Jochebed

During the time that Pharaoh was trying to exterminate the Israelite line, Amram, a Levite, married Jochebed, daughter of a Levite. They had a daughter, Miriam, then Jochebed conceived again and bore a son.

Pharaoh’s command was that all baby boys be thrown into the river, but when Jochebed saw her beautiful baby boy, she knew she had to try to save him. For three months, she hid him, but the time came when she could no longer keep him hidden.

Jochebed took a basket and covered it with asphalt to make it waterproof. She gently placed the baby in the basket and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. Her daughter Miriam stood at a distance to observe what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to the river to bathe, and when she saw the basket floating in the reeds, she sent one of her maids to retrieve it. She looked inside and beheld the crying baby.

Miriam popped up from where she’d been hiding and offered to find a Hebrew nurse for the baby. When the Egyptian princess agreed, she ran off and got Jochebed, mother of the baby boy. In an amazing twist, Jochebed, who thought she would lose her son, instead got paid to care for him. Only God!

Jochebed could have followed the law and thrown her baby into the crocodile-infested river. Instead, she risked her own life in her efforts to save the life of her son.

We all must face difficult choices, and we often have no way of knowing the long-term consequences of those decisions. We can take the easy way out, doing what seems best in the moment, or we trust God and do right despite the danger. May you have the courage to do right whatever the risk.

Jochebed in Scripture: Exodus 2

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