This is going to sound kind of weird but this morning I woke up thinking about Israel. Specifically about what happened to them after Joseph died and before Moses. I mean what happened? They were all doing good and then they were in bondage literally overnight. So I got my Bible out and skimmed through Genesis. It's not until the very end that Joseph dies. In Exodus 1 it says that a new king who didn't know about Joseph came to power. The whole story is very fascinating to me but the reason for this blog is because of this scripture:
Exodus 1 NIV
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.
Ok so many things stick out to me as being totally cool. First off though, Pharaoh was a punk wasn't he? I mean sending a couple of women in to do your dirty work. These women feared God over the king which is pretty incredible since I'm sure the he could have killed them for disobeying. Then when the Pharaoh asked the women what happened they came up with such a clever response that they were able to fool the Pharaoh and insult his people and get away with what they did all at once. What wise women! Who were mentioned by name by the way. Think of the thousands? millions? of people who lived during this time and these two women were named in the Bible! So God was kind to them and the people become even more numerous and because they feared God, He gave them families of their own. I wonder what their story is. Were they longing for husbands of their own? Or maybe they were barren? I actually did a search for these women to see if they popped up anywhere else and Puah actually does. Well her name does. One of her descendents later "rose to save Israel" (Judges 10:1). I'm not saying it was the same woman but wouldn't that be cool?! I really love the Old Testament.
*Edit Note: I just did a little more digging and the other Puah was probably a man. But who knows? Maybe he was named after his freaking awesome Aunt Puah the midwife??*
Anyway I guess the main thing I took away from this is fear God above any other and glorify Him in whatever you do. You never know when history is about to be made. This song says it perfectly. I especially like the first verse ;)
