Have You Ever Thought About Moses' Mother?

The other day I was watching the classic “Prince of Egypt” movie with my kids. At the very end of the film there is a scene with Moses, Aaron and Miriam hugging each other as they reached the other side of the Red Sea and escaped the Egyptians. It occurred to me that the mother of those three babies may never have seen or known the mighty way in which God would choose to use them. 

Was she present at the other side of freedom? We don't know.

The only time we see her in the Bible is during the hardship she faced when her children were young. She was a slave, probably on low income, who was ordered to hand over her youngest son. 

Credit: Sermon Central

The Pharaoh of Egypt wanted population control for the Israelites, so he ordered every boy under two years old to be terminated.

But Moses' mother couldn't do it. She knew God wanted her to protect her baby. She didn't know what would happen, but she decided to take a giant leap of faith and disobey Pharaoh.

Hebrews 11:23 tells us, It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s orders. 

After those three months, she placed her son Moses in a basket on the Nile and released his fate to the Lord. She had no way of knowing what would become of him. 

She had no way of knowing that her faith would be the precursor for an even mightier work. She probably didn’t even know that her baby would survive. She didn't know if they would be caught and her family punished. She didn't know how, or if, God would step in and provide a good life for her son.

But she listened to God, instead of her fears. And she was the only woman of her day who made that risky choice.

Her actions not only impacted Moses, but planted seeds inside her other children Aaron and Miriam as well. They witnessed the mighty hand of God, and his ability to protect and provide in impossible situations because she was willing to bravely follow Him.

Her step of faith left a legacy that would literally change future of an entire nation.

As you probably know the story, Moses was found in the basket on a river by the daughter of Pharaoh and raised in the palace. It was a miracle! The very house that wanted his blood ended up caring for, clothing and feeding him. Only God could've planned such an ironic and powerful outcome for the step of faith that Moses' mother took.

But God had even more in mind.

Hebrews 11 goes on to say, It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 

He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.

It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.

Moses’ mother’s faith was the first domino to fall, pushing her children and the rest of Israel towards bold faith of their own, and it led to the outcome of the Red Sea. The people were finally free from slavery, abuse, and shame. They were free to be who they were meant to be.

But I don't think the outcome of her faith was the only point. 

She chose to trust God before she ever knew His redemptive plan.

Steps of faith are not always about seeing an amazing end.

Sometimes we just have faith, and we never know the fruit that it produced. (Heb. 11:13)

But, like a tiny mustard seed, it takes root. 

And eventually it does produce fruit– whether in this life or the next.

And for Moses’ mom, it produced fruit in the next generation. Hebrews tells us that Moses did not fear the king’s anger, but kept right on going in the direction that God called him to. 

I think that is because he saw that attitude first lived out in his own mother.

Her legacy was her faith. It lived on in her son, though she had no way of knowing that was going to happen.

She didn’t see immediate results. She may have felt really discouraged after Moses murdered a man and ran away to the desert, wondering if her faith had made any difference at all.

Just like her, you don’t know what the future holds for your children. But what you do know is that God calls you right here, right now, to trust Him with their lives, to “release them in a basket on a river.” 

He calls us to plant seeds of righteousness and faith by simply obeying God rather than society. And to release the outcome to Him rather than try to control the destiny of our family. 

For you that might look like:

• Making a difference school choice than the rest of your friends

• Having different standards for TV and books than others

• Teaching your children to stand for traditional marriage and gender values in a world that tells you to keep those beliefs quiet

• Choosing church over sports on Sundays

• Giving financially to missions instead of upgrading your kitchen or car
  

There are a thousand ways that God might ask you to take a countercultural step of faith. And in taking that step, you may not know how God will work through it. All you can do is obey.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 “Sow your seed in the morning, and in the evening do not let your hands be idle, for you know not which shall succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”

Mark 4:26 26 “He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

This is incredibly encouraging as mothers. You don’t have to make a perfect plan for your children, or say and do all the right things. You don’t even have to be alive to see the completion of what God will do, in order for him to do it. 

All you need to do is listen to the Lord speak to you. And obey. That is it!

You just never know if you are raising a Moses, Aaron, or Miriam. You never know how your step of faith might turn into a legacy that changes history forever.

Psalms 112:1-2 

“Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands. Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.”

So, if you are trying your hardest to teach your children about God and they don’t seem to be listening. Or if you are facing a really hard season in parenthood that doesn’t seem to be gaining any ground– remember Moses’ mother. Remember her faith when she was in a desperate situation. And just trust God that he will do the work through your faithful obedience.