Thought from today’s Bible reading from Exodus 1-3.
“Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8).
This new king was fearful of the children of Israel. As the people multiplied, he worried that they might turn against him and depart. So he “afflicted them with hard labor” (Exodus 1:11), hoping that would keep them in check. But the Israelites continued to increase.
So Pharaoh devised a plan to control the population:
“Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives… ‘When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, them she shall live.’ But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live” (Exodus 1:15-17).
The terrible order of Pharaoh reflected the king’s contempt for the God who gave life to these infants. Pharaoh believed that he had the authority to grant life or deny life as he saw fit. Sadly, today there are people with this same arrogance who believe they can choose which child in the womb may live and which one may not.
The midwives were not like Pharaoh. They feared God. Therefore, they let the boys live, since God was the one who gave them life. In doing so, they defied the order of Pharaoh, because they recognized that God was the one with supreme authority.
We need to have the same fear of God that the midwives had – one that leads us to respect and honor the lives of the most vulnerable and that compels us to defy any order and any law from civil authorities that are contrary to the will of God.
Tomorrow’s reading: Exodus 4-6
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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