Exodus 2:9
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 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.
Pharaoh's daughter hired Moses' own mother to nurse the child for her for wages. God turned the decree meant for death into safe keeping, preserving Moses and placing him in the royal household where its advantages and learning prepared him to lead Israel out, showing that God and angels see what men do. In the lowly home in Goshen his mother Jochebed, strong in faith and unafraid of the king's command, used the powerful early years to build body and mind and to plant love and loyalty to God, truth, justice, prayer and rejection of idolatry. Those impressions from teaching, example and prayer fortified him against pride, corruption and court temptation, so that not even a crown could turn him from God, and they shaped his whole life and mission. The same words are God's charge to every father and mother to receive each child as a sacred trust to nurse and train for Him from babyhood onward, fitting character to resist evil and shine forever, a work more exalted than a king on his throne on which the destiny of children and future society depends for eternity.
Moses Nursed by Mother
Pharaoh's daughter arranged for Moses' own mother to nurse him for her and promised to pay her wages for the care. In this the decree that threatened the child's life was turned into safe care, for he was preserved and placed in the royal family where its advantages and education prepared him to lead Israel out of Egypt. The record stands to show that God and heavenly angels see human actions.
His earliest years were spent with his Hebrew family in his mother's lowly home in Goshen, and those years formed the foundation of his greatness through the care of a mother little known to fame. That Hebrew home education made him vigorous in body and mind, quick to perceive and strong to act, with the heart prepared like good ground for precious seed and the mind trained to see God in revelation and nature. So the stars, trees, flowers, mountains and brooks spoke to him, and the voices of the prophets met a response in his heart.
His mother was Jochebed, a Hebrew woman strong in faith and unafraid of the king's commandment. Her nursing work came at the time when a mother's influence is especially powerful in shaping mind and character, since by her life the child's physical frame is built up and mental and spiritual influences are imparted. In that safe time she used the opportunity to implant love, loyalty and reverence for God, teaching faith in the living God, truth, justice and prayer, rejecting idolatry and patiently and perseveringly planting religious principles to prepare him to serve God, while praying he would be kept from corrupting influences.
Those early impressions from teaching and example fortified him against pride, sin and corruption and stayed with him after separation from his mother and amid court influences and temptations. Even the prospect of a crown could not turn him from allegiance to God. They shaped his whole future life and great mission as leader of Israel.
Parents Entrusted With Children
In the words to the nurse, God speaks to every father and mother, giving each son and each daughter as a sacred trust from Him to be received and nursed and brought up and trained for Him. The little ones committed to parental care are the younger members of the Lord's family, entrusted to parents and born into the home to be brought up for God. The home is a great mission field that parents must not forget.
To nurse them for God is judicious early training, beginning in babyhood and continuing through childhood and youth, fashioning character and mind and forming the framework of character from the earliest years by wise management. That fitting calls for more than a partial, one-sided education that develops the mental powers at the expense of the physical, for all the faculties of mind and body need to be developed, and this is the work parents are to do for the children and youth placed under their care, aided by the teacher. It surrounds youth with hallowed influences and Christian example without harsh words and gives the lessons of Jesus' love. It also cares for natural needs by doing no harm to God's handiwork, providing wholesome nourishment and milk, pure water, and quiet sleep, with freedom from tight bindings that hinder breathing and growth. Upon such judicious early training depends the happiness of both parents and children, while indulged children become willful and passionate and unlovely.
The aim is that the child may honor God's name and become a means of blessing to the world, a channel through which His blessings flow to the world. The nursing paid for becomes educating children to resist the influence of evil and bringing them up to resist the temptations they will meet on every side in later life. It gives them a character polished after the similitude of a palace, that they may shine in the courts of the Lord forever.
This home work of the mother is precious and important, more exalted in God's sight than a king upon his throne, because it deals with character and fashions minds. Though rarely appreciated and undervalued on earth, amid a thousand daily cares and burdens and efforts to speak kindly and keep children in the right path that seem to accomplish nothing, it wins no place in history or applause of the world like a husband's work. It is watched daily by angels of God and immortalized in the book of God. Its faithful little daily duties outweigh a wider missionary field in Africa or India, and the light and glory that shine from the throne of God rest upon the faithful mother as she does this work. Upon it depends the happiness of both parents and children, and the mothers of the present day are making the society of the future.
To a very great extent the mother holds the destiny of her children in her hands, working not for time alone but for eternity. She sows seed that will spring up and bear fruit for good or for evil, and her moments are priceless. Her work will be tested in the solemn day of accounts, when the failures and crimes of men and women will be found to have come from ignorance and neglect in guiding childish feet. Then many who blessed the world with genius and truth and holiness will be found to owe their principles to a praying Christian mother. For children are placed in care to be trained not as heirs to the throne of an earthly empire but as kings unto God to reign through unending ages.