Pharaoh underestimates the power of women – especially that of the midwives Shiphrah and Puah. The biblical story captures their bold decision in one sentence: “But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live” (Exodus 1:17). Following God’s way was more important to these midwives than following Pharaoh’s way.
Shiphrah and Puah remind us that disobedience can be a holy choice. Just love sometimes demands defiance. When we know in our hearts that the mandates of the powerful will do harm, especially to the most vulnerable among us, God calls us to a different path. When unquestioning obedience leads to injustice, it’s time to try something else.
History is filled with examples of people who have defied the orders of the powerful in support of the vulnerable. Think about those who sheltered runaway slaves despite the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, or the people who hid their Jewish neighbors in Nazi Germany. These people, like the midwives of Exodus, chose to follow God’s way and reject the ways of human cruelty.
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “Just love” by Christa Compton and Gladys Moore in the July/August 2020 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Birgitta of Sweden, renewer of the church, 1373.
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