The Mother Who’s Faith Destroyed Pharaoh

THE MOTHER WHO’S FAITH DESTROYED PHARAOH

Exodus 1-2

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. JOKE.

a. A little boy was talking to the girl next door. "I wonder what my mother would like for Mother's Day?"

b. The girl answered, "Well, you could promise to keep your room clean, go to bed when you're told, brush your teeth after eating, they quit fighting with your brothers and sisters, especially at the dinner table."

c. The boy looked at her and said, "No, I mean something practical."

2. JOKE.

a. I once read the story of a woman who went shopping for swimsuits with her mother. In the department store, though, she was having a hard time finding one that fit. After trying on at least 10, all to no avail, she grew increasingly frustrated.

b. Trying to calm her, her mother said "Look at it this way: what would you rather have – the husband and three children who adore you, or a swimsuit that fits?"

c. Before she could answer, a faceless voice from the next dressing room stall replied, "I want a swimsuit that fits!" Not every woman wants to be a mother!

B. TEXT

“Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live” Ex. 1:22. 2:1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child [“no ordinary child,” Heb. 11:23], she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water” Ex. 2:1-10.

C. THESIS

1. I want us to look at a woman of which little is known, but she was a woman of great courage and faith.

2. Let's look at what made Jochebed (Ex. 6:20) such a great woman, let's look at what trials she endured, and how God was faithful to her.

I. WHAT MADE HER SO GREAT?

A. SHE KEPT HER FAITH IN A DARK HOUR

1. Not only were Jochebed and Amram dirt poor, they lived in one of the darkest hours of Israel's history.

a. The entire nation was in brutal slavery. The Egyptians were intentionally ruthless. There was no escape and no one to help them.

b. For population control, the Egyptians had begun killing their children. It’s easy to trust God when everything is going OK, but let the storm clouds gather – and we have to start thanking Him by faith!

c. Some of you mothers are experiencing dark times of your own.

1). You’re worried about your kids

2). You feel like giving up; hopeless. You wonder if God is hearing your prayers.

3). But as long as there is a God in heaven, there's a way out/hope.

2. Jochebed kept Moses hidden, not because of fear, but because of faith – she saw he was no "ordinary child;" she sensed a divine purpose!

a. But there’s something about having new life – you can’t hid it! It makes itself known. The time came when Jochebed could no longer keep Moses hidden.

b. There was probably a death penalty for hiding children, but she wouldn’t give up her boy no matter the cost!

c. It’s not just giving birth that counts, but having the grit to fight Satan and raise your kids for God!

B. SHE MADE GOOD USE OF HER LIMITED TIME

1. How incredible/awesome God is -- that Pharaoh's daughter not only gave Moses back to his mother with royal protection, but paid her to nurse him. What a deal! That’s like getting paid to eat Blue Bell ice cream! Not only that, but no one could put Moses to death, because he was under the Princesses’ protection.