Moses’ mother was a descendant of Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. Levi had participated in a plot against his brother Joseph (Genesis 37). On his deathbed, Jacob spoke a curse over Levi and his brother Simeon because of their acts of wrath and cruelty recorded in Genesis 34. It was an inauspicious beginning of the family. Living down a bad reputation can be challenging, but Moses’ parents illustrate it can be done. Their second child, Aaron was the first high priest of the Hebrew people, and the tribe of Levi assumed the responsibility of the spiritual leadership of the Hebrew nation.
Moses was born in dangerous times, as Pharaoh had ordered the murder of all Hebrew baby boys. Moses’ mother hid him for three months and then acted on a plan to help protect her baby boy. She laid him in a sealed basket and placed it in the Nile River under the watchful eye of his older sister, strategically in a place where the Pharaoh’s daughter would find him and rescue him. I cannot imagine the agony of placing that 3 month old baby boy in a basket and placing it in the river, but she did what she could, used what she had, and trusted God to take care of the rest.
Moses grew up in a palace, the adopted grandson of Pharaoh. As a boy he received the best education in all of Egypt. As a young man he made connections with leaders of Egypt and surrounding countries. He would learn to look past the title and see the man, which would serve him well in his adult years. There is no hint of Moses being intimidated when he stood before Pharaoh and demanded the Hebrew people be set free.
The Hebrew nation was delivered from Egyptian bondage because of the son of an obscure woman who dared to live down the bad reputation of her family, and who dared to trust Almighty God to protect her baby boy.