Baby Found In River

Stories From The Hebrew Bible
THE BEAUTIFUL BABY WHO WAS FOUND IN A RIVER

The children of Israel stayed in the land of Egypt much longer than they had expected to stay. We learn in Exodus 12:40 that they were in that land four hundred thirty years. And the going down to Egypt proved a great blessing to them. It saved their lives during the years of famine and need. The place where they were living was called Goshem. And in that land, as the years went by, they grew in number, until they became a great multitude of people. Each of the twelve sons of Jacob was the father of a tribe, and Joseph was the father of two tribes, which were named after his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

As long as Joseph lived, and for some time after, the people of Israel were treated kindly by the Egyptians, out of their love for Joseph, who had saved Egypt from the suffering of famine. But after a long time, another king ruled over Egypt, and this king did not know about Joseph or Joseph’s people. This new king saw that the Israelites – as the children of Israel were called – were large in number; and he feared that they might become greater in number and in power than the Egyptians.

This new king said to his people, “Let us rule these Israelites more strictly. They are growing too strong.”

Then the king put harsh rulers over the Israelites, and they laid heavy burdens on them. These rulers made the Israelites work hard for the Egyptians. They also made them give up a large portion of their crops. These harsh rulers forced them to make bricks. The new king and the people were so afraid that the Israelites would grow in number that orders were given to immediately kill all the new born boys; though the little girls were allowed to live.

But in the face of all this hate and wrong and cruelty, the people of Israel were growing in numbers and becoming greater and greater.

At this time, when the wrongs of the Israelites were the greatest, and when their little children were being killed, one little boy was born. He was such a lovely child that his mother kept him hid, so that the enemies did not find him. When she could no longer hide him, she came up with a plan to save his life, believing that God would help her and save her beautiful little boy. She made a little box like a boat, and covered it with something that would not let the water in. Such a boat as this, covered over, was called “an ark.” She then placed her baby boy in the ark, and let it float down the river. How anxious the mother and sister must have been as they saw the little ark floating away from them on the river. The princess, Pharaoh’s daughter, who had come down to the river for a bath, saw it floating among the reeds.

She sent one of her maids to bring it to her, so that she might see what was in the curious little box. They opened it, and there was a beautiful baby, who began to cry.

The princess felt kind toward the little one, and loved it at once. She said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” You have heard how the children of Israel came to be called Hebrews. Pharaoh’s daughter thought that it would be cruel to let such a lovely baby as this die out on the water. And just then a little girl came running up to her, as if by accident, and she looked at the baby also, and said: “Shall I go and find some woman of the Hebrews to be a nurse to the child for you, and take care of it?”

“Yes,” said the princess, “go and find a nurse for me.”

The little girl (who was Miriam, the baby’s sister) ran as quickly as she could and brought the baby’s own mother to the princess. Miriam showed in this act that she was a wise and thoughtful young girl. The princess said to the little baby’s mother: “Take this child to your home and nurse it for me, and I will pay you wages for it.”

How glad the Hebrew mother was to take her child home! No one could harm her boy now, because he was protected by the princess of Egypt, the daughter of the king.

When the child was large enough to leave his mother, Pharaoh’s daughter took him into her own home in the palace. She named him “Moses,” a word that means “Drawn out,” because he was drawn out of the water.

So Moses, the Hebrew boy, lived in the palace among the nobles of the land, as the son of a princess. There he learned much more than he could have learned among his own people; because there were very wise teachers among the Egyptians. There, in the court of a cruel king, Moses gained all the knowledge that the Egyptians had to give. Amazingly, this Hebrew boy would one day set his people free, as we will soon learn.

When Moses became a man, he left the riches and ease that he could have enjoyed among the Egyptians, and went away from Egypt into a country in Arabia called Midian. Moses was tired from his long journey to Midian, so he sat down by a well. He saw some young women come to draw water from the well for their flocks of sheep. But some rough men came and drove the women away and took the water for their own flocks. When Moses saw how the women were treated he helped them, and drew the water for them.

These young women were sisters, the daughters of a man named Jethro, who was a priest in the land of Midian. He asked Moses to live with him and help him care for his flocks. Moses stayed with Jethro and married one of his daughters. So, from the king’s palace in Egypt, Moses became a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian.