Again, God’s direct action seems absent from the writing.  It just so happens that a boy is placed in a papyrus basket in the Nile and is raised by Pharaoh’s daughter.  Of course, there are no coincidences with God.  Often we work in situations where the name of God is not, even can not, be heard.  It does not mean that God disappears from the scene.  How can you be more conscious of God working in public?

Exodus 2: 1-10

¹ Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, ² and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

 ⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

 ⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

 ⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, ^[a] saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Questions

1. What house are the husband and wife of verse one from?
2. Where is the child hidden?
3. What is the child called?
4. How can you see God at work, even though he is not mentioned?
5. Where do you see God at work, even when his name is not mentioned?

Going Deeper

Observation

1. How long was the child hidden?
2. What was the papyrus basket covered with?
3. Who watched over the basket?
4. What was the reaction of Pharaoh’s daughter upon seeing the baby?
5. Who nursed the baby?

Interpretation

• Why would those reading this think it is significant that Moses is from the house of Levi?
• If the story so far has mirrored the Creation story, how might this story mirror Noah and the ark?
• How does God’s deliverence of Moses foreshadow the deliverence of Israel?
• How does the beauty of literary structure embelish the handwriting of God?
• Would Moses’ adoptive mother hide his identity?

Application

• How does God repeat his acts of saving people in the world today?
• How are you mindful of the godly potential of children?
• Is there a particular child in whom you could invest your time?
• Who reminds you, and who do you remind, that “In all things God works for … good”?
• How do we work with those who have no faith in our God?