Daily Devotions
Exodus
"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, And the perverse mouth I hate." Proverbs 8:13
Text: Exodus 1:17
THE DILEMMA OF THE MIDWIVES
The midwives found themselves in a dilemma. They were given a direct order from the Pharaoh. If they were to disobey him, they would forfeit their lives! On the other hand, how could they kill the male babies? That would go against their ethical code. They had been trained to save lives not end them! They would have to find the moral courage and strength to somehow resist obeying the Pharaoh!
THE CHOICE OF THE MIDWIVES
The midwives felt that they would be guided by their fear of God. They feared the wrath of Pharaoh, but they held the Name of God in greater awe. Hence they chose to obey God and risk the wrath of the Pharaoh!
“But the midwives feared God, and did not do
as the king of Egypt commanded them,
but saved the male children alive.”
EXODUS 1:17
They did not kill the male babies. The midwives were skilled practitioners. They must have imparted good advice to the Hebrew mothers as to how they could help themselves when the time came for their babies to be delivered! Many male babies were kept alive because of the courage and prudence of the god-fearing midwives.
THE QUERY OF THE PHARAOH
The Pharaoh called for a report from the midwives. He was more than a little annoyed as he interrogated the midwives.
“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?'”
EXODUS 1:18
WITH GREAT COURAGE
The midwives were more than prepared to give a straightforward answer to the Pharaoh.
“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.'”
EXODUS 1:19
What the midwives said could not be refuted. The Hebrew women were also sent out to work as labourers with the men. They had become hardy and strong. The women were thus able to give birth to babies without a whole lot of assistance from the midwives! This report was quite true! The Pharaoh had no way of refuting what the midwives said! However, he refused to be outdone. He came up with yet another decree to deal with the problem of the burgeoning population of the Hebrew people!