Basic HTML Version
Moses, the Leader of God’s People
151
mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field.” “But the
more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.”
[117]
The king and his counselors had hoped to subdue the Israelites
with hard labor, decrease their numbers, and crush their independent
spirit. Orders were now issued to the women whose jobs gave them
opportunity, to destroy the male Hebrew children at their birth. Satan
knew that a deliverer was to come from among the Israelites, and
by leading the king to destroy their children he hoped to defeat the
divine plan. But the women feared God and did not dare to carry out
the cruel command.
The king, angry at the failure of his plot, made the orders more
urgent and extensive. “Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying,
‘Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every
daughter you shall save alive.’”
Moses Born in the Worst of Times
While this command was in full force, a baby boy was born to
Amram and Jochebed, Israelites of the tribe of Levi. The parents,
believing that the time for Israel to be set free was drawing near
and that God would raise up a deliverer for His people, determined
that their little one should not be sacrificed. Faith in God strength-
ened their hearts, “and they were not afraid of the king’s command”
(
Hebrews 11:23
).
The mother hid the child for three months, then finding that she
could no longer keep him safely, she prepared a little boat of rushes,
making it watertight by using asphalt and pitch. Laying her baby in
the little boat, she placed it among the reeds at the river’s edge. His
sister Miriam lingered near, anxiously watching to see what would
become of her little brother.
And there were other watchers. The mother had committed
her child to the care of God, and unseen angels hovered above his
humble resting place. Angels directed Pharaoh’s daughter to that
spot. The little basket aroused her curiosity, and as she looked
at the beautiful child within, his tears awakened her compassion;
her sympathies went out to the unknown mother who had tried to
preserve her precious little one in this way. She determined that he
would be saved—she would adopt him as her own.