4 Minute Read
Prepare Your Heart
To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.
Read God’s Word
A Verse for Today
Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.
Exodus 1:15-16 (CSB): “The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives – the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah – ‘When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.’”
Exodus 1:19-20 (CSB): “The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.’ So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very numerous.”
Reflecting on God’s Word
If you saw a sign that said, “No swimming in pond,” and yet you noticed that someone was drowning in that pond, would you break the rule and jump in to save a life? Of course you would! Would it be wrong to break the rule in that case? Absolutely not!
We understand that we must obey the laws of the land. Yet, we also intuitively understand that there are certain rare times when it is appropriate to break those laws. Generally, if you are saving a life, laws are often understood to be suspended.
And that’s what we see in Genesis 1. The Hebrew midwives were responsible for delivering the Jewish babies while they were captives in Egypt. But we read that Pharaoh told the midwives to kill the baby boys at birth to decrease the growing Jewish population.
The midwives, being women who feared the Lord and valued the lives of the unborn, refused to kill the infant boys. So, they disobeyed a direct order from their government official. Were they right to do this? Of course! When the laws of our government call us to disobey the laws of our God, we should always obey God’s laws (and be prepared to take the consequences from our government).
So, the midwives broke the law of Pharoah and obeyed God’s law that values all human life. Passages like Genesis 1:26-27 and 9:6 had not been written down yet, but the midwives almost certainly intuitively knew that murder was wrong.
But things didn’t stop there. When Pharoah called the midwives to give an account of their disobedience, they violated one of God’s laws (again, they would have intuitively known) by lying to Pharoah. Some might suspect that those midwives were simply lying to stay alive. However, I believe that they knew that if Pharoah killed them, the next midwives might actually kill the Jewish baby boys. They needed to stay alive to protect the innocents. So they lied.
Was it appropriate for them to lie? We read their lie in Genesis 1:19. The next verse begins with a conjunction that means that God’s response was connected to their lie.
Exodus 1:20-21 (CSB): “So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very numerous. Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families.”
It seems clear that God lavished His blessings upon these midwives because they saved the lives of the unborn. The lie enabling them to continue doing so was not addressed and certainly not condemned.
We see that God’s laws are capable of being suspended in very rare and specific instances, especially when life is on the line.
Why do I bring this up? Because I believe that we (citizens of the United States of America) are moving into a very uncertain and potentially dangerous time in our country. The next 5-10 years could be fairly uneventful. But, then again, we could see the quick unraveling of our country as we know it. Freedoms could disappear overnight. And it seems like a given that Bible-believing Christians would be among those who are marginalized and “persecuted” (whatever that may look like in our country).
So, Christians need to be serious students of the Word. We need to know what God commands and forbids. We need to know how it looks for us to comply with God’s laws while living our daily lives. But we must also think deeply about when it would be appropriate to violate a law of God and what scenarios would justify such an action.
This is not a time for Christians to fall asleep. This is the time for us to wake up, get serious, get studious, and be prepared for what God may allow in the not-so-distant future.
Spend Time in Prayer
Lord, we think we know what tomorrow will be like, but it’s only a guess. We certainly don’t know what things will be like in the not-so-distant future. But we can’t help but see that so many things are a mess as our nation slides down the slippery slope into immorality, a financial abyss, and so much more. Should things begin to unravel in the not-so-distant future, help me prepare my mind and heart so that I can respond in a way that continues to bring You glory. I pray this in Your Name, Jesus, Amen.
Going Deeper
If you want to go deeper, check out this article by Got Questions: “Should the Hebrew midwives be commended for lying?”
____________________
Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com).
Matt’s Musings 