Now a man from Levi’s household married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that the baby was healthy and beautiful, so she hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she took a reed basket and sealed it up with black tar. She put the child in the basket and set the basket among the reeds at the riverbank. The baby’s older sister stood watch nearby to see what would happen to him.

Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, while her women servants walked along beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds, and she sent one of her servants to bring it to her. When she opened it, she saw the child. The boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children.”

Then the baby’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Would you like me to go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, “Yes, do that.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I’ll pay you for your work.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. After the child had grown up, she brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I pulled him out of the water.” (Common English Bible)

A new Pharaoh was enthroned in Egypt. Enough time had gone by that the legacy of Joseph as the administrator in saving many Egyptian people was lost. So, because the Israelites had grown to such large numbers, Pharaoh was afraid.

The politics of fear typically results in somebody getting oppressed. Indeed, fear became the driving force to a series of escalating oppressive policies initiated by Pharaoh, even to the point of planned infanticide. The Jewish midwives were instructed toward this end.

But the midwives did not fear the Egyptian Pharaoh. Instead they had a healthy fear of God (Exodus 1:17, 21). With such rightly ordered fear, the Jewish midwives defied the order of Pharaoh and openly disobeyed the royal command to murder Hebrew boys.

Here then, we have the setting for a special Hebrew baby to be born named Moses. He is the healthy child of two devout Levites. And although God’s name is not referenced in the verses for today, we can nonetheless see the providence and protection of the Lord within the narrative.

Through a complex chain of events, both the birth mother and the royal daughter care for this baby, protecting his life, with a divine provision for the needs of the infant Moses. Most stories in the Old Testament have contrasting characters within them, and today’s is no exception.

Pharaoh was the ruler over all of Egypt, and yet, he feared a loss of power and the status quo because of the Israelites – even though he reigned during a time of political peace, with hegemony reaching into the Middle East. As Pharaoh’s paranoid fear rose, so did God’s response of divine sovereignty over him, by providing protection against his diabolical intentions.

In contrast to Pharaoh, a powerless and non-descript Hebrew couple were married, conceived and bore a family of a daughter and two sons – Moses being the youngest. They had nothing, yet everything; whereas Pharaoh had everything, yet nothing. Thriving and flourishing has to do with a lot more than wealth and material resources.

Maternal care is powerful. And it finds a way to win the day and not only save a baby, but also to ensure that the baby grows, lives, and thrives. No royal edict can defeat the resilient strength of maternal compassion.

Despite Pharaoh’s increasing oppression, the compassion of several women ends up raising the very one who will lead the Israelites into liberation from this oppression.

With the Lord, a way will be found where there is no way. God + nothing = everything.

For us today, there is often a tendency to look back on the good old days when God did great things, and to look ahead when the Lord will return and make all things new and right. Yet we too often neglect to be mindful and live in the present moment, and know the God who is present with us right now.

We may remember the awesome deeds that God once did; and rejoice in biblical stories which demonstrate the Lord’s power, provision, and protection. We may look forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises in the person of Jesus when he returns, and gain hope from that.

Now, in this present evil age, and in this messed up world, we also have the God of the present tense. God will make a way, in this present time, where there seems to be no way. God is doing something new and amazing for us today.

And that way will be clear enough for us to know – and incredible enough for us to not predict or imagine. For God’s watch-care and deliverance can (and does) take many forms. When the Lord fulfills divine plans, it sometimes comes in the most creative and incredible way possible, so that we will have no doubt where it came from.

“God Will Make a Way” by Don Moen

God will make a way, Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me
He will be my guide, Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength, For each new day
He will make a way He will make a way

By a roadway in the wilderness, He’ll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain
He will do something new today