V. 1-4: And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. And when she could hide him no longer, she made a little box of reed, and glued it with clay and pitch, and put the child in it, and laid him in the reeds by the riverside. But his sister stood afar off, desiring to know how he would fare.
1. The summary of this chapter is how Moses was born and secretly hidden, but finally placed in a small box and set on the water, when the king's daughter found him and raised him for her son in the royal court; And how Moses, after forty years, went out to the brethren of his people, slew an Egyptian, and fled out of the land, after which he became duke, captain, and commander of the children of Israel, who brought them out of Egypt, and established of them a kingdom of their own, prescribing and regulating religion, worship, and secular police, laws, discipline, and discipline.
From this we learn the great miracle of God, how he cares for his believers so fatherly and abundantly, and helps them miraculously out of all hardships, that even their own enemies and worst adversaries often have to help and serve his Christians for their honor, benefit and welfare. For King Pharaoh must raise Moses in his daughter's womb, who wanted to drown and kill Moses and all the children of the Hebrews. No one notices this. For God does not reveal His counsel and purpose soon or to everyone, but keeps it secret and hidden for a time. And since no one knows it, it is done in such a way that no one pays attention to it. And God arranges His things so wonderfully that no one realizes, feels or understands them until God has accomplished them.
3 But see if God does not mock the angry Pharaoh in his fist. For in this persecution of the children of Israel, when the oxen (as they say) are standing on the mountain, and the death and destruction of this people is in sight, Moses is born.
4. there will be special doubt to the children of
Israel must have fared badly in Egypt. For the Egyptian women kept a diligent eye on the Hebrew women when they were with child, and they revealed and betrayed it. But in the midst of this tyranny, and when the edict is most strictly and severely enforced and kept, God causes the king's enemy, and the captain of the children of Israel, to be born. Since Pharaoh is so angry and wicked, Moses must be born to throw Pharaoh into the sea. Yes, that is even more, God sends it so that this enemy, Moses, must feed Pharaoh's daughter himself and raise her in the royal court. It is a strange thing that this king, who is the enemy of the children of Israel, should raise up the Savior, helper and protector of the people of God himself, who will later destroy him and his land and people. Pharaoh raises a serpent in his own bosom, which shall bite him afterwards; he raises a wolf, which shall tear him and devour him.
So wonderful are the judgments of our Lord [Is. 40, 14. Rom. 11, 33]. But if they had known it in Pharaoh's court, they would have put Mosi to death a hundred thousand times over. But God says: I will tell you, Pharaoh shall raise his own enemy with his own bread and with his own goods, and feed a serpent in his bosom; his own daughter must be Mosi's mother. That is, Pharaoh's mouth and nose grabbed, and all his plots and tyranny put to shame.
(6) With this glorious example of divine grace and goodness toward the faithful we should also comfort ourselves, and in cross and tribulation prepare and send ourselves to faith, invocation and hope of divine help. For help must finally come, for God does not abandon His own. He himself speaks in the one and ninetieth Psalm, v. 15: "I am with him in trouble, I will snatch him out" or save him, "and he shall praise me" [Psalm 50:15]. So the fourth and thirtieth Psalm also says, v. 19: "The Lord is near to all those who call upon him," and those who call upon him in truth, he looks upon our distress and misery, and will deliver us out of it [Ps. 145:18].
(7) Who were the parents of Moses, it is also said here that he was born of the tribe of Levi. For a man of the tribe or house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi, whose father's name was Amram, and whose mother's name was Jochebed, as it is written in chapter six, v. 20.
8 These parents would have liked to hide the child, Mosen, and protect it with life, keep it secretly with them for three months, but finally, for fear of the royal edict, have to let it be put into the water in a small box, covered with clay and pitch, so that the child would not drown so soon. These parents were undoubtedly Christians, looked to God's promise, and waited for redemption from the house of Egypt, which had to squeeze under Pharaoh's tyranny, like a mouse in a trap, and looked and hoped for God's help.
9 The epistle to the Hebrews in the eleventh chapter, v. 23, also speaks of this, that through faith Moses was hidden from his parents for three months after he was born, because they saw that he was a beautiful child and were not afraid of the king's commandment. They see that the child is beautiful, and they hope that God will give them a man according to His promises, who will bring them out of Egypt, as He promised the patriarch Abraham, when it is said: "You shall know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and there they will be forced to serve and tormented four hundred years. But I will be judge of the people whom they must serve, and after that they shall go forth with great good. And they shall come again after four men's lives." And Gen 48:21 the patriarch Jacob said to his children, "I die, and God will be with you, and will bring you again to the land of your fathers"; and in chapter 49, v. 29, he commanded his children to bury him in the land of Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac were also buried, to indicate that the children of Israel should not remain in Egypt, but be brought out again to their fatherland, the land of Canaan.
10. and in the 50th chapter, v. 24. 25, Joseph says to his brothers: "I die, and God will visit you and bring you out of Egypt into the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Therefore he took an oath from them, that in going out of Egypt they should carry his bones with them to the land of Canaan." With these promises they comforted themselves, and hoped that there would soon be an end to Pharaoh's servitude and tyranny. For when the string is stretched to the utmost, it is apt to break, and when the weather is hardest and coldest, it breaks. So they hoped in the midst of the extreme distress that the time of redemption was now at the door, that God would now help and perhaps help the people of Israel through their son (who was a beautiful child); therefore they hid the child with them for three moons.
V. 5, 6 Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe in the water, and her maidens were walking by the water's edge. When she saw the box in the reeds, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and, behold, the babe wept. Then she wept and said, "There is one of the Hebrew children.
11) See here how God has such a merciful eye on the poor child, Moses, that the devil does not have to drown him, but he must be pulled out of the water and remain alive, and since otherwise his father Amram's maidservants would have waited for him, Amram's daughter must carry the child Moses herself in a box to the water and let it flow, but still looks from afar where the child remains. He would have perished in the water and been eaten by the fish, but God still has such great regard for Moses that the king's daughter takes him out of the water and orders him to be raised.
12 Thus it is God's strange providence that even his own mother must become Moses' nurse; he is brought back into his father's house, nourished and raised there. And before Moses should suffer hardship, the devil himself would have to serve him, and the daughter of the raging tyrant would have to raise him,
and take her for her son. The daughter of this great king must still be the handmaid of our Lord God, and raise Moses, although ignorantly. Moses is a Hebrew foundling, and Pharaoh's daughter will often have played with him, danced with him, and also loved him very much.
(13) Such is the art of our Lord God, so he cares for his own and helps them wonderfully. "He kills and brings back to life, He leads into hell and brings back to heaven", as Hannah, Samuel's mother, sings in her song of praise [1 Sam. 2, 6]. The child, Moses, must first come into danger of life, and be thrown into the jaws of death, before he shall be made the leader of the people of Israel. Again, God lifts him up first. So that Moses would become great, he was brought to the court of the king's daughter and became her son, since he was to overthrow the persecution in Egypt. But we also see here how God makes fools and fools of the world. For who will resist his wisdom? It does not realize this divine counsel with Moses. For it also does not seem that this child should become such a man, for God does it secretly until he has made it happen. For he rules in such a way that he can make something out of what is nothing at all, and place it before our eyes so that we can see it.
V. 11, 12: In those days, when Moses was grown up, he went out unto his brethren, and saw their burden, and perceived that an Egyptian smote one of his brethren the Hebrew. And he turned to and fro, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and buried him in the sand 2c.
014 The Jews have made up many lies here, saying that Pharaoh the king was angry with Moses, and that he presented to him his royal crown, an apple, and coals of fire, and wished to know by them whether he was his son or not. But Moses pushed the crown away and bit into the coals, so Moses lisped afterwards. But these are Jewish tales. St. Stephen speaks much differently in the stories of the apostles in the 7th chapter, v. 17-22, and says: "Now the time of the promise was approaching,
The people grew and multiplied in Egypt until another king arose who did not know about Joseph. This one deceived our family and wronged our fathers, and caused the young children to be thrown down so that they would not live. At that time Moses was born, and was a fine child in the sight of God, and was nourished three months in his father's house. And when he was cast down, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and brought him up to be a son. And Moses was taught all the wisdom of Egypt, and became mighty in deeds and words.
(15) Moses was a man who was well educated in Egypt, and Pharaoh's daughter knew well that he was a Hebrew man; therefore he had to learn all kinds of languages, arts and other things, and was a respectable man in Pharaoh's sight with his advice and deeds. He was brought up as a noble boy to be used as a counselor in the regiment, who would be competent in the worldly regiment.
16 This has been granted until the fortieth year. In the meantime (as I believe it to be) the horrible, terrible edict and commandment to drown the Hebrew children will be abolished. Now the redemption starts, and wants to make the game; however, it still consumes a while, until Moses becomes a great 1) man, then he runs away from the court, and wants to see and visit his brothers, the children of Israel; because there his heart was. At the court he was the queen's son, a splendid court jailer and a great man; there was power, honor, wealth and splendor in abundance, and he had the expectation 2) that after Pharaoh's death he would become king. But he had to suffer much, and at court, because of the pagan religion and the sinful, annoying life, he had to see a lot of drunkenness, ambition, hopefulness, 3) and infidelity that hurt him. If he remained silent about this, he had neither peace nor quiet in his heart; but if he spoke, the wild, desolate life of the court
1) Eisleben: larger. - For our reading compare Hebr. 11, 24.
2) Awaiting -- Awaiting.
3) Finance --- intrigue, fraud.
If he had to rebuke and punish, he also had to expect disfavor, enmity, resistance and danger from the courtiers, that he was despised by them and considered a priest and a fool; therefore his heart was full of pain.
17 The epistle to the Hebrews in the 11th chapter praises this little piece, that Moses withdrew from the royal court of Egypt and left the life of the court, and says, v. 24, 25, 26.By faith Moses, when he grew up, denied to be called a son of Pharaoh's daughter, and preferred to suffer adversity with God's people rather than to have the temporal pleasure of sins, and regarded the reproach of Christ as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, because he looked forward to the reward" 2c. And it is also a beautiful example of faith that one can, for the honor and obedience of God, take and leave a kingdom, country and people, so great money and goods, honor and power, and on the other hand stand by the poor, oppressed, burdened, persecuted and afflicted children of Israel, with whom they suffer poverty, danger, mockery, contempt, hunger and sorrow. A man of the world would not have done this, but would have said, Let one hold himself to the head as much as to the buttocks or back, or spoken: In large waters one sows large fish. Such a man would remain at court all his life. Just as some people like court life very much, so that they run and run to get to the court and sit high up on the board. For he who is not at court wants to freeze to death. Everyone wants to come close to the fire, so that he may become rich, powerful and great.
(18) And the same fellows are like chickens walking in a courtyard, and see that other chickens, which are shut up in a basket, have plenty to eat and drink, so the same chickens walk around the basket, and would also like to go in with the others, which are fattened, and are soon to be slaughtered and eaten. So such fellows also see that at court, soups are eaten, there is a lot of eating and drinking, beautiful clothes, court life, splendor is felt, even money and property is obtained there; about this some
Even in danger of life, limb, honor, goods, and loss of happiness, and this fire burns him badly, or the smoke of the court even suffocates him. As in many a court, a godless sow's life is led, and one loses both body and soul. Hence the common saying: Long at court, long in hell.
19 And because the Egyptian court had also been beaten over this bar, that idolatry had broken down there, unbelief, tyranny, violence, injustice, oppression of the subjects had taken over, Moses gave leave to the court life, because he could not have stayed any longer with such a godless, sinful and annoying life with a good conscience. Because faith and an angry, sinful life cannot get along with each other. Thus the time was also present when God wanted to redeem the children of Israel from the service of King Pharaoh, and this was to be done through Moses. Therefore, God takes Moses away from his life, and Moses follows our Lord God, putting aside all worldly, transient pleasures, joy and glory, which are an occasion and incentive for many sins, evil and wickedness, and knowing that God will not allow this loss of earthly life to continue, He knows that God can abundantly repay him for this loss of earthly joy and temporal goods, and he also firmly believes that God will turn around the hardship and persecution that he and the children of Israel have to suffer from the Egyptians, and will redeem and save them from it.
020 And Moses went out of Pharaoh's court, and saw one of his brethren slain by an Egyptian: and Moses went and avenged the Hebrew man, and slew the Egyptian again. For his mind has always been that he would gladly have helped all.
21 Now a question arises: whether Moses was right in killing the Egyptian? But I let such a question remain in its value and dignity, and hold that he was right in doing so. And Moses himself does not know otherwise, and considers himself not to have sinned in it. For he has watched these thirty years, how this people had to suffer under the Egyptians, and there was no salvation at all. So
he heard from his brothers that God had promised their grandfather, Abraham, that He would visit the Jewish people, save them, and bring them out of the house of Egypt, but punish the Egyptians. He did not doubt this redemption, but hoped for it, because it is said in Proverbs: When a string is stretched to the utmost, it is ready to burst; therefore the cruel tyranny of the Egyptians against the children of Israel would break and gain its 1) end, because it had come to the utmost and was driven.
22 The Holy Spirit gave him the heart and the courage to lead the way and slay the Egyptian. For he does not do it out of vengeance of flesh and blood, but out of the impulse of the Holy Spirit; there is a divine, heroic impulse in him. For God wanted to use the man, Moses, to be the captain of the children of Israel and to deliver them from Pharaoh. In this act, the children of Israel were to have a prelude or example of what God wanted to do through the man Moses to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians, namely, that he would also strangle and kill them; as they all drowned in the Red Sea afterwards.
23 Therefore this death of Moses is a special deed, just as [1 Kings 18:40] Elijah the prophet came and killed all the Baalspawn in the time of King Ahab in Israel; item [Numbers 25:7, 8] Phinehas the high priest took a knife and stabbed the Israelite man who was publicly fornicating with a Midianite woman. But these special deeds of the great miracle-workers, which happen by special inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are not to be imitated, and we cannot follow such examples either. One must leave the miracle-workers of God alone with their heroic miracles, and not make a consequence or example out of them, which everyone would also want to imitate, but one should leave such deeds alone, unless one also had the Holy Spirit, as they had, and received such a high calling from God, and one also had such causes as they had.
24 Otherwise, everyone abstains from the death-slaughter.
1) Eislebensche: to be.
for murder is a sin against the fifth commandment, since God says: "You shall not kill. Moses had God's word for him that the Jewish people should be saved from the Egyptians, and that God wanted to do this through him, as St. Stephen testifies in the stories of the apostles in chapter 7, V. 23-25, where he says: "When Moses was forty years old, it came into his heart to look at his brothers, the children of Israel, and saw one of them suffering injustice, he overreached and avenged the one who had suffered, and slew the Egyptian. And he thought that his brethren should hear that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they heard it not." And the Hebrews, his brothers, should ever have reflected and comforted themselves in this, how God would also save them all from the tyranny of Egypt.
V.13-15. On another day he also went out and saw two Hebrew men quarreling with each other, and he said to the unjust man: Why do you strike your neighbor? And he said, Who made thee ruler or judge over us? Wilt thou slay me also," as thou slewest the Egyptian? And Moses was afraid, and said, How is this thing spoken? And it came to pass before Pharaoh, that he sought after Moses to slay him. But Moses fled before Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian, [and] dwelt by a well.
025 When the slain Egyptian was buried in the sand, and Moses saw that two Hebrew men were quarreling with one another, he would also make them reconcile, and execute his office as a ruler and lord of the children of Israel, who should preside over his people with judgment and justice, protecting and guarding them, that a common peace of the land might be preserved, that the pious might be honored, and the wicked punished; for he is a ruler, and will not wrong the innocent. [Moses therefore saw his office in time, that he wanted to be a commander of the Jewish people, but he soon lost his office and his power. For, as they say, it soon bends, what there wants a hook 1)
1) Cisleben's: "a hoe." The word "one" will be wrong, because in Luther "hoe" or "Hacken" (that is, hook) is masculine.
become. Item: Urit mature, quod vult urtica manere. He lets himself be seen to be their lord and helper, whom God would have sent to the children of Israel.
26 How is it now with Most that he wants to help the innocent Hebrew? He wants to be a slayer, and might well get Scheidemann's share; as one is wont to say in the proverb: The slayer generally gets the best of it, they are gladly slain: so also this Hebrew, Mosi's brother, becomes the slayer of good Mosi. He says to him, "Will you also slay me like the Egyptian?" and brings it before Pharaoh the king, who is after Mosi to slay him. Pharaoh would have cut off Mosi's neck, as a death-striker, if he had gotten him. So Moses must flee from Pharaoh, which is Mosi's reward and drink money, because he has left the royal court and joined his brothers, and wants to lead them out of Egypt. Then they called him a murderer, and he was put in danger of life and limb by them. He did not want to remain in the royal court with the idolatrous Egyptians in great wealth and glory, and falls among the ungrateful, wicked Israelites, to whom no thanks is due.
(27) Thus it is in the world that many a one wants to escape from the rain and falls into the water. But this ingratitude of the world should not deter us from doing good to others. It is no different for Christians in the world; good deeds are repaid with evil deeds. Thus, danger, persecution, misery and hardship, poverty and contempt, banishment and all kinds of misery follow all those who want to serve God and faithfully wait for their profession, status and office [2 Tim. 3, 12]. For since Moses carries out his ministry here and helps the oppressed, he cannot be sure of life and limb before King Pharaoh. But God is with him in this exile, and he abstains in the land of Midian, dwells among the unknown, and gets a wife and child there.
V.16-20. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water, and filled the gutters to water their father's sheep. Then the shepherds came and pushed them away. But Moses got up and helped
and watered their sheep. And when they were come to Reguel their father, he said, How came ye so soon this day? They said: An Egyptian man delivered us from the shepherds, and drew us, and watered the sheep. He said to his daughters: Where is he? Why have you left the man, that you did not invite him to eat with us?
028 And the Midianites came up against Egypt toward the east, and Moses fled thither. For when he had first visited his brethren, he returned to the king's court, and kept it, until the stroke of his death broke out, and the king slew him: then he fled into Midian, and there God appointed him an inn and a host. For the seven daughters of the priest (who drew water at the well, but were rejected by the shepherds, and Moses helped them and rescued them from the shepherds) brought the cry of Moses to their father Reguel, and made him take him in as an inn, and gave him a daughter in marriage. This lasted almost until the fortieth year.
Thus, God is whimsical. Moses had hoped that the redemption of the Jewish people would soon begin, for they were burdened with unbearable work. But when Moses begins the work of redemption and smites an Egyptian to death, God immediately breaks the beginning for him, so that he has to become a fugitive in Midian, and postpones the redemption until the fortieth year; in the meantime, He lets Moses become a stranger in another and unknown land, so that it would have neither appearance nor reputation that he should be the man who should redeem the people of Israel, and drown Pharaoh with the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
(30) No one has seen this counsel of God, not even Moses himself, but God alone knows it. But we should learn to send ourselves with right faith and trust into this way and delay of God, that he always leads out his counsels so wonderfully. For the unfortunate unbelief has the misfortune, and spoils everything, that we cannot look God in the fist, keep still, and await His help with patience. Therefore Sirach also says [Cap. 2, 16]: Vae illis, qui per
diderunt sustinentiam [Woe to those who do not persevere], and the 106th Psalm, v. 13. speaks, "They did not endure the counsel of GOD."
31 Thus God gives Ziporam to Moshi as a wife, and she bears him children. The first son he calls Gershom, that is, a sojourner; the other Eliezer, that is, God my help, so that God would help him out of Pharaoh's hands and deliver him. For the Jews called their children by the name of the case that occurred. Isaac was also called so, that the mother Sara had laughed [Gen. 21, 6]. Jacob is called therefore that he had seized his brother Esau with the heel [Gen. 25, 26.]. So Moses also calls his first son Gershom, a stranger or sojourner, then the other Eliezer, God my helper; for God had preserved him and helped him in Egypt.
32 We should also learn from this that if we trust God and believe in Him, we shall find house and home, wife and child, shelter, food and all the necessities of life, wherever we may go in the world, whether we are in exile or not. For here is proof how God blessed Moses abundantly in his exile in Midian. As the 34th Psalm, v. 11, also says: "Those who fear the Lord shall not lack any good." And the seventh and thirtieth Psalm, v. 25, says: "I have been young and have grown old, and have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed go after bread." And another Psalm [Ps. 112:1, 3] says: "Blessed is he that feareth the Lord: riches and plenty shall be in his house" 2c.
Allegoria or spiritual interpretation of this other chapter.
(33) We have hitherto heard how the Scriptures are to be acted upon, if one wishes to seek a secret interpretation, that one may first see how to keep to the main sense and written understanding, which is the foundation and core of the Scriptures. Then, if one desires to seek even such a secret, and, as it is called, spiritual interpretation, let it be applied to faith and the ministry of preaching; otherwise one goes to and fro, and is uncertain what one is doing.
34 In the first chapter we heard how the children of Israel were afflicted with much labor and burden in Egypt, and how the king drowned the little children in water. These are examples of those who rule the consciences with the ordinances of men, and fall from the grace of God, and are ruled not by God but by men, which is a damnable doctrine, and turns people from God to the devil, and gives them much trouble and labor.
(35) In this second chapter we hear how Moses was born and secretly hidden and concealed alive by his parents for three months, and laid on the water in a pipe box covered with pitch. Also, how the king's daughter found him and broke out the box and raised Moses as her son at court until he was 51 years old, when he went out to visit his brothers the Israelites, slew an Egyptian, and had to flee, took a wife and begat two sons. This is what is said in the other chapter.
In this history, as you have heard, we are taught faith, namely, that God also feeds and protects us through our enemies and adversaries, who otherwise would even want to kill us. For He gives life through death, and righteousness through sin, and does good to His own, even through their enemies, which art He alone is able to do; as also the Scripture [Proverbs 16:7] says: "To whom the Lord is well pleased, even all his enemies must be favorable."
The secret interpretation is: The box is the divine word, Moses lies in the box. For in this book Moses is a preacher and teacher, who guides God's word, and especially preaches the law of God; therefore the little tube means the mind of the divine word, and the holy scripture, which lies in it, disguised and pledged. For by the holy scripture it is described, and the divine understanding of the scripture is written therein. Now this box is not beautifully decorated, as if it were covered with gold and silver, or made of precious wood 1).
1) Hesek. 27, 5. Fladdernholz (Fladdern wood) ----- Burl wood, from maple trees.
but is woven from cane and coated with pitch or covered with clay. There is nothing but cane, reeds and rushes 2) to see. For in Egypt there was a large reed that looked like paper, and ships could be made of it.
38. but the simplicity of the holy Scripture and of the divine word, which goes along with bad, simple, and not adorned nor splendid words, means that many are offended by it; as St. Paul [1 Cor. 2:1, Gal. 4:13] also says, "I did not come to you with splendid words of human wisdom." For it seems to be a bad pipe-box, smeared with clay and pitch 2c.; nevertheless Moses, the boy, lies in it finely alive, and has the true understanding of the divine word, and the king's daughter has mercy on him, and accepts him for her son.
(39) The holy scripture is a thing that is worn out, undecorated and unadorned, so that no one would think that men should believe the divine word, because it does not seem anything, nor is it adorned [Is 53:1]. But faith comes from the divine word, and is given to the divine power alone, and not to the outward adornment, but to the inward inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that one may trust the unformed word of God. After this, it is even more dreadful and abominable when you see that everything seems unformal that the holy Scriptures command and require, than when they teach that one should not be stingy, that one should kill the flesh and the old Adam; whereas reason, the beautiful metze, teaches how one should get money and goods, wisdom, favor and honor.
(40) Now the reed box and Moses lie in the water and float, that is, God's word goes about among the doctrines of men; as was also said above in the first chapter [ยง 77] about the water. For God's word goes forth without ceasing among the doctrines of men. Every heretic wants to be considered as if he had God's word for himself.
41 But last of all, the child Moses is found on the edge or shore of the waters, that is, the
2) Binze-----Binse; a wattle plant.
3) to be mixed in with notes.
718 Eri. ss, st-M. Interpretations on the second book of Moses. W. m, im-s-imi. 718
Human wisdom or reason, the beautiful maiden walking with her virgins, find the book, the holy scripture, and the beautiful child, Moses, pleases them well, open the book, and because Moses is small and young, reason takes him up. As the children of Israel let themselves be led by Moses to Mount Sinai and say [Ex. 19:8]: "What God speaks to us, that we will do."
(42) But when Moses is forty years old, and comes out to his brethren, and begins to judge, to condemn, and to put to death, then Moses is finished, and there is an end of him; then they will put him to death. That is, when God's word is small and young, it is accepted; but when it grows and is rightly recognized that it punishes us, and reproves our evil and angry life, also shows us our sin, then they become hostile to it. That is, killing Moses. For the word of God kills and reveals sin. The law was given so that sinners would
They should recognize where they are lacking, as St. Paul says: Per legem cognitio peccati est [through the law comes knowledge of sin]. So also one sings: "Laws are a mirror delicate, which shows us the sinful kind, hidden in our flesh." People become aware from the law that they are quite dead before God with their good works. Therefore Moses did no harm, unless he had first grown great and old.
43 Therefore it should always be considered that the law's office and nature is to denounce and kill sin; as St. Paul also says: Virtus peccati lex (the power of sin is the law). For no one wants to be recognized that he is unjust and criminal, which the law cannot tolerate. This is the reason for the strife, resentment, anger and disagreement between people and the law or the preachers of the law.