Lesson 3 Study Notes
- Well, hello friends, Bishop Andy Lewter here, and I am so excited that I have been engaged in this mini course on the Egyptian mother of Moses. Now, we've established that her name is Hatshepsut, and this is one of four lessons that I'm doing on this topic. I pray that it proves to be a blessing to you that you get as much out of this material, content, and information as you have my two previous lessons. Now, the general format of this mini course is that in the first week, I shared with you the story of Moses and this Egyptian pharaoh's daughter who adopted him as his mother.
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And then on last week, I delved into the background of the story and hopefully and prayerfully, I shared with you some things that you would not have readily have known. I looked at the Talmud, I looked at the Midrash, I looked at the writings of this Jewish historian by the name of Josephus in his book called The Jewish Antiquities. And from those sources, we were able to learn some additional items as it relates not only to Moses, but to this Egyptian mother who adopts him as her son. Her eligibility to serve as queen the service queen was all tied to the presence of Moses in her home. The stipulation was that she
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either had a husband, which she did not, or she had to have a son. And of course, Moses fulfilled that criteria. Now, as members of the Christian faith community, this particular lesson is dedicated to examining specific Christian doctrines that are a derivative of the story of Moses in general, but more specifically the story of Pharaoh's daughter who adopts him as her own son. So with that said and done, I hope that you have some material that you can write and preserve some notes with. I'll be going over a goodly amount of material.
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I will hastily say to you that my first and second lesson were probably the lengthier of the four lessons that I'm doing. This will be a shorter lesson. And then when I come back next week to talk about practical exercises and behaviors
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that we can derive from this story, that will probably be around the same length as this lesson. So I'm so delighted that you're here and regardless of what platform you're on, whether it's Facebook or our website or our midweek Bible study, our virtual classroom, I'm just delighted that you're here. And I'm equally delighted to have this opportunity to share and to pour into you this material and information that I pray not only proves to be a benefit, but will help you in your daily walk with the Lord.
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So friends, let's get started. Now, let me begin with this overview. The story of the Egyptian daughter of Pharaoh, adopting Moses as narrated in the book of Exodus provides rich theological insights that can be linked to several Christian doctrines and beliefs. Now, again, we are
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members of the New Testament faith community, and as Christians, and I've said this before, we have a great deal of reliance and dependence upon what it is that the New Testament has to say. It is for that reason that in earlier lessons, I actually shared with you a reading from the Old Testament, the book of Exodus, but then a reading from the book of Acts. So that you can see that this story is firmly fitted in the theological context of New Testament Christians.
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And so as Christians, there are a set of beliefs that we embrace, that we adopt, that we celebrate as our Christian beliefs, not Christian doctrines. They are somewhat scholastic,
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academic, and somewhat theological. And I wanted to take time to link these theological doctrines that we have in the Christian church with certain aspects of the story of Moses' mother. So it's not just the narrative,
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it's not just an entertaining tale. It actually informs the doctrines and the beliefs that we hold near and dear as members of the New Testament church. And so we celebrate this woman who is depicted here on the screen. This is Moses's Egyptian mother. And we want to look at what do our Christian doctrines have to say to us as a result of her involvement in the Moses narrative.
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Well, the first doctrine that we wanna discuss in detail for you is the doctrine of providence, the providence of God. The story of Moses' adoption by Pharaoh's daughter exemplifies God's providence, demonstrating how he orchestrates events for his purpose.
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Now, there are any number of directions that the story of Moses could have gone. Again, I shared with you before that his birth parents were Amron and Jacobite. Of course, they were living under the pressure of a Pharaoh who said that every male child
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had to be killed at birth. He literally, the Pharaoh did, instructed the midwives to literally kill and do away with all male children that were born under their sight and supervision. Of course, those midwives chose not to do so. And one of the things that I explained to you is that there was this that predicted that a male child would rise up and free the Hebrews from their Egyptian slave masters. And that's the real reason behind why all of these male children were
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being killed. I explained to you before that if Pharaoh had really wanted to limit the rise and the expansion of the Hebrews, he would have done away with the female children because according to Hebrew culture, one is a Hebrew because their mother is a Hebrew. So if he was serious about restricting the growth of Hebrews, he would have done away with or he would have killed the female children because the female children were the means by which Hebrews could call themselves Hebrew.
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But that was his ancient Egyptian prophecy said that a liberator was going to come and free the Hebrews from the Egyptian slave mess. That's the real reason behind this genocide or this infant side of Hebrew children. So what we see here is that God has a way, almost like on a chess board,
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of arranging and orchestrating items that conforms to his will and his way. And one of the things that we lean very heavily upon in the Christian church is a belief in the providence of God. We don't believe in circumstance, we don't believe in luck,
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we don't believe in coincidence necessarily, but rather we believe in the providence of God, that the hand of God is involved in all of our lives, both individually and collectively, and that we can rely and depend upon the providence of God not only for provision, but for protection as well. So, we want to believe here that God provided for Moses. Let's kind of get technical here. God provided for Moses, and
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in doing so, he demonstrates the providence of God. Satan did not have his way, he could not intervene, he could not interrupt the will of God, and because God provided, you hear me, keep coming back to this word, provided for Moses, it illustrates the providence of God. Here is what we want to say, here is what we're going to believe, this is what I want you to capture, that if God could make a way out of no way for you. So regardless of what you're up against, regardless of what you're facing,
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regardless of the crises or the calamity in your life, you have the assurance of knowing that you are living, beloved, under the providence of God. So, that's the first Christian doctrine that we want to celebrate from this story. The second Christian doctrine that we want to celebrate from this story, and there are five that I am discussing with you, is the sovereignty of God. The account of Moses being adopted by this Egyptian pharaoh's daughter underscores God's sovereignty over human affairs.
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By ensuring that Moses is raised in Pharaoh's palace, God prepares him for his future role as the deliverer of the Israelites or the deliverer of the Hebrews. God has a way of arranging things in a certain sequence, in a certain order, so that even though you do not realize or recognize what God is doing in the moment or at the time, upon reflection
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in the future, you can look back and say, God was preparing me for what he eventually wanted me to do way back then when I was totally unaware of what God was doing in my life. I had a Sunday school teacher by the name of Clifford Lewis, and every Sunday without fail, he would call upon me to speak in the assembly session of the entire Sunday school. And so, he would make me get up, and he would make me talk. And I was a bit of a shy kid, and I almost hated going to Sunday school because I knew that Deacon Clifford Lewis was going to put me on the spot and make me stand in front of all of the students in the Sunday school
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assembly and recite some poem, recite some teaching, or make some public statement. I had little idea that even way back then when I was eight, nine, ten years old, and that was happening to me with a great deal of resentment, I could claim now, God was preparing me for what I'm doing now. And my absence of fear in terms of talking
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to a public assembly or a crowd of people or public speaking, I was able to overcome that very early in my life because of what Deacon Clifford Lewis put me through. Now, I didn't like it at the time, and I felt that he was picking on me, and I would go home and complain to my parents that this deacon was always making me the object of his attention. But I recognize now, and I have said to him
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since then, that if it hadn't been for the time and the attention, and even the burden that you put on me to speak in front of people, I would not nearly be the speaker that I am today. I would not nearly be able to do all of the things that I am currently able to do as a result of public oratory.
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And the point that I'm making, beloved, is that sometimes God is putting you through exercises that you may not like, that you may not be crazy about at the time, but later on, you'll be able to look back and see that that was the sovereignty of God.
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That was the intervention of God in your life, even then in terms of what God eventually would want you to do. So the second Christian doctrine, the first Christian doctrine is the providence of God. God will provide.
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The second doctrine that I want you to affirm and embrace as a Christian doctrine is the sovereignty of God, that God moves you to where he needs you to be. And even though you may be blinded to your path in terms of what your current situation is, you will be able to in the future and see exactly the sovereignty of God in your life. Let's turn to the third doctrine, and that is the doctrine of human dignity. The compassionate actions of Pharaoh's daughter, who defies her father's decree to save and adopt Moses
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belief in the inherent dignity and worth of every human life. Now, let me just kind of walk through this because I really want you to adapt to exactly what I'm saying and adopt what I'm saying as well. It was the decree. Get where I'm going, beloved. It was the decree of Pharaoh that every male child should die. Now, that is somewhat ironic because by the end of the story, it is God that decrees that every firstborn male child of every Egyptian household will die as a matter of the 10th plague to force Pharaoh to let God's people go. What I want to say here is that the adoption of Moses, the preservation, and the eventual
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watch this beloved protection of Moses highlights human dignity, the worth and the value of And while the law said, and while it was the decree of Pharaoh that every male child should die, we can see through the lens of this story, this Christian doctrine of human dignity, worth, and value. That even though the law said you should be no more, the greater divine law of God preserved Moses, even in the midst of the moment and the time that the law and Pharaoh decree that he should die.
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And so we can look at the preservation of Moses and see the preservation of life as we understand it and as we appreciate it today, that there is a sense of dignity regardless of who you are, what you are, color, stripe, it does not matter. We are all entitled to human dignity. Now, let me just kind of go here. You may not agree with the lifestyle of the individual. And because they have free will, they are certainly free to pursue a lifestyle that
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they choose. And that decision may not be in agreement with your mores, with your values, with your ethics, with your sense of morality. But even your disagreement of the same does not entitle you to rob that individual of their human dignity. So you may not like the color of their skin. You may not like the way they walk. You may not like what they do. You may not like their orientation, whether it's physical or spiritual or even sexual. You may not agree
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with their theology or even their politics. But as Christians, we do not condone and necessarily agree with such items, but we do recognize the worth and value of every individual. And we do maintain that every individual, regardless of who they are, what they're doing, who they're hanging out with, who they choose to be with, it still does not forfeit their access to human dignity. Civility and respect on our... It takes nothing away from to say, yes, ma'am, even if I am in total disagreement with who and what they are. That
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is a Christian doctrine of human dignity. And then we're rounding the corner here, take a look at the image that I have here. Moses' adoption by Pharaoh's daughter can be seen as a topology for the Christian doctrine of spiritual adoption. Now, you can look here at this picture and see that obviously this pair, this couple, they have adopted these children because these children do not necessarily reflect their own biological prodigy. Now, Just as Moses' daughter adopted Moses
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and brought Moses, a Hebrew slave, into the royal family as Christians, we believe that God has adopted us. Despite our being Gentiles, he has adopted us into his family of chosen people. Remember, the Old Testament strongly suggests that the chosen people are restricted
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to the seed of Abraham and the sons of Jacob, Reuben, Simon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Nephthys, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Joseph. But the celebration of the New Testament is that even or listed in those tribes that I just recited. The miracle of the New Testament with the Messiah that we call Jesus is that we are adopted as God's chosen people even if we were not
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necessarily born into that line of blessing. What we see here is that there is a pattern that is established. There is a precedent that is set. Just as, that should put, adopted Moses, made him a member of the royal family, God through Jesus Christ has adopted us
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us and made us a part of his chosen people. Now, this is a critical doctrine that we celebrate and that we affirm, and we get this from the story of Pharaoh's daughter, adopting Moses. We are members of God's chosen people, having been grafted and adopted into God's family through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
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And then there is the redemptive plan that is very, very closely related to the doctrine of adoption. The narrative of Moses' preservation and upbringing in Egypt is a crucial part of the larger redemptive plan God has for Israel, ah, and consequently for us. 400 years, the children of Israel remained in Egypt and for a great period of that time, they remained there as slaves.
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When Pharaoh saw their rapid growth, he decided to enslave them, to force them into the workforce of Egypt. But God did not harden his heart and God did not grow death to their plea and their cries for redemption and for liberation.
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And that illustrates for us that God sent Jesus Christ, pictured here on the screen, because he is not hardened his heart or deafened his ears to the cry of his people. We have access. We are eligible, beloved,
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for the redemption of God just as Moses was eligible for redemption by being taken into the royal family of Pharaoh. So, we see through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus the Christ. So beloved, by looking specifically at the story of Moses' adoption by Pharaoh's daughter, we are able to see several crucial and critical Christian doctrines.
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Now, next week I'm gonna jump forward and I'm gonna take a look at some practical beliefs and behaviors that we ought to deploy as Christians with an eye on this particular story. But I want to be a little more formal and scholastic this evening and say and suggest to you that there are some specific Christian doctrines that are relative to this story and are a derivative of the story that I shared with you last week
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and the additional background material that I have given you. I pray that you have taken time to record these five doctrines. Now, there are many more doctrines that make up the body and the volume of Christian doctrines, but I've tried to give you five essential doctrines that are related to this story of Moses's Egyptian mother. I pray that it benefits you. I pray that you have gotten much out of it and that you will apply these doctrines to your own life. Well, listen, God loves you. I love you.
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