3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
Sometimes you have to disobey governing authorities. This passage is in contrast to the general principle stated in the New Testament, that we are to submit ourselves to the governing authorities. Disobeying is the exception to the rule. It is called for in extraordinary circumstances. Moses’ parents are in just such a circumstance. The ruler of Egypt has ordered the destruction of all the male children when they are born. First Pharoah tried to use the midwives to do his dirty work. They disobeyed the order. So, he next got all the Egyptians to participate. They were to throw the male babies into the Nile River. He went from enlisting just two people to carry out his plot to using the whole population. Moses’ parents disobeyed the government and hid Moses for three months. But they could no longer hide him. So, they devise a plot to get him adopted by an Egyptian so as to spare his life. It happened that the ruler’s daughter is the one who finds Moses and takes him home to be raised as her child. The ruler’s daughter disobeys her father’s order. Sometimes in extreme circumstances it is acceptable to disobey a government decree. When we do that, we must be willing to suffer the consequences, and do it in a way that honors the Lord. That is the key. If we disobey, we must do so with grace and mercy. We cannot be disobeying with a defiant attitude. We can’t express our disobedience with an ungodly attitude. We must disobey in a way that Christ is seen. That is hard to do! Our disobedience can’t simply be for personal reasons, like we don’t want to pay our taxes so that we can use the money to buy that boat we want. The reasons have to be grave, like the death of thousands of children.
The Arnold Journey 