THE AWAKENING OF MOSES

          In his speech before the Jewish Sanhedrin prior to his stoning, Stephen traces the history of God’s dealings with the nation of Israel (cf. Acts 7:1ff).  He speaks of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Joseph.  And then he focuses the bulk of his speech on Moses.  He tells how Moses was hidden (nurtured/Acts 7:20) at birth in his own household and afterwards brought up by the daughter of the Pharaoh (Acts 7:21) - - she had retrieved him from a basket floating in the Nile River and “had pity on him” (Ex.2:5-6).  Stephen also notes that, “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22).  Then Stephen adds, “But when (Moses) was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel (Acts 7:23).  WHAT MIGHT IT HAVE BEEN THAT WORKED TO STIR SUCH AN AWAKENING IN THE MIND AND HEART OF MOSES?

          What caused Moses to suddenly, at the age of forty, come to have sympathy pains for his brethren?  Had his empathy finally reached a point that couldn’t be restrained?  What it something that was taught to him via his Egyptian education - - had he studied about The life of Joseph and The children of Israel during the rule of an earlier Egyptian Pharaoh?  Did God communicate with Moses in some form or fashion as He had done with Abraham and Jacob?  Was Moses on the receiving end of some special “dreams”, like those given to Joseph?  We’re not told exactly what it was that awakened Moses.  But we are told explicitly by the writer of the book of Hebrews that Moses acted by FAITH (Heb.11:24f).  Since “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word…” (Rom.10:17), one can safely assume that Moses was acting upon words given to him by God and delivered by whatever means Jehovah God saw fit.

          Could it be that Moses continued to have contact with his father and mother, Amram and Jochebed (his father Amram lived to be 137/Ex.6:20)?  Could it be that Moses was awakened by the words of God delivered to him by his parents?  Just prior to his de- cease, in his final words of exhortation given to the children of Israel (known as The Song of Moses), Moses implored the Hebrews to “remember the days of old...ask your father and he will inform you…” (Deut.32:7).  WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO BE AWAKENED!      

                                                  Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ