Fearing God

Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other apish, "When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she may live." The Hebrew midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them, they let the boys live. Exodus 1:15-17

Isn't it interesting that up to the end of the book of Genesis God met with individuals and built relationships with one man. Yet here in Exodus we see that the midwives feared God. I wonder what that looked like? Who taught them such things? What was their understanding?

It is also interesting that fearing God caused the midwives to allow the baby boys to live. In other words  murder was taboo even before the law. How did they know it was wrong? On what basis did they know that fearing God meant protecting innocent lives?

I could now ask: what has gone wrong? Why do people find it so easy to kill the unborn and innocent? The midwives would say, "Because they do not fear God."

If these simple, basic people preserved life and feared God then they can teach us something. Amen!

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