August 16th 2026 A Love That Keeps Exodus 2:1-10
A GREAT STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: THE LOVE THAT KEEPS (Moses in the Bulrushes)
Life was hard for those Hebrews -- very hard! They were beaten and abused by their Egyptian taskmasters, forced to do back breaking work building Pharaoh’s cities and monuments. They were stripped of their honour, humiliated and scorned, exploited and taken advantage of put down and spat upon. They were nothing but beasts of burden as far as the Egyptians were concerned, animals to be used in the production of their labours, And if one of them died under the agony of his burdens, or because of the cruelties of his taskmasters -- it did not matter -- there were plenty more where they came from.
And yet there was one area in which the Hebrews had abundance -- and that was in having children!
In spite of all their hardships, they continued to flourish and multiply -- And Pharaoh was feeling threatened by their numbers. And so, Pharaoh he began the first recorded holocaust in Jewish history.
First, he increased their labour, made it more difficult for them, and when that didn’t do any good to slow the growth of the Hebrews, he ordered every boy that was born was to be thrown into the Nile river and drowned. That was the situation down there in Egypt! How awful it must have been! How terrible beyond our understanding! How much it must have seemed that God had let them down, that God had abandoned them, forgotten them. Are there not times in our lives when it seems that God has forgotten us that life is harder than it ought to be? Or maybe life isn’t so bad as what the Hebrews had it -- but sometimes it can be bad enough……. We know what it is to feel afraid and defeated.
That’s one of the reasons, I am convinced, that this passage of scripture is found in the Bible.
It’s not just a history lesson of God’s people. It’s OUR story as well. It’s a story that speaks to us -- because it is a story that symbolises the struggles we all experience in life. But not only is it a story of life’s struggles -- it is a story of life’s hope. For just when it seemed the Hebrews could bear up no longer under their burdens, a child is born who is destined to be the deliverer of God’s people.
You see, in the story of Moses, we can see the hand of God working out His loving purposes, watching OVER this tiny baby, providing for his personal safety, preparing him for the time of God’s service.
When we face our times of difficulty, and think that God has all but forgotten us, we need only turn to this story of Moses in the bulrushes to be reminded that God is still in control, and that there is a love that keeps us.
I. For one thing, we are reminded that God provides for us in ways we may not at first recognize.
Was it just coincidence, that Pharaoh’s own daughter just happened to come upon the child, and that her heart would go out to the child?
Was it just coincidence that Moses’ own mother would be chosen to nurse the child until the child was old enough to be weaned at the age of three or four years of age?
Was it just coincidence that by giving the child back to his own mother, that she was able to provide for her child a mother’s love, and a foundation of faith in the God of Israel?
And then, later on, was it just coincidence that Moses should be raised in Pharaoh’s house, educated in the ways of Egypt, have access to the very throne of power in Egypt?
No... it was not a coincidence. It was the keeping love of God.
Perhaps with eyes of faith you might look back on some experience of your own to see that God was at work providing for your needs. Maybe you did not recognize it at first, but looking at it now you can only say, “It was the hand of God, and I did not know it then!”
2. Not only do we see that God provides for our needs in ways we may not recognize, we see also that God prevails over evil in ways we cannot imagine. How it must have seemed that evil had won the day!
The Hebrews had been enslaved, forced to do unbearable labour, their children were being slaughtered.
It couldn’t get any worse than that. Evil surely must have had the upper hand!
And yet in the end it was God, not Pharaoh, who triumphed.
You see, God cannot be kept down for long. That’s what this story in Exodus tells us.
God is the God of power and might, and God will always triumph over evil.
One way that God’s will prevails is through transformation of our lives or our situations.
God takes our situation into his shaping hands and brings good out of bad. That’s what God did at the Cross. He took an instrument of torture and death, and transformed it into an instrument of salvation and life.
Do you remember the story of Joseph? Joseph is the reason the Hebrews were in Egypt. Joseph had been sold by his brothers to some slave traders, who took him down to Egypt. But there in Egypt God transformed Joseph’s situation. He rose to a position of power and prominence, and when a famine came across all that region, Joseph stored up grain against the years of famine. When his brothers came looking for food, and found their long lost brother in power, they were afraid because of what they had done to him. But instead of taking revenge upon his brothers Joseph welcomed them, and he said to them, “You meant it for my harm, but God intended it for good.”
We can never underestimate the importance our faith plays in the work of God. Moses’ parents did what they needed to do. Then they turned it all over to God and trusted God. Isn’t that when faith really soars? When we can turn it all over to God? As someone has said, “Faith is idle when circumstances are right.
Only when they are adverse is one’s faith in God exercised.”
Someone has said, “When you have nothing left but God, then for the first time you become aware that God is enough.”
News from the Church
New dates
………..No Knit and natter in August………..
2nd September..…..Friendship Group, (this covers all ages and the lonely people)
ANSWERS TO 9th August QUESTIONS
1) Yes 2) putting pillows in the bed 3) Achish the king of Gath 4) Aservant of Saul 5) Wife of Nabal, and Davids second wife 6) Another wife of David 7) Yes to see the witch there 8) Samuel
9) He committed suicide 10) His three sons 11) 1000 years before the birth of Jesus
12) On Mount Gilboa 13) Yes 14) Amnon 15) Chileab 16) Absalom
Bible Quiz this week’s Quiz is about 2 Samuel
1 Who was Mephibosheth?
2 Who was Uzzah?
3 Who was Uriah?
4 What was Davids greatest sin?
5 Who was Nathan?
6 What story did Nathan tell David?
7 What was Davids reaction?
8 What were Davids words when his little son by Bathsheba died?
9 Who killed Amnon for vengeance?
10 What is Shimei remembered for?
11 How did Absalom die?
12 What did David say when he heard about Absalom dying?
13 David longed for a drink from which well?
14 What was Amnon’s greatest crime?
15 How did Uriah die?
16 What was Mephibosheth rewarded with when he sat at Davids table ?
God Bless