Bible Text: Exodus 1:8-22 | Preacher: Pastor Dorry Newcomer | Series: Exodus | Today is the first day of our fall series on the book of Exodus.  One thing about Exodus, these stories are OLD!  Scholars date the Exodus to about 1300 hundred years before Jesus. So we’re talking a long time ago, roughly 3300 years ago!  That’s so long ago, you might be wondering, what on earth could the stories of Exodus have to teach us today?

I’m hoping, plenty!  The stories in the book of Exodus tell of timeless themes:  Persevering during times of struggle.  Having faith in God when God doesn’t seem to be doing anything, or at least not doing it fast enough!  Trying to be obedient.  Dealing with change.  Do these sound like issues that people are still dealing with, despite 3300 years of human history between us and the Exodus?

Our September memory verse comes from the gospel of John, chapter 14 verse 27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.”  When Jesus said these words, he was about to give his life up for ours.  His sacrifice is deeply connected to the events in the book of Exodus.  No doubt Jesus had God’s provision during the Exodus in mind when he consoled his disciples.  No matter how difficult the situation, peace can be ours if we focus on our faith.  That is why we have decided to study the book of Exodus this fall.  Our generation is but one in a long line of people who have struggled with life and been strengthened and saved by their faith in God.

To understand the book of Exodus, though, we have to go back to Genesis chapter 12.  You may remember from the winter, when we studied the book of Genesis, hearing the song, “Father Abraham has many sons, and many sons has Father Abraham?”  God called a man named Abram and made a covenant with him.  God told Abram he would give him many offspring and make him into a great nation; he would make his name great; and all people of the world would be blessed through Abraham and his offspring.  God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, eventually gave him a son Isaac, and he had a son named Jacob.  God changed Jacob’s name into Israel, and for a time, things were going well.  But the ten older brothers sold Joseph into slavery, and then they began to suffer from a serious famine in Canaan.  The book of Genesis ends with Jacob’s family moving to Egypt, where they reunite with Joseph, and ride out the famine thanks to Joseph’s superior managerial skills and faith in God.

But time passes, and one Pharaoh gave way to the next, and eventually, the Egyptian rulers lost touch with the reasons they once had to be hospitable to the Israelites, also known as Hebrews.  The Egyptians start to feel threatened, because the Hebrew people are becoming more and more populous.  So they begin to put restrictions on the Hebrews.  Eventually the Hebrew people are enslaved, and Pharaoh, the ruler, makes things harder and harder for them.  Finally he decides there are just too many new Hebrews arriving into his world, and he instructs the Hebrew midwives, whose names are Shiphrah and Puah, to kill all the Hebrew baby boys.

Yup, you heard that right.  Slaughter newborn babies.  The expression, “times are tough” doesn’t even begin to describe their situation!  Shiphrah and Puah got called into action at a time when the Israelites might have been wondering if God was asleep on the job.  God’s chosen people, the children of Abraham–the very people who were promised that they would have a special land of their own, and that they would be a blessing to the whole world–are slaves in Egypt!  They are in bondage, oppressed with hard labor.  They have no land of their own!  And they are not a blessing to the world—the Egyptians despise them!  They have no power, no freedom; no long weekends or vacations to look forward to, not even Sundays off!  The most prominent feature of their lives is work.  Work and brutality.

You might think that work plus brutality would add up to hopelessness.  But the Israelites keep having babies!  The command from Genesis to be fruitful and multiply—well, they’re doing it!  Despite all that is working against them, despite the fact that tomorrow doesn’t look any better than today, the Hebrews kept having babies.  They had so many babies the Egyptians started to great nervous.

And so the Egyptians did just what we would expect—they took drastic action to try to reduce the number of aliens in their land.  Pharaoh told the Hebrew midwives that they were to kill all the male babies born to Hebrew women.  Pharaoh thought this a win-win:  The baby girls would grow up to become slaves to entertain Egyptian men, and there would be no more young men coming on the scene who could threaten the Egyptian power-hold, no more young men to father future generations of Hebrew babies.

God promised the children of Abraham land, descendants, and to be a blessing.  Until now, at least they were one for three.  But with Pharaoh’s command, they would soon become 0 for 3.  What would happen to God’s chosen people?  What would happen to the world they were meant to bless?

          I wonder how long it took Shiphrah and Puah to decide what to do.  Surely if they disobeyed Pharoah, he would just kill them.  But if they obeyed his command, they would be killing their people!  And so they formulated a plan.  They would lie in order to protect the Hebrew babies, in order to protect the future of the Hebrew people.

Two Hebrew midwives versus Pharaoh.  Doesn’t seem like a fair fight, does it?  But these two women believed that God was on their side.    By clinging to the promise that God gave to Abraham back in Genesis chapter 12, by remembering what it was that God had already done for them, they found the courage to imagine a better tomorrow.  They used what they had and who they were—lowly midwives, yes—but creative and courageous midwives!  They did what they could to help the Israelites hang in there–and they set the stage for the arrival of their deliverer, Moses.

When I think of Shiphrah and Puah, the phrase that comes to mind is, “Do the next right thing.”  Shiphrah and Puah did not have some great revolutionary plan for overthrowing Pharaoh.  But they took a look at themselves and what they could do.  Yes, life was hard.  Yes, Israel had a big problem with Egypt.  Yes, things had been getting worse and worse.  But Shiphrah and Puah didn’t let the size of the problems around them paralyze them.  They didn’t let the awful conditions they were living in, the weight of the oppression or the fear of Pharaoh keep them from keeping on.  They kept their wits about them, and did the right thing.

This story is sandwiched in between the stories of two very big names in Judaism:  Joseph, and Moses.  Both of them are saviors in their own way.  Joseph saved his family from famine; Moses saved his people from slavery. And in between these two hall-of-famers is the story of two lowly midwives.  In the ancient world, being a midwife meant you were a second-class citizen.  Midwives were usually barren, women who couldn’t have children of their own, which in a culture that equated fertility with godliness, was a mark of shame.  To the rest of the ancient world, these two women were totally forgettable.  And yet, here they are, in the Bible, listed right up there with people like Joseph and Moses.

And through these women came a blessing, which we will read about next week:  Moses.  The son of Hebrew parents who went on to grow up an Egyptian prince and become the Hebrew people’s liberator.

Do you think Shiphrah and Puah could have imagined any of that when they first made their decision to disobey the Pharaoh?  I’m sure they didn’t.  They were probably thanking their lucky stars they were living to see another day.  We’re talking about a ruthless dictator here!  But they didn’t let fear get in the way of doing the next right thing.  They didn’t let the size of the problem get in the way of doing the next right thing.  They were focused on LIFE, and they pursued that with all they had.  They kept the promises made by God and the commands given by God ever before them, and they courageously and creatively found a way to do the next right thing.

My guess is, most of us have never paid any attention to Shiphrah and Puah before.  What about us?  But I think they have something important to teach us.  Right now, many people feel like the church is simply treading water, waiting for a vaccine so things can “get back to normal”.  But that is not what is happening at Lima.  We are focused on LIFE, and doing the next right thing.  Last week we watched a video about United Methodist missions in the Congo, and I said that for only $140, we can feed a Congolese child for a whole year.  This week, two people have called the church office to let me know they are sending in a check for $140.  That’s two babies, saved!  Two of God’s precious children, sustained until the days are brighter.  I am hoping that as the month goes on, we will be able to say that because of the generosity of people from Lima, at least a dozen more will be saved, too.

Today we watched a video about UMCOR.  They get started helping refugees after World War II.  The Methodist church formed an agency of helpers, not unlike Shiphrah and Puah, midwives who could help distressed people endure a difficult time of labor until a more permanent solution could be found.  I understand we have received many green offering envelopes with donations for UMCOR already this month.  Isn’t that exciting?  Lima Church is not just treading water or biding our time, waiting for things to get back to normal.  We are actively looking for the next right thing God is calling us to do, and responding in faith and hope.

I love the story of Shiphrah and Puah because it is a story of courage and endurance, a story of faith and hope.  They are regular people who do what they can until something new breaks through.  They had a vision–of a world where the Israelites are blessed instead of cursed, and they did what they could to work toward that vision.  We have the same opportunity.  Jesus gave us a vision, he called it the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God.  He imagined a world where the blind can see, the lame can walk, the poor are rich, the broken are made whole, the least and the lost are the most important.  Only by keeping that vision in mind will we be able to discern what the next right thing is.

And only be remembering Jesus’ promise to be with us always will we have the courage to do the next right thing.  Shiphrah and Puah didn’t see their situation as two lowly midwives versus powerful Pharaoh.  They saw their situation as two lowly midwives plus God verses Pharaoh!  Now all of a sudden the tables are turned.  As we will find out as we continue reading, the power of Pharaoh is no match for the power of God.

Anytime we find the vision and the courage to do the right thing, you can be sure God is with us on that.  God is paying attention.  In our reading this morning, did you notice, God rewarded Shiphrah and Puah for their courage and faithfulness!  God gave them families of their own.  But more than that, God echoed the covenant made with Abraham in the lives of these two women.  God gave them descendants, God gave them a great name!  Even if the names were unfamiliar to us before this morning, how cool is it that 3,300 years later, we are reading about them!  As we endure the length of the corona virus pandemic, I pray the story of Shiphrah and Puah will become our story as well.  Let us do all we can do to help create LIFE during this time!  Amen.