Pam Padgett ... teacher
It was the will of God for Moses to lead the children of Israel out of
Egypt. But at the time Moses was born, the Egyptians were grieved by the
children of Israel because they were more in number and mightier than
the Egyptians. Pharaoh had tried to have the midwives kill all the male
Hebrew babies, but the midwives feared God and would not do this. Then Pharaoh charged all his people to cast every son into the river ...
Exodus 1:15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew
midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the
other Puah: 16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the
Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye
shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17 But the
midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them,
but saved the men children alive. 18 And the king of Egypt called for
the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have
saved the men children alive? 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh,
Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are
lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. 20
Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied,
and waxed very mighty. 21 And it came to pass, because the midwives
feared God, that he made them houses. 22 And Pharaoh charged all his
people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and
every daughter ye shall save alive.
During this time when the Hebrew male boys were to be thrown into the
river, Moses was born to parents of the house of Levi. In an
extraordinary way, he was kept alive, and was even raised as the son of
Pharaoh's own daughter.
Moses' mother protected her baby son by hiding him for the first 3 months of his life ...
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.
We're told that his parents acted in faith in this, trusting in God rather than fearing Pharaoh ... By 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)
After 3 months, however, the child could no longer be hid and was put in an ark, a vessel, near a bank of the river with his sister watching to see what happened ...
Exodus 2:3 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. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to
him.
Pharaoh's daughter saw the ark and had her maid bring it to her.
Amazingly, she had compassion on the child, even knowing he
was one of the
Hebrew children which her father had charged to be cast into the river ...
Exodus 2:5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash
herself at the river; 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.
The child's sister, offered to get a nurse for the baby. The baby's own mother was brought
to care for him, and was even offered wages by Pharaoh's daughter for doing
this ...
Exodus 2:7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's
daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that
she may nurse the child for thee? 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 unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I
will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
When the child was brought back to Pharaoh's daughter, he was raised as her own son, and was given the name Moses ...
Exodus 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's
daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she
said, Because I drew him out of the water.
At a time when Hebrew male babies were in great danger of being killed, Moses was born and kept alive, being raised by Pharaoh's daughter until he was grown, when he chose to suffer with the people of God and forsake Egypt. And Moses was called by God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.