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Exodus 2:

Reading #161  The Egyptian Moses

Now we can get on with the story of Moses. 

The time had come when the work of the Hebrews for the Egyptians was nearly over, for God’s clock is set by peoples’ actions and reactions, not the sun.

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Exodus 2:

1 And there went a man [named Amram] of the house of Levi [he was Levi’s grandson], and took to wife a daughter of Levi [Levi was the third son of Jacob]. 2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months [because of the death decree].

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Amram had married his aunt, the sister of his father Kohath. Exodus 6:20. That was OK in those days, there was no prohibition for the race was much healthier than later, and she was probably around his own age because she was born in Egypt. See verse 59.  Then he lived to a young old age like Jacob, 137 years, just a little more than his father, Kohath, who had died at 133.  Exodus 6:18.  Mismanagement of healthy living and a looser connection to the God of life meant that human longevity was shortening and this is reflected in the ages of the patriarchs.

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Numbers 26:

57 And these are they that were numbered of the Levites  after their families [Levi’s three sons]: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.

58 These are the [further] families of the Levites [Levi’s grandchildren]: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites.

And Kohath [Levi’s second son] had a son named Amram. 59 And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare to Amram, Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their [elder] sister. 

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Miriam was twelve years old, and Aaron three when Moses was born.  They were produced by two very faithful people who followed God’s way as had their parents before them, and Moses was their crowning gift from God.  Because they wanted to help the Son of God in His plans to save the world, and left it with Him how they should do it, they were granted the life of the deliverer.  However, because of the illegal death decree, they thought they had to conceal his presence from the Egyptians.

When people are pointed out by name in God’s word, it is because they are being given a “mention in dispatches” (a kind of minor medal) and this applies to Jochebed and Miriam. 

It was while the death decree was in full force that this son was born to Amram and Jochebed. The babe was "a goodly [blessed by God] child;" and the parents, believing that the time of Israel's release was drawing near, and that God would raise up a deliverer for His people, determined that their little one should not be sacrificed. Faith in God strengthened their hearts, "and they were not afraid of the king's commandment." Hebrews 11:23.  Therefore they did their job well even though it appears that they died before the exodus.

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Exodus 2:

3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes [under the guidance of the Spirit of God], and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags [reeds] by the river's brink [not in the river’s stream]. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit [see] what would be done to him [they were expecting the princess].

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This was God’s solution to a very real problem!  It must have taken a great deal of faith to accept such a wild notion, and tells us a lot about the parents of Moses who could trust their child into the hands of a heathen at God’s word.  (Samuel’s mother did it too, but she gave her son to a priest of God.  1 Samuel 1:24-25.) Miriam was about twelve years old at this time and she was given the job of approaching the daughter of Pharaoh which shows that we don’t have to be grownup to work for God.

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Exodus 2:

5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river [to have a ceremonial wash and prayer with a god]; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.”

7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call to you a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse [feed] the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” And the maid went and called the child's mother.

9 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages [and protection].” And the woman took the child, and nursed it.

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And there were other watchers. The mother's earnest prayers had committed her child to the care of God; and we can be sure that angels, unseen, hovered above his lowly resting place.  And they would have directed Pharaoh's daughter there. Her curiosity was excited by the little basket, and as she looked upon the beautiful child within, she read the story at a glance. The tears of the babe awakened her compassion, and her sympathies went out to the unknown mother who had resorted to this means to preserve the life of her precious little one. She determined that he should be saved; she would adopt him as her own.

But she couldn’t take him home straight away because she wasn’t sure how daddy would react.  After all, it was his death decree!  And there was another problem.  She couldn’t feed him and no Egyptian woman would have been comfortable doing it, so she readily agreed to Miriam’s suggestion.

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Exodus 2:

10 And the child grew [till he was twelve years old], and she [Jochebed] brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name “Moses” [“drawn out”; “son of”]: and she said, “Because I drew him out of the water [god].”

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This tells us a lot about the character of the Egyptian woman too, that the Son of God would trust her with His worker through his teenage years.  (Wonder what his real mother called him?)

Thutmose I, the Pharaoh of Egypt at the time, had a daughter, Princess Hatshepsup, and it was she who gave Moses his name.  (There is a note on her at the end of this reading, if you are interested in more details.)  Moses’ name would originally have included the name of some Egyptian god, for that was their custom.  As the Egyptians worshipped the river Nile, which they called the god “Hapi”, she may have called him Hapimose, “son of the river Nile”.   She was there praying to the god for blessing and fertility by “washing herself” in its waters when she saw Moses in his boat.   Thus he was the answer to her prayer!  She just didn’t know that it was the living God who answered her. 

The real God had also heard the birth mother's prayers and her faith was now rewarded, not only with the life of her child, but also with his training. It was with deep gratitude that she entered upon her now safe and happy task. She faithfully improved her opportunity to educate her child for God, not waiting as some do for him “to grow up”.  She felt confident that he had been preserved for some great work, and she did not know when he must be given up to his royal foster mother, to be surrounded with influences that would tend to lead him away from God.

All this rendered her more diligent and careful in his instruction than in that of her other children.  From the beginning she endeavoured to fill his mind with respect for God as his heavenly Father.  As she taught him the love of truth and justice, she earnestly prayed that he might be preserved from every corrupting influence. She backed up her prayers by showing him the folly and sin of idolatry and early taught him to bow down and pray to the living God, who alone could hear him and help him in every emergency, small or great.  She told him that he had a great job to do for God.

How far-reaching in its results was the influence of that one Hebrew woman, and she an exile and a slave! 

This is what she would have taught her son.

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Isaiah 44:

8 Fear you not, neither be afraid: have not I told you from that time, and have declared it?  You are even My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me? Yes, there is no [other] God; I know not any. 

 9 They that make a graven image [this is ANYTHING that we think will save us from our problems, including money] are all of them vanity [fools]; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know [they refuse to see the folly of what they do]; that they may be ashamed [and repent].

 10 Who has formed a god, or melted a graven image that is profitable for nothing [can help anybody]? 11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed [one day]: and the workmen, they are of men.  Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up [in pride]; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together [at the futility of it]. 12 The smith with the tongs both works in the coals [heats the metal], and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails: he drinks no water, and is faint [he puts a lot of effort into it].

  13 The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marks it out with a line; he fits [smoothes] it with planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house [temple].

 14 He hews [cuts] him down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak, which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest.  He plants an ash, and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then shall it be [time] for a man to burn: for he will take [some] of it, and warm himself [by its fire]; yes, he kindles it, and [even] bakes bread; yes,  [then] he makes a god, and worships it; he makes [some of] it a graven [carved] image, and falls down thereto.

 16 He burns part of it in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh; he roasts [a] roast [a meal], and is satisfied.  Yes, he warms himself, and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen [felt] the fire”: 17 and the residue of it he makes a god, even his graven image!  He falls down to it, and worships it, and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me; for you are my god.”

  18 They have not known nor understood: for he [Satan] has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand [no one is condemned for this, it is only by rejection of truth that people lose their chance of salvation, John 3:17-18]. 19 And none considers in his heart [spiritually], neither is there knowledge nor understanding [in their minds] to say, “I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread upon the coals of it; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? [This is how God sees it.] Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree [in worship]?”

 He feeds on ashes [a dead thing]: a deceived heart has turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, “Is there not a lie [a deception] in my right hand?”

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 We can laugh at what we have just read because we would not do such a foolish thing today.  Or would we?  They didn’t see how foolish they were, God says, and maybe we are doing similar things without realizing what they are.  And neither can we unless the LORD lead us, and He can’t do that unless we have the habit of continually asking Him.

 The whole life of Moses, the great mission which he fulfilled as the leader of Israel, testifies to the importance of the work of the Christian mother. There is no other work in the universe (except that of Christ and His salvation, of course) that can equal this. To a very great extent the Christian mother holds in her own hands the destiny of her children, allowing for their free choice, of course. She is dealing with developing minds and characters, working not alone for earthly time, but for eternity. She is sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit, either for good or for evil, bending (not breaking) the twig.  She is not painting a form of beauty upon canvas or chiselling it from marble, but impressing upon a human heart the image of the divine, and teaching us the habit.  While the men are play-acting at religion (ceremonies and rituals), she is doing the real work.  James 1:27. 

 Especially during their early years the responsibility rests upon her of forming the character of her children. The impressions then made upon their developing minds will remain with them all through life. Proverbs 22:6.   Of course, both parents should direct the instruction and training of their children while very young, to the end that they may be Christians; the mother just has more opportunity in those early years. Children are placed in our care to be trained, not as heirs to the throne of an earthly empire, nor to spend time amassing riches or seeking pleasures, but as kings/queens to God, to reign through unending ages as helpers to others.  See Revelation 1:6.  (Consider also Jeremiah 13:20.)

 Jochebed kept the boy as long as she could, but was obliged to give him up when he was about twelve years old, the age of responsibility in God’s sight. From his humble cabin home he was taken to the royal palace, to the daughter of Pharaoh, "and he became her son." Yet even here he did not lose the impressions received in childhood. The lessons learned at his mother's side and impressed on him by the Spirit could not be forgotten. They were a shield from the pride, the infidelity, and the vice that flourished amid the splendour of the court.

 As historian, poet, philosopher, general of armies, and legislator, he stands without a peer. Yet with the world before him, he had the moral strength to refuse the flattering prospects of wealth and greatness and fame, "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin (worldly ambitions) for a season."  Hebrews 11:25.

When evil is at its strongest, God speaks.  Every soul is tested as to whether the desire for earthly good or fellowship with Christ is the strongest.  See the call of Matthew-Levi and Andrew.  Luke 5:27-28; and Mark 1:16-18.

Bye for now,

RonP

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Note 1:

http://www.touregypt.net/18dyn05.htm

More about Hatshepsut:

http://www.eyelid.co.uk/k-q1.htm