Last week we had considered how a new Pharaoh was raised, and as he sat on the throne in Egypt, the entire situation for the children of Israel changed from prosperity to persecution. They became the target of oppression, but it was a fulfilment of God's prophecy that one day the children of Israel would be strangers in a foreign land. They would be slaves and they would be oppressed for 400 years. Did God abandon them? Most certainly not. This is what we want to learn from today's passage. The title of our message is "God's Protection in the Midst of Adversities."
One of the most common questions being raised is about suffering. In times of suffering, believers would often cry out, "Why me? Why must it be me?" Critics of the Bible would challenge, "If God is loving and all-powerful, why would He allow suffering to come into this world?" Obviously, we know that the answer to pain and suffering is because of sin. Sin is the inevitable result of all our troubles and iniquities. The children of Israel were suffering under the oppression of the Pharaoh and Egyptians, but it does not mean that their suffering was outside of God's control. Could God have prevented His people from falling into slavery? Surely He could, but that was not His plan. Remember, it was by God's providence that the children of Israel went down to Egypt. It was by God's providence that they became slaves, and it was by God's providence that they would be delivered out of Egypt and brought into the Promised Land. The same God who led them into Egypt was the same God who led them out of Egypt. That was the reason why God said to Jacob in Genesis 46:3, let me read for you, “and he said I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation." In other words, Jacob, do not be afraid. Go down to Egypt, and I will multiply your descendants in Egypt. I will make them into a great nation. That is my plan. Oftentimes, the way God accomplishes His sovereign plan is through suffering.
That is our first point. There are many reasons why God would allow His people to suffer hardships. The first obvious reason was to help them to grow. That was the reason why verse 12 says, "But the more the Egyptians afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew." That was exactly the opposite of what the Pharaoh had intended to happen. Although that was a physical growth, the same could be said about spiritual growth as well. For example, in the book of Acts, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the disciples were being persecuted intensely. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was torn to death. The Apostle James was killed. The disciples suffered for the sake of the Gospel, but the more they suffered, the more they flourished. Churches were established, and the gospel was spread throughout Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the world. During the time of the Reformation, the reformers were also being persecuted. Some of them were burned at the stake, but God used them to translate the Holy Scriptures into a language the people could understand, whereby millions and millions could read the Bible and be saved.
Let us, for a moment, consider the possibility of God making life very easy and comfortable for the Israelites in Egypt. What would happen? Charles Spurgeon said, "If the children of Israel were happy to be in Egypt, they would be quite willing to be Egyptians, or to be Egyptianised." Just like many of us are willing to be Australianised. But let's say life is so difficult in Australia, extremely uncomfortable. None of us would want to take up citizenship in this country, right? The children of Israel must be a separated people. They could not be Egyptians, nor could they live permanently in Egypt, because it was God's plan to bring them into the Promised Land. Consider this: if it was already so hard to take the children of Israel out of Egypt, even when they were suffering, how much more difficult would it be if they were comfortable? We must remember that, for this generation of Israelites, Egypt had been the only home they had ever known. Despite the suffering, Egypt was not without her comfort and convenience. So God allowed the suffering and bondage to intensify so that His people would cry out for deliverance. Pharaoh did not realise that by oppressing the children of Israel, he had made them long for something that he had tried so hard to prevent, and that was freedom.
My friends, what can we learn from the lives of the Israelites? Suffering helps us to long for our Saviour. If we never have any trouble along the journey of life—if everything is smooth sailing, with no suffering, no trouble, no affliction, no pain—there would be no reason for us to long for heaven. We would be like the Israelites, thinking that Egypt was their Promised Land. We would be thinking that this world is our home. So God allows sufferings and afflictions to help drive us to our Promised Land—that is, heaven. All it takes is one devastating adversity: a natural calamity, cancer, perhaps COVID-19, a recession, or a depression that causes us to lose our jobs—so much so that we are unable to put bread and butter on the table. The loss of our loved ones might cause us to loosen our grips on the things of this world, and we cry out, "Lord Jesus, come quickly and take us home."
The point is that God always has a purpose for suffering, and for His people, it is not only redemptive; it is for their benefit, for their spiritual growth. My friends, we may suffer hardships, afflictions, and even persecutions, but we know in our hearts that suffering is good for us because it produces spiritual growth. As Romans 5:3 says, "We rejoice in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope." Do you realise that the best lessons in life are learned during the most difficult times? Take these three characteristics, for example: patience, experience, and hope. It is not in good times, but in adverse situations, that we are able to teach our children and our young people what it means to be patient. Then, through our experiences, we point them to the hope we have in Christ Jesus. So it is not in good times, but in devastating times, that we are able to manifest all these characteristics: patience, experience, and hope.
I know I have not started today's passage yet, so we will quickly get into the passage. This brings us to our second point: God accomplished His plan through people. At first glance, this passage seems to be self-explanatory. However, it has raised several questions that theologians have discussed and debated endlessly through the centuries. We'll get into that shortly. You see, eventually God's people would be delivered from the house of bondage, but before things got better, they got worse. When Pharaoh realised that the violent oppression had done nothing to stop the Israelites from increasing tremendously, he devised a new wicked plan. He turned from slavery to murder.
So let us look at verse 15 of Exodus chapter 1: "And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shipra, and the name of the other, Pua. And he said, 'When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.'"
Theologians have raised several questions about the identities of these two midwives. The Bible does not tell us whether or not they were Hebrews. They might have been Egyptians. After all, if they were Hebrews, how could Pharaoh expect them to kill their own people? But on the other hand, the names Shipra and Pua were Hebrew, which makes it likely that these two women were Egyptians or Israelites. Now, this is possible because Pharaoh ruled with an iron fist, so it might not have occurred to him that anyone would dare to disobey, whether Hebrews or Egyptians. Where the Bible is silent about the identities of these two midwives, it is better for us not to speculate.
The second question frequently raised was concerning the number of midwives. If there were at least 2 million Israelites living in Egypt at that time, how could two midwives possibly be sufficient to care for so many deliveries? Most likely, Shipra and Pua were in charge of other midwives. Today, we would call them head nurses or matrons. If that is true, then it tells us how organised the Egyptian government was at that time.
The third question was: Why did Pharaoh order the midwives to kill the boys rather than the girls? If he wanted to stop the Israelites from having babies, it would make more sense to kill the girls, right? But remember, Pharaoh's main anxiety was that the Israelites would become very strong militarily and then join forces with any potential enemies of Egypt. So, by killing the boys, he was trying to prevent them from raising up young warriors. The stool was the birthing stool that the mother would crouch or lie down on to deliver the baby. As the mother was recovering from the delivery, the midwives were instructed to examine the child. If it was a boy, they were to murder him. The moment Pharaoh gave that order, he became an enemy of life. The moment he gave that order, he was usurping God's authority over life and death.
My friends, anyone who terminates another life is usurping God's authority over life and death. Whether it be Adolf Hitler, when he tried to eliminate all the Jews, or in our modern times, it would be the pro-choice
movement. Opposition to life is always opposition to God because God alone is the giver of life. No one should usurp God's authority over life and death. But if you look deeper into it, Pharaoh was not only usurping the authority of God over life and death; he was also opposing God's special plan in sending His only begotten Son. Why do we say that? From the very moment Adam and Eve fell into sin in the Garden of Eden, God had already promised to send a Saviour to save His people from their sins. God said in Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The seed, singular, was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, who would be born as the Saviour of the world. Can you imagine if Pharaoh were to succeed in killing all the boys at that time? That would mean there would be no future generations of Israelites. What would become of the Messiah? From which line would the Messiah come? God forbids. God's plan will never be destroyed. So whether Pharaoh knew it or not, he was an instrument of Satan trying to prevent the Saviour from ever becoming a man. In a sense, you could call him an Antichrist. Anyone who is against God's plan, against Jesus Christ, is “anti-” our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; we call him “Antichrist”. Of course, not the Antichrist, as in the capital 'A' that will come in the tribulation, but this Pharaoh, he was opposing God's special plan in sending His only begotten Son when he tried to kill all the boys at that time.
Let us move on to verse 17: "But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive." Pharaoh issued an order, and the midwives disobeyed it. That is what God's people must always do when the laws of God are contradicted. We are to obey the laws of the land, but if the laws of the land contradict the law of God, then we must always obey God. Our first allegiance is to God. The biblical principle is given to us in Acts 5:29. When Peter and the other apostles were told not to preach in the name of Jesus Christ, they replied, "We ought to obey God rather than men." Pharaoh was the most powerful man in Egypt, or perhaps in the world at that time. The women knew that, at a snap of his fingers, he could have them executed. Yet they did not fear him because they feared God.
This is in line with the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 10:28. Jesus said, "And fear not them which kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him which is able to kill both body and soul in hell." God alone is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. We ought to fear God rather than men.
Some people feel troubles and adversities; some fear poverty and sicknesses; others fear opposition; yet others fear people. There's a saying, "If you fear God, you fear nothing else; but if you do not fear God, you fear everything else." How true. Shipra and Pua feared God; that was the reason why they did not fear even Pharaoh.
My friends, if you and I have this fear of God in our hearts, then we will not fear men because it is the fear of God that will rule our hearts. Obviously, Pharaoh was not used to having people defy his orders, so he summoned the midwives. Verse 18: "And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, 'Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the male children alive?'" Pharaoh's accusation put Shipra and Pua in a precarious position. If they told the truth, they would surely be killed, but it would not be right to bear false witness. This is the kind of dilemma that God's people sometimes face in this evil world, where both options seem bad. If we tell the truth, we may put ourselves and other people's lives in danger. If we tell a lie, it will grieve God. What should we do?
Verse 19: "And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.'" The implication was that by the time the midwives arrived, the women had already delivered the babies in a natural way. The family had welcomed the baby, and there was no way to kill the baby secretly.
Some theologians, including John Calvin, believe that the midwives had told a lie. Calvin said this: "The lying of the midwives was displeasing to God, notwithstanding, since no action is free of sin, God rewarded their good works even if they were mixed with impurity." Augustine said the midwives were guilty of deceit. Others, like J.B. Lightfoot, said it was not a lie but a glorious confession of their faith. Yet others said it was not a lie but a mockery of the Egyptian women, that the Hebrew women were stronger.
In my opinion, I believe the midwives had not lied when they said that the Hebrew women were lively, which means they were quick, strong, and vigorous. Another possibility could be that they had delayed in arriving at the place of delivery in order to give more time for the babies to be delivered in a natural way. Either way, they did not lie.
Let's say the midwives had purposely delayed arriving at a place of delivery. Was it wrong for them to not reveal this part of the truth to Pharaoh? What do you think? It is one thing to twist the facts and tell a lie; it is another thing when you choose not to reveal every detail. It was not necessary for them to tell everything to the wicked and cruel Pharaoh.
If one day you are called into a similar situation whereby, if you tell the truth, you may put your life and other people's lives in danger, but if you tell a lie, it will grieve God, what should you do? Perhaps the best thing to do is not to say anything and just entrust the whole matter into the hands of the Almighty God. But we must be very careful when we apply this principle of not saying anything. For example, if there are details and information that are connected to a crime—like you have a friend who left the crime scene, you knew it, you saw it, but you refuse to divulge this critical piece of information to the police—that is very wrong. In order to protect him, you refuse to divulge this information; that is a crime, that is a sin.
That is why we must always be careful with confidentiality. When someone wants to share with you a private matter, it means you must keep it confidential, right? But what if the private matter is connected to a sin or a crime? What should you do? To cover that up, you will be a partaker of that sin and that crime. So it is always good to be very clear from the very onset that you will never cover up any sin or crime.
The main reason why I believe that the midwives had not lied was the fact that the Bible tells us they feared God. If they feared God, then they would have known that it is a sin to lie. God hates a lying tongue. The Bible is silent about their lies; the Bible only records their blessings. I know some of you may believe that the midwives had lied and their case was similar to Rahab hiding the two spies. Allah is a lie; there's no justification for a lie. Rahab and the midwives—if that is what you believe—were rewarded not because of their lies but because of their faith. I'm not going to argue and debate with your convictions, but I believe that the midwives had not lied because they feared God.
Look at verse 20: "Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty." In other words, Pharaoh's attempt to control the population of the children of Israel ended up making them even more numerous. No one can ever thwart God's plan and purpose.
Finally, verse 21: "And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses." Notice again, the Bible repeatedly emphasises the fact that they feared God. They feared God, and that was the reason why God blessed them with houses, which means with families or with children—whether they had their families and children by way of marriages, childbirths, or by adoptions. But whatever be the case, God blessed them with families.
My friends, the important lesson for us to learn here is that we ought to fear God and not men. Two seemingly insignificant women, but because they feared God and they did the right thing to honour Him, God recorded their names in the Bible—Shipra and Pua—for all the future generations of believers, including you and me, this blessed evening to read and be encouraged by their lives. Indeed, God has a sovereign plan for you and for me. He accomplishes His plan at times through suffering. That is why, instead of murmuring and complaining in the midst of suffering, you and I ought to pray and ask God, "What is the lesson You want me to learn from this adversity? Teach me, and I will obey Thee."
God accomplishes His plan through people. There are instruments, and what kind of people would God use? People who feared Him, like Shipra and Pua. So if you want to be mightily used by God, my friend, be someone like Shipra and Pua—fear God rather than men—and God, who knows your heart, will use you mightily in His work, all for His glory. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for enabling us to consider this portion of Scripture. Indeed, we want to learn from the testimonies of these two midwives, the names of which Thou hast recorded for us, that all generations of believers would read and be encouraged by their lives. Shipra and Pua, they feared Thee, and they did the right thing to honour Thee. We want to learn from their lives so that we will also fear Thee and not men.
We pray that Thou wilt teach us always to understand that Thou hast a sovereign purpose for all things, including suffering. And Thou wilt accomplish Thy sovereign plan through suffering. So help us to accept whatever situations, whatever adversities, troubles, afflictions, including persecutions, that we will turn to Thee and learn whatever lessons Thou would teach us.
We humble ourselves before Thee, knowing that even the trials and sufferings we have to go through are not outside Thy control. If the Almighty God would allow it to happen, it is for a sovereign purpose. It is for our benefit, for our spiritual growth. Just like Thou would allow the children of Israel to suffer in the land of Egypt because they could not and should not be Egyptians, nor could they live permanently in Egypt. It is Thy plan to bring them into the Promised Land, and Thou hast led them into this land of Egypt. Thou, by Thy providence, will also lead them out of Egypt. We learn from their lives, and we want to apply it to our lives too. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.