MOSES – 6
It must have been a very sad experience for Hatshepsut when her foster son Moses had to flee. From now on she had to manage the Egyptian throne without the assistance of Moses.
From the year 488 BC all correspondence concerning Hatshepsut ceased. This was two years after Moses fled to Midian which is another name for Sinai.
I was curious about this strange phenomenon and started to do some research. The first queen of the 18th dynasty Ahmosis-Nefertari adopted the title: “Wife of god.” This was a reference to the god Amun. (Akhenaten King of Egypt by Cyril Aldred,) p. 136.
When Hatshepsut came to the throne in 1504 BC she did not accept the title: Wife of God.
Question. Did she accept the Hebrew religion of monotheism through Moses? Is this the reason why all correspondence about Hatshepsut ceased in 1488 BC?
Amenhotep III started Atenism, a monotheistic religion. His wife Tiye also rejected the title. This is an indication that she too became a monotheist.
You are looking at the bust of Nefertiti in Berlyn. She and her husband both became monotheists. Guess what? She also refused the title: “Wife of god.”
I would like to think that Moses influenced Hatshepsut to become sympathetic towards the the monotheistic religion of the Hebrew.
I bring honour to these ancient Egyptian rulers. They had the courage to abandon their polytheistic religion in favour of the pure religion where an unseen Creator was worshipped.
Hatshepsut was killed in 1482 BC. Why? One of the main reasons for doing it, was religious. If you changed your religion, you signed your death warrant.
While Moses was spending the next 40 years of his life in Midian, the Sinai Peninsula, he received bad news. His dear foster Mother Hatshepsut was murdered.
Exodus 2:23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. (Hatshepsut d. 1482)
Every time I visit the Sinai desert I think of Moses. I wonder how he reacted to the news that his foster mother had died? Fond and sad memories came to his mind as he reviewed the first 40 years of his life in Egypt. Was he aware of the fact that Hatshepsut may have been killed because of her faith in Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews?
Looking at the tomb of the cruel Thutmosis III who was now the sole ruler in Egypt the following verses came to my mind:
Exodus 2:23,24 The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
I appreciate this verse. God hears our prayers when we are in distress. He is concerned about our plight.
Every time I ascend Mount Sinai I think of the most sublime poem known in ancient literature. Moses had his suffering people in mind when he wrote this prayer:
Psalms 90:13,14 “Have compassion on your servants.”
He was thinking of his suffering brothers in Egypt.
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”
Moses was looking forward to the morning of the deliverance of his people from the cruel night of Egyptian bondage.
But he also looked forward to another morning when tears and pain will be no more. You cannot afford to miss the next episode in the life of Moses. There are tremendous messages of hope that God wants us to internalize.