The Call of the Wild (Part 1)

"The Cop and the Anthem" is a story written in 1904 by United States author O. Henry.  In the story there is only one character given the name Soapy.  Although it is never said, it is clear that Soapy is homeless in New York City.  The short story is set in the late fall with a hint of frost in the air when Soapy's mind turns to the necessity of finding shelter for the winter.  He comes to the conclusion that the local jail is a suitable homeless shelter.  

As the plot unfolds we find Soapy committing a litany of petty crimes to be classified a criminal and sentenced to jail.  

Soapy's strategy includes ordering meals and not paying for them, vandalism, pretending to be publicly intoxicated, stealing a man's umbrella, and harassing a young woman.  

However, all these attempts prove to be failures.  

Night is falling and Soapy is still homeless with no hope of going to jail and he finds himself standing by a small church with a working organ and a practicing organist.  As Soapy listens to the anthem he remembers the man he once was and resolves to no longer be homeless.  He decides that the next day he will seek out a potential mentor and apply for honest employment.  

As Soapy stands there on the street corner basking in his new vision a policeman taps him on the shoulder and asks what he is doing.  When Soapy says, "Nothing" his fate is sealed.  He is arrested for loitering, convicted of a misdemeanor, and sentenced to three month in Riker's Island, New York City's jail.  

Do you ever feel like Soapy?  

You live your life committing petty sins that seem to be overlooked and just when you finally decide to turn it all around and act righteously, judgement falls.  

That must have been how Moses felt on the streets of Egypt.  For forty years he had stood idly by as the Hebrews were forced into slavery.  For forty years he had done nothing as they were being beaten and abused.  Then one day, one fateful day, he decides to act.  

He walks up on a scene where a Hebrew slave is being beaten by an Egyptian task-master.  It is in that moment that he decides to act on behalf of the son's of Israel.

Moses has been set apart from the moment of his birth.  He was spared from the Pharaoh's death sentence, he was raised by a princess, he was educated and trained in the highest Egyptian schools. 

"And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. Acts 7:22"

It has been said  "that, of the ten portions of wisdom which came into the world, the Egyptians had nine, and that all the inhabitants of the earth had only the remaining portion."  Moses was taught arithmetic, geometry, poetry, music, medicine, and the knowledge of hieroglyphics.  He was also mighty in speech. This means he had a command of language and flow of words.  He could speak properly and pertinently on any subject.   He was also mighty in deeds.  He was a man of great abilities in business, politics or in the field.

Moses was clothed in the robes of a King but had the heart of a Hebrew.  God called Moses to deliver his brothers from the bondage of slavery.  Moses has watched their suffering from afar for forty years. 

If ever there was a deliverer for Israel this was it.  Forty years of training with the best instructors Egypt had to offer had prepared him to deliver his brethren.  And this was the time to act.  

“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 

 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian."  Acts 7:23-24

Moses--the self appointed deliverer of the Hebrew nation.  He boldly killed an Egyptian and then what?  What did he expect?  That the multitudes would recognize him as their deliverer and take up arms against their captures and win their freedom?  The answer is YES!  That is what the Bible tells us he expected. . .or some version of that.  

"He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand."  Acts 7:25

It would not happen the way Moses had planned because deliverance would not come by the hand of man but from the hand of God.  Not only was Israel not ready to leave their bondage, but Moses was not ready to lead them into the wilderness.  

Also, it is important to note that freedom never comes through sin.  The sin that you think will lead to freedom will only lead to more bondage.  The sin that Moses committed to free the Hebrews from Egypt only reduced the population of Egypt by two:  the murdered task master, and Moses who was forced to run into the wilderness to save his own life.

Moses was gone.  The legends of his miraculous birth, the stories of his preservation by the hand of Pharaoh's daughter, his impeccable education in the king's courts, his promise to deliver his people.  Here today, gone tomorrow, blown away like the Egyptian desert sands.

And the bondage continues, not for a day, or four days, or forty days, but for forty years.

God will send a deliverer, but be forewarned, while you may be inclined to look for freedom in the tall, dark, handsome, well educated, well spoken, Prince of Egypt who is slaying your captors your deliverance may come from a stuttering, shuffling, eighty year old sheep herder, standing bare foot staring into a burning bush.

If you are in a place of bondage take comfort in the fact that God hears your cries.  His eyes have never been taken off of you.  God will use this time as a part of your training.  He is preparing your heart and your mind for the task for which you will be called.  

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."  1 Corinthians 15:58