The Israelites had many children in Egypt, but Pharaoh could not assimilate them, so he launched a national movement and ordered all Egyptians: If the Israelites gave birth to a boy, they should throw them into the river, and if they gave birth to a girl, Can save their lives.
The God who created heaven and earth has always been with the Israelites. What will He do now?
According to the blessings their ancestor Jacob gave to his sons before his death, we can easily think that God will save them through the two sons of Joseph, or a national hero will rise from the tribe of Judah.
Before he died, Jacob publicly rebuked Levi and Simeon because they had acted recklessly and slaughtered all the men in Shechem. God revealed to Jacob that they would be separated in Jacob in the future. Each family was scattered in the land of Israel, and they seemed to be the two tribes least blessed by God...
Unexpectedly, God actually promoted the tribe of Levi. The Bible drew our attention, Focus on the family of Levi.
In the house of Levi, there was a man named Amram, who married his father’s sister Jochebed. This is recorded in Exodus Chapter 6, verse 20.
Amram means noble person; his wife Jochebed means Jehovah is the glory.
At a time when all the Egyptians were massacring Hebrew male babies, the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Seeing that he was handsome, she hid him for three months.
We cannot understand it as: "If this child was not very beautiful, his parents would not take huge risks to hide him for three months."
The "handsomeness" here not only refers to the child's good-looking appearance, but also refers to the presence of God with him, giving people an irresistible and unique feeling.
Even ordinary people will think that this child is extraordinary when they see him.
Of course everyone should note that studying Exodus Chapter 2 does not mean that we will all become "experts" with discernible looks.
Concrete things should be treated concretely: not everyone used by God is "extraordinarily handsome."
A person’s good looks and unique feeling are not the reason why God wants to reuse him; God’s selection and use of a certain person is the reason why a person is unique.
The people of Egypt regarded Pharaoh as a magnificent building (this is what Pharaoh meant). They believed that only under the protection of Pharaoh could all people live and work in peace and contentment, and they would strictly abide by all Pharaoh's instructions and orders.
After Pharaoh issued the order to slaughter male infants, the Egyptians did not allow any Hebrew boy to grow up, and even often went down to search among the Israelites.
The child's parents couldn't hide it anymore, so they took a cattail box, painted it with stone paint and oil, put the child inside, and placed the box among the reeds by the river.
They who fear God must know that their children are the inheritance given by Jehovah, and they must also want to protect their children’s lives and do not want them to die at the hands of evil people. However, they lived in Egypt and became Slaves could not change Pharaoh's orders at all, and those possessed Egyptians would not reason with the Israelites.
That's all they can do.
Although this is not a long-term solution, it can at least avoid Egyptian searches at home. You can go to nurse the baby when no one is paying attention.
They sent the child's sister to stand far away, wanting to know what he was like.
There are many benefits to arranging her here.
If the Egyptian walks nearby, she can attract the attention of others and prevent the child from being discovered by bad people; secondly, does God give this child a good opportunity? Maybe he could be rescued in other ways, and my sister could tell her family the good news.
The child’s sister is most likely Miriam. Miriam's name appears for the first time in the Bible in Exodus 15:20.
Miriam means resistance.
It happened that the Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing by the river at that time, and many of her maids were walking by the river. They patrolled around like a cordon is now set up to prevent other people from approaching. As a result, Pharaoh’s The daughter saw the box among the reeds and sent a maid to bring it.
She opened the box and saw the child. When the child cries, she pities him.
Said: "This is a child of the Hebrews."
How did she immediately recognize that it was a child of the Hebrews?
The first is the different attire, the second is the different skin color, and the third is the intuition given to her by the environment.
Egyptian clothing, the patterns on the cloth are very different from those of the Hebrews; the Israelis are white, and the Egyptians have bronze skin; the Pharaoh’s daughter knew that her father had ordered the slaughter of baby boys. After seeing the helplessness and misery of the Hebrews, when she saw the child, she had an intuition in her heart that told her: This was a Hebrew.
When she saw the child and felt pity for her, the child’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter:
“I will go and call for a nurse from among the Hebrew women. Can I nurse this child for you?"
Even if she didn't know that she was the daughter of Pharaoh, she knew she was no ordinary person just by the way she came to bathe at the river. She really dares to make demands! So simple and direct, will there be any good results?
Unexpectedly, Pharaoh’s daughter agreed.
When she called the mother of the child, Pharaoh’s daughter said to her:
“Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. ”
Pharaoh’s daughter is a royal, and her words are also orders, and the people must obey them.
I am afraid that there is no order from Egypt that the Israelite women who were often oppressed by Pharaoh were most willing to obey in their lives!
“From then on, this child is the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and I am his wet nurse. No one dares to hurt him anymore. I have the responsibility of feeding the child, and now I can still get the wages of being a wet nurse... …”
She must be filled with joy and thank God!
Although it is not known how God chose to use this child of the Levitical family, we give glory to God for his life surviving in such a bizarre way during turbulent times.
Many people will say that this is all because of the kindness of his parents, the bravery of his sister, and the mercy of Pharaoh’s daughter. Indeed, these are very important, but what they do and their mentality are not in line with God’s will. It's just a supporting role.
This child survived not because everyone joined forces to help him; the child survived because God had made an unchangeable will long ago, and he must let this child grow up and make a difference.
His parents, his sister, and Pharaoh’s daughter, they just cherished the opportunity to cooperate with God’s will.
Do not overly exalt human works, but infinitely exalt the sovereignty of God.
When the child grew, the woman took him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and they became her son.
He should be three years old at this time. Usually the Israelites wean their children at the age of three.
Pharaoh’s daughter named the child Moses.
She named the child this way because she wanted to commemorate the time when she pulled him out of the water. However, the meaning of the name Moses does not have so much content and description.
Moses means to pull out.
In Egyptian culture, "Moses" also means the son of God, the son given by God.
In this way, Moses learned all the knowledge of the Egyptians and became talented in speaking and doing. He was almost 40 years old at this time (these details are recorded in Acts 7:22).
The growth of Moses in the Egyptian palace represents another 40 long years that the Israelites have spent under the oppression of the Egyptians.
What can Moses do for the Israelites at this time? How did God use Moses to help the Israelites in dire straits?