“When they came to Reuel their father, he said, ‘Why have you come back so soon today?’ So they said, ‘An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock'” (Exod 2:18-19).
Moses flees Egypt after being rejected by his fellow Hebrews (Exod 2:14), where he rescues and provides for Midianite women at a well. When the women return home to tell their father, they obviously mistake their Hebrew savior for an Egyptian. It is difficult not to see the resemblance of these incidents with the story of Joseph. After Joseph’s brothers receive essential provisions from the Hebrew whom they have rejected (Gen 37:8), they return home to tell their father about their provider whom they like have likely mistaken for an Egyptian (Gen 42:23, 29).
One of the underlying, yet essential purposes of the Torah is to build the profile for Israel’s future Savior. Israel’s Deliverer must first be rejected and misidentified by his own people. But even incognito, the Hebrew Savior continues to act on behalf of his people. Countless Christians from around the world are giving sacrificially to provide for and support Israel in their time of need. These Christians are the hands and the feet of Israel’s yet-to-be recognized Hebrew Savior. For now, the Jewish people do not see the face of their Hebrew Savior in this outpouring of love from Christians around the world. But we can be assured and comforted by the pattern of the stories about Joseph and Moses that the great identity-reveal will soon take place, and Israel’s sorrow and mourning will finally flee away.
How incredibly encouraged we are for our Christian brothers and sisters who represent the heart of the misidentified Savior so clearly and faithfully to our people! How incredibly encouraged and hopeful we must also be that, through these Christians, Yeshua is walking and serving and loving in our midst. May God hasten that glorious day when Israel will finally look up and recognize their brother and their Savior!
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn” (Zech 12:10).
