In the beginning of the book of Exodus, the king of Egypt ordered for every son born of a Hebrew to be killed. A Levite woman gave birth to a son during this time, and literally made her own basket to put him in so she could drop him in the Nile river. This crazy attempt to save his life would’ve probably looked to most of us like just as much of a death sentence. We don’t know if she was motivated by radical faith in God, desperate love for her child, or sheer adrenaline. Could’ve been all of the above. But regardless, her ingenious idea worked. The baby arrived safely at the river bank, where Pharaoh’s daughter— the daughter of the very king who ordered for him to be killed—found him and took compassion on him. While all of this was happening with the baby boy, his older sister stood back, carefully watching each detail unfold, plotting her next move as she followed him down the river.
When Pharaoh’s daughter drew the baby out of the water, his sister went straight up to her and offered to find a nurse for him from among the Hebrew women. Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, and the baby’s sister, likely still a child herself, took the baby straight back to his birth mother. Because of this little girl, the Levite woman went from being forced to give up her child to being paid to nurse him. Because of the Levite woman and Pharaoh’s daughter, his life was protected when there was a king out to kill him. When his mother had finished nursing him, she took him back to Pharaoh’s daughter and yet again, gave up her child for the sake of saving him. Pharaoh’s daughter not only spared his life, she took him as her own son and raised him. Then, he was called Moses.[1]
Moses, the man who led the Israelites through the Red Sea, the man to whom God revealed Himself through a burning bush, who struck the rock to watch water flow from it, who received the ten commandments from God, one of the most famous characters in the Bible— lived because of three women who set out to preserve his life from birth.
What is interesting about these three women?
None of them are named.*
When we hear about all of the epic things Moses did, we rarely hear about the humble roles of the people who preserved his life long before he could accomplish anything. But if I had to guess, I would say these three women didn’t do what they did for acknowledgment.
What are we willing to do for God without receiving credit from man?
Within the church, I think a lot of us want to be Moses. We want to be David, Daniel, Esther, Noah, Mary— And that is a beautiful desire. He placed a desire for greatness inside of us: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”[2] But what kind of greatness are we striving after? To be made famous among men, or to make Him famous without aim for our own names to be praised? When God called these “heroes of the faith” to the tasks that would make them famous, none of them were vying for positions of honor or glory from people.
How many of us are willing to be “the Levite woman” who isn’t even named? How many of us are willing to play a role that is excruciatingly sacrificial, but is never given a title? This role is quiet, humble, and astonishingly God-glorifying.
These women are far from being the only three.
The woman at the well.[3] The good Samaritan.[4] Isaiah’s wife, the prophetess.[5] The woman with the issue of blood.[6] The thankful leper.[7] The persistent widow.[8] The running father.[9] Noah’s wife.[10] The faithful woman and the lost coin.[11] The thief crucified next to Jesus.[12] The wise men.[13] The shepherds in the field.[14] The poor widow.[15] The men in jail with Joseph.[16] The midwives who originally defied Pharaoh’s orders.[17]
The list goes on and on— people who did beautiful things that we are to learn from, or played humble and vital roles— and yet their names were never recorded.
The desire for glory, affirmation, and acknowledgement runs deep in us. We find out when we do something as simple as washing the dishes, let alone saving the life of a famous prophet.
I think it’s healthy for us to ask ourselves: how would I feel if I did something truly great, and what I did even made history, but no one except God ever knew it was me?
If this is the kind of role God asks you to play, will you despise it? Or will you thrust your whole heart into it, as if working for the Lord and not men?[18]
“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”[19]
If we are careful not to “practice our righteousness before men,” He will be faithful to reward us for that. But we must trust the promise made to us that He sees.
Autumn Crew is the Managing Editor of FAI Publishing. She lives in the Middle East and serves a number of disciple-making initiatives. She can be reached at autumncrew@faimission.org.
[1] See Exodus 2
[2] Matthew 13:43, Daniel 12:3
[3] See John 4
[4] Luke 10:25-37
[5] Isaiah 8:3
[6] Matthew 9:20-22
[7] Luke 17:11-19
[8] Luke 18:1-8
[9] Luke 15:11-32
[10] Genesis 6:18
[11] Luke 15:1-10
[12] Luke 23:39-43
[13] Matthew 2:1-2
[14] Luke 2:8-20
[15] Mark 12:41-44
[16] Genesis 40
[17] Exodus 1:15-22
[18] Colossians 3:23
[19] Matthew 6:1-4
*Moses’s sister is named Miriam much later in the text, but never in this story.