出エジプト記2:1-10　Exodus 2:1-10,

From today until the end of August, I will talk about the Old Testament story of the Exodus. The Exodus is the story of the Israelites’ departure from the land of Egypt with Moses. First, today I will tell you the story of Moses’ birth.

Joseph, who was bullied by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, became a minister in the land of Egypt through God’s mysterious guidance. He was recognised by the king of Egypt for prophesying about a famine and proposing to stock up on food. He was reunited with his brothers, who had come from the region of Canaan to buy food, and his younger brother Benjamin, with tears in his eyes. Joseph invited his father and brothers to come and live with him in Egypt. At first there were 70 people, but from these people children were born, and the number grew into hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands. And they became one people, the Israelites. Thus, many years passed.

The time was about 3300 years ago. In the country of Egypt, the lineage of the king changed and a man who did not know that Joseph had saved the country of Egypt became king. At that time, the king of Egypt was called Pharaoh. Pharaoh became wary of the growing number of Israelites in the land of Egypt. He said, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”

So Pharaoh took away the freedom of the Israelites and enslaved them. He then put them to work kneading clay, baking bricks and working in the fields. Not only that, but Pharaoh ordered the Israelite midwives to kill any children born to them if they were boys, and to let them live if they were girls. This is a terrible order. But the midwives believed in God and did not obey Pharaoh’s order. They let even the boy live. An angry Pharaoh gave a more terrible order to all the people of Egypt to throw any Israelite-born boy into the Nile River.

At that time, a boy was born to the tribe of Levi, one of the tribes of Israelites. The boy’s mother hid the boy for three months. But at last she could no longer hide it. So she made a basket of woven grass called bulrushes, waterproofed it to prevent water from getting in, put the boy in it and placed it among the reed thickets of the Nile. And the boy’s sister was watching over him. Just then, the Pharaoh’s daughter, the princess, came to bathe in the water. She found the basket, opened it and found the boy inside! The princess said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” At that time, Israelites were also called “Hebrews.” So the boy’s sister said, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” The princess replied, “Go.” The princess was a kind person. The sister brought Moses’ mother. Thus, the boy was returned to his mother and brought up. When he eventually grew up, the boy was taken in by the princess and became her child. What a wondrous plan of God! This boy was Moses, who later became the leader of the Israelites.