Light Dawns on the Nile

Light Dawns on the Nile Exodus 2:1-10 Context • Israel in Egypt: slavery and growth. • Pharoah’s Dilemma: hold on to Israel’s slave labor; reduce the population’s size. • Two previous failed attempts: (1) Increase the labor; (2) use midwives to kill the male babies at birth. • Now we have the third and final solution: Cast all the newborn boys into the Nile. A Remarkable Birth (2:1-2) 1. Moses’s Parents (2:1) • Levites – see Genesis 49:5-6; Numbers 3:1-13 • Jochebed and Amram (Exodus 6:20; Numbers 26:59) 2. A Fine Child (2:2) • “Conceived and bore a son” – 16th and final time Moses uses this formula to indicate an important birth • Fine – “That he was good”; same phrase used by God to describe creation. • Moses is the third child of the family – Aaron is 3 years older and Miriam older still. Jochebed’s Plan (2:3-4) 1. She took a basket – Box/Ark 2. She “layered” – see 1:14 3. “Bitumen and pitch” should be understood as 1 thing, not two (like we would consider a cake 1 thing, though it’s made up of many things) 4. The plan is clearly concealment, not abandonment. 5. Sometimes, however, God’s plan diverges from ours, no matter how ingenious our ideas may be. A Terrifying Coincidence (2:5-6) 1. Pharaoh’s Daughter and her Retinue: • • Likely a religious washing This section was likely very calm, secluded, and crocodile free – just the place for a princess to bathe or for a baby to hide 2. The Princess Takes Notice: • • • “Behold! A child!” Weeping = most intense form of crying in Hebrew Pity –a special kind of life-saving pity God Works for the Greatest Good (2:7-10) 1. Miriam’s marvelous wisdom (2:7) 2. A blessed reunion (2:8) 3. Formal Adoption (2:9) – Pharaoh’s daughter takes firm and decisive action. 4. Adoption Finalized (2:10) – Pharaoh’s daughter is given the right of naming the child; Moses is now given every possible advantage a future leader would need. Delicious Ironies • Pharaoh “lets” the women live; God uses only women to further His grand plan. • Pharaoh’s instruments of torture were mortar and the Nile, the two instruments God uses to save a Deliverer. • Pharaoh feeds and educates the man who will one day destroy Pharaoh’s nation. Application By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict (Hebrews 11:23) Exodus 2:1-10 is the story of two parents who exercised desperate, day-to-day, audacious faith. Nothing went as planned; everything went as planned.