Do the Right Thing: A Sermon Based on Exodus Chapter 1

A Love Works Daily Sermon

15 Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: 16 "When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver.* If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live." 17 But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king's orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.

18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. "Why have you done this?" he demanded. "Why have you allowed the boys to live?"

19 "The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women," the midwives replied. "They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time."

20 So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live."Shiphrah and Puah, found themselves, like we often do, between "a rock and a hard place". They were faced with difficult choices in life and the choices they made make them good examples to follow.

Exodus picks up a number of years after Genesis ends. At the end of the book of Genesis the Hebrews had moved to Egypt and the land of Goshen. They were honored guests of Pharaoh because they were the family of Joseph who was revered for his integrity and had risen to the place of second in command. Joseph and his brothers died off but the Hebrews continued to experience blessing and growth in Egypt. We don't know how many years pass before, a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

This new King is threatened by the Israelites. It is not that there were more Israelites than there were Egyptians . . . it is that there were too many Israelites. The King felt that this group of people was a problem, they had too much influence and if that influence was used in the wrong way, the Israelites could be used against the Egyptians.

So, Pharaoh has a plan. He will enslave the Israelites.

But the result was not what Pharaoh expected. We are told that "the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread." So Pharoah turned up the heat. The oppressor would now become the murderer. Pharaoh commanded the midwives of Israel to kill every boy child.

This is where we meet, Shiphrah and Puah.