Scripture: Exodus 1:17, But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
The Hebrews were an enslaved people living under many restrictions and deprivations. For the midwives the opportunity arrived to look out for number one, to make sure of their personal safety. They could ease their situation by simply obeying Pharaoh’s commands and put to death all male babies at birth.
But they feared God.
Shiprah and Puah looked beyond the temporal. Though they themselves could not see God they knew enough about Him to choose the possibility of physical death over spiritual death. God had not yet made clear, in the laws, the worth of a life to Him, but the midwives knew that he valued the lives of these babies.
They would not stop the new births.
They stood for God against the political propaganda of the age. The midwives stood against decisions based on fear and greed.
Whose side am I on? What decisions stand before me? Am I determined to play life safe, no matter what happens, or am I willing to follow God’s leading, no matter the cost? How can I witness to God’s truth in my era of homeless and elderly and cast away children that will extend light to the next generation? O Lord, may I have the courage of the midwives to choose life.
Psalm of Worship: Psalm 125:2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
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