The Woman Whose Children Became Great
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ochebed’s name is only mentioned twice in the entire Bible
(Exodus 6:20; Numbers 26:59), but thirty-three hundred years after her
death, she is still remembered as one of the great mothers of all history.
Name Meaning—Jochebed implies, "glory of Jehovah" or, "Jehovah (is her or our)
glory." It is plain from this name
of the mother of Moses, that the announcement of Jehovah, as the name of God,
was not made for the first time when God revealed Himself in a special manner
under that title to Moses in the burning bush. Jochebed is the first person in
Scripture to have a name compounded with Jah—or Jehovah.
Alexander Whyte said of her name--;
It is very tantalizing to be told her remarkable name and to be told no more.
Was Godthy-glory the remarkable name that Moses gave to his mother as often as
he looked back at all that he owed to her, and as often as he rose up and
called her blessed? Or was her very remarkable name her own invention? Was her
striking name her own seal that she had set to her own vow which she made to
her own God after some great grace and goodness of her own God? Or, again did
the angel of the Lord visit that daughter of the house of Levi or some
Jabbok-like or Annunciation-night, and so name her as the sun rose upon her
prayer?
A
mother can do nothing higher than instill her own wisdom, faith, and character
into her children. A truly creative mother must be an authentic teacher. Such
as was Jochebed!
It
seems to me that no one should be surprised at Moses, Aaron and Miriam-all
three outstanding human beings. Look at their mother! And the more we study
Jochebed, the more evident it becomes that mothers mark their children one way
or another.
Family Connections—Jochebed is spoken of as a
daughter of Levi who married a man of the house of Levi (Exodus 2:1; Numbers
26:59), whose name was Amram. She married her nephew, and was thus both the
wife and aunt of Amram… seeing his wife was his father’s sister (Exodus 6:20).
Marriages with aunts and nieces were not unlawful before the giving of the law
by Moses. They were very common throughout the East.
To Amram and Jochebed were
born three children each of whom became renowned in their own sphere (Numbers
26:59). She bore and suckled all three on the same strong milk, till she
weaned them from milk and put them on the marrow of lions. The oak has its roots
around the rock, and the children of Jochebed had their roots around their
godly mother.
Moses, who became one of the greatest national leaders
and legislators the world has ever known.
Aaron, who became Israel’s first high priest and the
founder of the Aaronic priesthood.
Miriam, the gifted poetess and musician, who was
intimately associated with her two brothers in the history of Israel. Jochebed had taught Miriam well. The seven-year-old
Hebrew slave child conducted herself with amazing maturity and poise before the
Pharaoh’s daughter.
Jochebed’s prominent place in the divine gallery is
secure, then, and the aspect of her career especially emphasized in Scripture
is that of her clever design to preserve the life of her baby boy. It was for
her courage and trust in such an act that had far-reaching consequences for the
nation that she is placed among the heroines of faith in Hebrews 11:23.
Let us recall the circumstances of the preservation of Moses which caused his
mother to be included among that "great cloud of witnesses" whose lives and labors
testified of their faith in God’s providential care and goodness.
At the time of Pharaoh, the Hebrews had multiplied
so greatly as to cause the monarch to fear lest they should outnumber the
Egyptians and take over the nation. Thus he commanded that all newly-born
Hebrew boys be thrown into the Nile—a dastardliest edict! Jochebed was heavy
with child. Already there were Miriam, about ten years of age at the time, and
Aaron, possibly about three, in the home. Now another child was on the way.
Knowing of Pharaoh’s command and that, as a rigid executive, he closely checked
up on all male births, Jochebed must have had intense suspense as she awaited
her third child. Would it be a boy that would be wrenched from her and thrown
into the Nile? What were her feelings when the child was born and the midwife
told her it was a boy? What maternal grief must have been hers!
But the horror of that crocodile-infested Nile
transforms Jochebed into a heroine and the preserver of a boy who became one of
the world’s greatest figures. The moment she saw her baby; she was determined
to fight for his life. Three times over we read that "she saw that he was a goodly
child"(Exodus 2:2; Acts 7:20; Hebrews 11:23). This means that Moses
was not only a lovely child to look at, but also, as the margin explains, he
was "fair to God," implying that there was something other-worldly or
angelic about his features. As the little one lay in her lap, Jochebed felt
that he had been sent from God, and that He, along with her mingled faith and
love, would somehow preserve the child.
How Jochebed managed to hide her baby, who doubtless cried as loudly as other babies, in some secret place where he could not be seen or heard, is a mystery!
When she was unable to
conceal him any longer, "God through the intensity of
her faith caused her to inherit a vision of what He had appointed for Moses." She made a little cradle of
plaited reeds which were believed to be protection against crocodiles, then
placed the cradle with its treasure secretly among the rushes at the river’s
bank, and told Miriam her young daughter to stand near to watch over the small
craft. The brief but vivid account of what happened is given by the historian,
even by Moses himself who, in his latter years, by divine inspiration, wrote
the first five books of the Bible.
At her usual time Pharaoh’s daughter came to the
feathery greenness edging the ancient Nile to wash herself, and her maidens
walking by the river side saw the cradle among the rushes. When the royal lady
saw the beautiful baby and heard his cry she had compassion on him. A Hebrew
woman must be found to nurse the child. Young Miriam was also near at hand, and
quite naively said to Pharaoh’s daughter, "Shall I go and call to thee
a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?"
Thus Jochebed’s baby was not only saved, but
Jochebed was paid to care for him until he was weaned. Pharaoh’s daughter must
have loved the child for she brought him up as her son. Nevertheless, Moses
later refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, even though she had
given him her name, Moses, which means "drawn out of the water" (Exodus 2:10). It
was to her, Pharaoh’s daughter, that Jochebed owed the saving of her son, as
well as the royal protection and all the advantages of Pharaoh’s palace
as his home for the first forty years of his life.
Scripture does not tell us how long Jochebed lived
after her child no longer required her nursing; but, almost certainly, she was deceased
by the time Moses fled into the wilderness at forty years of age.
Jochebed’s life was lived to the hilt-not sensationally, but its good effects reach us today, teaching us that a woman under God’s control is a woman living her life to its highest and fullest.
Scripture
References—Exodus
1; 2:1-11; 6:20; Numbers 26:59; Hebrews 11:23
Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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