Two Heroic Women

There is a fine old saying that tells us: “Behind every great man is a great woman.” And many of our Biblical heroes such as Samson, Samuel, David, and even Jesus Himself, were given birth and supported and raised by admirable women.

Proverbs 31 asks the question: “A virtuous woman who can find? Her value is far above rubies.” If I, as a man, want to gain something of surpassing value in my life, getting myself a godly wife is a far better investment than the costliest jewels in the world.

When the Lord God had completed His work of creating the heavens and the earth, He looked upon the good world He’d made–--specifically at the first man, Adam. And the Lord said, “It is NOT GOOD that the man should be alone; I will make a helper suitable for him.” And then, after putting the man into a deep sleep, God took a rib from Adam’s side and fashioned it into a woman. Eve was created from Adam, to become Adam’s HELPER.

The Hebrew word used here is the word EZER. This word goes beyond being a servant or an assistant who is somehow inferior to the one being helped. In fact, God uses this term EZER most often to refer to HIMSELF, the helper and rescuer of His people. The One who hears their cries and comes to their aid when they face a strong enemy! It is a word that means “hero.”

When I think of modern-day heroes, the first one who comes to my mind is Superman. In the typical Superman story, someone gets into big trouble--–either a mugger or a gunman or a natural disaster of some kind–--and begins crying out for help. Next, we find Clark Kent, a plain, ordinary, mild-mannered news reporter who is never suspected of being, in reality, the heroic Superman! Clark picks up the cry for help with his super-hearing, jumps into the nearest closet or phone booth, and changes into the Man of Steel, who takes flight and saves the day.

We see again and again in Scripture, that God chooses unlikely people to do remarkable things in order to carry out His sovereign plans. And this is certainly true of Shiphrah and Puah, two Hebrew midwives who performed a great rescue out of reverence for the Lord. They pulled this off by disobeying a powerful king, then covering up their disobedience by telling a lie.

In the book of Exodus, we find the children of Israel--–the twelve tribes of the family of Jacob--–in bondage down in Egypt. Having moved to the region of Goshen during the time of Joseph, the Israelites had become too numerous in the eyes of the Egyptian king, the Pharaoh. So the king forced them into slavery, in order to build his store cities, and to keep them from being a military threat during times of war.

But our sovereign God had other plans for His people. His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been to make them a great nation, give them the land of Canaan, and eventually to save the whole world through this holy people. And, Pharaoh or no Pharaoh, our God ALWAYS keeps His promises!

You see, behind the scenes of the Egyptian plots and the Hebrews’ plight, and behind all the political upheavals happening in our own day, there is a greater war going on. Ever since Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, God had been promising that a Redeemer would free mankind from slavery to sin and to Satan. The Seed of the Woman, Adam’s helper, would be this ultimate EZER, or rescuer: The God-Man, Christ Jesus.

Throughout the pages of Scripture, we see Satan seek to prevent this rescuer, this great hero, from fulfilling God’s promise of redemption. Even though the king of Egypt had his own personal reasons for what he did, the real contest was between the plans of Satan and the plans of God going forward. God had foretold that His people would be enslaved in a land not their own (Gen. 15:13). But then, He promised that those enslaving them would be judged and that Israel would leave that land with great possessions. And, as Job confessed to the Lord, “I know that You can do all things, and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

Can you imagine how humbling it must have been for this great Egyptian king to realize, first of all, that his plan of enslaving the Israelite people wasn’t making them less numerous, but even MORE numerous? And, second, to seek to further his plans, he had to meet with these two lowly Hebrew midwives? The Pharaoh was supposed to be divine. A god among the other Egyptian deities. But here was this great ruler, reduced to giving orders to Shiphrah and Puah, whose names mean “fair one” and “little lass.” He thought these simple servant-level females would just loyally follow his commands and kill the boy babies as they were being born.

We see here a clear picture of how low and how base our sinful natures can make us. The birth of a child is always a cause for joy and celebration as a new life is coming into the world. But the desire of Satan and all his followers is the prevention of new life. The destruction of life. The bringing of misery and tears and mourning, to reach their goals. The Hebrews had become too numerous and too strong, too worrisome to the Egyptian people. Killing the male children was the Pharaoh’s sinful solution. So, would these two simple midwives obey this earthly master?

How eager are you and I to please our earthly masters, friends, family? To earn their pleasure and their praise, are we willing to disregard our duties to the Lord and disobey His laws? These two women disobeyed the instructions of the Pharaoh by allowing the Hebrew boys to live. They may have done this for many reasons. Maybe because they hated the king and his evil policies. Or maybe they were proud of their profession, and didn’t want to have a bad reputation as midwives. Or maybe they just couldn’t take such precious little lives so callously at birth…

But, in fact, the Bible tells us plainly why Shiphrah and Puah disobeyed the king’s command: It was because they “feared the Lord.” Throughout the word of God, the claim is made again and again: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The two Hebrew midwives had a settled conviction in their hearts and minds, that to displease GOD would be a much more serious matter than displeasing their earthly ruler. Is this the way our minds work, yours and mine?

Jesus instructed His followers not to fear men, who can only kill the body; but to fear God, who can kill both body and soul in hell. If there is a real God, who is both our Creator and our Judge, and a real hell, where bodies and souls will face eternal destruction, then NOT to fear this God is the supreme foolishness. Many, if not most, of the people around us are living their lives AS IF there were no God to Judge them, and no hell to face after we die. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1) They fear the Pharaohs of this world rather than the Lord.

Shiphrah and Puah are heroic examples of godly women who rescued baby boys who the king had condemned to death. And their motivation was a healthy, sensible, godly fear of the Lord God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God who had promised deliverance to the enslaved children of Israel. They were willing to face an earthly king’s wrath rather than to displease the God of their fathers.

As we read further in our text, we see that these ladies were wise in another way. It happened eventually that the Pharaoh became aware that the male babies were not being killed as he had commanded. Shiphrah and Puah once again found themselves in the king’s presence, having to give an account of why this was happening. The two midwives had obviously discussed what answer they would give the Pharaoh: that the Hebrew women were more vigorous in their labor and gave birth before the midwives could get to them. And this was obviously UNTRUE.

Were the two women simply lying to avoid the wrath of the king? What would have happened if they had told the truth? The king may have had them killed, and then chosen OTHER midwives to carry out his plans. The new midwives may have obeyed him, causing the death of the baby boys yet to be born. The lie that Shiphrah and Puah told was designed to get the Pharaoh to give up his evil plan. In effect, they were saying, “It isn’t our fault the babies aren’t being killed. It is the natural vigor of the Hebrew women. Something beyond our control. Your plan won’t work!”

All things being equal, it is NEVER a good thing to tell a lie. But we live in a sinful, fallen world. A world in which lies lead to even BIGGER SINS. Once a situation becomes a matter of life or death, being totally truthful can become a risky business. If an evil ruler is seeking to kill an innocent person and you are hiding that person, then it might be your duty to hide the truth from that ruler. A person bent on murder cannot expect the truth from a victim’s protectors.

Shiphrah and Puah did their best to rescue the Hebrew boys under threat of death, putting their own lives at risk. And then they gave Pharaoh an answer designed to forestall his wicked plans. And because they did these things, a Levite woman named Jochebed would soon give birth to a Hebrew baby who’d grow up to be Israel’s great deliverer and lawgiver: Moses!

Apart from the grace of God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, people are alienated from the source of true wisdom, and will naturally live as if there were no God. They will follow the crowd down the broad road which Jesus said would lead them to damnation in the end. Satan will use any means to hinder the outworking of God’s plans. The Lord purposed to bring life and light into the world by sending His only Son to be our Savior. This was to be the fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To use their descendants to bring Christ to mankind. The devil uses the Pharaohs of this world to oppose God and keep us in death and darkness.

We are born as sinners alienated from God--–natural enemies of the One who created us. It’s only by God’s grace that our hearts are changed so that we love and trust and fear the Lord. Because the midwives feared God and chose to please Him rather than man, the Lord rewarded them by giving them a family line of their own. You and I are promised a great reward as we follow our Savior faithfully and trust His word, especially in the face of opposition and rejection by evil people. Doing the right thing even when it’s hard, shows people that our God can be trusted.

So, who do we trust? Who do we fear, love and respect? Who is it we desire most to please? God’s word tells us the kind of world God is planning for us, the new heaven and new earth He has promised for those who love Him. A perfect world of holiness, love, light and life. A world where all sin, death and darkness have been banished. 

When we are born again, born of the Spirit, born from above, we take our first steps toward that heavenly kingdom. The Lord Jesus made that new birth a reality by living a perfect life, laying down His life for us on the cross, and being raised to new life to rule in Heaven for all who trust in Him.

Looking to Jesus Christ, trusting in Him, that is how one is taken from death to life. And it’s how a Christian lives his new life from day to day. Jesus became the perfect Son of Abraham who made it possible for you and me to be a part of that eternal family. A family that extends all the way back to Exodus, and to a pair of heroic midwives who feared God and dared to rescue God’s children. Praise the Lord for raising up such faithful followers.

Amen.