Jochebed, who was the mother of Moses, is another woman mentioned in Bible genealogies.
The Exodus Genealogy Mention
These are the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.The sons of Gershon were Libne and Shimi.
The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
Amram took Jochebed, his father's sister to be his wife and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. (Exodus 6:16-20)
The Numbers Genealogy Mention
Kohath begot Amram and the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi who was born in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam. (Numbers 26:58-59)
Jochebed's Story
Pharaoh commanded his people to throw every Israelite baby boy into the river and let every baby girl live. (Exodus 1:22)
It is in this background that Jochebed and her husband Amram were blessed with a baby boy.
When she saw that he was a beautiful child, Jochebed hid Moses for 3 months. (Exodus 2:1) Imagine the challenge of hiding a new born baby for 3 months.
When she could not hide him anymore, she made an ark of reeds for him, coated it with asphalt and pitch to make it waterproof and put him inside it. She then hid the baby ark in the reeds along the river bank. (Exodus 2:3)
Lessons from Jochebed
Never Give Up
Jochebed wanted to save her child from certain death and that is why she hid him for 3 months presumably in their home. When that avenue of saving him could not contain him any longer, she created another one which was the ark of reeds.
Therefore if you want to solve a problem and the problem becomes too big for your first solution, do not give up. Look for another solution that can contain the growing problem.
The Solution Might Be in the Problem
The problem that Jochebed faced was having to throw her baby in the river because he was an Israelite boy.
The solution to her problem was throwing him in the river albeit intelligently because she threw him when he was inside a floating, waterproof container.
Therefore when you face a problem, always look for a solution within the problem in addition to looking for other solutions outside the problem.
Faith Without Works is Dead
Faith has 2 parts:1. The spiritual part which is believing God
2. The physical part which is doing something to show that you believe God because Faith without works is dead. (James 2:26)
Therefore if you want God to help you solve a problem, you have to do:
1. The spiritual part and believe that God will help you solve the problem
2. The physical part and do something that shows what you believe
So if you have a problem like Jochebed's, believe that God will help you solve it and then do something physical that shows what you believe by using the resources at your disposal.
In her case, it was making the floating and waterproof cradle. In your case, it might involve thinking outside the box and creating a customized solution to contain your problem.
I use the word contain because the floating cradle did not solve the entire problem of raising up a boy when it was forbidden to have a son. However, it brings us to my next point which is:
Solve the Problem Step by Step
It is hard to imagine a teenage boy lying in a reed boat the whole day while doing nothing. Therefore this solution that Jochebed thought of was for the immediate problem of saving her baby boy and not saving her teenage son.Therefore if you have a longterm problem that does not have an obvious longterm solution, think of solving the problem for that day only.
Do not stress yourself further by wondering how you will solve the problem 3 months or 3 years or 3 decades from today. Simply do what you can to solve the problem for that day and trust God that when the problem evolves, He will show you how to deal with.
I believe this is part of the reasons that Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11) even though He knew we need to eat every day.
Therefore do not worry about how you will solve the problem tomorrow, For tomorrow shall take thought for its own things. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Mark 6:34)
God will Meet You at Your Point of Need
God net Jochebed at her point of need and He did not disappoint her because Pharaoh's daughter saw the floating ark and sent her maid to get it. When she opened it, she saw Moses, he wept and she had compassion on him. (Exodus 2:5-6)This was a sign of God's favor because she could have tipped the ark and drowned Moses. Instead, she adopted him and when a young Hebrew girl appeared and asked her if she could go to get a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for her, she consented without questioning. (Exodus 2:7-8)
The young Hebrew girl, who happened to be Moses' sister Miriam, went and called their mother. Pharaoh's daughter commanded Jochebed saying, "Nurse this child for me and I will pay you." (Exodus 2:9)
This was a double blessing for Jochebed because she was now being paid to raise the child she had wanted to raise all along. It can even be considered a triple blessing because at that time the Israelites were slaves in Egypt and therefore presumably not to be paid. However, she was a slave and she was being paid to keep a child she was not supposed to have in the first place.
So Jochebed took Moses, nursed him and when he grew older, brought him to Pharaoh's daughter to be raised as her son. (Exodus 2:10)
Therefore believe that God will meet you at your point of need.
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