This is a simple story of divine providence. It is easier understood with the heart and spoken in word. It’s simply God taking care of us—and what we’re willing to put entrust to him. Providence does mean care and at the time of this scripture it comes to surface as truly divine.
Exodus 2:1 “And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 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. 3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.”
I can imagine how parents feel on the first day of school. Having to let the child go is hard. In this story, things were out of their hands. Amram and Jochebed had run out of ways to handle it. They could do no more than turn their son over to the Lord. Moses didn’t know how to yet talk, but his life tells us it does matter what we do. There is always the option to turn it over to the Lord. God was in control. They had to trust.
Think of the peril Israel was in. They had gone from guests to slaves in Egypt. The Bible says a Pharaoh rose up who didn’t know Joseph. He found no good in the people. He considered their huge numbers a threat. Things had gone well for Israel for a long time and suddenly it wasn’t it good. This can happen to us. “Pharaohs” come into our life. Health, family, and friends can suddenly take a bad turn. In the latter days brothers will hate brothers and sisters will hate sisters. What starts out as a bad day can turn into a bad week, a bad month, and soon that’s life for us.
Daily life for Israel became harder and harder. To keep the population down the Pharaoh ordered that all male babies be killed at birth. His heart was against them. Herod did the same in Jesus’ day when he ordered the slaughter of all male babies under two years old. Our “Pharaoh,” the devil, will use anything and everything, and anyone to destroy us. He wants to eliminate the innocent just as the Pharaoh and Herod did.
The cries of the mothers and fathers as their sons were snatched from their arms and thrown into the Nile River would have been horrible. It is no wonder than the final, and most devastating of the ten plagues was the death of the first-born. A mother, weak after giving birth, could do nothing to protect her baby and felt like a helpless victim. We cave in at times too; our flesh gives in and we can’t have the victory. These mothers may have felt “What’s the use. What choice do I have?” One woman defied them all. She made a choice for her child. She feared for him. It was real fear for his life. We face the same struggles and fears for our relatives and friends today. Maybe we see them as not worth saving but God sees it or he would not have sent Jesus to die. We worry about them; it’s a hard, cruel world. We have a choice too. We can do what Jochebed did.
She did her part. She said no and pledged in her heart to protect Moses. She hid him three months. We don’t know how she did it, but she did. She did it well. No one was suspicious. Aren’t you glad there are hiding places for us? We can hide right in the Word of God. Bring your loved ones to church in your heart even when you can’t get them here in body. There is power in the Word of God and prayer. That’s our part. If you think you can’t do it, just come and lay them on the altar. “Rock of ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in thee.” Isn’t it wonderful!
Jochebed had done her part, and now it was time to do something very hard. She had to put Moses in God’s hands for him to do his part. Living near the Nile River they would have been familiar with the reeds and bulrushes in the water. They were gnarled but pliable, and would be an easy place to hide. They took those reeds and weaved a basket just big enough for their baby. It wouldn’t turn over and with the reeds they could fasten him in it. They made it leak proof. How did they think this would help? Faith. Noah didn’t understand rain, but he built an ark. Our little boat, whatever it may be, will not turn over in God’s care.
The Nile River is unlike any other. It flows north. Upstream is downstream. This is why Egypt prospered. Jochebed knew that the basket would go upstream possibly right to the palace. It was the hardest thing she had ever done. She let him go in faith. The hands of God were between hers and what was waiting upstream. The same is true for us. What is between our hands and the Devil’s can be taken care of if we turn it over to our Lord in trust and faith. Pharaoh’s daughter bathed at just the right time( evidently it wasn’t Pharoah’s day to bathe!). She knew Moses was a Hebrew but decided to keep him. She could convince her father too. The Lord IS still in control of the devil!
Moses means “drawn out.” Other babies had been thrown in the river, but Moses had been drawn out. His mother turned everything over to the Lord, and who would have been his executioner became his grandfather.
Is it impossible to do? Jochebed teaches us otherwise. Do what we can. Let go. Put it into the hands of the Lord and trust him. God’s hands are waiting. Instead of giving up and letting them be thrown into the river, let go the basket of faith with our loved ones in it. Soon we, too will see them “drawn out”.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 