2024_01_22 Insight Post- Kim Feld
This week’s reading- Exodus 1, Exodus 2:1-10, Exodus 6:20, Numbers 26:59, Hebrews 11:23
Jochebed has always been a fascinating character to me. When I read her story, the word that immediately comes to mind is hope, but this hope is closely associated with faith and love. She possessed all three in abundance.
So many details are left out of this story, but I feel a knot in my stomach as I try to imagine what this time must have been like for Hebrew mothers. As a mother myself, I know what it’s like to feel a child grow within you and the physical and emotional changes your body undergoes while pregnant and after giving birth. Against all reason, Jochebed had hope. We see this hope on display when she made a basket of papyrus to put her child in, placing him in the very waters that became a grave for many Hebrew boys during this time. Exodus chapter 1 tells us that after the midwives were unsuccessful in eliminating the Hebrew boys, Pharaoh put the burden on all the people. Let’s take a look:
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” (Exodus 1:22, NV)
Can you imagine the fear that must have been pervasive among the Hebrews? Amazingly, Jochebed and Amram were able to hide Moses for three months! Did they fear Egyptians entering their homes in search of baby boys? Did they worry other Hebrews would sell them out for leverage with the Egyptians? We don’t know any of these details, but I believe it’s safe to say this was a time of great fear and anxiety.
Certainly, Jochebed loved her child, and there is evidence of strong faith in her actions, but I want to linger with the concept of hope today. I picture her placing her beautiful boy in the papyrus basket “among the reeds along the bank of the Nile” (See Exodus 2:3, NIV) with tears of agony. She had hope that God would make a way and rescue this boy that she and her husband both felt was full of extraordinary promise somehow. She had no assurance that it would happen. But she had hope.
We are a nation in need of hope today. Hopelessness is a defining characteristic of depression, and record numbers of people are struggling with it along with accompanying anxiety. Hope is future-focused, and we see it strongly in Jochebed’s story. Her hope was not extinguished by Pharaoh’s decree because her hope was founded in a power greater than any earthly ruler.
Are you struggling with hope today? Do you find it hard to see a hopeful future? I want to provide two things for you to consider. First, as followers of Christ, our hope is not in anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ. It can be hard to lean into this when our circumstances seem bigger. Hope often boils down to a choice. Jochebed could have given up in despair, complied with Pharaoh’s horrendous decree, and killed her baby. As harsh as it sounds, she could have done it. According to the text, I have to believe that others did. But Jochebed chose to have hope based on what she believed to be true of God. Was this a guarantee of a positive outcome? No. Jochebed and her husband were living enslaved to the Egyptians! But she had faith and hope that somehow, in some way, God would come through, even though her current circumstances did not show evidence. I encourage you to spend some time reading and contemplating the words of Psalm 33, which are full of who God is and the power of hope in Him.
The second thing to consider is that although I believe hope is a conscious choice, I don’t believe anyone chooses to be hopeless. That may sound contradictory, but I am convinced these two seemingly conflicting ideas can coexist. Sometimes, we need someone with skin on to listen to our pain and maybe our doubt that hope can exist. If this sounds like something you could benefit from, we have a lay counseling ministry at New Hope with people who want to help. Please email us at laycounseling@newhope.org
Jochebed is a picture of hope to me. I pray her story inspires us to place our hope in a God who sees us, loves us, and has a unique plan for our lives. He is bigger than anything we will face today.
Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach