JOCHEBED
A descendant of Jacob and Leah, Jochebed was daughter to Levi, wife to Amram and mother to Aaron Miriam and Moses: Did you all know that Jochebed was her husbands Aunt? It states it in Exodus 6:20; And Amram took him Jochebed his fathers sister to wife; This type of marriage was acceptable during these times before Moses Law. But we’re not here to talk about her marriage we want to talk bout what type of mother was she. Apparently she was an awesome Mother because her daughter Miriam was the gifted poetess and musician, who was intimately associated with her two brothers in the history of Israel, her son Aaron, became Israel’s first high priest and the founder of the Aaronic priesthood, and then there was her baby boy Moses, who became one of the greatest national leaders and legislators the world has ever known.
Let’s use our imagination on this one you guys. Imagine living in these Oppressed times when, Exodus 1:7-8 tells us the Israelites became fruitful and multiplied so that the new Egyptian king feared the Israelites would out number the Egyptians and overtake them. So what does this king do? He put slave masters over them, forced labor from them and worked them ruthlessly. This however, did not stop them from multiplying because the more oppressed the more they multiplied. Exodus 1:16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives would not comply to this order and told the king when asked, that the Israelite women were not like the Egyptian women and they already had the babies by the time they arrived to help. In Exodus 1:22, Pharaoh told his people that whenever their is a male child born to throw him in the Nile. This is where Jochebed bravery shines.
Now in Exodus 2: 1-8 it tells you how Jochebed took her child Moses along with her daughter Miriam and put him in a papyrus basket and placed him in the Nile river at 3 months old. She quite cleverly put her child into the crocodile infested river in a basket made of papyrus which was used by the Egyptians and had her 10 year old daughter in the reeds of the river to make sure he was saved. Saved no less by the Pharaohs daughter who adopted him and named him Moses. Then based upon Exodus 2:7 Miriam asked her if she should go and find a wet nurse for the baby and she got none other than his mother Jochebed to get paid to nurse her own son. Wow, now that was clever and so very brave of Miriam and Jochebed.
In conclusion, we all know that God will forever test us and we must have the ability to travel the path of righteousness to our destiny. Jochebed earned her place in the divine gallery. When will we be secure in the divine gallery? It was Jochebed’s love, faith and courage that saved her child from a cruel death and preserved him to bless the world. Jochebed risked not only her life but the lives of her family to save her baby boy. Whether it is in the hearts or just the nature to nurture we have these instincts that are necessary to allow us to care for our loved ones. Just as our Father God has and will always see us through the dark into the light of HIS salvation. How many of you are willing to risk your life for your salvation, for that spot in the divine gallery? With that being said God’s will be done.