God's People: Moses, Murderer and Alien

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?” He answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses.
But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well. The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. But some shepherds came and drove them away. Moses got up and came to their defense and watered their flock. When they returned to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come back so soon today?” They said, “An Egyptian helped us against the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock.” He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to break bread.” Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage. She bore a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, “I have been an alien residing in a foreign land.” ~ Exodus 2:11-22

Along with David and Abraham, Moses is one of the central figure of the Hebrew scriptures, and so no look into the God's cavalcade of characters would be complete without him.

Any discussion of him is pretty intimidating, as we generally know more about him than other Biblical personages. (although admittedly, we sometimes get Moses confused with Charlton Heston!)

There is really no way to talk about Moses in one fell swoop since his story is so all-encompassing. So better to look at some of the different aspects of his character.

Up to this point, we know Moses has been raised by Pharaoh's daughter. He is therefore easily mistaken as an Egyptian by Reuel's daughters. He basically IS an Egyptian.

And yet somewhere along the long, someone (maybe his mother? Maybe his sister? Maybe Pharaoh's daughter?) gave him some background on his true ancestry. He saw an Egyptian beating one of his kinsfolk: one of "his people."

And then in  a flash of a moment, the leader who will rise up to save his people from their captivity, kills the Egyptian in a matter that cannot be described as self-defense. There is premeditation here. There is cloak and dagger here, as he waits to kill the man in in secret when no one is looking.

He is scared to get caught!

It is cold-blooded murder born of anger. It is a crime of passion.

What do we do with this? God has already chosen a motley crew in the work of saving the world: Noah, a drunkard; Abraham, who likely forced himself on Hagar; Jacob, a liar; later, David an adulterer.

And here, Moses, a murderer.

For God, no one can be counted out. Our sins, our crimes are not what define us.

God's abiding love is what defines us.

So where does that leave us?

Perhaps in Moses we can see that in our criminal justice system, punishment based on retribution misses the point. Moses is a murderer who is redeemed despite his crime.

And maybe in Moses we can see that how we treat our aliens, strangers, and immigrants might miss the point as well. Moses is an alien several times over: A Hebrew slave, raised in a Egyptian palace, and then an "alien" in Midian, where he will be accepted and taken in by a people until he is ready for his call by God; where he will be made part of a family not his own.

We can't count anyone out. And that is more than often too hard to accept. I can't always accept it. We have only to read the news of the day and find all kinds of people whose crimes make mercy feel unjustifiable.

And yet over and over again God shows that abiding love, mercy, and grace are the way. That redemption is always possible, and that anyone can serve the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: God of all, help me to remember to never count anyone out; to see the person and not the crime; to see the human being and not the ancestry; and to always seek justice that is tempered by mercy. Amen

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