Exodus 1; 2:1-10
Do you remember when your siblings, or your kids, were babies? They were so cute and cuddly. Do you remember how helpless they were or are? What were some things you or your parents have or had to help them with? Feeding them, changing them, and clothing them, right?
Well, in Exodus, there’s an interesting story about babies. It’s kind of sad but holds a valuable lesson.
The Origin
First, we see the origin of the Israelites— the Jews. God promised to make a great nation from Abraham. So, God gave Abraham and Sarah a son, Isaac. He carried the promise on when he married his wife, Rebecca and they had children. Then, their children had children and so on to Joseph.
The land became filled with Israelites. God fulfilled His promise to Abraham. There were approximately 2 million of them in Egypt. There probably would’ve been more if Pharaoh hadn’t gotten in the way, right, as he did his best to oppress the Israelites and even sentenced any Hebrew boys to death which seemed to be mostly driven by fear. Starting in Ex. 1:8, Pharaoh said that the number of the Israelites was “too many” and “too mighty for us.” He was also worried about them teaming up with Pharaoh’s enemies, forming a huge army to fight them and escape from the land.
The question of “why not just kick them out of the country” is answered by Pharaoh's fear-driven response. But God did something. He had a plan to deliver His people out of Egypt. And it would start with a tiny, little, squishy baby named Moses.
There are 3 things we learn—
God keeps His promises
God promised to make Abraham a great nation and we see in Ex 1 that He did that. God also promised a Savior starting way back in Genesis 3:15-16 and even in Isaiah 53. This was fulfilled as we see in the Gospels when Jesus was born. (John 1)
God loves His people
God’s love for His people was shown through His keeping of His promise to Abraham and His protection over Moses as well as the death of Jesus of the cross. Jesus’ death was done out of love for us to save us from our sin so that we may live with Him in Heaven. Why? Because of love.
God protects His people
Moses is a prime example of this. (Ex 2:1-10) No matter how bad the waves got, maybe there were crocodiles in the Nile that almost ate the baby, maybe boats almost ran over Moses. But God protected Moses and guided him to Pharaoh's daughter. He continued to protect him as she raised him because He had a plan for him. God also protected Daniel in the lion's den (Dan. 6:10-18) and also in the fiery furnace in Daniel 3:8-30.
No matter where we look in the Bible we find protecting His people or His promises of protection.
Trust in the Lord
As the Psalmist says in Ps 118:8. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust man.”
Moses’ mother could have made a huge plan to get Moses out of Egypt and somewhere safe but instead, she chose to take refuge in God and trust that He would protect her son. God had a plan for Moses. God had a plan for him just as God has a plan for you.
One of my favorite sayings is “if I’m not dead then God’s not done.” God has a plan for all of our lives———He is not done using us to bring Him glory and lead people to Him. And God’s plan cannot be stopped. God is more powerful than any of us, Israelite or Egyptian; slave or Pharaoh. God had powerfully protected Moses and God had a powerful plan to use Moses in an incredible way.
As it says in 2 Chronicles 20:6. “He said, “Lord, God of our ancestors, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against.””
God always has a plan. Nothing is too big for our God.