Read Exodus 1:1-2:10; 6:20; Hebrews 11:23

A Mother’s Love

Imagine a governmental decree stating that all male infants were to be put to death by throwing them into the river. If you were an expecting parent, how much anxiety would you feel at the mention of such a law?

This is not a made-up story. It really happened. The population of the Hebrew nation in Egypt was so large that the Pharaoh feared their size. This was a different Pharaoh than the one who trusted Joseph in the book of Genesis. This new Pharaoh issued this command to the Hebrew people: “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive” (Exodus 1:22).

There was a woman named Jochebed who married Amram, and she had two sons: Aaron and Moses. When she bore Moses, she was able to keep him hidden for three months, but it became more and more difficult. The Hebrews writer reveals that Moses’ parents possessed such a faith that “they were not afraid of the king’s command” (Hebrews 11:23).

Jochebed made a small basket and put Moses in it, and put him among the reeds in the riverbank. His sister stood watch as Pharaoh’s daughter found the child and had compassion upon him.

Moses’ sister suggested that she employ one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for her, and Jochebed was hired for the task. Moses received the education of his people from his biological father and mother, and an Egyptian education as he was seen by Pharaoh’s daughter as her own son.

Is your faith so strong that you could resist the government’s demands, knowing that death surely awaited you if you were caught in defiance? Would your love be strong enough for your child that you would sacrifice your own for the slightest chance that he might live? Many would answer yes to these questions, yet in our society today we see so many that are leading their children to eternal punishment by neglecting to instill God’s spiritual instructions in them.

The Proverbs have much to say about the proper spiritual training of a child. Paul commended the upbringing of the young evangelist Timothy, thanking God for Timothy’s grandmother and mother who ensured that “from childhood you (Timothy) have known the Holy Scriptures” (2 Timothy 3:15). What are you teaching your children?