Two obscure midwives

21 01 2012

The story told in the Old Testament book of Exodus is epic.  It is the story of how a group of people in trouble were rescued by the God who calls Himself “I AM.”

It is a story of salvation, of being set free from slavery in Egypt.  It reminds us that all of humanity is not really free until “I AM” is allowed to do His work of redemption, rescue, and renewal.

A small but awesome part of the story occurs, I think, in Exodus 1:15-16.  The king of Egypt (Pharaoh) gives the decree to all the Hebrew midwives to murder all the boy babies because the population is multiplying too rapidly and the Hebrews by their sheer numbers are becoming a national security threat.

The name of the king isn’t mentioned.  However, two of the midwives who refused to obey the king are.  Their names are Shiphrah and Puah.

Think of it.  Two women from the lowest class of Egyptian society are named and the writer doesn’t even bother to tell us the name of the king.

We may seem small and insignificant by the world’s standards.  Not by God’s.  We can live in relative obscurity and never even have our fifteen minutes of fame.  But God will know our names and remember them long after the world’s kingdoms have fallen and civilizations have vanished.

That’s part of His work of salvation and rescue.  Call it liberty, being set free from the bonds of this earth and to be forever known and remembered by the Eternal “I AM.”

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One response

21 01 2012
Marie

What a wonderful thing to remember…..really makes you remember that you just never know what a little thing can mean to someone.

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