Exodus 2:1 - Meaning and Application

Moses was a Levite through both his father and his mother. Jacob had spoken of Levi with shame in Genesis 49:5, yet Moses soon appeared as one of his descendants. This pointed ahead to Christ, who came in human flesh and was made a curse for us. Through Moses’s birth, this tribe began to stand out from the rest, and later it would become important in many other ways.

Think about this newborn child and how he was hidden. It was likely at the very time of his birth that Pharaoh made his cruel law to kill all the Hebrew baby boys, and many surely died because of it. Moses’s parents already had Miriam and Aaron, his older sister and brother, before this order came, and had raised them safely. But those who start life in peace do not know what troubles may come before they are done.

Moses’s mother must have felt great fear as his birth drew near while that law was in force. She may well have felt like saying, “Blessed are the women who never had children” (Luke 23:29). Better that than to bear children only to hand them over to a murderer (Hosea 9:13). Yet this child became the honor of his father’s house. What we fear most often turns out, in the end, to bring us the greatest joy.

See the wisdom of God’s providence. Just when Pharaoh’s cruelty reached its worst, the deliverer was born, even though he would not appear for many years. When people are planning the ruin of the church, God is already preparing its rescue. Moses, who would later lead Israel out of slavery, was himself in danger of being killed by that same oppressor. God allowed this so that Moses would later feel a holy zeal to rescue his people from such bloody hands.

His parents saw that he was a fine child, more beautiful than usual. Stephen says he was “beautiful to God,” meaning especially lovely in God’s sight (Acts 7:20). They likely thought there was something almost radiant in his face, a hint of the shining that later appeared on his face (Exodus 34:29). God often gives early signs of the gifts he plans to use later. He did this with Samson, who showed strength early (Judges 13:24-25), with Samuel, who grew up serving the Lord with eagerness (1 Samuel 2:18), with David, who was given early help and victory (1 Samuel 17:37), and with Timothy, who was trained from childhood (1 Timothy 3:15).

Because they saw this, Moses’s parents were more eager to protect him. They took it as a sign that God had some special purpose for him, and that his life meant something great. A living, active faith can draw hope from even the smallest hint of God’s favor. A merciful touch from God’s care will strengthen those who are searching for his help.

They hid him for three months in some private place in their house, though it likely put their own lives at risk if he were found. In this, Moses was like Christ, who as an infant had to hide away in Egypt too (Matthew 2:13), and who was preserved when many innocent children were killed. Hebrews 11:23 says Moses’s parents hid him by faith. Some think they had a special revelation that the deliverer would come from their family line. At the very least, they trusted God’s promise to preserve Israel, and by that faith they hid their child without fear of the king’s command.

Faith in God’s promise does not replace the use of lawful means. Instead, it pushes us to use them wisely in seeking mercy. Our duty is ours to do, and the outcome belongs to God. Faith in God also lifts us above the traps of fearing people too much.

When they could hide him no longer, likely because searchers were coming around to look for hidden children, they put him in a basket made of reeds by the riverbank (Exodus 2:3). They set his little sister at a distance to watch and see what would happen to him, and whose care he might fall under (Exodus 2:4). God guided their hearts to do this, so that his own plan would come to pass. In this way Moses would come into Pharaoh’s daughter’s hands, and his rescue from such danger would be a picture of how God would rescue his church, which now lay exposed in the same way.

God takes special care of Israel’s outcasts (Psalm 147:2). They are his outcasts too (Isaiah 16:4). Moses seemed completely abandoned by his family, and his own mother dared not openly claim him. But the Lord took him up and protected him (Psalm 27:10).

In times of great trouble, it is wise to trust the providence of God. If they had exposed their child while they still could have kept him safe, that would have been testing God. But once they could not save him by ordinary means, they were right to place him in God’s care. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. “If I perish, I perish.”