October 20 | Bible in a Year: Isaiah 59–61; 2 Thessalonians 3

God in the Details

She saw the basket among the reeds and . . . she opened it and saw the baby. Exodus 2:5–6

Exodus 2:5–6

READ Exodus 2:1–10

It had been an awful week for Kevin and Kimberley. Kevin’s seizures had suddenly worsened, and he’d been hospitalised. Amid the pandemic, their four young children—siblings adopted from foster care—were taking cabin fever to a new extreme. On top of that, Kimberley couldn’t scrounge up a decent meal from the fridge. Oddly, at that moment, she craved carrots.

An hour later, there was a knock at the door. There stood their friends Amanda and Andy with an entire meal she’d prepared for the family. Including carrots.

They say the devil is in the details? No. An amazing story in the history of the Jewish people shows God is in the details. Pharaoh had commanded, “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile” (Exodus 1:22). That genocidal development turned on a remarkable detail. Moses’ mother did indeed ‘throw’ her baby into the Nile, albeit with a strategy. And from the Nile, Pharaoh’s own daughter would rescue the baby whom God used to rescue His people. She would even pay Moses’ mother to nurse him (2:9)!

One day from this fledgling Jewish nation would come a promised baby boy. His story would abound with amazing details and divine ironies. Most importantly, Jesus would provide an exodus out of our slavery to sin.

Even—especially—in the dark times, God is in the details. As Kimberley will tell you, “God brought me carrots!”

By Tim Gustafson

What stories can you tell where you’ve seen God in the details? How did that help strengthen your faith?

Thank You, Father, that You show up in the little things as well as the big things.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Names are important in the Bible, and Moses’ name is no exception. When Pharaoh’s daughter named him, it honoured both his Hebrew origin and his soon-to-be Egyptian upbringing. In Egyptian, Moses may relate to the word for “son.” Yet Moses also sounds like the Hebrew word translated “to draw out,” which the author of Exodus connected to Moses coming out of the water (Exodus 2:10). Even more intriguing, however, is that Moses’ name doesn’t mean “drawn out,” but “the one who draws out.” The name Pharaoh’s daughter gave the little infant looked forward to the redemptive work God would accomplish through him when he was fully grown.