Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 9-30-22

The Birth Of Moses Exodus 2:1-10 (KJV)
SCRIPTURES
And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2) And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3) And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
4) And his sister
stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5) And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6) And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
7) Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to
thee a nurse of the He- brew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8) And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9) And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
10) And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he be- came her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
Moses Family Background (Exodus 2:1-2)
Although the names of Moses’ parents are not given here, Exodus 6:20 identify them as Amram and Jochebed. Jochebed was also Amram’s aunt, his fa- ther’s sister. It was appropri- ate for Moses to be born into the family or tribe of “Levi” or the Levites who would later become the priests in Israel (see Numbers 1:50- 53; 3:5-7; Deuteronomy 17:9, 18). As a Levite, Moses would become a priest and the supreme mediator between God and Israel.
At first reading, this verse might suggest that this child
was Amram and Jochebed’s firstborn son; however, as Exodus 7:7 indicates, Moses was actually their sec- ond son. Of course, they were also the parents to Moses’ sister Miriam and his brother Aaron. They were both born before Pharaoh had resorted to his last stage in his attempts to control the Jewish population (see Ex- odus 1:22). Scripture indi- cates that Miriam was grown at this time, and Aaron was three years older than Moses (see Exodus 7:7).
Moses Among The Bulrushes (Exodus 2:3-4)
It’s quite possible, even probable that Moses’ mother chose the Nile River because she knew that Pharaoh’s daughter came there regu- larly to bathe. So why not put the child where he would be found by the only one who could save him—the daugh- ter of the king who gave the death edict? Maybe, the princess would be attracted to little Moses...just like his true parents had been (see Exodus 2:2).
Moses Is Discovered (Exodus 5-6)
Moses’ birth is placed at about 1525 B.C. which would have been at the beginning of the reign of Thutmose I. This pharaoh had a fa- mous daughter named Hat- shepsut. There is some debate concerning who “the daughter of Pharaoh” was in our lesson. However, many scholars suppose that she was Hatshepsut, the daugh- ter of Thutmose I. She was also queen to Thutmose II, her half-brother, and after he died she co-ruled Egypt with her stepson Thutmose III from about 1504 to 1482 B.C. If the pharaoh’s daughter here was Hatshep- sut, she may have been pow- erful enough to circumvent Pharaoh’s command to kill all male Hebrew babies.
Moses’ Upbringing (Exodus 2:7-10)
The Bible doesn’t say if Miriam was afraid to ap- proach the Egyptian princess, or if the princess was suspicious of this He- brew girl. But Miriam did approach her not knowing what would happen if she did. But she knew this was an opportunity she could not pass up.
Like Miriam, special op- portunities may also come our way unexpectedly. When they do, we can’t let the fear of what might hap- pen to us cause us to miss an opportunity. We should be alert for the opportunities God gives us, especially in ministry and service, and take full advantage of them for His glory.
Consider the glorious irony of this situation. Moses’ mother would surely have paid for the privilege of nursing her son, if it had been possible. But truly, God’s ways are not our ways (see Isaiah 55:8). It seems as though the LORD had asked Jochebed to give her son to Him, who alone could save him. God, in return gave her son back to her with special blessings. Isn’t that just like our God? He com- mands us to give, and then He gives back supernaturally (see II Corinthians 9:6- 8; Galatians 6:7-9). In fact, our giving serves as the seedbed of God’s provision.
The name “Moses” is Egyptian, but it sounds like another Hebrew word Mosheh or Mashah which means “to draw out.” The name “Moses” was already familiar in the Egyptian court. Several Pharaohs had names compounded with “Moses” like Ramose and Thutmose. The fact that this Hebrew woman’s child was given such a name supports the Egyptian background of the story. Here in verse 10, the name seemed to be espe- cially appropriate for “Pharaoh’s daughter” be- cause it was similar to the Hebrew word meaning “draw out.”
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