The First Forty: Development
The pertinent details of Moses’ life are well documented in the Bible. Thankfully, it doesn’t include his entire bio. Just the important details.
Moses lived long enough (120 years) that a full-length bio would arguably be longer than the Bible and that length would make it difficult to isolate important lessons.
Instead, his life is divided neatly into three separate stages of 40 years each and only the most important details from each stage are included. The first two stages provide very little detail but it’s enough to gain important insights.
The Broad Strokes
Before we get into the lessons, let’s look at the details of the first stage in broad strokes.
STAGE ONE: THE DEVELOPMENT STAGE
(Infancy to adulthood in Pharaoh’s house, Exodus 2:1-10).
Here’s what happened:
- Israel was enslaved.
- Death was decreed for all male born Israelites.
- Moses was miraculously saved from destruction.
- And was adopted into Pharoah’s house, enjoying the privileges of a family member.
- Tradition (Josephus) says he successfully led military campaigns.
The Book of Exodus only provides ten verses on this stage but several lessons emerge.
Growth Is The Only Option
The first stage of life for everyone is the growing stage or to put it differently, the stage at which people tend to balk. Growth starts on day one. It’s the only option but we generally find it uncomfortable.
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People want to be grown but they don’t enjoy the process of growing.
They want to be well informed but that achievement requires hard work, the kind we tend to avoid.
No one starts at the end.
The beginning, or the bottom, is the only starting point, which in real terms is nowhere yet. [Read more…] about 4 Lessons From Moses’ First Forty Years
