“Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ‘When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live’” (Exo. 1:15-16). After the death of Joseph and his brothers a new Pharoah came into power, but he did not know the Hebrew patriarch. His only concern at that time was the numerical growth of the Israelites.
Afraid that they would continue to grow and one day join Egypt’s enemies, he came up with what he must have thought was a crafty plan. Exo. 1:9-11, “And he said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens.’” The idea was to weaken the nation, but that failed miserably, forcing the king to come up with another, more nefarious plan. He instructed the Hebrew midwives to kill the male babies at birth.
The response of the midwives to the Pharoah’s plan is stated in Exo. 1:17, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.” The midwives who would be there at the birth of the Hebrew babies would have to take it upon themselves to slaughter the innocent baby boys in an effort to control the Israelite population, but they would have nothing to do with it. Their allegiance to God, born from respectful fear of the Creator God, gave them the courage to disobey the Pharoah’s command to harm the male babies. Can you imagine the dire consequence of daring to disobey the despotic Egyptian ruler? Torture and death would surely follow such actions, so those midwives had to show real courage in the face of what had to be fear.
There is much for us to learn from that story. Their courage set the stage for another story that would follow soon, in which a Hebrew boy would be born, hidden in plain sight, and then raised as an Egyptian. After a time, he would lead God’s people out of captivity and to the door of the promised land. Had they complied with the order to murder the male babies, Moses would almost certainly have been one of the casualties and there would have been no Exodus story. Would you display such courage when you are called to a similar situation? Or do you think that would never happen to you – after all, you are not a midwife?
True, you are not one, but that does not mean you would not face something similar. Let me explain with an analogy. The Midwives were called on to kill the Hebrew babies, and the pharaoh-king of this world is calling for the same. Just as those women were there at the birth, so too will you and I be at the birth – the second birth of a baptized believer. Your work as a “midwife” would studying God’s Word with that person, nurturing them, and watching them grow from an embryonic seeker to a newborn baby in Christ. So, you would be there at their birth, so to speak. And you should not be afraid – Isa. 41:10, “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Now, the devil desires their death because he does not want God’s kingdom to grow so he will call on us to slaughter them, figuratively speaking. We do that by not taking care of their growth post-baptism and then standing idly by as they die from spiritual starvation, returning to the world and the eventual doom that then awaits them. Do you have the courage to say “No, not me! I will not allow that. My faith and fear in God are greater than any fear I have of the devil and man.” If you do indeed choose courage over fear, there is some pretty good news for you. God will reward you handsomely for your loyalty. I know this to be true because God blessed the midwives – Exo. 1:21, “And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.”
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