In the last 2 weeks we have been studying the women that were instrumental in Moses' life. They were:
- Shiphrah and Puah, the midwives that delivered him and spared his life (despite Pharaoh's orders)
- Jochebed, his biological mother
- Miriam, his sister, was also mentioned in the piece on Jochebed
Today we will be discussing his adopted mother, who was the Pharaoh's daughter.
Through our study of Jochebed, we talked about how Moses came to be adopted by the Pharaoh's daughter. According to Exodus 2:2-4:
"...when [Jochebed] saw that [Moses] was a beautiful child. she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river bank. And his sister (Miriam) stood afar off, to know what would be done to him"
What ended up happening is that the Pharaoh's daughter discovered Moses when she went to bathe in the river, accompanied by her maidens. However, although she realised that he was a Hebrew child, Exodus 2:6 says that "she had compassion on him" and spared his life. This was despite the fact that her father, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew male children be killed at birth (Exodus 1:15-17). Miriam, noting her compassion, was then bold enough to approach the Pharaoh's daughter and ask if she should go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse him for her. Two remarkable things then happened:
- Pharaoh's daughter gave Miriam permission to find Moses a nurse, thereby preserving his life even further (Exodus 2:7-8)
- The woman that Miriam called was Jochebed and, not only did the Pharaoh's daughter give her permission to nurse him, she paid her to do so until he was old enough to be weaned and brought back to the palace- making Pharaoh's daughter Moses' adopted mother (Exodus 2: 8-10)
Pharaoh's daughter therefore has much to teach us about the concept of mercy. If you prefer, you can listen to the rest of this devotional via the audio below rather than continuing to read. Feel free to download and share it with your loved ones as well:
