Jochebed
The Bible tells us that the mother of Moses was called Jochebed which means “Jehovah is glorious.” She was a daughter of Levi (Exodus 2:1) and was married to Amram the son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18) a man of the house of Levi (Exodus 2:1). She gave birth to three children Aaron (Exodus 6:20), Miriam (Exodus 2:4) and Moses (Exodus 6:20).
Jochebed was a Hebrew slave woman during the Egyptian bondage. Pharaoh fearing the Israelites said to his people, “the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land” (Exodus 1:8-10).
So, Pharaoh commanded that the Israelite midwives should kill all Hebrew boys when they were born (Exodus 1: 16). But the Hebrew midwives feared God and refused to obey the king. Therefore, God blessed the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty (verse 20). Then, Pharaoh commanded the Isreaelites “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive” (verse 22).
Upon hearing this, Jochebed made a basket of bulrushes and hid Moses in it and put it the Nile River hoping to save him (Exodus 2:3). And it happened that Pharaoh’s own daughter found Moses in the basket. Filled with compassion, she adopted Moses as her own son (Exodus 2:5–10).
Mary, Moses’ sister who was watching over her brother, said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?” (Exodus 2:7). Pharaoh’s daughter agreed and Mary got her mother. So, Pharaoh’s daughter asked her to nurse Moses for wages (verse 9). Pharaoh’s daughter called the baby Moses because she drew him out of the water (verse 10).
By His providence, God overruled the evil of Pharaoh and saved Moses who was going to be used to deliver the Israelites out of the Egyptian slavery. Jochebed’s early godly ministry in raising Moses had a long lasting impression on his mind that he was able to resist the strong heathen influences that surrounded him in the royal Egyptian palace.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
