I was once gathered around a table ready to hear a good devotional message. Instead of a message it turned out to be a Bible trivia quiz. They were questions that no one could answer. One of the questions was, what was the name of Moses’s mother.
It is not a name known by very many. The answer is Jochebed. Jochebed, wife of Amram and mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, is mentioned by name only in Exodos 6:20 and Numbers 26:59.
At the end of the Bible trivia, we found out the purpose of the hard questions no one could answer. It was not just to get us to fail Bible trivia. The purpose was to make us realize that the mother of Moses, Jochebed may not be a household name like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. We know these names and they are listed in Hebrews 11 as the heroes of the faith.
The unsung heroes are important to God. They may not be so well known but their work is no less significant to God. Moses’ mother stepped out in faith. Moses’ mother, Jochebed took seriously her role as a mother, instilling Godly principles in her son.
Ultimately, she saved her nation. Even though she was not mentioned by name, Jochebed did make the hall of faith.
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. (Hebrews 11:23).
God has his heroes of faith. They may not be household names they are vitally important to God’s work of redemption. Like Jochebed and Amram the parents of Moses.
The first chapter of Exodus fills us in on a major gap in the story from Genesis. We find that Joseph’s family came to Egypt, seventy of them and multiplied until there were one million. Joseph died was embalmed and placed in a coffin. He gave instructions about his bones being taken back to the promise land.
Joseph with his wisdom, with the wisdom God gave him, not only saved his family from the famine, but he saved all of Egypt. But Joseph was forgotten. This would be like a loyal company man whose ideas and commitment made the company prosper. Then at the change of ownership the new owner does not know the background and harshly terminates him without notice.
This Pharaoh was intimidated by the great number of Israelites. He feared an uprising if Egypt was attacked by an enemy. His first strategy was to oppress the Israelites (Exodus 1:11-14). This meant be cruel to them with forced labor. This only resulted in increased multiplication among the Israelites. The lives of the Israelites became more bitter and the Egyptians became more ruthless.
The second strategy was to have the Hebrew midwives kill the newborn boys at birth (Hebrews 1:15-21). These midwives feared God and let the boys live. They told Pharaoh “There Israelite women are not like Egyptian women, they are vigorous and give birth before we get there.”
The third strategy was an order that went out among all Egyptians. Every Hebrew male child born is to be thrown into the Nile River. This was because of Pharaoh's unfounded fears and insecurity that he might lose power. He orders the make children killed. I cruel order disregarding human life.
Herod the Great would follow in Pharaoh’s footsteps with the same fears and insecurities. In much the same way as Pharaoh he would kill the babies in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus birth because of fear of one who would become king of the Jews. The Magi had told King Herod that they were going to worship this child and King Herod used the information to try to kill Jesus at his birth.
The name of Moses’ mother, Jochebed means, Glory of God. She saw the hand of God working in her people. She believed the promises of God. She was a woman of faith in God. At the time of Moses birth Jochebed already had two children, Miriam and Aaron. Miriam was probably fifteen years old and Aaron was probably three years old.
When Jochebed saw Moses, she understood by faith that he was special. When Jochebed saw how healthy and beautiful her child was she hid him for three months (Exodus 2:2). Moses was no ordinary child (Acts 7:20). She must have known, by faith, the future of God’s people was with this special child.
For three months Moses’ parents, his mother Jochebed and her husband Amram along with their daughter Miriam hid Moses. Then they made a little baby basket and covered it with pitch so it would float in the Nile. They floated Moses in the water where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed. The Nile was a religiously significant and a holy river for the Egyptians.
It may have been that Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in the Nile as a religious rite hoping this would help her conceive a child. She finds the basket with the child Moses inside. Miriam is there orchestrating the whole thing. Miriam offers the services of a Hebrew woman who could take the child and nurse him.
The plan worked! No wonder Jochebed is listed in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith. Pharaoh’s daughter even paid Jochebed to nurse her son Moses. The great leader who would deliver his nation was born and miraculously preserved in the water. Are great leaders made are born? Well, they are all born. The hand of God is seen everywhere in the birth of Moses.
Moses name means drawn out of water. The faith of Jochebed helped shape the man Moses. Her faith influenced her son Aaron to be the High Priest of God’s people. Miriam her daughter wrote a great Hymn of faith and deliverance recorded in the Bible. Moses never forgot the lessons of the his mother. He knew his destiny to deliver God’s people.
Unfortunately, Moses acted ahead of God’s timing and will and killed the Egyptian and fled to Midian for forty years, but God’s purpose was fulfilled through the baby boy drawn out of water, born to Jochebed. Yes, Moses was trained by the finest Egyptian schooling. It would have been the best available education in the world, the royal Egyptian education of Pharaoh's palace. But who really made the difference? It was Jochebed (Hebrews 11:23) and Amram the faithful parents of Moses.
Behind the scene they saved the nation from oppressive treatment. Do not think that raising a child and instilling Godly values is unimportant. Jochebed is in the hall of faith for doing that. Parents of faith make a difference. These behind the scene parents of faith my deliver us from oppression one day. What you do is important to God. You make a difference.
