To God Be the Glory

Exodus 2:1–4 KJV 1900

1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

Introduction:

The impossibles combined in this man Moses, the incomparable prophet leader of Israel. As a general of war, he stands peerless. The global wars of Alexander the Great, the Julius Caesar’s conquest of Gaul, are hardly to be compared with the marvelous, miraculous strategy by which this man Moses delivered these slaves out of bondage and to the shores, to the coasts, to the borders of the Promised Land. Can you imagine, two to three or more million people, facing a trek through the wilderness, the sands of an almost illimitable, burning, blistering desert? How would you prepare enough food? How would you take along enough water? And they cannot live off of the desert. If they go the short way into Canaan, it leads them into the arms of the fierce and warlike Philistines; and these slaves have never seen war, nor would they know how to fight in a battle [Exodus 13:17-18]. Yet, Moses, this general, facing a task that no council of war in this earth would even begin to think of as being possible, stands up, and with great faith and mighty courage, deigns to lead those millions of slaves into the blistering, burning, hot sands of the desert and to deliver them in triumph to a promised land. Why it is almost impossible to conceive, much less to see executed before our very eyes. Then how would you speak of Moses in terms that are not superlative as you describe the great lawgiver of the world? All of the systems of jurisprudence and all of the basic fundamental laws of modern civilization are built upon the legislation delivered to the people of Israel by the hands of this man Moses. Then how could you speak of him as a writer and as an author, except in superlative terms? The writings of Moses are sublime, filled with lofty grandeur beyond any literature in the world, outside of the sacred record itself. [Criswell]

Main Thought: God gets the glory when His people walk by faith, not by sight, believing that one day there will be fruit from their work.

Sub-intro:

Miraculous Survival Story

1.Endangered infant is hidden by mother

2.Child is placed in [Ark & placed on the shore of the] river

3.Child is rescued from river

4.Child is raised by member of royal court

5.Adult is assisted by god and becomes great leader [Matthews, Old Testament Turning Points]

Body:

I. The Hiding-Place of Faith (Ex. 2:1-4)

The Birth of Moses: The Baby Born(e)

The Abandoned Child and the Basket Case

In modern stories people destined for greatness rarely start off privileged. They are dropped off at the doorstep of an orphanage or abandoned in the rain. This literary motif goes back to ancient stories, where writers use the abandoned child theme to identify a character that rises from obscurity to privileged hero status. It’s a motif found in the biblical account of Moses’ birth. But is that really the whole story?

Moses’ story begins when Pharaoh feels threatened by the growing Hebrew population in Egypt and commands that all Hebrew male infants be killed (Exod 1:16–22). Moses’ mother hides her newborn son for three months and then devises a risky but calculated plan: She sets him adrift on the Nile in a small basket made of bulrushes, waterproofed with bitumen and pitch (2:1–3). Moses’ older sister, Miriam, watches as the basket floats to where the daughter of Pharaoh bathes. God uses these circumstances to bring Moses under the protection of Egypt’s ruler (2:4–10)....

Moses stands out against the stories of the ancient cultures because he isn’t promoted like their chosen figures, but saved and demoted to poverty so that he can lead others to salvation. He is the new archetype of the chosen hero—one who is promoted only for the benefit of others. Over and against the stories of worldly kingdoms, Moses’ story articulates God’s remarkable work for His kingdom. His values are different from ours, and as is often the case in retrospect, we can be grateful for that. [Heiser, I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible]

A. The Fruit of the Womb Is the Lord’s Reward (Ex. 2:1-2)

1. A Mother’s Divine Conception

Exodus 2:1 KJV 1900

1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

JOCHEBED - THE WOMAN WHOSE CHILDREN BECAME GREAT

Scripture References—Exodus 1; 2:1-11; 6:20; Numbers 26:59; Hebrews 11:23

Name Meaning — Jochebed implies, “glory of Jehovah” or, “Jehovah (is her or our) glory.” It is plain from this name of the mother of Moses, that the announcement of Jehovah, as the name of God, was not made for the first time when God revealed Himself in a special manner under that title to Moses in the burning bush. Jochebed is the first person in Scripture to have a name compounded with Jah — or Jehovah. [Lockyer]

Quote - “When God wants to throw a world out into space, He is not concerned about it. The first mile that world takes settles its course for eternity, When God throws a child out into the world He is mighty anxious that it gets a right start.” ~ Billy Sunday

2. A Mother’s Determined Concealment

Exodus 2:2 KJV 1900

2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

a.Hidden in her prayers.

We are not told specifically that she prayed but we cannot but believe that she dedicated her boy to God and then interceded for his safety and welfare. 

b.Hidden in her purpose—”She saw... he was a goodly child” (V. 2).

She must have felt that God had a plan for the life of this boy. 

c.Hidden in her profound love.

She risked all in order to save him. Mother love is used in the scripture as a type of God’s love and is the strongest love known to man.

Application:

Amram and Jochebed, were expecting another little child [Exodus 2:1-2]. And can you imagine the dread and the darkness in that home when the child was to be born under the edict of the Pharaoh that every male child is to be thrown in the river to the crocodiles? [Exodus 1:22]. Usually the coming of a child is marked with great anticipation and gladness and joy, expectancy, but not now. There are tears in the land of Goshen. There is grief in the homes of the Israelites. And instead of joyful gladness and expectancy, there is foreboding and dread.

Did you ever notice – could I parenthesize here just for a moment? – did you ever notice in the work of God, how many, many times that God does not draw near until the darkest, darkest hour? Did you ever notice that? How many times that’s true? God speaks to Gideon only when the people are wasted, and they’re starving, and famine is rampant, and Gideon is winnowing in a hidden place in the mountains, in a den somewhere, a little wheat that he might not perish. The Lord drew near and spake to Gideon in that dark hour [Judges 6:11-14]. Did you ever notice, reading in the Scriptures, it’s when that scaffold is raised for the hanging of Mordecai by Haman, that God saves and delivers His people? [Esther 5:14-9:16]. Did you ever notice this man Daniel went down into the lions’ den, expecting to be devoured by those ferocious beasts, it was only then that God delivered him from the lions’ mouths?[Daniel 6:20-22]. He let the three Hebrew children be thrown into the fiery furnace; then He walked with them in the flame in the fire [Daniel 3:24-28]. Simon Peter is to be executed, and the morning of his execution is dawning when the angel delivers him [Acts 12:7-10]. All hope for life is given up by the apostle Paul and his fellow men in that dark and terrible storm, when there stands by him in the darkness of that night, the angel of the Lord, whose he is, and whom he serves [Acts 27:23-25]. And it was on the lonely isle of Patmos, exposed to die, that John the sainted apostle saw the heavens open and the Son of God, whose face was like the sun in its strength, and His voice as the sound of many waters [Revelation 1:9-16]. Why, bless your heart, it just looks as though God seeks to lead His children into the valley that, in their helplessness, they might learn to lean upon His heavy arm....

Sometimes on the mount, where the sun shines so bright,

God leads His dear children along

Sometimes through the valley, in the darkest of night,

God leads His dear children along

Some through the fire, some through the flood,

Some through the water, but all through the blood

Some through great sorrow, but God gives us song

In the night season, and all the day long [Criswell]

B. The Faith of His Mother Freed Her from the Fear of Man (Ex. 2:3-4)

1. The Ark—”And when she could not longer hide him, she took... an ark... and put the child therein” (V. 3). 

Exodus 2:3 KJV 1900

3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

2.The Assurance—”She laid it in the flags by the river’s brink” (V. 3).

She committed her child to God’s care and keeping. 

Quote - “They launched the ark, not on the Nile only, but on God’s Providence. He would be captain, steersman, and convoy of the tiny bark. Miriam stood to watch. There was no fear of fatal consequences, only the quiet expectancy that God would do something worthy of himself. They reckoned on God’s faithfulness, and they were amply rewarded, when the daughter of their greatest foe became the babe’s patroness. See Psalm 76:10.” ~ F. B. Meyer

Application:

[Moses] was a child of faith. "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was an asteios child" [Hebrews 11:23]. Over here in the seventh chapter of the Book of Acts, and the twentieth verse, "Because he was asteios to theo, he was beautiful to God, fair to God" [Acts 7:20]. And the same word is used there, "because they saw he was a fair, beautiful to God child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment" [Hebrews 11:23]. What does that mean? "By faith, they were not afraid of the king’s commandment." They trusted God, and they believed in God; they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. God would take care of that child. So, this woman, this mother, led by the Spirit of the Lord, took the papyrus reeds of the river, and wove them into an ark, into a cradle, into a basket, and daubed with bitumen and made it impervious to water; and with many a kiss – can you just see that mother? – and with many a kiss, laid the little baby, now three months old, so beautiful and fair, in the little ark, and closed the covering, and with her own hands took it down to the water’s edge, and placed it there in the flags along the brink of the river [Exodus 2:2-3].

She did not know what would become of the child. She stationed the child’s sister to see what would be done [Exodus 2:4]. But she believed by faith, she believed that if deliverance did not come from Pharaoh, God would deliver that child in some other as yet unknown way. The day had come for the fulfillment of the great promise of God to Abraham, in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, "My people shall come out" [Genesis 15:14]. And after the centuries of servitude, that time had come. Josephus says that an angel of the Lord revealed to Amram that this child should be the deliverer of his people. Whether Josephus has that correct or not, no one could ever know; but by faith that mother and that father believed that God would take care of that child. So in the little ark, they placed the little baby among the flags that grew on the brink of the river and looked to heaven to take care [Exodus 2:3].

The stars might fall in their courses, and the sun might forget to shine, and the great pyramids might be hurled into the broad bosom of the Nile River, but that God would forget His promise and His people was impossible. Can you wonder then why this man should be the man of God with the faith and commitment of a father and a mother such as Moses had in Amram and Jochebed? [Criswell]

3.The Abiding—”And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done” (V. 4). 

Exodus 2:4 KJV 1900

4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

Quote - “This first encounter between Moses and his older sister is positive. Unfortunately their last recorded encounter is not (Num. 12).” [Hamilton, Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary]

Application:

Despite his achievements, Moses is not presented as a conventional hero. He does not sit on a throne or plot strategy for war. He is unsure of himself and is not eloquent (Ex 3:13–4:17). He leaves no important sons and has no mausoleum. He does not act on his own devices but only at the instigation of God. (Perhaps this last fact is why he is praised as “meek,” Num 12:3). In Exodus 2:14–15 Moses strikes down an unsuspecting victim, hides his act and flees into the night. Here he seems cowardly. Furthermore, because of disobedience he does not enter the land (Num 20:10–13). So being a “man of God” (e.g., Deut 33:1; Josh 14:6) and a faithful “servant of God” (e.g., Ex 14:31; Num 12:7–8) does not eliminate sin. Moses is what God makes of him, despite himself. [DBI]

II. The Home-Coming of Faith (Ex. 2:5-10)

The Childhood of Moses: The Deliverer Delivered

A. The Rescue (Ex. 2:5-6)

Exodus 2:5–6 KJV 1900

5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.

The Heart of a Daughter Moved with Compassion

Illustration - A Life at Stake!

G. Ray Jordan relates this story in Religion that Is Eternal (Macmillan, 1960). It centers around the life of the late Rabbi Cohen of Texas during the presidency of William H. Taft. The noted Jewish leader did not sleep well one night because he was concentrating on how to help a certain refugee. Next morning he said to his wife: “Pack my bag; I am going to Washington.” On arriving in the capital city he was sorry to learn that the Department of Labor still insisted the case of Lemcauk, the refugee, was one of obvious illegal entry.

The rabbi then called his congressman, insisting that he give him an entree to the President of the United States. Although President Taft was kind and friendly, he told the rabbi that the Lemcauk case was in the hands of the Department and that they had rendered a decision. Realizing that he had lost, the rabbi stood up to leave and thanked the President for seeing him.

“I am sorry this had to happen to you, Rabbi Cohen,” President Taft said, “but allow me to say that I certainly admire the way you Jews help each other—to travel all the way from Galveston, Texas, when a member of your faith is in trouble.”

“Member of my faith? This man is not a Jew,” said the rabbi, “he is a Greek Catholic.”

The President’s face changed, and in low tones he said: “You mean to say you traveled all the way up here at your own expense to help out a Greek Catholic?”

“He is in trouble; they are going to deport him on the next ship.… He will face a firing squad when he gets back to Russia. He is a human being, Mr. President. A human life is at stake, that is the way I see it.”

“Sit down, Rabbi,” said the President. He rang for his secretary and gave this wire: “To the Chief Inspector of Immigration at Galveston: Hold Lemcauk in Galveston and release in the custody of Rabbi Cohen on his return.” Then he added, “They’ll hear direct from the Department.”3 [1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching]

B. The Request (Ex. 2:7-8)

Exodus 2:7–8 KJV 1900

7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? 8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.

C. The Reward (Ex. 2:9-10)

Exodus 2:9 KJV 1900

9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.

Give, and It Shall Be Given You…

Illustration:

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I.The Root of Faith: Hear the Word of God

II.The Requirement of Faith: Do the Work of God

A.Start Early

B.Build Values into Your Child

1.Your Child Needs a Code to Live By

2.Your Child Needs a Creed to Believe In

3.Your Child Needs a Cause to Serve

C.Show Love

III.The Rest of Faith: Trust the Will of God

IV.The Reward of Faith: See the Wonders of God [Adrian Rogers]

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1. A Mother Becomes a Nurse

Quote - “Somebody has said. "God could not be everywhere, so He gave us mothers." Now there may be poetry in it. but it's true that "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world," and if every cradle was rocked by a good mother, the world would be full of good men as sure as you breathe. If every boy and every girl today had a good mother, the saloons and disreputable houses would go out of business tomorrow.” ~ Billy Sunday

Quote - “Tell me, where did Moses get his faith? From his mother. Where did Moses get his backbone to say: "I won't be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter?" He got it from his mother. Where did Moses get the nerve to say, "Excuse me, please," to the pleasures of Egypt? He got it from his mother.” ~ Billy Sunday

Application:

Now how long the mother kept the child we do not know. All we know is this: that she kept that little child long enough to teach the little boy the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. When did she reveal her identity to him? We do not know. But she identified the life of that little boy with his people. She taught him the great mission and destiny of his people. She repeated to him the promises unto Abraham, and unto Isaac, and unto Jacob. And she instilled in the heart and soul of that little life a love for God and a devotion to the promises of the Lord that he never, never, ever, ever forgot. And as he grew, those promises grew. And as the days wore into the years and he came to maturity, those great abiding revelations made to that little boy through the mouth, and lips, and heart, and soul, and loving teaching of the mother grew to maturity also. This is just one more time which we have met so many times before, that instance, that bring, that point out, that emphasize the great, marvelous, strategic, open, pliable, amenable opportunity, for God’s people is always in the teaching of our children. Not when they get old, not when they go away to college; these things have their places, yes, these things are necessary by all means, but the great, ultimate, final, fundamental lies in teaching these children. [Criswell]

2. A Daughter Becomes a Mother

Exodus 2:10 KJV 1900

10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

Conclusion:

Illustration - Divine Appointments

“A coincidence is a small miracle where God chose to remain anonymous.” —Heidi Quade

God promises to guide and provide for His children, but that does not mean you will never experience times when He will stretch your faith. He typically does not rush to your rescue whenever you go through a trial. Sometimes the Lord will test your faith by delaying the answer to your prayers, which forces you to wait and trust Him to come through.

At times it may seem as if God does not care about what you are going through. But just because you are not aware of His presence does not mean that He is ignoring your situation. He often provides at the last minute, when circumstances look like they could not get any worse....

Unconscious Guidance

Sometimes we get the idea that God cannot lead us to certain places unless we are keenly aware that He is directing us. We assume that we must have a huge door open for us, see a neon light flashing, follow a gigantic hand pointing us in the right direction or hear an audible voice from heaven. It is only then that we can believe we are on the right track.

Although the Lord may guide us in ways that are clear and obvious, He often directs our steps in inconspicuous ways through His anonymous leadership. Bob Mumford writes, “Most of God’s guidance occurs when we’re not even conscious of it. God knows the beginning and the end. He arranges circumstances. Sometimes we are required to take another look at where we’ve been in order to realize that God has been guiding us.”[6]

In other words, it is not until we reflect and connect the dots that we realize God was directing our steps. He was guiding us even though we were oblivious to it.

In April 2001, a member of my church named Eugene had a cracked windshield in his minivan. The serviceman, who traveled between towns in his repair van, called Eugene and said, “I’ll be in your city on Sunday at one o’clock to replace your windshield.”

Eugene did not want to rush home after church, so he replied, “Rather than your coming to my house, I’ll leave my car at my workplace so it will be easier for you to find.” He drove his car to the parking lot at 7:20 that morning and left it there.

A bad storm was about to blow in, which would bring heavy rain, but for some strange reason Eugene decided to walk home instead of having his wife pick him up. He lived about ten blocks away from work. After he had walked a few blocks, a cold front blew in and started to spit rain.

As he was walking, he thought he heard a baby crying in the distance. He looked around but could not see where it was coming from. When he reached the next block, the cries grew louder and sounded desperate. He looked toward a nearby bowling alley, which was closed, and noticed an abandoned baby stroller about a hundred yards away, sitting behind the building.

Immediately Eugene sprinted to the stroller. Inside the carriage was a baby less than a year old that had turned blue due to the cold. He ripped off his shirt, quickly wrapped up the infant, and called 9-1-1 on his cell phone. Within minutes the police arrived at the scene and took the tiny baby girl to the hospital.

The infant was too far away from the street to be heard from inside a car driving by. Only someone walking down the street could have heard the cries. Just minutes after the police car left, a fierce rainstorm blew through with winds reaching forty miles per hour. If Eugene had not been walking down that particular street at that precise time, the baby would have died in the storm.

Police following up on the case discovered that a small boy who lived in a nearby apartment complex took the baby for a stroll and left her there.

Did God lead Eugene to that baby? Yes, He did. But Eugene did not know he was being led. The Lord usually arranges these divine connections without informing us about the details. God may lead you to meet someone at a particular place at a certain time without your knowledge of being led. But when you look back later, you will see God was actually leading you.

Reviewing the situation, God dropped a thought in the repairman’s mind to come on Sunday. Next, the Lord slipped an idea in Eugene’s mind to leave his car at work instead of at home. Finally, God changed Eugene’s mind so he would walk home instead of calling for a ride. And that is how the Lord arranged a divine appointment to save the life of an infant.

One clear example of unconscious guidance is the case of Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham. God told Abram to leave his father’s house and He would lead him “to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Even though Abram had no clue where he was going, he believed that the Lord would lead him to the right destination.

Many times when God sends you on “an adventure,” you might not have any idea what will happen after you take the first step. Then you take that second step, a third step and so on, until you eventually reach your destination. It takes faith to believe that God is leading you when you have no proof or confirmation. Even though you may not understand where you are going, the Lord knows where He is taking you. [Crockett, Kent, and George Foreman. The Sure Cure for Worry: Learning to Trust God No Matter What Happens. Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen, 2013.]

[Parts of this Outline were also adapted from Maze Jackson’s Golden Nuggets]