It is an unquestionable fact of scripture that God blessed the forbidden marriage of Amram and Jochebed. Jochebed took baby Moses and placed him in an ark of bulrushes. Jochebed: Mother of Moses. Moses's mother, a Levite, later identified as Jochebed (Numbers 26:59), had married a Levite and given birth to a son. The restoration of maidenhood also included the resumption of her fertility. Faith is not testing God by jumping off bridges or having oneself deliberately bitten by rattlesnakes. It seems that God impressed upon their hearts the conviction that their very child, Moses, should be the one whom God would use to bring about the promised deliverance. Thus it was easy for Amram and Jochebed to add up the years of Israels stay in Egypt, and see that the time of deliverance which God had promised had almost come. In 2433 AM, Jochebed gave birth to . Beginning at verse 4 in Exodus 2, we see how God, in response to the faith of this mother who dared to trust in His Wordsets in motion a whole chain of wonderful events to accomplish His purposes and to honor her faith. She is noted among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. When she saw that he was a healthy child, she hid him for three months. She was told to do that. Devorah and her husband Maurice Sklar ran Maurice Sklar Ministries, founded by Maurice Sklar, which has about 10,000 followers online. A little boy spent many hours making a small boat and then he took it to the lake. To save her son's, Moses' life, she made a wooden . Would he forget me? That same day God swore that the Ark and the Torah would be entrusted to the arms of his descendants (the Kohathites are the only ones who bore the Ark during the journeying in the wilderness, as is attested in Num. Surely the words of Hebrews 11:6, Without faith it is impossible to please God, include the concept of sustaining faith. Hebrew: MSH Mosheh (M. T.), Greek: Mouses, Moses. Act out Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses. Just like today, true faith was mixed with pagan beliefs. "There arose up a new king over Egypt," or rather a new dynasty, "which knew not Joseph" ( Exd 1:8 . We must put on the shield of faith and believe that God is sending the trials to prepare us for even greater blessings. And the princess told the little slave girl to go and get a nurse of the Hebrew womenand when she came back with their own mother, Pharaohs daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. With tears running down his cheek, he appealed to an older brother for help, and the brother picked up big stones and threw them out toward the boat. Exodus 2:3 But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. So she made a little miniature Nile boat for her baby.2) She put the child in the basket among the reeds near the bank of the river. Would he be treated differently because he was Hebrew? She saw that he was a beautiful child, and hid him for three months. We face a variety of trials. She therefore was called daughter [bat, which also means young girl] of Levi, because she was once again as a young girl (BT Bava Batra 120a). First, we need to estimate the population that went down to Egypt with Jacob, the amount of time and generations that elapsed between then and the Exodus, and any relevant data points that . At any rate, Pharaohs daughter was determined to give protection to the baby. What strong faith this woman had, but also what courage. [2] No details are given concerning her life. One wonders why Pharaohs daughter wanted to bathe herself in the dirty waters of the Nile River. She named him Moses. The next day the Egyptian women would say that I nursed the one who speaks with the Shekhinah [the Divine Presence] (Ex. After three months Jochebed was forced to obey the decree of Pharaoh. God always honors such faith as theirs. 6:20). Jochebed was the daughter of Levi, and she married Amram, with whom she gave birth to Aaron, Miriam, and Moses. Another proof that "bare" in Numbers 26:59 cannot indicate an immediate father-son or father-daughter relationship is found by considering that this verse states Jochebed was a daughter of Levi. It is interesting to consider that, in Leviticus 18:12, such marriages were forbidden, but this was before that injunction. The woman conceived and bore a son, since she conceived before this second marriage? She brought him to all the Egyptian women, but Moses was not willing to nurse from any of them. The story is familiar to many, but so that we have it clearly in mind, we summarize it here. We will notice several aspects of Jochebeds faith-walk. Jochebed was a daughter of Levi (Exodus 2:1), and the mother of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam (Exodus 6:20; Numbers 26:59). Adoption is a wonderful way to unconditionally love someone but it comes with a painful price tag (as well see in our story). I was in shock. And down through the ages mothers have gone to great measures that required courage to guide and protect their children. Jacob, his sons, and their families had gone into Egypt to live because there was a severe famine in their land, and they were able to find food in Egypt. Then she put the baby in it and set it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile River. Jochebed enjoyed longevity, living to witness the positions of leadership held by her children, and was even one of the Israelites who entered the land of Canaan. Jochebed complied with the royal decree, but in protecting the child from the deep waters of the river, the essential point of the decree (killing the male babies) was disregarded. for a little while. Moses would become God's servant who would lead Israel out of Egypt. Jochebed Mother of Moses. Yet the Bible reveals that Levi and his son and grandson all had very long life spans. Amram and Jochebed committed Moses to the ark, and the ark would come between Moses and death. However, when Amram married his aunt, this was before the Torah had been goven on Mount Sinai, soits laws didn't apply yet. Imagine being her as she left him here alone in the water. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us - including overcoming our greatest fears. Ofra sang the lullaby in 18 languages for the film's dubbing (including her native Hebrew). Moses, in the wilderness, instructed them to put away pagan gods. Has anything just happened to you recently that you know really was God working for you? In fact, the goodness and mercy of God were so great that the mother was even paid for nursing her own son! One of the arguments advanced by Moses was his mothers suffering. Why to Trust? The Pharaoh had decreed that all their baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile, because he feared that they might become too powerful. According to another midrash, Moses rejected the breasts of the Egyptian women because he said: God will speak with me. Lit. Jochebed bore Amram three righteous offspring. Only because she trusted the Lord could she abandon her son rather than see him killed. 2 R. Alan Cole, Exodus, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, ed. But that was not the case. JOCHEBED (Heb. He had a string tied to the boat and was holding the string in his handbut the string slipped from his fingers, and a breeze carried the boat beyond his reach. When she placed little Moses in the Nile River that day, Jochebed could not have known that he would grow up to be one of God's greatest leaders, chosen to rescue the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. Those must have been precious years. Genuine faith also has rewards. The Torah seemingly chose to concentrate on the birth of Israels deliverer, and therefore did not mention his two elder siblings. A resolute faith and holy background were the foundation for her remarkable strength and trust in the promises of God. Jochebed's story is the third part of our eight-week Bible study - Ordinary Parents with Extraordinary Faith. The Haggadah extends this miraculous nature to Moses' conception by marking as 120 the age of Jochebed at conception. The child, found by the pharaoh's daughter while bathing, was reared in the Egyptian court. One of her maidservants saw the basket and brought it to her. When she saw that he was a "fine" child, she hid him for three months and when she could do so no longer, she made a basket out of bulrushes and put him among the reeds by the river bank. And works His sovereign will. She put the child in it and set it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile. Amram and Jochebed had a daughter, Miriam, and two sons, Aaron and Moses. The latest date that Jochebed could have been born was 2385 AM (1620 BC), the year her father died. He said: Master of the Universe! " That decree applied only to the men and not to the women. To protect Moses from Pharaoh's command that every male Hebrew child be killed, she placed him in an ark of bulrushes on the river. Jochebed placed Moses in a basket and released him in the flow of River Nile. She also was a descendant of Levi, born among the Levites in the land of Egypt. Even today, I cant tell you how hard it is at times not to want somehow control his diabetes: to make sure hes eating good food, exercising, taking care of himself, but he has a wife and two daughtersI really have to Let it go and trust Godand I do Trust and pray . When Jacob went to stay with his uncle Laban, he met one of his daughters, Rachel, and loved her. 2 tells of the birth of Moses. Amram Remarries Jochebed His Name Bringing Heaven Down to Earth Sinless Amram Marries Jochebed Amram married his aunt Jochebed in Egypt. We indeed must marvel at Jobs faith. When Moses, her youngest child, was born, Jochebed hid him for three months until she could hide him no longer. [5] Jochebed is also called Amram's father's sister in the Masoretic text of Exodus 6:20, but ancient translations differ in this. To save her son's life, she waterproofed a basket and put the child in it. Exodus 1:10-14 describes the hardships placed upon the Hebrew people. Epstein-Melamed], p. 6; BT Sotah 12a; Pesikta Rabbati 43). Her thoughtful nature was consistent throughout the Bible story of Moses in the basket. Jochebed had faith in God's protection of her baby. Whatever it is, we must remember that God is still on the thronethat He is behind the scenes working out all things for our ultimate good. Thus Jochebed nursed her son until he was old enough and brought him to the Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her son. He is the author "Hope for Hurting Singles: A Christian Guide to Overcoming Life's Challenges.". I have stayed my heart on Thee. By faith, Jochebed placed her son, Moses, in a papyrus basket and placed it in the Nile River where the Pharaohs daughter found the basket and child. Jochebed was married to Amram. Kadari, Tamar. We don't know but we hope that she too was alive to see the Exodus. To adopt a child means someone has to give up a child. Jochebed just happened to be available and able to nurse? When Moses was born, Jochebed saw (Ex. She is identified as Shiphrah, one of the Hebrew midwives who saved the newborn baby boys from Pharaoh. Rabbi (Judah ha-Nasi) would sit and expound, and the public was drowsing. So what happens when you trust God, eyewitness account: Miriam is near by, watching and.. Exodus 2:5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself by the Nile, while her attendants were walking alongside the river, and she saw the basket among the reeds. Think of her alterative choices. She is a witless baby. Still another notion bases its understanding of the name on Job 26:13: By his wind the heavens were calmed [shifrah]. The verse describes the heavens that were created by God for Israel, and it was Shiphrah who returned Israel to their Father in heaven (Eccl. That Jochebed could still be bearing children at the age of forty-eight might seem unlikely by modern standards. Jochebed's story is one of trust, courage, and faith. The Rabbis identify Jochebed with Shiphrah, one of the two Hebrew midwives (Shiphrah and Puah) who delivered the children of the Israelites during the Egyptian servitude. On what was this confidence and hope based? 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