Prayer
Father, may these spoken words be true to the written word and lead us all to the living Word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mothering Sunday
Today, as we have already heard, is mothering Sunday. A time when, traditionally, we return to our mother church, and so get to visit our mothers. In our Old Testament reading, we heard about the early days of Moses’ life. But the story concentrates on the desperate actions of his mother. Why would any mother give up her child?
Well, it depends on the circumstances. We have seen in our time that when there is a threat, a mother will do whatever it takes to keep her child safe.
Kindertransport
In 1938, the UK government allowed 10,000 unaccompanied children to enter the UK, to save them from almost certain death under the Nazis. It was known as the kindertransport. Each one of those children was sent here by their parents, who were willing to give up their children, in the hope that they would survive. While at the same time being fairly sure that they themselves wouldn’t.
Evacuations
A short time later, British children were being evacuated from major cities to save them from bombing raids. There are plenty of records from the children's point of view – some loved it, and some hated it. But there doesn’t seem to be much from the parent's point of view. I suspect the parents mainly hated it. Nevertheless, the children were prepared and sent to stay with unknown families, sometimes hundreds of miles away. Anything to keep them safe.
Slaves in Egypt
The Israelites were slaves in Egypt at the time, Moses was born. Despite this, their birth rate was significantly higher than that of the Egyptians, so they were in danger of becoming too numerous. If that happened, the Egyptians feared it would be too difficult to keep them under control and there would be a revolution. So, the pharaoh had taken a decision that all the young boys should be killed as soon as they were born.
Kill Order
As with all oppressive regimes, this order was given and the slaves were expected to carry it out themselves. The midwives were the chosen operatives – their orders: if the woman gives birth to a boy, kill him, if she gives birth to a girl, let her live. But they didn’t obey the order, because they love God more than they fear the Egyptians.
Moses Mother
Jochebed, Moses mother, (Numbers 26:59) already had at least two children when Moses was born. His brother Aaron, just a few years older, who had not been subject to this order, and his sister – Miriam – quite a lot older, who would help out with the saving of Moses.
Baby Noticeable
Moses is now 3 months old, and Jochebed and the family have, so far, succeeded in keeping him hidden, but that’s now becoming impossible. Something has to be done. So a plan is made. I’d love to know how much of it was discussed by the family. I like to imagine them around the dinning table discussing what they will do. If it was their plan, it is certainly high risk. If it wasn’t, what were they expecting to happen?
Crocodiles
So, his mother gets a basket, and makes it waterproof, puts him in it, and puts it in the reeds at the edge of the river. In those days, it is believed that there were crocodiles along much of the river, covering a much greater area than they do today. There’s the first risk – the baby is eaten by a crocodile. There’s not much that the watching Miriam could have done about that. Crocodiles are not known for being easily shooed away.
Pharaoh’s daughter
Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bath, probably not to wash herself, but most likely some sort of religious cleansing ceremony. We must assume that this was a regular occurrence and Jochebed knew roughly when she would arrive. There is still the risk that she might not notice the basket, or might not take any interest in it.
Her attendants stay on the bank, perhaps keeping an eye out for crocodiles, and to ensure she remains safe and undisturbed by the Israelite slaves.
At least one of the attendants (all probably slaves, but probably not Israelites) gets wet retrieving the basket, Pharaoh’s daughter is immediately smitten with the child. Even though she knows he is a slave baby, she decides to keep him.
Back with his Mother
Then Miriam plays her part, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”. He is not yet weaned, and there was no baby formula milk in those days, so someone had to be found who could feed the baby, and the obvious choice is his mother.
But there is still the risk that Pharaoh’s daughter could have decided to take him to the palace and find a wet nurse there.
Now, as a bonus, Jochebed is being paid for a few months to look after her own son, and he is protected from the Egyptian order to kill the baby boys, because he belongs to Pharaoh’s daughter.
Happy Ending?
This is not the happy ending that Jochebed might have hoped for, because as we see from the last verse of the reading, the boy is adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter when he is old enough and so is lost to his mother, but at least she knows he is still alive.
Alternative View
There’s an alternative view to this narrative, and that is that all that happened was the result of some sort of emergency and it was the only thing could do in the short time she had before the baby was discovered.
Where is God?
Either way, you may have noticed that God is not mentioned in this passage. Unlike in our NT reading, there is no prophet delivering the bad news, or a warning, or even a plan for the baby’s rescue. There is no evidence of a direct word from God to Jochebed, which surely would have been recorded if it had happened. So where is God? Is He just an observer, watching and waiting?
What God is doing
That’s not the God I know. The God I know, has his eye on the baby, and is looking after him. We know that Moses will be instrumental in freeing his people from the oppression they are experiencing in Egypt. He will be the man that future generations look back to, and the model for how to be a good Israelite. God will have been there, working to ensure that the right things happen at the right time. Making sure that Pharaoh’s daughter goes to bathe just as the baby is put in the water. Making sure that she notices the basket and is curious enough to look inside. Making sure that the baby is crying at just the right time. Maybe making sure that the local crocodiles are well-fed and sleepy.
How God works
When we look back on things, that is how we see God working in our own time. We rarely get a message from a prophet or a vision of angels as Mary had, but somehow the things God wants to happen, just seem to work out. He shows his love for us in many ways, sometimes that is by providing us with a loving mother like Jochebed, or someone who takes the place of a mother, like pharaoh's daughter.
Mother God
We see in this story that God can be mother for us just as well as he can father for us. (Why not? He created both mothers and fathers). We see His provision of motherly care for Moses, not only by his birth mother but also by pharaoh's daughter, who became his adoptive mother.
Moses didn’t forget
We are not told any more about Moses’ upbringing, but we know that he knew he was a Hebrew (an Israelite), so he is aware of his heritage. At the right time, God will introduce Himself to Moses and the work of redemption will begin.
“but God …”
The Egyptians wanted to reduce the numbers of the Israelites, and make them easier to manage, but God had other ideas, other plans for his people and especially for this family. Out of their number, from the tribe of Levi – the priestly tribe – God chose new leaders in a way that showed His supremacy over the Egyptians. So much so, that He even made them pay for the baby’s care for a few months.
That’s the God that I know!
Amen.
The sermon was recorded for the video service, my recording is on Youtube: https://youtu.be/XDFcPrr7MfI
References
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/exodus-2-1-10-rev-randy-barker-sermon-on-moses-birth-190823
http://www.stlukemoulsham.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/St_Lukes_Church_Sermon_2020-03-22.pdf
https://minorprophetssermons.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/exodus-21-10/
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/12/children-evacuation-london-second-world-war
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-evacuated-children-of-the-second-world-war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindertransport
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