SCRIPTURE: EXODUS 2
IMPORTANT VERSE:
“But when she could no longer hide him, 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.” (Exodus 2:3)
“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 2:10)
THE BIRTH OF MOSES (vs. 1-10)
Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, 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. 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. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 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.
Then his sister asked Pharaoh’ daughter, “Shall i go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”:
“Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 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. 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.”
MOSES FLEES TO MIDIAN (vs. 11-24)
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them and their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
Then the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?” They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.
“And where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”
Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become an alien in a foreign land.”
During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard that groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked at the Israelite and was concerned about them.
THOUGHTS: (From Life Application Study Bible)
Moses’ family consists of father Amram, mother Jochebed, brother Aaron and sister Miriam. Since Pharaoh gave an order to kill all Hebrew’s babies. Moses’ mother knew it was wrong to have his son destroyed. Her only alternative was to hide the child. So she made a tiny boat made of papyrus reeds to place Moses there. Do you sometimes feel surrounded by evil and frustrated by how little you can do about it? When faced with evil, look for ways to act against it. Then trust God to use your effort however small it seems, in his war against evil.
When Moses was placed in the Nile river, her sister Miriam was there. When she saw that Pharaoh’s daughter had discovered Moses, she quickly took the initiative to suggest a nurse (her mother) to care for the baby. The princess agreed to the service suggested by Miriam, so their family was reunited. Special opportunities may come our way unexpectedly. Don’t let the fear of what might happen cause you to miss an opportunity. Be alert for the opportunities God gives you, and take full advantage of them.
God used Moses’ mother’s courageous act of saving and hiding the baby to begin his plan to rescue his people from Egypt. God does not need much from us to accomplish his plan for our lives. Focusing on our human predicament may paralyze us because the situation may appear humanly impossible. But concentrating on God’s power will help us see the way out. You may be unable to see through your troubles now. Focus instead on God, and trust him for the way out. That is all he needs to begin his work in you.
Moses tried to make sure no one was watching before he killed the Egyptian. But someone did see and Moses had to flee the country. Sometimes we mistakenly think we can get away with doing wrong if no one sees or catches us. Sooner or later, however, doing wrong will catch up with us as it did with Moses. Even if we are not caught in this life, we will still have to face God and his evaluation of our actions.
Moses ran away to Midian to escape punishment for killing the Egyptian. He because a stranger in a strange land, separated from his home and family. It took many years after this incident for Moses to be ready to serve God. But he trusted God instead of fearing the king. we may feel abandoned or isolated because of something we have done. But though we feel afraid and separated, we should not give up. Moses trusted God to deliver him, no matter how dark his past or bleak his future.
God’s rescue does not always come the moment we want it. God had promised to bring the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. The people had waited a long time for that promise to be kept, but God rescued them when he knew the right time had come. God knows the best time to act. When you feel that God has forgotten you in your troubles, remember that God has a time schedule we cannot see.