Day 27: The Birth of Moses

Exodus 1:1-14 The generous welcome given to Jacob and his family faded under the later pharaohs of Egypt who watched the growth of the Israelite population with alarm. The Egyptians instituted slave labor as a way of controlling and exploiting the Israelites. (CCC 2237, 2432, 2434, 2448, 2454-2455)

Ch 1:15-22 The order to kill male newborns is a type (TYPOLOGY!!) of, or prefigures, the slaying of the Holy Innocents ordered by Herod following the Birth of Christ (cf. Mt 2:16). Ironically, on the latter occasion, Mary and Joseph fled with Jesus into Egypt for safety. (CCC 530, 2270-2271)

Ch 2:1-3 Basket: The Sacred Author used the same Hegrew word, tevah, for Noah’s “Ark”. As God saved Noah from the waters of the Flood by means of the Ark, so did he preserve Moses from the waters of the Nile by means of a basket (CCC 845)

Ch 2:11-25 Moses was moved by the plight of the Hebrews and sought justice long before he was called by God. The Hebrews, who knew him only as an Egyptian prince, did not trust him. (CCC 2575).

Leviticus 1:1 This book, whose name derives from the priestly tribe of Levi, is almost entirely a book of laws and rituals governing the worship prescribed to the Israelites by God. Its five main sections include the rituals of SACRIFICE (Ch 1-7), the rite of ORDINATION OF PRIESTS (Ch 8-10), laws of PURITY (Ch 11-16), directives for HOLINESS (Ch 17-26), and the redemption of OFFERINGS (Ch 27). (CCC 613, 1334, 1541, 2099-2100)

Ch 1:2-17 Burnt offering, or “holocaust,” is derived from the Greek holos and kaustos, which mean “whole” and “burned”; it required complete destruction of the victim as a symbol of God’s dominion over creation since God can both CREATE and ANNIHILATE. Generally, it was used to offer thanksgiving to God. The animal offering had to be UNBLEMISHED because the faithful had to offer THEIR VERY BEST to God. Such offerings date to the earliest days of existence: jealousy over the offerings of Abel led Cain to kill his brother (cf. Gn 4:3-8), and, testing Abraham, God had the patriarch prepare a holocaust that would offer his son Isaac as the victim (cf. Gn 22:1-14). (CCC 2569, 2572)

Psalm 44 The words of this psalm accuse God of abandoning his people and his covenant with them. This psalm claims that, in spite of Israel’s fidelity, they were punished as if they had been unfaithful. These words of righteous indignation do not imply powerful and consistent resentment so much as an emotional plea for divine assistance: the people were very much aware of God’s steadfast love given the history of his intervention in the affairs of Israel. This, they simply wanted him to intervene now as he had done before. Why do you hide your face?: To see God’s face is to sense his presence and his solicitous love. These sentiments give assurances of his special predilection for the people of Israel. (CCC 272)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• These are our ancestors 

• God is deeply invested in His people and loves them deeply even though they mess up often

• The time gap between the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus is 400 years 

• Around 1900 B.C.

• This is the story of Moses

• The new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph came into power and enslaved the Israelites

• God did not abandon them

• He blessed them by making them exceedingly strong and fruitful

• Even while they were enslaved, GOD WAS WITH THEM (JUST LIKE GOD WAS WITH JOSEPH aka Repeating Theme)

• The people of Israel were growing in their families

• Children are a BLESSING, one of the greatest gifts God can give to a family

• We dive right into Leviticus and BURNT OFFERINGS

• There are a couple of parts of worship here

• This relates to our worship now

• The New Covenant is in the BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

• The Old Covenant is in Leviticus

• The Father of the family is the PRIEST of the family (We will learn this later in the middle of The Book of Exodus)

• When the people of Israel turn and worship the golden calf, we have an order of priests coming from the Tribe of Levi

• The fathers of the families of the other tribes of Israel kinda sorta abdicate their priestly responsibilities for their families

• That is partly mitigated by the Priests of the Tribe of Levi

• The priest brings the sacrifice, the animal is killed, and the blood of the animal is drained and put on the altar

• This is a sign of the Levite Priests offering the SACRIFICE OF THE LIFE (Which is in the blood) of the animal TO THE LORD

• The remains of the animal are then burnt up

• There is a connection of this burnt offering to THE MASS

• In the Mass the priest says “This is my Body” and ELEVATES THE EUCHARIST and “This is My Blood” and ELEVATES THE SACRED BLOOD OF CHRIST

• This is similar to the moment of presentation in Leviticus where the animal is killed and the blood is poured out on the altar as a sacrifice to The Lord

• But the MOMENT in the mass where the Priest takes Jesus in the Eucharist and says, “Through Him, with Him, and in Him. In the unity of the Holy Spirit, All Glory and Honor is Yours Almighty Father Forever and Ever” and we all respond “AMEN”

• This is the moment where we are offering the sacrifice to the Father for HIS GLORY and for the SALVATION of HIS PEOPLE

• The point of the Mass is for THE GLORY OF GOD and the SALVATION OF HIS PEOPLE

• We participate in that at EVERY SINGLE MASS, IN EVERY SINGLE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE WORLD, EVERY SINGLE DAY 

• We NEED to become familiar with Leviticus

• It is so important because there are so many connections between how God wanted to be worshipped in the Old Testament and how God asks to be worshipped RIGHT NOW in the new dispensation in the New Testament in the New Covenant
  
  

• May God’s Word wash over us and give us a new way of seeing the world, a new way of seeing Our Lord, and give us a new way of seeing each other

• This is why we MUST KEEP PRAYING FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer for Mothers by Father Mike: “We pray for all moms who are pregnant, as well as for all moms who have been having a difficult time with pregnancy and not been able to get pregnant. We pray for all couples who have been unable to conceive. We hear the Word of God and we know the blessing of children from God. You were with your people even when they were enslaved and you gave them the blessing of family. You gave them the blessing of life. I ask you, Lord God, in the name of your son Jesus Christ, to all those couples who are listening to this and praying with us in the course of this Bible in a Year Podcast. Those couples that are longing to get pregnant. Those couples that are longing for a healthy pregnancy. We just ask, Lord, in the name of your son Jesus Christ to bless these couples. In your name, Jesus, we ask you to send your Holy Spirit to bless these couples, to be with them in their desire for children, to be with them in their waiting, to be with them God-willing in their conceiving and bringing into this world a new life. We also, Father, in the name of your son Jesus, ask for your blessings upon all those who have had the heartbreak of losing children, who have had the heartbreak of miscarrying, who have had the heartbreak who have had children who were stillborn. Lord God, we ask you to ease the heartache of those couples who are listening to this and praying with us who have lost their own children. Please be with them now. Console their hearts. They are our family. They are our friends. They are known to you, God, because you continue to give blessings even when things are dark. Even when things are confusing. Even when we do not know where you are. You may be hidden, but you are not absent. Lord God, you may be unseen, but you are not inactive. So Lord God right now in this moment, in the name of your son Jesus Christ, console the hearts of those couples. Console the hearts of those families. They either long for children or they have lost children. For this, Lord God, we pray. Amen”