Exodus 2: 1-10….Saved by Adoption.

Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And 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. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.

Comment: This is an abbreviated story as historically we know that the family already had two living children, Miriam a daughter and Aaron 3 years old when this baby was born. Who can know exactly what the mother was thinking. Maybe she was hoping for a miracle; maybe she had a dream telling her what to do; maybe she knew that the Princess bathed near the chosen spot; maybe she was just desperate and hoping that somehow something would happen to save her precious baby! It is not written here but I think if seen in the context of what God was going to do for the Hebrews, whatever she was thinking God was in charge. So a Princess, of whom we know little, rescued him eventually into the Pharaoh’s residence but first she gave the baby’s mother the privilege of suckling her own baby until he was weaned. As the old hymn says ‘God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform!’

Prayer: Thank You, Father God, by working behind the scenes we can see.