<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Exodus 2;1-4<div><br></div><div><b>1. &nbsp;Now a man from the house of Levi went and took a wife, a daughter of Levi.</b></div><div><b>2. &nbsp;The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.</b></div><div><b>3. &nbsp;And when she could hide him&nbsp;no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen&nbsp;and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river’s brink.</b></div><div><b>4. &nbsp;And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>These few verses are&nbsp;filled with emotion. &nbsp;Imagine a mother’s love and faith, so great, she also defied the command of the Pharaoh king of Egypt. &nbsp;She did not kill her son but hid him until she could hide him no more.</div><div><br></div><div>We can only imagine the other women of her community, (who had obeyed the king and killed their newborn sons) and how they would be tempted to resent this new mother and her son.&nbsp; They might also be tempted to report her to the authorities. &nbsp;(This is all speculation, but quite reasonable I believe.)</div><div><br></div><div>This mother’s heart must have been torn in pieces as she prepared the little basket in which to place her son, and then tenderly leave&nbsp;her own son in the basket amongst the reeds at the shore&nbsp;of the Nile, and walk away.</div><div><br></div><div>Can you imagine the prayers she must have prayed to the God of her fathers for this abandoned son?</div><div><br></div><div>No where in scripture do we read of God instructing her to do this. &nbsp;She in desperation and hope did what she could. &nbsp;God indeed allows us also&nbsp;to be in impossible situations where every choice seems wrong. &nbsp;Yet, in faith we must do that which offers some hope and an opportunity for God himself to direct our lives’&nbsp;course of affairs.</div><div><br></div><div>Believers do not give in to hopelessness. &nbsp;They look for ways for God to act miraculously, even when those ways are terrifying to us.</div><div><br></div><div>This woman literally <i>“cast her ‘bread’ upon the waters” </i>(Ecclesiastes 11;1)&nbsp;not knowing what would come next. &nbsp;It must have been so terrible for her, she could not bear to watch. &nbsp;She actually left her son. &nbsp;</div><div>(There is another similar story of another mother, her name was Hagar. (Genesis 21;12-21)</div><div><br></div><div>This woman’s daughter, the sister of the infant, (probably Miriam, whose name means ‘rebellion,’ something we must also do in the face of evil<span>) remained hidden and watched to see what would happen to her baby brother. &nbsp;She also must have suffered with her mother’s suffering and her own love for her little brother.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The mother of this child&nbsp;set in a basket amongst the reeds was, Jochebed, wife of Amram. (Exodus 6;20)</span></div><div><span>The name ‘Jochebed’&nbsp;means, ‘God’s glory.’ &nbsp;Think of the suffering she endured and realize, the glory of God is in His suffering for us, that we be rescued by water and Spirit as well.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, deliver us from temptations to despair and&nbsp;hopelessness. &nbsp;Bless us to act in faith and give You a chance to save, no matter how ridiculous&nbsp;or impossible</span><span>. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric/Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Exodus 2;1-4
1.  Now a man from the house of Levi went and took a wife, a daughter of Levi.2.  The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.3.  And when she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river’s brink.4.  And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him.
These few verses are filled with emotion.  Imagine a mother’s love and faith, so great, she also defied the command of the Pharaoh king of Egypt.  She did not kill her son but hid him until she could hide him no more.
We can only imagine the other women of her community, (who had obeyed the king and killed their newborn sons) and how they would be tempted to resent this new mother and her son.  They might also be tempted to report her to the authorities.  (This is all speculation, but quite reasonable I believe.)
This mother’s heart must have been torn in pieces as she prepared the little basket in which to place her son, and then tenderly leave her own son in the basket amongst the reeds at the shore of the Nile, and walk away.
Can you imagine the prayers she must have prayed to the God of her fathers for this abandoned son?
No where in scripture do we read of God instructing her to do this.  She in desperation and hope did what she could.  God indeed allows us also to be in impossible situations where every choice seems wrong.  Yet, in faith we must do that which offers some hope and an opportunity for God himself to direct our lives’ course of affairs.
Believers do not give in to hopelessness.  They look for ways for God to act miraculously, even when those ways are terrifying to us.
This woman literally “cast her ‘bread’ upon the waters” (Ecclesiastes 11;1) not knowing what would come next.  It must have been so terrible for her, she could not bear to watch.  She actually left her son.  (There is another similar story of another mother, her name was Hagar. (Genesis 21;12-21)
This woman’s daughter, the sister of the infant, (probably Miriam, whose name means ‘rebellion,’ something we must also do in the face of evil) remained hidden and watched to see what would happen to her baby brother.  She also must have suffered with her mother’s suffering and her own love for her little brother.
The mother of this child set in a basket amongst the reeds was, Jochebed, wife of Amram. (Exodus 6;20)The name ‘Jochebed’ means, ‘God’s glory.’  Think of the suffering she endured and realize, the glory of God is in His suffering for us, that we be rescued by water and Spirit as well.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, deliver us from temptations to despair and hopelessness.  Bless us to act in faith and give You a chance to save, no matter how ridiculous or impossible.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/Eric/Grandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”


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