Pharaoh, however, was deceived in his expectations. The Israelites, despite severe oppression, continued to multiply under these conditions. Then the enraged bishop ordered the Jewish midwives to kill all male babies during childbirth. But the midwives did not stain themselves with infanticide, for they feared God more than Pharaoh. Pharaoh, however, did not abandon his cruel plans and ordered the executioners to take the newborn boys from their mothers and throw them into the Nile. The land of Goshen was in mourning, and weeping and groaning could be heard everywhere. With tears of repentance, the Israelites remembered the God of Abraham - and the Lord heard them. To deliver the Jews from the Egyptian captivity, the Lord chose the great prophet and leader Moses.

Chapter V: The Calling of Moses, and the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt Birth and Upbringing of Moses

Ref. 2

A married couple from the tribe of Levi Abram and Jochebed had a child. He was very handsome and brought joy to his parents. But unfortunately it was a boy who had been doomed to die in the waters of the Nile. The mother fell into great despair and, despite the threat of severe punishment, decided to hide her son from the Egyptian executioners. For three months the mother hid her child, and when it became impossible to do this any longer, she tarred the basket, put her child in it and put it in the reeds by the river bank. The mother went home, and Mariam instructed her daughter to hide on the shore and watch what would happen to the baby.

The one whom the Lord destined to save the Jewish people could not perish in the waters of the Nile. At this time, the daughter of Pharaoh came to bathe in the sacred river. Seeing a basket in the reeds and hearing the crying of a child, she ordered her slave to take it out of the water. Imagine the surprise of the princess when a basket with a crying baby was placed at her feet! She gently bent over the foundling and caressed him, trying to calm him down.

Pharaoh's daughter immediately guessed that she had found an Israelite child, and since deep down she condemned her father's inhuman order, she decided to take the child under her protection. Miriam, who was watching this scene from a distance, approached the Pharaoh's daughter, offering to find a wet nurse - a Hebrew for this child. Having received consent, she happily rushed home for her mother. Thus, by God's providence, the child safely returned to the arms of his dear parent. He was no longer threatened with death in the depths of the Nile, since none of the Egyptian executioners dared to contradict the wishes of the pharaoh's daughter. A few years later, when the boy was already grown up, his mother took him to the palace, and the daughter of Pharaoh adopted a little Israelite, naming him Moses, which means "taken out of the water."

The biblical account does not give any details of Moses' early life in Pharaoh's court. It is only known that he was "taught all the wisdom of Egypt" (Acts 7:22), i.e. he received the highest education that was only available to the priests and ruling classes of the country, who kept all scientific and high religious knowledge secret from the people. But, having accepted all the good that Egyptian culture had in itself, Moses at the same time kept his mind and heart pure from coarse idolatry, and with God's help he was strengthened in the faith of his fathers (Acts 7). As the son of the tsar's daughter, he had a brilliant career ahead of him at court. But, living in the circle of the royal family, he never forgot that he was a Jew, and with all his heart he loved his numerous people. Often a picture of the life of his brothers rose before his eyes, he saw how they suffered, how they cursed their fate, he heard the whistle of whips urging them to slave labor, he heard their complaints, sobs and pleas for salvation.

One day, when Moses came to his blood brothers, he saw an Egyptian overseer mercilessly mocking an Israelite who, probably because of weakness of strength, could not do what he was commanded. Moses stood up for his fellow tribesman and, seeing that there was no one around, killed the cruel torturer, and buried the body in the sand. The day after the murder, he witnessed a fight between two Israelis. Moses separated the enraged opponents and asked the stronger one, "Why do you strike your neighbor?" (Exodus 2:13). The Jew did not like Moses' interference, and defiantly said to him: "Who has made you ruler and judge over us? Do you not think to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?" (Exodus 2:14). At these words, Moses' heart trembled, he realized that if many already knew about the murder of the Egyptian, then spies would not hesitate to inform Pharaoh about it. And indeed, good people soon warned Moses that Pharaoh had ordered the palace guards to seize him and put him to death. Fleeing from the persecution of the guards, Moses secretly leaves the capital, and then the country, and takes refuge in the desert on the Sinai Peninsula.

Moving further and further east from Egypt, Moses found himself in a land inhabited by the Midianite tribe. Tired from the long journey, he sat down by the well to rest and began to watch with curiosity how seven shepherd girls watered the sheep. But then a gang of shepherds came to the well; They rudely pushed the girls away and began to water their cattle. Indignant at the action of the shepherds, Moses stood up and, despite his fatigue, swung at them menacingly. The impudent people got scared and left. Moses helped the girls to water the sheep, and they returned home safely. It turned out that the shepherdesses were the daughters of a Midianite priest named Jethro. The grateful father invited Moses to his house, and when he learned that the stranger, among other things, was distantly related to him, he received him into the bosom of his family and gave him his daughter Zipporah, from whom were born two sons: Gersham and Eliezer. Moses helped his father-in-law with the housework, grazed his cattle.

The Calling of Moses

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Slowly and gradually, the Lord prepared His chosen one for the great mission. Forty years of Moses' life in exile passed. He was already eighty years old. But finally, the time came when Moses had to fulfill his calling. Once he was tending sheep at the foot of Mount Horeb, which the Midianites called the mountain of God. Not far from the place where he was, Moses saw a miraculous phenomenon: a thorn bush flared up with fire and did not burn. Wishing to take a closer look at this mysterious phenomenon, he decided to approach the thorn bush, but suddenly from the flaming bush he heard the voice of God: "Moses! Moses!.. do not come here; take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:45). Struck by the sudden appearance of God, Moses took off his shoes and reverently stood before the flaming bush, trembling listening to the voice of God: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," continued the Lord. "I have seen the sufferings of my people in Egypt, and I am going to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of this land into a good and spacious land, flowing with milk and honey, into the land of the Canaanites. In response, the Lord said to him: "I will be with you, and this is a sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring [my] people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain" (Exodus 3:612).

According to the behavior of the Lord, Moses had to come to Egypt to his fellow tribesmen and announce to the elders the Divine decree about the liberation of the people from Egyptian slavery and about their migration to the promised land. Moses had to declare that this was the will of the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - the God whose name is Yahweh, which means the Eternal. Then Moses and the elders were to go to Pharaoh and ask his permission to let the Hebrew people go into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to God, and when Pharaoh allowed the people of Israel to go into the wilderness for three days' journey, then they could take advantage of this opportunity to leave the land of slavery forever.

The Lord warns Moses that Pharaoh will not let them go voluntarily, but only after the terrible punishing miracles that will take place over Egypt. In order for the children of Israel to believe Moses, the Lord gave him the power to perform miracles: from that moment on, Moses could turn a rod into a serpent at will, cause and heal leprosy in the hands and turn water into blood. And although the Lord endowed Moses with the power of miracles, he still continued to refuse such an extremely difficult mission, referring to his tongue-tied and lack of eloquence, which is so necessary for the leader of a large people. The Lord was angry with Moses for his disobedience and said that he would give Moses to help his elder brother, Aaron, who was very eloquent and would speak on his behalf. Only on this condition did Moses obey the will of God. After saying goodbye to his father-in-law, Moses put his wife and children on a donkey and went to Egypt with an anxious heart. On the way, a terrible adventure awaited him. Because he had not yet circumcised one of his sons, the Lord wanted to kill Moses. But Zipporah, his wife, took a stone knife, quickly performed circumcision and thereby saved Moses from certain death. After this event, Zipporah and her sons returned to their father's house, and Moses continued his journey to Egypt alone. On the border of Egypt, Moses met with Aaron, whom the Lord had sent to meet him. Moses revealed to his brother the will of God and showed signs. In turn, Aaron told Moses in detail about the sad situation of the Jews in Egypt.