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Q1. Moses the Murderer


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moses had the respect and the office like a pharaoh's son, but he choose to give up on everything and protect his people. this reminds me somehow like the description of Jesus in Phil 2:3-9, even that there is no comparison with our Lord. as a person, Moses was weak, and this made him run away. but after knowing God, the weak one became strong. Amen.

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Q1. (Exodus 2:11-15a) What do we learn about Moses' motivations, character, and leadership ability from the incident of him killing the cruel Egyptian taskmaster? What positive things do you see in his character? What negative things do you discern?

Moses was not timid when he saw injustice (at this point). He had a sense of justice or indignation when he saw the Hebrews being mistreated and concern for their wellbeing.

He looked all around but not to God. He went about correcting the wrong the wrong way. (Probably if he had gone to pharoah he would not have been well received). He was impulsive and he tried to cover up. Murder was not the answer although in this case I am not sure what was except to look up which he looked every where but.

God Bless!

Jen

Numbers 6:24-26

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Moses is clearly for the oppressed and cares about what happens to his people. He doesn't seem to think before he reacts. He is strong and doesn't seem to need to be told what to do. He just does it.

Positive things about his character: He is protective, strong and a go getter.

Negative things: He is impulsive and doesn't think before he reacts.

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Interesting comment Ivory Eagle.... that one negative can cancel all of the positives.

Cyndilee: I liked what you said that it is interesting that Moses did not try to invoke justice through some legal means at his disposal from his elite status.

why? You gave some reasons.. the order of the day was not democratic... so he knew his voice would not be heard and he might even suffer for raising the issue.

BUT more than that, it was too slow. Moses saw the Hebrew slave suffering now and he could not wait and watch anymore. Yes he was impulsive, decisive, and just unwilling to look the other way when he saw someone suffer unjustly.

I admire Moses for his sense of mercy, fairness. I'm looking forward to see how his sense of justice plays out in the rest of the story.

There is no justification for murder, but one agrument for Moses is that he was fighting not for his own rights (complaining he was treated unfairly) but rather he was fighting for others who were suffering. Americans march into foreign countries on a regular basis killing people in the name of fighting for the rights of some oppressed group. So as much as we abhor the idea that Moses killed an Egyptian in cold blood, and it is immoral, we cannot in honestly deny that it is a familar justification (impulsive or otherwise) that even elected US leaders apply regularly.

Note that this fighting for the rights of the oppressed theme appears again at the well, as the good Dr. noted. Hmmm

Stand around and watch the poor girls bullied by the shepherd boys, or step in and stop it. Moses may be "a reluctant leader" but he is not a wimp. He acts with heart and courage. Most people would not have gotten involved at the well.... they would walk away or just wait til it is over. Go Go Moses! You got heart!

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This passage of Scripture indicates to me that at this point in Moses' life, he is not necessarily cognizant of God's hand in his life. He is clearly no leader here but rather a brash deliverer of "vigilante justice." His attempt the following day to intervene with the two quarreling Hebrews was not well received because he had no moral authority; they had witnessed (or heard from others who witnessed) that just one day prior, he had murdered the offending Egyptian and "buried the body" to cover his crime.

On the positive side, there are at least two qualities that will subsequently contribute to Moses becoming the leader of his people. First, he has a strong sense of right & wrong coupled with a sensitivity to injustice. Second, he displays a strong bias toward action (albeit brash action); leaders are men (and women) of action, not of inaction.

On the negative side, we see an individual who, while acting decisively, doesn't yet have the ability to temper his actions with discretion and discernment. He acted impetuously without first "counting the costs" associated with his chosen course of action. Failure to consider the consequences lead him to shortly become a fugitive in Midian.

It's always interesting to me that God uses even our shortcomings and failures to accomplish His purpose in our lives. Moses' actions lead him to be removed for a season (a 40 year season!) to a place where God could shape him into the leader he would eventually become.

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Question 1. Moses clearly sees himself as a Hebrew , that much he'll defend! As for his tactics, on his own, as one guy, he strikes out in anger and frustrations. He has a fine education, but not in leadership. He defends the 'underdog'. But I see that Moses was sneaky and bad tempered.

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Moses was clearly Egyptian, raised in their ways. However he was trying to identify with "his people". He may have been struggling with some internal issues when he killed that man. He may have been identifying with the underclass or trying to prove a point to himself. He may not have been recognized or accepted as Hebrew. Also, he may not have known God and therefore may not have been seeking to lead anyone anywhere at this point. Can we infer arrogance at this point? Maybe not. Some confidence? Maybe so. Moses is just a worldly man at this point, wearing princely robe and trying to fit into two worlds.

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Nice one, Queen Esther. I've been trying to work out how to describe Moses' actions and sneaky is the word.

True, he stuck up for the Hebrew slave but I wonder why. All of us have a sense of right and wrong in our hearts. Paul himself acknowledges that about Gentiles.

Moses was 40 when he killed the Egyptian. Why wait so long if he was identifying with the Hebrews' suffering? My guess is that he had been struggling with a dual heritage for years and seeing this particular slave beaten, on this particular day was the last straw. (An ancient mid-life crisis?)

His action in killing the slave master was not entirely rash, he took the time to be sure that no one was looking. I would imagine that as a member of the ruling class he was accustomed to responding to situations based on what he wanted (as long as it didn't annoy the Pharaoh). In politics it is best to be sure no one is looking if you are doing something dodgy. Royal families everywhere (bar God's of course) seem to live and breath politics. Moses would probably always be thinking of the consequences of his actions - a useful trait for leaders.

I know God was getting him prepared for his role in removing the Hebrews from Egypt but I find it hard to ascribe more than a fledgling sense of justice to Moses' actions. He was, at this time a diamond in the rough - and there was a lot of rough. Good on him for letting God chip it away.

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He had the basic knowledge of right & wrong and had identified himself with Israel--even though he was raised of Pharoah's families.

Positively, he wanted to stand up for his people, wanted to punish evil-doers, was not fearful.

Negatively, he didn't ask God to intervene and acted before thinking...or praying...

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While Moses seemed 'sure' that he wanted to defend his fellow Hebrew, he also checked first to make sure no one would see him. Was he ashamed of helping a Hebrew? He not only murdered a man, he also tried to hide the evidence.

Positive: He wanted to help

Negative: Didn't want the Egytians, or anyone, to know what he did.

The next day is interesting: He sees two (2) Hebrews fighting and attempted to reason with them by saying "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?" This shows me that Moses', while being brought up an Egyptian, is a Hebrew and will try to help his fellow man.

When finding out that his actions from the day before did not go unnoticed he bacame afraid. Pharoah found out and Moses fled the scene to Midian.

At this point his character seems pretty much like ours: We sometimes act in haste (not thinking)then try to cover it up, but when we realize we were found out we try to flee the scene, mostly in words by justifying our actions.

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I do not want to go off-track, but if Moses had raised up an army and killed thousands of slave drivers and Egyptian soldiers, his people (and we) might have commended him. Instead, he killed one man and they (and we) chastised him and saw him as a villain for that. Putting aside the benefits of Bible history, though, and basing a tentative conclusion on chapters 1-4 only, at this point, he is a thug and a coward.

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Moses had good intentions but his approach was wrong. He sought justice for one his fellow Hebrews but his actions only brought judgement upon himself. He will have to flee to avoid that justice. We can see that he has a concern for his fellow man but taking such action into his own hands is not the answer. He has a conscience in the fact that he checked to see if anyone was looking before he committed murder. He is decisive and doesn't take into consideration the out come of his actions. The positive things in his character are strength and a willingness to help others. As to leadership ability at this point in time he has none. To be a true leader one has to earn the respect of the ones you are to lead. Moses has not earned that respect yet.More than not taking things into your own hands will only bring more trouble.

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I apologize profusely!!!!! I have no idea why my lesson printed so many times.......I tried to edit and leave the space blank but it just repeated....

JanMary

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