Exodus 2:1-25

Exodus: Israel becomes a nation

The *Israelites leave Egypt

Exodus Chapter s 1 to 18

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 shows how God used women again. They became part of God’s plan to rescue his people.

How God rescued Moses – verses 1-10

v1 During this time a man, from the family called Levi, married a woman. She was from the same family. v2 Later, she was expecting a child. And she gave birth to a son. She saw that her baby was a beautiful child. So she hid him for three months. v3 After that, she could not continue to hide him. So she obtained some plants that grow in water. And she used them to make a basket for her son. She covered the basket with a thick black substance so that water did not get into the basket. Then she placed the child in it. And she put the basket among the plants that grew along the edge of the River Nile. v4 The baby’s sister waited at a distance and she watched. She wanted to see what would happen to the baby.

v5 Then *Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the River Nile to wash herself. The servants, walked along the river’s edge with her. And the princess saw the basket among the plants. So she sent her female slave to get it. v6 She opened the basket and she saw the baby. She felt sorry for him because he was crying. ‘This must be one of the *Hebrew babies’, she said.

v7 Then the baby’s sister spoke to *Pharaoh’s daughter. ‘Shall I go and get one of the *Hebrew women?’ she asked. ‘She could look after the baby for you.’

v8 ‘Yes, go’, *Pharaoh’s daughter answered. So the girl went home and she brought the baby’s mother to the princess. v9 ‘Take this baby and feed him for me. I will pay you’, the princess told her.

So the woman took the baby and she looked after him. v10 And when the child was old enough, she took him back to *Pharaoh’s daughter. And he became the princess’s son. She named him ‘Moses’. ‘I pulled him out of the water’, she said.

Verses 1-2 The *Levite’s name was Amram. The woman’s name was Jochabed (Exodus 6:20). Moses was not their first child. Aaron was three years older than Moses (Exodus 7:7). And his sister, Miriam, (Exodus 15:20) was older than Aaron. Moses was ‘a beautiful child’. But perhaps his mother thought that he was a special baby. In *Hebrews 11:23 we read that he was ‘no ordinary child’.

Verse 3 Tall plants with thick stems grew in the River Nile. They are called ‘papyrus’. Sometimes the plants grew as tall as 3 metres or more. The *Egyptians used it to make small boats that floated well (Isaiah 18:2). So that basket was like a very small boat on the River Nile. The thick, black, substance is called ‘tar’. People put it on the outside of boats so that the water cannot get in. Smaller plants like grass, grew in the shallow water. They are called ‘reeds’. The ‘reeds’ gave their name to the Reed Sea or Red Sea (Exodus 13:18). Moses’ mother placed the basket among these plants where it would not float away. Also the plants would protect it from the sun’s heat. Probably she chose the place carefully. A place where she thought that *Pharaoh’s daughter might find her son.

Verses 5-6 If that *Pharaoh was Ramses 2^nd, history tells us more about him. He had nearly 60 daughters, but this princess was very different from her cruel father. She realised that she had found a *Hebrew baby. However, she pitied the baby. And she agreed with Miriam’s sensible idea. So Miriam went to get a *Hebrew woman to look after the baby. (Some translations say ‘nurse him’. That means a mother who feeds her baby with her own milk.) Miriam was Moses’ sister and she brought their mother to the princess.

Verses 7-9 Jochabed, Moses’ mother, received wages to look after her own son! Moses’ mother would teach him that he was an *Israelite. She would teach him about the real God whom his people *worshipped.

Verse 10 The name ‘Moses’ is the *Egyptian word for ‘son’. It is in the second part of *Egyptian names like Ahmose. Also ‘Moses’ also comes from the *Hebrew word ‘to pull out’. He was ‘pulled out’ from the River Nile’. As the princess’s son, Moses received a good education. He learnt ‘all the wisdom of the *Egyptians’ (Acts 7:22). Probably he studied mathematics and law. Also, he enjoyed a variety of good food. Perhaps he learnt to hunt with all its excitement. As part of the king’s family, probably he learnt how to fight in a war too.

Moses has to escape from Egypt – verses 11-15

v11 One day, when Moses was older, he went out alone. He wanted to see his own people as they worked. And he saw that they had to work very hard. Also he saw an *Egyptian who was hitting a *Hebrew man many times. And he knew that the man was one of his own people. v12 Then Moses looked round quickly and he did not see anyone. So he killed the *Egyptian. And he hid the dead body in the sand.

v13 The next day he went out again. And he saw two *Hebrew men who were fighting. Moses spoke to the man who had started the fight. ‘Why are you hitting another *Hebrew?’ Moses asked him.

v14 ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?’ the man replied. ‘What are you thinking? Will you kill me as you killed that *Egyptian yesterday?’

Then Moses was afraid. ‘I expect that people have heard about what I did’, he thought.

v15 And then *Pharaoh heard what had happened. So he tried to kill Moses, but Moses managed to escape. Moses ran away to the country called Midian. There he sat down by a well one day.

Verses 11-12 Moses watched his own people, who were working very hard. He was very curious. He saw something that made him angry. The *Egyptian was probably one of the masters of the slaves. They had long, heavy sticks. And they used them to hit the slaves. They wanted to make the *Hebrews work harder. Moses did not think that anyone saw him. So he killed the *Egyptian. And he hid his body.

Verses 13-14 To murder one *Egyptian did not help the *Hebrews much. The *Hebrew man to whom Moses spoke the next day, did not understand. Instead, he was angry with Moses. ‘Why should that man try to stop a fight?’ he thought. ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?’ he asked. He would receive a true answer later, because God made Moses both their ruler and their judge. And Moses became the leader who led the *Israelites away from Egypt. But at that time, Moses had a lot to learn.

Verse 15 *Pharaoh heard what Moses had done. Then Moses knew that he was in danger. So he escaped and he ran away to Midian. The country called Midian was a large area. It was from the Red Sea coast to the border of the country called Moab. Moses sat down by a well to rest. He knew that he would meet people there.

Moses in the country called Midian – verses 16-22

v16 There was a priest in Midian who had 7 daughters. And they came to get water from the well. They had to provide water for their father’s sheep and goats to drink. v17 But some men, who looked after other people’s sheep, came there too. And they tried to chase the girls away. Then Moses stood up and came to rescue the girls. And he gave water to their sheep and their goats. v18 So the girls returned home to their father, whose name was Reuel. ‘Why have you returned so early today?’ he asked them.

v19 They answered this. ‘An *Egyptian rescued us from those men who look after other sheep. He even got water for us, and he gave it to our sheep and goats.’

v20 ‘And where is he?’ Reuel asked his daughters. ‘You must not leave him out there. Invite him here to eat with us.’

v21 Moses agreed to stay with Reuel. And later Reuel gave his daughter, named Zipporah, to Moses. And she became his wife. v22 Zipporah gave birth to a son. Then Moses gave his son the name ‘Gershom’. ‘I am a stranger in a foreign country’, Moses said.

Verses 16-19 The *Israelites were from Abraham’s family. The people in Midian were from Abraham’s family also. They were from his children and grandchildren by means of his second wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1). Reuel (verse 18) or Raguel means ‘God’s friend’. (Reuel’s other name was Jethro – see Exodus 3:1; Exodus 18:1.) He was a ‘priest’, so he gave people’s gifts to God. 7 may be the actual number of Reuel’s daughters, or an ideal number. Moses was able to save Reuel’s daughters from those men’s selfish efforts. The men wanted to keep the water for their own animals only. Reuel’s daughters recognised Moses as an *Egyptian. Perhaps he wore *Egyptian clothes. Or perhaps it was the way in which he spoke.

Verses 21-22 ‘Zipporah’ was the name of a small bird. And ‘Gershom’ means ‘someone who stays in a foreign country’. Zipporah’s father is called Reuel. Also he is called Jethro. Perhaps Jethro was his second name, or perhaps it was an official name. An official name would show that people respected him. Hobab (Numbers 10:29 and Judges 4:11) was Zipporah’s brother.

The reason why God spoke to Moses – verses 23-25

v23 After many years, the king in Egypt died. The *Israelites shouted with pain because they were slaves. They called to God to help them. v24 And God heard their cry. He remembered his special promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob many years ago. v25 So when the *Israelites had all this terrible trouble, God saw them. And he cared about them.

Verse 23 We read in Acts 7:30 that after 40 years the king died. It is not certain which king that was. Perhaps it was Ramses 2^nd who had ruled for a long time. But his death would mean that it was safe now. So Moses could return to Egypt. Perhaps the *Israelites thought that they would have fewer troubles with a new king. But their loud cries from pain show that they were still very miserable. And they cried to God to help them. They believed God, in the same way that Abraham had believed God many years ago. They knew that God had made a special promise to Abraham (Genesis 17:7). God would continue to be their God if they obeyed his rules. They must believe him.

Verses 24-25 God ‘remembered’. This does not mean that he had forgotten about the *Israelites. It is impossible for God to forget his people (Deuteronomy 4:31 and Isaiah 49:15). Perhaps they thought that God had forgotten them. But God cared about their situation and he was preparing to rescue them. God had not forgotten his special promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He had promised to them that their families would increase. And he had promised to them that they would become a great nation. Also, they would have their own country. He had promised to them that he would always be *Israel’s God (Genesis 17:7; Genesis 17:19 and 35:11-12). He had chosen Moses to carry out his plans. But God’s ways are mysterious. People think about time in a particular way. But God’s knowledge of time is different. The prayers of God’s people are an important part in God’s plans. God’s people had cried for God to help them. But they needed to be patient as they waited for an answer.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Pharaoh ~ the Egyptian ruler or king.

Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke. A Hebrew is a Jewish person or an Israelite

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Levite ~ someone who belonged to the family called Levi. Levi was a son of Jacob. Levites had special duties connected to worship. All Israelite priests were Levites.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a gift to God.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called Israel. Israelite is another name for the Jews. Anything that has a relationship with Israel.

Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.

Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Egyptian ~ someone from the country called Egypt; anything with a relationship with Egypt.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a gift to God.
Israel ~ the nation of people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of the country that God gave to that nation.