Moses and Jesus⤒🔗

The Bible draws many parallels between Moses and Jesus. Moses led the deliverance of God's people from slavery. He gave the people a revelation from God on Mount Sinai. He interceded for the people on numerous occasions to save them from the anger and wrath of God. God made Moses a pattern that would help us to see Jesus as the Saviour. Moses said that Jesus would be a prophet like himself (Deuteronomy 18:15). Like Moses, Jesus was a deliverer and a mediator. He saves us from bondage, reconciles us to God, and teaches us to know God's will. He is like Moses and surpasses him.

A Fine Child←⤒🔗

The parallels between Moses and Jesus begin at Moses' birth. Moses was born after Pharaoh had decreed the death of all male Israelite children. Moses' parents were determined to save their child Moses. His mother Jochabed hid Moses for three months (Exodus 2:2) because she saw that he was a "fine child." It would be normal for any parents to conclude that their son or daughter is a "fine child."

Other texts of Scripture suggest that something more was at work here. Stephen tells us that Moses' parents saw that he was "no ordinary child" (Acts 7:20). The same is repeated in Hebrews 11:23. Is it true that the house was filled with radiant light when Moses was born as the Jews believed? Or was this a prophetic prompting of the Holy Spirit, so that Moses' parents would recognize that God had special plans for their newborn son. Either way, Jochabed's recognition of Moses as a "fine child" was not mere parental bliss. This was a signal from God that Moses had been set aside for a special task, a task so great and marvellous that it would serve as a picture of the deliverance we have in Jesus.

Angels and Shepherds←⤒🔗

The birth of the "fine child" Moses foreshadowed the incarnation of the Son of God. Like Moses, Jesus was marked for a great task from the moment of his birth. Before his conception, an angel visited Zechariah and Elizabeth to foretell the birth of John, who would serve as a forerunner to Jesus. Then the angel also visited Mary to explain how she would become the mother of a boy child. When, in due course, this boy child Jesus was born, great signs accompanied his birth. Shepherds reported the appearance of a great choir of angels in the night sky, singing songs of joy and praise. Later in the temple, Simeon and Anna spoke prophetically of how Jesus would be the Saviour of God's people. Even Magi from the east came searching for Jesus, prompted by signs in the heavens. Clearly Jesus was "no ordinary child." These signs marked him not only as a deliverer in the mode of Moses but also especially identified him as the Son of God made flesh. This child Jesus would be a Saviour to save God's people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

Sign Language←⤒🔗

Sadly, the enemies of the church were more attentive to the signs of deliverance than the church herself. Legend says that Pharaoh was alerted to the birth of Moses by his astronomers, who foretold that Moses would be a great deliverer for Israel. This is what prompted Pharaoh's program to kill the male Israelite children. Whether or not this is true, the murder of the Israelite boy children was an attack on God's redemptive plan. Much the same thing happened when Herod was alerted by the Magi to the birth of Jesus. Attentive to the sign of the star, Herod took steps to kill the children of Bethlehem in the hope that he would remove Jesus from the scene.

On the other hand, none of the Israelites recognized Moses as their deliverer or assisted Jochabed to protect her "'fine" child Moses. God provided extraordinary protection for baby Moses through the daughter of Pharaoh. But the blindness of the people continued when Moses first tried to help his people and they still refused to recognize him (Acts 7:25). Neither did the people recognize the signs when Jesus was born; of all people, it was Herod who saw the signs and reacted to them first! Pharaoh and Herod saw the signs, while God's own people did not see.

See the Signs←⤒🔗

Do you and I see the signs and their meaning? God intentionally left us with a record of the signs that accompanied the births of Moses and Jesus. These signs show us that Jesus is our deliverer as Moses was the deliverer of God's people from Egypt. The salvation we have in Jesus is just as real, and even more powerful, than the Exodus of Israel. Through faith we believe that Jesus was "no ordinary child" but was the Son of God sent to save us. The signs help us to see and believe.

When Jesus completed his ministry and ascended into heaven, he told his disciples that he would come a second time, so that he might complete our deliverance forever. For this second coming he has also given us signs. There will be earthquakes, famines, wars, and rumours of war. We should not be caught unawares, as God's people were when he sent Moses and later Jesus. We should see the signs and know that deliverance is nearing its completion. A great deliverer came when Moses was born; a greater Deliverer came when Jesus was born; this great Deliverer is coming again.