A Bird’s Eye View of the Passover Story, part 2

Here’s a continuation of the story I wrote as part of my daughter’s homeschool curriculum. You can find Part 1 HERE

Part 2

Baby in the River

Boaz flew as fast as he could to the Nile River. He did not see Jochebed, Miriam or the baby in the basket, but he did see Ehud, the ringed-plover. Ehud was digging for insects and worms in the mud beside the river.

“Did you see anything peculiar?” Boaz asked Ehud.

“I have seen sad things today,” Ehud said. “Pharaoh’s soldiers have done awful things.”

“Have you seen a mother and daughter carrying a basket?” Boaz asked.

“Hush!” Ehud said. “Someone’s coming!”

As Ehud scurried under the reeds, Boaz flew to a nearby branch and watched.

It was none other than Jochebed and Miriam walking toward the river. Jochebed carried the large basket in her arms. Inside the basket, the baby cried softly.

Jochebed stepped through the reeds until she reached the clear bank of the river.

“What is she doing?” Ehud asked. “Doesn’t she know that crocodiles live in this river?”

Jochebed set the basket in the river, the basket that carried her baby. As the current carried the basket downstream, Jochebed wiped tears from her eyes. “Miriam,” she said to her daughter, “follow the river to see where the basket goes.”

The little girl ran as fast as she could, all the while keeping a close eye on her brother’s basket floating in the Nile.

Ehud fluttered about in the reeds as if he would cry. “What will happen? She’s running toward Pharaoh’s palace!”

“Be calm and trust in God,” Boaz said. “God will deliver that boy.”

“Fly, Boaz,” Ehud said, “fly to the palace and tell my friend Peleg, the ibis, that this baby is coming his way.”

Boaz took to the air before Ehud even finished speaking.

*

Peleg the sacred ibis waded in the shallows beside the palace steps, giving orders to the flock about him.

“You three must watch for predators! You four make sure no one gets too close to those palace steps! And the rest of you, watch the young ones while you catch the fish and frogs!”

Nearby, Pharaoh’s daughter and her servant girls waded in waters near the steps. All of them giggled and splashed and played like children, even though the princess was already a mother.

A barn swallow flew over the Nile. “Peleg!” he cried out. “I need to find Peleg!”

The ibis stepped away from his flock and looked up at this barn swallow. “What is it, little bird, and what has you flying so far from your nest during hatching season?”

“My name is Boaz,” the barn swallow said. “There is a basket in the river. Please, you must help me keep it safe!”

Peleg gave Boaz a stern look. “What is in this basket?”

“It’s a baby,” Boaz said. “A Hebrew baby boy.”

Peleg fluttered his wings as he gasped. “I see the basket now. It’s headed straight for the steps of the palace, right in the midst of the princess and all her servants. You fly home to your mate and your children. The ibis will take it from here.”

“But what can you do?” Boaz asked.

“What can any of us do but trust in God?”

As Boaz flew away, the basket floated right toward Pharaoh’s daughter.

Peleg turned toward his flock. “Whatever happens, we must not startle and we must not fly away quickly. The princess needs to open this basket.”

The whole flock hushed as the princess gave a gasp.

“What is this?” she asked.

Before any of her servant girls answered, the princess had pulled the basket from the river and opened the lid.

She gave a wide smile. “A baby! A beautiful baby boy! I will raise him as my own. I will name him Moses because I drew him out of the river.”

Suddenly, a small girl pushed her way through the reeds into the water. “Excuse me, your highness, excuse me! Do you need someone to care for that baby?”

The princess looked at all her servant girls and then at the small Hebrew slave girl at the riverbank. “Yes,” she said, “yes I do need someone to care for this baby.”

*

Boaz stopped on a branch and waited. The ibis said he would take care of things, but Boaz still stayed. He hoped to have a good report to bring back to Dinah.

He watched as Miriam asked the princess if she needed help. Then he watched as Miriam ran back up stream to her mother.

“Mama! Pharaoh’s daughter wants you to help care for the baby! Come quick! Come and see Moses!”

Boaz flew off to see Dinah, both to tell her the news and to help her with their own babies.

…to be continued…