Thought for Thursday
And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. Exodus 2:22
When Moses killed the Egyptian who was smiting an Israelite, he was showing sympathy with his own people. This was the first great step in his forsaking Egypt. Today’s text tells us of the second great step – that of identifying himself with those afflicted people. The name that he gave his son does not refer to his being a stranger in Midian, but to his acceptance that he was actually a stranger when he lived in Egypt. Even though he was born there, even though he was raised in the royal court and had plenty of position and privilege there, he now understood that he did not belong there. He was like you and me…. born into this world, and with a natural stake in the things of this world, but actually citizens of a promised land.
Moses appears to have grasped the truth of God’s message to Abraham in Genesis 15, that Abraham’s seed would be a stranger in a land that was not theirs. God’s message also included a promise of a great deliverance. Duyring the years that he lived in Midian, Moses would look on the face of his son and be reminded of his Egyptian strangerhood and of the eventual deliverance of the children of Israel. We need to have reminders all around us, too, that we are strangers here and that there is a deliverance coming.
The days of our sojourn in a stranger’s land are coming to a close. World events lead us to believe the coming of the Lord to be very near. Even if the Rapture does not occur in our lifetime, we have the same anticipation as the Apostle paul who could speak of departing to be with Christ, which is far better. Deliverance is coming. But as Christians, we tend to be like Moses was in his earlier years, when he was very much part of Egypt and its life. We sink our roots deeply in homes, careers, and communities, and see ourselves as citizens of this earth. Maybe we need a big shakeup like Moses experienced, to remind us that we are strangers in a strange land.
Moses had a son whose name reminded him daily of his strangerhood here and his glorious hope for the future. Let us surround ourselves with reminders of the Lord’s coming and of our Heavenly home. -Jim MacIntosh