Studies in Profiles in Character: From the Exodus Through the Return from Exile

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1 BAPTISTWAY PRESS Adult Online Bible Commentary By Dr. Jim Denison President, Center for Informed Faith, and Theologian-in-Residence, Baptist General Convention of Texas, Dallas, Texas Studies in Profiles in Character: From the Exodus Through the Return from Exile Lesson One Women at Moses Birth: Taking Action to Help Children Focal Text Exodus 1:15 2:10 Background Exodus 1:1 2:10 Main Idea Women acted boldly and courageously to overcome the pharaoh s evil plans and help children, including a special child. Question to Explore What will you do to help children? Quick Read We cannot measure the eternal significance of ministry to children today. Commentary Genetic engineering is much in the news. The idea that parents can one day determine the gender, hair and eye color, abilities and capabilities of their unborn children is exciting to some and abhorrent to most of us. It is very troubling to me as well. While I don t believe in genetic engineering, I believe very strongly in spiritual engineering. We must do all we can to help our families and friends follow Jesus, to mentor them in the Christian faith, to encourage and influence them for Christ. Eternity is at stake. Page 1 of 9 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations in Adult Online Bible Commentary are from The Holy Bible, New International Version (North American Edition), copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

2 Mentoring has ancient roots. When Odysseus went off to fight the Trojan War, he left his young son, Telemachus, in the care of a trusted guardian named Mentor. The siege of Troy lasted ten years, and Odysseus journeyed another ten years finding his way home. When at last he arrived, he found that the boy Telemachus had grown into a man thanks to Mentor s wise tutelage. God wants us to be equally intentional about mentoring others to follow Christ through our lives and relationships. Proverbs 27:17 is clear: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. God s call is for men, and for women; for parents, Sunday school teachers, church leaders, anyone who wants to make an eternal difference in the lives of the people we care about, starting with the children entrusted to our care. As we begin our study of Old Testament characters, we come this week to five of the unsung heroes of biblical history. Without these women, there would have been no Moses. Without Moses, no Jewish nation; without the Jewish nation, no Messiah. Their investment in the children and future of their nation bears fruit we still harvest today. You cannot measure the eternal significance of present faithfulness. Setting the stage (1:1-14) This week and next, we will study the life of Moses in the context of the Book of Exodus. The book s name was derived from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (called the Septuagint). Its central event gave the book its title; its central character is one of the most significant figures in human history. When Exodus opens, God s people were living a free people in Egypt. They had gone there to live under Joseph s protection (Genesis 45 47) and were given privileged parts of the land as their own (Gen. 47:6). However, Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died (Exodus 1:6) and 200 years hadpassed. The nation multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous (Exod. 1:7a), growing to 600,000 men (12:37) with their families, a total population of around two million. And so the land was filled with them (1:7). Then a new king came to the throne (1:8). Acts 7:18 describes him as another king of a different kind (the literal Greek), a king from a different people. During this time, the Hyksos invaders took over in the land. They were Semites, probably from the land of Assyria (Isaiah 52:4). This outsider had no knowledge of Joseph; he viewed the Hebrews who had become so numerous in the land as threats to his reign and power. Why? Hebrew is derived from Eber, the descendant of Shem (Gen. 10:21, 24), first used for Abram (Abraham, Gen. 14:13). Josephus explained the pharaoh s decision to persecute the Hebrews: an Egyptian scribe predicted that there would be a child born to the Page 2 of 9

3 Israelites who, if he were reared, would bring the Egyptian dominion low, and would raise the Israelites; that he would excel all men in virtue, and obtain a glory that would be remembered through all ages (Antiquities 2.9.2). 1 During this period of her history, Egypt was constantly engaged in war with western Asian nations. Perhaps the Israelites resembled these enemies in language, customs, and appearance. If they were to align themselves with invaders, the Egyptians could be destroyed. At the same time, if the Israelites were to leave the country they would remove the labor force on which the Egyptian economy depended. Josephus recorded that the Egyptians grew delicate and lazy, as to pains-taking; and gave themselves up to other pleasures, and in particular to the love of gain (Antiquities 2:9:1). Given these concerns, it is no surprise that the new pharaoh treated the children of Israel with such fear and disdain. When did the events of our story occur? Historians offer two answers. First Kings 6:1 describes the Exodus as occurring 480 years before the fourth year of Solomon s reign over Israel ; since that year was 966 B.C., the traditional approach places the Exodus at 1446 B.C. In this view, Thutmose III was pharaoh of the oppression, and Amunhotep II the pharaoh of the exodus. However, Exodus 1:11 speaks of the city of Rameses, although no pharaoh by that name ascended to the throne for several centuries. Some historians therefore date the exodus with the 19 th dynasty, making Seti I and Rameses II the pharaohs of the oppression and the Exodus, respectively. By this scheme, the Exodus is dated at 1290 B.C. The traditional approach is more credible in my view, given its biblical foundation (see 1 Kings 6:1); there could be a city called Rameses well before a pharaoh took that name. Whatever his name, this man s title was pharaoh, which means great house. This was not a proper name but an official office, like governor or president. Acting out of selfinterest and preservation of his nation, he put slave masters over the Hebrews (Exod. 1:11). We would title them superintendents of public works today. Their job was to make sure the Hebrew slaves worked to their capacity. Despite their persecution of the people, The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly (1:12-14). In the midst of their suffering, God gave his people the unlikeliest of heroes. Page 3 of 9

4 Pay the price of obedience (1:15-22) Our text begins: The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah (1:15). Archaeologists have shown that these were common Semitic names in the second millennium before Christ. Given the size of the Jewish people, these two women were likely serving as administrators of the national organization of midwives. Even if the poorer mothers could not afford to engage midwives, a nation of two million people would need more than two such midwives. Pharaoh instructed them: When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live (1:16). Delivery stool is literally two stones, referring to the custom of mothers delivering babies while sitting on two stones. Some interpreters suggest that the two stones refers to male genitalia, but this is unlikely. At one time the two stones were thought to refer to stone watering troughs on which the newborn babies would be washed, but archaeological evidence now clearly indicates that babies were delivered in ancient Egypt using upright birthing stools. For instance, the Egyptian hieroglyphic depiction of childbirth pictures a woman in a sitting position. Note that Pharaoh was not the last to attempt the murder of God s chosen people. Later, Satan would use King Herod to seek the death of the infant Christ as well. But God s servants were up to the challenge: The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live (1:17). The Bible calls us to obey authorities: Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God (Romans 13:1). However, Scripture is clear: We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). When we are forced to choose between human power and divine sanction, we must always obey our highest authority. Their rebellion was soon noted: Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live? (Exod. 1:18). Apparently the midwives they supervised carried out their orders, so that Pharaoh s edict was defied across the nation. This was most serious. These women could easily have been executed by Pharaoh for disobedience. The midwives provided an answer the Egyptian ruler could not refute: Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive (1:19). Vigorous may relate to the Egyptian expression used to describe the speed with which goats and sheep deliver their young. Given the danger to their children, it is logical that Jewish mothers would give birth as quickly and secretly as Page 4 of 9

5 possible. They could not count on the midwives continued rejection of Pharaoh s orders and would understandably do whatever they could to save their children. Whether the midwives statement was true or not, Pharaoh could not disprove their explanation and so allowed these women to live. With this result: So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own (1:20-21). Pharaoh attempted to reduce the Jewish population, but God countered his actions by making his own people even more numerous. Having been defeated by midwives, Pharaoh then exercised his power over the entire nation: Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live (1:22). It is hard for us to imagine the power the pharaoh wielded over his people. He was considered to be god on earth, related directly to the gods of the universe. His word was absolute law. For two midwives to defy his orders was an astounding act of courage, and a commitment that made possible the leader of God s chosen people. You and I are now called to follow these women s example. We cannot lead others further than we are willing to go, or give what we do not have. Our children and grandchildren will follow our example, for positive or for negative. If your descendants were to be as obedient to God s word as you, would that be a good thing? Trust the future to God (2:1-10) If we would invest in the generations to come, we must first live with the obedience we wish them to imitate. Then we must trust their future to the only One who transcends time and eternity. Our story turns to its central protagonist: Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman (2:1). Their names were Amram and Jochebed (6:20). Aaron had been born three years earlier (see 7:7), and Miriam was older still. Once again she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months (2:2). Moses parents saw that he was no ordinary child (Hebrews 11:23), and so they chose to defy the king s edict. At risk was not only his life, but theirs. Their subterfuge could succeed as long as Moses was a tiny baby. However, when he 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 (Exod. 2:3). Page 5 of 9

6 Papyrus was a reed that grew along the Nile and across ancient Egypt. Its triangular stalk was the thickness of a man s finger and grew to a height of ten to fifteen feet. When cut into strips, dried, and glued together, it composed the paper of the ancient world (the word paper comes from the word papyrus). The stalks were used to make boats for the Nile, while its peelings were used for sandals, mats, mattresses and sails. Papyrus reeds were commonly made into baskets that held both food and babies. Note that the word translated basket is used only here and for Noah s ark. The similarities between Moses salvation through the river and Noah s salvation through the flood are obvious. Moses mother made such a basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Tar was a kind of asphalt found in the Dead Sea area; pitch was a substance that ensured that the basket would be watertight (it was used on Noah s ark as well, Gen. 6:14). The baby was then placed in his papyrus basket and situated among the papyrus stalks of the Nile bank. Meanwhile, His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him (Exod. 2:4). Miriam would be ten or twelve years of age at this time. It was her responsibility to shield the infant from harm while hoping for the events that followed. Now Providence intervened: Then Pharaoh s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank (2:5a). Jewish tradition named Pharaoh s daughter Thermuthis (Josephus) or Tharmuth (Jubilees 47:5). 2 Some suggest that after the Exodus she became Queen Hatshepsut, the only female Pharaoh. Her family bathed in the Nile as a way of harmonizing their lives with its divine properties. They also believed in its power to produce fruitfulness and long life (for example, its feeding of their crops each year). An area was fenced off from crocodiles, with an enclosure reserved for her and guarded by her attendants. Moses mother may have known of this area and stationed Moses and his sister strategically, or she may have left her children to God s protection. Either way, God blessed: She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it (Exod. 2:5b). Her slave girl was her personal attendant, more trusted than the other servants who accompanied her to the river. This act sheltered Moses from harm for the moment but did not guarantee his future. What came next did: She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. This is one of the Hebrew babies, she said (2:6). The princess s response showed that she did not support her father s pogrom against the Hebrew people. And so she would perhaps be open to another Hebrew s intervention: Then his sister asked Page 6 of 9

7 Pharaoh s daughter, Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you? (2:7). Pharaoh s daughter had not been pregnant and so had no means to nurse the child, but wet-nurses were a common fact of ancient life. The princess s response turned the story: Yes, go, she answered. And the girl went and got the baby s mother (2:8). When Jochebed arrived, Pharaoh s daughter said to her, Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you. So the woman took the baby and nursed him (2:9). Now Moses would be protected and fed by his biological mother, who would be supported by the very family of the man who sought the child s life. With this result: When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, I drew him out of the water (2:10). Scholars disagree about the etymology of Moses. Some point to mosheh, a pun on the Hebrew mashah, meaning to draw out. Others believe that Moses was an Egyptian name, like Mose in Thutmose or Ahmose. Whatever the origin of his name, there is no question as to the origin of his life and ministry. God used faithful midwives and parents to birth and protect this special child so he could grow up in the very family of the Pharaoh who persecuted his people. Moses Egyptian training would one day help prepare him to lead his nation from Egyptian slavery to the edge of their Promised Land: Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action (Acts 7:22). Josephus states: He was.... educated with great care. So the Hebrews depended on him, and were of good hopes that great things would be done by him; but the Egyptians were suspicious of what would follow such his education (Antiquities 2.9.7). As Joseph said of his brothers in an earlier generation, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Gen. 50:20). Our Father redeems all he allows. He used the courageous faithfulness of five women: the midwives Shiphrah and Puah, Moses mother Jochebed and sister Miriam, and Pharaoh s daughter. They were faithful with the task entrusted to them in the present, and God continues to redeem their service today. Conclusion What Moses has God entrusted to you? You may be a parent or sibling of an at-risk child, or serve in a culture or community where such children are found. Jesus love for children is clear: At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, Page 7 of 9

8 you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:1-4). His Father s desire to see children nurtured was clear as well: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (Deuteronomy 6:5-9). It is always too soon to give up on the children entrusted by their Father to our care. Consider this statement: Our youths love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority they show disrespect for their elders, and love to chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when their elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up food, and tyrannize teachers. A parent s report taken from today s newspapers? Actually, these frustrations are attributed to Socrates in 400 B.C. Children have always been what our children are today: reflections of their parents and society. I like this poet s testimony: I took a piece of plastic clay and idly fashioned it one day; And as my fingers pressed it still, it bent and yielded to my will. I came again when days were passed; the bit of clay was hard at last. My early impress still it bore, and I could change its form no more. I took a piece of living clay, and gently formed it day by day. And molded with my power and art, a young child s soft and yielding heart I came again when years were gone, it was a man I looked upon. He still that early impress bore, and I could change him nevermore. 3 How will you impress the children entrusted to your influence? Page 8 of 9

9 See for additional study materials on Profiles in Character: From the Exodus Through the Return from Exile and more than forty other Bible studies by BaptistWay Press, or call (M-Fri 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. central time). A recent book by Dr. Denison, The Bible You Can Believe It: Biblical Authority in the Twenty-First Century, is also available from BAPTISTWAY PRESS. The price is only $4.95 each plus shipping and any applicable taxes. A Teaching Guide is available for only $1.95 plus shipping and any applicable taxes. To receive Dr. Denison s free daily , GodIssues: Today s news in spiritual perspective, see The brief essay discusses current events and issues in light of God s word and provides practical applications to life. 1 Accessed 5/4/ Accessed 5/4/11. 3 Author unknown. Page 9 of 9