Hemali AdhiyaWhen God makes a promise, He has his own ways of fulfilling them. There is no time frame, there is no condition, and there might be some suffering involved. But that is only so He can show his powers to His believers and his non-believers. And that is exactly what we learn in the Bible story of Moses from the book of Exodus. We found several perspectives on independence and liberation.
Stories in the Bible are like a treasure trove of rescuing words that deliver us from the sufferings of this world. If you have watched the movie The Ten Commandments, you know the story of Moses already. But the perspectives we bring to you today relate with our theme of the month- Independence in Love. And is there any love greater than God’s love?
The book of Exodus is a Bible story that has several direct and indirect instances of independence. While some of them are very evident, we found some more by diving deeper into this chapter. Let us take a look at the many perspectives of independence that stand out and uplift the book of Exodus in the Bible.
Bible Story of Independence
Book of Exodus
Summary of the Book of Exodus
Moses, a Hebrew child, becomes the chosen one in this book. Pharaoh, the Kind of Israel, professes his anxiety on the growing numbers of Israelites in Egypt. He orders his soldiers to kill every newborn boy born in the city. Wailing and mourning cloud the city of Israel, but one little baby escapes owing to his mother’s unconditional love. She was willing to separate from her boy than holding his bloody little body. Such was destiny’s role and God’s plan, that the basket reaches Pharaoh’s daughter. She decides to raise him as her own.
Moses grows up as a king. But his sentiments at watching the people of Israel dying of slavery melts his kingly heart. Everything changes from thereon, and Moses has to renounce his place from the palace, not knowing, that everything was working according to God’s plan.
Years later, Moses frees the people of Israel from Slavery, and how!
A Twenty-Five-Year-Old’s Story of Healing With A Miracle
Perspective 1: Moses becomes the Chosen One
Pharaoh ordered to kill every newborn in Israel. But who gave Moses’ mother the strength to save her son? When God makes a plan, it isn’t spontaneous. He is working a hundred years ahead of us. And that is exactly what happens in the Bible story in the book of Exodus. Moses gets the gift of independence from untimely death, a fate that no other newborn had.
If not for that one sacrifice his mother made, Israel would still be succumbing to slavery.
Perspective 2: Independence from Slavery
The summary of the Bible story from the book of Exodus gives us a peek into how the Israelites received freedom from slavery. It was the day God fulfilled the promise he made to Abraham, that he would free his sons from the binds of Egypt. One day, when Moses accompanied his brother Aaron, he saw one of their soldiers beating an old man. Moses loses his calm and kills the soldier.
When Pharaoh hears of the same, he disowns Moses, sending him away into the wilderness. He walks on the lonely path for years until he finally reaches a well and a shepherd’s house. After spending some time with them, he marries one of Shepherd’s daughters and lives on like an ordinary man. One day, he hears God’s voice from a burning bush, commanding him to free the people of Israel from slavery.
Moses does not feel confident because he knows Pharaoh will not believe him. But he puts his trust in God’s word, and with the help of his brother, Aaron, he ultimately frees the people of Israel. Of course, a lot happens in between these episodes. But let’s focus on the fact that, when we put our trust in the Lord, He frees us from all inhibitions, from slavery in this mortal world.
Perspective 3: God’s shield from the 10 Plagues in the book of Exodus
God knows and sees the things that we cannot. Even when he ordered Moses to ask Pharaoh to liberate the people of Israel from slavery, he knew it wouldn’t be easy. He was prepared for all the things he would have to do so that Pharaoh and the people of Israel would believe him. All this, so that he could stay true to his word, and take Abraham’s son to the promise lands.
God sent several famines, plagues to be precise; ten of them! River Nile turned into blood, frogs took over the land, lice replaced the frogs & beats the lice. None of the cattle survived; correction- none of the cattle belonging to the Egyptians survived. The Egyptians also suffered boils, hail, locust attacks, and a three-day-long dark period.
In the end, God asked all true Israelites to sacrifice their lamb and paint their doors with that blood to let God know of their belief. God saved those houses, but the firstborn sons of all other houses lost their lives.
Amid all of these plagues, the Bible story narrates how God protected his believers from them and touched only the sinners! Isn’t that a lesson to live by even in today’s world?
ENDURE- The lost wings of freedom
Perspective 4: Independence from Fear: Crossing the Red Sea
Soon after the Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh sent his men to get all of them back. He changed his mind about the deal he made with Moses. The newly independent people regretted following Moses, which worried the chosen one. But when God asked Moses to stretch out his hand, and split the Sea, he received independence from fear. It is during this episode of the Bible story that we see God reassert his faith in Moses, and the people of Israel.
Perspective 5: When people took advantage of Independence
A great while later in this Bible story, Chapter 31 in the book of Exodus precisely, we see how Moses gets a calling from the Lord to spend time in loneliness. His only goal remains to seek God, and know the purpose of the rest of his life. He climbs atop the mountain and does not return for years. It is during this time of the Bible story that God throws light on the Ten Commandments for a believer (We’ll get to this in the next part).
But when Moses returns to his people, he doesn’t find the people he liberated. Rather, he finds sinners, engaging in unholy activities. To see Moses return, and to listen to his disappointment at the sight, the people of Israel realize how they slipped. They comprehended how fighting for freedom was the hardest thing they had to do for generations. But, it is so easy to take advantage of it, and forget the ONE before whom you should sacrifice your life.
Perspective 6: Freedom from Worldly Understandings- The Ten Commandments
Including Moses, no one knew what they had to do further in life, and who they had to follow. They knew that Moses wasn’t the Messiah, and that the Messiah wasn’t born yet (Jesus). To attain the wisdom of faith, Moses spent years on the mountain, separating from the world to seek God.
Ultimately, hears God, who gives him The Ten Commandments to take back to the world. They were the rules God set for a believer’s life.
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make idols.
- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.te
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- You shall not covet.
These commandments that Moses shared with the world gives us independence from the worldly understandings. They speak so clearly of the things God wants us to follow, and the sins we shouldn’t commit. Until then, the people of Israel leaned on their own understanding of life. It is this episode from the Bible story of the book of Exodus that they finally get independence from worldly misunderstandings!
A Summary of the Learnings from these Perspectives
Our intention behind listing these perspectives from the Bible Story of Exodus was to reveal how we can look at the same things differently. We’d like to leave you with some learnings from these perspectives, hoping it will make a difference to your day, mood, or faith!
- God always sticks to His promises.
- Sacrifices, troubles, and setbacks only mean you are closer to God’s miracle.
- Trust the Lord and things will happen.
- When you are a believer, problems, diseases, and negativities will pass by you, and not touch you! God always shields His people.
- When with God, fear only Him, and nothing else.
- Never take advantage of what God gives you.
- Live by His commandments, and the gateway to His eternal world of blessings, miracles, and bliss shall remain open for you.
- When you separate yourself from the understandings of this World, you will find God.
Conclusion
If you liked our version of this Bible story from the Book of Exodus, give it a like and share it with people alike. We want you to know, that whatever it is that is holding you back in life, God’s got it! Your independence from all sufferings is on the way!
Copyright © 2020 Love Smitten, India, Inc. All rights reserved.
