“By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the King’s edict.”

The Backstory

At the end of the book of Genesis, the descendants of Jacob (God changed his name to Israel in Genesis 32:28) are living in Egypt due to the famine that took place while Joseph was second in command to Pharaoh. For a season, the Israelites enjoyed peace and prosperity in Egypt.

The book of Exodus opens with the death of Joseph and all of his brothers. Then a new Pharaoh comes into power — to whom Joseph meant nothing. Exodus 1:8.

Out of fear, the new Pharaoh unleashes a terrible season of ruthless slavery against the Israelites. (Note: decisions based in fair are generally flawed.) Yet, even under such heavy oppression, they continue to grow in number.

The king then issues an edict to have the male children of the Hebrews killed at birth. When two heroic Hebrew women undermine his plan, he issues a second edict that the male babies should be thrown into the Nile. It is into this awful mess that Moses is born.
Ruthless

Writers carefully avoid using the same term or phrase twice within a passage. Yet Moses, (traditionally accepted as the author of Exodus), while describing how the Egyptians treated the Israelites, repeats this phrase to drive home a point: The Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. (Exodus 1:13-14)

The Hebrew word for ruthless is perek, which means brutality, a state of violent and harsh behavior toward another. As an eyewitness, Moses wanted to be certain that history would remember the terrible conditions endured by the Israelites in Egypt. Infanticide, which is included in Moses’ birth narrative, was a part of that ruthlessness. It is very difficult to even imagine such an edict being declared and enforced. It represents an unspeakable level of evil — and reminds us of a similar edict being enforced around the time Jesus was born — again, a decision based in fear. (Matthew 2:13-18)
No Ordinary Child

The writer of the Hebrews gives this as the first reason that Moses’ parents didn’t throw him into the Nile. However, the writer of Exodus simply mentions that Moses was a beautiful or fine child. Most parents who give birth to a healthy baby feel that way. However, the writer of the Hebrews knew that child would grow up to be the great patriarch and emancipator Moses, so from his vantage point, this was no ordinary child. By the way, Stephen describes Moses the same way while giving his sermon in Acts 7.

It is interesting to note that we have no indication from the narrative that Moses’ parents (Amram and Jochebed, Exodus 6:20) knew he was special. Abraham and Sarah knew that Isaac would be special. Elizabeth and Zechariah knew that John, later called the Baptist, would be special. Mary and Joseph knew that Jesus would be special. But all we know is that Moses’ parents had a beautiful baby boy and they were unwilling to end his life by drowning him in the Nile. We don’t even know the name they gave him. By faith, they did everything they could to keep their child alive — and we thank God they did! When they did finally put him into the Nile, they gave him the best chance they possibly could. Hiding him for three months and then floating him in the Nile took courage — and that courage was based in faith.

Again, No Ordinary Child

Frankly, there is no such thing as an ordinary child. Moses’ parents had absolutely no idea who they were holding in their arms — and neither do we. Every child is worthy of our very best efforts and sacrifices even though we don’t know who they will become. The parents of Nick Vujicic, born with no arms and no legs, could never have imagined that their child would become a husband and father and a world famous inspirational speaker. Friends, there is no such thing as an ordinary child — they are all extraordinary and worthy of our very best efforts! Our job is to be faithful to raise them the best we can; the rest is up to God.

Faith Gave Them Courage

The consequences of not following the King’s edict are not listed in the Exodus narrative. However, we can safely assume that ignoring such an edict would have carried severe consequences. Were Moses’ parents afraid? Afraid for the life of their child? Afraid for the lives of their other children? Afraid for their own lives? They most definitely were. But as the writer of Hebrews rightly identifies, faith gave them extraordinary courage — to the point where it seemed they had no fear. That’s what faith does.

Sometimes that courage results in a miraculous outcome. Sometimes it results in deep tragedy. Regardless, faith is the foundation of courage — and sometimes that foundation is so strong that the faithful appear to have no fear. Not true. People of faith simply know that their faith is bigger than their fear, so they move forward in courageous obedience regardless of the outcome. Courage is not about being fear-less, but rather being faith-full!

This reminds us again of why the writer of the Hebrews was able to make that seamless transition between good outcomes and difficult outcomes in Hebrews 11:35. Faithful people are obedient regardless of the outcome. Faith is our domain; the outcome belongs only to God. So whether we experience great victory or terrible defeat, the only thing that matters to God is our faithfulness. This is the reason why true believers do the right thing regardless of the outcome. Friends, the right thing to do is the right thing to do simply because it is the right thing.

That’s faith — and it takes courage.