Exodus 2:6
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. 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.
Pharaoh's daughter had the pitched ark fetched from the water's edge, uncovered it, saw the lovely weeping babe, pitied him as one of the Hebrews' children whose loving mother had hidden him to save his life, and chose at once to rescue him and take him as her son. Angels watched with deep interest while God directed her steps to that very spot, guided Miriam's watchful waiting nearby, and so ordered events that permission was given for his own mother to nurse and rear him free from fear of the cruel decree against the Hebrew boys. By that compassion the decree was overruled, for Moses was brought into Pharaoh's household to receive the training that fitted him to lead Israel out of Egypt. He then spent his first twelve years in a lowly Hebrew home in Goshen, where his mother taught him love and loyalty to God and to his people, and those early truths held firm through later ungodly influences and laid the foundation of his greatness. That mother was Jochebed, strong in faith and unafraid of the king's command, whose faithful work shows that to a very great extent the mother holds the destiny of her children for eternity, shaping mind and character in the tender years when impressions last for life.
Compassion at the River
The strange pitched ark of bulrushes lay at the water's edge when the princess came, and she sent one of her waiting maids to fetch it. She removed its cover and saw within a lovely babe weeping, and she had compassion on him. She recognized at once that he was one of the Hebrews' children, and she knew that a tender Hebrew mother had taken this singular means to preserve the life of her much-loved child. His tears awakened her sympathy, and she decided at once that his life should be saved and that he should be her son, adopting him as her own.
The helpless infant had been placed there by his anxious mother, who committed him to God with earnest prayers mingled with tears. Angels and the heavenly host watched with interest as the child lay there, and they directed Pharaoh's daughter to the river to the very spot near where he lay. The Lord God guided in all these transactions, from the placing and the watching by Miriam to the finding by the princess and Miriam's receiving permission to fetch a nurse. In this way his own mother was brought to care for him without fear, despite Pharaoh's cruel decree of death against all the male children of the Hebrews.
Miriam, as a child watching beside the Nile over the hidden basket, displayed force of character. Her self-control and tact at that moment God made instrumental in preserving Moses as the deliverer of His people. The record of these minute details was placed on record by the same divine Instructor who guided the prophetic records of Revelation and the history of the life of Christ and His condemnation and crucifixion. It shows that the Bible deals with the smallest details of life as well as the greatest affairs, and that all actions are seen by God and by the heavenly angels.
Through this compassion Pharaoh's decree against the Hebrew boys was overruled. Moses was brought into Pharaoh's family, where he received the education and preparation that qualified him to lead Israel out of Egypt.
Mother's Early Influence
Exodus 2:6 belongs to the time of Moses' early childhood, when he spent his first twelve years among his Hebrew kindred before soon passing from his mother's care to those who did not know God and being separated from his people. That early training took place in a lowly cabin and humble home in Goshen. In that brief time his mother used what time she had to teach him love and loyalty to God and to teach him about God and his people. The truths formed in those early years remained firm despite later influences, and those twelve years laid the foundation of his greatness through one little known to fame.
That Hebrew home education made the youth of Israel vigorous in body and mind, quick to perceive and strong to act. The heart was prepared like good ground for the growth of the precious seed, and the mind was trained to see God in the words of revelation and the scenes of nature. Thus the stars of heaven, the trees and flowers of the field, the lofty mountains and the babbling brooks spoke to him, and the voices of the prophets heard throughout the land met a response in his heart.
His mother was Jochebed, the Hebrew mother of Moses the deliverer of Israel, strong in faith and not afraid of the king's commandment. Responsibility rests especially upon the mother, by whose life-blood the child is nourished and its physical frame built up. She imparts to the child mental and spiritual influences that tend to the shaping of mind and character from the earliest years.
Her work as a Hebrew slave and exile mother is the starting point of far-reaching influence, for though in bondage she shaped the whole future life of Moses and his great mission as leader of Israel, proving that no other work equals the work of the Christian mother. To a very great extent the mother holds the destiny of her children in her hands, dealing with developing minds and characters not for time only but for eternity, sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit for good or for evil. Her task is to impress the image of the divine upon a human soul, especially during the early years when she forms character and makes impressions that remain through life, and while children are very young. Parents are to direct instruction and training while children are very young so they become Christians, trained not as heirs to an earthly throne but as kings unto God to reign through unending ages. Every mother's moments are priceless because her work will be tested in the solemn day of accounts, when many failures and crimes will be traced to ignorance and neglect in guiding childish feet, and many who blessed the world with genius and truth and holiness will be found to owe their guiding principles to a praying Christian mother.