And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. (Exod. 2:1-10 KJV).
Every agent of revival who became useful to both God and man (affected their generation, influenced several lives and advanced the Kingdom of God) was raised by God. No man can become anything tangible or meaningful in the hands of God except he is first raised – trained, discipled, built up, nursed – by God. Even though God speaks concerning His intention for a child at birth, that intention can and will only be realized or actualized through the process of raising or discipleship. Examples abound in the Scriptures both in the Old and New Testaments that those who bore God and shook their generations were raised by God through human instruments until they became what God ordained them to be. Beginning from our Lord Himself, Jesus had to be raised under the instrumentality of both Joseph and Mary right from childhood until he grew and matured to accomplish what brought Him to the earth. Hannah had to nurse Samuel who was a renowned prophet in Israel until the time she had to release him for further and peculiar training under Eli. What of Samson that was anointed to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines? He also had to be parented and laboured upon by his parents, Manoah and his wife. In the New Testament you see that John the Baptist, the fore runner of our Lord had to be strategically located in the family of Zacharias and Elizabeth for his basic training before he was later released into the wilderness until the day God introduced him to Israel.
So it is clear that parenting is very cardinal and crucial for any life who is going to be an anchor or agent of revival in the move of God. As we are fully persuaded that God in His infinite mercies has decided to move and reveal His right hand to us in our time, one area we need to pay attention to is the matter of parenting.
Without adequate parenting, God will be robbed of men who would have become great and useful in His hands. Even when men are parented, it has to be correctly done otherwise the men raised from such labours will grow and stand on the platform of ministry but with deficiencies that may become issues and can even truncate or affect what God is set to do. So the burden of this article is to bring to fore the need in the heart of God for parenting of lives today who will become anchor men in His hands tomorrow. To help us raise salient points we shall look at Moses who was raised and nursed by Amram and Jechobed. May God grant us illumination in Jesus Name.
BEWARE OF PHAROAH
Before we consider our text in Exodus 2:1-10, there is need to give a background to the story. Let us check Acts 7:17-21.
But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:
And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. (KJV)
The passage above provides for us the condition in Egypt when Moses was born. The Pharoah then who succeeded the Pharoah that knew Joseph felt threatened by the rate the Israelites were multiplying and filling the land of Egypt. So he issued a decree that every young male child should be cast into the Nile (Exod. 1:22). It is only the males that were to be drowned; the females were to be spared.
Did you note the strategy of Pharoah? He knew the males are the progenitors carrying the seed for reproduction, he knew the males were the ones bearing this mandate for God, so to truncate and abort this divine purpose, they were all to be exterminated in the Nile River.
What is the implication of this to us today? Pharoah represents Satan or the devil. Acts 7:19, described him as subtle which is one of the traits of the devil. Subtility means he does not come directly but indirectly through deceit, cover up, and camouflage so that he will not be suspected in the least manner. Every Christian worker or labourer, or parent must see and understand that there is a battle over the lives of men God has committed into our hands to parent or nurse.
There is need to understand that the issue of parenting or nursing a life for God has a context. It is not arbitrary. There is an enemy who is subtle, voracious and ready to destroy if allowed. So the issue of parenting is not an option but a must otherwise the lives committed into your hands will spoil under your very eyes because of lack of sensitivity. Every parent either through the platform of the home which is basic or other platforms must note that there is an enemy interested in these lives. If you refuse to stand and act promptly, he hijacks these young lives and thereby robs God of youths that would be vessels in the future. Another thing to note again is that it is young children he was casting into the Nile River. It is when they are young and children – soft, tender, easy to be influenced – that he slays them by drowning them into the Nile. The Nile could represent the world system and its lusts which Satan employs to achieve his wicked devices to destroy lives of our youths today.
May I ask you at this juncture, have you seen the battle? Do you understand what is at stake? Or are you taking things for granted regarding the lives God has committed into your hands? Fathers, mothers, how are you handling the lives in your homes? Do you think if you keep mute or remain docile, things will take their rightful course without any terrible damage? Teachers, lecturers in the schools and institutions respectively, have you seen this burden in the heart of the Lord? What are you doing with the lives God brought to you to parent and nurse for Him through the platform of your profession? It is time to repent and arise to take our stand otherwise you will keep disappointing God and making Him regret the platform He has given you.
THE PARENTS
Now let us return to Exod. 2:1-10; We saw that Moses was born during the time there was a decree to slay every male Hebrew child. So what happened that others drowned in the Nile while Moses was saved and preserved in the same River that consumed others? One of the reasons was the parents he had. They understood the purpose of God, committed themselves to it, laboured for it and it yielded tangible results that brought glory to God. Let us see some qualities in the lives of Moses’ parents for us to learn:
They were Israelites
Exodus 2:1 showed that they were both Israelites. They were from the tribe of Levi. Note that both were Israelites. The basic partnership in the labour of God is the partnership of the husband and wife and such is the basic platform God is seeking for to parent lives for Him. The focus of God was Moses. Moses was to be a prophet, saviour, law-giver and mediator, but God had to first locate the family – platform – (of husband and wife) He would commit the child to be nursed. That was the desire in the heart of God and Amram and Jechobed met that specification. They were Israelites, and they had a covenant relationship with God.
Let us therefore note that to effectively parent lives in this move of God, you must first of all have a genuine experience of salvation and must have finished with sin. A man will only produce fruit after his own kind. The basis of becoming a parent or nurse is that you have finished with sin, and have a growing and functional relationship with God and have also grown to maturity such that you can bear or carry other lives. If the parents of Moses were not mature and trustworthy, there is no how God could have committed his would be agent of revival into their hands.
Brother, sister, have you finished with sin? Any sin allowed will only weaken your authority and influence to parent a life. If there is any sin or secret sin you need to beg God to deal with it quickly and seek help if need be. What about your relationship with the Lord? Is it growing and becoming deeper? Communion is a critical issue in every revival labour. Once the vessel is no longer in tune with God, such loses freshness, and sense of direction, become stale and engage in routine activities.
Can God depend on you as He depended on Amram and Jechobed?
Correct Sight/Vision
The word ‘saw’ in Exodus 2:2 – speaks about vision – This is confirmed in Heb. 11:23, By faith Moses, when he was born was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.
The parents had a correct vision concerning Moses. Though newly born and looking innocent, they perceived that He was born to do exploits for God. They did not see him as an ordinary child but a special one because of what God would do with him. For them to have seen such clear vision concerning Moses shows that they must have had an effective communion with the Lord and must have been prayerful.
What vision are you seeing concerning the children in your home whether biological or spiritual parents? Many are only seeing the physical and the present without seeing the mind of God and the future for these lives. You need to turn to the Lord and ask Him to show you mercy and open your eyes to see as He sees lest you miss His purpose for you.
Selfless Labour
The vision of Moses the Lord showed them moved them to selflessly labour over him for about 3 critical months. Three months depicts a period of time. After 3 months they had to release him. Friend, we do not have the whole time, while these lives are still with us, we need to be urgent and be strategic to pour into them all that we could before they are released to the next phase of their journey. It was the intense labour that Moses’ mother had put into him that made him to refuse the palace later, and he embraced the divine purpose of God for his life even though he had to suffer shame and reproach.
It is time to let go of self-comfort, leisure, pleasure, convenience, etc. and be prepared to pour all you have on those lives so that they can be adequately helped and equipped for the next phase of their journey.
NURSE THIS CHILD FOR ME
For want of space, we need to conclude the write up. God lent the parents wisdom and they built an ark coated with slime and pitch to make it float. They kept it by the river bank and were praying to see what God would do. The story is clear, as God arranged, that Pharoah’s daughter came to the River to wash herself and she took note of the ark among the flags. At the end Moses’ mother was brought to nurse the child. Now the challenge for us today is what Pharoah’s daughter said in vs. 9 – Take this child away and nurse it for me. Her utterance reveals to us the mind of God and the principle of raising agents of revival for the Lord. That statement reveals two critical issues. The first is that God is in need of nurses – parents, disciplers, engravers, moulders, builders, etc. who will nurse tender and young lives for Him in the incubator until they mature and are tested and proven to bear influence for the Lord. Here was a child ordained to be a deliverer in years to come but if there is no nurse to sit with him and adequately train and nurse him how will he become useful? Nursing a life unto maturity is not a light thing. It requires feeding, caring, teaching, praying, watching or watchfulness, discipline and shielding from wrong and external influences so that what you are building is not spoilt, contaminated or corrupted. So the cry of the Lord is where are the nurses? Many lives are wasting away without definite direction and guidance because there are no correct nurses to care for them. As the Lord is crying out loud, would you be that nurse who will respond today and say here I am Lord.
The second issue is that to nurse a life is for the Lord – for me – and not for selfish interests. Every nurse who will be recruited by the Lord to partake of this labour must have been delivered from all forms of the self life – self identity – wanting to put or place your name, self interests – personal or hidden agenda or pursuits, self aggrandizement – seeking what to gain materially or otherwise. Until a man comes to the point to say, “All for Jesus, nothing for me”, such cannot be a trusted nurse in this labour and move of God.
CHALLENGE/RESPONSE
Note that she said, … I will give thee thy wages. Nobody serves God in vain. Though the reward ought not to be the basis for the labour but our love for the Master and the joy of being a co-labourer with Him in the vineyard.