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Joseph is dead, his fame and legacy not known by the new Pharaoh.

Israel is living within Egypt’s borders and Egypt doesn’t like it.

Into this nation in conflict a baby is born: Moses.

Moses’ story is as complex as Joseph’s, but for different reasons. Born, rather than sold, into slavery in Egypt, Moses reaches the courts of Pharaoh, but as a baby and a family member. He is a Hebrew baby boy, destined for death by drowning, according to the edict of Pharaoh. His mother sees that he is “a goodly child” (Exodus 2:2) and hides him for three months. When she can no longer conceal him she puts him in an “ark of bulrushes” (Exodus 2:3) and leaves the ark (basket) in the water at the river’s edge. Pharaoh’s daughter sees the basket, opens it and falls in love. Moses’ older sister secures his mother’s services as a nurse maid, reuniting mother and baby for a few brief months before Moses has to be relinquished to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopts him as her son.

Moses’ mother’s actions saved his life. Pharaoh had “charged all his people” with this terrible order: “‘Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive’” (Exodus 1:22).

Moses’ mother went against culture and custom, risking not just her newborn’s life, but those of her family and herself too. She “laid” his basket in the water rather than allowing him to be thrown into the water at birth. She gave him up in the hope that he would survive. She nursed him and weaned him and gave him to someone who had the power to keep him alive – right under the nose of Pharaoh who would have seen him killed. She did what she had to do to keep her baby alive.

Moses grew up in the palace as an Egyptian prince, but he knew his original identity as a Hebrew. Exodus 2:11 tells us that “…he went out unto his brethren… and… spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren”. 

Moses has a crisis of identity. He is at once both Hebrew and Egyptian; slave and prince; bondsman and free.

Moses represents a particular pattern which repeats itself throughout scripture until Jesus is born. Perhaps it is no coincidence that an oft-repeated pattern in artwork is called a mosaic, and all things pertaining to Moses in the Bible, like the law God later gives him, are referred to as ‘Mosaic’.

The pattern is one of split identity and divided loyalty. To which nation do Bible greats such as Abraham, Joseph, Ruth, and Esther belong? Are they subservient to those in authority over them, or are they leaders and rulers? Are they in captivity or are they free? What about Jesus? Is He Jew or Gentile – called “out of Egypt” by God (Matthew 2:15)? Is He a Servant or our King? Is He in bondage to sin on the cross, or is He free through obedience to God and resurrection? 

What about us? Where does our allegiance and our loyalty lie? Do we belong to God’s Kingdom or are we occupants of an earthly realm? Are we subservient to the systems of this world or are we the leaders and role models of a different order, patterned in the heavenly realms where we are “seated with Christ” (Ephesians 2:6)? Are we in bondage to sin, or are we free through Christ’s sacrifice, at liberty to choose righteousness (Galatians 5:1)?

As you look at these biblical characters and the pattern at play in their lives, ask God to show you how to be patterned on Jesus, and how to daily choose your identity in Him.