Bible in a Year - Women’s Thematic Reading Plan | Day 169

Day 169 of the Women’s Bible Plan: Read Exodus 2:1-10 and reflect on Jochebed, the mother of Moses, who protected her child with faith in a dangerous time. Through her courage, wisdom, and surrender, this devotional helps families consider how to protect children with faith, guide the next generation with truth, and entrust what we cannot control into the hands of God.

🌸  Dear Sister, welcome to Day 169 of our reading journey. 

To be a mother, a father, or someone who cares for the next generation often means loving deeply while carrying many concerns. When children are small, we want to hold them close. As they grow, we discover that there are roads we cannot walk for them, dangers we cannot fully remove, and futures we cannot completely control.

Exodus Chapter 2 brings us into a very dark time. Pharaoh had commanded that every son born to the Hebrews should be cast into the river. In the middle of this fear and oppression, a woman from the house of Levi gave birth to a beautiful child. When she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. When she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes, daubed it with slime and pitch, placed the child inside, and laid it among the flags by the river’s brink.

This mother was Jochebed. She was not someone who could change Pharaoh’s decree or control the future of a nation. But within the place God had given her, she protected her child with faith, prepared carefully with wisdom, and surrendered what she could not control into God’s hands. Her story reminds us that faith in parenting does not mean the absence of fear. It means choosing to trust God, protect faithfully, do what love can do, and entrust the future to the Lord.

A Minute of Grace

Exodus 2:1-10 tells the story of Moses’ birth and protection. At that time, the children of Israel were suffering in Egypt. Because Pharaoh feared the growth of the Hebrews, he commanded that every Hebrew baby boy be cast into the river. In this dangerous setting, Moses was born. His mother, Jochebed, saw that he was a goodly child and hid him for three months.

Those three months were not merely a tender mother holding her baby in secret. They were months of faith under the shadow of death. Every cry could bring danger. Every day of hiding required courage. Jochebed knew she could not hide her child forever, so she prepared an ark of bulrushes, covered it with slime and pitch, placed the child inside, and laid it among the reeds by the river. She was not carelessly abandoning her child; she was doing all she could within human limits and entrusting him to the mercy of God.

This passage also shows us the cooperation of a family. Moses’ sister stood afar off to see what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river, saw the child, and had compassion on him. Moses’ sister wisely stepped forward and offered to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. In God’s surprising providence, Moses was brought back into the arms of his own mother to be nursed and cared for.

Jochebed’s story fits deeply within the theme of “Parenting and Family.” She reminds us that parents cannot control a child’s whole life, but they can faithfully protect the life entrusted to them. Parents cannot foresee every future danger, but they can prepare with prayer, wisdom, courage, and faith. Parents cannot replace God as the Savior of their children, but they can entrust their children again and again to the Lord who truly holds life in His hands.

Today’s theme, “Jochebed Protects Moses,” invites us to reflect: How do we protect children with faith in a dangerous, confusing, and distorted age? Protection is not only physical safety. It also includes spiritual guidance, the shaping of character, the teaching of truth, emotional presence, and prayerful covering. Jochebed placed Moses in a small ark of bulrushes; today, we also need to learn how to prepare a spiritual “ark” of faith for the children entrusted to us, so they may be protected, guided, and held by God’s grace.

Whispers for the Heart

1 Jochebed faced a threatening world. She could not change Pharaoh’s decree, but she still protected her child within the limits of what she could do. In your family or relationship with the next generation, are you also facing circumstances you cannot control? How does this passage help you discern what you are called to do faithfully and what you must entrust to God?

2 Jochebed hid Moses for three months, then prepared an ark of bulrushes and placed him among the reeds by the river. Her love was not only emotion; it included wisdom, action, and surrender. How can you protect children or the next generation in practical ways today—by teaching truth, offering emotional presence, guarding them from danger, or holding them in prayer?

3 Moses would later be greatly used by God, but at the beginning, he was simply a baby who needed protection. Are you willing to believe that a child’s future is not determined only by the surrounding environment, but is held in God’s hands? When you cannot see the road ahead for a child, are you willing to turn anxiety into prayer and control into surrender?

As you read Exodus 2:1-10 today, do not only notice the wonder of Moses’ rescue. Also notice Jochebed, the mother who lived with faith, wisdom, and courage in a dangerous time. Her story reminds us that parental faithfulness often begins in hidden places, where no one else sees, as love stands guard over a child’s life.

Take a quiet breath before you begin. Bring your family, your children, the next generation, the pressures of parenting, and the future you cannot control before the Lord, and let His Word meet you there

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🪕 Response Hymn: 

Exodus 2:1-10 (KJV)

2 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

3 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.

4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

5 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.

6 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.

7 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?

8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.

9 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 women took the child, and nursed it.

10 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.

🪕 Response Hymn: 

💡 Closing Thought · Preparing an Ark of Faith for Children

After reading Exodus 2:1-10, we see that Jochebed was not a mother with great worldly power, but she was a mother who acted faithfully in a dangerous time. She could not change Pharaoh’s decree, but she did not surrender to fear. She could not control Moses’ future, but with faith and wisdom she prepared an ark of bulrushes and placed her child into God’s hands.

As we close this page and return to real family life, perhaps you are worried about your children, praying for the next generation, or anxious about the future of your family. Perhaps you feel how limited your strength is: you cannot block every danger or decide every step of your child’s life. Remember this: God sees every parent who protects with love. He sees every hidden prayer, every gentle moment of presence, and every decision made by faith.

May today’s Scripture remind you that you do not have to control everything in order to love your children well. You can faithfully guard them before God, and you can entrust them to the Lord who truly holds life in His hands. May God help you prepare an ark of faith for the children entrusted to you, so they may be protected, guided, and led into the path He has prepared.

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