Monday’s Story – Moses: The Secret Baby
There was a basket in the water, and there was a baby in the basket! The baby’s big sister was watching from the river bank, and God was watching too.
Why was the basket in the water? Why was the baby in the basket? Because the baby was a Hebrew – a great, great, great grandson of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
“There are too many Israelites in Egypt,” the king said to his soldiers. “If we are not careful, there will soon be more of them than of us! So I want you to kill every baby Hebrew boy.” Some Hebrew mothers cried. Some Hebrew mothers ran. But this baby’s mother was clever. She covered a basket with tar – so it would not sink. She laid her baby in the basket – and prayed that he would be quiet. And she hid the basket in the reeds near the river bank and hoped no one would notice.
But someone did, and not just any someone – the daughter of the king himself! She went to the river to bathe, and she spotted the basket boat. She sent her servant to fetch it out, and when she looked into it – oh, what a surprise!
The baby’s big sister hid her eyes. She could not bear to watch, but God kept watching. He had a special plan for this baby.
“I don’t care if this baby is a Hebrew.” the king’s daughter announced. “I want to keep him.” The baby’s big sister jumped up from where she’d been hiding.
“A serving woman?” she shouted, almost before she thought. “I know a serving woman who can help you.”
“Well, then fetch her, girl,” commanded the princess, and God just smiled. For not, little Moses would be raised by his own mother.