For generations the story of Moses had been told to children
and adults alike in the Hebrew community of Faith. It was a wonderful story
that pitted the whole government of Egypt, with all of its power and might
against a nation whose greatest strength, or in the case of this story, it’s
greatest fault was, well, they knew how to have babies! The Bible uses the
euphemism: “they were fruitful.”
The Israelites were “fruitful and able to multiply greatly”
(Exodus 1:7) was of great concern to the ruling government, so an edict/law
was issued. This is how we are introduced to the two Hebrew midwives whose
names were Shiphrah and Puah (v. 15).
The law went something like this: “No more! From now on
when you help the Hebrew women in childbirth, if they give birth to a boy,
kill him; if it is a girl let her live” (v. 16). The strategy behind
this edict was if there were zero Hebrew males left in society, the females
would be forced to marry Egyptian males. The distinctive Hebrew nation would
disappear, and the “ruling party” would no longer fear the possibility
of an overthrow of their power (v. 10).
What the “ruling” government forgot to factor in
was God. In contrast, the “fruitful” Hebrew people did factor
in God. These included two midwives whose names were, Shiphrah and Puah. Two
women who “feared God” (v. 17) which translated means: (1) the
God they couldn’t see was just as real as the Pharaoh they could see,
and (2) ultimately they had more to fear from disobeying the God they couldn’t
see than from disobeying the Pharaoh they could see.
As you read this story for the first time, a knot of fear begins
to tighten your stomach muscles. Surely these women know that if they let
the boys live, this will come to Pharaoh’s attention and then what will
be the consequences?
Summoned to appear before the king, they are asked: “Why
have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” (v. 18). Very simply
they explain: “Sorry sir. You really cannot blame us. Hebrew women are
not at all like Egyptian women, whose labor can go on for hours if not days.
By the time we arrive on the scene, these Hebrew women have already given
birth. We are always too late to do what you command.” (see v. 19)
When this part of the story was told to succeeding generations,
giggles must’ve erupted with lots of gleeful knee slapping. Why? Because
whenever oppressed people heard this story they would have been reminded of
the truth: “God is in the business of protecting the powerless!”
The hearers were also reminded that the all powerful, mighty,
ruler and king of all Egypt had been outwitted by two humble midwives, whose
names, Shiphrah and Puah, are written down and recorded for all history to
remember. But what was the name of the great king? Generations of story tellers
would just shrug their shoulders and say: “We just know him as the King
of Egypt.”
Pharaoh, however, is not to be outwitted. “If I can’t
get the midwives to comply with my edict, then I’ll get my own people
to comply. They know nothing of this God of the Hebrews. They fear me more
than they fear Him! Especially since they can see me but can’t see Him”
(see v. 22). The tension begins to build.
Next, we are told about a man from the tribe of Levi who marries
a woman from the same tribe (see Exodus 2). The wife gets pregnant. She gives
birth to a son and hides him for three months.
Every time I read this story I want to rewrite the script! No!
Don’t put your baby in a basket made of papyrus reeds and float it along
the banks of the Nile River (v. 3). Especially not in that location. Don’t
you know that Pharaoh’s daughter always comes to that very spot to bathe?!
As the tension in the story builds, so does the indispensable
truth of the reality of the hand of God in all things. The story is very clear
that on the one hand we have the dominant power of the king and his many edicts
and laws. But under the radar of the Dominant Power, is the subversive truth
of the sovereign will and hand of God!
Throughout this early part of Exodus, we discover that all of
Pharaoh’s efforts to suppress the children of Israel were thwarted and
ambushed by women. By powerless women! First, the midwives shattered his plans.
Then the Israelite mothers delivered babies faster than their Egyptian counterparts.
Moses’ sister, a child, no less participates in the efforts to defy
Pharaoh. To cap if all off, even Pharaoh’s own daughter plays a major
role by providing protection and ensuring that the one God has in mind to
use in the years to come remains alive!
With each succeeding generation of people who heard this story,
the following truths continue to be learned: we may not be IN power; we may
not HAVE power; our VISION may not be mainstream; but if God be for us, who
can be against us? What an amazing message of HOPE we get to live in our world!
We live in a world not unlike the world into which Moses was born. The dominant
culture and society that we live in does not support holy values.
The story of how a powerless baby was protected from the powerful
evil laws of the King of Egypt teaches us that we can have hope in the sovereign
faithfulness of God! There are at least three mentors that we can learn from
when we read this story. Mentors of Faith and Hope: The midwives: mentors
who choose to refuse.
In the course of doing their job they faced a terrifying choice:
would they obey the evil edict and go against everything that their “profession”
was about, life. Or would they disobey the evil edict and face the wrath and
power of the dominant culture?
The “dominant” culture and power defined “evil”
as allowing Hebrew boy babies to live. The midwives defined “evil”
as anything that went against the Word of their God. Guided by “the
fear of the Lord” they chose to refuse to comply with the “dominant”
culture of the day. Perhaps Solomon had this story in mind when he wrote:
“Through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil” (Proverbs 16:6b).
The Old Testament has no word for religion. The Hebrew nation
understood that all of life was religion. The phrases the fear of God or the
fear of the Lord come close to expressing what we mean by the term religion.
It reflects a life-style which always takes into account that there is an
all-wise, all-powerful, all-righteous God who holds people accountable for
their behavior. To act sinfully is to act as though God is either too weak,
too ignorant, or too inconsistent to enforce His will. To live in loving fellowship
with God is possible only for those who “fear” Him. (from the
NKJV Wesley Study Bible, p. 33 based on Genesis 20:11).
As mentors, the midwives modeled for succeeding generations
that one’s behavior and choices will one day be accountable to an unseen
“Higher Power.” A Power that was greater than the earthly power
who had laid down the law!
These mentors teach me that everyday I need to ask myself: “One
day when I stand before God, will I be able to defend this decision as a good
and righteous one?”
The mother of Moses: a mentor who chose to hide.
Moses’ mom hid her baby because she recognized the danger
he faced. Having hope in the sovereignty of God does not lessen the need to
hide our children for a time from the seductive and dominant power of the
world. Moses’ mother took advantage of the time given her before she
surrendered him to be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter.
We, as Christian parents, also have time before our children
go out and live in the midst of the dominant culture. During this time of
“hiding,” Moses’ mother must have given him a Vision of
Truth. How do I know this? By referencing Hebrews 11:25-27: “The time
came when Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace
for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because
he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the
king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.”
His ability to make these kinds of choices under immense pressure did not
happen by osmosis! What did Moses experience in that home that mentored him
to be the person of faith he became?
The Pharaoh’s daughter: a mentor who chose to assist.
Isn’t it just like God to pick an “outsider” to be His assistant!
Mentors who assist are not always aware of the role they are playing in the
scheme of God’s sovereignty. We, however, can still be mentored by them.
From this woman we learn that assistance does not mean control. She did not
and could not change her father’s cruel laws, but she did give assistance
in the context of them.
(For the full manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons.”)
Whenever I read the first two chapters in the Book of Exodus,
I am left a bit breathless. I am exposed to real flesh and blood people who
have broken out of the constraints of their time and place and moved into
unknown fields with great courage and confidence in God their source of hope.
This story invites me to encounter and dialogue with real people, who though
seemingly powerless, placed their hope in the true, though invisible, Sovereign
power.
Put yourself in the sandals of Shiphrah and Puah, midwives who
were asked to go against everything they stood for, yet resisted. Put yourself
in the place of a brand new mother who tenderly holds the helpless life of
her baby boy in her arms, knowing the tremendous danger she and her family
are in as she chooses to hide him. Put yourself in the place of the princess,
who knew full well what her father’s law was, but chose to assist anyway.
What is the Lord asking of you today? resist? hide? assist?
Murray, Andrew. How to Raise Your Children for Christ. Bethany Fellowship,
Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1975.
The Wesley Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson Publishers,
Nashville, 1990.
