圣经五约

	挪亚之约	亚伯拉罕之约	摩西之约	大卫之约	弥撒亚之约
约的对象	人与一切活物 (9:9-10)	亚伯拉罕 (创 12:1) 及后裔	以色列百姓 (出19:3)	大卫及后裔	基督徒
上帝的承诺	1．神赐福挪亚 (创 9:1) 2．人管理大地 (创 9:2) 3．神不再用洪水毁灭全地 (创 9:8-17)	1．成为大国 (创 12:2) 2．後裔繁多 (创 17:2) 3．多国的父 (创 17:4) 4．赐迦南地 (创 17:8) 5．万族因他得福 (创 12:2-3)	立业安邦 (申11:23-25)	1. 立卫王朝 (撒下 7:8-13)	1. 上帝免人的罪 2. 人得认识上帝  (耶31:34)
人的回应	1．生养众多 (创 9:1) 2．新食物律(创 9:3-4) 3．严禁杀人 (创 9:5-6)	无	1. 严守诫命 2. 爱神 3. 事奉神 (申10:12)	无	无
赏罚	无	无	祝福与咒诅 (申11:26-28)	兴旺与国亡 (撒下 7:16) (历下6:16)	永生与永死 (約 3:18)
期限	永远 (创9:11)	世世代代 (创17:9)	新约代替 (希7:22)	永远 (撒下 7:13)
目的	恢复神人关系	上帝要求亚伯拉罕作完全人 (创17:1)	1. 上帝要作以色列的上帝 2. 以色列要作上帝的子民 (出 19:5-6)	1. 建立以色列国 2. 保护以色列民 (撒下 7:10-11)	恢复上帝与人的关系 (耶31:33)
记号	彩虹 (创 9:13)	割 礼 (创 17:10)	约版 (申9:9)	圣殿 (撒下 7:13)	圣餐 (路22:19-20)

Moses-in-the-Cradle = Tradescantia spathacea

Moses-in-the-Cradle is Tradescantia spathacea.  It is once popularly known as Rhoeo discolor, then renamed and reclassified under genus Tradescantia, yet remained in the family Commelinaceae.  Other synonyms includes : R. spathacea, T. bicolor.

The name of the genus honors the English naturalists John Tradescant the Elder ( ca. 1570s -1638 ) and John Tradescant the Younger ( 1608 – 1662 ).  The obsolete genus name, Rhoeo, was named after a mythical Greek goddess.

Moses-in-the-Cradle also known as Moses-in-a-boat, boatlily, oyster plant, and many other names in many languages and dialects.

Moses-in-the-Cradle is a herbaceous plant originated from South American rainforest.  The leaves are long, sword-shaped, green on top with violet underneath, capable to grow up to 12 feet in length.  The small white 3-petaled flowers are hidden in the boat-shaped purple bracts nestle in the leaf axiles, thus getting its name "Mosses in the cradle".

It is planted as an ornamental.  In some places, it becomes noxious weed as it is easily sprout from broken rhizomes.  In Mexico, it is widely used in traditional medicine.  The Chinese, although just recently encountered it, also recognized its medical properties.

 

Biblical Narrative

Exodus 1

 1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

 6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

 8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us.10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

 15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

 20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Exodus 2

1 Now a man ( Amram (Exodus 6:20) ) of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman ( Jochebed (Exodus 6:20) ), 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 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. 4 His sister ( Miriam (Exodus15:20) ) stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”