Yesterday was the brief introduction to today’s post. It’s useful to learn about the educational paths of others, particularly those in history who have been people of influence. How did their education prepare them? My thoughts are simple and not all that profound. But like plenty of important and obvious truths, idealism tends to steamroll what we know, burying common sense underground. I’m simply excavating what’s already there.

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If you grew up in church or remember what you were taught in 6th grade world history, the story of Moses is likely familiar. Like a lot of Sunday School kids, I remember the flannel-graph basket and felt cut-outs of a baby, sister Miriam, and the one-dimensional Nile River.

But I never studied the life of Moses in-depth until this year through BSF. Within the first few weeks I was struck by something I’d never considered — the story of Moses’s education. That’s the remarkable thing about the Word of God. It has a way of speaking into our lives right where we sit. And right now I happen to be sitting, thinking, and writing a lot about the ways we choose to teach our children.

{For the backstory on Moses, go here. And I’m sorry but I cannot tell this story without flannel-graph. Plus I had to know if you can still buy these sets. You can!}

Anyway, when Pharaoh’s daughter rescued Moses from the Nile River, his quick-thinking big sister offered a Hebrew “nurse” for the baby. As only God could orchestrate, the baby’s very own mother was privileged to nurse him and teach him in the early years of his life. Even though many of the Hebrews had forgotten their God and turned to Egyptian idol worship by this time, we know that Moses’s family was not among them. They feared the Lord and taught him about God. Because they knew their days with this young child were numbered, perhaps they had a sense of urgency and diligence with his instruction.

Finally the day came when Moses’s parents had to live by faith yet again. But instead of handing him over to the potential perils of the Nile River, they handed him over to the potential perils of a pagan upbringing. Surely they sensed that God’s hand was upon Moses in a special way.

As he left the care of his Hebrew mother to become the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses went from a religious education in a humble Hebrew home to a pagan education in a royal Egyptian palace.

Egypt at this time was a wealthy, sophisticated kingdom. As a center of knowledge, Egypt was richly steeped in literature, language, the arts, science, and mathematics. Scripture tells us that Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

That’s the part that blindsided me as if I’d never heard the story before:

God used godless people for the formal education of one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known.

And he would need it.

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Part 2 will pick up with this leaves off. The writer in me would love to keep it all in one post. The 31-dayer in me promised you dear readers a smaller word count.

What about you? Do you know someone, famous or otherwise, whose unique educational path prepared them for a life of influence? Or how has your own educational path prepared you in unique ways? I’d love to know. 

For all the posts in this 31-day series, go here. And to read the other posts I’ve written on topic of schooling, you can go here and find them all in one place.

I’m linking up with The Nester and her tribe of 31 Dayers.

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