I believe, as a Christian author, it is my responsibility to turn things inside out once in a while. As Robert A. Heinlein (definitely NOT a Christian,) once said, “It lets in air and light.” First, let me state that I do firmly believe that the Bible is the inspired and literal Word of God. That being said, it is also written through and interpreted by humans.
Human beings are fallible. This is seen almost from the beginning when we fell from grace in the Garden. Yes, it’s true that ‘the snake’ was there tempting Eve to the fall, but she had a choice, and she went down the wrong path. Or did she?
God is omniscient as well as omnipotent. This means He had to know we would fall. There is a critical key point here. Even knowing that He could have stopped the actions that were happening, God did not, why? The answer is simply free choice. From the very beginning, He wasn’t looking for robots that would simply obey, God desired us to choose His ways and follow willingly. So, He made a long-term plan that would eventually lead us back to Him. Again, why?
One of the differences between humans and all other living things is the very breath of God is in us. The spark of the divine was imparted to mankind and no other creature. All creatures have a spirit, a driving force that lives beyond the body, but only man has a soul and the ability to commune directly with our Creator. What if God wanted us to learn, through experience, what it means to be His people? It sounds like something a good Father would do.
Let’s get back to the Bible. The first five books of the Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, were all written by Moses. The first couple of books are history, the next few are rules to live by. I want to go back to the history a bit, specifically Exodus.
Starting in Exodus 1:15, the groundwork for the story of Moses is being set.
15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”…
The midwives secretly refused to do this, and God blessed them for it, Pharaoh, however, wasn’t done.
22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
I’m sure you know the rest. A Hebrew baby is born and instead of being killed, is placed in a tiny papyrus boat and set adrift on the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter pulls him out, names him Moses and makes him her son. Now, let’s think about this for a moment.
If you are grandpa Pharaoh and your daughter suddenly shows up with a baby in her arms, what would your first reaction be? She is living in Pharaoh’s house, so he would obviously know if she had been pregnant. There must of have been some fast shuffling on the part of Pharaoh’s daughter to get this one through. That, and daddy must have been very indulgent of his daughter.
I’m not trying to be irreverent here. I’m trying to get you to think this through. It cannot be every day that a princess of Egypt has a baby. I have to wonder how common adoption was in those days, especially into the Royal House. There are only a couple of factors that I can think of that would have prevented the infant Moses from being killed out-of-hand.
It is likely that the line of succession had already been established. In other words, Pharaoh probably had at least one son that would replace him. This would remove Moses from any direct line unless both Pharaoh and his son(s) died or were killed. So, where did that leave Moses, adopted grandson of Pharaoh?
The two great powers in those days were the Royal House and the Priesthood. The Royal House commanded the army. The Priesthood held sway over the ‘gods.’ There were times when both would merge and then split apart again, but for the most part, this was the order in ancient Egypt.
Here I can only speculate without anything at all to back me up except knowledge of human motivations. I would think, rather than surrender power completely, Pharaoh’s daughter would put her son into the Priesthood, or at least have him trained by them. Why do I think that? It has to do with the plagues.
The priests of Egypt were able to duplicate, at least on a small scale, many of the ten plagues God visited on them. This means that they were familiar with these particular ailments, to begin with. It also explains why God would choose them. He wanted to show the Egyptians that what He did was bigger and more devastating than anything they could do. The knowledge that Moses had or was trained in would be the start; the priests would laugh and help to harden Pharaoh’s heart against Moses’ plea because, they would say, “He just learned those tricks from us.” The fact God made the plagues a thousand times worse than anything the priests could do, was shrugged off (none of the priests could turn every water source of the Egyptians to blood.)
I have no doubt that you have read the Bible or watched a dramatization of the rest of the story. Do I believe that the miracles of the parting of the Red Sea and Manna from Heaven happened? Absolutely, I believe in them. Miracles happen all the time, I’ve seen and even been involved in several myself. Some people who call themselves scientists keep trying to find what some like to call ‘rational’ explanations for them. What they mean is, they are afraid if the laws of nature can be suspended. These are the same people who are willing to accept ‘theory’ as fact rather than adhere to the scientific method.
For those who might be wondering, book six is still in editing. Please hang on; we want it to be right for you.
I am praying that you all have a wonderful weekend.
KM
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