Read Exodus 1:1-22.
Desperate to preserve his power by any means possible, the Pharaoh demands that Shiphrah and Puah, the Israelite midwives, do the unthinkable: kill all Israelite baby boys the moment they are born.
Shiphrah and Puah are caught in an impossible dilemma. They decide to take a third way: They get into some holy trouble by outsmarting Pharaoh at his own game! Continuing to help Israelite women give birth, Shiphrah and Puah keep Pharaoh at bay with a cleverly crafted lie: “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them” (Exodus 1:19). Shiphrah and Puah save their people through their cunning and quick thinking.
Nothing is impossible with God! Faced with brutal injustice, deep danger and inhumane oppression, two seemingly powerless women outwit the most powerful man in Egypt. Through them, God blesses all the Israelites, who continue to be fruitful and multiply for generations.
This message is excerpted from “God’s topsy-turvy kingdom” by Hannah Hawkinson in the November/December 2023 Gather magazine.
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