Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live," But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?" And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them," Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them. So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."
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Today we are going to take a look at another choice. And it is a choice that God rewards. Last time we looked at the Pharaoh's choice to 'deal wisely' with the children of Israel because of his fear that they could rise up because they were 'more and mightier.' Today he once again makes a choice because of that fear. He decides that he needs to control the 'more' part of the equation. He thinks that if he can eliminate the male children it will take help take care of the shear number of Israelites and he called for the chief midwives and He gives them these instructions, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew, and see them on the
birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a
daughter, then she shall live." What a position for the midwives to be put in! They were being commanded by the ruling power to kill all the male babies as they were born.
As you may have gathered the choice I'd like to discuss today is the choice that the midwives made! The word tells us that they in truth, made the right choice. It tells us that, ...'But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.' Because they feared God, they refused to obey the king of Egypt and instead of killing all the male children they helped them to live. When confronted by the Pharaoh about the fact the male children were being allowed to live they put the blame on the 'liveliness' of the Israelite women. They tell him that the babies are being born before they have a chance to arrive and help. From there the Word tells us again that they made the choice to save the lives of the male children for one reason and one reason only; they feared God! They knew that those little babies were the children of Israel and the children of Israel were the chosen people of God!
I love that these women made the right choice. In my opinion they are just as heroic in their choice and the stand that they took as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were when they faced the lion's den and the fiery furnace. It is all about who is the true ruling power in your life? God or the man who wears the crown? I love that despite the fact that they had to defend themselves before Pharaoh where they must have feared for their lives they chose to do the right thing because they feared God more. The thing I love the most though is the outcome! ..."Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied
and grew very mighty. And so it was, because the midwives feared God,
that He provided households for them." Because they chose to not kill the babies the plan that Pharaoh had concocted backfired and instead the people of Israel multiplied and grew very mighty as well as the fact that these heroic women were rewarded with families (babies) of their own.
As His people we are sometimes forced to decide and to make choices about what is right and what is the way in which we should walk. Sometimes our boss or circumstances might lead us into situations where we must choose to put God ahead of the decrees of man. The question remains, will we, like these women make the right choice to put the will of the Father first and foremost in our lives? Will we take a stand even at the risk to ourselves to make the choice that is true to His word? Will we make the stands necessary to thwart the plans of the enemy and reap the rewards that God has in store for those that will obey His word? Will we fear God enough to make the right choices?
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