Shemot

Shabbat Shalom! This week we start the book of Exodus. The story of Moses is an oldie but a goodie. In fact, my oldest memory of our buddy Moses is of me watching Prince of Egypt on VHS in my cousins' basement (#90sKid).

Moses is another classically complicated dude as told in Shemot. Pharaoh felt threatened by the thought of a Jew taking the throne and becoming his successor so he commanded that all Jewish babies be drowned in the Nile. Yikes! Moses' mother, Jochebed, found a loophole and put her baby in a basket so he (hopefully) wouldn't die. Cute lil' Moses floated past the crocodiles and hippos until Pharaoh's daughter found him. She is actually the one who named him Moses (which comes from the root for son in Egyptian). Moses grew up thinking that he was an Egyptian prince, but there was a moment when he stood up for his own people. Moses saw an overseer mistreating a Jew and he lost it. Moses saved the Jew, but also killed the overseer. Moses was so ashamed that he fled to a place called Midian and became a shepherd. He marries a Midianite woman named Zipporah and I guess his life seems pretty normal for a while. One day, Moses was with his sheep on Mount Sinai (aka Mount Horeb) and sees a burning bush (as shown in the video above). The only problem is that the bush isn't actually burning. It's on fire ... but it's not being "consumed"... what? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, once again God has done something totally cool! God reveals his true name to Moses and then she tells Moses that he is the one who has to free the Jewish people.

"Wait a minute, God. You want me to free ALL of them? How?"
"I need you to speak with Pharaoh. He seems like a scary dude, but he used to be like a father to you so you know how he really is."
"Can't you talk to him? You are God after all. And I have a hard time speaking in front of people."
"I know you have a hard time speaking to people, I made you that way. Even though I think you're full capable, ask your brother Aaron for help."

Points to God for being totally awesome and making Moses different and then helping him overcome his challenge. God gave us all challenges: big or small, physical or mental, whatever. The reassurance we get from this portion is that God made us each different and that we can overcome whatever challenge is in our way, just like Moses.