Exodus 2:1-10 -- The Story of Baby Moses

Exodus 2:1 Now a man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4 Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.
5 Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. Seeing the basket among the reeds, she sent her slave girl to get it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child—a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a woman from the Hebrews to nurse the boy for you?”
8 “Go,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

This is the story of Moses as told to all young children who attend Sunday School.  For the person who has been going to church their whole life, they can't help but know this story.

Moses's mother hid him so the Egyptians would not kill him, since Pharaoh had ordered the deaths of all the baby boys.  I guess Aaron was a good bit older to not have been killed or needing to hid him.  We know that Moses's sister, who is mentioned in this story, is Miriam.  She was very brave to approach Pharaoh's daughter without being called.  Also, I bet it brought joy to Moses's mother that she was able to nurse him before she had to leave him with the Egyptians.

It seems from the passage that Moses stayed with his mother until he was weened and then returned to Pharaoh's daughter.

This story is mentioned in two other part of the Bible as well:

Acts 7:17 “As the time was drawing near to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt 18 until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt. 19 He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them leave their infants outside, so they wouldn’t survive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home three months, 21 and when he was left outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son. 22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions. 

I find it odd that his passage says he was powerful in speech.   In just a few chapters, we will read the following verse:

Exodus 4:10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”

Moses did not feel he could do it on his own, he felt as though he was not adequate to do the job God wanted him to do, but God gave him the abilities he needed to fulfill what he needed to do.  The second area the story is mentioned is here:

Hebrews 11:23 By faith, after Moses was born, he was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.

Moses's parents were indeed fearful of God, and not Pharaoh.  They knew where their ultimate allegiance should lay.  They knew that even if their son did not survive, that God's will would have been done.