Christian Family Services Ministry

8-18-2023 – A Word to the Wise – About Moses – Guardianship

Everything a righteous guardian does for the child is worthy of reward by the Lord, and be assured the Lord pays His debts. The responsibility of the guardian ends when the child is of age or leaves home. Thereafter the guardian may influence the child for good or bad until the end. But they are not responsible for the deeds of the child unless they specifically influenced an act or event, whether good or ill.

Our purpose is to investigate this unique relationship with Moses to better understand it from the Lord’s point of view. Guardianship from the Lord’s perspective is somewhat different than man, while in some respects they are similar, in others, they are much different.

Who is a guardian? Anyone who takes into their home or cares for a child not biologically theirs becomes a guardian. With that relationship are the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual responsibilities and blessings.

Let’s take a short look at the life of Moses prior to being called by the Lord. Moses finds himself in the hands of guardians.

If one remembers, Moses was placed on the river Nile at the age of 3 months to preserve his life. The Pharaoh had declared that all Hebrew males were to be killed at birth. Once placed on the Nile, Moses is discovered by divine design by an Egyptian Princess. According to Josephus, her name was Thermuthis.

What can be known as far as character may be seen in what immediately occurs. Thermuthis knows that it is a Hebrew child. She has no prejudice against the Hebrew but immediately sees the dire circumstances and rescues the child. Thermuthis is immediately faced with feeding the child. According to Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian she first tries to get Egyptian women to nurse Moses. When this fails, Moses’ sister steps in.

By design Moses’ sister, Miriam makes herself available to the princess. The circumstances by the Lord’s foreknowledge see that the birth mother will become the nurse. Not only this but further compassion of Thermuthis is seen in that she desires to pay for the services of the nurse rather than demand the services. At the same time, he makes clear that the child is now hers, not the mother’s.

Thermuthis then sets out to instill in Moses a basic standard of leadership and guides him in proper military training. According to Josephus, Thermuthis raises up a great military leader for Egypt.

Moses is given command of Pharaoh’s army after the Pharaoh experiences significant defeats by its southern enemies. Moses destroys the enemy and makes a great name for himself as a military leader, which is a prerequisite for becoming a future Pharaoh. Successes in this endeavor were due in part to Thermuthis overseeing Moses’ education and making him aware of his Hebrew heritage.

No doubt the influence of this princess might even be said to be ‘godly’ because she accepted the unacceptable and took her duties seriously. She used her own heritage and royalty to open doors for Moses that would lead to significant success in his first 40 years of life.

But her instructions did have weaknesses. Perhaps a strain of arrogance and pride on Moses’ part may be traced to how Thermuthis went about raising Moses. He most certainly felt entitled.

The scriptures tell us of Moses’ premeditated murder of an Egyptian supervisor. Elements making it premeditated are clearly seen in the details, including Moses making sure he is not seen and plans in detail the killing, perhaps even with malice. But the Lord sees.

The next day when confronted with his sin Moses is afraid. Why fear? Because he has broken a law of the Lord, set from the beginning ‘thou shall not murder. The Lord did not approve of Moses’ behavior, and while the crime deserved death, the Lord, even as with Cain, sentenced Moses to 40 years of servitude in the desert.

The guardian aspect of this story stands out for the researchers. Thermuthis influence plays a silent but important part in Moses’ upbringing. No one else could have achieved what she achieved. Any person of lesser stature would not have been able to save the child’s life. No one else could have presented Moses with the life opportunities, nor given him the skill to know how to approach Pharaoh later in life.

How did the Lord repay her kindness? The Lord gave her a heritage and blessed her with the only Egyptian firstborn to survive.