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by Kevin Pauley
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it's a daughter, she may live." The Hebrew midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this and let the boys live?" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife can get to them." So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very numerous. Since the midwives feared God, He gave them families. Pharaoh then commanded all his people: "You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live." - Exodus 1:15-22 HCSB
Many of the children of God who will read these words are already living under persecution. Those who are presently free may expect that as the days go by, wicked times will arrive and our time will also come. We all must learn how to live with wicked governments and sinful neighbors. We are mere nomads here and often the natives decide to cast the blame for their miserable lives on those who are different – those who are godly.
This particular wicked king sought to limit the growth of Hashem’s people by curbing their procreation: the first incidence of population control through “planned parenting” if you will. As in China today, the measures were draconian.
Shiphrah and Puah could have allowed their drive for self-preservation to cause them to yield to the Pharaoh’s command, perhaps in order to seek accommodations for their own families. Instead, they chose to fear their real king, Yahweh Melek. They disobeyed the Pharaoh and lied to him, playing into his prejudice. “These Hebrew women are like animals!” they insinuated. “They mate like rabbits and give birth so rapidly that we can’t keep up!” Smart!
They could have advised the Hebrew people to simply abstain from sex but this would have actually been harder than what the Pharaoh was requiring. His edict was only directed toward males. If they had abstained sexually, the consequences would have affected both males and females!
Unfortunately, many Christians fall into this trap. For instance, they see the dangers of alcohol and thus tell their youth to abstain completely, in spite of the numerous examples of the godly consuming alcohol in the Scriptures. We tend to try to “out-holy” the Holy One. However, our man-made laws end up causing even more suffering.
The Hebrews decided to go on having children and simply try to get around the Pharaoh’s edict. Good thing they did! If they had abstained from sex, Moses wouldn’t have been born!
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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