Exodus 2:5-10 Safe Passage

"Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe,

and her attendants were walking along the river bank.

She saw the basket among the reeds

and sent her slave girl to get it.

She opened it and saw the baby.

He was crying, and she felt sorry for him.

'This is one of the Hebrew babies,' she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter,

'Shall I get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?'

'Yes, go,' she answered.  And the girl went and got the baby's mother.

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this baby and nurse him for me,

and I will pay you.'  So the woman took the baby and nursed him.

When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter

and he became her son.

She named him Moses, saying, 'I drew him out of the water.' "

Exodus 2:5-10 (NIV)

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Talk about an answer to prayer!  God's providence is evident in this situation, for so many factors had to come together in perfect timing:

• Anyone could have found the baby, including a hungry crocodile.
• If someone hostile to the Hebrews had found the baby, Moses would have been put to death.
• Also, even if Moses had been found by another sympathetic person -- Hebrew or Egyptian -- only Pharaoh's daughter would have had the slightest chance of being able to keep the child and go against the pharaoh's decree with impunity.  Even that was probably a bit uncertain, depending upon the Pharaoh's mood at the moment.
• I'm still exploring this, but the pharaoh's daughter may have been his only child.  With no heir waiting in the wings, Pharaoh may have been more open to adopting a child as a possible future successor.  However, I  doubt he would have thought this way at the time, for the baby was obviously a Hebrew child and this would not have been an acceptable alternative for a Pharaoh who sought to reduce the power of that nation.  I think he just allowed his beloved daughter to have her way in this instance, and, if she is who I think she is, an event such as this would have fit her personality exactly.  More on this theory will follow.

It is also evident that God has a sense of humor.  Not only does Moses' mother get to raise her son for a while longer, but she is now being paid for doing a job for which she and her husband had been willing to risk everything.  Ironically, the funds probably come from the Pharaoh who seems bent on destroying the Hebrew nation.  Therefore, this Pharaoh who is acting against the Hebrews ends up supporting and educating the very one who will lead the Hebrews to freedom.  There it is again -- that fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 (NIV):  "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse...".  There is, though, no humor in the fact that his opposition to the Hebrews likely brought about the end of this Pharaoh's dynasty -- only a solemn reminder that God always keeps His promises.