Jochebed's Risk

Exodus 2

One of the definitions listed for the word “risk” in Funk and Wagnall’s

dictionary is: “To expose to a chance of injury or loss.” This means, before

one takes that risk, one must consider all they can and weigh it out before

moving too quickly, because of the possibility of life-long negative effects.

In Exodus chapter 2 we read about a woman named Jochebed and the

risk she was willing to take in order to save her son and, unknowingly, the

lives of many others later on. In Exodus chapter 1 we read how the Pharaoh

of the time had issued a command that all baby boys born were to be thrown

into the Nile River. Pharaoh’s reasoning for this command was based out of

fear of how mighty a people they were, and he did not want that to continue.

To eliminate that he felt he needed to eliminate all the baby boys who were

born.

At this time, there was also a woman named Jochebed who had given

birth to a beautiful baby boy. Now the Bible says Jochebed did her best to

hide her newborn son, which she did for three months without the Pharaoh

finding out. When she knew she could no longer hide him she had to think of

a new plan, and she did. Jochebed, the Bible says, took a wicker basket and

lined it with tar and pitch so that it was waterproof. She then took her

beautiful three-month-old son, put him in that basket and sent him down the

Nile River. Now this was not something Jochebed did without major

planning. It was not as if she just put her son in a make-shift basket and sent

him down some river hoping someone would find him. Jochebed most likely

researched when Pharaoh’s daughter and her maidservants would bathe in

that river so her son would have every chance to be seen by someone.

Jochebed even sent her daughter to follow alongside Jochebed’s son as he

drifted down that river. Eventually, Pharaoh’s daughter's maidservants did find the baby and brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. It ended up that

Jochebed could take back Moses until he was weaned. When the day came she had to let him go again for good, she followed through with it. She let him go into the arms of Pharaoh’s daughter to raise him as her own, and Pharaoh’s daughter named him Moses, which means “Because I drew him out of the water.”

One of the amazing aspects of this story is not only the faith of

Jochebed, but the risk she was willing to take in order to save her son.

Remember Pharaoh wanted all baby boys killed and thrown into the Nile.

How ironic that Jochebed put Moses into the same river that was meant to kill him, and yet it saved him. Also, how ironic that the very household that was the enemy was the same household that ended up raising him. Talk about God moving in mysterious ways! The decision Jochebed made that day, although risky, had to have been tearing her apart inside, along with the rest of her family. She knew if her son was found and was spared, he would be raised by another woman and not her. Imagine the heartbreak and fear she had to have felt not only the day of this happening, but also the days that led up to it. Imagine the fear and worry she might have felt regarding the decision of putting her son into the river? Would he have been killed if found? Would that basket be waterproof? What if he wasn’t found – then what? Oh, the risk this mother took that day was incredibly high, brave and yet so beyond comprehension. Jochebed’s risk and faith though were not overlooked by God. Not only was her son found, loved, and cared for, but he became a great man and leader of God. This all happened because of the great love, faith and risk Jochebed took the day she put her son into the Nile River. Although it had to have been hard, Jochebed had to trust in her God, not only that day, but for the rest of her days as well, that she had made the right decision. God proved faithful by proving her right. Moses became the one who would eventually go back and bring the Hebrew people out of their bondage and out of Egypt. He was used greatly by God, and all because of one mother’s risk.

So, for you as a mother, know that even though you may not be facing

the same situation as Jochebed, you will face something sometime that will

involve you taking that Godly risk. That risk that says to others “this is crazy,

this won’t work”. Yet you know you have to do it. That risk forces you to

know God is in control, and all you have to do is be obedient and have faith,

just like Jochebed had to do the day she risked everything for her son. She

gave up being a mother to her son, risked her life and her family’s lives by

hiding Moses for so long, and in the end, put everything on the line and risked it all. What she did that day helped save many, many lives for generations to come. So, the question is: What risk are you willing to take? Are you willing to risk it all for that great Godly impact just as Jochebed did? If so, know God is faithful and whatever the risk is, there is an even greater eternal impact with it. Know that not only will you will be blessed for it, but most importantly, by it so will others after you!

From The Noble Woman Book, by Gina Burns.