THE little ark, made of bulrushes, was finished; the babe of three months old was carefully placed in it, and it was left to float among the flags by the river’s brink.
And do you think that dear, helpless little babe was allowed to suffer and die? I do not believe that one of the thousands of young people who read this little paper would have such a thought. No! God was watching over him, and He cared for him in a very remarkable way.
The daughter of Pharaoh, the king, went down to bathe in the river, and she saw the ark among the flags. Some of her maidens, who were attending her, were walking along the river side, and she sent one of them to get the little ark. It was covered over, or closed, in some way—perhaps to keep out reptiles or, other dangerous creatures which abounded in that country; also to keep the water from the little inmate.
When the king’s daughter opened the ark she saw the child; and, behold, the babe wept. She exclaimed, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” The cruel command of her father that every son born among the Hebrews should be cast into the river, would be well known to her, and at once the thought seems to have come to her, some Hebrew mother, who would save her child, has placed him here. Her heart was moved with pity as she looked on his fair face, and heard his sad cries. We are not told what she said further, but she perhaps expressed her intention to care for the little stranger; at any rate, Miriam, the sister of the babe, who had stood some distance away, and watched to see what would become of the little one, had now come near, and she asked the Princess if she should go and call a nurse for the child from among the Hebrew women.
The children of Israel were called Hebrews, by the other nations, because they came from beyond the Euphrates river where the Hebrew language was spoken, and they were descendants of Heber.
When Miriam asked Pharaoh’s daughter this question, she told her to go; so Miriam, no doubt very happy in her mission, went to her own mother—the mother of the little babe also—and brought her to the king’s daughter. When she saw her she said, “Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” How that mother’s heart must have welled up with joy to have her dear babe given back to her thus!
It is beautiful to see the Lord’s guiding power and wisdom. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord. . . . He turneth it whithersoever He will.” And so it was with the heart of the king’s daughter. The Lord directed her steps to the spot where she would find the little babe over whom He was watching; and it was at the right moment, too, that her heart was impelled to go. The little one was not discovered in its floating cradle by someone who had no power to care for it. No! the Lord sent the king’s daughter; and He moved her heart to have pity on the child! And this was not all; He so ordered matters that the child’s own mother had the care of him for a time; and through this she doubtless had access to him after he was taken from her. How perfect the arrangement! But we know, “As for God, His way is perfect.” Ps. 18:30. Who can limit His power! Who can measure His love! Who can search out His ways!
Dear young Christian, knowing that this love, this power, this wisdom are combined in God’s ways toward you, can you ever question that all is well?
Can you allow an unbelieving thought as to His ways? God is for you, just as truly as He was for that little, helpless babe in its floating cradle on the Nile. And, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
Pharaoh’s daughter named the child Moses, because she said she had drawn him out of the water.
ML 06/01/1902