Exodus 1:6-21 - Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to
power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far
too numerous for us. 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.”
So they put slave masters over them to oppress them
with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for
Pharaoh. But the more they were
oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread
the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. 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.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose
names were Shiphrah and Puah, “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.” The midwives, however, feared God and did
not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then
the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done
this? Why have you let the boys live?”
The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not
like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives
arrive.”
So God was kind to the midwives and the people
increased and became even more numerous.
And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Shiphrah and Puah took their lives into their own
hands when they defied Pharaoh by not killing the baby boys when they were
born. In the text above, the contention is that they did this “because they
feared God.” While this in undoubtably
true, it also shows that they saw their defiance as standing for something
bigger than themselves. They believed in the value of their own life, but they
placed equal value in the life of those babies. For that reason, they (nor
Pharaoh) had the right to spare their own life by taking others. They also
could never stand against their own people, the Hebrews, just to preserve their
own safety.
Shiphrah and Puah were not political or tribal
leaders; they were midwives. But their brave defiance saves their own
people. No matter your station or
position in life, God gives us opportunities to act out of our values and
convictions to make a difference. These
two women did not say, “we are only midwives-no need to go against the grain.”
They embraced their position and did what they could do. May we also see what
is wrong and act with justice to make it right.
Prayer: God help us to see the difference we can make
from our position in life. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for college students today.
Song: Aaron Tippin - You've Got To Stand For Something
(Official Video)
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