Exodus - Lesson 2
In order to find out what happened next to the Israelites, we need to go back to the Bible. Please read Exodus chapter 2.
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Now, let’s ask some questions. How hard was it to hide Moses? What thoughts were going through their heads as they prepared the basket and placed baby Moses inside? How did other Israelites feel when Moses’ life was saved while their baby boys had died? What did they do with the money they were paid to take care of Moses? The Bible does not tell us how old Moses was when he went to live with Pharaoh’s daughter. What was it like to have to give Moses back to Pharaoh’s daughter when he was old enough? Now that we’ve read what the Bible says and asked some questions, let’s use our imaginations to try to answer them.
There was no joy in Shamira’s house anymore. No one smiled or laughed. Even Chaya was silent and sad. Eliezer no longer begged to go outside. Shamira could see how scared her younger siblings were, so she buried her own feelings inside and tried to be strong for them. Many nights she woke to the sound of one of her siblings sobbing from a nightmare. She tried to comfort them, but what could she say?
One night, Miriam arrived at their house with her little brother, Aaron. Shamira saw her Eema shudder when she opened the door and saw them. Miriam’s face was sad. “My Eema said she understands if you can’t come and help.” Shamira could see how hard it was for her Eema to even think about babies. She wished there was something she could do to help. She gave her mother a hug and felt her mother’s silent, hot tears fall on her head. Clinging tightly to her for a long minute, her Eema then straightened and stiffened. In a voice that sought to be natural, she replied to Miriam, “Your mother needs me. Of course, I will go.”
Once again, the two girls worked together to put the little ones to bed. This time, though, they didn’t try to sleep, and they let Leah stay up with them. The three girls didn’t say much. They simply sat huddled together, with their arms around each other, and waited. When Eliezer woke up from another nightmare, Shamira let him sit with them, with his head in her lap. She rubbed his back gently until he fell asleep again. In the morning, her mother had not returned, so Shamira and Miriam got breakfast and did the chores. They told stories to the children and tried not to worry. It wasn’t until that evening that her mother returned.
They didn’t have to ask whether it was a boy or a girl. Her mother’s tears told them the answer. Miriam and Shamira shared a scared glance before Miriam and Aaron hurried home.
Over the following weeks, as the two girls walked to the well, Miriam whispered the latest news. Like Shamira’s family, they were trying to hide her baby brother. So far, it was working. However, both girls were still scared. Shamira’s family had hidden Raz for almost 2 months before he was found. Miriam’s news about her brother made Shamira’s heart ache even more over her own loss. Once again, she buried the feelings deep inside and tried to be cheerful and strong for her friend. She hoped Miriam’s brother would survive. She didn’t want her friend to suffer as she was suffering.
One morning, three months after Miriam’s brother was born, Miriam had something new to tell her. “He’s starting to cry a lot and loudly when he wants something. My Eema is worried that we won’t be able to keep him hidden any longer, so she’s made a waterproof basket. After breakfast, she’s going to put him in the basket and hide him in the reeds at the edge of the Nile. It will be my job to keep an eye on the basket. Do you think your Eema will let you come with me today, so I don’t have to stay there alone?”
Shamira stared at her friend in shock. Were they really going to put their baby in a basket in the Nile River? It was dangerous - but the Egyptians would never think of looking for a living Hebrew baby there! Shamira could see that her friend was scared, so she promised she would ask if she could go.
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Her Eema gave reluctant consent, so after breakfast, Shamira hurried to her friend’s house. Miriam’s mother was just putting the baby in the basket.
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It was the first time Shamira had seen him. She had avoided going to her friend’s house since the baby had come. She hadn’t wanted to see him and be reminded of her own dead brothers. Seeing him made tears form, but she refused to let them fall. If she started to cry, she didn’t know if she would ever stop. Miriam’s mother kissed her son before placing him in the basket and covering it.
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The two girls followed at a distance as Miriam’s mother walked to the river with the basket on her hip. She found a place with many tall reeds, and slipped the basket in amongst them. Then she walked away with her head bowed. She did not look back. Shamira was still a child, but she understood that looking back would have been too painful.
The two girls found a place to wait. They could see the spot where the basket was hidden, but they were far enough away that they couldn’t see the basket itself. Miriam’s mother had made sure it was well-hidden from the view of anyone walking beside the river.
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They had been there for about an hour when they heard approaching footsteps. They glanced around and saw that it was Pharaoh’s daughter! Neither of them had seen her before, so they watched her curiously. She was dressed in elegant clothes, and she had several women servants walking with her. They were also beautifully dressed. They laughed and talked merrily as they walked to the river.
Shamira stared at them in anger and hatred. What right did they have to be happy? It was Pharaoh who had ordered that the baby boys be drowned. It was Pharaoh’s men who beat her father any time they didn’t think he was working hard enough. It was Pharaoh who had caused her little siblings to live in fear and sadness. The two girls watched as the princess stepped into the Nile River. Her ladies stayed on the bank, walking along the riverside, chatting while the princess bathed. Suddenly, she called out to one of her servants, “I see a basket floating in the reeds. Go get it and bring it to me. I wonder if there is anything inside it.”
Shamira gasped in pain as Miriam gripped her arm in terror. Shamira stared in horror, unsure of what she could do to save the baby. There was no way they could overpower all those women and run off with the basket. She wanted to run away or shut her eyes, so that she wouldn’t have to watch Miriam’s baby brother drown before her eyes, but she was frozen in place.
One of the women found the basket and carried it to Pharaoh’s daughter. As she opened it, Shamira could hear the baby’s cries even from their hiding place. At the sound, Miriam suddenly let go of her arm and started forward. Shamira wanted to stop her, but she was too scared to move. She just watched. Pharaoh’s daughter reached into the basket and pulled out the baby, and Shamira shut her eyes, expecting her to throw him into the river.
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When she didn’t hear a splash, she opened her eyes slowly. Pharaoh’s daughter was cuddling the baby and singing to it. “Oh, you poor dear!” she heard the princess say. “You must be one of the Hebrew babies. Otherwise, no mother would have left you here like this. I wanted a baby, and now here you are. Instead of leaving you to die, I will take you as my own child.”
Shamira saw Miriam hurry up to the princess and bow politely. “Princess, if you are going to keep that baby, would you like me to go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse him for you?” The princess stared at the girl for a long minute of silence before finally nodding and replying, “Go.”
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Shamira stayed where she was and watched. In just a few minutes, Miriam hurried back with her mother. The princess handed the baby to her, saying, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.”
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Shamira gasped, and then turned and ran. She didn’t know where she was going; she just had to get away from there. As she ran, she silently yelled at God, “Why? Why did two of my brothers have to die while Miriam’s brother gets to live? Why does my mother live under the crushing shadow of grief, guilt, and despair while her mother gets to raise her son? Why will they get extra money, as well as the joy of having their baby alive, while we have nothing? Why don’t you care about my family? What makes her family better than us?”
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It was hours before Shamira returned home. She did not tell her mother what had happened. Her mother didn’t ask. Since Raz’s death, her mother rarely spoke or showed any interest in the things going on around her. Her body was alive, but the rest of her seemed to be dead. As Shamira looked at her mother, she became even angrier at God. She was also angry with her friend. She hadn’t wanted Miriam’s brother to die, but she couldn’t bear to see her friend’s joy while she was in so much pain. She had now lost two brothers, while Miriam had lost nothing. Shamira was hurting, and the easiest way to deal with the hurt was to turn it into anger. Being angry helped keep the hurt from swallowing her completely.
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She knew it was wrong to be angry at Miriam. She would have done the same thing if she had been in Miriam’s place. More than anything, she wished that she had been in Miriam’s place, so that it was her brother who was still alive. Guilt over her feelings made her not want to see Miriam. So, she started sending Leah on errands in her place while she stayed home.
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She cared for her siblings and tried to make things better for her mother. She not only wanted her brother back again, but she wanted her family back again. Nothing was the same since Raz had died. She wanted her mother to smile and be interested in them. She wanted her father to tell them stories and teach them things. She wanted Chaya to be full of life and silly chatter. She wanted Eliezer to be full of energy and mischief. She wanted the sadness to leave Leah’s eyes.
As the days went by, her anger at Miriam grew less, and she began to miss her friend, but the pain was still there. Then, one day, Miriam came to their house. Miriam didn’t say a word; she just ran to Shamira and hugged her. Suddenly, all the tears that Shamira had been holding inside since the night Raz had died began to flow. As Miriam hugged her, she cried out her grief and pain. Soon her siblings were also crying and clinging to her. It was one large, weeping group hug. The crying roused their mother. She began to weep as well, saying over and over, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” They ran to her and hugged her, and she hugged them in return. None of them noticed when Miriam slipped away.
Things were better after that day. The pain wasn’t gone, but it was easier to bear now that the family was bearing it together. Shamira was no longer angry at Miriam, although she still often cried out to God in hurt and confusion, “Why did Amos and Raz have to die? Why didn’t you save them too?”
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When Miriam’s mother had to take her son back to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shamira was there to comfort Miriam. As the years passed, the two remained firm friends. As Shamira watched the effects of the hard, painful labor on her father, and years later her brother and her husband, she continued to call out to God, asking him when he would deliver them from slavery. She was almost glad that Amos and Raz had died, because now they didn’t have to suffer under slavery. But the hurt from their murders was still there.
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She wondered if God had let Miriam’s brother Moses live so that, as a prince living in the palace, he could help to free them.
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One day, many years later, Miriam arrived at Shamira’s house weeping. Moses, now a grown man, was gone! He had run away from Egypt to escape Pharaoh’s anger. Shamira was shocked to hear that he had killed an Egyptian. As she looked around at her children, she wondered who would save them now. Once again, she silently cried out to God, “Please, I don’t want my children to live as slaves. God, please help us. Please free us.” Over the next 40 years, she prayed that prayer many, many times.
Have you ever been angry with God as Shamira was in our story? Did you know that God doesn’t mind us asking Him questions? We can be honest with God. If we are hurting or angry, we don’t have to pretend that we aren’t.
Our honest questions won’t make God angry or cause Him to punish us. The book of Job teaches us that suffering is not always a punishment for our sin. Suffering also does not mean that God doesn’t love us. Sometimes, bigger things are going on that we don’t know about. A man named Job in the Bible had a lot of terrible things happen to him, and he began to ask God a lot of questions. When God answered Job, God wasn’t angry at Job’s questions.
God knows what you are thinking and feeling, so you don’t have to hide it from Him. He loves you, and He is faithful. He has given us many amazing promises in the Bible, and God always keeps His promises, as we will see in the rest of our Exodus lessons. He may not keep His promise as soon as WE want Him to, but He always keeps His promises at the right time. We can trust Him. God isn’t done yet. He still has a promise to keep!
Written for Children’s Bible Ministries by Liane Lindauer
Illustrated by Dan Johnson