Exodus 2 – The Birth and Preservation of Moses: The Ark of Bulrushes, Pharaoh’s Daughter, Flight to Midian, and God Remembers His Covenant (KJV Bible Study Chart)

Exodus 2 begins under Pharaoh’s decree that Hebrew male children be cast into the river. A man and woman from the tribe of Levi have a son, and the mother sees that he is “a goodly child.” She hides him for three months. Hebrews 11:23 later interprets the parents’ actions as faith, saying they were “not afraid of the king’s commandment.”

When hiding Moses becomes impossible, his mother makes an ark of bulrushes, daubs it with slime and pitch, and places the child among the flags beside the river. Moses’ sister watches from a distance. Later Scripture identifies Moses’ mother as Jochebed and his sister as Miriam, though Exodus 2 itself does not yet name them.

Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the child and has compassion upon him. Moses’ sister offers to obtain a Hebrew nurse, and Moses is providentially returned to his own mother for the nursing period. The child Pharaoh intended Egypt to destroy is preserved partly through Pharaoh’s own household.

When Moses grows, he becomes Pharaoh’s daughter’s son and receives the name Moses because she says, “I drew him out of the water.” Acts 7 and Hebrews 11 later supply additional information concerning his Egyptian upbringing and eventual identification with Israel.

Exodus 2:11 says Moses goes out unto his brethren and looks upon their burdens. He sees an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew and kills the Egyptian. His concern for Israel is genuine, but his action precedes the divine commission he will receive at the burning bush. Calling does not excuse acting independently of God’s timing.

The next day Moses encounters two Hebrews fighting and asks the wrongdoer, “Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?” Acts 7:26 later describes Moses attempting to “set them at one again.” The Acts wording should not be quoted as though it appears directly in Exodus 2:13–14.

Once Pharaoh learns of the killing, Moses flees to Midian. There he sits beside a well and intervenes when shepherds drive away the seven daughters of the priest of Midian. Moses helps them and waters their flock.

Moses is welcomed into Reuel’s household and marries Zipporah. Their son Gershom is named because Moses says, “I have been a stranger in a strange land.” The future deliverer is now living far from Egypt in what appears to be obscurity.

Yet God has not abandoned Israel. The chapter ends with the people groaning under bondage. God hears their groaning, remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, looks upon Israel, and has respect unto them. The deliverance is not yet public, but God has already preserved and begun preparing the man He will use.