6 The Birth of Moses [Exodus 1:1–2:10]
The Bible passage: [Exodus 1:1–2:10]
The Story:
Over time, Joseph and all his brothers died. The Israelites were fruitful, and the land of Goshen in Egypt was filled with them.
A new king, who had not known Joseph, came to power. He was worried that the Israelites would turn against Egypt, so he assigned taskmasters over them and forced them to build his new cities.
The Egyptians worked the Israelites ruthlessly and made their lives very difficult making bricks and mortar.
The king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, if a son is born, kill him, but if a daughter is born, she may live.”
The Hebrew midwives feared God and let the boy babies live.
The king of Egypt called them in again and asked why they let the boys live.
The midwives said, “The Hebrew women are strong and give birth before we arrive.”
God was good to the midwives and the Hebrew people multiplied in number.
Pharaoh commanded all of his people to throw newborn Hebrew boys into the Nile, but to let the girls live.
A man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. They hid the baby boy for three months.
When she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus (reed) basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the riverbank. The baby boy’s sister watched from a distance to see what would happen.
Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent one of the slaves to get it. When she opened it, she saw the little boy and he was crying. She said to herself, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”
Then the baby’s sister said to the daughter of Pharaoh, “Should I go and find a Hebrew woman to nurse the boy for you?”
Pharaoh’s daughter told her to go, so the girl went and got her mother. Pharaoh’s daughter told the mother to take the boy home and nurse him until he grew older, and she would be paid wages for the job.
When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, to be her son. She named him Moses, because she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
The Lessons:
- The Hebrew midwives would not kill the babies because they feared God. They would not do what they knew to be wrong.
- Pharoah told the Egyptian people to kill the Hebrew boy babies. There is a similar story later: 54 Joseph, Mary and Jesus Escape to Egypt
- God will sometimes use unbelievers to accomplish His purposes, just like he used the daughter of Pharaoh.
Next: 7 Moses and the Burning Bush [Exodus 2:11-3:15]
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