“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” Exodus 2:3
The Egyptian Pharaoh who “knew not Joseph” was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the growth and influence of the Hebrew population in Egypt. Besides enslaving them, the Pharaoh had instructed the midwives to participate in a covert state programme of systematic and surgical infanticide. It was surgical in that only the boy babies were to be intentionally killed at birth. Girls were to be allowed to live (see. Exod. 1:16). The success of this programme was being thwarted and undermined by the agents of the state (see Exod. 1.17). A new scheme was devised which required the participation of the entire Egyptian population and not just the midwives. The instruction to the Egyptians was that: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live” (Exod. 1:22).
When Jochebed gave birth to a promising baby boy, she hid him in her house until it was no longer safe to do so. Exod. 2 tells us that “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”. The same Nile! Pharaoh’s daughter, offspring of that very Pharaoh, went by the river to bathe and happened upon the child. The brilliant thinking of Miriam, the boy’s big sister, resulted in Jochebed being employed and paid to nurse and care for her son. When the child was old enough, he was taken to the Egyptian Palace and named Moses.
In Pharaoh’s hand, and according to his evil and malicious will and intention, the River Nile should have been the watery grave of baby Moses. However, in God’s hand, and according to the purpose and will of God, the River Nile comprised the waters from which Moses would sail into the Pharaoh’s Palace and become an instrument for the liberation of Israel and the formation of a nation state.
What can we learn from this story? It seems to me that one of the inspiring lessons that we can glean from this, is that for the sake of the work and the glory of God, an instrument of death and destruction can become the source of life and hope.
Some years ago, a student was converted from Islam to Christianity. On returning home, he informed his parents, and they were both furious and disappointed, but he held firmly to his new-found faith. A couple days later, as they all gathered for the evening meal, they began to partake of their soup. The young man brought his cup to his mouth to start drinking, but the vessel slipped from his hands, and the soup spilt all over the floor. As he cleaned up the chair and floor, the cat started licking up the soup. Alas! A few minutes after, the cat died. That same afternoon, the entire family made a decision to accept and serve Christ. The instrument of death, for God’s sake, had become an inspiration for life.
God’s will and purpose is supreme.
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