A tale of heroic women

Exodus 1:15–2:10 KJV (WS)

15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. 18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive. 1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. 7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. 9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

Introduction

Why do we feel the need to express our appreciation to mothers?

We appreciate their love.

We are grateful for their sacrifice.

We honor their influence in their life.

I would like to submit to you that all of these “reasons” are simply branches of a larger “reason” for why motherhood is so important to us.

When God was establishing the order of this world, in the book of Genesis, he created man and woman and immediately commanded them to be fruitful and multiply.

Genesis 1:28 “28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…

It is the first recorded command of God to mankind.

I believe that, deep down, the beauty and majesty of motherhood is rooted in a woman’s obedience to this first commandment of God to humanity.

Motherhood is beautiful because motherhood is ordained of God.

Pharaoh and the midwives. (vss 15-22)

Pharaoh schedules a meeting with the Hebrew midwives. 15

The number of Israelites in Egypt was growing.

They were successful and their power had not gone unnoticed by Pharaoh.

He had tried to weaken them through forced labor.

Wear them out so that they would not be as likely to have babies.

This had failed.

The more he afflicted them the stronger they grew.

Pharaoh has hatched a new plan, and so he calls the midwives in to enlist their help.

He tells these two ladies that when they go to perform their duties for the Hebrew women, they are to be discriminatory towards the child’s gender.

If the child is a girl, then good, she may live.

If the child is a boy, though, the midwives are supposed to kill him.

Well, this is murder.

But, Pharaoh is the most powerful man on earth.

He is banking on these women being afraid of him so that they will fulfill his wishes.

The midwives were afraid…

The midwives feared God more than they feared Pharaoh. 17

They saved the male children.

They refused to follow the wicked scheme of Pharaoh.

It would have required them to act against God’s command to be fruitful and multiply.

But these were not their children!

It didn’t matter.

God had explained why he wanted humanity to be fruitful and multiply before he gave the command.

Genesis 1:26 “26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

These midwives felt a responsibility to protect the babies of the next generation because they were made in the image of God.

It doesn’t take too long before Pharaoh realizes there are still a lot of baby Hebrew boys being pushed around in ancient strollers.

So, he calls the midwives back in.

He demands an explanation.

The midwives lay the blame on how quickly the Hebrew women give birth.

This may or may not have been the case

We do know that there was a conscious decision by the midwives not to kill the babies.

Because of this, God blessed the midwives. 20

The phrase, “[God] made them houses,” has a lot of opinions attached to it.

One common interpretation is that these women had been previously unmarried and therefore childless.

Because of their defense of the next generation God gave them husbands and children whereas before they had none.

God blessed them because they had cared for and hazarded their lives for the sake of the next generation.

They had helped the families of Israel to be fruitful and multiply.

But this isn’t the end of the story.

At the close of the chapter, Pharaoh deputizes his people in his genocidal plan. 22

If the midwives wouldn’t stop the multiplying, Pharaoh would find someone who would.

He authorizes the people of Egypt to act as bounty hunters for the Hebrew boys.

If they found one, they were to throw him in the river.

The risk associated with being a Hebrew boy just got bigger.

This leads us to the introduction of Amram and Jochabed. (vss 1-4)

In the midst of this very scary time in history, Amram and Jochabed have another baby. 1

That’s right, another baby.

They already had two children, Aaron and Miriam.

There is an undeniable fact of reality that the bare minimum birth rate required for the continuation of a people group is 2.1

2 kids per couple or less and you begin to have population stagnation and decline.

Which is exactly what Pharaoh wanted.

By having a 3rd child, Amram and Jochabed are acting no less courageously than the midwives in the previous passage.

They could have stopped at 2.

They could have argued that it was too dangerous of a time to be bringing another baby into the world.

Instead, they feared God rather than man.

God had allowed them the ability to have children.

So, they obeyed the direction of God to be fruitful and multiply.

Even with the dangers and difficulties of their time.

Once the baby was born, Jochabed did everything she could to keep him hidden for as long as possible.

For three months, she was able to keep him safe.

But, then, it got to the point where she could no longer hide him, and she had a decision to make.

Her choice of action seems pretty unconventional.

Jochabed made a small ark for the baby. 3

She sealed it up and did everything she could to make it waterproof.

Then, she sets moses in this basket boat and sets him loose in the nile river.

Technically she has obeyed Pharaoh’s law.

This isn’t like setting your baby loose on like the Caney river.

Egyptians’ lives revolved around the river.

Moses would not have to go very far before someone would discover him.

Jochabed may have been counting on the superstition of the Egyptians and their belief that the Nile was the giver of life.

Perhaps, some Egyptian family would find her baby and take pity on him.

Whatever was going to happen, the baby was not alone on the river. 4

Miriam, the baby’s older sister was following the basket as it made its way to Pharaoh’s daughter. (vss 5-10)

Pharaoh’s daughter goes down to the Nile to wash. 5

The Nile river really was the focal point o much of Egyptian life.

She was accompanied by her maidens.

The Nile is teeming with life, not always friendly life.

Everyone would have been on the lookout for crocodiles and other predators that might be in the water.

Even Pharaoh’s daughter would have been on the lookout.

As she was down by the river she notices something in the plants growing along the shoreline.

She immediately sends one of her maids to go fetch it for her.

What do you think she expected to see in that basket?

I bet it wasn’t a baby.

But that’s what she found.

Notice what it says about this woman who beholds a baby she did not birth.

It says she had compassion on him.

It wasn’t that she thought he was a lost Egyptian baby either.

She immediately recognized him as a Hebrew child.

This is when Miriam makes her move.

Miriam rushes to makes an offer to Pharaoh’s daughter. 7

Notice there was no stated intention of keeping the baby.

Miriam must have seen the compassion on the woman’s face.

She knew what Pharaoh’s daughter was thinking.

She was contemplating keeping the baby.

Miriam asks if she can go fetch a nurse from among the Hebrews that can nurse the baby.

The Egyptian women have to be thinking, “where did this girl come from?”

How was she able to get so close to us?

Miriam loved her little brother enough to literally risk her life to save his.

She could have been killed for approaching them.

Pharaoh’s daughter is the one who responds though.

She tells Miriam that she would like her to help find some help with raising this baby.

You know the story, Miriam goes and gets who?

She goes and gets Jochabed.

Try to picture what that conversation must have been like.

I wonder how fast Jochabed ran down to that river.

I wish I could see Jochabed’s face when she learns that she gets to raise Moses until he is weaned. 9

It won’t be permanent, but…

She gets her son back for several years.

She gets to get paid for all of his needs and care.

She gets the gift of time.

He may not be with her as long as she would like, but she has saved his life.

She has preserved the next generation.

And we know that God will use this baby, whom the Egyptians will name Moses, to liberate his people from bondage.

It’s all because the midwives, Jochabed, and Miriam valued the lives of those who would make up the next generation.

They risked their lives to protect the process of being fruitful and multiplying.

God blessed them for this.

Application

I have known and seen many women through my life that were willing to protect children that were not their own.

Like the midwives, they knew that young life is a fulfilment of God’s plan.

Every child is precious in God’s eyes.

They are made in his image.

That makes them inherently valuable.

They deserve to be protected.

Not just at the moment of birth, but throughout their life.

We honor these women who protect the little children.

We have many mothers in here that have chosen to obey God’s command to multiply even though our society offers its own dangers and hurdles.

You may not have to hide your child from the government for 3 months, but being a parent is a challenging task.

It takes courage to start down this road.

There are a growing number of your peers that are choosing not to walk down this path.

It takes sacrifice to do it right.

But, it is part of God’s expectation.

We honor those that have given life to the next generation.

We especially honor those that are trying to raise the next generation to love and obey Jesus.

We have other women in here to day that have compassion on children that they didn’t birth.

You may not have any children of your own.

You may not yet have your own family.

That doesn’t mean you haven’t begun showing compassion to the next generation.

You may have younger siblings like Miriam.

You may invest in our children’s program.

God may allow you to foster or adopt a child.

Conclusion

God has commanded humanity to reproduce itself.

Without mothers, we could not do it.

Mothers pay a high price for their role in fulfilling this command.

Women of all stages contribute to the care and protection of these young lives.

Motherhood and Womanhood are sacred roles.

Today we say thank you.

Only time will tell what the lives you shepherd will achieve in God’s plan.