Mankind can be wicked or have a good heart. The midwives of Exodus 1:15-22 are faced with the question of which is more important to them: a good relationship with the government or a good relationship with God. They feared God more than the king. Instead of eliminating the boys, they chose life. They disobeyed the pharaoh’s inhuman command to kill all male children. They stood on the side of life and did not want to become the servants of death. Verse 20 says, “God made the midwives prosper.” God blesses those who stands to Him.
The resistance of the women thwarts the pharaoh’s plan. He had thought the midwives would kill the newborn boys immediately and then fool the family into believing it was a stillbirth so the plan could go ahead without fanfare. But now he has to realize that his idea that the midwives should lie to the Hebrews will come back with a boomerang lie and show him how powerless he is.
This really enrages him, and he resorts to the last step, the order to destroy. He makes his delusion equal to a state program. He does not commit his army to do it, but the whole people. Everyone becomes a spy on his power apparatus. And no one has resisted or contradicted him.
The life of the Israelites is now extremely difficult. It becomes a gauntlet between public life and life behind closed doors.
It was not the Israelites who created this parallel world. No, it was made necessary by aggression against God’s blessing.
Even today there are countries and regions in which faith can only be practiced underground.
Perhaps we too experience such times in which the whole environment turns against us. How should we behave? The best thing is to hold on to God.
The midwives are shining examples. “Splendor” and “beauty” are the meanings of the names Shifra and Pua. They reflect humanity amidst hatred.
It is also exciting that in the Bible it is always women who lead the way when difficulties arise. Their names are not forgotten. So we still know today that it was Shifra and Pua who bravely opposed the mainstream.
Again and again it is women who courageously stand up for the faith in totalitarian systems.
It was also the women who discovered the empty tomb and thus became the first preachers of the good news.
It was often women who founded social works and changed societies. Also, in the worldwide church women contribute to the construction, even if they are not supported by the men.
Is faith a woman’s business? No, but men often don’t shine with the beauty of faith. But Shifra, the resplendent, and Pua, the beautiful, let their fear of God shine like a light in the midst of darkness. They overcame evil with good, as Paul says in Romans 12:21: “Do not let evil conquer you but conquer evil with good!”
God does not look at gender but at person. God does not look at our position either but calls and talents people based on his choice for his tasks. What we see very well in this story: Everyone contributes with their piece of the mosaic to the fact that God’s plan of salvation becomes a reality.
In the same way, God uses us as a piece of the jigsaw puzzle in someone else’s life.