TODAY’S SPECIAL: Exodus 1:22-2:10
TO CHEW ON: “...She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said.” Exodus 2:5,6
Joseph and his brothers eventually died. Their children continued to live in Egypt. Their numbers grew until they were a nation. The Egyptians called them Hebrews or Israelites.
Four hundred years passed. Now a different Pharaoh ruled in Egypt. He was mean. He made the Israelites his slaves. They were forced to work for no pay. Even so, the number of Israelites kept growing.
This made Pharaoh worried. There were too many. What would he do if they decided to rebel and not to obey him any more? So he passed a new law. Every baby boy must be killed at birth.
How terrible! Instead of being happy that a new baby was about to be born, now the mothers were terrified. For it was against the law to let a baby boy live.
We know that at least one family didn’t obey this law. Use the sentence fragments and your Bible (Exodus 2:3-8) to finish the story.
In this amazing way God kept Moses alive. He grew up in a safe place—Pharaoh’s palace. And Moses’ own mother got to take care for him for a while.
Maybe you too are alive today when common sense says you should have died. Perhaps as a baby you were sick, or survived a deadly accident. You can know that just like God kept Moses alive to do a special job, He has kept you alive for the job He has just for you.
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that Your plans can’t be spoiled, by cruel laws and evil rulers, accidents or sickness. Amen
MORE: All-purpose Papyrus
-Cyperus Papyrus was a plant that grew in shallow water along the banks of the Nile River.
- It could grow as tall as 5 meters (15 feet) and stems could be as wide as 15 cm. (6 inches).
- People used papyrus to make a lot of things like sandals, mats, baskets, fences, rope, roof material, life jackets and boats. Baby Moses' basket was made of papyrus.
- People also ate some parts of the papyrus plant and used other parts for medicine and fuel.
- Papyrus is best known for being used to make the first paper. In fact the word ‘paper’ comes from the word ‘papyrus.’
Find out more about papyrus here.