it is typical of the way the Bible shows the constant interplay between God’s plans and actions on the one hand, and human evil, rebellion, and opposition on the other. That theme is woven through the whole Bible story until the climactic resolution when God caused human evil to be the very means of its own destruction (at the cross) and when God will finally eliminate all evil from his good creation (at Christ’s return).

The Hebrew storyteller often provides hints and resonances of the earlier narratives. The effect is not only to remind us that we are in the flow of a single and connected large story but also to keep our attention focused on the main character whose story it is—the God who acts in consistent and characteristic ways across many generations.

So, in the first third of the chapter, there is a marriage, a son is born, and the cries of a baby are heard by a princess, whose compassion leads to a rescue. Here, in the closing scene of this chapter, there is a marriage, a son is born, and the cries of a whole people are heard by God, whose compassion will shortly lead to a rescue.

THE DESPAIR AND apparent hopelessness of chapter 1 are “interrupted” by the report that a child is born to a Levite household

The menace and vile poison of Pharaoh’s attempt at genocide yields to the story of the birth of an innocent child.

What we do have is a presentation of history that is firmly at home in the literary conventions of the ancient world

This in no way diminishes the truth of the Word. Rather, the eternal Word becomes “incarnate”; it enters into the very lives of God’s people. Christ himself is the Word of God incarnate (John 1:1–14). In becoming a human being—in identifying with us, in becoming like us—Christ is no less the Creator and Ruler over all (Col. 1:15–20). Let me suggest here that not only Moses’ birth narrative, but much of the Old Testament ought to be understood in terms of this same “incarnational analogy.”

Moses’ birth story is just one example of a common Old Testament theme. At various crucial junctures the birth of a child is instrumental to God’s plan of delivering his people from some dire situation

The theological connection between these two events is self-evident. (1) Both Noah and Moses are specifically selected to forego a tragic, watery fate; (2) both are placed on an “ark” treated with bitumen and are carried to safety on the very body of water that brings destruction to others; and (3) both are the vehicles through whom God “creates” a new people for his own purposes. Furthermore, Moses’ safe passage through the waters of the Nile not only looks backward to the Flood story, but forward to the passage through the sea in Exodus 14 for all of God’s people.

The ESV captures it rather better: “God heard … and God remembered … and God saw …—and God knew.” The implication is clear. The Israelites may think their suffering is forgotten. The Egyptians may think their crimes are committed with impunity. Moses may think he can never help his people again after his first two-day failed attempt. But God is on the case. God now steps from backstage, the hidden hand in events, and takes front-and-center charge of the action.

The exodus will be the monumental demonstration of God’s rectifying justice against the perpetrators of oppression, God’s compassion for their victims, and God’s faithfulness to his covenant promise—all of which are implied in the statements that God saw and heard all that was going on and that God remembered and knew who these people were. God will soon affirm these central points to Moses (3:7–9) and to the Israelites (6:6–8).

As we see often in Scripture, the Lord shows his strength by meeting his people precisely in the depths of their despair and working those very circumstances for ultimate good. Pharaoh wishes to counter God’s plan by casting infants into the Nile. God saves Moses by casting him onto the Nile and bringing him to Pharaoh’s front door. Truly the power of God is at work in this boy’s life.

It was not as if the Lord “reacted” to the decree and thought, “What am I going to do now?” Rather, it is precisely by means of this decree that God brings deliverance to his people. God is in full control both of Moses’ birth and of the external circumstances that threaten to undo it. God does not remove Moses from the situation, nor does he strike down Pharaoh who dares to oppose him, both of which he certainly could have done. Instead, God places Moses in the same Nile that Pharaoh intends for the boy’s harm, brings the boy right to Pharaoh’s doorstep, and has him raised in Pharaoh’s house. Why? To defeat the enemy decisively at his own game, at the very heart of his strength.

We should think of the resurrection of Christ in the same way. Christ worked salvation for his people not despite his death but precisely in his death. It is because he died and rose again that those who believe in him are also raised to a new life. To put it another way, Christ triumphed over death because he first endured death. He defeated death because he participated in it. He suffered the ultimate ignominy to bring the greatest glory to himself and therefore to those whom he calls his brothers and sisters. This is why Scripture encourages the Christian to look on his or her circumstances, however horrible they may be, not stoically but joyously, with anticipation, because the heavenly Father is sure to have some great blessing waiting on the other side. This is why Paul can say in Romans 5:2–5:

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Paul is not encouraging his readers to ignore their circumstances and rejoice anyway, to keep a stiff upper lip. Rather, we are to rejoice because we suffer, for we know that the end product is hope that “does not disappoint.” James expresses the same view in James 1:2–4:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Perhaps we begin to see in these passages the “good” that Paul refers to in Romans 8:28. The ultimate reason for enduring harsh circumstances is to promote Christian maturity (cf. James 2:4). What is always on the Christian’s horizon is the hope that God has confirmed by virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection. This same resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead is also at work in the lives of those who are called according to God’s purpose in Christ. In the same way that God’s resurrection power brought Christ victory through death, so too does this resurrection power bring us through all our trials and challenges, and, like Christ, ultimately through the greatest challenge, death itself