Moses: His Birth and Childhood

KEY VERSE: “She called his name Moses, and she said, because I drew him out of the water.” —Exodus 2:10

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Exodus 2:1-10

GOD’s hand in the life of Moses was manifested from the time of his birth. Joseph, and the entire generation of Israelites brought into Egypt to escape the famine, had died. (Exod. 1:6) Meanwhile “the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.”—vs. 7

The Pharaoh who exalted Joseph to such a high position in the government of Egypt had also died, and, as the record states, “There arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.” (vs. 8) This king became apprehensive and said to the Egyptians, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.”—vss. 9,10

The Israelites had been made slave laborers, and as such were useful to the Egyptian government, but the king did not want them to become too numerous. So he set taskmasters over them with orders to increase their burden of work, thinking that this would prevent them from multiplying so rapidly. But it had the opposite effect. The next step taken by the king was to order the midwives to kill all the male babies as soon as they were born, but they disobeyed this order.—vss. 15-20

Desperation filled the king’s heart, and he gave orders that all male children of the Israelites were to be thrown into the river. This charge, or command, was given to all the Egyptians, and meant that it was legal for anyone to seize Hebrew male children at any time, and at any place, and to drown them in the river. (vs. 22) It was under such circumstances that Moses was born.

Moses’ mother and father were of the family of Levi—one of Jacob’s twelve sons. His mother concealed Moses for three months after he was born. Then, realizing that she could not continue to do this very much longer, “she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.”—Exod. 2:3,4

In the New Testament Paul commented on this, saying, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.” (Heb. 11:23) They evidently had faith that in some way their child would be used by God in the fulfillment of his purposes in connection with their people. They knew the promise to Joseph that the Israelites would be restored to their land, and they may have hoped that this goodly child of theirs might in some way be instrumental in this deliverance.

Their faith soon began to be rewarded. Pharaoh’s daughter “came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and behold the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”—Exod. 2:5,6

Moses’ sister, Miriam, who stood by to watch what would happen to the baby, asked Pharaoh’s daughter if she should get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child. “Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.” (vs. 8) The mother gladly accepted the invitation to be the child’s nurse, and wages were paid her. How marvelous are the providences of God!

By this arrangement Moses was raised under the protection of the Egyptian government and became “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.” (Acts 7:22) But with his own mother caring for him, Moses also learned that he was not an Egyptian, and he was informed concerning the promises of God as they related to the Israelites, including those of deliverance from Egyptian bondage.

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