God's Plan in the Basket

Exodus 2:1-10

Theme: God’s providence and care work through ordinary people and circumstances to fulfill His extraordinary purposes.

I. Introduction

Today is a day when we take the time to honor the one human being who unselfishly gives herself to her children time and time again, without asking for anything in return. If your life has been blessed by the touch of a godly mother, then you have enjoyed one of this world’s greatest treasures and blessings. Not everyone has enjoyed this great blessing but those who have will go to their grave remembering the love of their mother. We set aside one day a year to honor mothers. The majority of them deserve it, and they truly are VIPs. Abraham Lincoln declared, “no man is poor who has had a godly mother.” In this passage, we are introduced to a woman named Jochebed. She stands out as one of the greatest mothers revealed in the pages of Scripture. Her selfless love and sacrifice made possible the exodus of God’s people from Egypt and it literally changed the course of history.

Life doesn’t always look like God is in control, especially in times of oppression, danger, or silence.

Exodus opens with Israel suffering under slavery and genocide.

Yet in the midst of tragedy, God is already working behind the scenes—through a mother, a sister, and even Pharaoh’s own daughter.

Let’s Pray.

Exodus 2:1–10 NASB95

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had 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 a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Then 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. The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

II. The Courage of a Mother (vv. 1–3)

"Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman..."

As we read this story, we are not given the woman’s name until we get to chapter 6, verse 20. Her name is Jochebed.

Jochebed was an Israelite, one of God’s chosen people. She was also a member of the tribe of Levi from which would come the priests and those who would carry out the duties of the Tabernacle and later of the Temple. She, and her husband Amram, were evidently very dedicated and righteous people. They were willing to defy the order of Pharaoh and keep the commandments of God.

We see her defy Pharaoh’s decree.

Her love and faith push her to act even when it meant risking her life.

Jochebed refused to give in to a godless system and the decree of Pharaoh that would have cost her the life of her son. Righteous and Godly parents aren’t afraid to take a stand for that which is right in these dark, sinful days! They are men and women who demand more for their children than the world can give them.

They are parents who are willing to say, “Enough is enough, my child is going to learn the way of the Lord!” People who will declare the same thing Joshua declared for His family, Joshua 24:15 He said, “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We desperately need some courageous people in these evil times! It is very interesting to note that in our day, it is often the young people have more of a heart for God and His righteousness than do their parents. It is a blessing when young folks live for God, but it is the parents who ought to set the example in courage and godliness for those who are following behind! True discipleship begins at home.

Once a little boy asked his father what a Christian was. For a long time, the father sat with the son explaining in great detail exactly what a Christian was supposed to be. When he was finished, he felt like he had done a pretty good job of describing a Christian, as well as himself. His illusions, however, were shattered when his son asked, “Dad, have I ever met one?”

The line has been blurred and religion is being mistaken for righteousness. Christianity has been labeled a religion when it is meant to be a way of life. The church is unfortunately filled with religious people headed to hell with very few true righteous leading to eternal life. It is no wonder the church has become irrelevant in today’s world because it is being run by those of the world. It is time for the righteous to step up and speak out and bring the relevance back.

Today, the world is also clamoring for the death of children. Don’t let children get in the way of your happiness. Killing children is just another form of birth control. It is evil and it is murder. When someone decides to end the life of a child, they have made themselves God. instead of trusting God with the things they can’t control.

Application: God often begins great deliverances through the quiet courage of the faithful.

III. Trusting God with What You Can’t Control (v. 3)

"She got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch."

The word for “basket” is the same as “ark” in Genesis 6 (Noah’s ark)—a symbol of God’s salvation.

She didn’t just abandon Moses—she placed him in God’s hands.

It took real faith to resist the world and circumstances around her. The world was crying out for the death of her son, but this mother stood strong in the face of this attack and placed her son above the will of the world!

It is no different today. The world demands that parents hand over their children and allow them to be trained and taught the ways of the world and by our evil government. But, our children need and deserve better than that!

We need some parents who will teach their children the ways of God and steer them clear of the world and its perverse ways.

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ““Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

It takes real faith to go against the grain and raise your children for the Lord, but God will bless you, and them, for it!

It takes real faith for her to give her child up. However, the death of her child was never an option. She left his fate to the will of the Lord.

Application: There comes a time when we must place our most precious burdens into the "basket" and trust God to carry them.

IV. Divine Appointments (vv. 4–6)

"Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile..."

God orchestrates Pharaoh’s daughter to be there at just the right time.

She shows compassion, perhaps the first crack in Pharaoh’s hard system.

Application: God can raise up allies in the most unexpected places—even in enemy territory.

V. God's Irony and Provision (vv. 7–10)

"Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"

Moses’ own mother is paid to nurse him—God turns loss into restoration.

It took great faith for her to raise this child under those conditions. However, she was given the opportunity to teach Moses about Jehovah, about true worship and about right living. She had the opportunity to do her best by her son.

Make no mistake about it. We are required to do the same thing! All we can do is our best by our children. They need love, acceptance, Bible teaching, preaching, church, godly examples to emulate and especially, they need a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ! If you give your children to God and then give them all the God you can, you have done your best. They then have a foundation from which they can grow and mature into healthy, righteous, men and women of God.

Moses is raised in the palace, trained in Egyptian wisdom—preparing him for God’s future mission.

Her son became a great man of God. He was the one man whom God had chosen to be the deliverer of the people of God and the one who was destined to be known as the Great Lawgiver Of Israel. I would imagine that Jochebed never realized his potential when he was a baby. I suppose that she lived the remainder of her life and never knew what God did with the life of Moses. However, in her own way, Jochebed rises as high as any mother in the Bible. I am sure that her reward in Heaven will be great. This mother’s love and sacrifice were vindicated in the way God greatly used her son!

Application: What looks like defeat can be the setup for God’s victory.

VI. Conclusion: From Basket to Deliverer

Moses, rescued by faith and providence, becomes God’s chosen deliverer..

Your story may start with pain, risk, or hiddenness—but God sees, saves, and sends.

Like Jochebed, will you trust God with what you treasure most?

Often as parents, we think we have been successful when our child finishes college, or when they make lots of money in some prestigious position. However, true success cannot be viewed on such a worldly scale. When we see our children living for and in love with Jesus, then we have truly been successful.

I would rather raise a child who would have none of this world’s goods or success, but who knew Jesus than to raise a multi-millionaire who would die and go to Hell!

I can tell you that when I see my kids up here singing and playing and worshipping God, not because they have to, but because there is nothing more important to them, My wife and I have done something right and we are so blessed. I never thought in a million years that we would be this blessed.

Jochebed stands, even after all these years, as a true portrait of a godly mother. I wonder how we parents stack up against her witness this morning?

Call to Action

Parents: Trust God with your children; invest faith even when you can’t control outcomes.

All believers: Recognize that small, faithful acts today may be part of God’s redemptive plan tomorrow.

Seekers: Know that God sees you, even in hidden places. He’s already making a way for your rescue.

Perhaps there are some of you who have heard form the Lord this morning, and you have felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit that you have not been the Godly parent God has called you to be.

Maybe He has spoken to you about your soul and you know you ought to come and be saved this morning.

Maybe He has spoken to you about your relationship with Him and how things aren’t like they used to be or like they should be, and you want to come and do something about it.

Maybe you just need to come and pray for your children.

Maybe there are some children here who would like to come and pray for your parents. You know they have tried, but you haven’t tried like you could have. Today would be a great day for lives and families to be touched and brought to the place God wants them to be. As the Lord speaks right now, won’t you come and do what you need to do?