The story of Miriam starts long before we see her appear on the edge of the Nile as a young girl. Miriam’s story starts with a legacy of faith handed down through her family.
Likely before she could understand the words being said, Miriam heard the prayers of her parents as they sought the wisdom of the Lord. Both of her parents were from the tribe of Levi, the priestly line of the Hebrew people. It was this tribe that God set apart to stand in the gap between Yahweh and the Israelites. The lineage that led to the family that included siblings Moses, Miriam, and Aaron had served the Lord faithfully for generations.
Perhaps those who have been born into a family of faith can understand what it must have been like to live within a culture of faith since birth. At this time in Israel’s history, when it was very difficult to be a follower of God, as the oppression of the Hebrew people in Egypt was intense, Moses was born to Jochebed and Amram.
Despite the command of Pharaoh that all baby boys be thrown into the Nile, Jochebed hid Moses, knowing that doing so could have severe consequences. It was only a matter of time before the sleepy newborn would grow old enough to be found, yet we see Jochebed act with wisdom that surely was from the Lord.
When I think back over how I learned this story in Sunday school, I remember questioning why little baby Moses didn’t just sink into the river in his boat made of leaves. Now I realize it was because of the wisdom and strategy the Lord gave his mother.
Jochebed started by crafting a small boat out of papyrus reeds for baby Moses. To this day, Egyptians know something about reeds that you and I may not: crocodiles are scared of them. They tend to stay away from the reeds, and often boats are made of three layers of reeds or have bunches of reeds attached to them. While not foolproof, it’s a way to keep the crocodile-infested waters a little safer.
To waterproof the tiny boat, Jochebed used bitumen, which was a slime made out of the mud from the bottom of the Nile. When it dried, the bitumen formed a waterproof seal, also known as pitch. Do you remember hearing about pitch anywhere else in Scripture? Noah used pitch to seal the ark. The basket that Jochebed made was a pitch-covered, crocodile-repelling mini boat that had the same waterproofing as the ark, which had stayed afloat during forty days of rain!
The wisdom of Jochebed didn’t stop with the construction of Moses’s boat. She also had a strategy behind where she placed this little boat. Scripture says she placed the boat among the reeds along the edge of the water. Contrary to what we see in our Sunday school coloring pages, she didn’t place the basket in the water. She placed it next to the water. It would have only looked like the boat had drifted there.
The location she chose was where the royals regularly went to wash, which was likely blocked off from the rest of the river . . . and most of the crocodiles. How did Jochebed know where to place baby Moses in his basket? She was a watcher. She watched the princess’s routine to see where and when she went there.
After watching, planning, and strategizing, Miriam’s mother showed extraordinary courage and faith to release the basket. Jochebed needed to trust God for His part in the plan. She worked hard, with wisdom and strategy on her part. But at a certain point, she had to let go and trust God.
I think if we had the opportunity to go back and talk to Jochebed, she would tell us that she placed baby Moses not so much in the water as into God’s hands. That’s what surrender means—doing our part, then releasing things into God’s hands.
Often, that is how God works in our lives. He gives us strategy, wisdom, and a plan that takes work on our part. But at a certain point, we have to lay down the very thing that we are clinging to. Our child. Our career. Our dream. Our pain.
Interestingly enough, the word that is used to describe the reeds in this story is the same word that is used to describe the Red Sea. A better translation in English would actually be the “Reed” Sea. Think through that with me for a moment. As a baby, Moses was saved from the reeds and the water. Eventually, adult Moses would also be saved from the reeds and the water of the Reed Sea. Miriam was there for both.
There tends to be a persistent experience of God in our lives—a way that He interacts with us and intervenes on our behalf. The beauty of that is it may be different for you than it is for me.
How is God showing up in your life? How has He in the past? Have you ever thought about that connection?
Friend, I want to make something really clear: whatever it is that God asks you to lay down, you can trust Him with it. I am certain of it.
And this is where Miriam enters the story.
