The Birth of Moses

The book of Exodus is one of my favorite Old testament books to read because it is absolutely resplendent with symbols of Christ and his work to come. In it Israel captive and enslaved is a type of all humanity and their captivity and enslavement under sin and the devil. Moses is a type of Christ, sent by God to deliver the people from bondage. There are many other types as well, the passover lamb, the exodus through the red sea, and the birth of Moses.

The birth of Moses is probably one of the more overlooked types in the book of exodus, but it points us forward quite clearly to two things. On first glance, it is quite obvious that the birth of Moses, when all male children were to be killed by order of pharaoh (Exodus 1:22) was looking forward to the Birth of Christ, when all male children were ordered to be killed by King Herod. Each child was born under a death sentence, and each was protected from that death sentence by God.

Yet the death sentence that Moses was under points toward the death sentence we are all under. The wages of sin is death, and each of is carries guilt for sin. Yet Moses was saved from this death sentence through the waters of the Nile. He was placed in the water under sentence of death, yet when he was brought out of the water, he was saved, no longer was he under the law that all Hebrew boys should be killed; he was now a child of the king.

This is an obvious picture of God's work in Baptism. Even as little children, we are responsible for our sin and are rightly under sentence of Death. Yet through the waters of Holy Baptism God puts us to death with Christ, and raises us up to be his children.

SOLI DEO GLORIA