Exodus: The Birth Of Moses

Why Is This Important?

As we continue with our study of the book of Exodus, we are now going to look at the most important character besides God Himself over the next 4 books. That person of course is Moses. Moses is one of the most important Biblical figures, not just in the Old Testament, but in the New as well. The ways in which God used Moses cannot be overlooked or underestimated. It is undeniably clear that God had an amazing plan for Moses and had destined to use him in a mighty way. So why talk about his birth? If you were with us throughout the book of Genesis, you know that the common thread throughout all of Genesis and all of the Bible for that matter, is God’s sovereignty to accomplish whatever He wills. And one of the biggest areas in scripture where we see this take place is the very birth of Moses. As Christianity.com beautifully lays out, “Other than Jesus, Moses might be the most well-known character from the Bible. Moses is a key figure in Christianity, known for his role as a prophet, lawgiver, and leader in the Bible. His life, marked by divine encounters and miracles, raises many questions among Christians about his relationship with God and his significance in foreshadowing Christ.” With that being said, let’s look at why the beginning of his life can’t be overlooked. 

Historical Context

To start, we must look at the context in which Moses grew up. Exodus 1:15-16 says, “Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah; and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” Based on this text alone that we receive from the very first chapter of Exodus, we can see that Moses should have never gotten the chance to live. The current king and ruler over Egypt at this time felt threatened by the growth of the Israelite people(as discussed in our recent blog) and decided that he needed to take action to stop them. This plan that the king decided to put forth was to kill every male child that was born in order to stop the Israelite people from multiplying. This is obviously a disgusting and unrighteous act that is done by the king, but we can’t be surprised when acts like this occur from men who choose to walk away from the Lord. There is no question that the providence of God was watching over Moses and the plan that He had for His people to escape the terrible rule of this evil king. So how does Moses beat the odds? Or in other words, how does God intend to keep His plan alive through the midst of so much evil in Egypt? The answer to this question is in the very next verse. 

Sovereign Providence

Exodus 1:17 tells us, “But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.” This small yet beautiful passage shows us just how much God can use a heart that is dedicated to Him rather than to the ways of this world. To let a small, male child live under this current rule from the king of Egypt meant putting your life on the line. You weren’t just disagreeing with the king, you were deliberately disobeying his order to kill any child that was born a male. God installed the fear and reverence for His name into the very nature of these midwives that they would rather disobey an evil king than disobey the God they serve. It’s amid this evil kingship and the fear of the Lord reigning throughout the Israelites that Moses is born. Exodus 2:2-3 “And the woman conceived and gave birth to a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch. Then she put the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.” Here begins the infamous story of Moses being released in a basket into the Nile in hopes that he would survive. The reason for this as we see in the end of chapter 1, is because the king set forth much stricter rules to kill the sons of the Israelites when he found out that the midwives had been letting the male children live. 

Therefore, in an act of brave desperation, Moses’ mother indeed cast him into the Nile but did so in a manner where he had the best chance for survival. Now as you may know, the rest of the story involves Pharaoh’s daughter finding Moses in a basket and essentially saving his life by asking Moses’ sister to find someone to take care of him. This story is so popular that I fear people are actually missing out on how amazing this part of the story actually is. To give it to you plainly, Exodus 2:9-10 says, “Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’sdaughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.” This story is just dripping with the sovereignty of God from beginning to end. Not only did Moses survive the order of the land to be killed, not only did Moses survive being sent down the Nile in a basket, but he was also rescued by the daughter of the very person who ordered him to die in the first place. Not only that, but she gave Moeses’ mother the wages to take care of him under her orders! If this isn’t a providential act from God, I don’t know what is. There is so much more we have to get to regarding the life of Moses, but for now, I hope this was a solid intro for you to see just how much God prepared to use this man for His glory. I know you may already know who Moses is and these posts may be something that you want to simply gloss over, but I want to encourage you this week to not take this story for granted. As we read through Exodus, I hope and pray that you don’t just read the words on a page like you have so many times previously, but that you would see the hand of God at work in ways that you never have seen before. 

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Sources

[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/

[2] Bernock, D. (2024, March 5). Who was Moses in the Bible? Christianity.com. https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/who-was-moses-in-the-bible.html