Exodus 2:3 “But when she could no longer keep him hidden, she made a basket out of reeds and covered it with tar She put him in the basket and placed it in the tall grass along the edge on the River Nile.”
Exodus 2:10 “And when he was old enough, she took him to the king’s daughter, who adopted him.”
Jochebed was born into the house of Levi, the tribe from which God chose his priests. Although she was born a slave in Egypt, and lived a life of captivity, misery and hardship, the priesthood teaching she received from her parents as a child, had a decisive influence and impact on her faith. The fact that her back was scared by her slave master’s whip, she was a captive, that she was NOT free to choose HOW she lived OR died, could NOT suppress her faith in her God…the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She was taught among others that NO other god should be worshiped, but THIS God who was ALSO known as YHWH and “I AM THAT I AM.” In her heart was the burning hope and promise of God that He would ONE DAY send the deliverer to free her and the rest of the Hebrew people from oppression and slavery. From her marriage to a man of the SAME tribe, two sons and a daughter were born. They were ALSO raised in the fear of the Lord.
When her youngest son Moses was born in 1393 B.C, the Pharaoh issued a decree that ALL Hebrew boys born in THIS period had to be killed…drowned in the River Nile. She however ignored the decree of the king, EVEN if it meant DEATH to her. For three months she hid him from the Egyptians. AFTER this period the chance that he WOULD be discovered and killed by the Egyptian death squad, became TOO great, and she decided to hide him between the reeds on the edge of River Nile in a basket. His sister Miriam was appointed to watch over him.
One day the basket, in which Moses was hidden, broke free from the reeds, and floated down-stream to where the Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing. I believe THIS incident was the FIRST step of God’s four hundred year old promise to free His people from Egyptian bondage. When she opened it, she discovered Moses inside. Miriam, who was watching from a distance, walked up to the princess and offered to find a Hebrew woman who could raise the boy for her. Of course it turned out that THIS woman was Moses’ biological mother…his OWN mother. Jochebed’s faith was rewarded by God, and she could raise her son without fear. He was however NEVER to know that she was his birth mother.
It was during THIS period that Moses’ biological mother influenced his thinking AND life with her Hebrew teachings and faith. I believe she poured out ALL her love and passion on him, knowing that they ONLY had a short while together, BEFORE he would be taken from her forever. ONE of her worries MUST have been the fact that her son would be educated by idol worshippers and that HIS Hebrew faith and teachings would fade to the back ground….that he would forget about the God of his fathers. Nevertheless, being a servant of the Almighty, she MUST have trusted her God to protect her son wherever He would lead him. I speculate she MUST have cried before God on her knees, to guide his path AND footsteps in the UNKNOWN future ahead.
The day that she feared MOST arrived …the day of FINAL separation. As she entered the palace gates, there MUST have been brief thoughts of fleeing with her son to safety, where NO ONE could take him away from her. Mothers have a natural tendency to live THEIR lives through their children. Dreams which THEY could NOT live out or ambitions which THEY could NOT fulfill as children,are channeled through the lives of THEIR children. In SUCH instances THEIR children's natural gifts and potential are discarded and suppressed. This in turn leads to broken dreams in their OWN children's lives, because they are deprived of the right to fulfill their OWN destiny.However, God gave Jochebed the strength AND the courage to hand him over to the princess of Egypt, so that he could be educated AND prepared to lead the Hebrew people out of captivity to the promised land. God fearing mothers would ALWAYS entrust the hopes,dreams, lives and destiny of their children to God, because only HE knows what HIS plans for them are.
As a parent, I can ONLY imagine how painful and EMPTY her heart and life must have felt as she walked away from her son, leaving him behind forever, NEVER to see him again. Her heart must felt as if it was torn into a thousand pieces. But, her faith in her Creator compelled her to set him free. His freedom from the bondage of slavery which SHE was enduring, and a secured future, was her primary concern. THIS was the sacrifice she HAD to make for HIS freedom…..the price she had to pay. Her yearning for him and her aching heart in the years to come would be but a SMALL price to pay.
She placed her hope and trust unconditionally in God, and believed that her son would one day serve his people better from the throne of Egypt as the future king, than as a slave. He would have the power to set the Hebrews free from captivity. It was THIS unwavering faith in her God, and the prayers she NEVER stopped praying through the years to come, that would enable Moses to become one of the greatest prophets, leaders AND deliverers of ALL times. He would become the FIRST leader AND prophet of the Hebrew people, the ONLY man whom God ALLOWED to stand in His HOLY presence on Mount Sinai, the man who became the chosen one to whom God entrusted His laws known as the TEN COMMANDMENTS, and the man who wrote the FIRST five inspiring books of the Old Testament.
Not in her wildest dreams would Jochebed’s have believed that God would use HER off-spring to lead His people from bondage and captivity. Although Jochebed did NOT share in her son’s triumphs and greatness, because she has passed on to the life here after, her son’s safety, freedom and future was secured, as a result of her unselfish sacrifice. The impact that God fearing and praying mothers exert on the lives of their children, OFTEN lives on LONG after they have passed on to the next life. SUCH a mother‘s children are blessed, prosperous and God fearing as well.
Who could EVER understand the depth of a mother’s heart…the depth that would compel a mother to sacrifice her freedom and life for her children, the depth that would compel a mother to starve herself to death, so that her children might eat, the depth that would compel a mother to run fearlessly into a burning house to save her children from blazing fires. Who could REALLY ever understand the love AND depth of a mother’s heart? I believe ONLY God can answer THIS question.
I want to conclude with THIS article as a tribute to ALL mothers on THIS day. The article is called: ”When God created Mothers.”
“When God Created Mothers"
By: Erma Bombeck
The Lord was into His sixth day of "overtime" when creating mothers. An angel appeared and said: "You're doing a lot of fiddling on THIS model."
God replied: "Have you read the specs on THIS order?" She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts...all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have kiss that can cure ANYTHING from a broken leg to a broken heart, and have six pairs of hands."
The angel shook her head slowly and said. "Six pairs of hands? NO way!!"
“It's not the hands that are causing me problems," God remarked, "it's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have." Is THAT on the standard model?" asked the angel. God nodded.
One pair MUST see through closed doors when she asks, 'What are you kids doing in there?' but she already knows. Another pair here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't, but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he messes things up and say: “I understand and I love you,” without so much as uttering a word." “God," said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "Get some rest, tomorrow...."
“I can't," God interrupted, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger...and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed. “But tough!" said God excitedly. "You can imagine what this mother can do or endure." “Can it think?" “Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. “There's a leak," she said. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model." “It's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear."
“What's it for?" The angel asked. “It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."
“You are a genius, “said the angel. Somberly, God said: "I didn't put it there.”
