Today, the devotions are written by Becky Ferguson. Becky is a missionary in the Czech Republic with TEAM Missions. Before that she was on staff at LSA. At the moment, she is home on a month furlough getting some rest, taking a course, and working with the youth groups at LSA. She is writing some devotions about women in the Bible, and today is the first of one of her devotions.
As I was thinking about a series to write for the LSA devotionals, my mind kept going to the amazing women of the Bible. There are incredible women that God used for His Glory throughout the Old & New Testaments. They are women of great strength and beautiful faith that we can all learn from. My goal for these devotionals is to look at the women who are talked about less frequently than some of the others.
Today we’re going to look at Shiphrah and Puah, who were Hebrews midwives during the time of Israel’s slavery in Egypt. Their story is found in Exodus 1:15-20
“15 Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: 16 “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?”
19 “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.”
20 So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful.” (NLT)
Imagine what it must have been like for Shiphrah and Puah. Not only are they women in a time when women had no rights, but they are women living in a foreign land where their people are being enslaved. Their jobs as midwives are to help other women through delivery to give mothers and babies the best chance of survival and good health. Now they are being asked by the king who is enslaving them to kill innocent baby boys.
The king of Egypt was very powerful and could easily have had Shiphrah and Puah killed, but they still chose to disobey him. They were faithful, God-fearing women who knew it was more important to please God than to please Pharaoh. They put themselves in great danger not only by disobeying the king, but then lying to him about why they didn’t kill the baby boys.
Shiphrah and Puah saved the lives of many baby boys and as a result “the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful” (v 20b). They protected their people and God protected them. He rewarded their bravery and their faith by keeping them safe and being good to them (v 20a).
Shiphrah and Puah’s story in the Bible is short and easily missed, but it is powerful. I wish I had learned about them sooner. I’ve read the book of Exodus more than once, but until recently I didn’t pay close attention to their important part in the lives of the Israelites. The story of Moses is the centre of Exodus and that is what we focus on most often. Moses is talked about in church, in Sunday school, in Bible studies, but we need to talk about Shiphrah and Puah too. They are beautiful examples of what it means to truly follow God and do what is right in His eyes, risking their own lives in the process.
Most of us are not putting our lives in danger by following our faith in God like Shiphrah and Puah. Nor are we being asked, by a king who is enslaving our people, to do something as horrific as murdering baby boys. But there are times when following God’s will means we will lose something.
Following the will of God may mean losing a relationship, a friendship or a job. We may be asked to do things that go against our Christian values such as lying or covering up something at work or getting drunk with colleagues. We may face ridicule or even hatred for our faith. We may be called names or face criticism for following Jesus. All of these things are real and very hard. It would be a lot easier to give into things of this world instead of following our beliefs.
In those difficult times I hope you can look to people like Shiphrah and Puah. I pray you find strength and hope in their courage and in their faith, knowing that God is with you like He was with them. When the darkness of this world threatens you or tempts you, turn your eyes to the light of Jesus and be filled up with His love.
Our song for today is I Will Follow by Chris Tomlin.