A Dose of Perspective and Encouragement From a Couple of Hebrew Midwives
Their names were Shiphrah and Puah. They were Hebrew midwives and they lived in ancient Egypt during an era when a new Pharaoh was determined to slow the numerical growth of the descendants of Abraham. By any means necessary. Indeed, so intense was his determination to curb the Hebrew population explosion that he ruthlessly commanded Shiphrah and Puah…
“When you serve as midwife of 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 1:16)
Can you imagine? The king of Egypt has given you a straightforward, horrifying command–“If it is a son, you shall kill him”–and shortly thereafter, the first son of a Hebrew mother is born right before your eyes. He’s placed in your arms and Pharaoh’s cold-blooded words ring in your ears–“If it is a son, you shall kill him”–and you have a choice. What will you do?
But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. (1:17)
Our circumstances may not be nearly as harrowing today, but the fundamental choice remains the same: will I fear God more than I fear anyone or anything else? Do I respect God more than I respect everyone and everything else? Do I love God more than I love every other one and every other thing? In this moment, will I choose God above and beyond everyone and everything else? Why do those questions matter? Because passages like Ecclesiastes 12:13 matter. Today.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of mankind.
It’s one thing to read that grand summary in the present. But in the scope of human history? These people lived thousands of years ago. And yet, if they could speak to us today, what would they say? The end of the matter, when all worth hearing has been heard, is just as true in the 2000s A.D. as it was in the 2000s B.C. God is to be fearfully respected. His commandments are to be obeyed. No one, no thing matters more.
Despite the pyramids and sphinxes and cities and temples and wealth that still impresses today, in spite of all the power and influence wielded during that brief ancient era, we’re not even precisely sure of this Pharaoh’s name. But we know the names of those two Hebrew midwives. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah. They feared God. They were more determined to honor him than anyone else.
May their ancient example inspire us to do the same today.