05 Aug 08 — Standing up to Pharaoh

Pharaoh and Moses. Even many non-religious folk have heard this story. It is a timeless tale of one person with God’s Help standing up to injustice. And yet it is never just one person. There would be no Moses if the Hebrew midwives had done what Pharaoh commanded them. There would be no Moses if Moses’ Mother had not risked her family to keep him alive. There would be no Moses if Moses’ Mother’s daughter and Pharaoh’s daughter had not colluded to keep Moses well hidden. We all look up to a Moses; we don’t give those responsible for a Moses enough credit.

Pharaoh is the personification of evil and injustice in every generation; Moses is the personification of the lonely hero fighting (not necessarily through bloody means) for justice and equality in every generation. History is a record of these characters, and although there are many of them, there are very few at any given time. Back when I was in the Army, the most junior of Lieutenants were trained as if they would one day become the highest ranking General. In much the same way, every culture attempts to raise up at least its fair share of heroes. But few achieve that pinnacle. And the few that do, only get there because of supporting casts of thousands, many of whom will never be known but to God and their closest acquaintances.

And yet it takes just as much courage and insight to be one of those supporting characters as the main actor in these dramas. Consider the two midwives. They were told to kill all the Hebrew baby boys. They took their own lives in their hands when they defied these orders. What is so amazing is that Pharaoh “bought” their excuse, that the Hebrew women were so much more vigorous than the Egyptians that they gave birth before they could arrive on the scene. And yet, as “silly” as that may sound, it was enough to force Pharaoh to look elsewhere for a solution. God though was very happy with the results and rewarded these two midwives with households of their own: their own families of which they — contrary to the patriarchal culture of the time — where the heads.

Let’s consider one other hero: Pharaoh’s daughter. She had it made. She had everything she needed, and could get anything she wanted. She was rich beyond measure. And yet, when she saw the basket bearing Moses on the waters, she had compassion. From out of her wealth and the security it brought her, she reached out and took this child into her care and nurtured him into manhood (with Moses’ Mother’s help as the nursemaid). The birth of compassion (and the birth of philanthropy) in our faith story, comes from the enemy’s daughter reaching out and taking in a helpless outcast.

Both the midwives and Pharaoh’s daughter defied Pharaoh in a history-changing way, because it would be this child that would be Pharaoh’s downfall. The moral of the story? There is no one way to achieve justice and equality, no one way to defy wayward authorities. The midwives conducted a “work slow down” to use modern terms; Pharaoh’s daughter was “compassionate.” Today, we live these same principles by being compassionate always, and by not buying from or supporting organizations / companies that do not support equality and justice for all. And by so doing, we become that cast of supporting characters, or actors in training, from which from time to time, God chooses a Moses.