Read: Exodus 2:11-15
He struck down the Egyptian. (v. 12)
We cannot undo the wrong we did. We try to hide and cover up. We certainly relate to Moses hiding the Egyptian’s body. Our lives are littered with the magnificent and the messy. We stole the cookie from the cookie jar. We crashed Dad’s truck. We said those words. Or something much, much worse. The toothpaste squeezed out cannot be forced back in. Moses can hide a body, but he cannot undo a murder.
The great deliverer of Israel killed a man in cold blood. Then again, look at Scripture and see how every great “saint” screwed up something. Abraham lied about his wife being his sister. David had an affair with Bathsheba and had her husband killed. Peter denied Jesus. Three times! “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
At forty, Moses mistakes murder for mission and flees for his life. We know God used the next 40 years to continue shaping and preparing him to lead Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness. But right now, right here, he must have been afraid and confused.
How about you? Satan loves to remind us of our past sin and failure. Perhaps he thinks our mistakes disqualify us from future purpose in God’s kingdom. That wasn’t true for Moses (or David, Peter, or Paul) and, because of Jesus, it isn’t true for you. God speaks to you: “I am he who blots out your transgressions . . . and I will not remember your sins” (Isa. 43:25).
As you pray, thank God for offering forgiveness through Jesus.
Rev. Jon Opgenorth serves as president of Words of Hope. Previously, he served for 18 years as senior pastor at Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa. In preparation for ministry, he received a BA in Religion from Northwestern College, and an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary.
