Exodus – it is good to be confused
June 2, 2018
The Prince is not a really a prince. Neither is he an Egyptian. So who is he? The prince is not even the son of the Princess. Neither is he the son of the Prince. So who is he? It is rumored that he is Hebrew. But his people are not shepherds. I thought Hebrews were shepherds living in Goshen? Yes, but the Prince is the son of a man who wears a priest’s dress. They call them Levites.
The thoughts whirled about in Moses’ mind. Is that why I have this strange name? I thought I was related to the goddess of the Nile? That is why the Princess so readily adopted me. I know I am adopted, and drawn from water. But Hebrew? Those shepherds who live in Goshen? The poorest people in Egypt. The outcasts who cannot come into the city because they live with sheep! Utterly disgusting. These are my people?
That afternoon years ago, Moses had heard the strangest conversation. And since then, life has cascaded from one trauma to another. Moses had plummeted from prince to fugitive. From fugitive to commoner in an alien country. From commoner to shepherd. Back to what they said he is. Maybe, I am a shepherd indeed. Right now, his problem is not so much what he is supposed to be. It is that there is a bush that has been burning for three days with the most intense fire. Yet the whole area had a sweet breeze around it. No heat. The fire danced, crackled, and seemed to laugh. He had gone so close and felt no heat!
The voice spoke calmly, firmly, authoritatively, loudly and suddenly. ‘MOSES! Take off your shoes. You are on holy ground’. With quaking heart, he took of his sandals, and threw them behind him. And fell on his knees. As if satisfied that he was now in the correct posture, the voice came again.
‘I am going to send you to my people, children of my servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go’
Moses could not believe his ears. Am I to move again? Back to the afternoon when I run? To the place that I left off with every form of danger? All the years I’ve spent are wasted? When will I settle in life?