The lady we will study first is Jochebed, a mother who was incredibly confident, creative, and courageous! Her son was, in my opinion, the major character in the Old Testament. Therefore, Jochebed may deserve more recognition than she has been previously given. Our information of her is quite limited, with only short acknowledgments or acclamations in Exodus 2:1-3, Exodus 6:20, and Numbers 26:59. We are not told much about Jochebed. In fact, I can only say she gave birth to three children and was probably born in Goshen, Egypt, but one attribute of hers stands out; the trust she showed in God was beyond reproach.
Exodus records that the Jews had lived under duress in Egypt for 400 years. In the opening of Exodus, the Pharaoh was afraid of the Jews because of their abundantly large number. He feared they would coalesce with foreigners and form an army against the Egyptians. To stave off such rebellion, King Herod ordered all the male Hebrew babies under two years old to be killed.
Jochebed gave birth to her second son, Yekutiel, later named and known as Moses, the future Giver of the Law. She cleverly spared him from death as an infant. She had previously given birth to Miriam, the oldest, and Aaron, who became a high priest of Israel. When Jochebed gave birth to Yekutiel instead of allowing him to be murdered under a royal edict, she coated the bottom of a woven basket with tar to waterproof it. Then she sat the baby in it and set it among the reeds on the Nile's riverbank despite crocodiles, changing currents, and the risk of the basket capsizing. Yes, this baby would later become known as Moses. Have you ever stopped to realize it took four women to keep Moses alive from birth to adulthood?
Coincidentally, Pharaoh's daughter was bathing in the river while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. One maidservant saw the baby in the basket and brought it to her. Do you think all that was just happenstance? Did Jochebed simply walk down to a random spot at the river's edge, at a haphazard time, and deposit her precious cargo among the reeds. I think not. Certainly not without scouting a safe area first. Possibly, she knew where Pharaoh’s daughter liked to bathe and came up with a plan based around that schedule. It wouldn’t have been difficult to place him just a little upstream of that spot where the basket would be seen or his crying drew attention.
Miriam, sister of Moses, watched to see what would happen. Perhaps Miriam took the initiative, but more likely, her mother instructed her to approach the princess. Do you find it surprising that the Pharaoh’s daughter wasn’t suspicious? Bravely, Miriam asked the princess if she could get a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Once told to do that, Miriam convened what had happened to her mother, Jochebed, and fetched her back to the princess and see her baby brother.
Several non-Biblical sources offer different names for the princess that directed the rescue of that baby male child. She may have been the Egyptian princess Hatshepsut, known to have a disposition strong enough to countermand her father’s decree of killing all the male Hebrew babies under the age of two. Eusebius of Caesarea said the name of the princess was Merris. Eusebius was a fourth-century Church historian and his work gave a chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the 1st to the 4th century. Another scholar of the Bible, Josephus, a first-century historian, called her Thermuthis. Artapanus, a heathen writer, named her Merrhis, perhaps from Miriam, and frequently, Jewish writers called her Bithia, which is the name of the daughter of a different Pharaoh.
In any case, it was Jochebed's faith in God that protected her baby. Because she trusted the Lord, she knew God would take care of the child. In that way, God returned her son to Jochebed, thus granting her a reward for keeping him alive because Jochebed was chosen to nurse and care for the boy. Differing biblical scholars place the weaning from two to seven years of age, with three years being the most common impression. No matter the length of time that passes, she brought the boy back to Pharaoh's daughter, who raised him as her own and named him Moses because, as she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
After many mighty hardships, Moses was used by God as his servant to free the Hebrew people from slavery and lead them to the edge of the promised land.
Jochebed demonstrated extraordinary trust in God's faithfulness. Two lessons can be gleaned from her story. First, sometimes a mother, married or not, in dire circumstances might have to consider placing their child for adoption or foster care. Like Jochebed, they should pray and trust God to find a loving home for their child. The heartbreak of giving up their baby can be balanced by good thoughts of God's blessings.
When she placed little Moses in the reed along the Nile River that day, Jochebed could not have known that he would grow up to be one of God's greatest leaders, and free the Hebrew Nation from Egyptian slavery. By letting go and trusting God, even greater dreams were fulfilled.
Like Jochebed, we won't always know or understand God's purposes in letting go, but we can trust that his plan is the best.
On the surface, Shiphrah and Puah, midwives, appear to be Hebrew women. However, in the ancient manuscripts, the phrase as it appears in Hebrew may also translate as “midwives to the Hebrew women.” This has led to disagreement among biblical scholars on whether Puah and Shiphrah were Hebrew or Egyptian midwives. Most Bible translations say they were Hebrew, as in the ERV Bible's details in Exodus 1:15-22, as seen below.
There were two Hebrew nurses who helped the Israelite women give birth. They were named Shiphrah and Puah. The king of Egypt said to the nurses, “You will continue to help the Hebrew women give birth to their children. If a girl baby is born, let the baby live. But if the baby is a boy, you must kill him!”
Because the nurses trusted God, at great personal peril, they chose not to obey the king’s command. They let all the Hebrew baby boys live.
The king of Egypt called for the nurses and asked them, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the baby boys live?”
The nurses said to the king, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can go to help them.” The nurses trusted God, so He was good to them and allowed them to have their own families.
The Hebrew women continued to give birth to more children, who became very strong. So Pharaoh issued an edict to his own people: “If the Hebrew women give birth to a baby girl, let it live. But if they have a baby boy, you must throw it into the Nile.”
The local midwives also ignored the Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife can get to them.” So God was good to the midwives, and the Hebrew people multiplied and became very numerous. Since the midwives also obeyed God, He gave them families. Pharaoh, most likely in a fit, then commanded all his people: “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”
Since all the midwives disobey the king and lied about it, God blessed them as well. Does that mean God feels that civil disobedience and lying are okay? No!
Centuries later, when Peter and the apostles were told to stop preaching, their reply was: “We must obey God rather than men.”
The normal way we operate is truthful, as opposed to lying. And obeying governmental authorities is the norm for Christians. God puts rules in place for our protection and to live peacefully within a civil society. Our government, no matter what we think of individual issues, has received designated authority from God and we are commanded to obey. However, when the government defies God’s law—telling us to murder babies, we are always called to obey God rather than man, no matter where our political affiliations lean. Shiphrah and Puah feared God and saved Moses’ life, and the lives of many others as well.
As you see, Jochebed was a godly woman—one of the most important mothers who ever lived, save the Virgin Mary.
Statements of praise have been raised about how daring Jochebed was to hide Moses for his first three months. How did she do it? Possibly, there were plenty of girl babies around crying and cooing, so maybe she felt safe until the three-month mark. We all know babies cry, sometimes piercingly loudly. They mess their diapers, now that's frequently a very stinky problem. For countless days and nights, every time Moses cried and every time she washed diapers in the Nile, Jochebed risked discovery and her own death, along with her youngest child. In faith, she knew he was special and that God had an important plan for this little boy. She was willing to take the necessary risks to see that plan fulfilled, even if a neighbor saw her changing a diaper. Was she fearless? I wouldn't go that far. Certainly, the fear of being reported to the Pharaoh's men had to be a sound reason to be anxious. More than likely, she came to realize that her baby was a boy who could not be concealed in safety any longer.
Whatever the circumstance, God led Jochebed to put her beautiful son in the reeds on the banks of a crocodile-infested river. We can only imagine the courage required to make that leap of faith and overcome her motherly fears. Within Hebrews 11, you'll find God commends Moses’ parents for their actions. They prayed they planned, they trusted God and carried out His will. That’s as good as an example that any set of parents could follow.
In a crazy way of thinking, unlike Shiphrah and Puah and the midwives who disobeyed, Jochebed actually followed the edict to put her boy child in the river. Sure, she used a tarred, floating basket, and trusted God's good plans to carry the baby boy to a safe destination. Her rewards were,—God not only saves her son’s life, but He also places Moses in the palace, and Jochebed gets paid for taking care of her own kid! By human hands, that would be impossible—but not by God's.
Now, as far as the details go—we don’t know whether Jochebed stayed at the princess's quarters at Pharaoh's house while nursing Moses or if mother and baby remained in the house of her husband Amram, in Goshen. Scripture would seem to indicate the latter. We do know, when the boy grew older, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him as a son. We know she was a compassionate young lady and was the only one that stood between Moses and an inhuman death. She was at the right time and place, showing mercy on an infant set adrift in a basket, whom she had to have surmised was a Hebrew child. This shows God can use anyone, even a person who follows a pagan god to accomplish His will. Because of Pharaoh's daughter, Moses was educated and lived forty years of his life in the palace. According to Acts 7:22, “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was might in words and in deeds.”
All in all, four women—a slave and mother, two handmaiden slaves, and a royal Egyptian Princess. Together, they preserved the life of Moses when he was a child, before he became a Hebrew leader, and thus freed and preserved the Jewish race.
How was the coming of Christ's life similar to Moses? Like Mary, Jochebed gave birth to a special, anointed child. Like Mary, Jochebed had to protect her son from their ruler’s evil plans. Herod had ordered all the baby boys killed, just like Pharaoh. God supernaturally protected both Moses and Jesus. Possibly most importantly, both had loving, caring mothers that kept them on a righteous path.
Questions to contemplate. What are your thoughts on why the Pharaoh’s daughter choose to keep, raise, and shelter Moses? Scripture said Moses was special at least three times. What about all the other babies who were killed, and why did God allow that to happen? Remember, the Israelites were banished into slavery and being punished for falling away from God Almighty. That certainly gave God all the reasons He needed.
Are there areas where you fail to trust God?
Imagine, if you will, just for a second: What if Jochebed had frozen in fear and didn't defy the Pharaoh? What if her baby boy had been found out and murdered like so many others? If that had been true, where would the Old Testament be? Would we be left with a Bible that contains only the New Testament? Which, by the way, would still enlighten our paths to salvation, but think of the rich histories we would be missing.
Was Hatshepsut God's appointed guardian of Moses?
Fifteenth-century BC was the time of Egyptian history's great Dynasty 18. Readers may note that 1440s BC, the Biblical date of the Exodus, derived from a literal reading of 1 Kings 6:1, falls within the early reign of Amenhotep II. He was a proud and boastful ruler. Amenhotep's personality corresponds with the Biblical portrayal of the Pharaoh with whom Moses dealt when he returned to Egypt from his Midianite sojourn. Exodus chapter 7, vs 7 reports that Moses was 80 years old when he came back to Egypt. Therefore, it can be mathematically calculated that Moses was born about 1526 BC, during the reign of Thutmosis I. Remember, this and the following thoughts are not supported or denied by the Bible.
Thutmosis the First had a daughter, Hatshepsut, but no sons by Queen Ahmose, his primary wife. Accordingly, and after three tries for a son, Hatshepsut was born in 1533 BC, plus or minus a few years. If Hatshepsut was born then, she would have been six or seven years old when Moses was born. She was not as old as pictured here.
Little else is known about Hatshepsut’s birth. Thutmosis the First did have sons, however, by secondary wives, one of which was Thutmosis II, the succeeding Pharaoh. In accordance with a custom in the early years of the 18th Dynasty, Thutmosis II married his half-sister Hatshepsut, born from Queen Ahmose, the first wife, in order to legitimize his religious and bloodline right to the throne.
It is probable that Hatshepsut and Thutmosis II wed shortly before he assumed the throne. Hatshepsut can have been no more than 15 years old when she married her half-brother, who became the reigning monarch.
Now you might ask, could a six-year-old girl have saved the baby in the basket? Most likely. We have all seen at one time or another how dominating a very young child can be. Add into the mix that this child was a princess who was used to getting her way and ordering her adult maidservants around. Then it all becomes within the realm of possibilities. Also, the young Hatsheput was quite willing to designate a nursing mother to raise the child for the next two to three years.
Thutmose II inherited the throne from their father and Hatshepsut his wife. When Thutmose II died, Hatshepsut became regent for her stepson, Thutmose III, who was deemed too young for the throne. Eventually, the two became co-rulers of Egypt. Other intriguing factors are how did Hatshepsut manage to assume power, keep it for so long and defy tradition, as well as why the male bureaucracy tolerated this abnormality? There are a few theories trying to answer that question. Egyptian records report that she possessed a strong character and did not let anyone or anything stand in her way. On a practical level, once becoming the regent, even in this temporary position, we can imagine that when she came to power, she carefully chose the official underlings who were to serve her.
Also, she may have anticipated her husband's early death (at age 29 or 30) and had ample time to prepare for taking the throne. Although she was supposed to only be co-regent with her stepson, her aspiration to become Pharaoh was soon apparent. By the end of year seven of her reign, she had abandoned the title and insignia of a queen and adopted the five-fold titulary and male costume of a king, including an official royal false beard.
The royal titulary is the standard naming convention taken by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. It symbolizes worldly power, holy might, and also acts as a sort of mission statement for the reign of a monarch. The full titulary consists of five names, and did not come into standard usage until the Middle Kingdom but remained as late as the Roman Empire.
With power and the throne solidified, Hatshepsut began to assert kingly prerogatives such as setting up obelisks and making offerings directly to gods.
The Biblical description of the discovery of Moses along the banks of the Nile River by the “Pharaoh’s daughter” (Exodus 2:3–10) could parallel the known life of Hatshepsut. In the Bible, the person who directed Moses’ rescue from the Nile, and later adopted him, is forever referred to as the “Pharaoh’s daughter” (Ex 2:5, 7, 9, 10; Acts 7:21; Heb 11:24). The Bible tells us she had slaves and attendants. The daughter of a Pharaoh must have been capable of commanding people to do her bidding even at a very young age. If Hatshepsut was about six or seven years old when Moses was born, it could well be that she was, indeed, the Biblical “Pharaoh’s daughter.”
It is conceivable that nobody could have foreseen the tremendous aftereffects and consequences of her plucking a Hebrew baby from the Nile to become her new “toy or baby brother.”
No other royal princess was alive during the first few years of Moses' youth. Hatshepsut was the sole child who survived past infancy from the marriage of Queen Ahmose, and the Pharaoh Thutmosis I. Queen Ahmose gave Thutmosis I four children, three of whom died in their youth. Thus, Hatshepsut was the only woman around in that era who could have been designated or titled “Pharaoh’s daughter.”
The Exodus account (2:3–10) continues to describe how “Pharaoh’s daughter” told Moses’ sister to take him to a nursemaid who, as we now know, turns out to be the child's natural mother. How long his mother cared for Moses is not recorded; however, Exodus 2:10 says “when the child grew older, she (Moses’ mother) took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son.” In looking at modern Arab culture of today, boys are breastfed much longer than girls, often for as long as two or three years.” One might assume that in ancient times, a similar practice prevailed. Especially if the nursemaid was the boy’s actual mother, knowing the boy was weaned and returned to “Pharaoh’s daughter,” she might never see him again. This could help explain why Moses had an un-royal-like empathy for the victim when he saw an Egyptian abusing that Hebrew slave (Ex 2:11–12; Acts 7:25–27). It is quite possible that the retaliation and vengeance sought upon Moses were not due only to his murder of an Egyptian official, but his association with Hatshepsut.
If you conclude that non-Biblical records support that if Hatshepsut was “Pharaoh’s daughter,” Moses would have been introduced into the royal house three or four years later and adopted by Hatshepsut when she was ten or eleven years of age. Therefore, Moses would have been raised in the royal harem along with other children of royal blood in ‘Household of the Royal Children,’ the most prestigious school in the land. Here the young male royals received the instruction which would prepare them for their future lives as some of the highest-ranking nobles in Egypt and the outlying conquered lands. Acts 7:22 states that “The Egyptians taught Moses everything they knew. He was powerful in all he said and did.”
Hatshepsut died around 1483 BC, whether she died a natural death, or was murdered, is disputed by Egyptologists. It is known, however, that many of Hatshepsut’s monuments and statues were defaced or destroyed after her death and entombment. Her name was erased from cartouches across the land and replaced with the names of her father or husband/half-brother. This would indicate that Thutmosis III acquiesced, if not fully supported, removing her memory. Which is very understandable if he had had to play a secondary role to her during the first 22 years of his reign.
In the first months of Moses’ life, God provided Jochebed and Amram with everything needed to follow His will. She knew her youngest son was a special part of God’s plan. She bravely defied Pharaoh even when it could have meant her own death. She had created and carried out a clever, courageous plan.
When the Israelites were again in exile several hundred years later, the prophet Jeremiah told God's people, “I know the plans I have for you—plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”(Jeremiah 29:11).
Stop a moment and bask in the comfort of knowing God has a plan for you. We need to approach God as the verses of Jeremiah 29:12-13 describe. Call on God, expect Him to do right by you. Pray to Jesus. Seek and find Him. God promises blessings upon us, but He desires our active participation. Jochebed knew Moses was special, but she didn’t just sit around and wait on God to act. She made a plan and carried it out. She knew she had an active part to play in the salvation of her son, which lead to the freedom of her people.
Has God revealed a portion of His plan to you? Do you know something about His will you have hesitated to engage? You do believe His Word, don't you? And you know His will for you is written on your heart. If so, meet Him on His path and go forward. He will supply you with the courage and confidence you need to fulfill His will!
The End, Amen!
