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1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. 8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. 15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” 20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” 1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 1:8-2:10 NIV Bible)
Okay, this is a very long passage, but it is important one. Actually, all passages in the Bible are important and matter to God and to us. Each I will admit, have their purpose and time. This one is important in the history of Israel as it sets the stage for the birth of one of Israel's greatest and earliest leaders.
The passage begins with the list of Jacob's sons, also known as The Twelve Tribes. It numbers the descendants at seventy, but by the time Joseph died, the Israelites got busy and as The Bible says it, "Exceedingly fruitul; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them." Uh oh. No bueno. The immigrants are now outnumbering the natives! And what makes this worse is that the king that had allowed them in, is now dead and the new king had a limited memory of who, what, when, and where. The only thing that he did notice is that "them" were more in number than "us."
The new Pharaoh calls his advisors together to try and hatch a plan. The plan has the word "shrewdly" in it, giving it away; there was no love on the part of the king towards the unwanted. Among the greatest fear was that given the history of the region, there would be invasions and the unwanted could join the invaders and the new king would be short one kingdom. So, the Pharoah enslaved the people, and put evil slave masters over them and the Israelites were made to build large cities. The desired result or so hoped the new king, would be the lack of energy would cause the birthrate among the Israelites to fall. Yet, the opposite was the result. The "rest" the hard working men and women were seeking caused the population to grow higher. The overlords increased their workload and the last straw was they asked two Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, to kill all the Hebrew boys at birth. The girls could survive. Thank God, the midwives loved God and did not do as they were told, and when called to aacount said that the Hebrew women were sturdy and delievered their own babies before they could even arrive. The order was intensified and the midwives were told to throw the Hebrew male children into the river. Again, the girl newborns would be allowed to live.
Here comes the hero of the story. Born to a Levite man and a Levite woman, this baby boy was hidden for three months. Now was the time that drastic action and that was this mom made for the boy a waterproof basket and she had the basket placed in the river near the reeds. As God would have it, the baby was found by the new king's daughter, who immediately seeks a woman to nurse it, and who else to nurse it than his own mother? When he was older, the mother took the baby to Pharoah's daughter who made the baby her own son, naming him Moses, meaning he was pulled from the water.
God was present in every word of this passage; from start to finish. What comforts me is that God is always with us, always at work, even when it seems the circumstances seem so against us. We should know that it is through adversity that we are made stronger and God prepares us for His greater purposes even using seemingly ordinary events to bring about extraordinary outcomes. Moses' life was always under God's guiding hand, as are ours. God cares for us and can direct us to where we need to be and to do what we need to be doing. God is behind the scenes to help fulfill His promises for us and to bring about His plans for our lives.
PRAYER: Loving God, as You worked to guide and direct Moses and the Hebrew people, I know that You are working with us to guide and bless us. May we seek to honor You by bringing others to come and know Your love and grace; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Seek God's direction for your life today.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
