the daughter of a very powerful and cruel king. Miriam kept her secret safe as she approached the princess. She never revealed the plan to volunteer her own mother to nurse her little brother! We do not know if this was Miriam’s own idea or if her family had worked it out together, but it could have turned out disastrously if she didn’t proceed with complete confidence. What would have been the result if she had talked too much and told the princess the details of the plan? If she had not spoken the exact right words, Pharaoh’s daughter could have decided against saving the baby Moses. Miriam changed the whole course of the history of the Israelites in Egypt by her bravery and clear thinking.
In this remarkable manner, God protected the life of Moses by Miriam’s bold action. She used her brain to think of a solution. She used her mouth to speak up; yet she knew how to keep a secret. She negotiated a way to save her brother and have her mother care for her own child. What a gift it is to learn to be silent at the appropriate times, but also speak up when the time is right!
Like so many other girls throughout the ages, Miriam was happy to have a new baby in the household. This was a big step for her because now she was old enough to help care for an infant. This was the normal expectation for girls at this time and the only example they knew from the generations before them. They learned from their mothers how to take care of children and the home. Their families arranged a marriage for them in their teens and they became mothers themselves. At this time and place in history, girls could not consider school or a choice of careers. Miriam was happy to step into the challenge of being a big sister. However, her life as an adult, which can be read in the remainder of the book of Exodus and Numbers, will turn out much differently than expected for a woman at this time in history.
Be sure to compare the story of Miriam in this book with its biblical account. You can discover which parts here are fictional and which are taken directly from the Bible. You will notice that the fictional parts of Miriam’s story in this book accurately depict how life was lived in Egypt at about 1200 bc. Life in ancient Egypt is a very fascinating subject to study. You can find books with many pictures, maps, and timelines. Or, better yet, make your own. Many museums have artifacts from Egypt including mummies, objects of gold, and objects taken from tombs. Maybe someday you can visit Egypt, and if you go there remember Miriam!
Miriam and her extended family, all the Hebrews, did not feel at home in Egypt, although they had never lived in another land. How many people throughout the ages and in all parts of the world have experienced this hardship? Often families have voluntarily left their familiar surroundings and moved with much expense and danger to a new place that promises more opportunity. Many people have been forced to leave their country because of invasion by foreign troops or natural disaster. Giving up a home is difficult for everyone. People with different colored skin, who speak foreign languages, worship in different ways, and prepare pungent smelling foods have seldom been welcomed in a new land. Immigrants remember their home and do not want their children to forget the ways of the old country. In their new home, they are among strangers. They may not be well accepted and they do not understand all the new customs. Miriam lived under these conditions as well. Even though she and her family had always known Egypt as their home, it was not their homeland.
About eighty years after the story of his remarkable birth, Moses became a great leader of the Children of Israel. Times did not get easier for the Hebrews in Egypt. Moses, along with Aaron and Miriam, led their people out of the slavery they so long endured and took them to the Promised Land. You can read these exciting stories about the escape of the Israelites from Egypt through the Red Sea in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Numbers.
Miriam is a unique girl in the Bible because we meet her twice. First we meet her in this childhood scene with her baby brother Moses. We meet her again as a woman in the book of Exodus, where her story continues. When the Children of Israel cross the Red Sea (15:20–21) and wander in the wilderness for forty years, Miriam plays an active role. In the course of the history of God’s people, she becomes a decisive, authoritative woman. Sometimes her leadership got her into trouble. Controversy will be her lifelong companion (Num 12:1–16). Anyone who is determined to make a difference takes this risk, and risk requires courage. Long after Miriam died, the Old Testament writer, Micah, called her a prophet along with her brothers, Aaron and Moses (Mic 6:8).
Questions for Discussion
1. The king of Egypt had ordered all the boy babies of the Hebrews to be killed. Yet the daughter of the king rescued this particular baby who she recognized as being a son of the Hebrews. Was she being disobedient to her father?
2. Look up and read this story in the book of Exodus (Exod 2:1–10). How many different women were important in saving Moses’ life? What do we know about Jochebed, the mother of Moses? (See Exod 2:1–9; 6:20: Num 26:59.) How and where did Moses find a wife? (See Exod 2:21–22; 4:20, 24–26; 18:2–6.)
3. Miriam became famous for leading the Children of Israel in singing and dancing. One of her songs is written in the Bible (Exod 15:21). What is the occasion for this song? How is music important in your worship? How can you participate and use your musical gifts?
4. Who are the Children of Israel? Who was Israel and what was his other name? How and why did Joseph go to Egypt? Be sure to familiarize yourself with the Old Testament stories that occur throughout the book of Genesis that lead the Israelites to living in Egypt.
5. Why are the Israelites going to a Promised Land? What was the promise made to Abraham?
Related Cultural and Historical
Questions to Explore
1. With background knowledge about ancient Egypt, describe and discuss how your life in the twenty-first century would compare with that of a poor girl like Miriam, or a rich girl like the Pharaoh’s daughter living in ancient times.
2. Do you know about, or are you a member of, a group of people who are a cultural minority in this country? What can you do to share your culture with others, and how can you help those who are different be welcomed in church, school, and neighborhood? The Hebrews did not feel welcome in the foreign land of Egypt and were persecuted. Is this the last time this has happened in the history of the world? Why do people often feel threatened by those who are different?
3. Why were all the boy babies ordered to be killed instead of the girls, or why not both? (See Exod 1:8–10.)
4. What things can you do now or learn to do in the future that will help heal and comfort those in need?
5. Daughters and sons are mentioned in Exodus 3:22. Why are the children mentioned as the Israelites were leaving Egypt?
Suggested Topics of Discussion for Teachers and Parents of Older Students
1. This lesson would provide the opportunity to discuss abortion and infanticide of unwanted babies. Are babies killed today because they are not the preferred sex, untimely, or deformed?
2. How have childbirth practices changed over the years?
3. Unfortunately, the evil of slavery has existed in most times and places throughout the history of the world. You can find additional information about the history of slavery. In ancient times, captives from wars were often made slaves of the conquering nation. Is slavery still practiced today? What people are vulnerable to being made slaves? Inform yourselves about the issue of human trafficking which is being practiced today in all parts of the world.
4. This chapter offers the opportunity to discuss circumcision: the practice, the history, and the purpose.
5. Child labor has been a reality for most of the history of the earth. Where are children still forced into hard labor today? When did laws first appear to prevent this abuse of children?
6. Is there a division of labor in the country where you now live based on nationality of workers?
7. If students are interested in archaeology, many resources are currently available to increase background knowledge, and every year more discoveries are made. The Hebrews occupied a large city called Tell el-Dab’a, which is the Rameses written of in Exodus 1:11. On modern maps, it is found in the eastern edge of the Nile delta at Avaris. A workers village has not been found at this location, but this