Exodus 2, 5 – 8
Something to read
The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother.
New Revised Standard Version
To read the King James Version, click here
Something to think about
Is this a fairy-tale ending to that woman’s bravery? She must have hoped and prayed that her baby would survive. We must not think in terms of the UK’s royal family but in a court of hundreds.
The Bible describes the numbers in King’s Solomon’s harem. How big was that of the Pharaoh? Whatever her importance this young woman takes pity on the child and the baby’s brave sister offers a solution to the baby’s feeding problem. Mother and baby are reunited.
Something to do
Reflect on the following event.
‘Until the summer of 2009, Kayroh was a rice farmer in Burma. His life changed forever when he was wrongly accused of belonging to an ethnic nationality army fighting the Burmese state forces. Kayroh was forced to leave his home and flee to safety. Although he is now reunited with his family in the relative security of a refugee camp, he remains deeply traumatised by his experience.’
Through no fault of their own, families are still being broken apart. Pray that separated families can be swiftly reunited with their loved ones, and that all other families will be left in peace to enjoy family life.
Something to pray
Pray that we never think of the Bible story as an infant’s storybook, but instead see it as a challenge to our faith in today’s real world.
Today’s contributors are the Rev Michael Jackson, a retired URC minister, and his son Andy Jackson, Digital Content Manager for Christian Aid.