Read Exodus 1.
At the end of Genesis, Jacob's total family that moved to Egypt numbered only 70. They lived on the finest land in Egypt, overseeing of all the nation's livestock and food supplies. At the opening of Exodus, several hundreds of years have gone by. The family of Israel became a nation of millions people living in this foreign country. The new Pharaoh felt threatened by them, but he did not want to lose their manpower. His solution was slavery. However, God blessed Israel with even more rapid population growth. Pharaoh's solution was to kill all newborn males.
The Hebrew midwives were charged with the murderous task of killing the babies. "But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live." Pharaoh's order was self-serving and evil. This is the first case in the scripture of civil disobedience.
Bernard Ramm wrote that the midwives had to choose among their fears: a) to fear the invisible God or b) to fear the visible king. "Faith sees the real power; sight sees the immediate power."
Once a person no longer cares what God thinks, there will be no respect for His presence, no regard for His expectations, little regard for human life, and no fear of His judgment. Such a person's heart becomes wide-open to any, every, and all sinful behavior.
These women did
not protest or raise a ruckus. They quietly and humbly did what was
right. When asked about it, they may not have been lying, but they just
did not say more than they had to. By faith, they trusted God. The
Lord took care of the two women involved and, to this day, we even have their
names: Shiphrah and Puah.
1. God
protected them from punishment.
2. God blessed
them, v. 20-"God dealt well with them".
3. God gave them their own families. v.21
A principle is
seen throughout the Bible in such cases when authority conflicts with the known
will of God. It is this: God is able to take care of the consequences of
our obedience to Him.
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