Today's Photograph . . . . Keep 'em In The Boat (Fred B)
Bible Study Verses
Exodus 1:22
So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive." (NKJV)
Exodus 2:1-4
And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. (NKJV)
Thoughts
Pharaoh had commanded that every Jewish male child would be killed, by being thrown into the crocodile-infested Nile, which was worshiped as deity. However, the real Deity was sovereign over His river. His name is El Roi [God who sees] and Jehoveh Sh'ma [God who hears]. He was later named Jehovah Natsal [God my deliverer] by Moses and Joshua.
There are many beautiful and powerful pictures in this story--reminders of God's sovereignty and delivering power:
Moses' parents obeyed the command (1:22) to put him into the Nile.
His boat is described (2:3) exactly the same as Noah's ark of deliverance.
Though it was Pharaoh's daughter who saw the boat and brought it ashore (2:5), it was actually God who saw Moses, delivered him, heard his cry.
Though she recognized that he was Jewish when she changed his diaper, she still returned him to Jewish people to raise, and gave him a Jewish name!
God delivered Moses from the water a second time (Red Sea). His name means "I drew him out of the water."
God used Moses to deliver His people from Egypt.
(Fred B)
Action Point
Becoming a Papa changed me, as much as being a Dad. Some of my early fears returned:
Who will protect them when I'm not there?
What if someone hurts them?
What if they get sick and die?
What if some day they don't love me?
During a visit to what my grands call the "Bucky Store." I lifted them into a boat, so that they could "pretend fish." Just then, the Lord reminded me that even as Moses' parents put him into God's boat and He delivered him, even so Papa must put his grands into God's boat. So, I did.
Sportsmen's Tip Of The Day
When creatures, snakes, gators, or beavers swim toward your boat, remain calm. The safest place is always IN your boat. Don't freak out, stand up, fall in; and wear your life jacket!