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Moses' Parents, Particularly His
Mother |
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Moses’ Mother |
When and where does a child’s
spiritual education begin? It is my
understanding that it begins in the
home (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15). No matter
how good Sunday School teachers or
DVBS are, they can never take the
place of a child’s parents,
especially the mother, because
fathers go to work and it is mothers
who have the most time with the
children.
There was a time when the
father worked and mum was at home
caring for her children. Today’s
world is different, mums have to
work to make ends meet. Yet,
together time must be found for mum
and dad and the children to have a
Bible lesson and prayer. I remember
as children, before we went to
school, there was a bible reading
and prayer at home.
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Jochebed
illustrates a mothers devotion.
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a) |
We are told nothing about Moses’
birth nor babyhood except that he
was a goodly child (Ex. 2:2);
exceedingly fair (Acts 7:20); and a
proper child (Heb. 11:23). At times
it has been said or written that the
word “goodly” means he was beautiful
to God. Having gone through every
lexicon I have I can find no
foundation for such a description.
The Greek words in Acts and Hebrews
are the same “ἀστεῖος”. The Sept
translated Exodus 2:2 as
“Seeing
he was fair”. The Cepher translates
it as “she saw that he was a goodly
child” and translated Acts 7:20 as
“He was exceedingly fair”. To my
understanding, Moses was a beautiful
baby, was quiet of nature, not
always crying and whining. |
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b) |
The home Moses was brought up in was
no different from the home of other
slaves. She had three famous
children, Arron, Mariam and Moses,
and in the historical narrative she
is referred constantly to his mother
(Ex. 2:2-9). She was the first
person in the Scriptures to have her
name compounded with the Name of the
Lord “Jehovah”. |
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c) |
While no doubt Amram her husband was
in full agreement with the
activities and planning's of his
wife, but apart from one verse
(Heb.11:23), the main focus is on
Jochebed the mother. It was she
who: |
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i) |
Hid him three months (Ex. 2:2). |
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ii) |
Took for him an ark of bulrushes,
making sure it was waterproof and
possibly the pitch would have
prevented the crocodiles smelling
the infant (Ex. 2:3). |
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iii) |
It was she who put it in the flags
(reeds) along the river bank (Ex.
2:3). |
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d) |
If Jochebed knew from God that Moses
was to be used by God and nothing
could frustrate or hinder His
purposes,
why did she
hide
him? (Ex. 2:2).
Faith does not act foolishly but
prudently, not recklessly but
intelligently. God has given us
grey matter for to use
intelligently. Faith does not rule
out common sense, praying for
“how
to do things”. God puts no premium
on ignorance, rashness or
foolishness. |
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e) |
Interesting we read nothing specific
about Jochebed in Hebrews 11, but it
deals with his parents (Heb.
11:23). Little baby’s
grow, and possibly after three
months he had grown and she could no
longer hide Him. Being a husband
and wife of faith she put her little
baby of three months into the
crocodile
infested river. The king had given
a decree that, “Every son that is
born ye shall cast into the river”
(Ex. 1:22). That is exactly what
Jochebed did, she put her son in the
river. With what care and love, and
no doubt many a tear,
this mother made the ark for her
little son. |
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f) |
The question then comes into focus,
“Were these motherly actions action
of love, faith or pure luck? Was
putting him in the basket his
preservation from the crocodiles?
The coming of
Pharaoh’s daughter, the
baby’s cry, the compassion of the
heart of the princess, the giving of
the child to his mother good luck,
amazing happenstance, or was every
step of the way guided by God? Were
the parents acting in fellowship
with God, in faith? Hebrews
11:23-24 gives the answer. They
were acts of faith believing in the
sovereignty God. The fact that
Mariam was left to watch, that
would indicate Jochebed
expected God to move. |
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g) |
It would appear she was a woman who
knew the promise of God and was
given the understanding that her son
would be the deliverer of Israel
even though it was still 80 years
distant. I take it that she knew
the
word
of the Lord to Abraham (Gen.
15:13,16) and acting on that
understanding, trained her son so
that if it pleased God, he would be
suitable to be the one who would
lead Israel out of Egypt. Her focus
was definitely
spiritual for no doubt
anything needed would have been
supplied by the Princess. However,
Jochebed’s work before God was to
teach Moses and for him to learn he
was one of the afflicted. While
Jochebed had her son in the home she
took the opportunity so that he was
well grounded in the knowledge of
the true God and the inheritance of
being, by linage, a child of
Abraham. |
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h) |
Moses’ mother, Jochebed, nursed the
child (Ex. 2:9), she gave it of
herself. The lesson for mothers is
to treasure our own time of
fellowship with God, reading,
praying, and meditation.
Pray to God for fresh
understanding of the scriptures so
that you can know better how to
react to circumstances and teach the
children. |
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i) |
Jochebed displayed a wonderful trust
in God. However, that trust was
even more tried and there can be no
doubt that she prayed for the
preservation of her child in the
idolatrous saturated environment of
the palace. When the little boy was
in the palace as the Princess’ son,
he would have been exceedingly well
educated, but in that education he
would have been taught the Egyptian
wisdom (Acts 7:22) and the
worshipping of idols. Jochebed knew
that at some time she would have to
release her son to the palace, a
wicked ungodly place, and therefore
she did all she could with the help
of God to give him a good
foundation. |
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Like the mother of John 6, whose
name we are not given,
give the child something
that God can use. Therefore, be
careful what our children watch,
teach them bible verses according to
age and ability, help them learn
Bible lessons and not just Bible
stories. |
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. . . .Rowan Jennings |
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