We see what we want to see…

As I sit here writing this, I am in my mid 50’s and things today look a whole lot different from the way they looked when I was a child… including how I see God, how I see myself, and how I look at and understand the Bible. It has been a long and unforgettable journey, to say the least.

Something I find interesting about the Bible, is how I can read the same passage multiple times throughout my life, and get something completely different out of it each time. Others have said this, as well, so I know I’m not crazy. I think it means that not only is the Bible an incredible book, but my heavenly Father is pretty darn smart!

As a small girl, the only pictures of God that I had, came from skits and movies depicting mans idea of how things happened in biblical history.

When I first believed, I was just 18… so young, so sure I had things figured out. I was certain that if I read all of the Bible, I could make better sense of the world… so off I went to Bible Seminary for a full year of life changing study. We went through the whole thing… all of it!

As life unfolded and the years went by, I found myself caught up in every Bible in a Year reading plan, still trying to make sense of it all… sometimes finding peace and understanding of things… sometimes not.

Funny thing about the word of God is… no matter where we are on our life’s journey, it is always applicable to where we are at that time, in some shape or form. Life forces our perspectives to shift and sometimes change, in ways we never saw coming.

I know that I have had enough education and life history to fully take folks on a very informed and educated journey through the word of God, but that is not who I am… not my style. Why? Truthfully, I am wise enough to understand, after all these years, I still am no closer to complete understanding than when I began. How can I be sure that what I try to teach is, in fact, the correct answer? Besides, I don’t feel like doing someone else’s homework, that’s why! What I mean is that while I like to share thoughts and insights with you, regarding my journey, it is just that… mine… not yours, as that is for you to share.

And… let’s all not forget that even with all that education, I still managed to perform quite a Kerfuffle of my life, so I certainly hope you didn’t think I had stuff figured out. Along this line of thinking, I suspect that perhaps my own painful family mistakes, were to play a part in why I see Moses story the way I do this time around my reading of Exodus.

I suppose that my mind, nowadays, always looks right through the ugly mess of things, seeking to better understand the heart of man, in all of it. Otherwise, I think we would all simply find each other disgusting and evil… leaving no room for grace, mercy and forgiveness, all of which are fueled by LOVE!

I set aside my soap opera skew of the situation, as I delved into this part of the bible. I realized pretty rapidly, that I was going to have to put all my scholarly school caps on and hoof it into some ACTUAL Ancient Egyptian and Israelite history archives. I learned way back in Seminary that Context is a vital part of reading, studying and applying the word of God.

Before I can have an insight, with both wisdom and clarity I must grasp what it was really like at the time of Moses birth… laws, traditions, and history of all involved.

I viewed some of my questions next to the Torah… as well as balancing it with insights from other Well known theologians. In all of it, I keep in mind that I am utilizing Google, who can be a fickle friend when it chooses. I will handle the search engines with kid gloves as I continue my research.

I have discovered a great deal about birth, infant care, and ancient traditions regarding a baby’s first few years. I feel pretty confident in my idea that traditionally, mothers of that time, regardless of whether they were Egyptian or Israelite, ALL nursed their babies for approximately 2 to 3 years of age minimum… sometimes as long as 4 to 5 years of age, depending on where I read.

I also came to understand that there is a mixed pot of understanding as to whether the two midwives were even Hebrew, but quite possibly they may have been Egyptian midwives who converted. I ended up down a rabbit hole of who was who, for several hours, and then decided it wasn’t worth arguing over. The important thing in my mind, is that those woman chose to obey God over their Pharaoh… bottom line.

As far as whether Pharaoh knew that Moses was Hebrew early on, is also being tossed back and forth with the scholars. What my take away is here, is that I am pretty sure that a good number of people knew, some articles even suggest his family kept in contact with him, even after he moved into the palace.

What does all of this stuff mean… what did I get out of it… what’s my insight?

People see what they want to see… when WHAT they see… is NOT what they want to see…

Sometimes this is good and works in ones favor, but often it does not turn out so well… not at all like we were sure it would.

However we wish to look at this story, for whatever her reasons, Moses mother put him into that basket, and for whatever her reasons, Pharaohs daughter took him as her son. Facts are facts!

No matter what his attitude was, the Pharaoh allowed Moses to live in the palace as his grandson. We also know that Pharaoh tried to kill his grandson, causing Moses to flee into the desert. Family bonds were destroyed, and even to this day the same thing holds true for me… fact is fact, and the why’s here just don’t matter. What does matter, for me, is believing that God saw everything happening and had things well in hand, as we see further down the road in the Israelites story…

That is for another time though, as I have been rambling now for a good bit. For today, I want to leave you with a song by Elevation Worship titled What I see and it seems to line right up with my heart this morning. I hope you take a listen before we head to the tables for some Fall Festival Delights…

Help yourselves and enjoy,