In that context, the waters Moses floated upon were waters of death.  Pharaoh had decreed for every Hebrew son to be thrown into the Nile. Moses was no different, except he had a basket.  There’s no telling how many sons died in that river  it must have been awful  and yet here’s one who was saved.

We see it happen again 80 years later when Moses is drawn out of the wilderness for the purpose of representing God in a head-to-head showdown with Pharaoh.  He was reluctant to leave, he  had a good job, some peace and quiet, respected status, a family,  but someone greater was drawing him out.  And this ultimately becomes the story of the nation, drawn out of their slavery and oppression in Egypt.

What’s God drawing you out of?  It could be pattern of living, a temptation you’ve yet to address, or even a relationship that’s turned poisonous. It could be an enslavement you consciously recognize, one from which you’re crying to God for deliverance.  Or it could be He’s calling you from a situation that, at this point, you don’t understand why you shouldn’t remain in it.  Whatever it is, Exodus teaches us there’s a place to get on board with what He’s doing.  Wanna come?

Seems like an opportunity to get the blessings of God without having to deal so directly with Him.  After all, His standards are pretty high … and He obviously gets pretty miffed when we turn away in the least.  Maybe the distance would be good for us both.  After all, I have other avenues I want to pursue and I don’t want to hurt His feelings.

The people, though, mourned when they heard the bad news. “Disastrous” says the ESV.  Moses approaches the Lord, “if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight” (33.13).  He too understood that it was better to have a close relationship with God than just to have His blessings, no matter how scary it was.

In fact, Moses went on to say, “If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here.  For how will it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people?  Is it not by your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth? (33.15-16, NET Bible)

Too often, I’d rather have God’s blessing than actually know Him up close and personal.  I fear what He would do to me.  Sometimes I’d rather that He didn’t make me so distinct from the world around me.  His favor isn’t as appealing as the applause of others.  Yet the book of Hebrews 11.26 affirms that Moses saw things differently: “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”

Lead on Moses!