In God's Eyes - Pt 8

Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:1-10 ESV). Our reading today is the beginning of the story of Moses. While that is true, our focus is on his mother. As a means of population control, Pharaoh had commanded all male Israelite babies to be drowned. But when Jochebed gave birth to her second son, she refused to obey the king because she saw “he was a fine baby.” The importance of the Hebrew phrase used for this description is essential to our understanding of the role she plays in the deliverance of the nation of Israel. It is identical to the refrain in the story of Creation in Genesis 1: God saw “that it was good.” Jochebed saw that this child was that kind of “good.” She also recognized that anything God declares is good, she had no right to destroy, and that included her newborn son. Moses’ mother, therefore, faced a choice. She could obey the pharaoh or obey the Lord. Despite personal risk, she chose to obey the Lord and hid the baby in her home for three months. Next she hid him in a basket, which is the same Hebrew word used for Noah’s ark. She knew that the Lord would save her son from a watery death. Through the obedience of this one woman, God set in motion his plan to redeem his people from Egypt. Centuries later he did this same thing through the obedience of another woman, Mary: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (cf. Luke 1:38). Often we focus on the individuals who are directly involved in God’s work and underestimate the power of those God is working through in the life of that leader. We should be encouraged with whatever responsibility God has given us. God uses all of us through our relationships to bring together his will and purpose in the work of grace to all men. Like Jochebed, we may only work behind the scenes; however, that work is essential in God’s design!