Contemplative Bible Reading

Exodus 2:18 (New Living Translation)

“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”

This is Moses’ future wife talking. Moses had rescued her from some thugs and then watered her flocks for her.

Moses must have taken to her deeply and quickly.

Moses was an Egyptian, well, we know he was a Hebrew, but he was raised as an Egyptian and was Egyptian through and through in culture. We read later in Exodus that the Egyptians detested the idea of herding sheep. Hmmm. Moses the Egyptian doing what Egyptians detested. Why? How? What????? What would all the Egyptian friends of Moses say about that?

None of this makes any sense, but isn’t that how we would judge most of the Bible? It just doesn’t make sense on page after page after page. What is happening?

God is happening page after page after page. Something and some one supernatural, something we cannot explain by the laws of nature and the laws of human conduct. It happens everywhere in the Bible. People do what they wouldn’t do. Moses the Egyptian doing the detestable to impress a woman or simply to do what is right—protect the helpless.

I believe God does this everyday right in front of our eyes. All we have to do is notice. Notice God at work. And from time to time, point and tell our neighbor, “Hey, did you just see God do that!”