Exodus 2:7, commentary and pictures

Miriam as a child watched beside the little ark where infant Moses lay hidden from the decree of death, and when Pharaoh's daughter found him she wisely offered to fetch a Hebrew nurse for the child. Permission was given, so the child was restored to his own mother to nurse and raise without fear, and the Lord overruled the cruel decree to place him under royal protection and prepare him for leadership. His mother used those brief early years at home to plant faith in God, reverence, love of truth and justice, and rejection of idolatry, joining thoughts of God to daily events and to nature and the hopes of his fathers. Those impressions laid the foundation of his character and greatness and remained with him through life, keeping him faithful amid court temptations and shaping the mission he fulfilled as leader of Israel. A mother thus holds the destiny of her children to a very great extent, nourishing body and shaping mind and character for eternity by impressing the divine image upon a human soul.

Rescue at the River

Miriam as a child watched beside the Nile by the little basket or ark of bulrushes where infant Moses was hidden to save him from Pharaoh's decree that all Hebrew male children should suffer cruel death, while the heavenly host watched with interest. Her force of character was displayed early in that watching.

When Pharaoh's daughter came to the river and found the child, his sister with wisdom and self-control and tact offered to go and call a nurse of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for her. That offer used the moment of discovery to arrange for a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Pharaoh's daughter's permission allowed the child to be returned to and nursed by his own mother, Jochebed, who could then care for him and raise him without fear. In this way the life of the deliverer of Israel was preserved and his own mother was given opportunity to raise him.

The Lord God guided in all these transactions, overruling the decree to kill the Hebrew boys to bring Moses under Pharaoh's daughter's protection and into the royal family. There he received education and preparation for leadership while still under that protection and taught by his mother. The history is placed on record to show that God guides the most minute details as well as the greatest affairs of life. It is also to teach that all human actions are seen by God and by the heavenly angels.

Mother's Early Training

The verse belongs to Moses' very early years in the lowly cabin home in Goshen, where home and school were one and loving father and mother rather than stranger lips gave him instruction, before he was soon to pass from his mother's care into the guardianship of people who did not know God to be raised at court. His mother used the brief time she had to nurse and train him, patiently planting religious principles, faith in God, reverence for God, love and loyalty to God, love of truth and justice, and rejection of idolatry, while preparing him for a life of service. That training joined thoughts of God to all daily events and recounted His mighty works in deliverance, and it impressed His providence and the future life and the true, the good, and the beautiful upon the young mind. By figures and symbols lessons were illustrated and fixed in memory, and almost from infancy he was initiated into the mysteries, wisdom, and hopes of his fathers. He was guided in thinking and feeling and anticipating beyond things seen and transitory to the unseen and eternal, and trained to see God in revelation and in nature, so that stars, trees, flowers, mountains, brooks, and the voices of the prophets spoke to him and met a response in his heart.

Those early years with his Hebrew family laid the foundation of his character and greatness and gave the forming of his developing mind, so that he came forth vigorous in body and mind, quick to perceive and strong to act, with heart prepared like good ground for the precious seed. The impressions then made remained with him all through life despite later influences and shaped his whole future life and the great mission he fulfilled as leader of Israel. That early planting helped keep him faithful to God when later temptations and the prospect of a crown surrounded him. Jochebed, the Hebrew mother of the deliverer, strong in faith and not afraid of the king's commandment, is an example of a mother's responsibility. For a mother nourishes the child with her life-blood and builds its physical frame and also imparts mental and spiritual influences that shape mind and character, showing that early maternal care and guidance are especially important in shaping character.

The verse means a mother holds the destiny of her children in her own hands to a very great extent, dealing with developing minds and characters and working not alone for time but for eternity. She sows seed that will spring up and bear fruit for good or for evil, and impresses upon a human soul the image of the divine. It means parents should direct the instruction and training of their children while very young to the end that they may be Christians, for children are placed in their care to be trained not as heirs to the throne of an earthly empire but as kings unto God to reign through unending ages. Every mother's moments are priceless and her work will be tested in the solemn day of accounts. Then it will be found that many failures and crimes resulted from ignorance and neglect in guiding childish feet, and that many who blessed the world with genius and truth and holiness owed the principles of their influence and success to a praying Christian mother.