Women in the Life of Moses

We are watching The Prince of Egypt again. It's one of our favorites. The soundtrack is fantastic!!! Every time we watch it, I am filled with this overwhelming emotion about the women God used to preserve and protect Moses. Did you know there were  7 women who played pivotal roles in the life of Moses?

The first two women were Shiphrah and Puah, midwives who feared God rather than Pharoah, and let the Hebrew babies live.

Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. -Exodus 1:15-20 (Berean Study Bible)

The third woman was his mother, Jochebed. She also didn't obey Pharaoh and hid her baby so he would not be killed like the other Hebrew baby boys.

And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. -Exodus 6:20  (Berean Study Bible)

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.

The fourth was his sister, Miriam. She was there the day their mother placed him into the Nile in an basket, which was actually an ark. Later, she would become a prophetess and lead alongside Moses.

But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. -Exodus 2:1-4

The fifth woman was Pharoah's daughter who rescued him from the Nile, thus preserving his life, and continuing God's plan.

Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

“Go ahead,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy’s mother.

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.

When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “I drew him out of the water.” -Exodus 2:5-10 (Berean Study Bible)

The sixth woman was the Pharoah's daughter's maidservant.

The only thing we are told about her is that she is the one who pulled the baby out of the water.  She was a slave, so was she an Egyptian?  Stepping into the Nile was dangerous, so there had to be moderately brave to do so, but she was following her mistress' orders.  

Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.-Exodus 2:5

The seventh woman was his wife, Zipporah. God was going to kill Moses and Zipporah circumcised her son, an act of shedding blood, and she said "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me."

Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD confronted Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.

So the LORD let him alone. (When she said, “bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.) -Exodus 4:24-26(Berean Study Bible)

The first four women were Hebrews.  The last two were Gentiles. Four of them were slaves. One of them was royalty.  And one was the daughter of a priest.

Each one was amazing. Their lives intersected; they were connected in some way to one another.  And it seems as though they each had just a small part in Moses' story a single moment in time, but in hindsight it was a monumental action.  Those events would be more far reaching than they could know.

If you are a woman with a heart to serve God, don't discount your day to day living.  Each of these women was just going about their daily lives and God turned what they did to a beautiful occasion, something that will be talked about forever.  They were part of a bigger picture, telling the story of a Messiah soon to come for all generations of this world.