Exodus 2:1  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 Hebrew 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 became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

It is interesting to witness how God works things out for His glory all the time. It is also a privilege to be a recipient of that blessing by being a humble servant of God. In Exodus 2 we are introduced to a man of the house of Levi, who married a daughter of Levi. It was God’s design for the children of Israel to marry within their tribe. At the time of the events of the book of Exodus, we might look and say it was a scary time to get married and have children. The king was a godless man who was an enemy of God and an enemy of the nation of Israel. He wanted the Hebrew midwives to murder all the male children born to the Hebrews.
This couple did not allow this situation to keep them from honouring God. They were two of the few Hebrews who trusted in God. They knew that God’s design was for a man to marry a woman and to be fruitful and multiply. They did not concern themselves with the threat that the king had made against the children of Israel. They trusted God and they lived their lives for His glory.
We see that these people did not follow the evil dictates of the government. They trusted God instead. We can learn from this in our time as well. Our government is a godless government and they have made ungodly dictates regarding the local church. We do not only have this witness from Exodus 2 but we also have the example of Daniel and his three friends and also of Peter and John and the apostle Paul. We need to understand that the God of Creation is the true God and He is by far greater than any earthly ruler. Any person who would dare to interfere with God’s will needs to be reminded that they are in grave danger. We do not need to threaten them. We just need to be faithful to God and we need to trust Him.
In verse 2 we see that this couple kept their young son with them for three months. They did all they could to keep that child safe and with them for as long as they could. When it was no longer possible to do so safely, they took the next step of faith, still trusting the true God to guide them.
They did not throw their young baby into the water. Verse 3 tells us that his mother made him an ark of bulrushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch and put the child into it. She made sure that the ark would float and that her young child would be safe. She placed the ark in the flags by the river’s bank. The “flags” were the reeds that were near the shore of the river. She did not put the child in the open water. She wanted him to be protected from any winds that might cause the water to become rough.
In verse 4 we read that this young boy’s sister stood afar off to see what would happen to this young child. We see that God does not expect children to be sheltered from reality. He wants children to be able to witness the hand of God at work.
That sister was likely Miriam. Miriam was Moses’ sister. In verse 5 we see how God worked things out for His glory here. There was no wild beast that came to devour this young child. We see that Pharaoh’s daughter came to that part of the river to bathe herself. This was not a chance happening. This was God leading an ungodly person for His purposes. Pharaoh’s daughter noticed this ark in the flags and she sent her maid to fetch it. God used this unique situation to draw attention to this ark. This mother trusted God and she and her husband walked with God and thus they could be led by God to provide and protect this precious gift He gave them.
In verse 6 we see that Pharaoh’s daughter had compassion even though she was a wicked woman. She knew this was a Hebrew child, but she did not throw him into the water. In verse 7 we see that this young boy’s sister was there ready to offer help. This sister knew exactly who to get as the “nurse” for this young boy. She called the boy’s mother to come and take the child. It is wonderful to see how God works.
In verse 9 Pharaoh’s daughter gave the boy’s mother instructions on looking after this precious treasure and she even offered to pay her to look after him. This was completely contrary to what the Pharaoh wanted. However, this is what God wanted. Pharaoh’s daughter had no concern for God. However, God worked in her heart to have compassion for this boy and to see that he was looked after.
His rightful mother was more than happy to take her son back and nurse him. In verse 10 we see that she could keep this child until he was a certain age and then she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. During that short time she had that boy, she obviously trained him in the fear of God. Each person must choose what they will do with God’s truth. However, it is imperative that parents teach their children the fear of the Lord. We need to give our children every opportunity to choose the truth. They will not learn that by playing video games or watching movies. They will get that from having the parents read the Bible to them daily and by taking them to a good church that can help that child see the importance of knowing the true God. Children do not need to be entertained. They do not need comic strips to try to entice them to think about God. They need to be told the truth. There needs to be much prayer involved as well as we seek to help them to see the need to know and believe the truth.
God blessed the efforts of this Levite couple and young Moses took what he learned to heart. We see that it was Pharaoh’s daughter that named this young boy Moses. We are told why she named him that. His name was a constant reminder to her and to others that she drew him out of the water. Moses would also be reminded of God’s grace in protecting him at a time when the king was seeking to destroy all the young Hebrew boys.
How important for us to know the true God and to walk by faith. We simply need to trust Him by doing what we know we should do and not fretting about what might happen. God knows all about that, we do not. We just need to trust Him and be willing vessels through whom He can work things out for His glory.

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Pastor Bartel