Lessons from Exodus
This semester A2F has been reading the book of Exodus at our Sunday services. Here are some insightful lessons that personally impacted me throughout the messages.
Love & Cynicism
“The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch…Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children”...And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me...” (Exodus 2:1-10)
Through the Levite woman and the daughter of Pharaoh we learn how faith and love lead to action, but cynicism leads to inaction. In your daily struggles, you can have recurring bouts of cynicism that paralyze you, so that you end up doing nothing. You must push that mindset aside and leave room for God to act, depending on him rather than yourself. The best you can do is love because it encourages you to act and most importantly have faith because hope is an acknowledgement that God can further your love by his action.
This lesson stuck out because it is easy for me to doubt my ability to do something and become discouraged, instead of having not necessarily an optimistic attitude, but a God-centered mindset where I depend on him. Often times I shy away from confrontation and go with the flow, but I’ve learned throughout my time of living with friends that substantial progress is only made in relationships when you’re honest and with the intention of loving the person. This was a thoughtful reminder of why it is so important to act.
The Past & Results
“One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.” (Exodus 2:11-16)
Something you have to accept in life is that even when you do the right thing there can be bad results. However, those bad results shouldn’t deter you from moving forward. Past experiences can easily discourage and engulf you, so that you become cynical and unwilling to act. God gives you a way to overcome that barrier and it might seem counterintuitive, but it works. One way to deal with past pain and rejection is to save others, to see people in need and embrace them like how Jesus embraced you. Those experiences of loving others can spiritually heal something in you as well.
Pictures of Ourselves
“Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” (Exodus 3:1-6)
In Christian life you can have all these pictures of yourself that you strive for and hold on to as a part of your identity, but God wants to burn all those pretensions away. Before you can be who you really are as a child of God you need to solely rely on the Gospel and surrender those other ulterior motives you have. Trials and tribulations are part of the journey of sanctification and purification because it leads you closer to God sobering your mind and humbling your prideful attitude.
Arguing with God
“But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” (Exodus 4:10-17)
It is natural to disagree with God, but when you disengage from him completely, not wanting to confront issues, then it is difficult to make spiritual progress. This is why it is so important to wrestle with God. When you pray to God even just to argue you can grow immensely in your relationship with him. Being constantly reluctant to talk to God is another sneaky way of being disobedient. You have to be honest to God and struggle through it. You can’t expect growth to be short, sweet, and instantaneous. It has to take time and effort.
Before hearing this message, I didn’t think of arguing with God as something productive or fruitful in my relationship with him. This made me see the genuineness of a relationship with God. He doesn’t want to talk only when you agree with him, but like every human relationship when you disagree with him as well. I realized that the love & cynicism lesson could be applied not only to my relationships with other people, but God too.
Escaping Difficulty
“Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” (Exodus 5: 22-23)
“God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.” (Exodus 5:22-23)
You shouldn’t try to always take the easy way out for yourself or someone else. The reason why you should confront a problem someone else has or in your own life is because Jesus is at the end of it all. Jesus sets you free from yourself, but that process of deliverance often includes a lot of suffering. This is why it is important to recognize how difficult spiritual life is. It’s okay to be okay, but if your Christian life isn’t difficult at all then maybe you aren’t dealing personally with the problems in your relationship with Jesus.
Thanks for reading! I hope these lessons from Exodus were as encouraging for you as they were for me.
Cameron Opartkiettikul (class of 2022, Berkeley A2F) is an English major and knows the whole alphabet. If he wasn’t a college student, he would be a YouTuber doing an eating show (aka mukbangs) just so he can have an excuse to always get boba, lattes and watermelon.