Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Exodus 2:3, ” But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. “

Background

I wonder how many other moms tried to do what Moses’ mom wanted to do. Surely there were other parents who thought they could hide their newborn sons from the wrath of Pharaoh. Did any of them succeed and keep their son hidden? If so, what would it have been like for the boy to grow up with no other boys around town to play with? What an awful story to have to tell your son as to why he is the only male child around. And how would the other mothers feel when they saw that boy, knowing that theirs had been thrown in the river as Pharaoh commanded? No, it was an awful time for the Israelites, watching the Egyptians attempt a systematic, deliberate genocide on their people, one child at a time. But the cool, ironic twist to the story is that in casting her son on the water as Pharaoh commanded, the mother of Moses actually began the process that would lead to the deliverance of the Israelites out of the hands of Egypt and the Pharaoh.

Application

She did put Moses in the river, she just happened to put him in the water in an ark, the same word used to describe the boat that Noah was rescued in, by the way. And as God had planned it, and certainly his mother had hoped for it, Moses was discovered and spared the death intended for him. The amazing deliverance of God, borne out through the hopeful acts of a mother, who cast her hope on the water when all seemed lost, only to see deliverance return to her from the same water that had hundreds or thousands of babies lying dead at the bottom of its bed. Now there’s no way to know how long the murders of the male infants went on. Perhaps until that Pharaoh died, perhaps longer. And who knows if any boys survived being hidden, or how long they had to hide to survive. But we do know that Jochebed had hope that her son would not perish, even in the midst of the awful events going on around her. And so our hope should be no less, no matter the circumstance, no matter the situation. He is able, especially when we are not.

Charge

As we seek Him today, ask God for the faith to believe that He is still with you when you feel so far from Him. Ask Him for your own ark when you feel like you might be drowning in life.