Love Is Stronger Than Death Series

Some time later, she fell in love with another man and married him. She and her new husband lived on a perpetual honeymoon. Joyfully, she devoted herself to his happiness and welfare. One day she ran across one if the sheets of do’s and don’ts her first husband had written for her. To her amazement she found that she was doing for her second husband all the things her first husband had demanded of her, even though her new husband had never once suggested them.

Perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18); continuous fear brings no happiness, hope or harmony to a home or a society.

Pharaoh commanded the death of all infant Hebrew males, but now two more ladies had the courage to defy his orders - Moses’ mother (Ex 2:1-2) and Pharaoh’s own daughter (Ex 2:5).

What inspired Moses’ mother and Pharaoh’s daughter courage to overcome fear? The words of Jochebed when she gave up her son in movie “The Prince of Egypt” touched me: “My son, I have nothing left to give, but this chance that you may live...”

The Hebrew text says that Moses’ mother saw that her baby was good (v 2) – the very word for God’s creation in Genesis 1. The baby was beautiful, innocent and God-sent. Moses’ mother disregarded the warning of Pharaoh, hid her young at the risk of her life and waited at the river until the baby was safe. She could not resist the baby’s charm, could not replace the baby’s life and she did not regret the baby’s birth.

Pharaoh’s daughter was another story. She knowingly adopted the Hebrew baby when Moses cried and she felt sorry for him (Ex 2:6). The baby’s cries broke her heart and defense. A bond was built at his first cry. The Hebrew text noted that she had compassion on him, or the Hebrew for “she spared him.” The responsible side of her responded to the reprehension she saw around her. Pharaoh’s daughter felt strongly that the baby belonged to her (Ex 2:10). After all, she found, fed and fostered the child.

The loser in the end was Pharaoh. The very thing that Pharaoh feared and the very thing that he tried to prevent – that the Israelites would multiply (Ex 1:10) - was the very thing that he set into motion (Ex 1:12, 20).

Conclusion: The winners in life are those who demonstrate conviction, compassion and charity. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails (Prov 19:21). Are you bent on destroying or delivering? Do you hate, envy and discriminate, or are you willing to forgive, bless and save? Are you afraid of involvement – speaking out, standing firm, and saving lives – when you can make a difference, change the course and point the way? It is a better and healthier way to live than continuing in fear, denial, and darkness.

Victor Yap

Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:

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