2 Pro-life Heroes in the Bible
Exodus 1:15-21
Women often are overlooked in the Bible. Plain and simple. However, I do not believe for one second this is the fault of God or His Word.
I believe there is a false accusation in society today in which they claim the Bible is “down on women”, or God “hates women”. This claim is simply not true. There are a lot of things I will certainly dig into about those statements in the future, but right now I must keep focused on the topic I present to you today.
Photo Credit: ChristianJournals.org
Contrary to these rumors and false accusations, there are plenty of accounts in the Bible where a woman is demonstrating phenomenal strength, character, godliness, and leadership. If a woman is seeking to find her place in life, or who God wants her to be, the Bible will prove to be an excellent guide to turn to and she will find some amazing ladies as her example.
I hope to dismantle this false accusation over the course of my lifetime, and this is where I begin that journey.
Two ladies come to my mind when I think of Godly women in scripture, and their names are Shiphrah and Puah. These ladies are found in Exodus chapter 1. We will be looking at the story from verses 15-21, but first I will give a brief summary for context.
In Exodus chapter 1 we see that the children of Israel had been living in Egypt for a long time. They multiplied like crazy and became strong and notable people. This made the Egyptians feel threatened that they would one day be overtaken by God’s people. They decided to force them into slavery, but the more they afflicted the children of Israel the more they grew.
This is where our two heroes come into the picture.
Exodus 1:15-21
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.
The King of Egypt, seeing that their plan of keeping the children of Israel down was backfiring, decides the next logical progression would be killing the male babies born to the children of Israel. He commands the two Hebrew midwives to comply with this sadistic and inhumane plan of action.
This begs the question, how should a woman feel about killing a helpless, defenseless child?
These kinds of topics can bring a person a lot of hate and harassment, but as a Bible believer, I am simply not doing my job if I don’t present these topics. I have never intended, nor will ever intend to offend someone for the sake of offending them. I do not believe that is right or profitable. But that does not grant me the convenience of opting out of these difficult subjects, regardless of whatever storms I may bring upon myself.
The truth of God’s Word is what I am intending to expound on, and that does often invite opposition. The Word of God is powerful and can change the hardest of hearts, and with that hope, I continue on with this particular subject.
I would submit to you that if a woman is not repulsed by the idea, she is out of balance with even nature itself. There is something wrong in her heart and in her mind.
If we look all around us in nature, we see loving and caring mamas.
The prime example of this is a mama bear and her cubs. Everyone knows you are far luckier to run into anything else the wild has to challenge you with than a mama bear and her cubs. If she feels her babies are in danger she's coming at you! There is no talking it out or compromising.
She takes a strict “claw and gnash first-ask questions later” approach. And we love the mama bear for it. She is only doing what she has been made to do. That is a NORMAL motherly instinct that God has put not only in that bear, but in women in general.
How do the Hebrew midwives respond? Do they submit to the ungodly command?
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
There is a correlation between fearing God and doing the right thing. Sadly, it would seem that few people actually fear God these days.
Many people are pressured into a certain way of thinking or they are simply indoctrinated into that state of mind. Many people believe they have these unique and “against the grain” ideas and opinions, but they are only repeating the same things as everyone else. We do not have a society of freethinkers, most people are told what to believe.
Social media influencers, the daily news, colleges, or even celebrities all appear to play a major role in forming the opinions of people today.
This issue of abortion is the same. People are under a lot of pressure to conform to the pro choice side. What happens if you don’t conform to their side? Well obviously you hate women. At least that's what they say.
Another option you have is the tried and true “well.. I PERSONALLY would never have one but I support a woman's right to”.
Why would you disapprove of an action for yourself while supporting the action for someone else? Let's be honest for one second, the reason these people have stated they would never have one themselves, is because deep down they know it's wrong, but the peer pressure of the culture around them forces them to pledge their allegiance to the pro choice crowd.
At the end of the day, especially as Christians, we should care about pleasing God. That is what these two brave women did here in Exodus 1. It takes a lot of courage to disobey like that, but sometimes as God’s people it's necessary.
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.
You can easily picture the look on the King of Egypt's face as he frantically runs to the Hebrew midwives to confront them. With big bulging eyes and a face as red as a tomato he asks them “how could you disobey me?” with utter confusion.
What people need to understand is that when a person has a love and desire to please God, all other actions in life will be dedicated to this conviction.
The Hebrew midwives knew that God would consider them murderers for obeying the King's orders, and they knew that they were different than that. They held themselves to different standards. Ladies today that love Jesus should hold themselves to higher standards than the women of the world.
Godly ladies today that fear God and love him should never be ashamed of that. If people with big bulging eyes and red faces want to question you and look at you like you have seven heads because you choose to follow Christ instead of the world, then so be it!
I promise you the joy of following after God and seeking to please Him will be far worth it.
Is that true? Is it always worth it to do the right thing? I would say yes, look at how things worked out for the pro life heroes….
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.
God blessed the Hebrew midwives because they feared God.
Let us allow these ladies to be our example. YES, that includes men as well. It does not matter if you are male or female, any person is able to be an example to the world out there of a child of God. We all have a responsibility to be a light to this dark world. The Bible says:
Romans 12:8
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
As we focus on being lights in this world, and allowing people to see Jesus through us, we must remember that we should try to live as peacefully as we can with others.
Topics like this, and other hot button topics, will certainly cause some heated discussions with people, and we should strive to remain calm and peaceful in these moments.
This goal, however, does not excuse us from truthfully proclaiming what God has deemed right and wrong. Our sights are fixed on a peaceful world, and this peace can only be accomplished through Jesus. We cannot bypass God’s standards and hope to achieve a peaceful outcome.
It is always better to obey God rather than man. The Hebrew midwives are proof of this very fact.
You also can be a hero by choosing to do what is right! This can be standing up to an injustice, preaching God’s Word to someone, protecting someone, instilling strong values in your children…the possibilities to make a difference in this world are endless!
What is something you could do to make this world a better place?
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