Babies in the Bible
Winter 2024
As we are preparing to welcome a new baby into our home very soon, I have been thinking about the babies that we read of in the Bible. Many Bible characters are already adults when we read about them, but God has included some stories about babies in Scripture for us. Let’s look at a few of those stories.
When Moses was a baby, his life was miraculously saved. Pharoah, the ruler of Egypt, had demanded that all baby boys be killed as soon as they were born, but because Moses’ parents loved God and knew how precious every life is, they hid their son in their home. When he was too big to easily hide, his mother placed him in a basket in the river. In God’s providence, Moses was discovered by Pharoah’s daughter and his life was spared. God had big plans for Moses’ life.
God had chosen Moses to one day lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the land He had promised to His people. God’s plans for him began by saving his life when he was just a few months old. There is no way for you to know what God’s future plans are for your life, but you can completely trust in the knowledge that God has each step planned out. God’s Word tells us, “I know the plans I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11) and promises that when we trust in Him, “He shall direct [our] paths” (Proverbs 3:6).
The second baby in the Bible that we’re going to look at is Samuel. Samuel’s mother, Hannah, had a difficult life. She was married to a godly man called Elkanah, but he had another wife, Peninnah, which was against God’s commands. Peninnah was unkind to Hannah. She had been blessed with children and she made fun of Hannah because she didn’t have any. Hannah could have become angry or bitter, but instead, she took her desires and worries to God. Hannah prayed, asking God to give her a baby boy and promising to give him back to the Lord to serve Him.
God graciously answered her prayer and gave her a special gift—baby Samuel! Do you have hard things in your life? Do you have needs or wants that you think about often? Just as Hannah did, you should take them to the Lord in prayer. God hears us when we bring our requests to Him. His answer may be “no” or “not right now,” but He still encourages us to be “casting all [our] care upon Him; for He careth for [us]” (1 Peter 5:7).
John the Baptist is another special baby the Bible tells us about. John’s father was very old when he received miraculous news. The angel Gabriel met Zacharias to give him a message from God. His wife, Elisabeth, was going to have a baby! This was a huge shock since Zacharias and Elisabeth were much too old to have children.
Zacharias was so surprised that at first he didn’t believe what the angel told him. As a result, Gabriel told Zacharias that he would be unable to talk until the baby was born. God wanted Zacharias to learn to believe His Word and to trust Him, even when it seemed too wonderful or mysterious to be true. Some parts of God’s Word are hard for us to believe, and some things in our lives are hard for us to understand as God’s best for us. But the Psalmist says, “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him” (Psalm 37:5) and Isaiah 12:2 reminds us, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid.”
The most well-known baby in the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ. His birth was prophesied for hundreds of years, it was announced by angels, and it changed the world! What makes Jesus’ birth so different from all of the other births in the Bible is that He was born without sin! Even though Moses, Samuel, and John were born into Christian homes, they were born with sin. They needed a Savior, just like all of us.
But Jesus was sent from heaven, perfectly sinless, to die on the cross for our sins. This is very important! God’s requirement is that all sin must be punished by death. That would mean that we would all die with no hope of eternal life with God. The only Person who could meet the requirement of living a perfect life for us and dying a perfect death for us was the Lord Jesus Christ. God graciously sent Jesus to earth to be our substitute—living and dying in our place—and Jesus was completely willing to take our guilt and sin. How thankful we should be that God sent Jesus as a little baby to this earth to accomplish His great plan of salvation for us!
Mrs. Lois Carper