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Many years passed away.
Joseph was dead, and all his brothers. A new generation of
Israelites now lived in Egypt; they were very many, the country was full
of them. A new king was reigning, who did not know Joseph; and he
was very cruel, and hated the Israelites, and wished to kill them
all. He commanded them to do very hard work in the fields, and in
making brick; and their cruel masters beat them, and were very unkind to
them. And did they die when the king gave them all this hard work,
which made them so weak and tired? No, because God kept them; and
therefore nothing could hurt them; they grew and multiplied more and
more. And why did God care for them so much? Because He had
promised Abraham, many years before, that his children should be like the
sand for multitude, and like the stars in the sky, which we cannot
count. God never forgets His promises, nor His people who love and
serve Him. But God had promised Jacob to bring his children home to
Canaan, and now they were far off from their possessions;—had not God
forgotten this promise? No: we read that He told Abraham, that
his children should go to a strange country, and be afflicted here till
the end of 400 years. God knew the time; soon the 400 years would be
over, and then the Israelites would be sent home to their own land
again. But Pharaoh,
the cruel king, did not know God, and he tried again and again to destroy
the Israelites. He commanded every little Israelitish boy that was
born, to be thrown into the river and drowned. The poor mothers
loved their dear children, and cried bitterly about this cruel, wicked
law; but the king had no pity, and many of the little boys drowned.
But God loved those children; and when they died, He took their souls to
be with Him in Heaven. There
was a woman of the family of Levi, who loved God, and her husband too was
a good man. God gave them a little boy. The parents loved this
dear child, and tried to save him from the cruel king. For three
months, the mother hid her child, that he might not be drowned; but when
he grew older and larger, she could not hide him any longer. But she
knew God could keep her little boy, if she could not, and she told all her
sorrow to him. God can help us when we are in trouble; and he can
take care of us, when our dearest friends cannot; and He was pleased now
to help this poor woman who trusted in Him, and to take care of her little
child. The mother gathered
some reeds, and platted them into a little basket or ark; and then she
took her dear child, and put him into the ark, and carried him to the
river. Did she throw him in? No, she laid him gently among the
high grass and reeds, by the side of the river. She could take care
of him no more, so she gave him up to God, who alone could keep him; but
she left Miriam, her little girl, to watch near her brother. Soon
she saw some people coming; who were they? They were ladies; one was
the cruel king's daughter, and the others were her maids; and they walked
along by the river, for the princess was going to bathe. They did
not see Miriam; she was a little way off, but she could see them, and hear
all they said. The king's daughter soon saw the ark among the reeds,
and she sent her maid to fetch it. The maid ran and took up the ark,
and brought it to her mistress, and opened it. Pharaoh's daughter
was not like her cruel father; she pitied the poor babe, and said,
"It is one of the Hebrew children." When Miriam heard the
kind lady speak, she went up to the princess, and said, "Shall I go,
and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for thee?" Pharaoh's
daughter said, "Go." Then Miriam ran home, and told her
mother about the kind lady who wished to save the dear babe: and
asked her mother to come and nurse it. Miriam and her mother went
back to Pharaoh's daughter, and the kind princess said, "Take this
child and nurse it for me, and I will pay thee thy wages." The
mother brought him home, and nursed him, and he grew; and when he was a
little older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter again. The princess
loved the child; and she said, "He shall be my son, and I will name
him Moses, (or, drawn out) because I drew him out of the water." How
kind God is to those who love and pray to Him! He heard this
mother's prayer, and saved her child from a cruel death. And God
loves to save children now. He keeps them when they are in their
cradles; He keeps them when they run about, and gives them health, and
strength, and all they have. But God likes best, that children's
souls should be saved. Jesus says, "It is not the will of your
Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should
perish." Matthew 18:14.
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