Two Brave Women

Two Brave Women

Q: What order did Pharaoh give Shiphrah and Puah?

• a. kill all the Israelite baby boys
• b. collect taxes from all the Israelites
• c. gather straw to make bricks

Four hundred years had passed since Joseph moved his father, Jacob, and the rest of his family to Egypt. His brothers and their families had stayed there, and the family grew in number as new generations were born. Now there were millions of Jacob’s descendants living in Egypt.

Of course by now Joseph and the pharaoh who valued his help (see Genesis 41) were long gone. The pharaoh who now ruled was alarmed by how many Israelites (Hebrews) were living in Egypt. He was afraid they’d take over the land, so he made them all slaves. He thought that would keep them from growing in number, but it didn’t.

Pharaoh called for Shiphrah and Puah. They were women who helped deliver babies. He ordered them to kill all the Hebrew baby boys as they were born. The women couldn’t do that. They knew it was wrong.

Pharaoh found out they weren’t obeying his order. They told him, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.”

Shiphrah and Puah lied to Pharaoh. There might have been a better way to handle the situation, but God blessed them for sparing the babies in spite of the lie. The women knew Pharaoh could have them killed for disobeying his order, but they did it anyway. They wanted to do the right thing and save the Hebrew babies.

Doing the right thing takes courage. Shiphrah and Puah acted bravely, and it saved the lives of many babies.

For You

Doing right takes more courage than going along with the crowd. Do you have the bravery it takes to do the right thing even when others aren’t?

Answer: a

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders.   Exodus 1:15-17

(The Whole Story: Exodus 1)