SATURDAY, JANUARY 5
Exodus 1:15-17
Deuteronomy 6:1-3

“… as the LORD God of thy fathers
hath promised thee …”

WHOM DO YOU FEAR?

The king of Egypt took on a new and more wicked scheme to arrest the enormous and rapid growth of the children of Israel. In his own mind, the threat of this foreign ethnic group, though his slaves, was growing to be a big threat. Having failed by using cruel, severe, and harsh labour to reduce the birth rates, Pharaoh resorted to killing newborn babies. To do so, he summoned the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah (meaning to be beautiful) and Puah (meaning a girl). It is unlikely that only two midwives delivered all the Hebrew babies. They were likely lead midwives with others under them. Pharaoh’s orders were that when the midwives delivered the babies of the Hebrew women, if it was a male infant, then they were to kill him. Female infants were allowed to live. Given Pharaoh’s fear that the Hebrews would revolt against Egypt, he felt especially intimidated by the Hebrew sons. Also, by reducing males, this ethnic group’s descendant lines would be wiped out. He now resorted to genocide. Satan’s objective was to wipe out the Jewish race.

We are told that the midwives feared God. Their fear of God caused them to disobey the evil command of Pharaoh. By doing so, they saved the male infants of the Hebrews. To have met Pharaoh in person to receive his orders and to defy it was not a small thing. Pharaoh could have ordered the death of them too. Being already under severe and cruel rule by the Egyptians, it would have been natural to fear Pharaoh. But God’s commendation was that these midwives feared Him instead. They chose to obey God’s commandment not to murder. God recorded their names for eternity but did not even mention Pharaoh’s name. Having the fear of God is to be more concerned with what God says, how He views things, and what He would have us do. And if obeying man means disobeying God’s ways, then we should obey God rather than fear the consequences of what man could do to us.

THOUGHT: Do I fear to offend God more than to offend man?
PRAYER: LORD, help me to have this fear of God in my decisionmaking in all situations in my life.