As we consider this month, Sanctity of Human of Life month, we would do well to reflect on the Hebrew midwives who found themselves in a very difficult situation. We are told in Ex. 1:15-16 “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ‘When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.’” The command was explicit – Ex. 1:22 “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
In our current context we might easily forget that it is a relatively new phenomenon to know in advance whether you are having a boy or a girl – can you imagine being a pregnant mother during those days? The very thing that should bring about such great joy, the birth of new life, was now turned into a death sentence for every male baby. What mother would not have found herself anxious the moment she realized she was pregnant, and what would she even find herself praying? “Dear God, let it not be a boy…. Oh God, please spare the life of this child.” As she would have gone about her many daily tasks of cooking, cleaning and serving, she would have been continually thinking about the future, dreading what could come. When her labor pains were upon her and the midwife was summoned, I’m sure there were hushed tones, a sense of foreboding, and when the precious baby was finally coming into the world to take the first breath, the moment of revelation was upon everyone in the room – was it a boy or a girl? The pronouncement that so many of us mothers have rejoiced over was to them a defining moment that could change their lives forever-life or death.
But in the midst of this sorrow and shadow, we are told that the Hebrew midwives did not do what they had been commanded to do. They lived in a greater fear, the fear of the Lord. Ex. 1:17 says they “feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.” They chose life. In Hebrews 11:27, we see that Moses, one of the very babies saved, lived a life of faith as well, “not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible”. What a great explanation of what it means to walk by faith – “seeing” Him who is invisible through eyes of faith! We live in days that are filled with its own sorrows and shadows, battles for life and death, and we need to continue to exhibit the faith that we see in the Bible, the faith that continues to shine in dark places as we choose to walk in the fear of the Lord. When we preserve and protect life, we are a reflection of God in the world.
I’m so thankful for life – when I was in the womb, there was a battle for life and death. My mom was 16, and being pregnant with me was a problem. The plan was to go to New York so my mom could get an abortion. But the Spirit of God stirred my grandmother’s heart, and the plan was changed. I was born in 1973. My mother gave her life to Christ not long after having me, and her changed life was a witness to my father. He gave his life to Christ as a result of her faithful witness. Life and light entered into our home because of Jesus Christ. My parents have loved and served the Lord for many years, and one of my sweetest moments with my mom was teaching at a women’s conference in Uganda where I was serving as a missionary with SOS Ministries, and we spoke together to the women about generational faithfulness from Ps. 78:4 “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”
In every time, in every culture, there is a faithful way to live. Let us keep living for God, going about our daily lives in the fear of the Lord, treasuring and nurturing life.
