Obedience always brings blessings. I’ve heard that message preached, but Exodus 1 seems to teach us something different. It reminds us that we must be very careful with what we expect for our obedience and what we define as a blessing. Today’s reading commends a faith that reverently fears God, not the opinions, whims, and wants of men.
Fearing the growth and potential power of the Hebrew slave nation, Pharaoh orders the midwives who assisted the Hebrew women in childbirth to kill all the boys they helped to deliver. The Bible records the names of these women: Shiphrah and Puah. Pharaoh commands them to be His co-conspirators in a plot to decimate the Hebrew population. But they never carry out Pharaoh’s plan. It is a bold, faith-filled move. But the results are a mixed bag of blessings. We can learn a few important lessons from their example.
We must be careful not to assume that our obedience clears the path to ease and happiness. The midwives feared God more than they feared Pharaoh. But their act of rebellion, though honorable, moved Pharaoh to ratchet up his plan against Israel, and he commanded that all baby boys be thrown into the Nile. This is why we must be careful not to barter our obedience for God’s blessings. Our blessing may be things we cannot see.
In the case of the midwives, they were rewarded with tangible gifts. The Bible records that God blessed the women with families of their own. There is no formula that says our obedience will unlock the desires of our hearts. However, God is the Giver of every good thing we receive (James 1:17).
It’s not entirely clear if the midwives were Hebrew or Egyptian. Either way their faith was tested. Yes, God blessed the midwives with families of their own, but the very next verse says that Pharaoh now commanded that all Hebrew boys be thrown in the Nile. Would the faithful midwives now lose their own children to Pharaoh’s evil mandate? Or were the midwives Egyptian women who would watch helplessly as even more baby boys were killed? God saw their faithfulness and would now grow their faith even more.
Our greatest blessings and most precious rewards are the eternal ones. I want God to make me bolder, refine my character, and chisel away my selfishness. Those treasures won’t always feel like blessings.
The overwhelming context of Scripture points to these same truths. Obedience doesn’t guarantee or broker blessings. Obedience must be motivated by faith in God, not the fear of man. Like Shiphrah and Puah, we are commended to act in ways that prove our confidence in our God who is always faithful, keeps His word, and blesses His people. I’d like to be the kind of person who trusts God to give and define my blessings. I’d rather be changed for eternity than comforted temporarily.
Whitney Capps is a national speaker for Proverbs 31 Ministries. Her first book, Sick of Me (B&H Publishers) and bible study, We Over Me (LifeWay) both release in March 2019. Whitney is the founder of Simple Seminary, a place for the everyday gal to learn theology. She and her husband, Chad, are raising their four boys just outside Atlanta, Ga. You can connect with her at whitneycapps.com or on Instagram, @whitneycapps.
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42 thoughts on "Shiphrah and Puah"
Wow! Lots to ponder here. I took screenshots so that I can go back and re-read. One of the things that really stuck out that Whitney said this morning is: We must be careful not to assume that our obedience clears the path to ease and happiness. I’ve always said and tell my children that we are not exempt just because for Christians. Well there’s so much to ponder this morning. I can’t wait for my 10 minute break to re-read and go back.
The midwives lied in saying the women “give birth before the midwife can get to them”? So it is perfectly fine to lie in order to avoid the consequences to your obedience to God?
Terri, you make an interesting point. I can see how the lines are a bit blurry here. I don’t think this story excuses lying, but I think it does show that the midwives were human. They made a decision to obey God, but their lie to Pharaoh shows that they did have some fear of the consequences of their obedience. This is a good reminder for me that God doesn’t choose perfect people and He is merciful. We don’t follow Him perfectly. In fact, we fail Him more than we would like to admit… but He continues to work in us to develop godly character and conform us to the image of His Son.
Praise be to God, from whom all blessings flow!
Thanks for this devotional today! All too often I am tempted to expect ease and comfort from God when I obey. In my head, I know there isn’t a direct ratio, but my heart still expects smooth seas when I obey. God’s purposes are mysterious, but they are good because He is good.
When I clicked on today’s devotional, I said to myself, “who in the heck are these people?” No portion of God’s word is without purpose, but these two ladies are for sure names I have overlooked time and again as I have read the Exodus account. Thanks from bringing them to light and helping me, and others to see the lessons in their lives!
I thought the same thing today Allison! Grateful to the Lord and SRT for bringing these ladies name to me today and showing their obedience to God even in a difficult situation. Praying for all of our hearts to be obedience to God no matter how difficult the situation is and for our love to shine through for Him the way He loves us
A musing this morning:
How ingenious of the King of Egypt to attempt to recruit the Hebrew midwives to do his dirty work. He could keep his hands clean while eliminating any further growth of the Israelite people. The king of Egypt did not realize, however, that the Hebrew midwives answered not to him but to a much higher authority. Their fear of God set the standard for their behavior, not the edict of a mere early king. They chose to be obedient to the command and will of God for themselves in their situation at that time. They didn’t know that the king of Egypt would become incensed and then command his people to throw the Hebrew baby boys into the Nile River. That decision and horrible consequence lies fully with the king, not the midwives. Little did the king realize (what a turn of events this turned out to be!) that his hateful decree led to a mother placing her Hebrew baby boy in a basket on the Nile only to be rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter. And so the account of Moses begins. Yes, THE Moses, raised in Pharaoh’s palace, who eventually leads his people to the promised land! Who would have thought?
Lesson learned: Nothing can thwart the promise of God. Nothing can thwart His plan. Fear God and be faithful to Him. Do not fear any man. Watch what God will do.
Amen
I truly love the hard truth of this devotional this morning. I particularly liked how this quote captures the heart of this teaching:
“I want God to make me bolder, refine my character, and chisel away my selfishness. Those treasures won’t always feel like blessings.”
I love the idea that God blesses us with good things, truly good things that are good for us and transform us into the likeness of
Christ. Since none of us is close to being just like Jesus, that transformation process is going to be painful. It may not look like or seem like a blessing, but it will ultimately be for our good and, more importantly, for the glory of God. Indeed, our transformed and obedient lives will allow Him to more freely act through us and show others that there is a loving and powerful God in heaven.
May we be people who also trust God to give AND define our blessings, and may we be open to what our loving God wishes to do in and through us. Happy Thursday, all.
Scratching my head a little over some of today’s commentary – that the “rebellion” of the midwives brought worse repercussions (throwing baby boys into the river). Although that was in fact Pharaoh’s next move, I view the midwives’ protection of the babies as obedience done out of reverence & fear/respect rather than an attempt to bargain with God. We may not understand the immediate results of obedience but the eternal results will be above and beyond anything we can imagine.
“But their act of rebellion, though honorable, moved Pharaoh to ratchet up his plan against Israel, and he commanded that all baby boys be thrown into the Nile. This is why we must be careful not to barter our obedience for God’s blessings. Our blessing may be things we cannot see.”
Agreed. It was a bit blurry for me too, the connections being made there.
Searching, I’m not sure that the writer was trying to say that the midwives bartered for blessings. I think she was just cautioning us as readers because we may be tempted to think that way after reading the passage. I have heard so many pastors speak on obedience and the blessing it brings – which I believe is true because it is all throughout the Bible. However, sometimes our obedience seems to make the situation worse, even though we are doing God’s will. We have to remember that God’s ways are higher than ours and He works all things together for good. Even the midwives’ obedience led to Pharaoh making the decision to throw the baby boys into the river, Moses would’ve never ended up in the position he was in if that had not happened. I found this in a commentary on the passage and had to share: “The method Pharaoh commanded for the death of the male children of Israel became the divine provision for training the deliverer of Israel.”
I think what she was trying to say is that the midwives were wise to obey God because they feared Him, not because they were motivated by an attitude of quid pro quo. Although they were given families, and may have felt very blessed indeed by that reward, they also may have felt defeated or disappointed by Pharoah’s response if their motivation for obedience were to somehow make a deal with God. The commentator’s point is that because we do not always know what shape God’s blessings may take or what hard paths may still lie ahead even with those blessings, we do well to obey out of reverence to God alone, without an expectation that God will reward us in a specific way. That’s how I read it.
Civil disobedience, rebellion, call it what you want but we know it creates change, in this case change for a whole nation. The personal act that these women chose was no doubt a dangerous thing, but when we put ourselves, our families on the line for the vulnerable, the ones that broke Christ heart, we are being obedient. How are you serving the children, the widow, the orphan, the migrant (homeless). If each of us step into the gap, extend ourselves to them His light will shine into their marginalized lives. I encourage you, do something today
I didn’t think the commentary was claiming that the midwives were bargaining obedience for blessing. I think the commentary was just pointing out that it didn’t seem like they were being blessed at first. I agree with you that what they did was an act of obedience because they feared God. But because they were not willing to kill the Hebrew boy babies quietly and discreetly, Pharaoh turned to a more violent and public way of executing them. To the midwives, it probably seemed like things were getting worse. If they had obeyed God only because they wanted some kind of blessing, they would have grown discouraged, but because they had acted out of reverence for God, their faith remained intact. I think the commentary was urging us to do the same as the midwives—to obey because we fear God, not because we want something from Him. It’s also reminding us that God’s blessings aren’t always visible; sometimes, it looks like things are getting worse after we obey, but we don’t know what God is doing behind the scenes. We need to trust Him even when we don’t understand what He’s doing.
I agree I was a little puzzled when she made this opinion because Iont agree that the midwives caused the Pharoah to act more harshly he was going to act harshly regardless.
I agree. Having trouble seeing how keeping the babies alive was a bargain with God. I took it as they are following God’s word and protecting life. They owe God obedience over pharaoh.
I’m not sure the author was implying that the midwives were trying to bargain with God so much as trying to give an example of how our obedience doesn’t always seem to bring favorable results- Gods plan here unfolds exactly the way he intended. Ultimately he was going to save Moses in a miraculous way, and use Moses thru a series of crazy events to bring glory to Himself and deliver his people. In hindsight we see this step of the midwives as being an initial part of that plan. But I’m sure they scratched their heads and wondered what was going on. This is a great lesson for us to persevere: our obedience might end up meaning a more difficult path, and we don’t always see the long term results. We are called to obey now, and know that God is in control!
Searching, I had the same thoughts as well. The “bargaining” statement is rather confusing, especially when placed in that particular context. Thanks to the other women who explained it.
I felt that way too but I think what she was trying to say is even when we are obedient, sometimes the blessing doesn’t come immediately and sometimes the situation can get even worse even when we’ve done the right thing. I think the warning was for us not to barter our obedience for blessings because in the case of this story, even though the midwives were obedient the enemy upped the ante. Not to disregard or blame the obedience but just to point out that situations can even get more difficult so you have to stay strong and not think that your obedience is automatically going to bring blessings. Hope that perspective makes sense! It’s just how I felt when I re examined that passage because I struggled with it too!