Mothering Sunday- The Story of Moses in the River
Our bible story today is about a Levite woman and her infant baby. Generations before this story begins, Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers and had been taken to Egypt. Joseph worked in the court of the king. Through his prophesies and his wisdom Joseph had won the trust of the Pharaoh King. When famine struck in Canaan Jacob or Israel as God had named him was invited to bring his family to Egypt under the Pharaoh’s protection. After the death of Joseph the Israelites stayed in Egypt and their families multiplied and they prospered.
In time a new king came to rule. It was a time of uncertainty, politically and the new Pharaoh feared that if conflict came to Egypt the Israelites might side against him and overpower his kingdom.
So he enslaved the Israelites and treated them harshly, forcing them to hard labour and persecution. In our bible story this morning we learn of a mother’s unconditional love and her tenacity to save her infant son.
And here our story begins….
Read Exodus chapter 1 to chapter 2 verse 10
Mothering Sunday traditionally is borne out of the middle ages when young women and girls in service were allowed a day to return to their home church and visit family. Today that has morphed into a chance to recognise Mothers. And today’s Bible reading is about a mother. It is said that the most precious and fiercest bond there is the bond between a mother and her child. Sadly, that is not always true, but mostly it is. This account of a mother’s anguish and fear for the life of her baby infant reads quite comfortably off the page. It’s a well told story, one of many that appears in children’s ‘First Bibles’ with sanitised pictures of a baby in a basket, warmly wrapped in a blanket. And that’s what I remember from the time when first reading this story as a child. To me it came over as a nice happy story with a happy ending. I think that was what it was intended to portray.
I wonder whether that resonates with you? A nice happy comfortable bedtime story?
Backtracking thousands of years the real event unfolding would have felt very different. The emotion for that Hebrew mother though had to be one of the most terrible, terrifying, desperate and hopelessness decisions of her life. Her most precious gift from God, her child abandoned in the hope of being found and given a fresh new life. If found the baby might be drowned according to Pharaoh’s dictate. As a safeguard she tasks her daughter too keep a watchful eye over the bundle of life in a basket in the river. And waits to see if someone finds the basket.
And someone did. Pharaoh’s daughter knew instantly why the child was there. And she would know, full well what must happen. Is it that Pharaoh’s daughter, like Rachael in the story with Jacob, is unable to have children of her own? The baby’s sister announces that she might find someone to look after the baby until he is fully weened. There’s risk here that both mother and sister could face punishment for hiding the child.
How does she bring home a baby into a royal household unnoticed? You can perhaps imagine the conversation at dinner- can’t you? How was your day today daughter dear? What did you do today? Oh, nothing much. Bit of breakfast, took a stroll by the river. Went for a swim and found a baby, who I’m adopting! Her compassion for the baby and mother was one of pure love.
The life of an infant foundling in the bullrushes overshadowed the mistrust and hatred of a perceived enemy. Her desire to nurture is so strong that tribal differences are put aside. Baby and mother are reunited, but only for a short while - until he is weened. Then, more heartbreak as the child is adopted into the royal household and mother and child are parted. And the child grows up not knowing his birth mother. This of course, is supposition on my part but it is a story that is as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago. Equally sad is that many women are unable to bear children. But children who, like Moses, through adoption or fostering receive love and support to have a Mum or carer to love and guide them in life.
So on this Mothering Sunday let us give thanks for all women and carers alike who nurture and care for young lives. Let us pray that children may feel treasured and loved as God’s love for all creation.undefined