Courage and Compassion: Lessons from Pharaoh’s Daughter

Bible, Women & Bathrobes, Episode 38

Bible Women, Pharaoh’s Daughter

Summary

Tamara and Amy discuss Exodus 2:5-10, about Pharaoh’s daughter who demonstrated courage and compassion in defying her fathers' commands and saved baby Moses. They highlight how these women's actions can inspire modern-day believers to embrace their own power and make a positive impact. Later, they discuss how God can use seemingly insignificant individuals, such as Jochebed, midwives, Miriam & Pharaoh's daughter raising Moses, to carry out His plan. Both emphasize how ordinary people can play a crucial part in God's plan, even if they are not aware of it.

Main Takeaways

• From Amy, “As we act with compassion, which is a Christ like characteristic, we can truly be led to change the world. But we must have compassion, we must have compassion.
• From Tamara, “I think my biggest takeaway is that God uses women to do His work, as well as men. Sometimes I think we feel we're forgotten, especially in the world of the scriptures. But when we dive into the lives of these women, it is so clear to me that God loves his daughters.”

Today’s Podcast Hosts & Guests

Tamara K. Anderson

Tamara, founder of Women Warriors of Light, is a dynamic speaker, award winning author, and a podcaster. She is driven by her Christian faith to inspire faith in Jesus Christ. Alongside her husband, Justin, she navigates the joys and challenges of parenting four children with autism, ADHD, and mental health hurdles. You can find out more about Tamara on her website: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/

Amy Johnson

Amy is a member of our Women Warriors of Light Advisory Board. She is a leader of women, a homemaker, and a licensed cosmetologist. Amy enjoys nurturing women through betrayal trauma to becoming a beacon of support and inspiration.

Transcript

Tamara Anderson  0:00 

How did the ancient daughter of a king change the course of history? Today we're going to tell that story of a woman in the Old Testament and dive into how her decisions really did change not only her life, but the lives of 1000s and 1000s of others, so stay tuned.

Tamara Anderson  0:28 

Welcome to Bible, Women & Bathrobes, the podcast where faith meets comfort. Join us Tuesday and Thursday morning as the gals from Women Warriors of Light and their guests, don bathrobes and dive into the inspiring stories of women in the Bible, and the teachings of Jesus Christ. From Esther's bravery to the Sermon on the Mount. We explore it all with warmth, laughter, sisterhood, and maybe even a few sleepy eyed moments. tune in live or at your leisure as we learn lessons from scripture which empower women today.

Tamara Anderson  1:09 

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Bible Women & Bathrobes. I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson. And joining me today is one of my amazing advisory board members from Women Warriors of Light, Amy Johnson. Amy, thank you for being here.

Amy Johnson  1:22 

Thank you, I love being here. It's so great.

Tamara Anderson  1:26 

And today we are going to be in Exodus chapter two, we are kind of continuing this story. Two weeks ago, we talked about the Hebrew midwives. And then last week, we talked about Jochebed, who was Moses' mother, and today we get to talk about Pharaoh's daughter. And oh my goodness, talk about a woman who was courageous and brave, and wow, bucked prejudice and all that stuff. She She was amazing. She really was. So we're going to talk about her.

Tamara Anderson  2:04 

Setting the stage. This is a time when the Hebrews have been enslaved. They've been living in Egypt, since Joseph in Egypt, that whole story of the Israelites moving there, spend 400 years. And now we see Moses being born should have been killed, as Pharaoh commanded that the baby boys be killed or thrown into the river, after the midwives wouldn't kill them. And, and so Moses' mom, Joechbed, feels inspired to put her son, build him a little ark, she calls it and insulate it.

Tamara Anderson  2:44 

Moses was a good baby. And she literally commended him to God and put him in the river, and trusted, that this was going to happen. That whatever happened was God's will, right. So we pick this story up in Exodus chapter two, verse five, and we're going to cover five through 10, basically.

Tamara Anderson  3:06 

So it says, "And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river and her maidens walked along the river," and her maidens walk, oh, I got to go to the right line here by the river side, "and when she saw the Ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it." So she sees something. She's like, Huh, I wonder what that is. I have, I bet she had no idea, she was about to change the course of history here. But you know, just a little curiosity there. God Places this woman here.

Tamara Anderson  3:40 

And then verse six. "And when she had opened it, she saw the child and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him and said, This is one of the Hebrews children." So I'm just gonna pause right there. She knew her father's feeling towards the Hebrews, there was this hatred, there was this fear of these people, because they were just growing to be so big, and so many of them, because God had blessed them. And, and so she had a decision to make her she knew that this baby was supposed to be thrown into the river to die. But God had sent her to the world at this time, because he knew she would have compassion and change the course of history here. And so I'm just going to open that up and say, Amy, any thoughts on these verses here?

Amy Johnson  4:34 

You know, we we sometimes they'll hear the phrase, a mother's heart, and will sometimes talk about how even mothers who can't be mothers aren't able to be mothers still have a mother's heart. And I've experienced that I've got some friends in other parts of the world that they they were never able to have their own children, but they're older than me. And they treat me like I'm their daughter. They kind of they just have a mother's heart. And when I think of Pharaoh's daughter, I think of that like that she opens this up and immediately the natural mother in her knowing this child was supposed to be destroyed, still says, Ah, and have compassion on him. Says weren't. My mama heart just can't do that. But my mama heart just I we're not going to go that route. And she has compassion. And I, I love that. Because I think as women, if we really understand who we are, then we can be a mama heart to anybody that needs a mama's heart. And I love that she is that example of a mother's heart to us.

Tamara Anderson  5:51 

Yeah. Oh, I hadn't thought of that. But that is a beautiful thing to pull out of that. I was just thinking of how well first of all tender you talked about compassion, tender and compassionate she had to be. But she also had to have some courage in her heart, because she was going to have to take this baby to her dad and say, I'm keeping him knowing exactly that her father has commanded that all these babies be thrown into the river. I just pulled him out of the river, and I'm keeping him. He is my son, I'm going to raise him as mine. She must have had a good relationship with her dad. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know, if she placed him in his arms and said, Look at this sweet baby. You know, he was a good child. You know, we know that. But oh, my goodness, that takes some guts, you know? So it wasn't just compassion that she had, but she had grit, grit and courage to stand up to someone who could have said no, I'm throwing them out.

Amy Johnson  6:59 

Or maybe she convinced him look, if we raised him in my household, he won't be raised like the Hebrews. He won't be one of them. He's fine. I want to have this baby. Let me have this baby. And maybe she turned on the waterworks. I don't know how we have our different ways of working with our father, right? I don't know. But maybe maybe she just looked at him said it'll be fine. He'll be raised in Egyptian. Doesn't matter what his bloodline is. Little did they know. Yeah,

Tamara Anderson  7:27 

I know.

Amy Johnson  7:30 

Because truly, he was a Hebrew, he was a child of the covenant. And I think that's an important thing, that when you are a child of the Covenant, there is a bond with God. God doesn't forget his covenant keepers. And so as Egyptians, they probably didn't really fully understand that even if they knew Joseph, and that he was a covenant keeper and all of that, but, but maybe she went to him and said, I'll be fine. He'll be Egyptian.

Tamara Anderson  7:59 

But I think there's another thing to bring in here is that you don't necessarily have to be a believer, for God to have influence on you to bring about great things in the world. And I find it so interesting that in this case, he uses a woman with a tender heart. And her her motherly instincts, he knew her heart. He knew she was good. He knew that she would look beyond this stigma of discrimination and just say, I love this baby. Right? Yeah. You know that. He knew she had a loving heart he knew. And so I think we need to be careful, also, as believers to not be prejudiced against those who aren't because God can influence them, as well. You know,

Amy Johnson  8:57 

So many times I think we're influenced and we don't even know it. I think there are so many times we have a thought to do something good. And we don't recognize that that thought really didn't come from us. And of course, God can we'll talk to anyone who will listen in any way even if they don't realize they're listening.

Tamara Anderson  9:17 

Yeah, absolutely. And so I think this is a beautiful, and she had such a key role. I mean, think of God trusting this woman to change history. I mean, literally, earth choice, changed history at all of the Israelite nation. And, and for Pharaoh in his house. I mean, this was a huge tipping point. And God trusted woman. So to do this, it's so so interesting to me. And I think it shows that God loves and values his daughters. He really As he trusts us with important decisions like this, that can change the world, you know?

Amy Johnson  10:07 

Yes, so good.

Tamara Anderson  10:09 

So, so good. Okay, well, let's continue on with cute Pharaoh's daughter here. Okay, so rewinding the story a little bit, one of the things that happened when Jochebed, put Moses in the ark, she also sent her daughter Miriam to watch and see what happened. Because yeah, as a mama, you can't just put your son in the waters and trust that. I got to know what happens. Do you know what I mean? So Miriam was watching it says a far off. And so Mirium approaches. God bless Mary. This takes courage to I mean, she is approaching the enemy here. She sees Pharaoh's daughter. I'm sure she's just like. gasp!

Amy Johnson  10:54 

We do learn later that Miriam's a bit of a firecracker though,

Tamara Anderson  10:58 

yes, she is. Yes. I'm another firecracker in the Scripture. I'm telling you guys, women, you know. God has, he sends the right person at the right time at the right place, you know what I mean? Yeah. And, and, and God uses us, even if we're firecrackers.

Amy Johnson  11:17 

And I have granddaughters like that, that would have no qualm Right? They wouldn't even they would just walk right up to royalty and be like, Hey! I just, I do I have granddaughters that are like that. I watch them. They're little and they're they're like in the six year old it range. And both of them. They just are firecrackers. They just would not even think twice.

Tamara Anderson  11:41 

Yeah, not intimidated at all. So it says here in verse seven, "then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go and call to the nurse of the Hebrew woman that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her go. And the maid went and called the child's mother." Oh, wow. It's so good, dizzying, it is so amazing what happened here and and then I'll finish with this last verse, and then we can discuss. "And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this child away and nurse it for me and I will give thee thy wages and the woman took the child and nursed it."

Tamara Anderson  12:21 

Holy cannoli. I mean, this story just blows my mind over and over again. The the good God can do with women who are willing to listen to their heart. Yeah, you know. So let's start out here with Pharaoh's daughter and her heart turning. And, and, and following. You know what this cute little girl comes up to her and just says, Hey, I know somebody who could nurse that baby for you, you know? Because here she is with a crying baby. I know somebody that can stop that baby from crying. Oh, really?

Amy Johnson  13:01 

Now, I'm listening.

Tamara Anderson  13:03 

Now, I'm totally into this, you know, any thoughts on these verses here?

Amy Johnson  13:08 

I just I really just can't even overstate the goodness of God in all of this. And for for me to see this, you send your child away. You've loved on them. You've nurtured them. You've trusted the Lord, you've gone forward. And somehow the Lord still finds a way to bring them back to you. Where I've seen the opposite where, where people are angry, and they reject God and they're contentious in their families, and they push their children away and they push push, push, push, push, and so and then and then those children don't come back. It's it's too much.

Amy Johnson  13:53 

So I think the lesson for me when I look at this and I read this is send your children give them to God. Continue to follow the Lord and somehow he will always bring them back to you seven fold. That's really a beautiful, beautiful story that she gets to nurse that baby and and not only for the emotional aspect, but can we just talk about the physical aspect of needing to nurse a baby?

Tamara Anderson  14:21 

True? Yeah.

Amy Johnson  14:25 

And I've had mastitis Oh, where I was so sick, that in a delirious fever state I it was by the grace of God that I came out of it. Like I have been that sick. So can we just talk about that for physically she needed to nurse that baby. And then to have the opportunity to win that baby properly instead of just give up that baby. There's a lot going on here but it's all about the goodness of God and how He really does take care of his people.

Tamara Anderson  14:59 

You really, really strue. And I'm so impressed with all the players in this story. You know, we have a little bit of Jochebed in the story, we have a little bit of Miriam in the story. We have Pharaoh's daughter in this story. And they're all women, that God is inspiring, and they are listening to him. They're saying the right things at the right time. They're being touched in their hearts to do the right thing at the right time.

Tamara Anderson  15:32 

I guess my biggest thought here is just follow those thoughts that come to your mind and heart that are good thoughts, you know, because often that's God working through us. And maybe, maybe sometimes, those decisions won't impact as many as Pharaoh's daughter and Miriam and Jochebed, and that's okay. They can still impact maybe one person, or good or 10 people for good. The thing about this is, is you just never know the ripple effect of the choices that you make.

Amy Johnson  16:17 

Yeah, because Moses, his mother was very ordinary. And I think ordinary is good. I think sometimes we all want to be superstars. The ordinary is good, and the midwives, because we can't forget them. It was their choices. That allowed the Pharaoh to change the law to cast him in the river, which allowed rouses mother to cast him into the river and an ark, which allowed Pharaohs mean, so in the midwives were ordinary. They were ordinary people. And sometimes, I think we we don't realize the ripple effect, as you said, the good that can be done from being an ordinary, God fearing people loving person in our own lives. We don't, we don't have to have a million followers and be a superstar to do good.

Tamara Anderson  17:17 

I love that. Because I think all of us feel that, you know, most of us are quite ordinary. And we feel like we're nobody in this the story of the world. But the cool thing is, is we're not nobody to God, none of us are, you know, God knows each of us in our potential. He can see that and from the beginning, he knows that Moses, his mom was the right woman to send him to. She was not the mother of a Prophet when he was born, you know, he was born just like every other baby.

Tamara Anderson  18:00 

And then Pharaoh's daughter, he must have planted that seed of love and care in her heart. Probably from the time she was very little, but also that grit, that grit to stand up to her dad and say, I'm raising this baby is my own, you know, just grit to raise a baby. Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. And to do to go against that law. I'm standing up to you that well, and I can honestly see good especially. I don't we don't know how old she was. She could have been a teenager. She could have been older, but especially teenagers. Oh my goodness. Now we kind of stand up to our parents, sometimes only. But you know, so I can picture her like that. But but this is pretty.

Tamara Anderson  18:53 

These are amazing stories of ordinary people. Except for Pharaoh's daughter. She was a little about in a lot of ways, but but God put her in the right place at the right time. She was bathing in the river. And God helped her notice something. You know, so pay attention when God helps you notice something? Something could change for the good, right? I love that. Yeah. Yeah. So it is, it is beautiful.

Tamara Anderson  19:23 

And, and I'd love to bring in a verse that is in the New Testament that kind of ties all this together. And this is found in Acts chapter seven. And it starts in verse 20. It says, we're kind of talking about different people throughout the history of time. They're recounting their stories here, the history of Israel and stuff like that. And it says, "In which time Moses was born, and was exceedingly fair and Nourished up in his father's house three months, and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty and words and deeds."

Tamara Anderson  20:10 

And then, of course, we know what happened when he was old enough, he was cast out of Egypt, you know, so. But the learning he had in Egypt, as the son of a ruler, was to lead people, and how to learn those skills, how to read how to write. And these were all things that became that made him an instrument in God's hands, to write those commandments to lead the children of Israel out. And to a promised land or near to the promised land. They didn't quite make it there in his lifetime, but these things, it was like everything happened at the right time at the right place. God knew that Moses if he would have stayed with his family, a could have been killed, be wouldn't have had the skills he needed to lead the people. But he knew that taking him out from that situation, giving him to Pharaoh's daughter, that she would teach him what he needed to know. And then God would use those skills for good. You know, I don't know any thoughts on these verses?

Amy Johnson  21:20 

I think that's really important. And I find it interesting that Moses later talks about, you know, being slow of speech, because he would have also been taught to command attention, I would think, in the house of Pharaoh, although maybe not so much as, as Pharaoh's own son would have been the next ruler. But I find it interesting. But I also find it interesting in Hebrews chapter 11. Where it talks about faith and love

Tamara Anderson  21:51 

I love this chapter, was Go ahead.

Amy Johnson  21:56 

First 23 It says, By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because he they saw he was a proper child. In the Greek, it actually means handsome, not proper. But they saw Oh, he's a pretty baby. The Egyptians will love this baby. He's a pretty. They saw that he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. I love that. I love that. But then by faith, Moses, when he was come to yours, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. My heart goes out to her. Because she did teach him, she did raise him, she did pull them out of that river, she did allow him to live. And then he chooses to run from Egypt. Yeah. And so her, her breaking heart a little bit on that. But I think it's really, it's really this vital part that we don't know what God has in store for us. He, we just have to walk the path that he gives us and, and we don't know what that means for us, but we do know that he will always be by us, and stand with us. If we stand with him. As we stand with him.

Tamara Anderson  23:24 

Yeah. My heart can't go help but go out to both Jochebed and Pharaoh's daughter. As women who loved and gave their all and lost, both of them had loss, you know, with Moses, you know, both Jochebed as she saw and had to give Moses to this Pharaoh's daughter when she was done nursing him. And then Pharaoh's daughter, like you said, when when Moses left or fled, you know, he was right he was going to be killed because he had defended the Hebrews right? And you can't help but see a little bit of his mother in him there. Have Pharaoh's daughter in him because she protected him so he had to have a better pretender heart. But also knowing this these people are my people. You know? They Yeah, they so there's part of me that wonders did he tell her that story? Mom, I've got to leave because Pharaohs men are gonna come after me because I have killed to protect these people. How does she feel about that? Do you know what I mean?

Amy Johnson  24:46 

I don't know. And did she had the opportunity to, as it says in Hebrews choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin? versation did she also have that choice? She could have made. I don't know. But I know this, that she raised a good person. And that doesn't happen by accident. Yeah, she raised a good person. And that that's divine, that's divine love and intervention by God that Moses becomes a prophet and a good person. Yeah. And her pulling him out of the river was the catalyst for all of that.

Tamara Anderson  25:31 

I know. It's amazing how one decision can impact the rest of our lives, right? It makes me kind of I'm like, oh, my gosh, I make decisions all the time am I making.

Amy Johnson  25:45 

But I also love how we can see that God steps in and he moves things around, and he knows what we're going to do. And he makes it all beautiful. If we just keep turning to him.

Tamara Anderson  26:00 

That is a good reminder. That is a good reminder. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses, and he can make it all turn for that in the end. Yeah, whether we are Jochebed or Mirium or a Pharaoh's daughter, or Moses, or midwives, like we've been talking about these last few weeks, my goodness, these are powerful stories. And I think my biggest takeaway is that God uses women to do His work, as well as men. Sometimes I think we feel we're forgotten, especially in the world of the scriptures. But when we dive into the lives of these women, it is so clear to me that God loves his daughters.

Amy Johnson  26:48 

Absolutely. Yeah.

Tamara Anderson  26:50 

Any thoughts, final takeaways or thoughts?

Amy Johnson  26:53 

I think my final takeaway is that, as we act with compassion, which is a Christ like characteristic, we can truly be led to change the world. But we must have compassion, we must have compassion.

Tamara Anderson  27:12 

That is a really, really good reminder. Oh, my goodness, you guys will thank you for joining us as we were able to dive in the story of Pharaoh's daughter. She is a great example of God using someone who perhaps was not a believer, but still God use them for good, you know. So, trust that God has a plan for you that you are his he knows you. And that he can help your life. Turn out for your good, even in the hard things that can come from that.

Tamara Anderson  27:54 

Thanks for tuning in to Bible Women & Bathrobes hosted by Women Warriors of Light. We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women or the teachings of the Savior today with you. If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood. Just a friendly reminder, all opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher and apply Bible teachings just like you are. Until next time, stay faithful. And may Your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai