Yesterday we studied Cozbi in blog # 3 of 7 of the series “Women of the Bible”. We examined how she possessed the characteristics of deception and callousness.

This is blog # 4 of 7

Today, we will study 

Jochebed

Name Pronunciation: JAH-kuh-bed

Name Meaning: Yahweh is glory (Jews knew Yahweh as the Covenant God of Israel)

Who Was She? 

A Hebrew woman from the tribe of Levi who had great faith in God to save her son from the law set by Pharoah to kill all of the Hebrew male babies. She was the mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

Biblical Background

God had given Abraham two promises:

(1) Land Promise: (this promise has two parts)

1. Nation Promise: When God sent Abraham from his homeland God said, “I will make you a great nation” (Genesis 12:1 – 4)
2. Land Promise: When Abraham passed through the land of Canaan God said, “To your descendants, I will give this land” (Genesis 12:6 – 7) 

(2) Seed Promise: 

1. God chose to bring the Seed of Christ through Abraham (Genesis 22:18)
2. Christ fulfilled the Seed Promise and brought redemption from sin to mankind (Galatians 3:16; 4:4)

God told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land for four hundred years (Genesis 15:13)

While they were in bondage in Egypt, the Hebrews were rapidly increasing in number. Pharaoh feared the Hebrew population was growing too quickly and the men would join his enemies and go to war against him, so he commanded the midwives to kill the Hebrew boy babies at birth and keep the girls alive.

Biblical Text

Exodus 1 – 2:1 – 10; 6:20;  Numbers 26:59; Hebrews 11:23 – 29

Key Facts

• Jochebed was the mother of Moses
• She had great faith; she trusted God to save her baby boy; she hid him for three months and put him in an ark of bulrushes in the Nile River trusting God to take care of him
• She Influenced her son to have faith in the true and living God in a morally corrupt world (Egypt 1500 B.C. was known as the land of many gods)
• She gave her son a strong identity with the Hebrew people knowing he would be raised in Pharaoh’s household and Egyptian culture 
• She was paid out of Pharaoh’s treasury (by Pharaoh’s daughter and Moses’ adoptive mom) to nurse her own son. It was common in Egypt for upper-class women to have wet nurses (lactating women paid to nurse other women’s children)  
• Her three children sought to obey God
  • Aaron was God’s mouthpiece for Moses
  • Miriam was with her brothers in the Exodus and led the  Hebrew women in singing and praising God after He delivered them from slavery in Egypt
  • Moses delivered God’s chosen people from bondage/led the Exodus

Strengths

• Faith in God
• She loved her son and taught him God’s law in the midst of an idolatrous culture

Significance

• She was vital in the Exodus by saving Moses from being killed at birth and training him in the ways of the Lord. She implanted a spiritual foundation in her son. God used that foundation 80 years later in his adult life to lead his people out of bondage in Egypt
• Her name is written in the New Testament epistle of Hebrew (what we call the “Hall of Faith”)

Lesson From Her Life

• Parents should never lose faith that God will work in the lives of their children

Geographic and Family Data

• Where: Egypt   
• Occupation: Wife, mother
• Family:
  • Tribe of Levi
  •  Husband: Amram
  •  Children: Aaron, Miriam, Moses 

Personal Life Application

Jochebed was a mother who trusted God with all of her heart and chose to train her children in the ways of the Lord in spite of the idolatrous culture they lived in.

Download my 1-page Bible Study Guide 

1. Print the guide so you can write your answers
2. If you are a mother, ask yourself

• Do I train my children in the ways of the Lord or do I allow culture to train them?

If you are not a mother, ask yourself 

• Do I follow the ways of the Lord to guide my life or do I allow culture to dictate my way of living?

The next Woman of the Bible we will study is Zipporah.

God bless you

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Links to Each Blog in This Series:

Women of the Bible Series Blog # 1 of 7: Daughters of Zelophehad

Women of the Bible Series Blog # 2 of 7: Shelomith

Women of the Bible Series Blog # 3 of 7: Cozbi

Women of the Bible Series Blog # 4 of 7: Jochebed

Women of the Bible Series Blog # 5 of 7: Zipporah

Women of the Bible Series Blog # 6 of 7: Miriam

Women of the Bible Series Blog # 7 of 7: Puah and Shiphrah