351
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
October, 1933
umor KING’S BUSINESS . . . By M artha S. H ooker
bracelets 1 As she drew near to the water’s edge, she spied the little basket riding on the quiet waters among the lilies. Turning to her maid, she sent her to fetch it—and when she opened it, she saw the dear little Hebrew baby, and as she looked, behold the baby wept. Children, I can’t believe the baby wept by accident. Surely, God the Heavenly Father controlled those tears, and as the beautiful princess looked upon the little one, the mother-heart within her was touched; for what woman, even a princess, could resist a baby’s tears? “This is one o f the Hebrew children,” she said. At that very moment, Miriam appeared, and daring to come near to the lovely prin cess, said, “ Shall I go and call a nurse o f the He brew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?” And the princess answered, “ Go.” How gladly Miriam obeyed this com mand 1 Don’t you think she must have run all the way home with the good news? What wonderful news it was for the mother! “ Come,” she must have said to Mother Jochebed, “the princess has called for you ; yes, the beautiful princess has our little baby and waijts you to care for him.” . Boys and girls, I know we can’t begin to realize the joy that must have flooded that mother’s heart as, with little Miriam, she started toward the river bank. No doubt she would have liked to have run, but no, she must not appear too anxious. The dis tance was soon covered. They were there at last, and just as Miriam had said, the beautiful princess and all her maidens were standing about. But best of all, there was her very own baby boy. When the princess saw the mother, she turned to her and said, “ Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” Think of it, the baby given back to his very own mother! Oh, how eagerly her arms must have reached out for him ; and as she car ried the little one home, he seemed even more precious, for God the Heavenly F a -’ ther had taken care o f him for her. What a happy family must have gathered around the little cradle that night in the poor little house in Egypt 1 There was Mother Jochebed and Father Amram, Sis ter Miriam, and little Aaron, all rejoicing over the return of the little one. And the baby’s name—-of course you must know—Moses, the princess named him, because she “drew him out o f the water.” Puzzle Rearrange the letters in the following to spell names mentioned in Luke, and give one event which happened at each place: - ANN I HTEMEBEHL AZERHTNA NEACUAMRP DAGAAR
“HE CARETH FOR YOU” E xodus 2:1-10
slime and pitch could make it waterproof, and so a hurried trip was made to the river’s bank to get the slime and pitch, which she daubed about on the basket- cradle. At last it was finished, and the time came to carry out all of God’s plan. It was in the early morning, for no one must see her on this errand. The baby boy, now three months old, was taken from the place of hiding, and lovingly and tenderly laid in the little basket, and this not with out tears, I’m sure, for was not the little one in the basket-cradle her very own? But she knew God, and was willing to trust her little one to Him, and so taking Miriam and the precious1load, she started toward the river’s bank. There, among the reeds and flags, she placed the basket-cradle, and leaving Mir iam to stand at a distance to watch, she went back to the little mud house. Her arms were, so empty. I can imagine that the house, too, seemed empty with the baby gone—but she trusted her Heavenly Fa ther. In the meantime, Miriam stood watching, her eyes fixed upon the little basket. Soon she saw people approaching. Yes, they were coming down the path from the king’s palace—the king’s own daughter, the prin cess, and her maidens I The princess had come to the river to bathe as was her cus tom. How beautiful she must have looked with her bright colored robe and jewelled
Once upon a time, long ago, there lived in the land of Egypt a mother whose name was Jochebed, and a father whose name was Amram. This father and mother had two little children—Miriam who was twelve years old, and Aaron, who was three. This little family, did not live in a nice home, such as you have, for they were very poor people and no doubt lived in a small house made o f mud. Now this family was of the race called the Hebrews, whom the people o f Egypt disliked very much, as they feared that some day they might arise in great num bers and possess the land. Pharaoh, or the king over the land, was very, very wicked, and because he feared and disliked these Hebrew people, he passed a very dreadful law. The wicked king said, “ Every baby boy that is born shall be cast into the river.” Now Miriam and Aaron were, o f course, too old to be affected by this very bad law, but one day God the Heavenly Father sent into the little home a darling baby boy. It was such a dear baby, and very, very beau tiful, and as Mother jochebed looked upon the little one, she was sure that he would be greatly used of God. How she loved and rejoiced over the lit tle one; but all her joy was turned to sad ness as she remembered the dreadful law o f the wicked king. What should she do? Ah, she did not long consider, for she re membered God. Mother Jochebed was a woman of faith, you know. So, trusting the Heavenly Father, she hid her darling baby for three months. I don’t know just where she hid him—per haps in the little mud home in a very small room. How carefully the little one was cared for and protected during those days 1 I feel sure both Aaron and Miriam helped Mother jochebed to protect the little one from the sight of any of the king’s soldiers. Now the baby was growing all the while, and Mother Jochebed realized that her baby could not be concealed much longer. God the Heavenly Father knew, too, all about the little one, and realized even bet ter than the mother the need o f a new place of hiding, and so perhaps it was during the night time that God gave the mother a wonderful plan for protecting her dear baby. Early in the morning, no doubt, the mother could have been seen at the river’s brink gathering armfuls o f the tall reeds that grew there. But how could these arm fuls of reeds help in caring for the little baby? I think if we could have entered the mud house at night time, we might have seen Mother Jochebed weaving her reeds in and out, and we would not have had to wonder long as to what she was making, for we would have soon discovered that she was weaving a littje basket; and the basket was just the right length for her baby boy to lie in. The weaving was done very finely, but even so, this wise mother knew that only
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Memory Work
Luke 10:20b Luke 11:9
Luke 11:28 Luke 12:6, 7
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