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Exodus 2:1-10

INTRODUCTION: We are continuing with our series on Famous Mothers in the Bible for Mother’s Day. Today we are looking at “Jochebed – The Trusting Mother.” And as with all the messages in this series, even though the messages are about mothers and mostly directed towards mothers, because they deal with basic biblical principles, they are applicable to all of us – whether you’re a mother, father, sister, brother, daughter or son. (Read Exodus 2:1-4 and pray.)

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So, today in our series we are looking at Jochebed. Jochebed was the mother of three famous people in the Bible. She was the mother of Moses, the deliverer of Israel. She was the mother of Aaron, the first high priest of Israel. And she was the mother of Miriam, a prophetess, poet and singer in Israel. And so, these three were all siblings. Aaron was three years older than Moses, and Miriam was probably about ten years older than Moses.

Although Jochebed is not named in our passage today, she is named in two other places in Scripture, both genealogies, in Exodus 6:20 and Numbers 26:59. Jochebed’s name means “honor or glory of God,” and she certainly honored God with her life and with her faith. In fact, I’ve entitled today’s message: “Jochebed – The Trusting Mother,” because Jochebed is such a wonderful example of faith in God and learning to trust God with our children.

It’s not always easy for us to trust God with our children, and so this is where Jochebed’s story is so important for us to learn. Jochebed trusted God with her son, Moses. And we need to learn to trust God with our children, too.

We are going to look at three important lessons about trusting God with your children from our passage today: 1) Trust the Lord yourself; 2) Trust your children to the Lord; and 3) Raise your children in the Lord. So, let’s get started.

I. Trust the Lord yourself (1-2)
   – Hebrews 11:23

First of all, trust the Lord yourself. Before you can trust God with your children, it is essential that you have personal faith in God through Jesus Christ yourself. We see Jochebed’s personal faith in God in the opening two verses of our chapter:

Now a man of the house 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, she hid him for three months. (Exodus 2:1-2)

Jochebed became pregnant with Moses during a very difficult time. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt at this time. Pharaoh had told the Hebrew midwives to kill any of the Hebrew boys as they were being delivered. When the midwives refused and let them live, Pharaoh issued a new order: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” (Exodus 1:21) That order is found in the very last verse of Exodus 1, right before our passage this morning where we learn that Jochebed became pregnant.

So, imagine in this context how Jochebed must have felt when she learned she was pregnant. They didn’t have ultrasounds in those days, and so, of course, she would be wondering if she was carrying a boy or a girl and the fate that awaited her child if he was a boy. And then the day of delivery comes, and she gives birth to a son.

Fortunately, as we will see, Jochebed is a wonderful example of personal faith in the Lord. In fact, she along with her husband are listed among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. We read this in Hebrews 11:23: “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.” (Hebrews 11:23)

Hebrews 11 highlights two aspects of Jochebed’s faith that led to her hiding Moses after he was born. She saw that Moses was no ordinary child, and she was not afraid of the king’s edict.

   A. God has a special purpose for your child
      – Psalm 139:13-16

First, she saw that Moses was no ordinary child. Our passage in Exodus says she saw that he was “a fine child.” The word translated “fine” in Exodus 2 is a word that means beautiful or good. There was something about Moses that stood out to her, something that made her realize that God had a special purpose for her son.

Now, God did have a special purpose for Moses, but the point I want to make this morning for us is that God has a special purpose for every child. We read in Psalm 139:13-16: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

God had a special purpose for Moses, and moms and dads, God has a special purpose for your child also. God created your child in the womb. Your child is fearfully and wonderfully made. All the days ordained for your child were written in God’s book before one of them came to be. But it takes faith to see that. And Jochebed saw that. And so, by faith Jochebed hid Moses for three months because she saw that he was no ordinary child.

   B. Obey God rather than man
      – Acts 5:29

Hebrews 11 also tells us that Jochebed had faith because she was not afraid of the king’s edict. Remember, the king ordered that all Hebrew boys be thrown into the Nile. By faith Jochebed hid Moses for those three months because she was not afraid of the king’s command.

This took a lot of faith, because she was not only risking Moses’ life if she was caught. He was going to be thrown into the Mile anyways. She was also putting her own life at risk and her whole family as well – her husband, Amram, and her other two children, Miriam and Aaron. She is risking the whole family here.

But Jochebed knew that the king’s edict was wrong, and so she obeyed God’s law rather than the king’s law. It reminds me of the apostles in the New Testament when the religious authorities gave them strict orders to no longer teach in Jesus’ name. Peter and the apostles replied in Acts 5:29: “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29)

And so, Jochebed trusted God with her child by first trusting the Lord herself. She had faith. She saw something special in her child. She obeyed God rather than the king.

And it’s the same with you this morning. Before you can trust God with your children, you must first trust the Lord yourself. Trust God that he has a special purpose for your child. Obey God rather than man.

II. Trust your children to the Lord (3-9)

How do you trust God with your children? First, trust the Lord yourself. And then secondly, trust your children to the Lord. That’s what we see Jochebed doing next with her son, Moses.

   A. Give your children to the Lord
      – 1 Samuel 1:11

Look at verses 3-4 with me now:

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. (Exodus 2:3-4)

When she couldn’t hide him any longer, Jochebed exercised faith by giving her child over to the Lord. She put him in a basket by the banks of the Nile, and Moses’ older sister, Miriam, stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Can you imagine giving up your three-month old baby? Can you imagine – after giving birth to your child, after nursing your child, after quieting his cries in fear of discovery, after rocking and holding your child at night? Can you imagine giving up your child not knowing what would happen to him? But you see, Jochebed had done all that she could do. And now she needed to trust God by giving her child to the Lord.

Letting your children go is never easy for a parent. And it doesn’t happen just once. It happens over and over again – the first time leaving your child with a sitter; the first time dropping your child off to preschool; graduation; marriage; over and over again.

It’s been said, “Mothers begin saying goodbye to their children from the moment they are born.” And so, you need to start giving your children to the Lord from the moment they are born. I think of Samuel the prophet’s mother, Hannah, in the Old Testament. Hannah made a vow in 1 Samuel 1:11 saying: “I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life.” (1 Samuel 1:11) She actually made that vow even before her son was born.

Part of trusting God with your children is giving your children to the Lord. They are his anyways. They belong to him. You just need to give them to him in faith. And you have to do that over and over again.

   B. Trust God’s sovereign care
      – Romans 8:28

And then, once you’ve given your children to the Lord, you need to trust God’s sovereign care. I love this next section of our passage because here we see God’s amazing, loving, sovereign, providential, protective care in Moses’ life. Look at verse 5-6 with me now:

Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl 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. (Exodus 2:5-6)

Now, I want you to notice the irony here. Pharaoh ordered all the male Hebrew babies killed, as if it were only the men who were dangerous to his kingdom. But look how God worked through the women! God worked first of all through the midwives who spared the Hebrew babies. God worked through Jochebed who hid Moses for three months. God worked through Miriam who watched over Moses in the basket. And now God works through Pharaoh’s own daughter who comes along, finds the baby in the basket and has compassion on him.

But, wait, there’s more! It gets even better! Look at verses 7-8:

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. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother.” (Exodus 2:7-8)

Oh my, isn’t God good? Jochebed gives her baby to the Lord, and God gives him right back! Pharaoh’s daughter needs someone to nurse the baby. Quick-thinking Miriam steps in and says, “I know just the right person!”

Look at all that happened here under God’s sovereign care. You’ve got Moses in the basket. You have just the right place along the banks of the Nile. You have the timing of Pharaoh’s daughter arriving when she did. You have baby Moses crying, and then Pharaoh’s daughter having compassion. You have Miriam being right there, and then Miriam offering to get someone to nurse the baby, and Pharaoh’s daughter agreeing. Only God could work out all these details in such a marvelous way.

Romans 8:28 in the New Testament says this: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

God is sovereign, and God is good. And when you give your children to the Lord, you can trust God’s sovereign care. You can trust that God loves your children even more than you do. You can trust that God can take better care of your children than you can.

And so, this is the second way Jochebed trusted God with her child. She trusted Moses to the Lord. When she could hide him no longer, she placed him in the basket among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. In God’s sovereignty Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket, and she felt sorry for the baby.

III. Raise your children in the Lord (9-10)
   – Proverbs 22:6

How do you trust God with your children? 1) Trust the Lord yourself. 2) Trust your children to the Lord. And then 3) Raise your children in the Lord. Look at verses 9-10 with me now:

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.” (Exodus 2:9-10) [The name Moses sounds like the Hebrews word for “drawing out.”]

Now I want you to notice another part of God’s sovereign care here. Not only does Jochebed get her baby back. She even gets paid to take care of him! God is so good!

Now Jochebed probably got Moses back for about three to five years. This was plenty of time for her to teach him about God and God’s people and God’s plan. I’m sure she taught him all about God creating the world, about Noah and the flood, about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, about Joseph and Egypt, and about God’s earlier promise to Abraham that God would deliver his people from Egypt after 400 years of slavery (Genesis 15:3-4).

God in his sovereignty allowed Jochebed to raise Moses herself and to teach him faith in God. Then, when he was older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And this was all part of God’s plan to rescue the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Jochebed knew that she had limited time with her son. So, you can imagine her urgency in teaching him all that she could. Parents, understand that you also have limited time with your children before they move on. And so, may you also have that same sense of urgency!

Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) So, how do you raise your children in the Lord? Let me just highlight three things here.

   A. Teach them God’s word
      – Deuteronomy 11:18-19; 2 Timothy 3:15

First of all, teach them God’s word. Deuteronomy 11 says: “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds…. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)

We read Paul’s words to Timothy in the New Testament in 2 Timothy 3:15: “How from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

It is so important to teach your children God’s word. Teach them about God and Jesus from the Bible. Teach them the stories of the Bible. Teach them about God’s love and his promises. Teach them about sin and the need for forgiveness. Teach them about Jesus and the cross and salvation through faith in him. How do you raise your children in the Lord? First of all, teach them God’s word.

   B. Bring them to church
      – Hebrew 10:25

And then secondly, bring them to church. Hebrew 10:25 says: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrew 10:25)

Coming to church as a family is so important to raising your child in the Lord. It is in the church that your child learns to love God and God’s people. It is by going to church every week as a family that your child learns to worship. They learn the importance of church so that they will make it a part of their own life when they grow older.

I sometimes put this saying out front on our church sign: “Don’t send your kids to church. Bring them.” Bring your children to church. Come as a family. It is one of the most important things you can do to raise your children in the Lord.

   C. Pray with them and for them
      – Matthew 19:13

And then thirdly, pray with them and for them. Prayer is essential for your children. We read in Matthew 19:13: “Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them.” (Matthew 19:13) When you pray with and for your children, you are following Jesus’ example who gladly prayed for the children brought to him.

O. Hallesby wrote to parents:

“See to it, night and day, that you pray for your children. Then you will leave them a great legacy of answers to prayer, which will follow them all the days of their life. Then you may calmly and with a good conscience depart from them, even though you may not leave them a great deal of material wealth.” (O. Hallesby)

How do you raise your children in the Lord? Teach them God’s word. Bring them to church. Pray with them and for them. And then, it is time to let them go again! Once again, it seems mothers are forever saying goodbye to their children. Christian mothers are continuously placing their children in papyrus boats and releasing them in faith to the Lord of the waters.

You can’t parent your child forever. But you can provide them with a strong foundation before you release them into the world. You raise your children in the Lord. And then you let them go. You do what you can, and then you trust them to God’s care.

CONCLUSION: Moses was born during difficult times, but Jochebed trusted God with her child. As a result, Moses grew up knowing God, loving God’s people and fulfilling God’s purpose for his life.

We also need to trust God with our children. Trust in the Lord yourself. Trust your children to the Lord. Raise your children in the Lord. Never stop loving them. Never stop praying for your children to know God, to love God’s people and to seek God’s will for their life. Learn from Jochebed’s example. Ask God to make you a trusting mother.

© Ray Fowler

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