Shiphrah and Puah's Courage

Exodus 1

I asked someone close to me once what she felt the word courage meant.

Her answer was simply: “Faith in action”. Her answer for me at the time was

very encouraging and is something I will remember for as long as I live. I

believe her answer to be true and one I hope I can say I have exhibited.

In Exodus chapter 1 we read about courage and how it was displayed

through two women named Shiphrah and Puah. These two women were

Hebrew midwives and were under the authority of the Egyptian king at the

time. These two women were told one day by the king that he wanted every

newborn baby boy killed and they were the ones to do it. They were told to

do this because they would be the first ones there, helping to deliver these

babies, and would have access to them. The king had ordered this because of his anger and jealousy of how well the Hebrew people were growing and

prospering. The midwives, though fearing God, chose not to obey his

command and the king eventually found out. He asked them why they had

not done what he commanded, and they gave the story that the Hebrew

women were so vigorous they gave birth before they could get there in time.

The Bible goes on to say that because of their decision, God was good to the

midwives and their people. Because they feared God and did what was right,

He gave them families of their own.

This story truly illustrates to us the meaning of obedience, courage, trust,

reward, and unity. These women, the day they were told to murder newborn

baby boys, had to have been shocked, appalled and afraid. These women

were, after all, responsible for helping bring new life into this world and now

they were being commanded to take away life – a baby’s life! One can only

imagine what these two women had to have been thinking when they were

alone. Obviously, as the scriptures states, they feared God enough to risk their own lives by being disobedient to the king, and in turn ended up being

responsible for saving so many babies lives.

Picture for a minute as these women made their first visit to that mother

who was giving birth after this command had been issued. What do you think

they were thinking? Do you think they were afraid? Most assuredly they were,

but undoubtedly, they had a plan long before they got to that first woman’s

house. Most likely from that first day upon being given the command, they

had gotten together and devised a plan. They came together and decided what they were going to do and how they would help each other along the way. They had to have been afraid of the consequences if they were found out, but to them doing what was right in the eyes of God took precedence over any fears they felt. One can only imagine what these two women talked about from day to day and from house to house, and how they were not only relying on God but on each other as well. These two women had courage beyond what one could imagine, and above all they had a unity with each other. They needed unity for the cause for which they were fighting, and God was faithful. He not only rewarded them, but their families as well.

You see courage is what was pointed out to me: “Faith in action”, and

these two brave women proved it. They proved how important unity is and

what can be accomplished because of it. It’s not to say that one without the

other wouldn’t have done the right thing concerning the babies, but there is

strength in numbers. Unity, along with obedience and courage, always

conquers what trial is set before us as it did in this story.

From The Noble Woman Book, by Gina Burns.