History is riddled with unsung and barely known heroes.
People who lived lives of ordinary faithfulness, choosing to do what was right in the sight of God instead of the sight of others. Most of these folks live and die in obscurity. From the typical onlooker, they don’t even seem all that special.
By most metrics, their lives were rather normal.
But every so often we get glimpses of the fateful—and faithful—decisions they made which advanced God’s kingdom in ways we can never fully recognize.
Saving Israel’s sons
One such glimpse awaits us in the opening chapter of Exodus.
Fearing the growing number of Hebrew men, Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill every new born male. No more boys were to enter into life so that they could not grow up to threaten Pharaoh’s power.
Israel’s midwives, however, had other plans.
These courageous women “feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live” (Exodus 1:17 ESV).
Incensed, Pharaoh demands an answer for their disobedience.
“The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous” (Exodus 1:19-20).
Where would we be without them?
It’s easy to brush past this episode.
We can applaud the bravery of these two women then quickly move onto the greater drama of Exodus. After all Moses is about to enter the scene!
But if it weren’t for these two women denying Egypt’s ruler his genocidal wishes Moses would have never entered into the story.
And no Moses means no Jesus.
And no Jesus means no salvation.
Margaret Guenther captures the importance of these women well.
“These two brave, intensely practical women are hidden in the rich narrative of the Exodus…We are told little besides their names, but where would the story be without these midwives, tenacious and crafty guardians of new life? Ironically, Shiphrah and Puah stand as guardians over the Exodus story and—ultimately—over our story.”
The faithfulness of these women preserved the people of God. They guarded the seed of Abraham which would one day spring up in Christ, bringing salvation to all.
And they aren’t alone.
Shiphrahs and Puahs are riddled throughout history and live on in the church today.
We need only to keep our eyes open to seem them all around.