Exodus 1:17
Exodus 1:20–21
Psalm 33:18
Intro
The story begins in the cries of childbirth and the shadow of tyranny. Pharaoh’s decree was clear: every Hebrew boy must die. But between his command and its execution stood two women — Shiphrah and Puah — midwives who knew the weight of fear but chose its holier form. They trembled, not at Pharaoh’s throne, but before God’s presence. And that single decision rewrote history.
Truth and History
Shiphrah and Puah were not warriors or prophets; they were everyday women in an empire of cruelty. Yet their courage exposes a divine paradox: those who fear God most are those who fear man least. When the order came to kill newborn boys, they quietly defied the empire. Their rebellion was not loud but loyal — loyal to a higher King. Scripture records that because they feared God, He blessed them with families of their own. In the backdrop of slavery and bloodshed, heaven planted new homes, new hope, new generations.
Quotes
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Courage is grace under pressure.” — Ernest Hemingway
Conclusion
The midwives remind us that obedience is rarely glamorous. It happens in the hidden corners of duty — in the delivery rooms of faith where no one claps, but heaven watches. Their fear of God became a shelter for life itself. When kingdoms crumble and commands conflict, reverence becomes rebellion of the purest kind.
Modern Challenge
Today’s world doesn’t ask us to kill infants, but it tempts us to abort truth. We are pressured to sanitize Scripture, to soften conviction, to please Pharaohs with polished sermons. The dividends of holy fear seem too costly — until we remember that it is the only fear that births life. The church must recover what the midwives knew: the fear of God doesn’t shrink us; it makes us dangerous in the best way.
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