The king of Egypt had a talk with the two Hebrew midwives; one was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. He said, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the sex of the baby. If it’s a boy, kill him; if it’s a girl, let her live.”
But the midwives had far too much respect for God and didn’t do what the king of Egypt ordered; they let the boy babies live. The king of Egypt called in the midwives. “Why didn’t you obey my orders? You’ve let those babies live!”
The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; they’re vigorous. Before the midwife can get there, they’ve already had the baby.”
God was pleased with the midwives. The people continued to increase in number—a very strong people. And because the midwives honored God, God gave them families of their own.
So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: “Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live.”
A man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and had a son. She saw there was something special about him and hid him. She hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer she got a little basket-boat made of papyrus, waterproofed it with tar and pitch, and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile.
The baby’s older sister found herself a vantage point a little way off and watched to see what would happen to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the Nile to bathe; her maidens strolled on the bank. She saw the basket-boat floating in the reeds and sent her maid to get it. She opened it and saw the child—a baby crying! Her heart went out to him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”
Then his sister was before her: “Do you want me to go and get a nursing mother from the Hebrews so she can nurse the baby for you?”
Pharaoh’s daughter said, “Yes. Go.” The girl went and called the child’s mother.
Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me. I’ll pay you.” The woman took the child and nursed him.
After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her
oops bad cut and past. The last verse should end
“…son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, “I pulled him out of the water.”
Be interesting to see how many people notice :)
I married a midwife…. and I love the way this (not all that well know) part of the story reveals them to be heroic in their resistance to the holocaust they were being orderred to carry out
Did the pharoah not get angry with his daughter for adopting a Hebrew baby? I suppose he might not have known, or perhaps he does get mad and I dont’ know the story too well….
I love the thought that because the midwives honoured God through their jobs, He blessed them.
I suppose it tells us how we should carry out our jobs.
lucy.. daughters can often get away with murder… or rather the opposite in this case
I love the way that the midwives, out of respect to God, disobeyed the authority of the land as it was unjust and ungodly.
We have just recently as a family had to stand firm for what we believe to be a right and just way of my wife being treated at work rather that bullying that she was being subjected to by the boss. It meant as a result that work became so intolerable that she left…but, just as God honoured the midwives actions and as a result the amazing man of Moses came to be so God has honoured us by opening amazing avenues for my wife to serve and connect in a way that would not have been possible before. I can wait to see what her \
I love the way that the midwives, out of respect to God, disobeyed the authority of the land as it was unjust and ungodly.
We have just recently as a family had to stand firm for what we believe to be a right and just way of my wife being treated at work rather that bullying that she was being subjected to by the boss. It meant as a result that work became so intolerable that she left…but, just as God honoured the midwives actions and as a result the amazing man of Moses came to be so God has honoured us by opening amazing avenues for my wife to serve and connect in a way that would not have been possible before. I can wait to see what her “Moses” will be!
It does pose the question however of when, as Christians, are we called to make a stand and when is it that we have to accept a situation?…I guess it’s down to prayer and switching your spiritual ears on!
I wonder what Moses looked like – or how his mum saw there was something special!! I thought both of my daughters was special – (still do, I hasten to add, even when they do my head in!!)
I got this froma commentary and thought it was interesting.
“But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied — To the grief and vexation of the Egyptians. Times of affliction, have oft been the church’s growing times: Christianity spread most when it was persecuted.”
The reason Pharaoh wanted to kill them all is because they were multiplying so fast.
I love the way Moses’ mum could still be his mum even after being desperate enough to send him floating down the river. Only God could do something like that
I am deeply touched by the courage of the midwives! Richard’s use of the word “holocaust” for this sex-selective mass-murder made the link for me to a nearly forgotten quote, re-emerging on a postcard I bought yesterday:
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me–
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
(Martin Niemoeller 1946 (?) )
May I – at all times – have insight, courage and creativity for nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience to avoid Niemoeller’s experience!
I can’t help but think what a roller-coaster ride it must have been for Moses’ Mum. Can you imagine the tears and emotions she must have gone through as she stood at the edge of the river as she pushed her son’s basket into the reeds.
And then, thanks to the brilliance and ingenuity of her other daughter she gets to receive him back again..What must that have been like for her? Maybe sometimes we have to be willing to give even truly imprtant things up…or even away…ino rder to receive them back again!
..and then..a bit later she has to prepare herself to give him away for a second time as she offers, without any coercion it would appear to present him to Pharoah’s daughter for adoption in order to ensure her son’s safety.
What a lady she was! Can’t wait to sit down and talk to her when we meet in heaven!