Shiphrah and Puah

LESSONS FROM THE BENCH: SHIPHRAH AND PUAH Spring Valley Mennonite; June 9, 2019; Exodus 1:15-22 For the past five years, Chapman University in the Los Angeles area, has conducted a Survey of American Fears. This survey provides an in-depth examination into what Americans fear most. Based on a nationally representative sample of 1,190 adults from across the United States, the top 10 fears of Americans in 2018 were: CORRUPT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS 74% POLLUTION OF OCEANS, RIVERS AND LAKES 62% POLLUTION OF DRINKING WATER 61% PEOPLE I LOVE BECOMING SERIOUSLY ILL 57% NOT HAVING ENOUGH MONEY FOR THE FUTURE 57% PEOPLE I LOVE DYING 56% AIR POLLUTION 55% EXTINCTION OF PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES 54% GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE 53% HIGH MEDICAL BILLS 53% It would be very rare to find someone who would claim to be completely free from all fear, in fact if you find someone who would make such a claim, he obviously would be lying! But while we all have fears to some degree, the follower of Jesus need not be overcome or in slavery to his fears. Do you realize that the most repeated command in scripture is “fear not”? Someone went to the trouble to count all the “fear nots” and said that this command is given 365 times. Whether that is accurate or not, I cannot say, but what we do know is that God knows we are subject to fear, and repeatedly—hundreds of times—tells us that we need not live in fear. In our series entitled “Lessons from the bench” we are identifying some of the lesser known actors on the biblical stage, some “second stringers” who enter the game at crucial times and play a role in the biblical drama. This morning we will look at two women with the names Shiphrah and Puah. We find them in the first chapter of Exodus. They had the important position of midwives to the Israelites in Egypt. Before we read our text about these remarkable women, we need to be reminded of the times in which they lived. Joseph was the first Hebrew residing in Egypt, being sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph began as a slave, but proved himself worthy of great responsibility, and by God’s grace, was elevated to the position of Prime Minister of Egypt. When a seven-year famine came to the whole Eastern Mediterranean area, there was food in Egypt, having been stored by the direction of Joseph during seven years of bumper crops. Joseph had interpreted Pharaoh’s dream about these years. In response to the famine, Jacob’s sons were sent to Egypt to buy grain, and in due time Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, the very ones who had sold him into slavery. But what his brothers had meant for evil God used for good. So, Jacob’s family, 75 persons in number, migrated to Egypt where they were given land on which to settle and prosper. And they did prosper! Over the next 400 years this family of 75 people grew into a great multitude of around 6 million people! Then a Pharaoh came to power who feared the Hebrews, and enslaved them, using their slave labor to build his treasure cities. And the cry of the people for deliverance and freedom was heard by the Lord. But this was all in the plan of God to fulfill His promise to Abraham to give him descendants as abundant as the stars. The family of Jacob had grown into a mighty multitude. And the more Pharaoh persecuted the Hebrews, the more they increased! This brings us to the events of the first chapter of Exodus. Read Exodus 1:8-22 I. TWO UNLIKELY AND FEARLESS LEADERS Even leaders of nations are beset with fear. Pharaoh’s fears were twofold: he first feared the Hebrews would come to outnumber the Egyptians, perhaps rebelling and taking over the nation, and secondly that they might join an outside invader against the Egyptians. He first oppressed the Hebrews to hard labor. Generally speaking, persecution quells increase in numbers. But God continued to bless the Israelites with growth in numbers. His plan “A” proved a failure. His plan “B” required the Jewish midwives to kill all male babies at birth. We’ll expand on the failure of this plan in a moment. The third attempt at population control enlisted the Egyptian population; if any Egyptian found a male infant they were to throw him into the Nile River. Presumably these plans unfolded over a number of years. We remember that Moses was placed into the Nile by his mother when he grew too lively or noisy to hide. It was under Pharaoh’s second program of population control that revealed the heroic actions of the two midwives, Shiprah and Puah. We assume that these were not the only two midwives serving the several million Israelites; most likely these two women were the head of the midwives’ guild, supervising many other midwives, who all followed their heroic example. These two heroic figures refused to obey the command of the King of Egypt. The midwives’ fear of God (vv. 17, 21) led them to disobey Pharaoh’s command to practice murder. They chose to obey God rather than man since Pharaoh’s order contradicted a fundamental divine command (cf. Gen. 1:28; 9:1, 7). All life belongs to God, and consequently He is the only person who has the right to take it or to command when others should take it. The midwives’ fear of God resulted in their having reverence for human life. We cannot doubt that this principle of the sanctity of life practiced by the midwives informs our opposition to the modern- day sacrifice of the unborn to the god of personal convenience. Infanticide and Abortion are two sides of the same coin. Scandalously, the state of New York has passed a law supposedly legalizing the murder of a newborn baby! This action by the two women is perhaps the first record of civil disobedience in the Bible. God had commanded that people “be fruitful and multiply”, both to Adam and Eve, then to Noah after the flood. This command of Pharaoh was evil, contradicting a clear command of God, and the midwives refused to obey. When called to explain why the population continued to grow, the midwives claimed that Hebrew women gave birth before the midwives arrived. The reason they disobeyed the command to murder babies? II. THEY FEARED GOD MORE THAN THEY FEARED THE AUTHORITY OF PHARAOH Have we any doubt that these women wrestled with the decision to disobey the King? To disobey could very well lead to death! I have never had to make such a decision, but I would hope in such a case I would choose to obey God rather than obey man. But we realize this choice is faced every day by our brothers and sisters around the world. And while we have never faced an “obey or die” edict by an authority, we do face a multitude of decisions of whether we will “cave into fear”. The principle of choosing to obey God rather than the enemies of our soul remains the same. We are to choose to “fear God” more than we fear anything else. This is a most valuable lesson to learn from these women: clearly stated in Proverbs 16:6 :“… by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil.” Did you hear that? The fear of the Lord keeps us from committing evil deeds! Understand that “fearing the Lord” means reverencing and honoring God as the ultimate authority in all existence. It is to submit to His will, knowing that His will is always best. To “fear the Lord” in its fullest sense is to fully trust and obey Him as our loving and compassionate and forgiving Father. It is fully respecting His awesome power. I have often used the example of electricity to illustrate this definition of fear: I do not fear electricity, but I fully respect its power to harm me if I grow careless and touch a live wire. I don’t fear the ocean, but when on vacation at the beach, I stay out of the waves during a storm. In application, III. WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT DEFEATING FEAR FROM THESE WOMEN? We learn that fearing the Lord, exalting Him and His will and commands above all other authorities leads to great peace and blessing. The midwives were blessed with families of their own. As these women stood courageously against the Pharaoh, God gave them freedom and confidence from fear regarding their actions of civil disobedience. We all deal with fears of the unknown or of what might happen in the future. I heard a message from David Jeremiah this week on fear, and it so fit this passage I wanted to pass on his four steps in how to deal with our fears: (First…) 1) Confront fear honestly. Understand that we cannot ignore our fears, escape from them, or successfully hide from them. There was a couple in England that grew to fear the escalation of violence around them to the extent that they quit their jobs and sought out the most remote and peaceful place on the planet. Having done their research, in 1982 they moved to the Falkland Islands, a remote British Protectorate in the South Atlantic. Five months later, forces from Argentina invaded the Island and war broke out between Great Britain and Argentina. 2) Confess our fear to the Lord. Do you realize that fear is a sin? Psalm 34:4: “I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Fear is failing to trust the Lord; it is letting our emotions win over our will. We can choose to trust the Lord or give in to our fears; giving in to fear is sin, letting it dominate our thinking, is perhaps the most common sin we face. But God’s forgiveness is always available. When we find ourselves overcome by fear, we are to confess it as sin. 3) (Third) Claim God’s promises of protection. Listen to these scriptures: Deuteronomy 31:6: “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” Psalm 27:1: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life, whom shall I dread?” Psalm 118:6: “The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?” Proverbs 3:25-26: “Do not be afraid of sudden fear, nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.” Proverbs 29:25: “The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.” Isaiah 41:10: “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” 4) (And) Cultivate a closer walk with God. As we walk close to God we learn just how big and capable He is. We gain a proper perspective on the things we fear. Let me ask you a question: what was the difference in perspective among the spies who went into Canaan? Remember how ten gave an unfavorable report but Joshua and Caleb gave the opposite opinion. The ten focused on the problem and feared the enemy. Joshua and Caleb feared God, focusing on His promises and His strength INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON THE PROBLEM! When dealing with our fears we need to consider whether God is strong enough or capable enough or willing enough to deal with the issue causing us to fear. Just how big is your God??? Another question: what is the opposite of fear? Trust? Courage? Good words, but wrong! 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…” 2 Timothy 1:7: For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Love is the opposite of fear. As parents when our little child wakes up in the night crying because of a fearsome dream, what do we do? We don’t give him a lecture on how dreams are not real; we enfold them in our arms of love and comfort them. A family story was told by Harry Ironside: He was playing a game of “bears” where he got down on all fours and chased his little boy growling like a bear. His son shrieked with excitement as he ran from the “bear” until he got cornered. The little boy’s eyes grew large as he temporarily panicked; then he smiled and said, “I’m not afraid of you; you’re not a bear, you’re my daddy!” When we are overcome by fear we are to throw ourselves into the arms of God, realizing His great love for us, for perfect love casts out fear. A true “fear of God” involves knowing and trusting an all powerful and all loving God to take care of me, His child. It is choosing to obey God above all others, being perfectly confident that God is completely in control and perfectly competent to handle whatever we are facing. God is love and as we walk closely with Him, we need not fear.