Tag: Hebrew midwives

Obedience in the Face of Fear

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 1 & 2
Psalms Reading: Psalm 29
New Testament Reading: Matthew 28

For me, the theme of today’s reading was obedience in the face of fear. If God is calling us, the only right answer is obedience. In yesterday’s reading of Matthew 28, we read about the agony Jesus experienced on the cross and how he alone had to bear the crushing weight of humanity’s sins. Jesus felt fear on the cross, but that did not stop him from responding with obedience to God’s plan. In Exodus 1 and 2 we learn that Israel is becoming a formidable threat to Egypt. Pharaoh tries to minimize this threat by ordering the Hebrew midwives to kill any newborn boys right after they are delivered. The Hebrew midwives would not hear of taking part in such an abomination. They were obedient to God’s laws and the result was victorious. In Exodus 1 we read,

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. (NLT)

We read about more bravery in Exodus 2 when Moses’ mother kept the baby Moses hidden for three months. She then concocted a plan to place him in a basket among the river reeds. Moses’ sister Miriam hung out to see what would happen. As the story goes, Pharaoh’s daughter finds him and takes pity on him. I have to think Moses’ mother and sister had to have been afraid when they went to execute their plan, but they felt the fear and did it anyway. 

I think the acts of boldness of the Hebrew midwives and Moses’ mother and sister demonstrated that they must have had a healthy and reverential fear of God as David did. 

In the first two verses of Psalm 29, David highlights God’s splendor, glory, power and might.

1 Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings;

    honor the Lord for his glory and strength.

2 Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.

    Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. (NLT)

Following God often requires boldness and not letting our fears overshadow what God has called us to do. We have a special reminder in verse 11 of Psalm 29 that God equips us during hard times:

The Lord gives his people strength.

    The Lord blesses them with peace. (NLT)

If we trust in God’s goodness, we know that He has our best interest at heart and will supply us with the strength we need. Therefore, feel the fear and be obedient anyway.

-Kristy Cisneros

Reflection Questions:

  1. Do you struggle with being obedient to God’s calling? Do you feel fear overshadows doing the right thing? Pray to God to deepen your trust. As we learned in yesterday’s reading, it is important to trust in God’s timing and goodness— even in the face of fear.
  2. What do we learn about God and His character in our Bible reading today?
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Faithful with the Little Things

Exodus 1

February 7

In this first chapter of Exodus, we see that the Israelites are viewed as a formidable threat due to their increasing numbers. There was a great fear that the Israelites would continue to multiply and if war were to break out, they would choose to join with Egypt’s enemies and eventually leave the country. In verse 16, we read of the horrific remedy that the king of Egypt concocted and delivered to the midwives: “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”

We then read with great relief in verse 17 that the midwives “feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.” 

Do we always have the courage to do what is right in the eyes of God—even at great risk and cost to ourselves? We might think that we would never be put in such a dire predicament, but I believe our faith is tested in both big and small ways. Our faithfulness in the “small things” can actually speak to the overall health of our faith. As stated in Luke 16:10, “The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much.” Imagine you are eating dinner at a restaurant and you notice the server forgot to charge you for that delicious artichoke and spinach appetizer. Do you think, “Ha! It’s my lucky day!” or do you remember that the right thing to do in the eyes of our Heavenly Father is to pay for everything that you ordered?

I have a theory. I think that it might actually be easier to make the right choice in dire circumstances as opposed to authentically living out our faith on a daily basis amidst the small trials and challenges of life that constantly wash up against us. Have you ever been in the ocean or even in a tidal pool at a water park and found it hard to regain your footing after getting knocked down by a wave? Even the smallest of waves can wipe us out and deplete us of strength if we don’t feel like we can catch our breath between the waves. Psalm 42 gives us some comfort for these times:

6 “My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you in the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 8 By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.”

May we be encouraged by this reminder that God’s song is with us and that He rewards our faithfulness. Verses 20-21 of Exodus 1 demonstrates how God rewarded the faithfulness of the Hebrew midwives: “So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.”

May our goal always be to please our Heavenly Father in the big and “small” things and to lean into Him when the waves of challenge sweep over us.

-Kristy Cisneros

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. Do you find it difficult to live out your faith authentically when faced with the big and small challenges of life? 
  2. How can we better lean into God during times of challenge?
  3. Which heroes of the faith inspire you with how they leaned into God during times of trouble?

Tomorrow we continue with Exodus 2

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God’s Deliverance Begins – Again

Exodus 1-3

Exodus 2 3 NIV

I had fun with today’s reading; I laughed out loud numerous times. I’m going to try to recreate some of the internal dialogue that was playing out in my head as I read it. Enjoy.

 

“We need to be shrewd with these Israelites. What should we do? I have a brilliant idea! Let’s enslave them.” – The new Pharaoh, probably.

Shrewd: having or showing sharp powers of judgment; astute.

I’m not sure the new king really knows what shrewd means. I suppose he was astute in his observation that the Israelites are more powerful than he, yet he is not displaying great judgement in putting shackles on the people who got to their current position thanks to a very shrewd man named Joseph. As Egypt will soon find out, God is great at providing the Israelites with shrewd men who are capable of delivering them at just the right time.

 

“Murder all the baby boys. Do it for king and country, why else? What’s that? It’s immoral to kill babies? Why would you possibly think that?” – Also the new Pharaoh, probably.

The midwives are smart enough to lie to the king and tell him that they aren’t responsible for the lives of these children (as if a person could be considered “responsible” for someone else continuing to live). They claim that the women giving birth are just so skilled at it that they do not need the assistance of a midwife. That is quite a longshot. When is the last time you heard of someone giving birth to a child without the assistance of a professional? Yet the king is dull enough to buy it. He sincerely believes that these women have no concept of morality other than to obey the edicts of their government. The midwives feared God over their government and followed the commands of morality and God instead of the king.

 

The mother of Moses saves him because she thinks he is beautiful. When is the last time a mother did not think their baby was beautiful? Every mother in this time must have been like her, attempting to hide their baby boys after seeing how beautiful they were. After all, the king made it the family’s duty to kill their own children. Moses’ mother was shrewd. She put him in a basket and set him out in the Nile, intending for him to survive. This sounds insane knowing what lurks in the Nile. She created the basket so that he would be protected, it was waterproofed with pitch. She placed it among the reeds so that it wouldn’t wash away. Finally, she had Miriam, Moses’ sister watch over the basket from a distance. His mother was certainly crafty. I believe she knew exactly what would happen next, otherwise she would not have done it. When Moses is found, his own mother is hired to raise him. That is the work of divine providence and the craftiness of Moses’ mother.

 

As a side note, the midrash states that Miriam had a significant role in leading Israel alongside Moses and Aaron after the Exodus. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-midrash-and-aggadah

 

The bloodlust of Levi comes out in Moses when he kills the Egyptian.

 

The burning bush seems unique at this point in the story. In the past, God had interacted with people by sending messengers. Abraham speaks with God before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jacob wrestles with God. Now we have Moses talking to God in a bush. It is a little different but this begins to be the pattern from here on out. We soon get the pillar of fire and cloud (which appears over the tent whenever Moses speaks with God), and the mountain covered in cloud when Moses receives the law. Later God identifies himself in a new way. He gives himself a name “I AM WHO I AM” or “I AM THAT I AM” which is the translation of the Hebrew YHWH. Up until this point, He has always identified Himself as “The God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” This encounter seems to be a turning point in the human story. From now on, a large group of people is going to interact with God in a personal way, they will address Him by name and they will be in close contact with Him.

 

Nathaniel Johnson

 

Today’s Bible reading can be read or listened to at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+1-3&version=NIV

 

Tomorrow’s reading will be Exodus 4-6 as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

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