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Our thanks for tonight's message is taken from Exodus chapter 1, verse 22, all the way to chapter 2, verse 10. Last week, we learned from the wonderful testimonies of the two midwives, Shipra and Pua. Tonight, we want to learn from another amazing character, and that is none other than Moses' mother. Most people are familiar with the name Moses; few would know the name of his mother. According to Exodus 6:20, her name was Jochebed. Let me read for you Exodus 6:20: "And Amram took him Jochebed, his father's sister, to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years."
I've never come across a Christian girl named Jochebed. Have you? Although she may be insignificant in the eyes of people, indeed, she was a woman of great faith. As Hebrews 11:23 says: "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment." The title of our message is "The Faith of Jochebed."
The first thing we want to learn from Jochebed is that her faith in God helped her to make the right decision. When the midwives refused to obey Pharaoh's command to kill the male babies secretly, Pharaoh openly declared that all male babies had to be killed. Exodus 1:22 says: "And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive." So his plot was no longer a secret; it was an open public declaration.
Notice there were two threats in Pharaoh's command: one was explicit, which means every Jewish baby boy was to be killed, and the other was implicit, which implies that if anyone disobeyed this command, he or she would risk his or her own life. In other words, all the Hebrew parents had two choices: they could either kill their sons and save themselves, or they could try to save their sons and risk their own lives. There was no middle way.
Then the sin moved to a particular family from the tribe of Levi. Exodus 2:1 says: "And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi," which is a reference to Amram and his wife Jochebed. Verse 2 continues: "And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months." The mother of Moses, Jochebed, including her husband Amram, had to make a decision, and whatever decision they made, that decision pleased the Almighty God, and therefore it was recorded in the Holy Scriptures for our edification.
My friends, in life's journey, we often find ourselves at crossroads whereby we are put to the test. We have to make decisions: to go or not to go, to do or not to do, to say or not to say. Some of us make the right decisions, others fail, and some of the consequences could be very serious. That was exactly what Proverbs 14:12 says: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." In this world of sin and compromise, it is so difficult to make the right decisions. Oftentimes, our decisions are based on our own humanistic ideas, intellectual reasonings, or emotional feelings. We can be very sincere, but we can also be sincerely wrong. The only way you and I can make the right decisions is that we must use the word of God as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We must humble ourselves and believe in the Almighty God, who says in Psalm 32:8: "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye." Do you trust and believe that God will guide and lead you if you walk according to His truth? God says, "I will guide you with mine eyes." When Hebrews 11:23 says: "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment," the faith mentioned there was the faith of Moses' parents, because Moses was just born; obviously, he could not have exercised his faith. It was his parents' faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Because of her faith in God, Jochebed made that godly decision to save the life of her son at the expense of risking her own life. Can you imagine if Jochebed had decided, like all the other mothers, to obey the king's command to drown all the male babies? Today, we would not have the story of Moses, and Jochebed would not be known as a woman of faith.
As parents, we may or may not be called to make a life-and-death decision for our children like Jochebed, but nonetheless, we still need to make certain decisions for our children or help our children to make the right decisions in life. But on what basis do we decide for them? Based on faith or based on the philosophies of this world? What good would it do to our children if they are successful in making lots of money, driving fancy cars, living in good neighbourhoods, but their lives have nothing to do with faith—absolutely nothing to do with faith in God? What does it matter if our children were to gain the whole world and then lose their own soul? So in making decisions for our children, we have to exercise our faith in God, and our God is faithful. He will guide and lead us to make the right decision. The amazing part of this story is that when, by faith, Jochebed made that right decision to trust God, He gave Moses back to her.
Let us turn to Exodus chapter 2. Allow me to read briefly for you verses 3 to 10: "And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water."
So, by God's providence, Pharaoh's daughter found the baby, took pity on him, and adopted him into her family. More than that, the Lord used Moses' quick-thinking sister to arrange for Jochebed to nurture and care for the child. This is not a fairy tale but a tremendous story of faith recorded in the word of God. Let's say you were Jochebed, and you were given this opportunity to care for your child on borrowed time, so to speak, because very soon, Pharaoh's daughter would want the child back. What would you teach your child with the little time you have with him? With the little time you have with your child, would you teach your child, "Son, work hard, always aim to be rich, and be number one," or would you rather teach your child about salvation and the eternal things of God?
My friends, the formative years of a child's life are the most crucial. It is the time whereby the child’s character, personality, thinking, understanding, and belief will be shaped and instilled. That is why some parents regret that while their children were young, they did not teach them in the ways of the Lord, and now they are much older. It seems impossible for them to change. Please do not give up, but continue to be a good testimony and share with your children about God and the things of God. For men it is impossible, but for God all things are possible. Jochebed was given the opportunity to teach Moses, and I believe that she would have taught him all the valuable lessons about faith in God. She would have taught him about wonderful lessons pertaining to the promises of God. Though we may be in Egypt at this point in time, one day we would inherit the land of promise. Israel would be a mighty nation and a blessing to all the nations around the world. Jochebed would have helped to instill within Moses faith in God that would later characterise his life. How do we know? Well, just take a look at Moses' life. A few verses after this, we learn that Moses killed the Egyptian who was smiting the Hebrew because he considered the Hebrew as one of his brethren. That was also the reason why he was willing to obey God, who appeared to him at the burning bush, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and all the wonderful stories about Moses—the opening of the Red Sea, manna that comes from heaven, life in the wilderness, and so forth. Most certainly
, Pharaoh's daughter would not have taught Moses all those things—so who did? Jochebed.
Well, my friends, what can we learn from here? Let us remember that we do not have all the time to be with our children like Jochebed. We are just living on borrowed time. Very soon, our children may have to leave us, or we may have to leave our children. If God gives us another 10 years to nurture our children, how will we spend these 10 years? How will we teach our children? Proverbs 22:6 tells us: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." That was exactly what Jochebed did.
The second thing we can learn from Jochebed is that her faith in God is commendable. Most parents will love their children sacrificially, even risking their lives. Interestingly, if you notice, Jochebed's natural love for her son was not mentioned, but it was her faith in God that was commendable. Jochebed must have loved her child as much as any mother would have loved her child, but it was not her love for her son that caused her not to be afraid of the king's command. No doubt, love and natural affections would have moved her, but there was something more than that. She saw that the baby was a goodly child, which means a pleasant and beautiful child. One theologian said every child of God is a special blessing from the Lord. The beauty of the Lord is set upon the child, and Jochebed saw how the one living and true God had blessed her with this goodly child. That was why she decided to hide the child against the command of the king. If you believe that the child God has blessed you with indeed comes from Him, you will do everything you can to protect the child and bring up the child in the fear of the Lord. It takes a lot of faith to protect a child against the command of the king. Take a moment and consider this scenario: how do you hide a newborn baby? You may be able to hide him from the eyes of the enemies, but how do you hide him from the cries that newborns have? Every time the baby cries, the mother's heart would skip a bit—will the soldiers hear him? Will the neighbours hear him? Will they tell on him? It was not easy. Those of us who are parents know that it is already so difficult to bring up a newborn baby. If you have to take care of your baby secretly, I submit to you, it takes more than just strength, more than just endurance and perseverance; it takes a lot of faith to protect that child, not forgetting the intervention of God. If God did not intervene, Jochebed would not have been able to hide the child even for one day, much less for three months. So when Jochebed protected her baby, she had to be very aware of the potential dangers lurking around. She had to be very aware of the surrounding situations and circumstances.
Parents, we love our children, don't we? We want to protect them from the evils and sins of this world that are so ever-prevailing. But we must be aware of the dangers our children are facing. We must not be ignorant of the dangers our children are facing in school, amongst their friends and peers. We live in these last days; this world will show no mercy upon our children. If the world can consume our children, it will consume them like the waters in the river. Now, therefore, you and I must be alert. We must not be ignorant of all the dangers lurking around. Ultimately, we must be faithful.
Look at verse 3 of chapter 2: "And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein, and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink." There came a time when she could no longer hide him anymore. So, she made a waterproof ark for him and placed the child into the ark, setting it amongst the reeds by the riverbank. For three months, she had kept him apart from the world and the world from the sun. She had done everything she could; she had done her best. Now she had no choice but to put him in a basket of bulrushes, coat it with something to make it afloat, and then set him by the riverbank near the place where Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing.
It must have been extremely painful. One can imagine the faith it took for her to risk the life of a baby—first putting the baby in that basket, then placing the basket by the riverbank, and introducing the baby into the very household of the one who wanted to kill all the Hebrew male babies. Can you imagine that? The innocent child was oblivious to all the dangers he was facing, but the mother was aware of everything, every moment of it. At the same time, she could do nothing. So, the time had come for her that she could do absolutely nothing but trust and believe that God would take care of him.
If there is an appropriate hymn that she would sing to Moses at that time, I believe it would be this hymn: "God Will Take Care of You." No one else but God alone would take care of you.
My friends, as we consider the pain Jokebed must have felt, it is the same thing that every parent would feel when they are getting ready to send their children off into this world. We want to keep our children safe, don’t we? We want to keep them beside us all the time because we know that this world is evil. We want our children to be protected from this world and that this world would have no access to our children. But the time will come when we can do absolutely nothing. But like Jokebed, we have to leave our children behind. This is the reality that every parent would have to face.
But you and I must know that we have a God who is a better Father than you and me. We must believe that our Heavenly Father is a better Father than you and me. So basically, there were two threats in the king's commandment, not one. One was against the babies, and the other was against those who disobeyed the king’s commandment. If you kill the baby, you save your life; if you don’t kill the baby, you risk your own life. Therefore, when Jokebed decided not to drown her son in the river but to hide him, she was risking her life. In other words, she had to look at death and perhaps potential torture in the face, and then she said, "I will not give in to you. I will not kill my son for fear of my own life. The fear of death will not control me. I will trust my God as I place my son in the basket, put him amongst the reeds in the river, and introduce him into the very family of the one who wanted to kill all the Hebrew male babies. I trust my God."
My friend, she was commended for her boldness and courage. That courage came from faith. The Bible says, "By faith Moses was hidden by his parents because they were not afraid of the king’s commandment." How does faith produce that kind of courage? Hebrews 11:1 gives the answer: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith in God frees us from fear—any fear, even death—and gives us the courage and peace that are built upon the assurance of God’s promises.
Several years ago, when I visited the Holy Land, I came across this touching story about the courage and love of a Jewish mother for her child. The story was told of World War II and the Holocaust that took the lives of millions of Jews. Allow me to quote this story. It was the story of Solomon Rosenberg and his family, a true story. Solomon Rosenberg and his parents, his wife, and their two sons were arrested and placed in a concentration camp. It was a labour camp, and the rules were very simple: as long as you are strong enough to do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you are exterminated.
Solomon watched his own father and mother march off to their deaths, and he knew that next would be his younger son, David, because David had always been a frail and weak child. Every evening, Solomon came back into the barracks after his hours of labour and searched for the faces of his family. When he found them, they would huddle together, embrace one another, and thank God for another day of life.
One day, Solomon came back and didn’t see those familiar faces. He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, weeping and praying. He said, “Joshua, tell me it’s not true.” Joshua turned and said, “It is true, Papa. Today David was not strong enough to do his work. They came for him.” “But where is your mother?” asked Mr Solomon. “Oh, Papa,” he said, “when they came for David, he was afraid and he cried. Mommy said calmly to him, ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of, David. God loves us, and He will take care of us.’ And she took his hand and went with him.”
Even in the face of death, his mother was still able to say to her son, “Don’t be afraid. God loves us, and He will take care of us.” It is not just some words of comfort with no reality. In its truest sense, God loves us. God loves us so much that Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the all-powerful, eternal Son of God, came into this world and lived as a man. Ultimately, like a lamb to the slaughter, He went to the cross. He was whipped, spat at, mocked, and crucified. He shed His blood. It was not as if Jesus was incapable of saving Himself; it was not those crusty nails that kept Him to the cross. It was because of His love for wretched sinners like you and me. Because without His death, without the shedding of His precious blood, there is no remission of sins. Jesus loves us so much. He endured all that. He died, He was buried, but on the third day, He rose again from the dead. Jesus says, “I am the life and the resurrection. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
Tonight, we are able to learn about the faith of Jokebed. She believed in the same God as you and me—Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Her faith in God helped her to make the right decision. Her faith in God helped her to overcome all her fears. She was not afraid of the king's commandment—a woman whose name few will remember, a woman whose name few will be able to pronounce, a woman who may be insignificant in the eyes of many, but in the eyes of God, she was a woman of great faith. She was the one who instilled in Moses faith in God that later on characterised his entire life.
My friends, tonight, if God were to give a summary of your life and my life, what would He say to us? Would He say you are the father of faith, or you are a mother of faith, or you are a child of faith? I pray that all of us will learn from the life of Jokebed and be a man, a woman, a husband, a wife, a father, a mother, and a child of great faith.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for enabling us to consider this portion of Scripture. Indeed, there are so many valuable lessons for us to learn. Thou who hast enabled us to study the book of Exodus in our prayer meeting, help us to draw valuable lessons tonight as we consider the life of Jokebed. She was the one of whom Thou hast said, "By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months," why? Because they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. Jokebed was a woman who looked to Thee, trusted in Thee, and obeyed. She has taught us this blessed evening what it means to believe and to trust.
Indeed, help us to apply these lessons to our lives, that at the crossroads of our lives, we may have to make many decisions, even decisions pertaining to our children. We want to make the right decisions, and the only way for us to make the right decisions is to use Thy precious Word as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. To humble ourselves and trust in the Almighty God, that He will take care of us. He
is indeed a better Father than all of us. We trust and believe in Him. We love Him because He first loved us. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.