Long ago the children of Israel were slaves in the land of Egypt. Their numbers grew so large that the Egyptians were afraid they might become stronger than themselves and refuse to be their slaves. So Pharaoh, the cruel Egyptian king, gave orders that every baby boy born to the Israelites should be thrown into the Nile River.
All the parents of baby boys were terribly sad when their babies were taken from them and drowned in the river.
One mother, who loved and obeyed God, believed that He would help her. Her name was Jochebed. When her baby boy was born, she just couldn’t let him be taken away from her. She hid him in her house for three months. But as he grew older he cried louder. She knew she couldn’t hide him much longer.
What could she do? She and her husband, Amram, probably prayed much to God about it. Finally, Jochebed decided to make an ark (a small floating bed) out of bulrushes. She smeared the outside of the little ark with slime and pitch to make it waterproof. Then she gently laid her baby in it and carried it to the river. She set it in among the reeds that grew in the shallow water. Leaving the baby’s older sister Miriam hidden to watch the baby, she sadly went home.
A little later Pharaoh’s daughter came down to wash herself in the river. She saw the little ark and told one of her maids to get it and bring it to her. How surprised she must have been to find a baby inside. The baby was crying, and this was used by God to make her feel sorry for the baby and want to save it. Just then Miriam came out of hiding and volunteered to get a nurse to take care of the baby. When Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, Miriam brought her own mother to Pharaoh’s daughter as a nurse for the baby. Now Jochebed could continue caring for her baby boy without being afraid. She could love him as much as she wanted and even be paid by Pharaoh’s daughter for taking care of him. How she and Amram must have thanked God for the way He arranged things. But is there anything that is too hard for God?
Pharaoh’s daughter named the little boy Moses, which means “drawn out,” because she drew him out of the river. He became her adopted son. The Bible tells us that when Moses grew up he was the man chosen by God to bring His people out of Egypt and to lead them toward the land that had been promised to them. So that is how God honored a mother who trusted Him for the care of her son. Are you trusting in Him?
ML-12/25/1994