The Mo-6 (Pt. 2)

Hi Everyone, it’s another episode today on our Mo-6 series. For those who don’t know what Mo-6 stands for, it’s a catchy word that represents six pivotal women who played major roles in the life of Moses.

Too many a time, we focus on the male characters in the scriptures that they often overshadow the female characters, the virtues they possessed and the life lessons we can learn from them. In case you missed the first episode, you can quickly read it up here (The Mo-6 Pt.1). We talked about the holy defiance and courage portrayed by 2 midwives, Puah and Shiprah.  Be sure to read it up if you missed it.

Today, we move quickly to another pair of women. Unlike the midwives, these two women we are looking at today have very little in common, except for one thing. They were both Mothers to Moses.

Yeah, you read that right. Moses had the privilege of having 2 moms. A birth mom- Jochebed, and his foster mom- Pharaoh’s daughter.

The two women, though worlds apart, were divinely brought together by Moses. The royal met the subservient. Posh and poor partnered together, and raised a mighty prophet! Only Providence could have achieved this. Truly, God uses the very unexpected situations to make us see the equality in all of us. To borrow the words of Albert Einstein, “before God, we are all equally- human“

I’d start by putting Jochebed’s life under the microscope.

Very little is said of her in the scriptures.
And even that little is quite confusing.

The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and Miriam their sister.

Numbers 26:59 AMP

These are the [three] soms of Levi by their names: Gershom, Kohath and Merari…..and the four sons of Kohath by their families (were) Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

Numbers 3:17-19 AMP

I know you didn’t read those Bible verses, so I’d advise you go back and read it. Don’t just gloss over it. Go back, read it and see the connection between those two verses.

You’ve seen it right? Jochebed was Levi’s daughter (probably born to him when he was much older, in Egypt) and Amram was Levi’s grandson, born to Kohath, one of Levi’s sons.

So technically, Jochebed was Amram’s aunt.
Here is a family tree picture to help.

Moses’ family tree

My theory is that Jochebed was born to Levi much later, such that by the time she was born, Kohath was already married and he had given birth to Amram, making Amram and Jochebed sort of age-mates and hence, compatible age wise as they grew older for marriage. Else, who marries their nephew. Anyways, they both get married and give birth to Moses, around the time when Pharaoh’s decree that all Israeli male babies be killed.

[1]Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, [2] and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. [3] 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 2:1-3 NIV

Wow!

What boldness Jochebed had. Take note of how the Bible says “she hid him” because “she saw that he was a fine child”. The emphasis is so much on her foresight and her perception of Moses’ future and her ability to hide him for 3 full months. It is as though Amram didn’t exist. She was the one who saw the fineness and she was the one who hid him. O would God that men would arise and be fathers. So much was the love of a mother that she was willing to defy Pharaoh and hide a baby for that long!

Those that know me know how I love babies. But when a baby starts crying (which is what they do all the time), I will just be like “Shut up!!!”

Three good months Fam. How did she do it? Hiding a baby that will cry all day long isn’t an easy task. And this was at a time when Pharaoh’s henchmen were scouring the whole of Egypt for Israeli male children to kill. Such bravery is more than commendable and unfortunately, extremely lacking in our generation.

I see ladies (and even worse, guys) who would pick self preservation over love for anyone else, on a daily basis. It’s not always about you, folks. Moses’ mother put her own life (and the lives of everyone in her family actually) at risk for three good months. And why? Because she saw the child was fine.
The Message Bible puts it better:
She saw there was something special about him and hid him Exodus 2:1 MSG

May the Lord give us eyes to see the something special in others and to help nurture them, even when we don’t have to; even when it’s to our own risk!

Let me stop here for today. I would have loved to talk about Pharaoh’s daughter in this episode, but I’d wait till next time.

I hope you’ve picked up a thing or two. Who knows, maybe I’ve inspired you to name your daughter Jochebed.  Or Jo’ for short

There’s still a part of Jo’s life I haven’t touched. An extremely touching moment. The moment she had to let go of her son. As this part is in close relation to the story of Pharaoh’s daughter, I would save it till the next episode. Until then, stay blessed Fam.

PS. I’m not sure I’d name my daughter Jochebed though. But I respect the woman like….! Please share your thoughts on the life of this great woman in the comments section below.  And don’t forget to share this with your friends (there’s a whatsapp share button right down here)

Pst. Femi