Suppose a law has been made in your country that is completely immoral. Not just immoral, but absolutely wicked. And what if this evil law would directly impact you. What would you do? The penalty for breaking this law might have some very serious consequences. This is what faced a woman named Jochebed in our Scripture for today. Let’s see what she did.
Jochebed was a Hebrew woman who lived in ancient Egypt several generations after that of the great Joseph, the son of Jacob, who had risen to great heights in Egypt. The new Pharaoh intensely hated the Jewish people, and wanted to see them eliminated. So this Pharaoh made a law that all baby boys born to Jewish families were to be killed, thrown into the Nile river (Exodus 1:22). Shortly after this law was given, and the power given to enforce it, is where our Scripture account begins.
As our Scripture passage opens, Jochebed had just given birth to a son, who would be Moses, the great leader of the Jewish people. Being of the Jewish people, she knew that this beautiful baby boy of hers would be executed, cast into the river and killed. However, being a God-fearing woman, and a mother who deeply loved her son, there was no way that she was going to obey this law! Jochebed kept her little boy Moses hidden for three months, but she knew that that couldn’t last much longer (vs. 2). As he grew, his cries were becoming louder, and soon enough he would be crawling and then walking around. How was she going to accomplish and follow through with her determination to keep her son Moses alive? Jochebed was going to need help, Divine help.
When we are faced with a dire situation, what do we do? Do we panic and get ourselves worked up into a full-blown anxiety attack? Do we throw our hands up in the air and say that there is nothing we can do, and resign ourselves to a bad outcome? Jochebed did neither. She was a woman of great faith in Yahweh, and she turned to Him (Hebrews 11:23). Even though she knew that she was no match against Pharaoh and his police force, she knew Someone who was! Jochebed entrusted her son to the Lord, knowing that He would protect him.
Jochebed had faith, but she also took action. During the three months that her son remained with her, hidden in her house, she must have been both praying and coming up with an idea of how to spare this child’s life. When we are facing a crisis, we need to do all we can to prepare ourselves for the battle, understanding that the outcome rests with the Lord. To trust God does not imply becoming lazy or apathetic. Acting foolishly or thoughtlessly, and expecting God to bail us out if things go wrong isn’t faith, it’s presumption. When we are out of work, we need to pray for a job, but also prepare our resume, actively look for open positions, and go to interviews. God may send us a job, but He won’t just drop one in our lap if all we’re doing is playing games on the computer and streaming movies online. We may pray to graduate with honors, but that won’t happen if we don’t study. God won’t give us good grades if we’re goofing off! In many cases, faith, and then effort on our part such as the careful efforts that Jochebed took, go hand in hand.
As this young mother prayed, God gave her an idea, a plan which she started to carry out. During the early weeks of Moses’ life, Jochebed began to weave a basket of reeds that were gathered from the swampy shores of the Nile. They were woven together and then waterproofed with tar. Then, when she could no longer hide him, she put him in the basket, and placed the basket among the reeds in the Nile river (vs. 3) She set her daughter, who was about seven years older, to watch and see what would happen.
Jochebed had done her part. Now she would trust and rely on God to do His part, to protect and save her child. She had to trust that He would protect the baby from crocodiles, hippopotamus, and deadly snakes, which all live in the Nile river. God was faithful, and very shortly afterwards, Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe. She heard the baby crying, and went to investigate (vs. 5-6). God had Jochebed place the basket in just the right place and at the right time. He also had the child start crying, and just loud enough for the princess to hear. And He moved upon the princess to have compassion on the child, even though it was a Hebrew baby, as she took the child and raised him as her own. Jochebed was allowed to care for the baby until he was weaned, which in those days would have been till he was around the age of four, and she was paid by Pharaoh’s household for doing so! (vs. 7-9).
The Lord can take the evil of men and use it for great good. God took Pharaoh’s edict to kill the Jewish boys, and He used it to get Moses, their deliverer, into the royal courts, where he would get the best education in the world at that time, and all the skills he would later need to lead God’s people. This, all because Jochebed knew not to follow an evil law and was willing to trust God to help her when she would need His help.
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