NOTES for Exo 2:1-25

Salvation, the principal theme of this book, is the mystery of God's action in the life of a human person and in the life of a people. This mystery cannot be expressed in words or images, just as life itself cannot, but we can try to describe the principal moments in the interaction between God and humanity—and this is precisely what the inspired author of the story of Moses does. The first moment is expressed in the account of the infant Moses' rescue: the basket entrusted to the waves is carried by God's will to the place where it must go. Here the river's current, one of the least reliable things, becomes a symbol of hope based solely on faith in God's providence, in God's mysterious action in this world. The second point is that God accomplishes the salvation of people in cooperation with a human being. Moses' attempt to save his fellow Israelite from slavery on his own ends disastrously: he finds himself in exile. Only now, after despairing of his own ability to help his brothers, can he encounter God and continue this work together with Him. The reader can try to apply these images to his own life, in which there is plenty of action by God without man and action by man without God. The time has now come for joint effort, which alone can lead to a true result.