Category: She, Volume 2

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, She, Volume 2

Pharaoh’s Daughter

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Adapted from, She, Volume 2/pp 57-58

Read: Exodus 2

“She had a Specific Task, for which the LORD had a Great Purpose.”

RECAP: During the Hebrews’ period of enslavement in Egypt, Pharaoh decreed that all male Hebrew babies should be killed (Exodus 1:15–16). When that plan did not work, he issued another decree to throw all Hebrew baby boys into the river (Exodus 1:22—2:4). A mother named Jochebed, however, kept her baby son hidden for three months. “But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile” (Exodus 2:3). The baby’s name was Moses, and his mother’s faith and courage in saving her son would be pivotal in shaping world history.

Today, we explore another woman who was pivotal in the story of baby Moses. We only know her as the daughter of Pharaoh, ironically, the same Pharaoh who issued the decree to throw all Hebrew baby boys into the river. While we do not learn much about her in this passage of Exodus, we do know that she was a princess. We also know that God used her for a specific task and a great purpose. Ironically, that purpose was to rescue baby Moses from the Nile.

As explained by Bibleref.com: “The daughter of Pharaoh’s identity is uncertain, though there are possible candidates to fit this description. One is Hatshepsut, daughter of Thutmose I. She would have been the appropriate age at the time of Moses’ birth. Her historical account also portrays her as a kind princess who could fit the description found in this biblical passage. Another possibility is Sobekneferu, the daughter of Amenemhat III. Amenemhat had no surviving sons, and Sobekneferu had no children, making her more likely to adopt a child. Whoever this daughter was, her attitude is clearly much different than her father’s”, who, as previously mentioned “commanded all infant sons to be thrown into the Nile River to die.”

Bibleref.com goes on to explain that “This royal woman comes to the Nile to bathe, a common practice in her time. Her servant girls would have been present. Moses’ mother also likely knew the location. She probably placed Moses there in hopes he would be cared for by this woman or one of the other women who bathed there. Though this verse says Pharaoh’s daughter “saw the basket” and had a servant get it, her very first notice might have been hearing him cry (Exodus 2:6).” And this is where we learn of her compassion.

“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 maids 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.’”

Exodus 2:5-6

It is worth noting again the irony of the story that unfolds here. Moses’ mother, in order to somehow protect her son from the edict Pharaoh had given, places him in a basket, prepared for the water, and leaves her daughter to watch and see what happens to him. Pharaoh’s daughter spots the basket, has her maids bring it to her, and despite her father’s edict, she has compassion on the child when he cries. Her compassion results in her adopting Moses; this presented an immediate need to provide a means for him to be fed and cared for in the early years. Of course, God had perfectly orchestrated everything. Miriam(the sister of Moses), who had been planted there by her mother, speaks up, offering to get a Hebrew nursemaid for Pharaoh’s daughter, who sends her to do so, which resulted in Moses’ own mother, was blessed by God to not only nurse and care for her son during those early years, but was also paid to do so.

“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.’”

Exodus 2:10

As our study guide for today points out, “God saw the plan for Moses long before he was placed in the ark of bulrushes.” He also chose who would find him, who would nurse him, and who would be his adopted mother. (It should be noted that while some would say Pharaoh’s daughter converted to Judaism and is numbered among God’s children, there is no Scripture that I could find that makes that clear.)

SHE WAS USED BY THE LORD TO PRESERVE & PROTECT THE LIFE OF MOSES.

SHE VOLUME 2, P58

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, She, Volume 2

Jochebed and Miriam

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Adapted from She, Volume 2, pp 35-36

Read: Exodus 2

Jochebed, was the mother of Moses, Miriam, and Aaron. She had Moses during the days when Pharaoh had given an order to throw all Hebrew baby boys into the Nile River. (Exodus 1:15–16).  She was a devoted and godly mother who found a way to protect her son (Ex 1:17-19 and 2:3) from Pharaoh’s order (Ex.1:6-18). As bibleref.com points out, “Ironically, this very command from Pharaoh will frame the life of the man who eventually leads Israel out of slavery. She was a devoted and godly mother, trusting God to protect her son.

“She carefully prepared an ark of bulrushes, covered it with slime and pitch, and placed him inside.”

She Volume 2, p35

As with Hannah and Samuel (1 Samuel 1 and 2), when Jochebed we can only imagine how difficult it was to place her son into the basket – and then into the water. She actually found it so difficult that she couldn’t bear to leave him unattended, but the Bible says her daughter Miriam is there to watch over Moses. so they would know what happened to him.1

Jochebed refused to leave Moses unattended.

Miriam (yet another woman of the Bible – bonus addition to our journey), was used in the plot to save Moses from certain death. She watches over her baby brother, Moses, among the bulrushes on the banks of the Nile. Their mother had hidden Moses in a basket on the riverbank to protect him from Pharaoh’s decree to throw all Hebrew baby boys into the river (Exodus 1:22—2:4). Oddly enough, (or perhaps – perfect as planned) as Miriam watches, it is Pharaoh’s daughter who discovers and pities Moses. Miriam quickly intervenes to ask if the Egyptian princess would like a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for her. The princess agrees, and Miriam quickly gets her mother, Jochebed. Not knowing that Jochebed was Moses’ mother, Pharaoh’s daughter commands her to nurse him and bring him back to her when he is older. By the sovereign grace of God, Moses’ was saved from the waters and Jochebed was not only able to nurse and care for him in the early years of his life, but she was also paid for it (Exodus 2:5–10).

“Jochebed (and Miriam) serve as examples that God can use the most unique situations to protect His children and His plan for their lives.”  She, Volume 2, p36

When Jochebed placed Moses in the river that day, she had faith that he would not only survive, but also thrive.

She, Volume 2, p36
Reflection and Application:
  • What have you placed in your basket in faith that God would intervene?

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, She, Volume 2

Eve

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Adapted from, She, Volume 2, p 17-18

Read: Genesis 2 and 3

Eve, “The woman who was instrumental in sin entering the world and from whom we can learn “what not to do”. She was the first woman created by God from Adam’s rib, placed in the Garden of Eden as a helpmate to her husband. Given the privilege of God’s company, of knowing His goodness, and the beauty of His creation prior to sin entering the world. She could be the poster child for Peter’s warning to be self-controlled and alert, because our enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion (or in Eve’s case, like a serpent) looking for someone to devour.1

The study guide for our journey focuses first on the creation of Eve:

  • She was taken out of the man (Gen. 2:22).
  • She was created in the image of God, (Gen. 1:27).
  • She was created with purpose, (Gen. 2:18).

In these truths, we see Eve as “the first woman“, who “serves as an example that God creates each woman with purpose and has a unique plan for her life.“

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23 And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Genesis 2:15-20

And then our attention is turned to her conversation with the serpent and her subsequent fall.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2 (And the woman said to the serpent), “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

Genesis 3:1-3
  • Eve not only entered into conversation with the serpent, she also embellished what God said, using the words, “nor shall you touch it.” These words were not part of the original command, and they are confirmed nowhere else in the Bible (Genesis 2:16-17).
    • ‘Oh, be careful, little mouth, what you say.’

But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (If you eat) its fruit, you are sure to die.” Genesis 2:16-17

  • She desired what the tree had to offer (Genesis 3:6).
    • So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, (Genesis 3:6a)
      • ‘Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.‘

The verse reveals Eve’s three motivations for crossing that line: The tree’s fruit could satisfy her body’s appetite for food, the tree was visually attractive, and the tree could make her wise. Those motivations line up closely with the Apostle John’s description of the things which still drive the world as we know it today: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).

Bibleref.com
  • She was deceived.
    • ‘Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear; and be careful, little mind, what you think.’
      • She knew what God had told Adam, and yet she added to His words and justified her desire
  • She had a choice to make...
    • she took of its fruit and ate… (Genesis 3:6b)
      • She gave it to her husband, and he ate it too… (Genesis 3:6c)
        • ‘Oh, be careful little hands what you do.‘

Friend, if you’re wondering what good can come from focusing on Eve’s fall, I encourage you to consider these truths- one is an important warning and the other is life-changing encouragement:

  • Sin will take you farther than you want to go, and cost you more than you want to pay.
  • He can use us despite our sin and fulfill His will through us if we will simply yield to Him.

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, She, Volume 2

Anna

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Adapted from She, volume 2, p11-12

Read: Luke 2:36-38 and 2 Cor. 9:15

Anna, a prophetess, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher,1 and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four.  She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

Luke 2:36-38

I love and appreciate that God allowed Anna, who had heard prophecies about the coming Messiah for many years, not only to believe in Him but to meet Him face to face. Luke wrote that, “She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”

Anna, one of the few prophetesses mentioned in the Bible. “She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying” (Luke 2:37). After becoming a widow, Anna dedicated herself wholly to the Lord. She never left the temple in Jerusalem but spent her time worshiping, fasting, and praying. Her many years of sacrifice and service were worth it all when she came face-to-face with Jesus, the Messiah, the One for whom she had waited so long. I see the fingerprints of God in the timing described by Luke with these words:  “She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God.” What stands out to me most is not only her devotion but her delight in seeing Him turned into praising Him and then to sharing Him with “everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”

Friends, may we be faithful and alert, like Anna, so that we do not miss the presence and work of Jesus in and around our lives. When we see Him, may we faithfully praise Him, and, like Anna, may we then faithfully proclaim Him to everyone.

The More We Know

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Quiet Time, She, Volume 2, The Importance of Prayer

Hannah’s Story

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God Remembers

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 1:1-20;

10 She was very upset as she prayed to the LORD, and she was weeping uncontrollably. 19 They got up early the next morning. Then they worshiped the Lord and returned to their home at Ramathaim. Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord called her to mind. 20 Then Hannah became pregnant.

1 Samuel 1:19-20

This is one of my most beloved passages of Scripture. Both because of how God’s power and tender-love are displayed; but also because of the way He used it to give me hope in my own days of infertility.

Hannah’s story, found in 1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2, is best read in full, for the truest beauty can only be seen when you know it is about more than Hannah wanting a child. It’s about relationships, it’s about God’s power withheld and poured out. We see the unkindness and even hatefulness of others, and we witness the deep love and encouragement of a husband. It’s about the faithful act of worship, the emotions, prayers, faith, and hope of one whose heart is poured out before God; it’s about the watchful eyes and encouragement of a priest, the power of prayer, the timing of God, and the waiting – while still pressing on in life; and it’s about God remembering the words of His daughter and pouring out His blessing on her, and likewise, it’s about a daughter remembering and responding with a grateful heart and faithful obedience. It’s about then, and it’s about now – for ultimately, it is about us remembering and knowing, as Hannah did, just who our God is and what He can do when we humble ourselves before Him in faith – believing He is able.

Hannah was Elkanah’s wife. She was one of two wives. Scripture says that the first was Hannah and the second was Peninnah. Elkanah cared for Peninnah and their children, but Scripture makes it clear that he took special care of Hannah and loved her, even though the Lord had not enabled her to have children. Peninnah, however, did not treat Hannah with the same kindness as Elkanah. Instead, we are told that she was her rival, “an adversary who provoked her to the point of exasperation, just to irritate her, since the lORD had not enabled her to have children. This is how it would go year after year. As often as she went up to the LORD’S house, Peninnah would offend her in that way.

Some things we can learn

“As for Hannah, she was very distressed. She prayed to the Lord and was, in fact, weeping. She made a vow saying, “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you would truly look on the suffering of your servant, and would keep me in mind and not neglect your servant, and give your servant a male child, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.” 1 Samuel 1:10-11

When Hannah made her vow to God, she did so with great respect and purpose. She did so in faith and reciprocated with commitment. Listen as she prays specifically, boldly, and with the commitment of a child she had not yet received. Look back to the earlier portion of the story where we read that she prayed often, and watch as she responds to the priest, humble but unashamed, and how she does not seek to hide her anguish from God. Do not miss how prayer and Eli’s encouragement brought about a visible and inward change.

Eli replied, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request that you have asked of him.” She said, “May I, your servant, find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and got something to eat. Her face no longer looked sad. 19 They got up early the next morning. Then they worshiped the Lord and returned to their home at Ramathaim. Elkanah was intimate with his wife, Hannah, and the Lord called her to mind. 20 Then Hannah became pregnant…1 Samuel 1:17-20

It is important to see how Hannah went on with life, and when God sent the child she had asked Him for, she was neither forgetful nor oblivious, nor so caught up in life that she could not respond accordingly concerning the vow she had made to the Lord.

Scripture says that “When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. 25 After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. 26 “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. 27 I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 28 Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there.

The Rest of the Story

If you continue reading through the book of Samuel, you will see that Hannah’s story doesn’t end with her leaving Samuel, her only child, at the Temple. As we read in the next chapter of 1 Samuel (chapter two),

“… But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest. 19 Each year, his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice. 20 Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the Lord.”

1 Samuel 2:18-21

We can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Hannah to keep her commitment to leave this child she had longed for and prayed for behind, in the House of the Lord. Yet Scripture says that is exactly what she did, and in all of it, she was blessed by the Lord with other children to take the place of the one she had given to the Lord, just as Eli had prayed. She gave birth to two more sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, “the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:21), and He would go on to become the spiritual leader of Israel. As the prophet and judge of the nation, Samuel would anoint the nation’s first two kings, Saul and David. (emphasis adapted from gotquestions.org)

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, She, Volume 2

Anna: Never Ceasing Prayer

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TODAY’S READING: Luke 2:36-50 (37-38)
She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment, she came up to them and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
MY OBSERVATIONS:

Wow! How can one small passage pack such an amazing message? From the obvious to the somewhat obscure, this familiar passage held so much that jumped off the page as though I had never read it before in my life.

helpful background details
  • Anna was a prophetess (verse 36), which means she was a woman who proclaimed God’s WORD – speaking everything God gave her to speak – and boy, did He give her a lot to speak on this day.
  • As verse 36 tells us, Anna was the “daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher“, meaning she was a descendant of Jacob.
  • When verse 38 says, “At that moment”, it is referring to the time Mary and Joseph had come to the Temple to present Jesus to the LORD; setting Him apart to the LORD was fulfilling the law’s requirement for every firstborn male.
Anna

Anna spent her life at the Temple. She worshiped God through fasting and praying both night and day, clearly she was devoted to God. In 2022, my Pastor preached on ‘worship’ as part of a series titled “The 7 Habits of Deeply Spiritual People”. The first, and what I believe he called the core habit, is “worship”. He shared several definitions of worship, including:

  • “giving or showing someone their worth“
  • “the outpouring of a soul because we’re at rest with God“
  • “the occupation of the heart with God Himself”
  • and “a conscious passion to glorify God in everything because He alone is deserving”

Pastor Lemming made the point that this type of worship only happens when we see God for who He really is. Clearly, Anna saw God for who He really was, and because she did, she was able to see Jesus, even as a young child, for who He really was – the long-awaited Messiah! It was her surrender that fueled her awareness of who He was, which in turn fueled her mission to “speak about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem”.

Essential to Anna’s story and her worship is that she was a prayer warrior. She’s actually a great example of what Paul instructed the Colossians to be like in Colossians 4:2, when he said: “Be devoted to prayer.”

Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2

Note again Anna’s reaction in verse 38, “At that moment, [Anna] came up to [Mary and Joseph, and Jesus] to give thanks to God and to speak about the child, [Jesus], to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” With a heart beautifully surrendered to God, Anna was positioned to see and be a part of God’s presence and work.

How Then Should We Live?

Surely we are to live beautifully surrendered like Anna, daily worshiping God. We may not be at the physical “temple” night and day as she was, but what hit me as I was reading and digesting the passage were the words of Paul to the Corinthians that – we, our physical bodies, are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and was given to us by God. We are meant to worship God – showing Him His worth, recognizing His vast superiority, having a conscious passion to glorify Him in everything – “night and day”, just like Anna.

We are meant to proclaim Jesus just like Anna, for Jesus is the Gospel message, the very message that Paul said is the “power of God for salvation”.

 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:16 NET

We are to be devoted to prayer as she was; it should not be something we only do in the morning and evening or when we have a desperate need. We are meant to pray “without ceasing”, staying alert to the opportunities and needs throughout the day to call on or cry out praises to Him on our own behalf or for others.

Prayer Response

Father – what beautiful words and instruction from a Scripture passage so familiar and yet somehow so new. Help us to live like Anna – devoted to You in every way – worshiping You night and day, fixed on You, unceasing in prayer, and unashamed to proclaim Jesus! ~ In the name of Jesus, so let it be ~