Shiphrah and Puah - Women in the Bible - Christian Podcast

Shiphrah and Puah’s story takes place in Exodus 1 when the Hebrews were still slaves in Egypt under Pharaoh. As with many of the women that God uses, He gives them names and a starring role in his plans which defies the societal norms of their time. I personally think this is by design. I think God wanted to highlight out these obedient women and make their stories shine and show how he is using them in a bigger picture.

Exodus 1:15-21 reads

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

Let’s think about this for a moment. Every Hebrew was a slave to the King of Egypt. We have heard the stories and maybe even seen the movies on the story of Moses and how the slaves were being mistreated. There were guards watching over them day and night and more than likely were being physically punished. The King himself goes to these two women, not as a messenger, but, the King himself and gives them a direct order - when a baby boy is born, kill him.

Taking a step back to ponder this - why is the King worried about baby boys being born? You would think if more boys were born, then there would be more men to do the hard work. More capable slaves for him but instead, he is paranoid by his own thoughts. We see back in verse 10 that he was worried they could overtake him. Did he worry about a revolt in the future? I think this is ironic because there will be revolt in the future but it is not for a army of men but of just one man - Moses.

Now, getting back to these brave women. Not only are they given a direct order from the King but the order is horrific! Kill a baby! Shiphrah and Puah did not disobey the King because of the horrific act, they disobeyed the King because they feared God. I love that! These women recognized God as the highest authority and took a stand on what God wanted them to do.

Time has to have passed because boys were being born and they were multiplying so Pharaoh hears about it and summons them. Taking a moment to take this in, realize this - They were summoned to Pharaoh where they are on their own and probably surrounded by guards and Egyptians. Pharaoh asks them why they have done this and they lie right to his face. Such bravery, taking this kind of risk to lie directly to the Pharaoh. I can only dream about being as brave as these 2 women! These women literally risked their lives to save others. 

What can we learn from them? There will be times in our life where we need to decide whether we will serve God or man. 

Acts 5:29 tells us to “Obey God rather than men”

It’s very easy for us to sit here in our comfy chairs and say “well of course I will obey God” but when push comes to shove and we are in a moment, it may be a harder decision. These women were slaves lying to the king and defying his order on purpose, but they believed in and obeyed God and didn’t ask for anything in return. Due to their obedience to God, Moses will be born and will deliver them out of Egypt. As we see with many women God used in the Bible, they could not have imagined their important part in his overall plan but they trusted him. 

Let’s not lose sight that Shiphrah and Puah risked their lives for God. God did bless them for being brave and obedient as part of his overall plan - He gave them families of their own. 

God was very intentional when he created the Bible. He put names and stories in there on purpose and for us to learn from. I am always trying to find ways that I can apply the stories in the Bible to my life. The chances that someone in my life will give me an order for such a horrific act is minimal to none. I do believe there are people out there that have been given very tough and serious orders. Missionaries or people from other countries have been asked to do some horrific things. Personally this hasn’t happened to me and thankfully probably won’t so what can I take away from these two women? Their act of bravery is something I hope I can learn from. 

Let’s start first with the definition of bravery - “courageous behavior or character.” Another definition I found was - “the quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty.” What stuck out for me was fear. How can I be brave in attacking my fears? Well, what are my fears in life? Personally, I took out a piece of paper and I wrote all my fears down. As I was doing my research, I came across this phrase “The words brave and courage are often used interchangeably, but by definition, they’re not the same. Bravery comes with a lack of fear. In contrast, being courageous doesn’t mean you’re not afraid. It means doing something even though it scares you.”

Back to my list, what are my fears? It was eye opening to me to just list them out. Then one by one I prayed about them. My next set of advice to sit back and trust God to take away my fears and leave them in His hands. Let me tell you that I am trying and I do trust God but if I am being vulnerable, this step is hard. I still have the fear, I still worry. I am still praying. Thankfully God has patience and grace for me to continue to daily help me with this step.

Philippians 4:6-7 says

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus

I have known this verse since I was young, I have memorized this first and can quote it at any time. What I need to do is make it a part of my daily devotional time by getting out my fear list and focusing on giving it to God daily.

To really put myself out there, one of my fears is as I do this podcast, applying what I am saying to each one of you and making sure I am doing it myself. The last thing I want to be is hypocritical. I started on this journey because God spoke to me so I want this to be a real experience as it is for you.

None of us know God’s overall plan for our lives, but we need to be brave and trust Him. We need to turn our fears over to him and do the right thing even when it seems hard or impossible.

Shiphrah and Puah - Women in the Bible - Christian Podcast - Anchored by God's Word