Exodus 2:1-10

It’s thousands of years ago. You’re a new mother to a beautiful and perfect baby boy. You love this baby boy because he is your son. Yet, you’re afraid. You’re afraid because the king, the ultimate authority over you in this country called Egypt has just recently made a law that subjects your son, who you love dearly, to the death penalty. Your son is innocent, doing nothing wrong. He’s beautiful, but the king has declared that his life needs to be taken. You try to hide him, but your son is growing up. With every cry, every laugh, every sound he makes, it is a risk to you, your family, and your son if the authorities find out. You don’t know what to do, but you do know that you believe in a good God. You believe that God is bigger than the king, even though you know that this king is doing terrible things and taking the lives of these young boys. You come up with a plan. You believe that God will care for your little boy, so you pick out the best materials, the same materials that were once used to build an ark that allowed Noah, his family, and all the pairs of animals throughout the world, for many months as the earth flooded. As you’re constructing this basket, you know that this is a risk, but you know your God is bigger. You put your baby boy in the basket and take him down to the river – the river where you know the daughter of the king bathes. At just the right time, you set the baby, your son, down at the edge of the bank of the river and give it a gentle nudge.

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I read the story immediately following the birth of Moses in Exodus 2:1-10, and my “momma heart” just breaks. I truly cannot imagine what Moses’ mother was going through. She has a beautiful baby boy that she loves so much, yet knows his life is in severe danger. However, it is so clear to me reading from this side of it that God’s fingerprints are all over this one.

Exodus 2:1-4

Now a man from the family’s of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.

I cannot imagine the moment where Moses’ mother had to let go of her child. However, the New Testament gives us a huge clue as to what was going on in Moses’ mother’s thoughts as she did this. Hebrews 11:23 tells us, “By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.” Without the New Testament, I don’t know if I would have thought that this was a move demonstrating trust in God. I would have likely interpreted this as a mother who loves her son dearly and wants the very best for him, therefore she builds the basket for her son to lie in and she puts him on the banks of the river, hoping that it will turn out okay. Key word: hoping. I would likely have interpreted it as this woman has no idea what the outcome will be but she hopes that her son will be okay. However, Hebrews tells us that it was not just hope (even though hope played a big role), but it was an act of faith by Moses’ mother that she did this. She knew that her son would be okay and protected from the king’s edict, because her faith in God was more than that. She knew that God would protect her son through this.

When we read further, we understand truly why Moses’ mother’s faith was justified. It gets a lot more interesting, because I have to think that Moses’ mother had a plan for the exact location she put her son. I have no proof on that one, nothing out of the Bible to back it up. However, one of a couple things could have been true here, and I am unsure of which. Either Moses’ mother knew where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed and put her son directly into the path of Pharaoh’s daughter while trusting God to soften her heart, Moses’ mother had no idea where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed but God directed Pharaoh’s daughter towards this location on this day, or any combination of the two. The fact that the sister (I assume that this is Moses’ sister, as otherwise this would have said “Pharaoh’s sister”, but I could be wrong on this one) was there, waiting and watching, and moves towards Pharaoh’s daughter right when Moses is found, makes me think that the former was true – that Moses’ mother had this planned and put it into God’s hands to soften Pharaoh’s daughters’ heart. Again, that is a suspicion – I have nothing to back it up. Regardless of what was actually true here, as we read on we see full well and clearly that God truly is at work here.

Exodus 2:5-10

Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds, sent her slave girl, took it, opened it, and saw him, the child – and there he was, a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys”.

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a Hebrew woman who is nursing to nurse the boy for you?”

“Go,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy’s mother. Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy 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.”

Now, I have no idea what Pharaoh’s daughter was like. I have no idea if she was a mother or not. But from this passage, I can tell that she has a compassionate heart, and compassion on this boy. She knows full well that this is a Hebrew boy, one that has been sentenced to death. I am sure that it was a risk for her to take the child in, but with her unique positioning as Pharaoh’s daughter I am sure she had some pull.

As we read on, it is quite clear that God’s fingerprints are all over this one. Not only does the sister move in, but she suggests a reuniting of mother and son, and Pharaoh’s daughter doesn’t even hesitate to say yes. Moses’ mother reunited with her son and she is able to raise him in his early years before sending Moses to Pharaoh’s home where he is able to be cared for, educated, and raised in the royal family.

God did this one perfectly, just as He always does.

Stories like this help me to remember that the plan is always bigger than I can see. He can (and does) do incredible things every single day. It just takes faith in who He is and what He has done, combined with a “nudge” – A small movement or act of obedience. He can and will use that to orchestrate His bigger plan. Not only does He use your actions, but He uses the actions of others to orchestrate His bigger plan. What is completely crazy is that, by all worldly standards, Moses “shouldn’t” have survived this. In chapter 1, it took two midwives defying the orders and authority of the king to give Moses a chance at life. It took the faith of Moses’ mother and father’s to leave him in a basket in a river, putting their trust in God and his ability to provide safety for their son. It took the faith of a young girl to approach Pharaoh’s daughter and make a suggestion that would change the trajectory of Moses’ life forever – the chance to grow up with his mother but be raised in the place that would prepare him for what was to come. It took the compassion of Pharaoh’s daughter for her to bring this baby in, knowing full well that he was sentenced to death, and for her to treat Moses as her own. The combination of the actions of all of these women was what brought Moses to exactly the place he needed to be.

Taking it even a step further – if looking at this story from a 30,000 foot view, it looks similar to something we have read before. A child born, sentenced to death, but through the faith of others this child was drawn out of the reeds and given a chance at life. This child was adopted and raised in a new place, prepared for what was to come. Does anyone else think of Jesus Christ and our own salvation with this story? We were sentenced to death, brought to the reeds, however Christ drew us out. Through the actions of Christ, we are given a second chance and called to follow Him.

God, I pray that I can always be obedient to you. I pray that I can grow more and more deeply into knowledge and love of your word, who you are, and what you do, so that I can trust you as I take a leap in obedience to you. I pray that you can use me, just like you used all of these women in the first part of Exodus 2, as your hands and feet to orchestrate your greater plan here on earth.

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Scripture References:

Exodus 2:1-4

Now a man from the family’s of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.

Exodus 2:5-10

Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds, sent her slave girl, took it, opened it, and saw him, the child – and there he was, a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys”.

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a Hebrew woman who is nursing to nurse the boy for you?”

“Go,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy’s mother. Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy 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.”

Hebrews 11:23

By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.

Acts 7:20-22

At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months. When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.