“BY faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, when they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment." (Heb. 11:2323By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. (Hebrews 11:23).) By faith! These are two short words, easily said, easily remembered. Let us ask ourselves how much of our daily lives is lived “by faith." At times great things are done by faith; at others, things which seem to be but very small. In the verse we have quoted we read of two things wrought by faith; the first would seem to be small—the parents of Moses hid their babe; the second seems very great—they were not afraid of the king's commandment. The King of Egypt had unlimited power, and he had bidden all his people to cast every son born among the poor children of Israel into the river. Thousands of eyes, therefore, would be upon the homes of the Israelites, and escape would seem impossible; but “by faith they were not afraid." One thing ever marks faith in God, namely, courage. “God hath not given us the spirit of fear" we read. (2 Tim. 1:77For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7).)
During the three months they hid their infant, the parents of Moses must have seen and heard many a cruel casting of Hebrew babes into the Nile. But they trusted God. The little boy God had given them was a proper child, that is a fine or beautiful child, and they sought His blessing on their babe. I am sure Moses was a child of many, many prayers, because the Bible tells us he was a child of faith, for no parents have faith for their children who do not pray for them.
After three months the little babe had so grown that his mother could hide him no longer. But I do not think she had any doubt of God's caring for her babe though she was about to put him on the river into which the king's decree was he should be cast. She made a sort of cradle which would float. It was, no doubt, like one of the baskets of which we have pictures in the ancient Egyptian monuments, and very much such as is represented in our engraving. Perhaps it was amongst the papyrus flags she placed her floating cradle with its precious burden, and great must have been her hope in God when she turned away and waited to see what God would do.
The lid of the cradle being laid gently down, and the cradle being left floating amongst the flags, the babe's sister stood watching at a little distance from it to learn what the end would be. Presently the great king's daughter, attended by her maidens, came by. She saw the basket, and had it drawn out of the river and opened at her bidding. There was the child of faith, the child of many prayers. This secret she knew not, but her heart was touched with compassion as the babe wept. “This is one of the Hebrew children," she said, then she said the babe should be her own, and as she had drawn him out of the river she said he should be called Moses, or drawn out.
Miriam's ready wit in asking Pharaoh's daughter if she required a nurse for the babe and then finding his mother for the service, is another happy incident in this story of faith in God. For God gives the right word at the right moment to His people.
It is very happy to think of the elder sister being one with her mother in trusting God. This makes one think of the loving care and earnest prayer of elder sisters and brothers for those who are younger in the family. There are many grown-up men and women who remember, with thankfulness to God, the simple, earnest words of an elder sister or brother to them at the time when they were very small children. And God never forgets such service of love in His name.
While the mother was occupied with the safety of her child each hour was doubtless one of deep searchings of heart. When the king's daughter took the babe for her son, the mother could say, “What hath God wrought?" As you go through the difficulty your heart will be full of prayer, but the hour of praise will certainly come. In the path of faith we can see the dangers and difficulties to be overcome, and also the victories God gives. God had arranged everything beforehand, as He always does. He had planned the visit to the Nile of Pharaoh's daughter, and He had ordered that she should see the basket amongst the flags in the river. And this is what we find still. God arranges and disposes, and faith trusts Him and takes the step just at the right time and finds everything fitted in by God. How beautifully the parts of this story fit in together, and as it all was worked out before the longing heart of the mother we may well consider her praising God and saying, How wonderful are the ways of God!