She was curious, what could be in it? His possessions were all gone; his body was racked with pain; his wife added to the pain of his soul by urging him to curse God and cry out for death. A compilation of the commentary and discussions of the amora'im on the Mishnah. He plants His footsteps in the sea, Joseph, Jacob's son, was a ruler in Egypt at that time and the children of Jacob (Israel) were treated kindly. [29] The significance of this comparison is understood to spring from the affinity of Arabic folklore for Hebrew traditions.[29]. What are some areas of your life you need to stop holding on to and start trusting God? JOCHEBED. Leah and Rachel: The Mothers Who Had to Share. It is our Christian duty to walk by faith in this world, until we come to live by sight in the eternal world. The sun has not stopped shining just because the traveler in the tunnel doesnt see it. Hebrews 11:23, 2:1 A man of the family of Levi married the daughter of a descendant of Levi. Exodus 2:2b She hid him for 3 months. This would be shallow water, away from the currents that would have carried him down the Nile. I wonder if she picked him up, cuddled him to stop his cries; did he smile at her and melt her heart? Moses just happened to cry at the right time? [Amram lived 137 years]. According to another interpretation, Jochebed named her son "Tov" or "Tobiah," which was what his parents called him until Pharaoh's daughter renamed him "Moses" (BT Sotah 12a). According to the Bible, Jochebed (/jkbd/; Biblical Hebrew: , romanized:Yee, lit. The afflictions of life are like driving through a tunnel. The ruler had thought sparing women was safe, but the midwives, the Hebrew mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, and Miriam, all work together to spare one child5. Verbs tell us that she herself opened it and saw Moses and at that very moment he cried. Jochebed was the mother of Moses, one of the major characters in the Old Testament. " That decree applied only to the men and not to the women. Jochebed had faith in God's protection of her baby. And so, when we have done all we can do, we must calmly trust in the Lordeven though to us there seems to be no way out. Waiting for Breakthrough - Elizabeth's story. Reply Paul Irvine, CA April 5, 2009 It was at this time that Moses was born to Amram and Jochebed. She did . In 1571 BC, Pharaoh Ramesses I ordered the extermination of all of the Israelites ' newborn babies to avert a prophecy that one of them would lead the Israelites out of slavery. The second lesson is for heartbroken people who have to turn their dreams over to God. The life of Jochebed is an amazing demonstration of the walk by faith. Jochebed: Levi's daughter and Amram's wife. Those early years, pre-school years, made an indelible impression on Moses. For some, poverty comes, friends disappoint, children bring heartaches, and feelings of inferiority torment. T. Moses died. At any rate, Pharaohs daughter was determined to give protection to the baby. She therefore was called daughter [bat, which also means young girl] of Levi, because she was once again as a young girl (BT Bava Batra 120a). The proving of our faith is planned by God to bring praise and honor and glory to Him in the day when Jesus Christ reveals himself at His Second Coming. By Harold S. MartinA Bible Helps Booklet No. This brings us to the influence one mother had on history - not only the history of her family, but the entire history of the children of Israel. This kind of marriage between relatives was later forbidden by the law of Moses. The Egyptians believed that the waters of the Nile possessed the ability to impart fruitfulness and to prolong life.4 Dr. Thomas Constable, While her attendants were walking up and down the banks keeping undesirable people and animals away, she saw the basket. That Jochebed could still be bearing children at the age of forty-eight might seem unlikely by modern standards. Exodus 6:20 And Amram took his aunt Jochebed to him for a wife. Moses fled to Midian, which is in modern-day Saudi Arabia. The child, found by the pharaoh's daughter while bathing, was reared in the Egyptian court. Then she put the baby in it and set it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile River. But soon he noticed that the stones were going beyond the boat and forming huge circular waves in the waterand those waves were bringing his boat toward the shore. Joseph had saved the country from a famine, but eventually, he was forgotten by the Egyptian rulers, the Pharaohs. He feared they would join a foreign army against the Egyptians or start a rebellion. Hanover, PA 17331 The princess adopted Moses eventually but never knew that Jochebed was the little boy's biological mother. Meet Miriam: Moses' Sister and Prophetess During the Exodus. THE BIRTH OF THE DELIVERER. Exodus 2, which describes the birth of Moses, does not name her, or, for that matter, the father or sister of Moses. [19], According to traditional rabbinic biblical chronology, Moses was 80 years old when the Exodus occurred, the Israelites had been in Egypt for 210 years in total, and thus in combination with the rabbinical claim that Jochebed was born on the border of Egypt, as her parents had entered it, this would require Jochebed to have been 130 years old when she gave birth to Moses;[20] Rabbinical literature regards this to have been alluded to be the biblical description of the dedication of the Israelite altar, at which 130 shekel weight of silver was offered. 4 Dr. Thomas Constable, Constables Notes, Lumina, www.bible.org. Perhaps there would be some shade too from the sun in the reeds. So what happens when you trust God, eyewitness account: Miriam is near by, watching and.. Exodus 2:5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself by the Nile, while her attendants were walking alongside the river, and she saw the basket among the reeds. Another proof that "bare" in Numbers 26:59 cannot indicate an immediate father-son or father-daughter relationship is found by considering that this verse states Jochebed was a daughter of Levi. Maybe its something material, a possession you have? Adoption is a wonderful way to unconditionally love someone but it comes with a painful price tag (as well see in our story). The conditions described in the first two chapters of Exodus indicate that indeed those were dark days for the Children of Israel. [22], Textual scholars attribute the genealogy to the Book of Generations, a hypothetical document originating from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source. Question we have to ask is: What do you do when you cant do anything more? 2:2). At just this moment, Miriam steps forward and approaches the daughter and volunteers her service to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child, and whom did she bring back? Her thoughtful nature was consistent throughout the Bible story of Moses in the basket. Trials and difficulties and obstacles come to all of us, but for the moment, we want to look at the example found in the life of Jochebed. Jochebed bore Amram three righteous offspring. Just so, when we get beyond our depths, and when we get in deep water, we cry out to God for help. Some, its likely all of us, know the pain of giving up, letting go of someone, or something precious to you: A relationship, a job, a dream. Jochebed, his biological mother, loved her son and kept him as long as she could after he was born. Exodus 2:3 But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. According to social media posts written by Gov. The A type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules).midrash portrays Jochebed as a wise woman who was righteous and God-fearing. . [24], It has been proposed by a number of Biblical scholars that Ichabod and Jacob may ultimately be linguistic corruptions of Jochebed, and possibly once have referred to the same individual.[26]. We learn that secret by reading Hebrews 11:23, which says, By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the kings commandment. Moses was hid in his home for three months, and then in the reeds by the river, not because Jochebed could not bear to see her child perish, or because she loved him too much to cast him into the river. Faith and trust in God knows that God often works behind the scenes of our lives. The parents of Moses believed the simple promise of Gods Word, and the revelation that after 400 years Israel would be delivered, and that their son was a proper childand so, instead of casting baby Moses into the river, they hid him for three months, and then turned him over to God. Kadari, Tamar. Alphabetical Exposition of Named Bible Women J Jochebed. According to another interpretation, Jochebed named her son Tov or Tobiah, which was what his parents called him until Pharaohs daughter renamed him Moses (BT Sotah 12a). Pharaoh only decreed against the males, but you have decreed against both the males and the females [since all the Israelites withdrew from their wives, neither sons nor daughters would come into the world]. Joshua 24:14 throw away gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the river and in Egypt. To save her son's life, she waterproofed a basket and put the child in it. Jochebed was paid to nurse and care for the boy, her own son until he grew. He went from her arms to the arms of Pharaohs daughter. She didnt just let him go, she was a woman of faith, and she let him go and trusted her God. The latest date that Jochebed could have been born was 2385 AM, the year her father died. One such mother is Jochebed in the Bible. she took pity on the baby. About 1486, the reigning Pharaoh tried to kill Moses when he sought identity with his people Israel, but Moses escaped to Midian. At the time when the account opens in Exodus 2, the condition of the Children of Israel was very pitiful. Born into a Levite family, Moses' natural parents, Jochebed (mother) and Amram (father) reared Moses until he was about 3 months old. Devorah was as active an anti-vaxxer as you'll see on this site. He became afraid that if an enemy of Egypt waged war against them, the Israelites would side with the enemy against Egypt. Yet in the Book of Exodus, it is explicitly mentioned that Jochebed was the sister of Kohath thus making her the aunt of Amram. The Lit. Hebrews11:23 they were not afraid of the kings edict. Ex. She did not sit down and brood about the current situation in Egypt, and say, If this child is to be Israels deliverer, God will somehow spare him and deliver him; theres nothing we can do; so well throw him in the river, and if God wants him, He can save him. She knew that God expects us to do our part, and that He will not do for us what we are able to do for ourselves. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Lesson two Handout (Click Here). For others, health deteriorates, death takes a loved one, and plans for the future are shattered. This sequence omits a lengthy period of time, for Jochebed and Amram already had two other children (Aaron and Miriam) when Moses was born. To adopt a child means someone has to give up a child. Amram and Jochebed had a daughter, Miriam, and two sons, Aaron and Moses. But this couple worshipped Jehovah God. 2:2) how good [tov] he was. The Rabbis ask what Jochebed saw that was special in her son, on account of which she sought to save him from Pharaohs death decree. 2:7, BT Sotah 12b). According to Jewish legend, she is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs, in Tiberias. The story of Moses' mother is found in chapter two of Exodus, Exodus 6:20, and Numbers 26:59. God could grow a crop of wheat on the concrete pavements of our cities if He wanted to, but He normally expects the farmer to use the means at his disposal to grow a crop of wheat. If so, then why does Ex. When she saw that he was a "fine" child, she hid him for three months and when she could do so no longer, she made a basket out of bulrushes and put him among the reeds by the river bank. In all three explanations, Jochebed immediately comprehended that her son was meant for greatness and she discerned that he possessed unique spiritual qualities. A careful reader of the Bible account can almost picture Miriam (the older sister of Moses) running to her mother and telling her what had happened. Lockyer's All the Women of the Bible - Jochebed. She had feelings just like you and I have. Act out Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses. Can you imagine what it would be like to give away your 3-month-old baby, not knowing what would happen to him? [17][18] Biblical scholars have instead simply proposed that the discrepancy in the enumeration of Leah's children is due to the list not originally having included Dinah, who was added by a later editor to introduce consistency with the story of the Rape of Dinah. He had two mothers who loved him, two mothers who did all they could to save him from a certain death. Sometimes we need to slow down and learn to see Him and His presence in our circumstances and thank Him for His care. Yet the Bible reveals that Levi and his son and grandson all had very long life spans. She was so scared of losing her son that she placed him in a basket in one of the most dangerous places imaginable. [7] In making this identification, the rabbis interpret the houses, with which the Book of Exodus describes God as having compensated the midwives,[8] as having been those of priesthood and of royalty; these houses are interpreted by the Talmudic rabbis as allegorical references to Jochebed's sons Moses and Aaron respectively.[9]. According to the Book of Numbers, Jochebed was born to Levi when he lived in Egypt. All Israel saw this, and they, too, remarried their wives (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai [ed. Maybe its a relationship that is toxic and you need to make a hard choice. Soon, Moses got word that Pharaoh knew what he had done and was going to kill him, so he fled from Egypt to the land of Midian to avoid prosecution. 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