live?
The midwives said to PharaohBecause of the Hebrew women are
not like the Egyptian women, forthey are vigorous and give
birth before the midwife comesto them.
So God dealt well with themidwives and the people
multiplied and grew very strongBecause of the midwives, feared
God.
He gave them families andPharaoh commanded all his people
(17:55):
every son that is born to theHebrews you shall cast into the
Nile, but you shall let everydaughter live.
Now a man from the house of Leviwent and took his wife, a
Levite woman.
The woman conceived and bore ason, and when she saw that he
was a fine child, she hid himfor three months.
When she could hide him nolonger, she took for him a
basket made of bullrushes andand dabbed it with pitumen and
(18:17):
pitch.
She put the child in it andplaced it among the reeds of the
riverbank.
And his sister stood at adistance to know what would be
done to him.
Now the daughter of Pharaohcame down to bathe at the river
while her young women walkedbeside her.
She saw the basket among thereeds and sent her servant woman
and took it.
When she opened it she saw thechild and behold, the baby was
(18:37):
crying.
She took pity on him and saidthis is one of the Hebrews
children.
Then his sister said toPharaoh's daughter shall I go
and call a nurse from the Hebrewwomen to nurse the child for
you?
And Pharaoh's daughter said toher go.
So the girl went and called thechild's mother and Pharaoh's
daughter said to her take thischild away and nurse him for me
and I will give you your wages.
(18:58):
So the woman took the child andnursed him.
When the child grew up, shebrought him to Pharaoh's
daughter and he became her son.
She named him Moses because shesaid I drew him out of water.
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our HM Future
Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
(19:18):
This episode was written andproduced by me.
Vic Hartman Music is embarkingon an adventure by Evan
MacDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye.
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