A Refuge in the Reeds
As we read through our F260 Bible Reading Plan and recently studied Exodus in our BFGs, I am reminded of Moses’ birth in Exodus 2. My mom taught four- and five-year-olds; this story was one of her favorite lessons. The sons of Israel had all died, including Joseph, but the people of Israel were fruitful and multiplied, filling the land of Egypt. The King of Egypt was enraged that this nation was increasing at such a fast pace and ordered that all Hebrew midwives kill any Hebrew boy that was born.
The midwives feared God and refused to kill the baby boys that were born. Instead, they told the King that the Hebrew women gave birth too fast and they weren’t able to kill the newborn boys. Those midwives were striving to be champions for the Israelite nation. When Pharaoh discovered the midwives weren’t doing as they asked, he commanded all firstborn Hebrew boys to be thrown into the Nile River to die. One way or another, the Pharaoh would have a powerful reign intact.
During this tragic time in Egypt, a Levite couple – Amram and Jochebed – had a baby boy. His mother, Jochebed, saw he was beautiful and hid him for three months to avoid the death of her newborn son. When she couldn’t hide him any longer, Jochebed decided to make a papyrus basket. She covered it with asphalt and pitch to make it water-resistant and put her sweet baby boy in the bulrushes around the edge of the Nile River. His sister, Miriam, stood at a distance and watched as they placed him in a refuge of reeds.
Scripture doesn’t tell us the emotions and planning behind this decision. Jochebed knew she couldn’t hide her son forever and came up with this plan that was indeed from the Lord. If Moses had any chance of survival, this basket in the bulrushes would have been his best shot. What love Jochebed must have had for her baby boy to be willing to let him go so he could live. Miriam would watch as her brother would float away to his new life. I can’t imagine how the bravery of that little girl and the submissive heart of that mom had allowed the will of God to manifest in the Nile River.
While Miriam was looking on, the Pharaoh’s daughter went to the Nile River to bathe, and her servant girls walked along the banks of the river. The Pharaoh’s daughter saw the basket floating amongst the reeds and asked her slave girl to retrieve it. In the basket was a beautiful baby boy, and he was crying. She knew this was one of the Hebrew boys, and Miriam immediately approached Pharaoh’s daughter to ask if she should get one of the Hebrew women to nurse him. Miriam went to get her mother, and the Pharaoh’s daughter said she’d pay Jochebed for nursing the baby boy, and when he was older, Jochebed took Moses back to Pharaoh’s daughter. She named this boy Moses because she “drew him out of the water.”
Where do we see Refuge in this story of seeming abandonment by Moses’ mother? There are multiple ways we see Refuge in this story. Moses was in danger of death due to the Pharaoh’s commands, yet his mother used the unlikely rescue plan of placing him in a basket in the Nile River where Moses would find Refuge in the home of the very one who wanted to end his life.
Jochebed knew the only way she could keep him safe was to place him in the very river where Pharaoh commanded that the baby boys would die. Trusting in the Lord’s direction in Jochebed’s life kept Moses safe. Who would have dreamed that the one who would provide Refuge for this little Hebrew boy was the daughter of the one who wanted this baby dead? Only God can provide Refuge in the most unsuspecting ways. We can learn from this that trusting in the Lord is all the Refuge we need. The act of saving Moses in that papyrus basket in the Nile River was part of God’s bigger plan to use Moses to lead His People out of Egypt to freedom into the Promised Land.
More than a thousand years later, another baby was born with a king’s decree to kill all male infants. After being outwitted by the wise men, King Herod ordered the murder of male infants in Bethlehem to eliminate the One that was said to be the coming King of the Jews. While Pharaoh’s daughter rescued Moses after he found Refuge in the reeds, an angel of the Lord warned Joseph in a dream to take his family and flee to Egypt to protect Jesus from the impending slaughter ordered by King Herod.
Later in his life, the Lord directed Moses to lead the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land. Though Moses didn’t get to step foot into the land, he did indeed lead the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness to a land God had promised them—a refuge and deliverance from the slavery they were under with Pharaoh. Similarly, Jesus became our Refuge and Deliverer from the bondage of sin, offering salvation and eternal life with Him.
When Moses’ mother placed him in the thick of reeds, trusting in the Lord, her Refuge, to shelter her son, she had no idea what divine plan was unfolding. It began the journey to the cross, where our Savior, Jesus, would become our perfect sacrifice and ultimate Refuge.
Rose Booth
Rose has been attending Ninth & O since nine months before she was born and a member since 1976. She is a Ministry Assistant to the Discipleship and Communications Pastor. Rose co-leads the Women’s Ministry and co-teaches the Ladies’ BFG and a Discipleship Group.
