One day the daughter of the king came to the river to bathe. She saw the ark, and sent one of her maids to bring it. When she opened it and saw the beautiful child, she knew why it was there, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." And the child wept, and Pharaoh's daughter pitied it.
Then Miriam came near and said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, 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.
"And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."
How glad the mother was to again have the care of her own child. He was now safe, for he was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. And better still, he was in the home of his own parents.
The mother had the care of her boy until he was about twelve years old. During these years she taught him carefully about the true God. These lessons he never forgot. They kept him pure and free from the wickedness and idolatry which surrounded him in after years.
From his humble home he was taken to the royal palace, and became the son of Pharaoh's daughter. "And she called his name Moses," which means, drawn out. For, she said, "I drew him out of the water." In his royal home he was trained in all the learning of the Egyptians.
This training fitted him for the highest position in all Egypt. He was the leader in Pharaoh's army, and became a great general. Pharaoh determined that when he died, his daughter's adopted son should be king. But all the plans of man were "overruled by God for the training and education of the future leader of His people." Moses was not to shine as king of Egypt.
One day, when Moses was forty years old, he saw an Egyptian smiting an Israelite. He thought the time had come for him to help his people, so he slew the Egyptian and buried him.
Here Moses made a mistake. He took into his own hands the work which God had promised to do. He supposed his people were to be delivered by warfare, and that he, a skillful general, was to be the leader of the Hebrew armies.
But God had a different plan. By His own hand He would bring His people out of bondage. In the delivering of Israel, He would teach the Egyptians the knowledge of the true God by such wonders and plagues as they could never forget.