Fearing and Obeying God Not Man!

I thought it would be neat to share something that is not talked about much...the faith of a couple of midwives. It doesn't sound so glorious but it's awesome how they were used by God!

Exodus 1
"8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses."

-The prior Pharaoh of Egypt knew Joseph and gave them a place to live.
-Israel experienced the blessings of living in a modern city (compared to the surrounding countries)
-Egypt had exploded into the superpower of the world via God blessing Israel
--The new ruler did not know Joseph and took note of the fact that Israel were more in number and mightier than Egypt. That just can't be in his mind!
--His solution, treat them harshly and build Egypt on their backs!
--Basically make Israel their slaves
--This idea was rooted in fear that seems pretty irrational

Exodus 1 Continued
"12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor."

-Despite Egypt's affliction, God continued to be faithful of His promise so Israel multiplied and grew.
-Egypt tried to make it worse because they reallly feared Israel now!

Exodus 1 Continued
"15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, 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.”

-2 midwives (Many think leaders of many midwives)
--They think this because there were so many Israelites, it would be extremely difficult if not possible for them to be midwives for all of the pregnant women.
-Pharaoh gave them a command, "Kill the boys, keep the girls"
-This would mean the women would then need to have mixed children with the Egyptians
-Therefore losing their identity as God's people and they'd be like the rest of the world
--So this was a strategy to dismantle a nation, God's people!!

Q: The question arises: Should I obey God or man?

A: When man pushes you to disobey God's word, you have absolute freedom to obey God which would mean disobeying God. This is a rare situation and you won't have many of these situations but if and when you do, be sure to obey God!

Exodus 1 Continued
"17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 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?”

19 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.”

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.

22 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.”

-In context it seems the midwives had to choose to go against what they were commanded by the king of Egypt.

--I cannot emphasize enough that this situation should be rare and is not justification to disobey your superiors for silly reasons. The context of these verses is so important.

Q: Did the midwives lie to Pharaoh?

A: It's very possible they were telling the truth. Regardless we know they did what was right because in verse 20 it tells us that, "God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty"

---Do you realize if these midwives would have obeyed Pharaoh that we very well may not have the nation of Israel today?

---What seemed like something so minuscule equated to something very great in the Kingdom of God!

---It is also beautiful to take note of the fact that because they obeyed God, He took care of them.

"...because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them."

--->This seems to indicate that He provided husbands and children for them. They preserved God's people and then got to join in the work of having a household of their own.

What a beautiful picture of God's deliverance for a helpless people. These women took their lives into their own hands for the sake of God's people. They laid down their lives for others and God honored that.

Do we fear God? So much so that we will obey Him no matter the cost? These are questions I am asking myself through this.

Would I be willing to entrust my life to God and disobey a man of great "wordly" power (if needed)...not knowing if our family would make it through?

These are important words to consider in Exodus while we consider ourselves. May the Lord bless you and keep you in the days to come!!