The events that surrounded the birth and early years of Moses life are certainly not news – I’m sure we are all familiar with the story. I invite you to re-read this account with fresh eyes..as if you did not know ‘the rest of the story’. Please read Exodus 2:1-10.
A succinct summary of this passage is as follows: Jocabed (a Levite woman, enslaved in the land of Egypt) had a baby named Moses. Under orders of Pharaoh all male Hebrew babies were to be killed. Jocabed hid Moses until he was three months old. In an attempt to save the baby’s life, he was set in a basket and put into the Nile. The baby was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter. Through a series of events the baby was given back to Jocabed to be raised until he was old enough to return to Pharaoh’s daughter to be raised as her son.
As women, we probably have many questions about this account. The facts are there but our minds may go to the emotions behind these facts. Today Pastor Grace gave us some excellent insights into these events and how we can apply these insights into our own lives and circumstances.
Pastor Grace first spoke of Jocabed’s desires. She desired to spare the life of her son. We can only imagine the anguish of her soul. Some things we will never know this side of eternity. Did the Lord give her peace? Did she sense His presence? Did she hear His voice? Did she have confident trust in the Lord as she put that basket into the water? Keep in mind, she did not know how this would turn out.
Pharaoh’s daughter also had desires. She must have wanted a baby. We know that she was compassionate. She knew the baby she was going to claim as her own was a Hebrew boy, destined for death. Did she risk the wrath of her father? It seems that she loved Moses and desired to do what was best for him.
Through God’s sovereignty Moses is returned to his biological mother to be raised for a time. She was even compensated financially for this. The baby was now safe in her home. We can surmise that he was raised in the ways of the Lord – being given a firm foundation before he was returned to the Pharaoh’s palace. I wonder if the neighbors marveled at what the Lord had done!
God was able to meet the desires of both these women. Ephesian 3:20 comes to mind. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” As we have often heard Arlene say..she wants God’s imaginations for her life. They are so much better than her own. These women could not have imagined how God would work in their circumstances. Looking at this with a fresh eye, there is no way that these events could have turned out as they did aside from the hand of God.
So what can we take from this? We can take those dreams, people, circumstances that are precious to us and put them in a basket and trust God with the outcome. In God’s Word, time and time and time again we see Him intervening in the lives of ordinary people in ways that can only be attributed to Him. He WILL bring about His purposes. He is good. Above all, He is glorified and makes Himself known through impossible circumstance to a watching world. Halleluiah!!
As far as ‘the end of the story’ goes…In Exodus 2:1-10 God works very personally in the lives of these two woman. He fulfills their desires and they are blessed. As a young child we can surmise that Moses was also blessed to have the love of two mothers who were devoted to him. But what about God’s desires? These women couldn’t have known the plans God had for Moses. We know. This was so much bigger than saving a single Hebrew baby. Moses became a ‘friend of God’. Through Moses God redeemed the Israelite nation from hundreds of years of slavery and led them back to the Promised Land where they would be established as a nation and as God’s Chosen People. Wow!!
So what will you put in your basket???
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