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Patriarchs and Prophets
She kept the boy as long as she could, but was obliged to give him
up when he was about twelve years old. From his humble cabin home
he was taken to the royal palace, to the daughter of Pharaoh, “and
he became her son.” Yet even here he did not lose the impressions
received in childhood. The lessons learned at his mother’s side could
not be forgotten. They were a shield from the pride, the infidelity, and
the vice that flourished amid the splendor of the court.
How far-reaching in its results was the influence of that one Hebrew
woman, and she an exile and a slave! The whole future life of Moses,
the great mission which he fulfilled as the leader of Israel, testifies to
the importance of the work of the Christian mother. There is no other
work that can equal this. To a very great extent the mother holds in her
own hands the destiny of her children. She is dealing with developing
minds and characters, working not alone for time, but for eternity. She
is sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit, either for good or for
evil. She has not to paint a form of beauty upon canvas or to chisel
it from marble, but to impress upon a human soul the image of the
divine. Especially during their early years the responsibility rests upon
her of forming the character of her children. The impressions now
made upon their developing minds will remain with them all through
life. Parents should direct the instruction and training of their children
while very young, to the end that they may be Christians. They are
placed in our care to be trained, not as heirs to the throne of an earthly
empire, but as kings unto God, to reign through unending ages.
Let every mother feel that her moments are priceless; her work
will be tested in the solemn day of accounts. Then it will be found that
many of the failures and crimes of men and women have resulted from
the ignorance and neglect of those whose duty it was to guide their
childish feet in the right way. Then it will be found that many who
have blessed the world with the light of genius and truth and holiness,
owe the principles that were the mainspring of their influence and
success to a praying, Christian mother.
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At the court of Pharaoh, Moses received the highest civil and
military training. The monarch had determined to make his adopted
grandson his successor on the throne, and the youth was educated for
his high station. “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.”
Acts 7:22
. His
ability as a military leader made him a favorite with the armies of