Pointing to Jesus (Exodus 2)

Summary:

Exodus 2 tells the early life of Moses. Due to Pharaoh’s decree to kill all Hebrew baby boys, Moses’ mother hides him in a basket among the reeds of the Nile. 

Pharaoh’s daughter finds and adopts him, and Moses grows up in the Egyptian palace. 

As an adult, Moses kills an Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew, then flees to Midian after Pharaoh seeks his life. 

In Midian he defends the daughters of Reuel (Jethro) at a well, marries Zipporah, and has a son named Gershom. 

The chapter ends with Israel groaning under slavery, and God hearing their cry, remembering His covenant, and taking notice.

Pointing to Jesus:

One clear typological pointer is Moses as a deliverer who is rejected by his own people yet appointed by God to save them. 

In verses 11–15, Moses tries to rescue his oppressed brethren, but they reject him (“Who made you ruler and judge over us?”). 

This foreshadows Christ: Jesus, the greater Deliverer sent by God, was rejected by His own people (John 1:11; Acts 7:35–39). 

Yet God sovereignly ordained both the rejection and the later acceptance of the deliverer for the salvation of His elect people. 

This displays God’s unconditional election and irresistible grace: Israel’s deliverance does not ultimately depend on their acceptance of Moses at first, but on God’s covenant promise and sovereign choice to redeem a people for Himself (Exod. 2:23–25). 

Just so, Christ’s redemption of the elect is not contingent on human will but on God’s eternal decree (Rom. 9:15–16; Eph. 1:4–5).

Reflection:

Exodus 2 reminds believers that God often prepares His servants through exile, humiliation, and apparent failure before public ministry. 

Moses spends forty years as a forgotten shepherd in Midian after fleeing in disgrace—yet this is precisely where God shapes him into a humble leader (cf. Num. 12:3). 

For the Christian, seasons of obscurity, rejection, or wilderness wandering are not wasted; they are the crucible where pride is crushed and dependence on God is learned. 

Moreover, the chapter ends with God “hearing,” “remembering,” “seeing,” and “knowing” Israel’s affliction—assuring us that no cry of His people escapes His notice. 

In our own slavery to sin, fear, or suffering, we can rest in the certainty that the same God who sovereignly raised up Moses has already sent the true Moses, Jesus, to lead us out of bondage into the promised inheritance.