A Savior Born Under Sentence Of Death

A Savior Born under Sentence of Death

Moses was born under a sentence of death. Feeling threatened by the growing number of Hebrews, Pharaoh ordered that all Hebrew baby boys be killed at birth. But Moses’ mother put him in a basket, which she hid in the reeds on the Nile River. The basket was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, and Moses was saved from the slaughter. He was born to be a savior of his people, and nothing could stop God’s plan. This child, once doomed to death by Pharaoh’s decree, would become the very instrument of Pharaoh’s destruction and the means through which all Israel would escape their slavery in Egypt.

But while Moses was a savior, he was not the Savior. He was simply a prototype of the Savior to come. “Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself” (Hebrews 3:3).

Like Moses, Jesus was born under a sentence of death. Herod the Great, a tyrant as wicked as any of the Pharaohs, felt threatened by the prophecies of a king born in Bethlehem. So he issued a decree for all Jewish baby boys in Bethlehem to be killed. But like Moses, Jesus was saved from the slaughter. He was born to save his people, and nothing could stop God’s plan. Jesus and his family escaped to Egypt and eventually were brought out of Egypt into the land of Israel. Matthew applied a statement about the Exodus of the children of Israel to Jesus: “This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘I called my Son out of Egypt’” (2:15).

In his deliverance from a violent death in infancy and his years of quiet training; in his willingness to leave the palace of a king to deliver his people from bondage; in his meekness, his faithfulness, and his commitment to finishing the work God gave him to do, Moses was a picture of the better Savior to come. But the picture fell short. Moses sinned under provocation; Christ was without sin. Moses was unable to bear the burdens of the people alone; Christ bore the burden of our sins in his own body on the tree. Moses was unable to die for the sins of the people; “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3, NIV). Moses was unable to bring the people into the Promised Land; Christ is able to bring us into a permanent Promised Land. “Now all glory to God, who . . . will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence . . . through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Jude 1:24-25).

My Savior, born under sentence of death, you have made me alive and will deliver me safe into the joy of your presence for eternity.