The Mo-6 Pt. 3

Hollup. Hollup.. Hollupppp!

Don’t tell me you missed Parts 1 and 2. Like seriously, you didn’t read about the midwives, or about Jo’. My, my, my. You’re so missing. But because you’re my personal person, I’ve put the links here for you. If you like, don’t click it.

The Mo-6 Pt. 1
The Mo-6  Pt. 2

Today’s episode is a sequel to the last one. So if you’ve not read Part 2, I don’t know for you oh.

Let’s dive in ASAP!

Moses was a great leader of the Jews. But Moses’ formative years were around some powerful characters that we often are silent about when we recount history. This series is about highlighting the lives of 6 women whom God used to mould Moses, and in turn, the Israel race. Generation builders, they are, in their own right.

Today, I’d begin with Pharaoh’s daughter, and then wrap up with Jochebed. A perfect sandwich of Mothers.

So remember how Jochebed kept Moses for three good months. Well that was just a tip of the iceberg.

Pharaoh’s daughter (Let’s call her Bithiah, for the purpose of this discussion- see 1 Chronicles 4:18 for reference) was around River Nile with her maids when she spotted a basket/ark. She sent one of her maids to fetch it and she saw the child and behold, the baby wept (Exodus 2:5-6)

Image Source: gardenofpraise.com

My goodness. This is the reason why I am so choosing pediatrics as a subspecialty when I start my surgery residency! The cry of a baby is an heavenly blessing. The same cry that Jochebed had managed to keep all this while. That same cry was what melted Bithiah’s heart. How do I know it melted her heart?

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.

Exodus 2:6 KJV

You can’t help but love a crying baby. Yeah, I know I said I don’t like it when babies are crying annoyingly. This is not that type of cry. I’m talking about that nice cry that just comes out of their baby cheeks. My My My. It can melt even a person with a heart of stone.

My respect for Bithiah soars on, as she sees that the child is an Hebrew child. She doesn’t walk away, nor does she follow in her father’s footsteps of genocide. No! There and then, she makes a decision that changes the course of history. The decision to adopt Moses. Who does that!

Her father is sovereign over Egypt. He has an obvious beef against the Israelites and has even issued a decree to kill all Hebrew male children. And then Bithiah chooses to bring the exact definition of what her father stands against into the palace! How daunting.

The new Testament gives us insight into how she raised him.

And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. [22] And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.

Acts 7:21-22 KJV

She raised him a Prince! Kabaya!!!
There’s no easy way around raising a child. You can’t lie that you were mysteriously pregnant overnight and had a baby. Moses’ complexion must have also given him away as an Hebrew. So everytime Pharaoh saw him running round the palace as he grew up, Moses constantly reminded Pharaoh of his daughter’s rebellion. How humiliating that must have been for Pharaoh. I can picture him having had arguments with Bithiah over and over about not wanting Moses in the palace. But Bithiah didn’t just stand her ground, she made sure Moses integrated well. He learnt the Egyptian culture, their language, their deeds!

For the first forty years of his life, Moses lived in the palace. The bible doesn’t tell us much as to how many years Bithiah lived, but I’m guessing she didn’t die at an early age. So all that time, through childhood, teenage years into adulthood,  she stood by him; supporting and defending him. She shielded him from the criticism that he must have had to deal with. An Hebrew Egyptian Prince. What an oxymoron.

May the Lord grant us such people who are destiny helpers. May the Lord also make us such people in Jesus name.

I ask myself as I studied the life of Pharaoh’s daughter. What did she stand to gain by adopting Moses? I read somewhere (don’t ask me where as I couldn’t verify the information) that she couldn’t have children of her own for some reason. Even if that was the case, she could have adopted any Egyptian orphan! Why Moses?

She was even the one who gave him that name, Moses.

And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water

Exodus 2:10 KJV

See ehn, May the Lord grant us people who will draw us out of the waters of life. May the Lord also make us those who will draw others out of drowning waters!

I don’t want to become too revelational, but I got something while studying and it will be unfair not to include it in this write up.

So remember how baptism works right? You’re first dipped into the water (buried in sin) and then raised from the water (raised unto God by the Holy Spirit) [See Romans 6]. Do you see a foreshadowing of this in the story of Moses?

He was dropped to die in the River Nile by his birth mother. And he was raised back to life by Pharaoh’s daughter. Oh my God! May the Lord grant us understanding in Jesus name.

Bithiah was used by God to work salvation for Moses. A heathen Princess, daughter of a genocidal ruler;

Tell me, who can God not use? I’d let this sink in while I quickly wrap up Jochebed’s story.

Fam. Jochebed issa goal! As in, she’s goals for motherhood.

When she couldn’t hide him any longer she got a little basket-boat made of papyrus, waterproofed it with tar and pitch, and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile

-Exodus 2:3 MSG

The intentionality of her actions. She made the boat waterproof. She had given up, but she still had the faintest hope within her. She knew she was at the end of her rope. She couldn’t hide the baby any longer. But she wasn’t going to throw him away either.

In Jochebed, I saw a woman who wove her tears into that basket. If praying in tongues was available at that time, I’m super sure she would have been skabashing as she placed the baby into that basket-boat.

Lemme say it in my native language. “Ko easy oh! Ah! Iya ni wura” (translated as: it’s not easy at all! Mothers are gold)

And just when she thought hope was lost, God was preparing Bithiah to  come wash herself in that same river that same afternoon. My God! My God who specializes in creating coincidences God-incidences.

And then to think that God made sure that Moses didn’t lack his birht mother’s touch even after the three months.

And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. [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.

Exodus 2:8-9 KJV

See how God makes a way. Jochebed still ended up nursing her own child (and she got paid while doing it). It must have been a consolation, at least, for Jochebed. Not the money obviously, but the reunion with her baby. The baby she once hid, now she could take care of openly. And if anyone asked her how, she will tell them “Drop your child (actually your worries) before God, and He will make ROYALTY out of it all”

I’d drop my pen here

Pst Femi.

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