Jochebed: The Mother of Moses

Later, Moses wrote out of his own experience four books of the Bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In Genesis he recorded the truths his mother passed down to him — truths that were modified, amplified, and confirmed later and incorporated by the Holy Spirit into the Word of God.

We can surmise what Jochebed said to herself: "I don't have long but, God helping me, I'm going to get the Word of God into this child before the professors of Egypt try to fill his mind with foolishness." She taught him the truth about creation, about Cain and Abel, and about Enoch, Noah and the Flood. She would have then taught him about the Tower of Babel, Abraham and the covenant, Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his wife, Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and the twelve patriarchs. Then Jochebed told Moses why the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt and taught him about the prophecy that after four hundred years they would be delivered.

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Above all, she taught him about Joseph, a young man who lived for God in the same royal courts to which Moses would soon be taken. She told him how Joseph was sold as a slave into Egypt ;how in spite of his very impressionable, youthful age, he took his stand against the impurity and immorality of Potiphar's wife; how he suffered for his godliness; how God raised him up at last to a place at the right hand of Pharaoh himself. Jochebed’s emphasis here is almost sure — Moses devoted onefourth of the book of Genesis to the story of Joseph.

The Jesuits used to say, "Give us a child until he's seven, and you can do what you like with him after that." We know that Jochebed would have agreed with them because she did a thorough job of training Moses.

Eventually the order came from the palace: "Send me Moses." As Jochebed kissed Moses goodbye, she probably said, "Remember what I've taught you, my son."Moses never forgot that he was a Hebrew. The universities of Egypt, the temptations of the palace, the lure of position, power, wealth, and the possibility of a worldly throne never erased his mother's training.

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Adapted from Exploring People of the Old Testament, Volume 1 by John Phillips. Used by permission of Kregel Publications. The John Phillips Commentary Series from Kregel is available at your local or online Christian bookseller, or contact Kregel at (800) 733-2607.

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John Phillips is a popular preacher and Bible study leader who now resides in Bowling Green, KY.

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Notes.